Muslim family carves chair for Pope Francis' Bosnia visit

http://news.yahoo.com/muslim-family-carves-chair-pope-francis-bosnia-mass-120553158.html

ZAVIDOVICI, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Salem Hajdarovac says he didn't sleep for a week when he heard his workshop had been granted the honor of carving a special chair that Pope Francis will sit on during his visit to Bosnia.

Hajdarovac, 61, and his 33-year-old son Edin, both devout Muslims, started working on the chair on Monday in their little workshop in the central Bosnian town of Zavidovici.

They have put all other orders on hold to produce the perfect chair by June 6, when the pontiff will hold a Mass in Sarajevo aimed at boosting efforts toward brotherhood in the country ravaged by war two decades ago.

For decades, the family-run workshop has been carving religious souvenirs for visitors of the Catholic Medjugorje shrine and decorations for churches and mosques, but they see the chair as the highlight of their careers.

"It makes me extremely happy, because to make the chair for such a person is a huge and important thing," Edin Hajdarevac told The Associated Press.

The design of the chair is a secret, they said. All they wanted to reveal is that they will use wood from a walnut tree and that it will depict various religious symbols, such as the Pope's coat of arms and emblems of three Bosnian cathedrals.

The local priest, Miro Beslic, convinced his flock to finance the purchase of the material. The Hajdarovacs will carve the chair for free.

"The whole country is in financial crisis, but once people understood that this is about the pope ... then people accepted the idea," Beslic told the AP.

this is so good it shows that difference in religion does not have to translate in to hate, bigotry and racism for one another instead respect for you and what you believe can only result in a return of that respect except for those who unlike these Muslims only thought of the privilege not that he is Catholic and that they had been in conflict from way back with Muslims.  is one really so different from the other extremist on both sides do equally egregious things to the other, evangelicals don't cut off heads at least that we've found but their over zealousness is just as damaging to lives of those they oppose is hanging and burning and shooting multiple times any less horrendous???

http://www.ied.info/books/why/the-1300-year-battle-between-christians-and-muslims

religious ideology is what causes conflicts though implemented by those who believe in one or the other if not for the ideology their would not be a religious aggression.  evangelicals promote those kinds of scenarios that spark anger and feelings of disrespect tearing or burning Korans if they had done that to the Bible we would be in pretty much the same circumstance because the intent is born of disrespect for another's religion.

bottom line what those of us who have the ability to empathize you don't have to hate especially for a non reason of decades old.

Republicans see Obama as more imminent threat than Putin: Reuters/Ipsos poll

http://news.yahoo.com/republicans-see-obama-more-imminent-threat-putin-reuters-052052306.html

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A third of Republicans believe President Barack Obama poses an imminent threat to the United States, outranking concerns about Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

A Reuters/Ipsos online poll this month asked 2,809 Americans to rate how much of a threat a list of countries, organizations and individuals posed to the United States on a scale of 1 to 5, with one being no threat and 5 being an imminent threat.

The poll showed 34 percent of Republicans ranked Obama as an imminent threat, ahead of Putin (25 percent), who has been accused of aggression in the Ukraine, and Assad (23 percent). Western governments have alleged that Assad used chlorine gas and barrel bombs on his own citizens. Read graphic here http://bit.ly/1BQ7g0r

Given the level of polarization in American politics the results are not that surprising, said Barry Glassner, a sociologist and author of "The Culture of Fear: Why Americans are afraid of the wrong things."

"There tends to be a lot of demonizing of the person who is in the office," Glassner said, adding that "fear mongering" by the Republican and Democratic parties would be a mainstay of the U.S. 2016 presidential campaign.

"The TV media here, and American politics, very much trade on fears," he said.

what is it that Dems fear monger about i only notice the pointing out of how republicans trying to kill Iran talks, siding with the real saber waver Netanyahu, arming crazies with carry permits, taking food stamps and voter blocking causing us real problems, that's not fear mongering that's called telling the truth, the real 411, turning a light on the scourge, exposing republican skulduggery that's all that is.

they need to make up their minds before the confuse each other and someone tells the truth.  last few months he's been leading from the rear, not leading basically a punk, while they showed their man love and envy for Putin making him the 2015 version of he man and iron man rolled into one.

now Pres. is Putin and Putin gets no mention republican fickled lovers they are so ridiculously funny think about this at the same time Netanyahu is including Pres. in the neo axis of evil 2015

U.S. Supreme Court rejects Obamacare 'death panel' challenge

http://news.yahoo.com/u-supreme-court-rejects-obamacare-death-panel-challenge-133800487--finance.html

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a new challenge to President Barack Obama's healthcare law that took aim at a bureaucratic board labeled by some Republicans as a "death panel" because it was designed to cut Medicare costs.

The high court left intact a ruling by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that threw out the lawsuit.

The court’s action in an unsigned order was a victory for Obama administration, which has faced a barrage of legal challenges to the 2010 Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare. The court is currently weighing a separate case challenging health insurance subsidies that are key to Obamacare’s implementation. A ruling is due by the end of June.

In the case that the justices rejected on Monday, Arizona-based business owner Nick Coons and Dr. Eric Novack, an orthopedic surgeon, sued in 2011 in litigation backed by a conservative legal group.

Among other things, they challenged the Independent Payment Advisory Board, or IPAB, a 15-member government panel dubbed by some Republicans as a "death panel" because of its intended role in trimming costs within Medicare, the government healthcare program for the elderly and disabled.

Lower courts threw out the lawsuit. In its August 2014 ruling, the appeals court said that the plaintiffs had not shown they had suffered any harm that they could sue over.

On the IPAB claim, the court noted that under the terms of the healthcare law, the board acts only if Medicare spending increases at a certain level. The earliest it could ever take any action that could potentially reduce Novack’s Medicare reimbursements would be in 2019.

this is encouraging but i hope it's not another here comes the boom moment like the unleashed dark monies from citizens united then upheld ACA.  i like that people are making noise and showing their faces to keep ObamaCares, we can pray and make some noise and show our faces emphasis on Pray. if you haven't or are not in need of healthcare now life will introduce you at some point prepare don't get caught by surprise.

Conservative Media's Fantasy That Obama Leaked Info On Israel's Nuclear Capabilities

http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/03/27/conservative-medias-fantasy-that-obama-leaked-i/203074

Conservative Media Stoke Fears That Obama "Leaked" Info On Israel's Nuclear Program "For The First Time"

Rush Limbaugh: Obama Released Report That "Revealed" Israel Has Nuclear Capabilities, An "Unprecedented" Decision Meant To Anger Netanyahu. During the March 26 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show, Limbaugh claimed that the Obama administration "quietly declassified a 336-page Defense Department document -- top-secret document" that details Israel's nuclear program. Limbaugh called the decision "unprecedented" and asserted it was because Obama's "nose is out of joint" over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress. He went on, "No one has ever admitted that Israel has nukes" until this document was released. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 3/26/15]

Sean Hannity: "Obama Has Now Leaked Israel's Nuclear Secrets To The World," An Act Of "High Crimes And Misdemeanors." On the March 26 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Sean Hannity Show, Hannity asserted the administration "actually leaked Israeli nuclear secrets," calling the release of the report "a level of treachery I can't even begin to comprehend." Hannity claimed Obama engaged in "espionage" and "sabotage" against Israel. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 3/26/15] 

Mark Levin: This Is "A Leak" Of A "Top-Secret" Report Because Obama's "Decided That Israel Has Got To Go." During the March 26 edition of Cumulus Media Networks' The Mark Levin Show, Mark Levin called the DOD's release "a leak" and asserted that it "means that Obama has decided that Israel has got to go." [Cumulus Media Networks, The Mark Levin Show, 3/26/15]

there they go again not doing the homework and creating a fake scandal that came into being by one of their's G W Bush, they take it run with it and do their en zone dance while the rest of us sit back and laugh at the republican chicken little play.  sorry guys no Tony award here.  they hurt the country more than Pres. calmer, more informed heads will prevail and another entry into the republican book of failed smears appears on a Texas book repository shelf as fact.  read the rest of the right wing loon comments in article

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chicken_little

George Will Pretends Hillary Clinton Has No Achievements

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/03/29/george-will-pretends-hillary-clinton-has-no-ach/203078

George Will ignored Hillary Clinton's substantial accomplishments as secretary of state, senator, and first lady in order to suggest that her support from Democrats is due solely to "identity politics."

In his latest Washington Post column, Will describes the Democratic Party as "adrift in identity politics, cling[ing], as shipwrecked sailors do to floating debris, to this odd feminist heroine," and writes that Clinton's "performance in governance has been defined by three failures." Will goes on to cherry-pick instances from Clinton's career, ignoring her achievements in the White House, Senate, and at State to portray her as a failure.

In citing Clinton's time as first lady, he omits, for example, Clinton's role in the passage of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which expanded health insurance for children in lower-income households. Will also ignores her pivotal role in the Adoption and Safe Families Act, which eased processes allowing the removal of children from abusive situations.

Clinton also helped to create the Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women and used her platform to raise the issue of abuse against women internationally, telling the United Nations' Fourth World Conference on Women in China that, "It is time for us to say here in Beijing, and for the world to hear, that it is no longer acceptable to discuss women's rights as separate from human rights."

Will says Clinton's tenure in the Senate was "an uneventful prelude to her 2008 presidential quest," failing to note that she sponsored or co-sponsored 54 bills that eventually became law. These including writing a section of the No Child Left Behind law addressing recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers; co-authoring a law compelling drug companies to conduct pediatric safety tests on products prescribed for children; working with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on language in a defense authorization bill giving members of the military access to the Tricare health system even when they aren't deployed; and sponsoring a bill which would mandate more efficient distribution of flu vaccines.

Going on to describe her appointment as Secretary State as a "consolation prize," Will downplays Clinton's accomplishments during her years in the position. These include opening up Myanmar as the first secretary of state to make an official visit there since 1955, negotiating a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas with the help of Egypt in 2012, and tightening international sanctions on Iran to their highest level ever with nearly a dozen countries significantly reducing their purchases of Iranian oil in 2012.

i'm feeling another short and sweet moment two reasons first he failed to mention or actually deliberately omitted her accomplishments just as they do Pres.'s and any other Dem it makes them look good second those same accomplishments are the very things they are trying to destroy and are not on any republican list of things to do, although that list has plenty of room since it only has obstruct Dems on it but in doing so they are obstructing you because those things are on our list.

Condi Rice accomplishments, looks as though she spent her time trying to get BUSH/CHENEY to do things but are those accomplishments of merit for the office????

http://www.answers.com/Q/What_are_Condoleezza_Rice_accomplishments

Colin Powell not much i could find

http://2001-2009.state.gov/secretary/former/powell/index.htm

McCain to Netanyahu: Treat "Abusive & Surly" Obama with Contempt by Going Rogue & Bombing Iran

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/28/1374021/-McCain-to-Netanyahu-Treat-Abusive-Surly-Obama-with-Contempt-by-Going-Rogue-Bombing-Iran

Last week during budget deliberations, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) entered into the Congressional Record some frightening and seditious advice for Israel.

The occasion for such advice? McCain is apoplectic over the Obama administration's response to Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, officially rejecting the two-state solution championed by the United States and his racist incitement of Arab voters on election day.

Indeed, Obama has hinted that the U.S. may abandon Israel at the U.N., his Chief of Staff recently stated that Israel's 50-year occupation must end, and administration officials rejected Netanyahu's backtracking on his election-day comments.

Before offering Netanyahu and Israel advice on how to deal with Obama, he embraced Netanyahu's dishonesty by pardoning his racism and rejection of U.S. policy as normative electioneering:

There has been a lot of pressure on Israel as a result of the only free and fair election that you will see take place in that entire part of the world. There has been a harsh criticism of the things Prime Minister Netanyahu said during that campaign.

I point out to my colleagues sometimes things are said in campaigns that maybe we say in the heat of the campaign and maybe it is OK if we apologize.

well i guess my last post should have more clearly said he does have the republican crazies here they seem to share the same idiocy drive to go to war.  McCain served on my ship in 1967 in No. Vietnam didn't know him but today almost 50 years later i'm ashamed to even admit that close a proximity to him.  first they go grade school playground and invite him here who knows the degrading things they laughed about saying of Obama no respect for the office he was beat out of  2008 still harboring those sour grapes, now he's telling a foreign war mongerer to screw the Pres. and bomb Iran does is delusional mind think he can authorize that action by our military which Pres. is Commander and Chief of, why for war or just to take a juvenile swing at the Pres.?????

we now have to wonder how much will he Netanyahu contribute to the right wing 2016 elections, and he's crazier than first thought if he thinks those republican who support the travesty of international protocol will help him bomb Iran, or maybe he thinks Americans are stupid enough to vote for them again than that could be a possibility for republican congress and president going off to war with another crazed foreign despot.  it's true they do always return to the scene of their original crime.

Netanyahu Jumps Shark, Suggests US In Evil "Axis" With Yemen Rebels, Iran, UK, France, Germany...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/30/1374287/-Netanyahu-Jumps-The-Shark-Suggests-US-Part-of-Evil-Axis-Along-With-Yemen-Rebels

Remember George W. Bush's infamous "axis of evil" (Iraq, Iran, and North Korea) speech ? Bush's 2002 speech sought compare that trio of nations with the Axis of nations (Germany, Japan, Italy) that America fought in World War Two.

Now, per Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there's a new "axis" (of evil) which includes not only Iran and Yemen but also the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, France, and Germany.

At a cabinet meeting last Sunday, Netanyahu referenced the P5+1 negotiations ongoing in Lausanne, Switzerland, to resolve the diplomatic impasse over Iran's nuclear program. "This agreement, as it appears, confirms all of our concerns and even more so," Netanyahu told his cabinet according to the Jerusalem Post.

Netanyahu went on to declare, "The Iran-Lausanne-Yemen axis is very dangerous to humanity and it must be stopped !" To make sure the world got his point, Netanyahu fired off his dramatic declaration on Twitter.

In a March 30, 2015 commentary, Middle East expert Juan Cole charged Netanyahu with having "jumped the shark", explaining that, " 'To jump the shark' means to go so far as to become a self-parody that can no longer be taken seriously." Observed Cole,

"Netanyahu now cannot tell the difference between diplomats in pinstripes being stiff around the table in Switzerland and grassroots Shiite tribal forces asserting themselves in Yemen. He sees French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius as a Houthi tribesman, beturbanned and attended by goats. Even the idea that the Houthi movement in Yemen can be seen primarily as an Iranian project is a falsehood; it is a grassroots expression of frustration with governmental neglect. Netanyahu has started seeing Iran all around him, giving him nightmares, consuming his every waking moment."

In a responding tweet, the Director of Government Government Affairs for the liberal Jewish-American lobby J Street called upon the Anti Defamation League and AIPAC to condemn Netanyahu's claim that the US is part of an "axis" that poses a "danger to humanity".

this guy really is bat crap crazy, he's alienating any and everyone that's willing to side with him just goes to show right wing international is one in the same with American right wing.  he is seeing allies as the enemy because they don't talk the Bomb Iran rhetoric right now immediately.  he needs to be recalled before he is responsible for the desolation of Israel  making enemies only emboldens Iran if they wanted to attack them and who is going to put their children and money up to help when he calls them evil axis against him that is the ravings of a mad man with nothing but saber waving and striking in his mind,  he is an evil axis all by himself.

Senate Republicans blame intransigence on Lynch nomination on 'constituents'

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/30/1374320/-Senate-Republicans-blame-intransigence-on-Lynch-nomination-on-nbsp-constituents

Congress is now on recess for two weeks, with the Senate leaving some critical work undone. Most critical, the nomination of Loretta Lynch to be attorney general, which has already set a record for Republican obstruction. Senate Republicans are in a mess over this nomination, none of them wanting to see Eric Holder continue in office, but few wanting to be on the wrong side of the tea party on immigration. So they're blaming their spinelessness on their "constituents."

But, they say, their constituents have told them that a vote for Ms. Lynch affirms Mr. Obama's executive actions on immigration, which she has said she finds lawful. […]

"Perhaps she'll be confirmed," Senator Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi, said after a long pause and a deep audible breath, "but she won't be confirmed with my vote. That's what my constituents want of me, to make a stand against someone who has basically taken the position that the executive branch has unlimited, almost czarlike powers." […]

The pressure has fallen on Senators Mark S. Kirk of Illinois, Dean Heller of Nevada, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Thad Cochran of Mississippi and Rob Portman of Ohio to announce their positions.

Mr. Kirk and Mr. Portman face re-election next year in states with large African-American populations. Mr. Cochran barely staved off a Tea Party challenger in his state's Republican primary last year, winning only because black voters crossed party lines to support him. […]

"I'm ready for [Holder] to leave also," said Senator John Boozman, Republican of Arkansas and an opponent of Ms. Lynch's confirmation. "I don't want to argue. That's where I'm at, and that's where the people of Arkansas are."

Where this overwhelming opposition to Obama's immigration policy is coming from is no mystery, and it's not the majority of anyone's constituents. Last month, polling found that just 17 percent of the voting public thinks that fighting President Obama's executive action on immigration should be the Republican Congress's highest priority. And a CNN poll from late last fall found that a whopping 76 percent of voting Americans back the president's executive action.

Who's opposed? The nativist tea party, a mere 18 percent of adult Americans. This is all about potential tea party primary challenges.

my Hispanic brethren and citizens to be are you paying attention this is really all about not delaying her nomination as much as it is about denying you access to American soil and anything that might lead to you being able to vote against them.  lot smarter to back off even though they don't feel it but embrace immigration it's inevitable just as you are inevitably going to be citizens of America, some of you would maybe fall into the web of deceit and vote for them.  feeble attempts to gain favor like Rubio and Cruz both who turned their backs and followed the bigoted party line of exclusion shows you there is nothing on that side of the street for you.

Ms. Lynch is collateral damage of the republican war against Hispanic voters in America it shows their equal opportunity discrimination anyone not down with hate and bigotry have no place in America and no right to vote so the suppress and gerrymander.  America should not afford a place for them in our lives.

as to them wanting Holder gone not as much as they don't want Hispanics here.  what Holder should do is double down on investigations of their civil infractions as long as they want to deny her they'll have him in their faces and places seeing what he can shine a light on. i'm serious they want to play games and blame everyone but themselves let's take a closer look at them ala Holder.

Gov. Mike Pence lied

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/29/1374244/-Gov-Mike-Pence-is-a-liar

On ABC's Sunday program "This Week," Indiana Gov. Mike Pence gave a career-ending performance in which he repeatedly refused to answer whether Indiana's new "religious freedom" law, SB 101, allows discrimination against gays and lesbians (#NotReadyForPrimeTime). Pence also likened SB 101 to the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) signed into law in the '90s and those adopted by about 19 states since. Then he added:

And after last year's Hobby Lobby case, Indiana properly brought the same version that then state senator Barack Obama voted for in Illinois before our legislature. And I was proud to sign it into law last week.

Lies. All of it. Indiana's new law is substantially different than both the 90s-era RFRAs and there is no parallel to be drawn between Indiana now and the Illinois bill Barack Obama voted for 17 years ago.

First, these new RFRAs aren't even close to the same as those that have been passed by other states over the last couple decades. The new ones are RFRAs on steroids. The old RFRAs were meant to keep the government from infringing on the religious beliefs of individuals. The new ones vary, but they almost all apply to private disputes. That is new and will allow people to use their religious beliefs as a defense if they are sued for discrimination by another individual.

Here's more from a real lawyer, Jenny Pizer at Lambda Legal:

SB 101 is substantially broader than the federal law. It extends religious rights to all businesses, no matter how large and completely secular they are. In addition, the federal law can only be invoked against government action. SB 101 goes much further, inviting discrimination by allowing religious beliefs to be raised as a defense in lawsuits and administrative proceedings brought by workers, tenants and customers who have suffered discrimination in a business transaction based on someone else’s religious beliefs.

evangelical influence is not so subtle it's like "live as we say or burn in hell" or be discriminated against and attacked by bigoted and racist chants., in fact it's a kick in the head by those who routinely claim the rest of us are trampling on and blocking their right to freedom of religious belief.  the brazen audacity of their arrogance is what shows them to be hypocritical blasphemers.  they the republicans pass laws for them to do to the rest what they claim is being done to them so by default they are arguing against their own actions as being unconstitutional against themselves, confusing not really it's the old pot vs. kettle syndrome or more juvenile like a "I know you are but what am I"? 

God does not teach anything remotely close to these peoples manifesto.  it took two pages before any mention of JESUS none of God just what they stand for.  reading this it sounds like the bigoted racist anti God  people we have known them to be.  check out the link and see what you walk away with as to the "NEW EVANGELICAL".

http://www.anevangelicalmanifesto.com/docs/Evangelical_Manifesto.pdf

Ted Cruz, darling of the right-wing radio hosts

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/30/1374313/-Ted-Cruz-darling-of-the-right-wing-radio-hosts

Stop the presses! Politico has a scoop: right-wing radio talk show hosts like right-wing presidential candidate Ted Cruz:

Glenn Beck wants listeners to pray for him. Mark Levin says Fox News is out to get him. Hugh Hewitt calls him an “intellectual leader.” Rush Limbaugh thinks his campaign launch was “masterful.” Laura Ingraham hails him as “Reaganesque.” Erick Erickson considers him a “good friend.”

They might as well just call off the Republican presidential primary and hand the nomination to Ted Cruz. Although ... praise doesn't always translate into endorsements. Erickson and Hewitt aren't endorsing yet, Limbaugh is currently most actively praising Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and, oh, Michael Savage has called Cruz a "warmonger" and a "lunatic." Then there's this:

No question — in past elections, conservative radio hosts have struggled to translate their enthusiasm for a candidate into a winning presidential campaign. But the frequent encomiums to Cruz will provide him with a reliable supply of free media and powerful, sustained validation from some of the most important gatekeepers in the Republican sphere.

all this might be true but right wing media tends to cater to the one's with the red meat stuck in their teeth, that does not translate into general election wins evidenced by their incessant attacks and losses 2008 and 12.  also as republican politics shift with the win so does the support of the right wing money and media.  the fault in that dynamic is they have to become extreme radicals to get top billing on their media sources than for the rest of us Americans they have to take on a "oop's, i didn't mean none of that hateful bigoted stuff i said last month" in order to try and attract votes of those they spent the whole cycle alienating.

so no matter what we hear it does mean as much as gnat crap remember Romney was a shoe in and McCain with Palin was a take it to the bank deal?  well we know that story was a sad ending for those who were blowing whistles and dancing in the street and throwing darts a Pres. dressed in African dress with a bone through his nose.  2014 the teaching time get yup get out and get the party you nedd stray home and get republicans who hate you.

Glenn Beck well his people are from Ork, he said,

Beck: 'If you take what I say as gospel, you're an idiot'

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2009/03/30/37168/beck-idiot/

Exhaustive review of states' paper trails throws cold water on Obamacare challengers' case

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/26/1373316/-Exhaustive-review-of-states-paper-trails-throws-cold-water-on-Obamacare-challengers-case?detail=email

The Supreme Court might have already held its vote on King v. Burwell, the case challenging federal tax credits to people buying Obamacare health insurance on the federal exchange because they live in states which did not create their own exchanges. The challengers posit that Congress intended it this way—that they wrote the law to explicitly exclude these millions of people from subsidies as incentive to states to create their own exchanges. The main problem for challengers is that pretty much nothing in the record of the law—from the very first meetings and hearings all the way through the rule-making process after it passed—confirms that interpretation.

Here's even more evidence—or more accurately, complete lack of evidence—to show that the King lawyers' case is constructed out of basically nothing.

Over the past year, The Huffington Post has filed public record requests with multiple states and the Department of Health and Human Services to see if there was ever any discussion among federal and state officials about this very topic.

HuffPost examined results from within a specific time frame—after the passage of Obamacare and before August 2011, when the IRS issued its public ruling that subsidies should be universal—and focused on states that chose not to set up an exchange. In addition, HuffPost looked at more than 50,000 previously released emails from the governor's office in Oklahoma.

Among all the emails, letters and press releases reviewed, there was not a single instance of an administration official warning that if states decided not to run their own health care exchanges, their citizens would not be eligible for the tax credit subsidies. Nor was there a single instance of a state official recognizing or anticipating such consequences. As states faced the choice of establishing their own exchange, creating a hybrid exchange with the federal government, or letting the federal government have full control, no one appeared to be discussing what plaintiffs now say is the most consequential financial element of the whole arrangement. Only when the issue began percolating on conservative news outlets, and had life breathed into it from conservative think tanks, did officials start to notice.

The most infuriating information HuffPo collected comes from Oklahoma, one of just a handful of states that filed an amicus brief in support of the King plaintiffs, asserting that they knew all along they would be penalized for not creating an exchange. In the 50,000 emails from Gov. Mary Fallin's office, there was not a single hint that this was the understanding of state officials and the issue wasn't even mentioned until Nov. 16, 2011, when the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by the legal minds behind this challenge posing the theory. Throughout 2011 and 2012, Fallon was actually advocating that the state set up an exchange. That's until her attorney general, Scott Pruitt, wrote to her saying that he was going to sue the federal government, and if she pursued the state-based exchange and got it, "I will have to dismiss the lawsuit."

Suing the Obama administration was far more important to Fallon and Pruitt than making sure their constituents had affordable health insurance. 

this has become an embarrassing phenomenon for republicans they jump out on a limp lie and mislead while trying to deny American citizens it seems with the assumed position that those of like politics will back their play regardless to it's authenticity.  like when Fox's O'Reilly told all those lies and assumed others would sully their names and reputation and become complicit in his farce to fool the people.  now will the scotus be duplicitous or will they act in favor of millions of Americans who want then to.  are we experiencing a almost obsolete occurrence the people speaking and the right wing listening???????  let's not get to jiggy with it they still haven't handed down the decision until then just pray.

Illinois State Police raid St. Louis area police dept. over missing gun and drugs from evidence room

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/26/1373488/-Illinois-State-Police-raid-St-Louis-area-police-dept-over-missing-gun-and-drugs-from-evidence-room?detail=email

A Brooklyn, Illinois police department is in hot water after one of their detectives was featured posing with evidence, evidence that is still missing:

Allegations against the Brooklyn Police Department include mishandling of evidence. Former detective Chris Heatherly is accused of taking an AR-15 rifle out of an evidence locker and keeping it in the trunk of his car. Heatherly is also accused of posing for a picture with the rifle in hand. The photo was used in a police department calendar.

In a letter, St. Clair County's State's Attorney said the action is flagrant violation of police protocol and said it breached the integrity of the evidence in the case.  The prosecutor also said he would not prosecute any more cases where Heatherly is relied on as a witness, and added the ammunition and suspected drugs that were seized in connection to the investigation involving the AR-15 have not been found.

Ammo and drugs are also missing.

No word on when Detective Heatherly left the police department, but the Illinois State's Attorney's office claims Detective Heatherly basically helped himself to the AR-15:

- He kept this rifle in the trunk of his squad car in a case he had purchased for it.

- He attached his own sling to this assault rifle.

- While on duty he posed for a picture while holding this rifle, and the picture was used in a department calendar.

Furthermore, St. Clair County State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly had this to say:

“While it appears, from the evidence available to my office at this time, Mr. Heatherly had no criminal or malicious intent, I am struck by the fact that he is a veteran police officer who knew or should have known that his actions breached the integrity of the evidence in a criminal case. Mr. Heatherly’s choice to remove a rifle from evidence on a pending case constitutes a flagrant violation of fundamental police protocol and thus creates an irreparable credibility deficit,” Kelly wrote.

this kind of action is obviously permitted in these places tampering with evidence or stealing it for your own advantage.  what got this up front in the media was the audacity of arrogance the guy posed for a photo opt on a police calendaer of a criminal act.  everyone should know by now you take no picture that can't be published at some point people have auto uploads for pics on their phones to cloud or one drive or skydive, but in the moment of selfiemania they forget and do dumb crap like this.  i'm not pushing so much for smarter cops except for those who have homicidal tendencies, because they give themselves away and it might for now be the only way we can weed out the rotten ones.

After racially motivated attack, former STL Cardinals player says he may leave St. Louis

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/26/1373512/-After-racially-motivated-attack-former-STL-Cardinals-player-says-he-may-leave-St-Louis?detail=email

Former St. Louis Cardinal Curt Ford says he was attacked at a gas station:

St. Louis County police from the Fenton Precinct arrested James Street, 37, of the 400 block of Saline Road, a white man who allegedly slugged the black former Cardinals player after shouting racial slurs at him and telling him to "go back to Ferguson," the Post-Dispatch has learned.

"I was sucker-punched, blindsided," Ford said. "I was walking into the store and hit from my blind side."

The argument occurred with the two men pulled up to the same gas pump. Ford says he loves St. Louis, but this might be enough to make him move:

"I'm going to let the authorities handle this situation, but I've had enough of St. Louis," Ford said in a phone interview Thursday. "You hear about this kind of stuff happening, and I always knew it existed because of my previous experience working here in St. Louis, but you try to keep away from it and there is just no way you can do that unless you stay inside like a hermit.

"I just want justice. It's all I want."

this should be a learning time even though a few bigots and racist get fired for acts of civil discrimination it really does not much when the whole of the down not the target of such disgusting behavior are of the same mind and defending their perceived right to be that way.  it's not but it won't change with a few out of play, or are they the same crowd they hung around is still there talking the same smack, nothing changes till they all join in.

It's so hard to be an Obamacare-hating Republican these days

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/29/1373514/-It-s-so-hard-to-be-an-Obamacare-hating-Republican-these-days

One of the more striking features of the contemporary conservative movement is the extent to which it has been moving toward epistemic closure. Reality is defined by a multimedia array of interconnected and cross promoting conservative blogs, radio programs, magazines, and of course, Fox News. Whatever conflicts with that reality can be dismissed out of hand because it comes from the liberal media, and is therefore ipso facto not to be trusted. (How do you know they’re liberal? Well, they disagree with the conservative media!)

-- Julian Sanchez

Julian Sanchez, a CATO Institute fellow who specializes in the areas of privacy and surveillance, was perhaps the first to concisely distill the alternate reality that has been created by the continuously cross-referencing circle of conservative media outlets. Conservatives live in a bubble of epistemic closure in which narratives and ideas that feed a particular narrative are introduced, reinforced and then judged to be accurate simply by virtue of having been presented by the correct media authorities. It doesn't matter if whatever is being claimed has an actual basis in objective reality: once an idea that pleases the conservative id has taken root, it is mighty hard for truth to pierce the bubble of fantasy.

This is why President Obama can in the conservative mind be a Kenyan, a Muslim, a socialist, and a black liberation theologist all at the same time. It's why no amount of evidence can ever convince conservatism the climate change is real. It's why they view it as a fact that Obama is killing jobs and exploding the deficit, even as the facts are exactly the opposite on both counts. And it's also why the Affordable Care Act is simply known to be a disaster that is ruining lives, damaging employers, and constraining freedom, even as in reality it is reducing costs, saving lives, and making health insurance affordable for people who have gone far too long without it.

But when conservatives are forced to venture outside the circle of epistemic closure and actually confront the world outside the bubble, the results are hilarious, as we've seen this week with certain Republican opponents of the Affordable Care Act.

Let's take what happened this week to Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who was selected to deliver the official Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address last year. On Monday, Rodgers took to her Facebook page to ask her supporters and constituents to share the ways in which the Affordable Care Act has negatively impacted their lives. The conservative narrative about health insurance reform, of course, is that it has jacked up premiums, made taxes more difficult, and made employment harder to find.

Rodgers' fishing expedition didn't go as planned: the thread was deluged by dozens, perhaps hundreds, of comments in support of the law. Individuals described how either they or family members who could not get coverage previously due to pre-existing conditions were now able to get themselves insured. Others discussed how the law's subsidies had drastically reduced their insurance premiums. Healthcare providers told stories about how their clinics were seeing a massive influx of people who had finally gotten health care after going far too long without it. 

that is oh so true it's incomplete though because it's hard being a republican period.  they have spent now going on 7 years damming Pres. and the ObamaCares lie it's a train wreck, abomination now that we all see "THEY LIE" it's hard to say anything negative about it but some still do.  i wonder about Cruz did he agonize over admitting he was signing up no i don't think so it's the law he and they have always painfully been aware of that so throwing his hat in the ring required him to get right with the law of the land this was a necessity move not one of  surrender.  what now will be interesting is if he continues to bemoan the relevancy of the law or just shuts up till after the 2016 contest.  

that might be difficult seeing as how the party requires them to go stage right off the cliff to win a primary than slingshot back to center right for general election,  that i see as their conundrum you over embellish,  lie like a dog,  engage in the who hates Pres. and Hilary the most then you change face and become the reaching out to you lying candidate, and that is why they lose elections and have to cheat they confuse already under informed and confused voters with who the hell are they really voting for primary liar or general liar btw did i mention the lies change also with whatever election is going on?

Thank a Union: 36 Ways Unions Have Improved Your Life

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/15/1092027/-Thanks-a-Union-36-Ways-Unions-Have-Improved-Your-Life?detail=email

This is repost of a blog I wrote in winter of last year when the protests against Governor Walker and union busting were gearing up.

Way beyond my wildest expectations, this post actually went viral.

I've decided to post this again here, not to try and prolong the success of it or recycle it, but because I feel it is still very relevant and can't be said enough. Especially with the Wisconsin recall elections less than a month away.

The right has made unions the boogeymen of our time. It is our duty to set the record straight.

Please share this with everyone you know. I don't care about credit. You can put your name on it for all I care. I just want the message out.

Unions are not a bad thing. In fact, we should thank them everyday of our working lives.

God Bless Unions!

Solidarity Forever!

Let's get one thing straight...

Employers and Corporations did not feel generous and decide to give you two days off every week to have a social/personal life. (We now call them weekends). Corporations did not just feel like being nice one day and give their employees paid vacations. CEOs didn't get together in a board room and say "Let's give our employees more rights at work" or "Maybe there should be laws to limit our power over an employee".

Virtually ALL the benefits you have at work, whether you work in the public or private sector, all of the benefits and rights you enjoy everyday are there because unions fought hard and long for them against big business who did everything they could to prevent giving you your rights. Many union leaders and members even lost their lives for things we take for granted today.

The right-wing attack on unions is nothing more than ignorance, lack of education, and propaganda.

If republicans would rather support corporations instead of organized groups of workers working to secure a fair work environment A.K.A a union, I ask them to walk the walk as well. Give up every benefit and right that you use that unions are responsible for.

 for those of us who are not unionized or had occasion to have a union rep intervene on your behalf against a job related problem safety, wages this might help to better understand what republicans are trying to accomplish by killing them and hopefully those right wing base members see they too bare the brunt of the loss of another form of your voice being heard,  voter suppression being the first. recognize  we hear those states that produce oil and coal ranting against regulation that is republican driven noise but you don't hear those same states talking about work safety and fair wages and hours, not a republican talking point.  sure i understand having a job but what good is it if you die before you can retire and enjoy a pension that you wouldn't get anyway.  unions they are for you, republicans they are for business and selves. take a pick!!!

Video: Courageous Parent Takes on Tea Partiers' Bigotry Against 4th Grade Transgender Student

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/27/1373732/-Video-Courageous-Parent-Takes-on-Tea-Partiers-Bigotry-Against-4th-Grade-Transgender-Student?detail=email

remember all bigots are not racist, but all racist are bigots

Tuesday night, the Stafford County (Virginia) School Board, prior to voting on whether or not to abide by federal law, took public feedback on a debate over transgender students' bathroom access. For some background,  see Think Progress, which explains:

Hartwood Elementary School, part of the Stafford County school system, started by accommodating the student’s identity. She was allowed to use the girls’ room per her gender identity and in consultation with her parents. When another parent complained, the district’s Executive Director of Human Resources, Rick L. Fitzgerald, released a message on behalf of the district referring to recent guidance from the Department of Justice that indicates that the “sex” protections under Title IX protect transgender students’ use of facilities that match the gender with which they identify. Allowing the fourth-grader to use the girls’ room was simply the district complying with the law.

...The transgender student’s father, Jonathan Adams, also testified. He admitted to having some of the same misconceptions when the child he thought was his son insisted she was a girl. “And then I watched my little girl grow up,” he said. Adams proclaimed that he was “very proud to have a special little girl,” and implored others “not to trade understanding for fear or trade misconceptions for hate."

Later in the evening, however, the school board voted 6-0 to direct the superintendent to restrict the girl’s bathroom use.

Also interesting were the comments by the public. For the entire debate, most of which involved parents opposed to allowing the transgender student (who identifies as female) to use the girls' bathroom, see here. The above video is of a courageous parent of two students in the Stafford County school system, delivering an impassioned plea for respect and tolerance for the transgender student. Sadly, her pleas feel on deaf ears...and a cowardly School Board.  

Also note that this courageous woman was outnumbered probably 10:1 by Tea Party/Fox/Rush-style speakers (sporting Orwellian "Save Our Schools" stickers - save them from WHAT? a fourth grade transgender girl who's not a threat to anyone?!?) at the event. For "highlights" of their ignorant, bigoted, hysteria-infused remarks, see the "flip."

as we see it only takes one bigot to go into an hysterical twit and democracy and fairness and non discriminate practices become practiced victimization's by the multitude.  there was no mention that during the period she was granted appropriate facility use of any kind of discrepancy or other kids crying foul so what the fuss?????  those parents who might think they are protecting their kid benefit of the doubt, but from what, life?  

transgender and gay people are here as long as the rest of us will be predictably some of those being "PROTECTED" might very well end up married to those their parents chose to oppose.  perceived threats are just that perceived and embracing of comes at the people involved discretion,  is the real fear the potential perceived child's weakness of mind to be influenced, also being perceived as parental failure????????? just sayin'

Special needs student forced to remove letter jacket after parent complained he didn't earn it

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/27/1373746/-Special-needs-student-forced-to-remove-letter-jacket-after-parent-complained-he-didn-t-earn-it?detail=email

Michael Kelley is a special needs student at Wichita East High School in Kansas. Like most Kansans, he loves basketball and plays in a recreational league. His parents are proud of his dedication to the game and bought him a letter jacket that he wore with pride. That is, until this week:

“Another parent, from what I am told, was upset that my son was wearing his letter jacket.”

The mother claims her son was asked to take that jacket off and was given a sweat shirt to wear instead.

The school claimed it was school policy, but the Athletic Director for the entire school district says it is NOT district policy:

The family turned to J. Means, USD 259’s Athletic Director. He told the family that when he was the athletic director at Northwest High their policy was to allow special needs students to earn letters, just like other athletes.

Jolinda Kelley wants the school to change the policy so that athletes of all abilities can show their school pride:

“It’s not just my son. It’s every student that was out there last night. It’s every student that’s there on Fridays that plays their hardest and to the best of their capability regardless what that is.”

there is so much discrimination in this country it's a miracle we are still here and have gotten past a lot but nowhere near enough attitudinal changes.  like the racist SAE frat in OK they IMO rightly said they were taught it, well it's true if i can borrow lyrics from a rap song "the message",  "a child is born with no state of mind, blind to the ways of mankind",  we all are taught it's called passing down from generation to generation what is passed is what creates the machinations of  collective and individual racial identity.

why, are those who oppose so insecure and paranoid they think that it lessens their kid who earned it's credibility or that it could be seen as they are equal to and not better than a special needs kid, i think that would be more in God's realm to qualify. embracing a special needs kid by top jocks goes further to advance that person who does than the one who throws his dog a bone but won't let another kid have a moment.

California AG takes aim at 'kill the gays' ballot initiative

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/26/1373503/-California-AG-takes-aim-at-kill-the-gays-ballot-initiative?detail=email

California Attorney General Kamala Harris is no fan of the ballot measure proposal that calls for gay executions and she is seeking permission from a state court to quash it. The initiative, called the "Sodomite Suppression Act," commands that gays and lesbians "be put to death by bullets to the head or by an other convenient method."

Here's what Harris had to say:

"As Attorney General of California, it is my sworn duty to uphold the California and United States Constitutions and to protect the rights of all Californians. This proposal not only threatens public safety, it is patently unconstitutional, utterly reprehensible, and has no place in a civil society," Harris said. 

The attorney general in California is tasked with making an official title and summary of every proposal so that its backers can petition for signatures to qualify for ballot. By design, the attorney general is supposed to do so whether she or he agrees with the proposed initiative or not.

Harris, who earlier in her tenure refused to defend a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriages when it was challenged in court, said that unless a judge rules otherwise, she will have no choice but to move the measure through the normal channels. 

Matthew McLaughlin, the Orange County lawyer who paid $200 to submit the initiative, did not respond to a telephone call seeking comment.

no need to tell you what political affiliation this ............ you fill in that blank is.  can you believe this passing a law to kill people seeking their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness guaranteed in  the constitution they say Pres. is ignoring and trampling on, misleading those who don't know their rights or where they are stated and guaranteed to them.  but kill people because of their bigoted minds,  that my friends is another attempt to legalize murder like stand your ground.  

everyday no reaching out as promised just more hateful rhetoric born of bigotry and they saqy these things like "WHY NOT"?

Clueless Republicans gloat over Reid retirement

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/27/1373716/-Clueless-RNC-gloats-over-Reid-nbsp-retirement?detail=email

Way to stay classy, Republican National Committee:

The RNC today released the following statement in response to Democrat Leader Harry Reid announcing his retirement:

"With the Democrat Party already in disarray, a national committee struggling to raise money, and a scandal-plagued presidential frontrunner, it's no surprise Harry Reid realized he was about to suffer a humiliating defeat and decided to step aside," said RNC Press Secretary Allison Moore.

Right. You stick with this story for the next 22 months, as Harry Reid continues to drink Mitch McConnell's and John Boehner's milkshakes. Let's see, he's kept his caucus united and stymied Republicans on Department of Homeland Security funding (and what an embarrassment for Boehner that one was) and poison pill anti-abortion legislation. That's just three months' worth of work for him.

And let's just see how Republicans pull together to finally pass that Obamacare replacement plan they've been floundering on for—what is it, now? Oh, yes—five years. The definition of disarray since 2010 has been John Boehner House of Representatives. But hey RNC, go with what you've got. Harry Reid's going to make the next two years hell for your boys, so enjoy it while you can.

i keep seeing them make these unfounded rants that are exactly either what they are doing or what is happening to them, they say we are in disarray but all news and media repeatedly says that about them then they go and prove it by not being able to display any kind of skills to handle governing the country.  they are split 3 ways  traditional, tea people, libertarian all with their own different agenda's they are so disjointed Beohner can't even pass gas but they say it's us they are really getting old with attacks that news squarely puts them as their faux pas.  

A faux pas (/ˌfoʊˈpɑː/ plural: faux pas /ˌfoʊˈpɑːz/) is a socially awkward or tactless act, especially one that violates accepted social norms, standard customs, or the rules of etiquette.[1]

Ohio lawmaker's personal story of rape and abortion interrupted by male colleagues laughing

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/27/1373677/-Ohio-lawmaker-s-personal-story-of-rape-and-abortion-interrupted-by-male-colleagues-laughing?detail=email#

Ohio state Rep. Teresa Fedor took the microphone as lawmakers were debating a bill that would ban abortions if there is a detectable heartbeat—as early as six weeks of pregnancy:

Abruptly asking to speak during debate on a bill to outlaw abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, the Toledo Democrat and 15-year veteran of the legislature stood and revealed a long-kept secret. She was raped, became pregnant as a result and had an abortion.

“You don’t respect my reason, my rape, my abortion, and I guarantee you there are other women who should stand up with me and be courageous enough to speak that voice,” she told colleagues. “What you are doing is so fundamentally inhuman, unconstitutional, and I’ve sat here too long. I dare every one of you to judge me. ... How dare government get in my business.”

A very courageous speech, indeed. But, in the midst of her impassioned speech, she suddenly had to pause—because at least one male lawmaker in the room was laughing.

I see people laughing and I don't appreciate that. And it happens to be a man who is laughing. But this is serious business right now and I'm speaking for all the women in the state of Ohio who didn't get the opportunity to be in front of that committee and make this statement.

She noted her own military service (she served in the Air Force and the National Guard) and that our military women who are rape survivors deserve to make their own personal choice—and that is when the laughter started.

incidents like this make my thoughts of republican appeasing of rapist and those who violate women all the more real,  they were really late getting on board with the violence against women act, they talk about ACA putting gov't between you and your Dr. then go one better by putting your boss between you and your husband with them your boss deciding if and what birth control you should get,  we know about their drive to close all abortion clinics so much concern to an unborn unrealized person but which they give rights to but no prenatal if they are born crickets nothing coming but denial and snatching food stamps and no post natal and te coup de grace they give the rapist visitation rights.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/02/why-would-anyone-oppose-the-violence-against-women-act/273103/

http://thinkprogress.org/progress-report/gop-votes-to-put-your-boss-in-your-bedroom/

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/01/us-usa-congress-foodstamps-idUSBRE97012420130801

http://www.christianpost.com/news/rapists-can-claim-custody-visitation-rights-for-victims-babies-80656/

Senate passes Republican budget with deep safety net cuts

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/senate-passes-republican-budget-with-deep-safety-net-cuts/

The Senate passed a Republican-authored budget plan early on Friday that seeks $5.1 trillion in domestic spending cuts over 10 years while boosting military funding.

The 52-46 vote on the non-binding budget resolution put Congress on a path to complete its first full budget in six years. It came at the end of a marathon 18-hour session that saw approval of dozens of amendments ranging from Iran sanctions to carbon emissions and immigration policies.

Two Republican senators who are running or considering running for president, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, voted against their party’s budget plan, which is similar to one passed by House Republicans on Wednesday.

In addition to aiming to eliminate deficits within 10 years, both documents seek to ease the path for a repeal or replacement of President Barack Obama’s signature health care reform law.

But differences between the two documents still need to be worked out and a combined budget passed next month by both chambers. Doing so would allow Republicans to invoke parliamentary rules to repeal “Obamacare” with a simple majority in the Senate rather than a tough-to-achieve 60 vote threshold.

He added that once a final budget is passed lawmakers would begin to work to find alternate savings that would allow them to ease statutory budget caps on military and domestic programs.

The Senate budget seeks to eliminate U.S. deficits by 2025 without raising taxes through deep cuts to social safety net programs, investments in transportation and education and other domestic programs.

At the same time, it proposes to boost defense spending by adding about $38 billion to an off-budget war funding account, and offers core Pentagon budget increases in subsequent years.

with what i see as two bone throws the whole thing was about dismantling as much of Pres.'s laws as possible by extension and after the fact new legislation to further eliminate all traces of Pres., with the jackpot being the snatching out from under millions of American citizens healthcare but don't worry they will pout it all back like it was with you now being the jackpot.  deception is vulnerable to light of day,  if we blink and stay home we are toast burnt toast, while they have fish and steak they are trying to prevent food stamp recipients from being able to buy.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/23/1372773/-MO-lawmakers-introduce-bill-to-prevent-food-stamp-recipients-from-buying-fish-among-other-things

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/03/05/1282278/-MUST-SEE-Jon-Stewart-BLASTS-Fox-News-for-attacking-food-stamp-recipients

Republicans blame Obama as Saudi Arabia bombs Yemen rebels

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/republicans-blame-obama-as-saudi-arabia-bombs-yemen-rebels/

 US Republicans warned Thursday that Saudi-led air-strikes in Yemen, apparently conducted without US coordination, show Arab allies have lost trust in the Obama administration as it navigates delicate nuclear talks with Iran.

As warplanes from Saudi Arabia and other allies pounded Huthi Shiite rebel positions for a second straight day, hawkish US lawmakers expressed alarm at the “proxy war” unfolding in the Middle East, and pinned part of the blame on President Barack Obama’s foreign policy.

The Saudi-led intervention without notifying Washington ahead of time “signals a reality that the countries in the region no longer have confidence or are willing to work with the United States of America,” Senator John McCain told reporters.

He said he heard “repeatedly from leaders in the region that they believe that we are forming some kind of Faustian bargain with the Iranians, which would then lead to the great danger to those countries.”

have you noticed that after taking office and before they have been amping up the accusations of Pres. being responsible for every mid east ramblings of war and Isis and Iraq and you name it he had a hand in it.  but they never seem to touch on things that won't inflame foreign leaders who thank God no better or Americans still 6 years later under informed or misinformed, things like this link,  plenty of homespun scandals and lies but never even a "HECK OF A JOB BARRY", is that reasonable to think so many bad things yet we are coming back despite the republicans not helping to clean up their mess.

note they always leave out the good things that have helped we the people and the country so take a look at what they intend to dismember word by word according to their front runner 2016  also they kill me with they always have talked to people they don't have excess to in foreign countries and people here always walk up to them and slam ObamaCares and the Pres., if they exist they should be proud to go on record for what they say they believe refusal implies it's what they were told they believe.

http://pleasecutthecrap.com/obama-accomplishments/

EXCLUSIVE: Creators Dropping Ben Carson's Syndicated Column

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/03/25/exclusive-creators-dropping-ben-carsons-syndica/203045

Creators will suspend Dr. Ben Carson's syndicated column in "about 30 days," according to managing editor David Yontz, who told Media Matters the move follows Carson's description of himself as a presidential candidate in his latest column. Yontz said that Creators has removed the offending column from its website. 

In his March 25 column, which was reprinted in conservative outlets like The Washington Times, WND, and Townhall, Carson described the "learning curve of a candidate" and focused on how much he has "to learn in terms of becoming both a better candidate and a better potential president of the United States." Given the many concrete steps Carson has taken towards mounting a presidential run, Media Matters reached out to Creators to inquire about Carson's status as a columnist, given that he was apparently open to using the space to publish pieces that read like campaign press releases.

"In his latest column, Ben Carson talks about what he would do as an official candidate for president of the United States," Yontz said in an email to Media Matters Wednesday. "He ends the column by saying he wanted to communicate his thoughts as he 'consider(s) this monumental step.' But in the same column, he describes himself as a candidate for president. Consequently, we have decided to suspend syndication of the column, effective in about 30 days, until after he is no longer running for president, either officially or unofficially."

that doesn't sound like "he's to overboard bat crap crazy we don't want to any longer be associated with" it sounds like they are giving him time to fail before coming back at what a lower pay rate when he loses his bid his real estate of self goes down in value, and he cannot demand whatever he get's now.  is the questionable brain doc being out brained by media?

Creators Syndicate - The Best Content in The World

www.creators.com/home.html

Creators Syndicate is an international syndication company that represents cartoonists and columnists of the highest caliber.

if you lose the 999 Herman Cain made more sense than this guy most of the time

Is Fox News' Anti-Gay, Anti-Jewish, Anti-Catholic Pastor Being Courted By Rand Paul? Pastor Robert Jeffress Has Been Denounced For Extreme Rhetoric By Republicans Like Mitt Romney And Karl Rove

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/03/26/is-fox-news-anti-gay-anti-jewish-anti-catholic/203050

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has been meeting with conservative Christian leaders "to gain support for his presidential campaign," including Fox News contributor and Pastor Robert Jeffress, according to U.S. News & World Report. Jeffress has condemned the LGBT community, Mormons, Catholics, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, and Buddhists.

Reporter Kenneth T. Walsh wrote on March 26 that "Paul has been quietly meeting with scores of leaders from the Christian right to gain support for his presidential campaign" and added that he has "talked in recent months" with Jeffress. 

During the 2012 campaign, Jeffress created a firestorm when he denounced Mormonism, the faith of then-Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, as a "cult." Jeffress' remarks drew wide condemnation from Republicans. Then-Romney challenger Rick Perry was forced to distance himself from Jeffress, who had introduced Perry at an event.

Romney called the remarks divisive and said they didn't have a place in this country. Former Reagan cabinet member Bill Bennett said Jeffress was pushing "bigotry." Karl Rove said the remarks are "the kind of thing that doesn't belong in politics." Former Gov. Jon Huntsman called Jeffress a "moron." MSNBC host and former Rep. Joe Scarborough wrote: "Modern American politics as practiced by Jeffress and his ilk require that Jesus Christ be thrown under the bus with great regularity by the very same people who claim His name."

Jeffress has attacked other religions. He's said that "religions like Mormonism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism ... lead people to an eternity of separation from God in Hell." He's called Islam an "evil, evil, religion," referred to Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism as "false religions," and said Catholicism is a "counterfeit religion" that rose from a "cult-like, pagan religion." Jeffress said of Judaism: "Judaism, you can't be saved being a Jew, you know who said that by the way, the three greatest Jews in the New Testament, Peter, Paul, and Jesus Christ, they all said Judaism won't do it, it's faith in Jesus Christ."  

this kinda cancels out all the NAACP and Black and Hispanic voter reach outs claimed by him and the republicans.  instead of learning from their mistakes the compound them yearly with new acts of dumbness. you can't expect support by those who are the objects of racist agendas by those who you support, "DUH". they are now and will be for foreseeable future a lily white party of hate unfortunately for them not enough of them to win a national election despite all they and the scotus have done to assure a win. did i mention their numbers are dwindling by defection or awakening to facts of deception either or they are not the flavor of 2016 no matter what you hear because if it's positive for them they probably created it.

i knew he was disingenuously pursuing a path of radical change he is what he is republican like leopards they can't change their spots the party won't let them.

Mark Levin: President Obama "Is The Greatest Threat The Jews Face ... Since The 1930's"

http://mediamatters.org/video/2015/03/27/mark-levin-president-obama-is-the-greatest-thre/203064

i have just one thing to say if Pres. is the greatest threat why is Netanyahu the Israeli right wing liar trying to get him Pres. to help him and his war mongering party to bomb Iran why is he consumed with going to war with Iran instead of the greatest threat to Jews face Obama, and what does that mean anyway, Jews face????

Hispanic News Media Blast Ted Cruz's Policy Positions

http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/03/27/hispanic-news-media-blast-ted-cruzs-policy-posi/203061

Republican presidential-hopeful Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has faced criticism from Hispanic news media for his extreme conservative policy positions on health care and immigration, which are out of line with the majority of Latino voters.

Ted Cruz Announces His Candidacy For President, Bringing Media Attention To His Extreme Policy Positions

Ted Cruz Announces Presidential Bid For 2016 With Differing Spanish- And English-Language Ads. On March 23, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) officially announced his presidential bid at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. Cruz also announced his run via a Spanish-language and English-language campaign ad. As Timeexplained, the Spanish-language ad focused entirely on Cruz's personal life story, while the English-language version discussed Cruz's policy positions, several of which are unpopular among Latinos:

Two of the policy positions Cruz doesn't mention in his [Spanish] YouTube ad -- his opposition to immigration reform and his plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act -- are unpopular in the Hispanic community. [Time, 3/23/15]

republicans saw him as their door to the Hispanic vote like Rubio, than a terrible thing happened the opened their mouths and out came the vitriolic bigotry and racism the staples of the republican party and to which he supports and intends to implement if elected.  the are basically in their faces saying "we don't want you in our America", electric fences, 13 year waits pay taxes after their battle for right to work they won't make enough to live and pay taxes than they have their excuse to expel and repeal any immigration law in place.  they see how hard they are fighting Pres.'s EO it's mean and exclusionary.

please check out the article chock full of republican political posturing by Cruz

The Pay-To-Play Allegation Walker's Watchdog Isn't Defending

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/03/26/the-pay-to-play-allegation-walkers-watchdog-isn/203055

Mired in conflicts of interest, Watchdog.org's Wisconsin Reporter has remained silent as new information emerges concerning Governor Scott Walker's (R-WI) role in a potential pay-to-play scandal. The site, which echoed defendants calling the investigation a "witch hunt," has previously defended Walker from the allegations of campaign finance violations in over 150 articles.

The Wisconsin Reporter has been a staunch defender of Walker against allegations of wrongdoing stemming from the "John Doe" investigations, the protected state probes into Walker's campaign practices and possible illegal campaign coordination. Since January 1 of this year, the Reporter has published 19 articles either defending Walker or denouncing the validity of the investigations.The Reporter's website includes a special series on the "John Doe" investigations titled "Wisconsin's Secret War," which currently has 186 total entries.

But the Wisconsin Reporter has been silent as evidence reportedly leaked from the very investigation it has covered so heavily revealed potential instances of pay-to-play between a local business man and the Walker administration.

At issue is over $1.5 million in donations made in 2012 to the Wisconsin Club for Growth (WCG), a group that defended the Governor during his 2012 recall election and is directed by Walker's campaign advisor, Yahoo News' Michael Isikoff reported on March 23. The donations were made by hardware store franchise owner John Menard Jr. According to Isikoff, in the years after Walker survived that recall election, Menard's business has benefited from "up to $1.8 million in special tax credits from a state economic development corporation that Walker chairs."

the guy is more crooked than the Egyptian hieroglyphics look, he's a Koch whore bought and paid for.  when your defenders no longer are carrying your water they believe you are irredeemable and no longer want to be associated with you or your acts of skulduggery.  now i wonder the republicans and their base consider an unprincipled meandered deviate a perfect fit for their party all the criteria needed so will they still support him to lead the country,  after all they are collectively the party of stupid.????