Friday, August 19, 2016

Donald Trump Has a Huge Conflict of Interest That No One's Talking About

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/08/trump-conflict-of-interest-old-post-office-hotel
"If elected president, Donald Trump would bring with him to the White House unprecedented conflicts of interest, thanks to his sprawling holdings and various debts, including more than $100 million owed to a foreign bank. But his biggest conflict might be the $200 million hotel project Trump's company is developing a couple of blocks from the White House in the Old Post Office Building, a historic property owned by the federal government and leased to the Trump Organization for 60 years. It seems likely, if not inevitable, that during a Trump presidency the federal government could find itself negotiating with the commander in chief—or his children—over matters relating to the new Trump International Hotel."

BOMBSHELL: Ivanka Trump Just Went On Vacation With Putin’s ‘Serious Girlfriend’

http://addictinginfo.org/2016/08/15/bombshell-ivanka-trump-just-went-on-vacation-with-putins-serious-girlfriend/
"People Magazine is reporting that “daddy’s little girl” and Putin’s likely lady friend, alleged Chinese spy Wendi Deng Murdoch (yes, she was also married to Fox News overlord Rupert Murdoch), were spotted over the weekend enjoying scenic Dubrovnik, Croatia, in Eastern Europe."

Joe Biden Slams Donald Trump Qualifications At Pennsylvania Rally

Ivanka Trump is sight-seeing in Croatia with her BFF — Vladimir Putin’s girlfriend

Ivanka Trump is sight-seeing in Croatia with her BFF — Vladimir Putin’s girlfriend

"While Donald Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort is under fire for tight relationships with pro-Kremlin allies and Trump is denying he asked Russia to hack Hillary Clinton, Trump’s eldest daughter and senior Trumpsitting manager is jet setting all over Croatia with Wendi Deng Murdoch, who is Russian president Vladimir Putin’s girlfriend."

Trump campaign chair laid the groundwork for Putin’s Crimea annexation: leaked memo

Trump campaign chair laid the groundwork for Putin’s Crimea annexation: leaked memo

"a senior Ukrainian prosecutor is alleging that Manafort in 2006 orchestrated a series of anti-NATO protests headed up by the pro-Russian Party of Regions, which has since been designated as a criminal organization."

McConnell reiterates message that Donald Trump should be making Supreme Court appointments

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/8/12/1559444/-McConnell-reiterates-message-that-Donald-Trump-should-be-making-Supreme-Court-appointments
"In case you missed it, that's McConnell reiterating again that he would be perfectly fine with a President Trump shaping the federal judiciary, the Supreme Court."

EXPOSED: Donald Trump’s history of lying under oath

EXPOSED: Donald Trump’s history of lying under oath

"What is most disturbing in Trump’s sworn statements is the amount of nonsense he spouts as he mangles the English language into meanings no rational person could accept. An unsuccessful “development by Donald Trump” is not a “development by Donald Trump.” A successful project built by another developer who paid to have Trump’s name on the building is a “Donald Trump development.” A payment of $400,000 equals a payment of $1 million. An ownership stake of 30 percent is actually a 50 percent stake. In a single sentence, he says he knows some people’s names but not their identities, as if talking about Batman and Superman. He studied résumés, but he only glanced at them. The list goes on, with one point in common: Every one of his answers, while under oath, depends not on the truth but on whether it makes him look good."

Donald Trump Chair's Russia Ties Raise New Questions

Trump Names Serial Misinformer Betsy McCaughey To Economic Advisory Council

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/08/11/trump-names-serial-misinformer-betsy-mccaughey-economic-advisory-council/212342
"Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump announced that his campaign was expanding its so-called “economic advisory council” to include New York Post columnist Betsy McCaughey, a serial misinformer with no economic expertise and a long track record of promoting outrageous lies through conservative media."

Karl Rove’s Outside Spending Groups Migrate To New Dark Money Outfit

https://thinkprogress.org/karl-rove-crossroads-dark-money-one-nation-2d4e81df9acc#.oszjn03y6
"While the patriotic-sounding name will mean little to most observers, the team behind One Nation is the same group of Republican operatives that launched a pair of much better known advocacy groups: Karl Rove’s American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS. And they are hard at work at collecting money from donors hoping to preserve a GOP Senate while keeping their own identities a secret."

Paul Krugman Reveals the Despicable Motivations Behind Trump's Most Powerful GOP Supporters @alternet

Paul Krugman Reveals the Despicable Motivations Behind Trump's Most Powerful GOP Supporters @alternet:

"if “populist” Donald Trump wins, taxes on the wealthy will go way down"

Republican Kelly Ayotte's Senate Race Is a Case Study in How Not to Handle Donald Trump @alternet

Republican Kelly Ayotte's Senate Race Is a Case Study in How Not to Handle Donald Trump @alternet:

"Ayotte is one of a number of Republicans who’ve said they will vote for the GOP candidate, but refuse to endorse him. The distinction is unclear, but it seems to boil down to tepidly supporting the candidate, while simultaneously issuing frequent rebukes of some of his more outrageous statements."

Donald Trump Chairman's Pro-Putin Past Remains Murky

Trump shows that he has absolutely no understanding of energy

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/8/11/1558498/-Trump-shows-that-he-has-absolutely-no-understanding-of-energy
"Asked about the nation’s energy situation, Donald Trump got it wrong on almost every point."

Watch Trump Contradict Himself On Almost Every Issue

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-flip-flop_us_57ac3753e4b0db3be07d4192?section
"It’s not unusual for a politician to change his mind on an issue over time. But it seems like Donald Trump has changed his mind on pretty much all issues. The video above shows the GOP presidential candidate flip-flopping on everything from the Iraq War to minimum wage ― and even the abilities of his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. “She’s very talented,” Trump told CNN in 2007. In 2013, he said that Clinton went “above and beyond” as secretary of state."

Meet The Anti-Obamacare Myth-Maker Trump Just Named To His Economic Team

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/betsy-mccaughy-trump-team
"the greatest asset she brings to Team Trump: an ability to serve up distortions and flat-out falsehoods about Democratic legislation that mainstream Republicans and even credible media outlets devoured and regurgitated as conventional wisdom."

Donald Trump Spreads Economic Fairy Dust

https://www.thenation.com/article/donald-trump-spreads-economic-fairy-dust/
"He’s pushing the same old failures of Reaganomics: tax cuts for the rich and deregulation, along with nostalgia for an industrial era long gone."

Paul Ryan Just Proved Republicans at the Top Are Still Craven, Morally Bankrupt Weasels in the Face of Trump

http://thedailybanter.com/2016/08/paul-ryan-trump-joke-second-amendment/
"When pressed by people with microphones and cameras who are at this point f*cking dumbfounded that seemingly rational people are letting this dangerous mental patient run roughshod over them, Ryan pushed back with an oldie but a goodie, saying that a President Trump would bring "better receptivity of our agenda" than a President Hillary Clinton. Which roughly translates into, "I don't give a f*ck if we're giving tax breaks to the four billionaires who survived the Trump-initiated nuclear holocaust in a bunker and there are no more abortions because the radiation has made women infertile, as long as we get our way."  At this point there's literally nothing Trump can do that will make these reprehensible a**holes reconsider their decision. The best we can hope for is that Trump truly does take them all down with him."

Donald Trump's Economic Plan For America is Literally Garbage

http://thedailybanter.com/2016/08/donald-trumps-economic-plan-for-america-is-literally-garbage/
"It was standard fantasy Republican economics based on the long disproved notion that giving lots of money back to rich people somehow makes everyone wealthier"

The GOP’s Attempt To Absolutely Decimate Voting Rights

Noam Chomsky BEGS Americans To Elect Clinton And Save The Planet From Trump (VIDEO)

http://addictinginfo.org/2016/08/09/noam-chomsky-begs-americans-to-elect-clinton-and-save-the-planet-from-trump-video/
"This of course, is hardly the first time Chomsky has urged Americans to come to their senses about Trump."

Putin's Puppet Donald Trump, Deranged, Impulsive, Narcissistic & Angry, Seeks Nuclear Codes

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/8/7/1557884/-Putin-s-Puppet-Donald-Trump-Deranged-Impulsive-Narcissistic-Angry-Seeks-Nuclear-Codes
"Trump is ill-versed in national security, thinking that the nuclear triad is his package, and asking three times in a one-hour briefing why we built nuclear weapons if we aren’t going to use them. We build them so we will never have to use them."

Who Said It: Donald Trump or The Onion

Who Said It: Donald Trump or The Onion

"There are many ways to describe Donald Trump. From a bigot, to a racist to a raving lunatic with the temperament of a spoiled 13-year-old and the vocabulary of a 3rd grader, he’s easily the most ridiculous presidential candidate most of us have seen in our lifetimes."

Donald Trump's Healthcare Plan Would Lead to Disaster Americans would be paying more for worse coverage

http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/476301/how-realistic-is-donald-trumps-healthcare-plan/?utm_source=atlfb
"In this short video, we explore the hypothetical reality of TrumpCare and what it would mean for Americans—in short, a public health disaster."

Trump Continues ILLEGAL Foreign Fundraising For Campaign

Thursday, August 11, 2016

The GOP's Youth-Vote Disaster: Donald Trump's Nomination Could Hurt Republicans for Years to Come @alternet

The GOP's Youth-Vote Disaster: Donald Trump's Nomination Could Hurt Republicans for Years to Come @alternet:

"The risk for the Republicans is that they’ve given away an entire generation of voters to the Democrats. Undoing that damage will take a long time, and Republican officials are well aware of how bad this could be for them. The Republican National Committee’s “Growth & Opportunity Project,” commissioned in the aftermath of Mitt Romney’s 2012 defeat, spelled it out in stark terms. “For many of the youngest voters and new 2016 voters, their perception of the two parties was born during the Barack Obama era, and that perception will help determine their worldview moving forward,” it said. “The RNC must more effectively highlight our young leaders and fundamentally change the tone we use to talk about issues and the way we are communicating with voters.” Instead of doing that, they nominated Donald Trump."

Why Trump May Never Poll Over 45 Percent

Why Trump May Never Poll Over 45 Percent

"America has simply become too diverse for a Nixonian "Southern Strategy" to succeed. No longer can a multicultural Democratic coalition be broken by race-baiting whites. Decades ago, as political scientist Michael Tesler has explained, white attitudes on race were more monolithic and susceptible to wedge politics. Today, such tactics are ineffective to dislodge white Democrats from their party. The Trump campaign has been a test to see if the Republican Party can still win as an essentially all-white party with a platform rooted in racial grievance. All the evidence says it cannot. The Trump campaign can change now or the Republican Party can change later. There is no other option."

‘This sh*t’s not funny’: Strategist explains that Trump is causing an ‘extinction event’ for the GOP

‘This sh*t’s not funny’: Strategist explains that Trump is causing an ‘extinction event’ for the GOP

"more than 70 prominent Republicans — including several former GOP senators and congressmen — have written a letter begging RNC chairman Reince Priebus to pull the plug on Trump’s campaign and instead spend all their resources protecting down-ballot Republican senators and representatives. “We believe that Donald Trump’s divisiveness, recklessness, incompetence, and record-breaking unpopularity risk turning this election into a Democratic landslide,” reads the letter, which was signed by big names such as former Sen. Gordon Humphrey and former Rep. Chris Shays. “Only the immediate shift of all available RNC resources to vulnerable Senate and House races will prevent the GOP from drowning with a Trump-emblazoned anchor around its neck.” As if that weren’t enough, Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak on Thursday posted an epic tweetstorm describing the abject panic that has set in among Republicans, who now fear that they’ll suffer massive down-ballot losses if Trump stays on his current course."

From Fringe to Mainstream: Conspiracies, Baseless Accusations and Lunacy Are the New Normal for Republicans @alternet

From Fringe to Mainstream: Conspiracies, Baseless Accusations and Lunacy Are the New Normal for Republicans @alternet:

"What these stories all have in common is that they are premised on complete and unadulterated bullsh*t, the kind of stuff that used to be limited to shortwave radio transmissions beamed out from trailers in the Nevada desert. Now they are the mainstream of the Republican Party. But this is the problem with the right wing and the Republicans these days. The GOP has no discernment, no firewalls to insulate itself from its crazies and the conspiracies and dark fantasia they spin out. There is no distinction to be made between its presidential candidate, a senator who has been a sleeper darling of the Republican establishment (Bill Kirstol was Cotton’s first mentor when he arrived in Washington), and the lunatics voting for it in this election. It is hard to see how the GOP splits, forming one right-ish party while the far-right kooks slip further out onto the fringe. The kooks are the party now. Separating them out to become a functional party capable of participating in governance may not be possible."

Trump just gave a bonkers interview to CNBC — here are 4 batsh*t crazy excerpts

Trump just gave a bonkers interview to CNBC — here are 4 batsh*t crazy excerpts

"None of his statements, it goes without saying, were remotely close to being in touch with reality."

BUSTED: Trump told 30 lies in two days during 2007 deposition about his ‘billionaire’ claims

BUSTED: Trump told 30 lies in two days during 2007 deposition about his ‘billionaire’ claims

"It was in this deposition that Trump made his now-notorious pronouncement that he bases his net worth on his “feelings"."

PERRspectives: Three Lessons from the Rise of Donald Trump

PERRspectives: Three Lessons from the Rise of Donald Trump

"The new GOP plan of conquest was much like the old one. Once again, the Republicans would combine far-right fury with another wave of tried and untrue talking points. No matter that Obamacare reduces the national debt and was not a "government takeover of health care." So what if decades of data showed that higher taxes on "job creators" do not hurt the economy and that the estate tax has little impact on small businesses and family farms. Big deal if the nonpartisan CBO and the overwhelming consensus of economists concluded the stimulus resulted in millions of additional jobs and a significant boost to American GDP? For that matter, who gives a hoot if the record shows that the U.S. economy almost always does better when a Democrat is in the White House? And who cares if Mitt Romney's shameless lie that Obama "made the economy worse" was thoroughly debunked throughout the campaign? For Republicans, this platform of deceit was a feature, not a bug. All of which means Donald Trump is just the newest version of the Republicans' fraud ware."

Tax-hating Tea Partiers using taxpayer money to promote themselves for re-election

Tax-hating Tea Partiers using taxpayer money to promote themselves for re-election

"Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) is a staunch Tea Party advocate, who believes Congress should reduce federal spending to 18 percent of GDP. That would mean a 16 percent decrease from literally every single agency from education to defense, as well as intelligence, where Hurd once worked. He supports cutting veterans benefits and slash Medicare funding for the elderly and children. But Hurd is more than willing to spend taxpayer money on free mail to promote himself and his ideology."

The real threat to American sovereignty: Citizens United and global money influencing our politics

The real threat to American sovereignty: Citizens United and global money influencing our politics

"Trump’s recent public request that hackers connected to the Russian government sabotage his opponent Hillary Clinton is the tip of a Trumpian iceberg of foreign influence. He’s also been actively soliciting campaign funds from officials of foreign governments — in the United Kingdom, Iceland, Australia and elsewhere. Terri Butler, a member of the Australian parliament member, was surprised to receive fundraising solicitations from Trump at her official government email address, asking her to make a “generous contribution” to the Trump campaign. Bob Blackman, a member of Britain’s House of Commons, who has also received fundraising requests from the Trump campaign, says “I did not sign up, these are sent unsolicited.” Another member of the U.K. parliament, Peter Bottomley, has received three such solicitations. “Neither [Trump’s] sons nor anyone else has answered my questions about how they acquired my email nor why they were asking for financial support that I suppose to be illegal for [Trump] to accept,” he says, In Iceland, Katrin Jakobsdottir, chair of the Left-Green Movement, a democratic socialist party, has “no idea” how she got on Trump’s fundraising list. Someone should let Trump know it’s illegal for candidates for federal office to solicit foreign money, regardless of whether the donations ever materialize. In addition, foreign individuals, corporations and governments are barred from either giving money directly to U.S. candidates or spending on advertising to influence U.S. elections. Why hasn’t Trump been held accountable? Because the Federal Election Commission, charged with enforcing the law, is gridlocked by its Republican appointees."

Mitch McConnell: Proud Moment When I Told Obama 'You Will Not Fill This Supreme Court Vacancy'

Mitch McConnell: Proud Moment When I Told Obama 'You Will Not Fill This Supreme Court Vacancy'

"He called this "one of the proudest moments" of his political career, a moment of complete intransigence and thumbing his nose at America's democratic traditions by denying a sitting U.S. President's nominee to the Supreme Court even a hearing."

Trump Offers Huge Favors to Billionaires, and Calls It a Big Economic Speech @alternet

Trump Offers Huge Favors to Billionaires, and Calls It a Big Economic Speech @alternet:

"The lies were almost too many to count: Point to a sentence, find a lie."

American Greed: Trump’s Economic Team Is A Who’s Who Of What’s Wrong

American Greed: Trump’s Economic Team Is A Who’s Who Of What’s Wrong

"These are the architects of the economy Trump would create: a fracker for Energy Secretary, harmful speculators in key advisory roles, and an economy controlled by people who foreclose on widows and profit from gun violence."

‘He weakens US moral authority’: 50 GOP security experts rip Trump in joint statement

‘He weakens US moral authority’: 50 GOP security experts rip Trump in joint statement

"Fifty prominent Republican national security officials, including a former CIA director, on Monday called party nominee Donald Trump unqualified to lead the country and said he would be “the most reckless president in American history"."

"The Making of Donald Trump": David Cay Johnston on Trump's Ties to the Mob & Drug Traffickers

The epitome of Republican ideology

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/8/7/1556318/-The-epitome-of-Republican-ideology
"Trump is the walking, talking manifestation of the right-wing ideology that has taken control of the Republican Party."

Former Klansman David Duke expects Donald Trump supporters to turn out for him, too

Former Klansman David Duke expects Donald Trump supporters to turn out for him, too

"David Duke, former Klansman and U.S. Senate hopeful, has repeated his support for Trump and said that “of course” people voting for Trump will also vote for him in an interview with NPR’s Steve Inskeep. “As a United States senator, nobody will be more supportive of his legislative agenda, his Supreme Court agenda, than I will,” Duke said."

First Evidence Surfaces of Foreign Money Pouring into U.S. Elections After Citizens United

U.S. Nazi Party Leader: Trump’s Campaign Is A ‘Real Opportunity’ For White Nationalist (AUDIO)

http://addictinginfo.org/2016/08/07/u-s-nazi-party-leader-trumps-campaign-is-a-real-opportunity-for-white-nationalist-audio/
"Trump has received support from the worst-of-the-worst within the white nationalist and white supremacist movements."

Sanders warns against being inactive: 'the most immediate task we face is to defeat Donald Trump'

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/8/5/1557123/-Sanders-warns-against-being-inactive-the-most-immediate-task-we-face-is-to-defeat-Donald-Trump
"The struggle will continue, he says, both during this election and after it. But in the near term, Clinton's vision for America on climate change, higher education, racial justice, criminal justice, income inequality, universal health care, and the Supreme Court is worth fighting for."

Jeb Bush's National Security Adviser Unleashes Tweetstorm in Response to Trump's Nuclear Weapon Stance @alternet

Jeb Bush's National Security Adviser Unleashes Tweetstorm in Response to Trump's Nuclear Weapon Stance @alternet: '

"John Noonan is a conservative security commentator and the former national security adviser for both Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney."

Republican Sen. Susan Collins Can’t Back #LoserDonald

Trump’s New Agriculture Adviser Has Some Very Backwards Ideas

https://thinkprogress.org/trumps-new-agriculture-adviser-has-some-very-backwards-ideas-1892085378af#.hmliv1ray
"Miller has engaged in some eyebrowing-raising conduct during his tenures as commissioner and as a former state representative. He defended suggesting that the United States nuke the Muslim world and compared refugees to snakes. Asked at a conservative policy forum about what keeps him up at night, Miller responded that he was concerned that the country would turn into a “Muslim country.” He has been accused of using state funds to take a trip to Oklahoma to get a “Jesus shot,” a medical cure-all for his chronic pain (he later reimbursed the funds to the state). And Miller also allegedly used state funds to compete in a rodeo. Other odd behaviors included granting “amnesty” to cupcakes and lifting a ban on deep fryers and soda machines in Texas public schools."

Eric Bolling Berates A GOP Congressman Refusing To Support Donald Trump

Eric Bolling Berates A GOP Congressman Refusing To Support Donald Trump

"Then Bolling began berating Dent: “If Hillary Clinton gets elected because people like you don’t vote for Donald Trump, you’re gonna have a liberal Supreme Court and if Ruth Bader Ginsburg retires, that will be replaced by yet another liberal. You’ll have a liberal Supreme Court going down, maybe our children, our grandchildren’s lifetimes"."

#LoserDonald: HISTORIANS Can’t Remember A Leader Who Lied More

Donald Trump’s Hispanic Outreach Effort Humiliatingly Goes Down In Flames

http://addictinginfo.org/2016/08/04/donald-trumps-hispanic-outreach-effort-humiliatingly-goes-down-in-flames/
"Trump’s poll numbers among Hispanics have since gone from bad to downright atrocious even as he scrambles to do ridiculous outreach efforts like eating a taco bowl or having white Trump supporters hold up signs saying Latinos support Trump to somehow draw Hispanic support to his campaign. And it looks like any substantial effort has just gone down the toilet as well."

John Birch Society Continues Comeback With Values Voter Summit Sponsorship

John Birch Society Continues Comeback With Values Voter Summit Sponsorship:

"JBS has long been at least nominally exiled from the conservative mainstream thanks to its history of paranoia and racism, but has recently begun to get a toehold in some conservative establishment events. The group was allowed to sponsor a table at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 2010 but was booted from the event in 2012 amidst criticism. As the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote in 2013, “Once considered by the right and the left as the political equivalent of an addled uncle sent down to the basement rec room to drink, rant and hopefully pass out before saying anything too nutty in front of the guests, in recent years the John Birch Society has been invited back upstairs and has even hosted a dinner party or two.” JBS is probably best known for its decades-long obsession with fighting the communist infiltration of America, at one point even accusing President Dwight Eisenhower of being a communist agent."

John Birch Society Continues Comeback With Values Voter Summit Sponsorship

John Birch Society Continues Comeback With Values Voter Summit Sponsorship:

"JBS has long been at least nominally exiled from the conservative mainstream thanks to its history of paranoia and racism, but has recently begun to get a toehold in some conservative establishment events. The group was allowed to sponsor a table at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 2010 but was booted from the event in 2012 amidst criticism. As the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote in 2013, “Once considered by the right and the left as the political equivalent of an addled uncle sent down to the basement rec room to drink, rant and hopefully pass out before saying anything too nutty in front of the guests, in recent years the John Birch Society has been invited back upstairs and has even hosted a dinner party or two.” JBS is probably best known for its decades-long obsession with fighting the communist infiltration of America, at one point even accusing President Dwight Eisenhower of being a communist agent."

The Koch Brothers Are Meddling In Your State Elections

Saturday, August 6, 2016

The Kochs, Big Oil Are Taking Their War With The EPA To The Ballot Box

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/08/04/3803911/who-is-behind-pro-fossil-fuel-ags/
"So where did RAGA get its money? More than $2.4 million — about 13 percent — came from Koch Industries, Murray Energy, the American Petroleum Institute, Exxon Mobil, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, and other fossil fuel interests. Another nearly $1.4 million came from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which receives a significant amount of its funds from fossil fuel companies and Koch-backed nonprofits. Attorney general elections don’t garner big headlines. Most Americans likely can’t even name their state attorney general. But these people play a major role in enforcing — or fighting — environmental laws."

Scott Walker Is ‘Proud’ Of Gutting University Of Wisconsin Budgets

http://thinkprogress.org/education/2016/08/05/3805402/scott-walker-brags-university-of-wisconsin-cuts/
"The last budget the governor signed into law cut $250 million from the state’s public universities. That number, which was slightly less than the $300 million in cuts Walker sought, matches the contribution taxpayers are making for a new Milwaukee Bucks arena."

Trump's economic team: cigarette peddler, Nixon’s lawyer, mortgage fraudsters and a fracking lunatic

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/8/5/1557080/-Trump-s-economic-team-cigarette-peddler-Nixon-s-lawyer-mortgage-fraudsters-and-a-fracking-lunatic
"Donald Trump has announced his all-male, all-wealthy team of economic advisers. Ready to meet the team? Well, there are a couple of Wall Street hedge fund billionaires, at least two mortgage fraudsters, America’s discount cigarette CEO, the king of crumbling strip malls, Nixon’s former lawyer who moved to Neverland, a fracking crazy oilman who attributes rising stock prices to Trump, a second generation Goldman-Sachs investment banker, and a corporate raider who profited from both the 2008 crash and 9/11. If you were expecting to find an economist among Trump’s economic advisers … have you been paying attention? This is Trump."

Jeb Bush's National Security Adviser Unleashes Tweetstorm in Response to Trump's Nuclear Weapon Stance @alternet

Jeb Bush's National Security Adviser Unleashes Tweetstorm in Response to Trump's Nuclear Weapon Stance @alternet:

"Noonan did not mince words in an effort to convey his reasons for believing Trump is a threat to world peace."

Mike Pence Loves ALEC and Keeps Pushing Public School Privatization, Despite Lousy Indiana Record With Charters and Vouchers @alternet

Mike Pence Loves ALEC and Keeps Pushing Public School Privatization, Despite Lousy Indiana Record With Charters and Vouchers @alternet:

"Mike Pence is a hardcore right-winger playing the long game, especially when it comes to privatizing public schools.  It’s not just that the Republican vice-presidential nominee and Indiana governor last weekend told a roomful of deregulation-obsessed executives and lobbyists in Indianapolis, “You are the model for Washington, D.C., after this election. You really are.”  The nation is “at a fork in the road,” Pence said at the American Legislative Exchange Council’s annual meeting, referring not only to who would be president for the next four years but who would control the Supreme Court for the “next 40 years.”  The choice is “whether we will have justices appointed to the Supreme Court, as my partner in this endeavor is committed to doing, that reflect the brilliance and the greatness and the principles of the late justice Antonin Scalia,” he said. “So I would say to all of you, for the sake of the rule of law, for the sake of the sanctity of life, for the sake of our Second Amendment and all of our God-given liberties, we must ensure that the next president making appointments to the Supreme Court of the United States of America is President Donald Trump.”  Pence was no stranger to the stage of ALEC, a corporate-funded behemoth that drafts bills and finds right-wing lawmakers to carry them. He’s been an ALEC fixture for years, touting deregulation, privatization and extreme social conservatism"

President Obama's Powerful Essay on Women’s Rights: 'This Is What a Feminist Looks Like' @alternet

President Obama's Powerful Essay on Women’s Rights: 'This Is What a Feminist Looks Like' @alternet:

"On his 55th birthday, Obama writes about gender equality, cementing his status as the first sitting president to call himself a feminist."

The Koch Brothers Are Behind a Plot to Open Up the Grand Canyon Watershed to Toxic Uranium Mining @alternet

The Koch Brothers Are Behind a Plot to Open Up the Grand Canyon Watershed to Toxic Uranium Mining @alternet:

"Unsurprisingly, the issue at hand involves revenue, big power brokers, ramifications of Citizens United, and a familiar actor in the anti-environmental space—the Koch brothers."

25 Progressive Reforms Hillary Clinton Promised to Work Toward If Elected President @alternet

25 Progressive Reforms Hillary Clinton Promised to Work Toward If Elected President @alternet: "Clinton has defined the most progressive agenda since Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society or Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Of course, the economy is far better now than in 2008, so a more ambitious government agenda is possible."

Thursday, August 4, 2016

9 Terrifying Things Donald Trump Has Publicly Said About Nuclear Weapons

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/08/04/3804985/7-terrifying-things-donald-trump-publicly-said-nuclear-weapons/
"Trump said he might use nuclear weapons and questioned why we would make them if we wouldn’t use them"

Weekly Standard Writer Slams Trump Over Report That He Might Consider Nuclear First Strike

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/08/03/weekly-standard-writer-slams-trump-over-report-he-might-consider-nuclear-first-strike/212159
"Noonan’s nuclear expertise stems from his U.S. Air Force service, including work as a missile-launch officer at a nuclear silo in Wyoming. Noonan wondered if Trump understands “how F’ing dangerous” his foreign policy stances are, hit the nominee for “undoing 6 decades of proven deterrence theory,” and lamented the position of officers down the chain of command who are “[w]ondering if they’ll soon answer to a madman"."

Trump Asked Three Times in an Hour Security Briefing Why We Can't Just Use Nuclear Weapons @alternet

Trump Asked Three Times in an Hour Security Briefing Why We Can't Just Use Nuclear Weapons @alternet:

"While General Hayden was explaining to the Morning Joe crew why he wouldn't vote for Trump, Joe dropped a bombshell about Trump and nuclear weapons."

Trump and Putin: A Love Story

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/trump-and-putin-a-love-story
"Vladimir Putin is a cunning and cynical reader of his adversaries. He notices that Trump does not know the difference between the Quds Force and the Kurds, or what the “nuclear triad” is; that his analysis of Brexit was based in part on what might be good for his golf courses in Britain; that his knowledge of world affairs is roughly that of someone who subscribes to a daily newspaper but doesn’t always have time to get to it. Overwhelmed with his own problems at home, Putin sees the ready benefit in having the United States led by an unlettered narcissist who believes that geostrategic questions are as easy to resolve as a real-estate closing. Putin knows a chump when he sees one."

Solemn Responsibility: Donald Trump, National Security, Nuclear Weapons and Power

A neuroscientist explains what may be wrong with Trump supporters’ brains

A neuroscientist explains what may be wrong with Trump supporters’ brains

"Hypersensitivity to Threat Science has unequivocally shown that the conservative brain has an exaggerated fear response when faced with stimuli that may be perceived as threatening. A classic study in the journal Psychophysiology found that conservatives have a stronger physiological reaction to startling noises and graphic images compared to liberals. A brain-imaging study published in Current Biology revealed that those who lean right politically tend to have a larger amygdala — a structure that is electrically active during states of fear and anxiety. And a 2014 fMRI study found that it is possible to predict whether someone is a liberal or conservative simply by looking at their brain activity while they view threatening or disgusting images, such as mutilated bodies. Specifically, the brains of self-identified conservatives generated more activity overall in response to the disturbing images. So how does this help explain the unbridled loyalty of Trump supporters? These brain responses are automatic, and not influenced by logic or reason. As long as Trump continues his fear mongering by constantly portraying Muslims and Mexican immigrants as imminent dangers, many conservative brains will involuntarily light up like light bulbs being controlled by a switch. Fear keeps his followers energized and focused on safety. And when you think you’ve found your protector, you become less concerned with remarks that would normally be seen as highly offensive."

The NY Times Made A Video Of Real Voices From Trump Supporters--Uncensored. It Will Make You Sick.

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/8/3/1556508/-Real-Voices-From-Trump-Supporters-Uncensored
"It’s hard to remember that these are actually Americans, supposedly raised with American values."