Federal court rejects Trump's transgender military ban. Again.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

A federal court in Seattle in a ruling on Friday shut down President Trump’s “new” ban on transgender people serving in the military, which was issued by his administration last month. 

Trump had claimed that the old ban was revoked and replaced with the new one, but U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman rejected this distinction, noting that the new documents “do not substantively rescind or revoke the ban, but instead threaten the very same violations that caused it and other courts to enjoin the ban in the first place.”


Indeed, she found the claim that the new ban has exceptions wholly unconvincing: 

The Court is not persuaded. The Implementation Plan prohibits transgender people — including those who have neither transitioned nor been diagnosed with gender dysphoria — from serving, unless they are “willing and able to adhere to all standards associated with their biological sex.” 

Requiring transgender people to serve in their “biological sex” does not constitute “open” service in any meaningful way, and cannot reasonably be considered an “exception” to the Ban. Rather, it would force transgender service members to suppress the very characteristic that defines them as transgender in the first place. 

As she did when she first ruled against the ban last year, Pechman also concluded that transgender people are a “suspect class” — a group vulnerable to unfair treatment and discrimination solely because of their identity. Thus, any rationale for categorically excluding them from service must be examined and considered with heightened scrutiny.

As my daughter would say "Booya!" 

I actually hate that phrase but it seems appropriate here.

I really cannot understand why Trump is so discriminatory about transgender folks.

I mean does he think this started out as a woman?

Not disrespecting the choice, you know live and let live, but she could at least try channeling a little femininity once in a while.

Just in case you were wondering who was responsible for the attack on Syria yesterday, well the answer of course is Fox News.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

On Friday morning, Fox & Friends host Ainsley Earhardt suggested that military strikes in Syria could be useful to divert attention from the unflattering portrayal of President Trump contained in former FBI Director James Comey’s book. 

“If the president, and France, and the U.K decide to strike Syria, don’t you think that story would be a bigger story than Comey’s book that’s released on Tuesday?” she said.

Earhardt’s suggestion came while Trump is reportedly still considering a potential military strike against Syria — and amid an edition of Fox & Friends that was largely devoted to sullying Comey’s reputation.

That's right folks, we now live in a country where the foreign policy is determined by an airhead sitting on a couch spouting nonsense to a cable news audience.

A cable news audience which includes the president of the United States.

By the way if you are looking for a little bright spot of joy to be taken from this attack on Syria, you can find it by watching Alex Jones lose his mind over his hero's decision to launch this military strike.

Alex Jones on Trump launching strikes in Syria... pic.twitter.com/FkPt3xnok4

— Andrew Peng (@TheAPJournalist) April 14, 2018

And it gets even better.

This only gets more bizarre, and I’m going to stop watching.

Alex Jones on Trump’s decision to approve strikes against Syria (continued): “He said Hillary’s the founder of Al-Qaeda. Well, you’re the butt boy of Al-Qaeda, Trump” pic.twitter.com/Dy08J1rwxF

— Andrew Peng (@TheAPJournalist) April 14, 2018

I think perhaps this is the base that Trump was trying to hold onto.

There are actually a LOT of these videos of Jones frothing at the mouth and screaming expletives at his cameraman, but they are too over the top to show even here on IM.

By the way, I for one am not distracted from the Mueller investigation, or the FBI investigation of Michael Cohen. Just in case anybody was wondering.

With Paul Ryan announcing his retirement it is smooth sailing for his openly racist former opponent.

Courtesy of Think Progress:

Until early Wednesday morning, Paul Nehlen was little more than a racist, anti-Semitic sideshow in Wisconsin politics. Unless you happen to be a white supremacist, chances are you’ve never heard of him. His political résumé consists of one failed 2016 bid to capture the Republican nomination for a congressional race in Wisconsin, and a favorable shoutout from fellow white supremacist Donald Trump on Twitter. 

Paul Nehlen was not to be taken seriously, until suddenly he became the Republican front-runner to defend the congressional seat currently held by the most powerful Republican in the House of Representatives.

Nehlen’s first primary challenge against Ryan was unremarkable. He made a few headlines by endorsing Trump’s campaign early, something Ryan himself was reluctant to do. Sarah Palin publicly supported Nehlen’s insurgent campaign, but it ultimately did no good: Ryan captured his party’s nomination with almost 85 percent of the vote. 

But after Donald Trump’s inauguration, Nehlen — like so many other virulent white supremacists and neo-Nazis — was emboldened. He began openly embracing classic anti-Semitic rhetoric, sharing deeply offensive memes on Twitter and the online white supremacist clearinghouse Gab. Whatever hesitation he had to publicly share his racist views melted away as well. 

His online behavior finally got him banned from Twitter in February, when he attacked actress Meghan Markle for her biracial genealogy. 

He isn’t without his supporters, though. As he alienated more and more normal Americans, he gained notoriety among the drudgery of the internet. During a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville last year in which a peaceful protester was murdered, Nehlen tweeted messages of support for the rally’s organizers, saying “Incredible moment for white people who’ve had it up to here & aren’t going to take it anymore.” After a white supremacist participant was revealed to be the murderer, Nehlen echoed Donald Trump’s response, blaming bad actors on both sides for the incident. 

Nehlen’s comments earned him favorable coverage by white supremacist media outlets like the podcasts of former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke and crying Nazi Christopher Cantwell, as well as Breitbart, which tried — unsuccessfully — to scrub their fawning coverage of Nehlen.

White supremacist, early Trump supporter, endorsed by Sarah Palin, oh yeah this guy is DEFINITELY going to do well with that 30 to 40% of hard core Trump voters.

Appears to me this could be an easy pickup for the Dems if they play their cards right.

Former Sinclair news director speaks out.

Courtesy of CNN: 

A morning TV producer at a Sinclair-owned station in Nebraska has resigned in protest of what he calls the company's "obvious bias." 

Justin Simmons gave notice at KHGI TV on March 26. This was after Sinclair's corporate headquarters mandated that local anchors read the controversial promos warning of "fake" and biased news, but before the promos went viral and became a national topic of discussion. 

Simmons told CNNMoney that he had been concerned about Sinclair's corporate mandates for the past year and a half, and that the promos were just the final straw. 

"This is almost forcing local news anchors to lie to their viewers," he said. He said his feelings are shared by others at his station, but didn't want to say anything that would imperil his colleagues.

Huffington Post actually got their hands on the Sinclair Broadcasting Group employee handbook.

Here is just a portion:   

The handbook states that the company “may monitor, intercept, and review, without further notice, every employee’s activities using Company’s electronic resources and communications systems.”

Well that's chilling.

But if you think that all of this attention has changed Sinclair's practices, you would be sorely mistaken.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

Sinclair-owned news stations promoted a pre-taped segment praising President Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on foreign nations this week, amid controversy over a leaked “must-run” script. 

The canned clip, a recurring “commentary” segment called “Bottom Line with Boris,” features former Trump campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn delivering administration-friendly talking points on the president’s proposed tariffs, which target countries like China. 

“The newly negotiated trade deal between the United States and South Korea shows the new tariffs on steel and aluminum, which went into effect last week, are already paying dividends,” Epshteyn said, citing a March 25 pact between the two countries that forces South Korea to slash its steel exports to the United States by 30 percent, while exempting it from a regular 25 percent tariff. 

“Here’s the bottom line,” he said. “This new deal with South Korea is a win for American businesses and our economy. Instead of causing trade wars, as critics have feared, the new tariffs…are pushing our trading partners to engage in fair trade with the United States.”

You would think that Boris Epshteyn might shed a few of those ugly pounds of fat by carrying all of this water for Donald Trump.

Or in this case instead of water I think he is more accurately carrying buckets filled with bullshit.

Stormy Daniels is now suing Donald Trump's lawyer for defamation of character.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

Stormy Daniels ramped up her legal battle against President Trump on Monday, alleging in court that his personal attorney Michael Cohen defamed her by insinuating that she lied about an affair with Trump more than a decade ago. 

Daniels amended her existing lawsuit against Trump, adding Cohen as a defendant in the pending case. The expansion of the lawsuit in a California federal court comes one day after the adult-film actress’s widely watched interview on “60 Minutes.”

Now this is very problematic because Trump is also being sued by alleged sexual harassment victim Summer Zervos for defamation of character as well.

That would be two different women, with two entirely different experiences, suing Trump, or a Trump lawyer, for defaming them.

And at this point I should add, so far.

Now interestingly enough Michael Cohen's lawyer sent off a cease and desist order last night essentially accusing Daniels of defaming HIM by suggesting that he sent the thug that threatened her back in 2011.

Cohen’s lawyer fired back almost immediately after the Daniels interview with this letter saying allegation of goon threatening her was false >> pic.twitter.com/TWH2djrFPq

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 26, 2018

The problem is that she never made any such allegation.

As proven by a transcript written by Think Progress:  

Stormy Daniels: I was in a parking lot, going to a fitness class with my infant daughter. T– taking, you know, the seats facing backwards in the backseat, diaper bag, you know, gettin’ all the stuff out. And a guy walked up on me and said to me, “Leave Trump alone. Forget the story.” And then he leaned around and looked at my daughter and said, “That’s a beautiful little girl. It’d be a shame if something happened to her mom.” And then he was gone. 

Anderson Cooper: You took it as a direct threat? 

Stormy Daniels: Absolutely. 

Stormy Daniels: I was rattled. I remember going into the workout class. And my hands are shaking so much, I was afraid I was gonna– drop her. 

Anderson Cooper: Did you ever see that person again? 

Stormy Daniels: No. But I– if I did, I would know it right away. 

Anderson Cooper: You’d be able to– you’d be able to recognize that person? 

Stormy Daniels: 100%. Even now, all these years later. If he walked in this door right now, I would instantly know.

At no point in her answers to Anderson Cooper does Stormy Daniels suggest that the thug was sent by Cohen.

The attorney for Stormy Daniels also responded with this to questions about whether threats are still being directed at his client: 

"Absolutely. She receives threats on a near-hourly basis. Now, we don't have anything tying those to Mr. Cohen or Mr. Trump, to be clear, but she's certainly scared for her safety and the safety of her family."

You know it seems more and more like this attorney for Stormy Daniels just casually sets up a tripwire for Donald Trump and his attorneys, and they clumsily stumble into it every time.

There are a lot of trolls out there working overtime to convince us that this is a nothing burger, and that it will have no impact on Donald Trump whatsoever, but I disagree.

In fact this story seems to be metastasizing. and public interest remains high.

In fact the Stormy Daniels 60 Minutes interview brought in the show's highest ratings in nearly a decade.

And things may continue to ramp up from here. According to one of Daniels' best friends, there is a dress:

During a much longer interview with CNN's Jim Sciutto, Stormy's friend Alana Evans told him she was unaware of any texts, pictures or video but there was one thing. One little thing. 

"All I know is that Stormy still has the dress that she wore from that night," Evans told Sciutto

They may come to this story for the sex, but they leave recognizing that the guy in the White House is vulnerable to blackmail, and is almost certainly compromised by foreign agents.

Wisconsin Federal judge tells Governor Walker that she doesn't care if his party is going to lose, he still has to hold special elections.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

A judge ruled Thursday that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) must “promptly” hold special elections for two vacant seats in the state legislature — elections that he refused to call because he was afraid his party would lose. 

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Dane County Circuit Judge Josann Reynolds ruled that state law requires Walker, a two-term governor and former presidential candidate, to hold the elections in order to give residents of the two districts representation in the state legislature. The seats have been vacant since December, when Walker appointed the two representatives to serve in his administration. 

“To state the obvious, if the plaintiffs have a right to vote for their representatives, they must have an election to do so,” said Reynolds, who Walker appointed to the court in 2014. 

Walker claimed he didn’t need to fill the seats because the legislative session will be ending soon, and planned to keep the seats open for more than a year. Wisconsin voters named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit called that decision unlawful. 

“We have nobody representing the interests of our Senate district right now and that upsets me,” Jennifer Meyer, one of the named plaintiffs, testified in court. “We’re entitled to representation.”

Damn! I have seen some desperate Republicans lately but absolutely refusing to hold elections because your party will be defeated is pretty fucked up.

Scott Walker reminds me of the kid that suddenly "accidentally" upends the Monopoly board when he realizes he is about to lose.

And really all he has done here is to ensure an insane Democratic turnout and definite defeat for the GOP candidates.

Doesn't anybody in this party understand the concept of "fair play" anymore?

Alaska's lone Congressman Don Young actually suggested that the holocaust could have been prevented if only the Jews had guns.

Courtesy of Think Progress: 

At an Alaska Municipal League (AML) meeting in Juneau last Thursday, Young was asked what should be done to prevent school shootings. “What can municipalities do? 

What can the federal government do to stop the massacre of children in our schools?” asked Dimitri Shein, a Democratic candidate running for Young’s seat. 

Young responded by arguing that teachers should be armed. He then invoked the Holocaust to argue that making sure everyone had guns was the best solution. 

“How many millions of people were shot and killed because they were unarmed? Fifty million in Russia, because their citizens weren’t armed,” Young said. 

“How many Jews were put into the ovens because they were unarmed?”The comment is anti-Semitic, outrageous, and incredibly stupid, but just in case you need a debunking: That is not why or how the Holocaust happened.

Holy shit is this a stupid argument. 

This fantasy that armed individuals can overcome a country's military has been disproved time and time again.

You only have to look to the resistance fighters in Afghanistan and Iraq to realize that.

I sometimes get criticized for picking on Texas, and other states in the South.

I ridicule states like Texas, Florida, Georgia, and others because they are fucked up and deserving of ridicule. 

But that in no way means that I consider Alaska any less fucked up, or any less deserving of ridicule.

And until we finally get rid of this dinosaur and replace him with somebody who actually wants to move our state forward, we deserve every bit of ridicule directed our way.

People with disabilities in Alaska can no longer be paid less than the minimum wage.

Courtesy of Think Progress: 

As of Friday, Alaskan businesses will no longer be allowed to pay disabled workers less than the minimum wage, which is currently $9.84 an hour. 

“Workers who experience disabilities are valued members of Alaska’s workforce,” said the state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development Acting Commissioner Greg Cashen, in a press release. “They deserve minimum wage protections as much as any other Alaskan worker.” 

The state announced last week it would repeal the regulation first put in place in 1978. Alaska joins New Hampshire and Maryland as the first states to get rid of sub-minimum wage for employees with disabilities, an act which is entirely legal under federal law, and has been since 1938 when the Fair Labor Standards Act was implemented. 

The minimum wage exception was initially created to help those with disabilities get jobs, but despite its intentions, the legislation still fell short. Disability advocates argue the law is outdated and that many disabled individuals can succeed in jobs earning minimum wage or more, and that no other class of people faces this kind of government-sanctioned wage discrimination. In addition to being paid a sub-minimum wage, employees with disabilities often perform their jobs in what are called “sheltered workshops.” This term is generally used to describe facilities that employ people with disabilities exclusively or primarily, but has been interpreted by disability advocates as a form of segregation in the workplace.

I think this is a very positive step forward for Alaskans with disabilities.

However I do understand why the law was likely implemented in the first place.

After all many of the people diagnosed with a disability require more supervision, and supports, than the average minimum wage worker. 

There is also the fact that many of them cannot make too much money or risk losing their social security payments.

But times are changing and with new workplace modifications, and more reliance on machines doing much of the work, there are increased opportunities for these individuals to find employment that may seem repetitive to some or not intellectually stimulating to others.

White supremacist groups dramatically increase their college campus recruitment.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

White supremacist groups have stepped up their recruiting on college campuses over the past two years with a sharp increase in their presence and activism in the past year, a period that perfectly overlaps with the political presence and prominence of President Donald Trump, according to a new study released this week by the Anti-Defamation League. 

Calling the spike in hate group behavior “alarming,” the ADL tallied a three-fold increase in propaganda efforts by a variety of hate groups and white nationalist organizations on hundreds of campuses nationwide. “White supremacists, particularly alt right groups, have been actively targeting U.S. college campuses since January 2016,” the report states. “The practice failed to get any real traction until the fall semester of 2016. Since then, propaganda efforts have increased dramatically.” 

The ADL recorded 346 incidents of white supremacist materials — fliers, stickers, banners, posters — littering college and university campuses since September 1, 2016. “These campaigns targeted 216 college campuses, from Ivy League schools to local community colleges, in 44 states and the District of Columbia,” the report said.

Well with a card carrying white supremacist in the White House, of course the racists and alt-right folks are going to come crawling out of the woodwork.

Donald Trump is their guy, and he provides a kind of unspoken permission for the country to slide right back into the days of Jim Crow laws, rampant segregation, and of course the oppression of minorities.

The Republican's conspiracy theory about FBI agent Peter Strzok seems to have run aground.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

For weeks, Republicans have been obsessed with FBI agent Peter Strzok, suggesting that he was part of a cabal inside the agency who sought to rig the 2016 presidential election for Hillary Clinton. To support this theory, the GOP has seized upon texts between Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page that were sometimes critical of Trump. (Strzok and Page were having an affair.) 

Last week, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) suggested that Strzok and Page formed a “secret society” to undermine the Trump campaign. “What this is all about is further evidence of corruption — more than bias — but corruption of the highest levels of the FBI… There is so much smoke here,” Johnson said. 

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump accused Strzok of “treason.” If you watch Fox News, the supposed anti-Trump bias of Strzok is discussed daily, if not hourly. 

But on Wednesday, CNN reported that Strzok supported reopening the Hillary Clinton email investigation days before the election — and wrote the first draft of the letter from former FBI Director James Comey that made the decision public. 

"Strzok, who co-wrote what appears to be the first draft that formed the basis of the letter Comey sent to Congress, also supported reopening the Clinton investigation once the emails were discovered on disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner’s laptop, according to a source familiar with Strzok’s thinking. The day after Strzok sent his draft to his colleagues, Comey released the letter to Congress, reigniting the email controversy in the final days of the campaign."

The letter drafted by Strzok played a key role in swinging momentum back to Trump in the closing days of the campaign. 

That letter is credited with essentially handing the 2016 election to Donald Trump.

So if Strzok was actually playing for "Team Hillary" why the fuck would he sabotage her chances at victory? 

We Democrats should be the ones calling for this guy's head on a platter, but due to a few private emails with his girlfriend, it's the Republicans who are stabbing their savior in the back.

Trump gets booed for mentioning "fake news" at World Economic Forum in Davos. Because, why woudn't they boo him?

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

After delivering a speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, President Trump did a brief question-and-answer sessions with WEF Chair Klaus Schwab. The second and final question Trump fielded was about what experiences he had earlier in his life that he thinks prepared him for the presidency. 

Trump’s response was not well received. First, he bragged about his business acumen and claimed he’s “always been successful at making money” — comments that elicited laughter for the crowd. But the laughs escalated to boos after Trump took aim at the “fake news” media. 

“The other thing is, I’ve always seemed to get — for whatever reason — a disproportionate amount of press or media,” Trump began. “And throughout my whole life — someone will explain someday why — but I’ve always gotten a lot. And as a businessman I was always treated really well by the press. You know, the numbers speak and things happen, but I’ve always really had a very good press, and it wasn’t until I became a politician that I realized how nasty, how mean, how vicious, and how fake the press can be — as the cameras start going off in the back.”

The crowd then erupted in boos. Which you can clearly hear on the video.

Foreign journos sitting next to me booed Trump's attack on the press.

— Ishaan Tharoor (@ishaantharoor) January 26, 2018

Apparently after Trump realized this was not one of his rallies he tried to walk it back.

But it was really too late.

By the way the reason that Trump received coverage by the press is because he sought it out constantly.

Remember when Trump pretended to be his own press agent?

Jury acquits six inaugural day protesters of all charges.

Courtesy of Think Progress:

None of the six men and women facing felony charges tied to an anti-Trump Inauguration Day protest committed a crime, jurors decided Thursday. 

The six defendants had faced seven charges each. The jury returned 42 separate not-guilty verdicts. 

The charges — conspiracy to riot, engaging in a riot, and five counts of criminal property destruction — came despite the government’s acknowledgement that it has no evidence any of these half-dozen people engaged in violent personal action that day. It was in effect a legal argument they were as guilty as those who had actually smashed a window, because they chose to show up in black and stay with the group as it moved through the city. 

The verdict resolves only the first handful of cases in the sweeping felony prosecutions of black-clad marchers rounded up in downtown Washington, D.C., last January. Hundreds more face similar charges.

This was the beginning of Trump's attempt to America into a police state, and it fell flat on its face.

And the prosecution's overreach was apparent at the very outset.

One defense attorney compared the government’s case here to prosecuting everyone who happened to be wearing the same jersey at a football game because one group of fans in matching garb started a fight. 

“The law makes clear that you can be present while others are rioting, and you don’t have to leave,” Steve McCool, who defended Oliver Harris in the case, said in his closing argument. “Think about where we would be if they could simply call protesters criminals.”

McCool also reminded jurors of evidence of political bias among some key police officers involved both in managing events on Inauguration Day and in investigating the hundreds arrested that afternoon. Key video in the case was provided by James O’Keefe’s notoriously dishonest Project Veritas group, prompting McCool to invoke the specter of right-wing revenge against left-wing anti-Trump protesters.

Oh look, another abject failure by James O'Keefe.

How many is that now? 

So that is one for the 1st Amendment, and zero for Donald Trump's attempt to undermine our constitution.

Now they should just drop the charges against the other protesters and save the taxpayer money to prosecute real criminals.

More than 700 employees have left the EPA since Scott Pruitt took over.

Courtesy of Think Progress: 

Since Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt took over the top job at the agency in March, more than 700 employees have either retired, taken voluntary buyouts, or quit, signaling the second-highest exodus of employees from the agency in nearly a decade. 

According to agency documents and federal employment statistics, 770 EPA employees departed the agency between April and December, leaving employment levels close to Reagan-era levels of staffing. According to the EPA’s contingency shutdown plan for December, the agency currently has 14,449 employees on board — a marked change from the April contingency plan, which showed a staff of 15,219. 

“There has been a drop of employees of 770 between April and December. While several hundred of those are buyouts, the rest of those are either people that are retiring or quitting in disgust,” Kyla Bennett, director of New England Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), told ThinkProgress. “Is that number higher than it would normally be? I think it is.”

I imagine the number of exiting employees will only continue to grow. 

After all how many employees do you need at the Environmental Protection Agency if they have no intention of protecting the environment?

President Obama put a lot of effort into plans to protect this planet, so of course Donald Trump's focus is on undoing everything that he tried to accomplish even if it means the death of every creature in existence.

Yet another State Department employee resigns her post as Rex Tillerson seems to adopt new problem solving strategy called "wishful thinking."

Courtesy of Think Progress: 

Rex Tillerson’s State Department slipped further into disarray this week, following the departure of a figure brought in to overhaul the department amid growing tensions within the Trump administration. 

Maliz Beams, who was brought on as Counselor to the Department of State in August, resigned her position after only three months, according to officials. The department confirmed Beams’ departure on Monday. 

“Beams is stepping away from her role here at the Department of State and is returning to her home in Boston,” a spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. “Effective immediately, [Tillerson’s deputy chief of staff] Christine Ciccone will step in to lead the redesign effort and manage its daily activities.” 

Beams’ departure is more bad news for the department, which has suffered a number of exits in recent months. Beams, who has an extensive private sector background in business and finance and previously served as CEO of Voya Financial (formerly ING US), was brought in to lead a massive redesign effort championed by Tillerson. Trump’s budget calls for a $10.1 billion reduction in State Department spending, a controversial move that could cost 2,300 people their jobs. Beams reportedly clashed with Tillerson over the effort.

But don't think that Rex Tillerson does not have a plan for how to deal with world crises with only a skeleton crew, because he does.

The aforementioned "wishful thinking."

Courtesy of The Guardian:  

Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday that the Trump administration’s proposal to slash the state department and foreign aid budget is in part based on an expectation it will be able to resolve some of the global conflicts that have been absorbing costly diplomatic and humanitarian support. 

But in a vivid display of the most urgent diplomatic challenge facing the US, Tillerson was speaking as North Korea carried out a new ballistic missile test – the first since it fired a missile over Japan in mid-September. 

The secretary of state presented this rationale for the budget cut at a time when he is under fire from former US diplomats for gutting his state department amid multiple crises around the world – an allegation Tillerson denied.

I think it is overwhelmingly obvious at this point that Tillerson, like many Trump appointees, was  appointed to destroy the very agencies they were supposed to lead.

Tillerson seems particularly adept in that regard.

Of course the problem with that is that it leaves the American people incredibly vulnerable.

All across the board we are suffering a crisis of leadership, and every day the danger to average citizens rises just that much higher.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders literally suggests that the Al Franken accusation should be taken more seriously because he confessed to wrongdoing, while Donald Trump did not.

Courtesy of Think Progress: 

During Friday’s White House Press Briefing, Sarah Huckabee Sanders fielded questions about President Trump’s Thursday night tweets calling for an investigation of Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) in response to accusations of sexual assault. Sanders rejected any suggestion that Trump should likewise be investigated for any of the accusations made against him. 

“This was covered extensively during the campaign,” she said. “We addressed it then. The American people spoke very loud and clear when they elected this president.” 

When asked to clarify how Trump and Franken were any different, Sanders responded, “I think in one case specifically, Senator Franken has admitted wrongdoing. The president hasn’t. It a very clear distinction.”

So in Trumpland taking some responsibility for your actions toward one accuser makes you MORE guilty than the guy facing more than a dozen accusations who does not?

WTF?

And while we are on this topic let me share this tweet with you of the actual rehearsal that Leann Tweeden claims was the setting for her "assault."

Is this the horrifying Al Franken kiss?
I'm sorry but, I am very skeptical now as to whether he forced an unwanted kiss on her. Mostly because she is clutching him so tightly. pic.twitter.com/QizbiPYexh

— Bravenak is over this shit. (@bravenak) November 18, 2017

That is a script clutched in Tweeden's hand so this is definitely the rehearsal.

Here is a wider shot.

WIDER SHOT!!! (Please note that they are not alone and this is rehearsal) pic.twitter.com/nnx0ae7HU3

— Bravenak is over this shit. (@bravenak) November 18, 2017

In her accusation Tweeden said that Franken, "came at me, put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth." 

Now I don't want to call this young woman a liar, but this does not really seem to back up her accusation.

Here's a fact that I am certain I have never shared with you all before.

I attended college with my girlfriend who happened to be the star of every play, musical, and performance at our high school.

She wanted us to have at least a few classes together, so she insisted that I take an acting class with her. (I was not thrilled at first, but it was fun.)

Of course we performed together, and in one of the performances it called for a kiss.

I was thrilled, because kissing her was what I wanted to spend every waking hour doing anyhow.

Both she and the acting teacher informed me that for our performance we would be expected to do a "stage kiss" instead. That is when you kiss next to, but not on, each other's mouth. And then you exaggerate it so that it seems more passionate to an audience sitting in an auditorium or theater.

It seemed silly to me, but that is what we did.

And that is what it appears is happening in this picture.

The whole dramatic clutch, and bending over of the female, is meant to show a passionate kiss to the back row of a theater, even though in reality your lips are nowhere near touching.

Now I am still willing to say that this picture was in bad taste, and that Franken needed to apologize for it.

However for the rest of it I am waiting to see what an ethics investigation shows before I pass any judgement.

Right now in my opinion Al Franken is a bigger man for taking responsibility to what he did than Donald Trump or Roy Moore could ever hope be.

Trump's White House releases report which states that human beings are responsible for all the recent global warming. Wait, that can't be right.

Courtesy of Think Progress: 

On Friday, the Trump administration released the congressionally mandated National Climate Assessment, the “authoritative assessment of the science of climate change, with a focus on the United States,” as the report states. 

What’s so stunning about the 600-page report, the work of scientists from 13 federal agencies, is that the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) oversaw the final review and clearance process of the report — and yet the report details just how dangerous the Trump administration’s policy of climate science denial is to Americans. 

The National Climate Assessment (NCA) projects a devastated America — widespread Dust-Bowlification, 18°F Arctic warming, sea levels rising a foot a decade — on our current path of unrestricted carbon pollution. The report makes clear just how grave a threat are Trump’s plans to abandon the Paris climate deal, undo Obama-era climate rules, and boost carbon pollution. 

Indeed, the report explicitly states that if governments don’t meet their Paris targets, and then go beyond them, catastrophic impacts would be inevitable. 

The report “indicates that a path of inaction will truly lead to disastrous climate change impacts,” as climatologist Michael Mann said in an email to ThinkProgress, confirming a point he made when the New York Times published the leaked final draft in August. “Sadly, the Trump presidency has steered the U.S. toward this path.”

“Based on extensive evidence… it is extremely likely that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century,” explains the NCA, the most comprehensive and detailed report ever done on climate change and its specific impact on America.

No wonder Trump wants to get rid of all the real scientists in the government agencies.

These guys are clearly relying on those liberal facts to make decisions, instead of the Trumpian talking points that everybody is supposed to have memorized. 

Evangelical group releases document detailing "ethical" Christian sex practices. Spoiler alert: Gay sex is not on it.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

Evangelical Christians are up to something new. 

At least that’s the position of many criticizing the “Nashville Statement,” a controversial document championing “biblical” sexual ethics that was penned this past week and signed by roughly 150 prominent evangelical leaders. The document, divided into 14 articles and released by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW), mostly parrots denunciations of LGBTQ identities and relationships common among right-wing evangelicals. But it drew added attention for doing something unusual: extending their condemnation to Christians who affirm queer people. 

“We affirm that it is sinful to approve of homosexual immorality or transgenderism and that such approval constitutes an essential departure from Christian faithfulness and witness,” Article 10 of the statement reads. “We deny that the approval of homosexual immortality or transgenderism is a matter of moral indifference about which otherwise faithful Christian should agree to disagree.” 

The statement triggered outrage almost immediately, especially among LGBTQ and LGBTQ-affirming Christians who saw it as a direct attack on their understanding of the faith. Within hours, several progressive Christian groups issued their own counter-statements refuting the evangelical document point-by-point, with some deriding it as “anti-LGBTQ bigotry.” Faithful America, an online advocacy organization for progressive Christians, already has thousands of signatures for a petition rejecting the statement.

Essentially this "Nashville Statement" is just an excuse to attack teh gays and attempt to shame Christians who are not interested in vilifying their lifestyle.

By the way despite what many Christians have been taught the Bible only makes mention of homosexuality about six times, and it is not so much condemned as simply misunderstood.

It is this kind of repressive mindset that is pushing people away from religion.

Young people simply do NOT want to be told how and who to love.

Personally I enjoy watching the church prove that they are a primitive superstitious entity dedicated to shaming and manipulating their congregations. That has been my position since I was about ten years old.

However if the Christians really want their faith to survive, they might want to do a little thing called "evolve."

I know, ironic right?

Republican Congressman threatens that if this Russian probe continues they may have to reopen investigation in to Hillary's private server. I'm sorry, what?

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

During a CNN interview Wednesday morning, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) issued a threat — if Democrats don’t move on from the enlarging scandal surrounding the Trump campaign’s possible collusion with Russia, Republicans will have no choice but to further investigate the Clintons. 

“If this continues — this immobilization of the presidency over these kind of things — it’s gonna force Congress to do an investigation, a complete and thorough investigation, and that means go back all the way to the 650,000 emails of Anthony Weiner and look at [former FBI Director James] Comey and his activities,” the House Judiciary Committee members said. 

Pushed on the point by CNN’s Alisyn Camerota , King said that Comey and the special counsel investigating Trump are the real colluders. 

“What I’m saying is this, that the Comey investigation — now him picking the special counsel on top of it — on its face, appears to be collusion.”

I am not sure that Steve "calves the size of cantaloupes" King understands what the word "collusion" means.

Boy he really threw all of the hot button talking points out there didn't he?

Anthony Wiener, emails, collusion, James Comey, Hillary Clinton, it's like a list of answers to a wingnut crossword puzzle put together by Alex Jones.

I can only imagine what Hillary's response would be to this threat but I imagine it would go something like this.

"Coal King" admits that the idea of clean coal is a sham.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

While President Donald Trump continues to tout “clean” coal, coal baron Robert Murray says it’s just a fantasy. 

“Carbon capture and sequestration does not work. It’s a pseudonym for ‘no coal,’” the CEO of Murray Energy, the country’s largest privately held coal-mining company, told E&E News. 

Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), also called carbon capture and storage, is the process of trapping carbon dioxide from a power plant (during or after burning a hydrocarbon like coal) and then storing it permanently, usually underground.

......

“It is neither practical nor economic, carbon capture and sequestration,” he said last week. “It is just cover for the politicians, both Republicans and Democrats that say, ‘Look what I did for coal,’ knowing all the time that it doesn’t help coal at all.” 

And this is from a guy who is a member of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity — which has spent tens of millions of dollars trying to persuade the public that clean coal is the solution to global warming.

If, as Murray says, CCS is “neither practical nor economic,” then coal clearly has no future.

Which, by the way, is exactly what Hillary Clinton said during the 2016 campaign that got her vilified by the Republicans. 

And now we have this guy saying essentially the same thing.

If this guy's name sounds familiar to you it is because he is the same guy suing John Oliver for "character assassination."

White House suggests that reason states are not complying with requests for voter information is due to fear that it will prove Trump won popular vote. Wait, what?

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

White House officials told Fox News on Tuesday that states weren’t cooperating with the commission because they are “concerned they will find fraud” which will “raise doubts about Hillary Clinton winning the popular vote.”

Clinton won the popular vote by about 2.9 million votes. 

The idea that partisan politics is motivating the states is belied by the fact that many of the states refusing to cooperate with the commission are run by Republicans.

Okay has Trump's insanity now spread throughout the entire White House?

This is such a bizarre notion that it almost makes me paranoid that the reason behind this entire project was to somehow massage to make it appear that Trump WAS the actual winner of the popular vote.

But that's just crazy, right?

Well crazy or not there is at least on official who has simply had enough.

Courtesy of TPM: 

Amid a wave of states refusing requests for personal voter data and a new legal complaint filed against its leader, the Trump administration’s “election integrity” panel saw its first resignation Monday night: Maryland’s Republican deputy secretary of state Luis E. Borunda. 

Borunda, who did not immediately respond to TPM’s request for an interview, was appointed to the controversial panel on June 21. Unlike in most U.S. states, however, the Secretary of State’s office in Maryland has nothing to do with registering voters or administering elections. That falls to Maryland’s Attorney General and State Board of Elections, which on Tuesday joined the growing list of states refusing to cooperate with the national voter fraud panel’s demand for a long list of personal voter information, including the Social Security numbers, addresses and party affiliation of millions of citizens.

Well this is at least one Republican who recognized that he needed to jump out of the clown car before it careened off a cliff.