During court appearance Cliven Bundy refuses to recognize the authority of the federal government. Oh yeah, he's never getting out of jail.

Courtesy of Oregon Live:  

Jailed Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy refused Thursday to acknowledge federal authority and declined to enter a plea to federal charges that he led an armed standoff against a round-up of cattle two years ago. 

After several minutes of confusion about whether Bundy had a lawyer, U.S. Magistrate Judge Carl Hoffman entered a not guilty plea on Bundy's behalf and scheduled a detention hearing March 17. 

Arguments then will focus on whether the 69-year-old Bundy should remain in custody pending trial on 16 charges, including conspiracy, assault and threatening a federal officer, obstruction and firearms offenses. 

It could be many months before trial. Federal prosecutor Steven Myhre told the judge the case involving 19 defendants would be slow-tracked as "complex."

You gotta love these sovereign citizen types who seem to believe that since they don't believe that federal laws have any validity they can simply pretend that they don't have to obey them.

I wonder how somebody sitting in a jail cell is still able to convince themselves that the Feds have no control over their lives?

Later on the sidewalk outside of the courtroom Bundy's interim attorney had this to say:

"Mr. Bundy feels like he needs to stand up for the rights of all Americans in all states, and for the states to be the owner of public land and not the federal government," Hansen said outside court. "In the West, the government owns most of the land. He thinks that's wrong."

Okay first off Bundy is certainly not standing up for THIS American.

And secondly what a stupid cause to throw your life away over.

This is not a civil rights issue, or even a stand against government intervention. This is a guy pissed off that his cows cannot eat grass and shit on government property.

Hillary Clinton campaign to return donations from private prison companies and pledges to ban them when she becomes President.

Courtesy of HuffPo:  

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton pledged Thursday to ban the use of private prison companies if elected president, and in the meantime will stop accepting campaign contributions from those corporations and the lobbyists who work for them. 

All previous donations will be given to charity, the former secretary of state's campaign said. 

"Hillary Clinton has said we must end the era of mass incarceration, and as president, she will end private prisons and private immigrant detention centers," campaign spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa said in a statement Thursday night. "She believes that we should not contract out this core responsibility of the federal government, and when we’re dealing with a mass incarceration crisis, we don’t need private industry incentives that may contribute -- or have the appearance of contributing -- to over-incarceration." 

Hinojosa said the policy against accepting contributions tied to private prison companies "is only one of many ways that she believes we need to rebalance our criminal justice and immigration systems."

Okay well this is huge!

These for profit private prisons are part of the reason that we put so many people behind bars in this country, and yes it is well past time that we do away with them. 

I think this along with Hillary's courageous stand on gun control, and her performance during that Benghazi hearing, are solidifying her lead in this campaign season in a way that will make her very difficult to stop in both the primary and the general.

At this point if you are still convinced that Hillary cannot win in 2016 then I would like a sip of whatever you are drinking. Because it must be mind blowing.

Bill Maher mocks the Republicans for suggesting that President Obama "does not love America."

I swear this bit was worth watching simply for the picture they used to represent Rudy Giuliani.

Here is more from Raw Story.