Showing posts with label attacks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label attacks. Show all posts

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Under constant attack from the Parkland students and pro-gun law advocates, the NRA aggressively increases its advertising.Update!

Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune:  

Immediately after the horror of the February 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., the National Rifle Association halted all of its digital advertising, including ads on YouTube, banner ads on websites, and Facebook ads. 

Within four days, though, the NRA had returned in force, increasing its advertising aggressively on Facebook, and spending so widely and indiscriminately that its ads on YouTube showed up on videos for school-age kids. According to a previously unpublished review by Pathmatics, a company that scrapes data from online ads, the NRA spent more than six times as much on digital ads after the Parkland shooting than it did in the weeks before it. Its average daily spending in the 24 days before Parkland was $11,300, according to Pathmatics. In the 24 days after its silent period, that average jumped to $47,300.

Nearly all of the increase was on social media, primarily Facebook, where the NRA took its spending from an average of $4,400 a day in the three weeks prior to Parkland to $34,000 a day in the three weeks after the silence. Florida was heavily targeted in the post-tragedy ad burst. The state went from ninth most targeted in January to third between mid-February and mid-March. 

The NRA didn’t change its message – the ads were the same as before the shooting. The message was just pushed much harder. For the past year, the NRA had been ranked No. 706 by Pathmatics on its list of top YouTube video advertisers. In the period since Feb. 21, the gun-rights group jumped into the top 100 at No. 92.

The NRA did not stop with simple pro-gun advertisements, they also sent their spokespeople and Right Wing supporters out to attack the Parkland students.

In fact Laura Ingraham even went so far as to attack one of the student's grade point average.
Wait, seriously?

That seems like a rather pathetic attempt to undermine a teenager's credibility.

Hogg's sister, displaying far more maturity than Ingraham, responded with this:
For his part social media savvy David Hogg simply tweeted this:
And yes that has started a boycott.

Now you might think that NRA members would be embarrassed by all of this and perhaps be less supportive, but you would be incorrect.

Courtesy of the New York Post: 

Contributions to the National Rifle Association’s political action committee tripled in February amid public attacks against the organization following the Feb. 14 high school shooting in Parkland, Fla. 

Supporters of the Second Amendment donated about $779,000 in February to the NRA’s political arm, the Political Victory Fund, according to recent Federal Election Commission (FEC) data. 

The figure marked a more than threefold increase compared to January, when the PAC received nearly $250,000 in donations, and was the fund’s second-best month over the last year.

Well I guess if you define your manhood by the size of the metal penis extender you have strapped to your body it is a little hard to shame you about anything.

P.S. Okay just like an hour after I wrote this post Laura Ingraham caved under pressure and apologized to David Hogg on Twitter.
Really? If you think he should be proud of a 4.2 grade average than why did you say that nasty shit in the first place?

In my mind these Right Wing trolls attack these Parkland kids at their peril, because these teenagers know exactly how to use social media to deal with idiots like them.

Update: I think this belongs here.

Very well said.
Posted by Gryphen at 1:30 PM 45 comments
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Tuesday, March 27, 2018

As their national presence grows the Right Wing is going to extremes to discredit Parkland students.

The above tweets features the always rational Alex Jones suggesting that Parkland student David Hogg is the new embodiment of Hitler.

Because you know that makes sense.

But the smear tactics did not end there. Not by a long shot.


Courtesy of Media Matters:  

Right-wing media outlets amplified claims that Parkland survivor David Hogg made a Nazi salute after his speech at the March for Our Lives event in Washington, D.C. But the gesture Hogg made was clearly a raised fist, not the Seig Heil salute.

In a March 25 article, Breitbart writer AWR Hawkins positively highlighted several Twitter accounts that claimed Hogg made a Nazi salute, although the image used to illustrate the article debunked the claim.

Writing for conservative pundit Ben Shapiro’s The Daily Wire, Ryan Saavedra wrote that Hogg “threw up a salute that sent Twitter into a frenzy.” Saavedra claimed it’s “not clear what Hogg meant by his hand gesture” but went on to include nine tweets that called the gesture, among other things, “Hitler-esque.” 

In a March 24 blog post, Alex Jones’ pro-Trump outlet Infowars called the march “the ‘Hitler Youth” invasion of Washington D.C.” and referred to the speakers as “young fascists-in-training,” specifically calling Hogg “the propagandist-in-chief”.
Here, by the way, is the video from which that image on the left was taken, just in case there are any trolls here who want to argue that the one of the right is not photoshopped.
And yes, there's more:  

And as of this weekend, this group of idealistic young people have officially become the right’s leading hate figures. 

The first and most repugnant strategy was to directly attack high-profile campaigners, especially students David Hogg and Emma Gonzalez. 

Running short of reasoned arguments, many attempted to push conservative buttons with high impact visuals. Alt-right social media company Gab was one of many that disseminated a doctored animation of Gonzalez in which she falsely appeared to be tearing up the US constitution. Cartoonist and Trump sycophant Ben Garrison depicted Hogg as an assault rifle, wielded by CNN, and loaded with Marxism. Breitbart re-published a round of tweets accusing Hogg of throwing a Nazi salute. 

On Front Page – an outlet led by David Horowitz, whose main stock in trade is virulent Islamophobia – Bruce Thornton decried Hogg’s “profanity laced tantrums” and reduced him and his fellow students to political “shock troops” being manipulated by a progressive “ideology of melodrama and moral exhibitionism”.

Though David and Emma have born the main brunt of the vicious attacks from the Right Wing, likely due to their effective messaging, other Parkland kids have also been targeted:  

Along with Hogg and Gonzalez, the right found some new targets among the Parkland survivors. The one who got the most scrutiny was Marjory Stoneman Douglas student Delaney Tarr, who spoke at the Washington rally. In her speech, she suggested that bump stock bans could be expanded into further gun control. Many rightwing outlets drew the inference that the movement would not stop at an assault weapons ban, but would try to ban firearms altogether. 

Fox News did not resort to calling the Parkland students Nazis, but they did call them sanctimonious pawns.
Keep in mind that these are children.

Children who just had their lives torn apart by gun violence, and many of whom lost friends to that same violence.

But to the Right Wing they are nothing more than adversaries who must be crushed under foot, and their suffering does not buy them any sympathy or empathy whatsoever.
Posted by Gryphen at 4:00 PM 50 comments
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Saturday, September 30, 2017

You probably saw this coming., Donald Trump attacks mayor of San Juan in early morning tweets.

Of course this was in response to Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz's desperate call for help yesterday. So instead of getting these people the help they so desperately need, Trump decides to become defensive and attack this overwhelmed mayor personally.

That's real leadership. 

By the way Trump sent those disgusting tweets from the comfort of his private golf course in New Jersey. 

POS!
Posted by Gryphen at 6:00 AM 61 comments
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Sunday, July 30, 2017

Donald Trump's attacks on Lisa Murkowski have failed, making her a political hero instead.

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:

If there's anything Alaskans don't like, it's having Alaska threatened by Washington, D.C. That's why Sen. Lisa Murkowski came out of this historic political week with unique new stature and why Sen. Dan Sullivan hurt himself badly. 

On Wednesday, Sullivan told an Alaska Dispatch News reporter that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke had delivered a threat against Alaska energy development if Murkowski wouldn't reverse her opposition to the Republicans' repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

Sullivan was the third link in a chain of incredible political ineptitude leading from President Donald Trump through Zinke.

Sullivan not only revealed the threat — really dumb — but seemed to take it seriously and, if media reports are accurate, pushed Murkowski to capitulate. 

I have no doubt Murkowski was as furious as has been reported. But she didn't blab. She simply froze Interior nominations at the Energy and Natural Resources Committee she chairs — the committee that oversees Zinke's department.

Murkowski came out looking like a steel-spined hero, bucking Washington threats against Alaska to do what was right. I suspect even her conservative Alaska critics got a tingle from the spectacle, if they aren't Republican Central Committee members. 

Sullivan came out looking like a pipsqueak.

This is how one Republican consultant described the idea of attacking Lisa Murkowski and the people of Alaska:  

“Let me tell you what little bit I know about Alaska and Lisa. When you go to attack those people, you better take two sandwiches because she’ll eat the first one for lunch and maybe give you the second one back.”

That is essentially what I said right after Trump's Interior Secretary delivered his ham handed threat:  

If Donald Trump thinks that he can make Alaskans turn on one of their own by threatening our economy he has another think coming. 

We may not all agree with each other politically, but if an out of stater attacks one of our own, they are going to witness a circling of the wagons like they have never seen before. 

We live in one of the harshest climates on the planet, and are constantly surrounded by predators that will kill us just as soon as look at us, so if that corpulent orange POS thinks that Alaskans cave to threats than he knows nothing about us as a people.

I stand by that.

All that Trump has done is ensure that Lisa Murkowski remains a Senator for Alaska until she, on her own, decides that she no longer wants the job.

Back in 2010 when Murkowski won a write in vote and defeated both the Republican and Democratic candidates I said that she would be almost impossible to defeat in the next election cycle.

The only thing I would change about that statement is to remove the word "almost."

The one characteristic that Alaskans prize above all others is toughness.

Lisa Murkowski stood up against virtually the entire Republican party and a president who is well know for bullying and abusing women.

That is the kind of powerful image that you cannot buy, and the kind of image that intimidates political challengers and energizes voters.

On the other hand, when it comes to Dan Sullivan I do believe I smell blood in the water.
Posted by Gryphen at 2:00 PM 33 comments
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Friday, June 23, 2017

Most terrorist attacks come from the Right Wing, not Muslims.

Courtesy of Newsweek:

U.S. President Donald Trump was elected vowing to get tough on “radical Islamic terrorism.” He has tried to implement a travel ban barring people from six Muslim-majority nations from entering the U.S. and has tweeted frequently about Islamist terrorist attacks around the world. On Thursday, a new report claimed the president has his facts muddled. 

A joint project by the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute, a nonprofit media center, and Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting has found that within the past nine years, right-wing extremists plotted or carried out nearly twice as many terrorist attacks as Islamist extremists. Of the 115 right-wing incidents, police only foiled 35 percent. Compare this to the 63 Islamist terrorism cases, where police foiled 76 percent of the planned attacks. 

Right-wing extremists were not only more successful, they were often more deadly, too. From 2008 to 2016, a third of right-wing attacks involved fatalities, compared to 13 percent of Islamist attacks. It should be noted, however, that Islamist extremists killed more people overall, with a death toll of 90 people compared to 79. 

In a statement pointing out the higher rate of successful, right-wing terrorist attacks, the Investigative Fund said: “This project quantifies just how irrational Trump and the GOP's fixation on 'radical Islamic terrorism' as the greatest security threat is.”

This is important information to note since the conservatives seem completely oblivious to homegrown terrorism from the radical Right and can only seem to recognize an attack as terrorism if the perpetrator is a brown skinned Muslim.

The only reason that the police foiled 76% of the Islamic terrorist attacks is because they are focused on recognizing the signs and taking action.

Imagine if that same approach were used more aggressively with the militias in this country and the sovereign citizen groups in America.

Trust me for every Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez out there right now there are at least three times that many who look and think like Schaeffer Cox.
Posted by Gryphen at 11:30 AM 7 comments
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Sunday, June 04, 2017

Donald Trump uses attack in UK to push his politician agenda, and to attack London's mayor.

Trump retweeted this, right before he went on his Twitter tirade.
To be clear the three suspects, all dead now, have not yet been identified.

So there is no evidence that they were immigrants, or that a travel ban would have had any impact.
This is the most reasonable tweet that Trump sent. Might have been best if he had stopped right here.
Of course in Trump's eyes being "politically correct" is seen as a sign of weakness.
I guess in Trump's mind offering to help means misrepresenting the words of the Mayor of the city that just got attacked and then attempting to shame him publicly.

Courtesy of The Guardian:  

The mayor, Sadiq Khan, did not use the phrase “no reason to be alarmed” in a statement overnight or when he spoke in a television interview earlier on Sunday. 

In the statement, Khan said “Metropolitan police are responding to the horrific terrorist attack at London Bridge and Borough Market,” and added: “My thoughts are with everyone affected, and I’d like to thank the brave men and women of our emergency services who were first on the scene and will be working throughout the night. 

“This was a deliberate and cowardly attack on innocent Londoners and visitors to our city enjoying their Saturday night,” he said. “I condemn it in the strongest possible terms. There is no justification whatsoever for such barbaric acts.”

I guess because the mayor did not attempt to cause undue panic, and talked in complete sentences, Trump somehow found fault with him.

But wait, there's more.
Not having a gun debate because England has some pretty serious gun control laws in place.

Does Trump really believe that if these killers had been able to get access to firearms they would not have used those in the attack?

And for fuck's sake why is he bringing that up at a time like this?

Author J.K Rowling had a fairly perfect response.
Well since the guy sitting in the White House does not know how to do this properly just let me say that as an American citizen my heart goes out to the victims injured and killed in this attack, and that I hope the people of London find some solace in the good will that is pouring into their country from every part of the world NOT led by a selfish orange tinged asshole.
Posted by Gryphen at 8:30 AM 38 comments
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In May eight people learned the hard way that Alaskan moose are dangerous.

Big nope right here.
Courtesy of ADN: 

A moose attack in an Eagle River neighborhood, which sent a woman to the hospital with serious injuries, was just one of eight run-ins with Anchorage's most visible urban animal resulting in injuries in May, officials said. 

The woman was either jogging with or walking her dogs in the Eaglewood subdivision on May 22 when she got too close to a cow moose and its two calves, said Alaska Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist Dave Battle. 

"She didn't have time. … The moose attacked her, and came back twice, which is why she was injured so badly," said Eaglewood operations manager Mark McAllister. 

Anecdotally, eight moose encounters resulting in injuries is a lot, said Fish and Game public information officer Ken Marsh. There may have been more encounters, but many go unreported, as is often the case with wildlife incidents, Marsh said.

Eight does seem a little high, though aggressive moose encounters are certainly not rare in Anchorage. 

I have lived here for 57 years, and thankfully my few run ins with our giant ungulates have been relatively minor.

I was once chased back to my car after accidentally walking through an open gate which panicked the ungodly large bull moose chewing on leaves from a tree in back yard and sent it hurtling in my direction with antlers set on "skewer."

Another close call was during my paper route days when I accidentally hit a newborn calf with a carelessly tossed rolled up newspaper while distracted by its large and intimidating mother.

Fortunately she accepted my profuse apology which was delivered in hushed tones as I slowly backed away from the yard.

There have been a few others on bike trails, hiking trips, and once even on horseback, but they were less urine inducing, and not really worth mentioning.

However in Anchorage there have been some really unfortunate encounters, some quite fatal, which should serve to remind us all that just because they appear tame and even check both ways before crossing the highway, does NOT mean they are even remotely domesticated. 
Posted by Gryphen at 2:00 AM 11 comments
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Monday, February 27, 2017

New York Times executive editor says that Donald Trump is the best thing to happen for their bottom line.

Courtesy of The Hill:

The executive editor of the New York Times said in an interview Sunday that President Trump’s attempts to smear the publication have instead encouraged more people to read it. 

“Trump is the best thing to happen to the Times’ subscription strategy,” Dean Baquet said in an interview with CNN’s "Reliable Sources." “Every time he tweets it drives subscriptions wildly.” 

Baquet said Trump has revitalized reporters who may have been pessimistic about the future of the industry. 

"There was a long time when the press wondered about its place in society, the last several years as newspaper subscriptions dwindled, as particularly local newspapers worried about their future," he said. "What’s happened in the last couple of months I have to say has been tremendous for news organizations." 

"Our mission is clearer than it's ever been — we’re covering a dramatic revolution in government and how the country is governed, and it feels like all of the things that sort of bothered us and made us lose a little bit of confidence in the last few months have sort of gone away."

And the more attacks Trump lobs their way the more subscriptions they sell.

I have one, do you?

I have to admit however that while I certainly embrace the resurgence of quality journalism in this country, I am also troubled by the fact that it was a similar upsurge in viewers that compelled cable news outlets to put Donald Trump's big orange face in front of its audiences almost 24/7 for months leading up to the election.

I cannot help but think this is a case of the cable news media creating a Frankenstein monster and then leaving it to the print media to destroy it for the benefit of humanity.
Posted by Gryphen at 2:00 PM 22 comments
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Chuck Todd points out that right after the press reports on ties with Russia, Donald Trump increases his attacks on the media. Things that make you go, "Hmmm."

Courtesy of Mediaite: 

“One issue that doesn’t seem to hurt the president right now, at least in the eyes of his supporters, are the reported ties he and his aides may or may not have with Russia,” Todd said. 

He continued, “And whenever stories break on that subject, press bashing — which is always part of the president’s arsenal — seems to escalate.” 

Todd then played a prepared clip detailing numerous instances where Trump went on the attack against the media directly after mainstream press reports related to potential Russian ties. The MTP host pointed to tweets, news conferences, and speeches that were devoted almost entirely to media attacks following damning Trump-Russia stories.

You know subconsciously I think I noticed this, but having it laid out like this is very enlightening.

Clearly Trump is terrified of where this reporting will lead and is desperate to undermine the credibility of the press before it blows his presidency out of the water.
Posted by Gryphen at 11:30 AM 49 comments
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Thursday, December 22, 2016

This is why you cannot count on the Republicans lawmakers to rein Trump in at all.

Courtesy of Mediaite:  

Politico ran a story this morning about the online abuse Representative Bill Flores suffered after Breitbart and a smaller right-wing blog twisted his words about Trump. He said that some of Trump’s policies might not align with the party’s values but he was sure they could work together. That somehow became a headline that read, “BREAKING: Rep. Bill Flores Has CRAFTED a PLAN to BLOCK Trump’s Immigration Reform.” 

Before releasing that particular post, a blogger reached out to Flores and advised him to get ready “for a shit storm,” which is exactly what came his way. Sean Hannity signal-boosted the Breitbart report by giving it air time on his radio show and soon, Flores was under attack online. 

Now, Republicans on the Hill don’t want to be the next to get pounced on, so they’re staying quiet about any misgivings or questions they have regarding Trump. Politico pointed out that by tearing into someone online, the trolls are taking a cue from the President-elect himself.

I mentioned earlier how the National Enquirer was Trump's propaganda outlet with the national reach, but he also has attack media at his disposal.

I think we all saw this in its infancy back in Sarah Palin's heyday when all she had to do was write a Facebook post and her flying monkeys went after Joe McGinniss and even members of his family with stunning aggression. 

However that assault weapon has now been honed to a razor's edge, and Trump has even gone so far as to put one of its triggers into his administration in form of Stephen Bannon.

So no, there are few Republican lawmakers who are going to dare challenge Trump no matter how insane his policy proposals might seem, because they realize to do so is to risk the wrath of Breitbart, Fox News, and numerous other Right Wing news outlets.

There may be a few such as Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and Rand Paul who will rise to the challenge, but without greater numbers their attempts will be largely ineffective.

That also means that talk of an impending impeachment are essentially just pipe dreams as well. 

The minute that a Republican lawmaker suggested anything like that he would be crushed under a deluge of bad press, his e-mail box would fill with misspelled threats on his life, and his career would essentially be over in Washington. 

Trump once bragged that he could shoot a man on fifth avenue and not lose any support, and now that may hold true concerning the presidency as well.

In short this next four years is going to suck, and they are going to suck hard.
Posted by Gryphen at 6:15 AM 24 comments
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Friday, October 21, 2016

Damn he actually did it. Donald Trump goes after Michelle Obama. Update!

Courtesy of Heavy:

 After taking a tongue-lashing from First Lady Michelle Obama in a speech she delivered in Phoenix, Arizona, Thursday, Donald Trump lashed back at FLOTUS during a rally at Western North Carolina Agricultural Center in Fletcher, North Carolina, the following day.

 In other remarks at the rally, Trump referred to President Barack Obama as a “baby,” a putdown which may have been provoked by the president’s command to Trump earlier in the week to “stop whining,” in reference to Trump’s claims that the 2016 Presidential election will be “rigged” against him.

I swear this moron will not be happy until there is not a single woman in the country who will cast a vote for him.

By the way those allegations of friction between Hillary and Michelle are the result of anti-Clinton books and gossip papers.

And perhaps Trump missed (You know with his head shoved so far up ass and everything.) but Michelle has been killing it as a surrogate for Hillary Clinton and was the one behind this quote:

 Making her campaign trail debut for Hillary Clinton, First Lady Michelle Obama ripped into Donald Trump without directly naming him while also laying out her case for supporting Hillary Clinton as “one of the most qualified people who had ever endeavored to become president." 

  “No one in our lifetime has ever had as much experience and exposure to the presidency. Not Barack, not Bill, as he would say, nobody, and yes, she happens to be a woman,” the first lady said to a roaring applause at an event in Fairfax, Va. 

  “So, we can not afford squander this opportunity, particularly given the alternative. Because here is what we know: That being president isn't anything like reality TV. It is not about sending insulting tweets or making fiery speeches,” she continued.

Oh yeah, you cannot almost feel the animosity can't you?

I think that Trump has about as good of a chance of driving a wedge between these two women as Melania has of driving one between him and his first born daughter.

Update: Politifact by the way rates Trump's accusation as false.
Posted by Gryphen at 2:00 PM 88 comments
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Monday, August 08, 2016

Things that should never have to be addressed, the so-called "Clinton Body Count." But Snopes did it anyhow.

Damn, y'all are stupid. 
Courtesy of Snopes:

Multiple versions of lengthy lists of deaths associated with Bill Clinton have been circulating online for about twenty years now. According to those lists, close to fifty colleagues, advisors, and citizens who were about to testify against the Clintons died in suspect circumstances, with the unstated implication being that Bill Clinton or his henchmen were behind each untimely demise. 

 We shouldn't have to tell anyone not to believe this claptrap, but we will anyway. In a frenzied media climate where the Chief Executive couldn't boff a White House intern without the whole world finding out every niggling detail of each encounter and demanding his removal from office, are we seriously to believe the same man had been having double handfuls of detractors and former friends murdered with impunity? 

 Don't be swayed by the number of names listed on screeds like this. Any public figure is bound to have a much wider circle of acquaintance than an ordinary citizen would. Moreover, the acquaintanceship is often one-sided: though many of the people enumerated on this list might properly claim to have "known" Clinton, he wouldn't know or remember having met a great number of them. 

 "Body count" lists are not a new phenomenon. Lists documenting all the allegedly "suspicious" deaths of persons connected with the assassination of John F. Kennedy have been circulating for decades, and the same techniques used to create and spread the JFK lists have been employed in the Clinton version.

As many of you know this bullshit story has turned up a couple of times in the comments here at IM.

It was literally so fucking stupid that I could not imagine that anybody would be ignorant or crazy enough to believe it.

But guess what, they are.

All you have to keep in mind is that the Clinton's have been under almost constant scrutiny for four decades, and that includes opposition research during campaigns, GOP investigations of Bill while in office, and of Hillary just recently over Benghazi and her e-mail server, to realize that if there were any truth to these allegations we would have read all about them on the front pages of every newspaper in the country.

In my opinion this is just another example of just how incredibly desperate the Right Wing is in finding ANYTHING they can use to stop Hillary from winning the presidency.

But if this is all they have, they better start getting used to saying "Madame President."
Posted by Gryphen at 11:30 AM 40 comments
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Sunday, May 22, 2016

Hillary Clinton's message to Donald Trump, "Keep on talking."

Courtesy of TPM:

 Hillary Clinton has a message for Donald Trump: keep on talking. 

 She's just weeks away from wrapping up the Democratic presidential nomination, and friends, aides and supporters describe a candidate who isn't particularly rattled by what she expects will be Trump's increasingly direct attacks on her marriage and husband's personal indiscretions. 

 In fact, Clinton believes that she can turn Trump's deeply personal assaults to her benefit, they say, particularly among suburban women who could be crucial to her hopes in the fall. Her plan is never to engage in any back-and-forth over the scandals. Instead, she'll merely cast him as a bully and talk about policy. 

 "I don't care what he says about me, but I do resent what he says about other people, other successful women, who have worked hard, who have done their part," she told an audience in Louisville, Kentucky, this month.

I think this is really the only strategy that Hillary can utilize.

If she responds in kind to Trump's mudslinging she essentially lowers herself to his level.

But if she stays above the fray she seems more mature, more respectful, and, above all, more presidential.

Besides that what she has Elizabeth Warren for.

As well as a few others.
Yeah, I think she can take the high road with some confidence.
Posted by Gryphen at 4:30 PM 55 comments
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Friday, May 20, 2016

Benghazi Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy admits that there was no way the military could have arrived in time to save Ambassador Stevens. Oops.

Courtesy of Salon: 

“Whether or not they [the military] could have gotten there in time – I don’t think there’s any issue with respect to that. They couldn’t,” Gowdy said. But, in an effort to justify his committee’s continued efforts, he argued that important context had been omitted from Chipman’s remarks. “The next question,” Gowdy explained, “is why could you [the military] not? Why were you not positioned to do it?” That’s the critical question, Gowdy insisted: why the military wasn’t prepared to respond to a Benghazi-like attack. 

Well, guess what? That question has been asked and answered already.

Salon then goes on to explain that previous investigations had already determined that there was inadequate security, and the President himself admitted this in 2014 and said that changes needed to be made to better protect our diplomats in the future.

It has also already been determined that there was no wrongdoing on the part of the Obama administration, military, or CIA concerning their response to the attacks in Benghazi.

By the way Secretary Clinton was part of the Obama administration at the time.

So if everybody has already been exonerated, and Gowdy himself admits that the military could not have arrived in time to save the day, what exactly is the point?

Well of course the point is the same one behind this ridiculous "Clinton Cash" movie, Donald Trump referring to her as "Crooked Hillary Clinton," and every other Right Wing attack on the internet.

It is to do damage to Hillary and hopefully prevent her from winning this next election.

And toward that end Donald Trump, the House Republicans, internet trolls, The Drudge Report, Fox News, and now the Bernie Sanders campaign are working as one.

Is it really any wonder that Hillary Clinton's favorability numbers are falling? 
Posted by Gryphen at 4:30 PM 50 comments
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Saturday, May 07, 2016

Donald Trump goes on the attack against Elizabeth Warren. Oh that's a bad idea.

So here is what Trump tweeted the other day.
Really?

Is that REALLY what Trump wants?

Or this another of his misdirections in the hopes that by saying it he will never really have to face them together?

Trump then went on to attack Warren with a few more pathetic tweets.

And Warren took notice.
You know Donald Trump only likes women when they have their mouths closed and are parading around in front of him wearing skimpy clothing. He has NO idea how to deal with a strong, intelligent, and confident woman.

So just imagine if he were facing TWO of them.
Posted by Gryphen at 2:00 PM 109 comments
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Thursday, April 07, 2016

Bernie Sanders claims that Hillary Clinton is unqualified to be President.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Bernie Sanders said Wednesday that Hillary Clinton is not "qualified" to be president, a sharp escalation in rhetoric in the Democratic primary. 

"Secretary Clinton appears to be getting a little bit nervous," he told a crowd in Philadelphia. "And she has been saying lately that she thinks that I am 'not qualified' to be president. Well, let me, let me just say in response to Secretary Clinton: I don't believe that she is qualified, if she is, through her super PAC, taking tens of millions of dollars in special interest funds. I don't think that you are qualified if you get $15 million from Wall Street through your super PAC."

Of course the problem with this statement is that Hillary did NOT say that Bernie was unqualified to be President.

What she said was the following: 

"I think he hadn't done his homework and he'd been talking for more than a year about doing things that he obviously hadn't really studied or understood, and that does raise a lot of questions," Clinton said. "Really what that goes to is for voters to ask themselves can he deliver what he's talking about."

That was based on the New York Daily News interview that has a lot of people wondering about Sanders' ability to do the things he has promised to do.

However it should be noted that Sanders' said "quote unquote" when describing what Hillary allegedly said, and that it demonstrably false.

This was a yuge mistake for Sanders and it is definitely going to have an impact on, not only his campaign, but his reputation as a politician who does not "go negative."
Posted by Gryphen at 6:00 AM 254 comments
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Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Brussels suffers terrorist attack.

Courtesy of the BBC: 

At least 26 people have been killed and many seriously injured in terrorist attacks at Brussels international airport and a city metro station. 

Twin blasts hit Zaventem airport at 07:00 GMT, killing 11 and injuring 81, Belgium's health minister said. 

Another explosion struck Maelbeek metro station an hour later. Brussels transport officials say 15 people were killed and 55 injured, 10 seriously. 

Belgium has now raised its terrorism threat to its highest level. 

The attacks come four days after Salah Abdeslam, the main fugitive in the Paris attacks, was seized in Brussels.

Actually now I am hearing that the number of dead has now reached at least 31. And the number may grow as more information comes to light.

What a terrible thing to wake up to today.

And just another reminder of how important it is to choose a leader here in the US who understands the world as it is, as has a plan for how to deal with all of the challenges that we face moving forward.

Donald Trump for instance has the perfect solution to the problem, courtesy of Wonkette:

I would close up our borders until we figure out what is going on. Look at Brussels. Look at Paris. Look at so many cities that were great cities. Paris is almost as bad … Paris is no longer the beautiful City Of Lights. Paris has got a lot of problems … All you have to do is speak to the people who live there. […] We have to be smart in the United States. When people come in, we’re taking in people without real documentation, we don’t know where they’re coming from, we don’t know where they’re from, who they are. You look at it from any standpoint, they could be ISIS. They could be ISIS-related. And we just don’t learn. … Brussels is an amazing example. Brussels was an absolutely crime-free city, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. And now you look at it, it’s a disaster. […] 

Frankly, those countries better get smart fast, because they’re just disintegrating. I have friends who live in Brussels, they say the place is literally disintegrating. 

In my opinion, this is just the beginning. It will get worse and worse because we are lax and we are foolish. … At this point, we cannot allow these people to come into the country. We are allowing thousands and thousands of people to come into our country, and we don’t even know where they come from and who they are. We have to be very careful. We’re not babies. We can’t do this anymore. We can’t have these attacks anymore. We can’t have World Trade Centers anymore and planes flying into the Pentagon. 

Wow there really is no problem for which Donald Trump does not think that racism and xenophobia are the solution.

And let me remind everybody that the very existence of ISIS, or Daesh if you prefer, is the direct result of another narrow minded idiot who declared war on Muslims without good reason.

Gee I think he was a Republican as well. What a coincidence.
Posted by Gryphen at 6:15 AM 54 comments
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Saturday, January 02, 2016

Man behind the anti-Trump skywriting during the Rose Bowl parade is a Republican millionaire backing Marco Rubio.

Unfortunately this comes from Breitbart so click on the link at your own risk: 

It turns out that the millionaire GOP establishment donor who bankrolled the anti-Donald Trump skywriting at the Rose Bowl parade on New Year’s Day isn’t just any ordinary donor-class millionaire. He’s backing Sen. Marco Rubio, the man who is emerging as the anti-conservative establishment and donor-class candidate for president in 2016. 

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Luther Stan Pate IV—an Alabama real estate developer worth millions—has donated thousands of dollars to Rubio’s electoral efforts.

You really can't blame the guy, after all the nomination of Donald Trump would more or less signal the end of the Republican party. 

Usually I would consider such tactics childish and immature, but since this is Donald Trump, the man who tweets childish attacks every day, it seems almost fitting.

Besides I just love watching these GOP types going after each other like this.
Posted by Gryphen at 9:00 AM 22 comments
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Monday, December 14, 2015

Ted Cruz is leading Donald Trump in some polls. You know what that means.

Courtesy of Yahoo:  

Donald Trump says Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is “a bit of a maniac” who doesn’t have the “right temperament” to be president. 

“The way he’s dealt with the Senate — where he goes in frankly like a bit of a maniac — you never get things done that way,” Trump said on “Fox News Sunday.” “You can’t walk into the Senate and scream and call people liars and not be able to cajole and get along with people. He’ll never get anything done. That’s the problem with Ted.” 

Trump, on the other hand, says he has “much better temperament” than Cruz. 

“I actually get along with people much better than he does,” the Republican frontrunner said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “You know people don’t know that about me. I actually have a great relationship with people. In fact, I was criticized in the beginning because I get along with Democrats and liberals and Republicans and conservatives — I get along with everybody.” 

The real estate mogul said his judgment is also superior to Cruz’s. 

“My judgment is great,” Trump said. “I built a multi-multi-multi-billion dollar company, some of the greatest assets in the world, tremendously big, number one bestsellers, including ‘The Art of the Deal’ — which may be the biggest and best in terms of the business books — tremendous television show called 'The Apprentice’ that lasted for 14 seasons.”

I don't think I will ever tire of watching these truly horrible people ripping each others jugulars out for the honor of losing to Hillary in 2016.

It's kind of like if you could go back and find all of those bullies who were mean to you in high school and transport them into a gladiator ring just to watch them rip each other to shreds.

Sure its ugly, but you'd probably still watch.
Posted by Gryphen at 6:15 AM 24 comments
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Friday, December 04, 2015

Female involved in San Bernardino shooting pledged her allegiance to ISIS. Update!

Courtesy of NBC News:

Tashfeen Malik pledged allegiance to the leader of ISIS just before she and her husband carried out the San Bernardino massacre, law enforcement sources told NBC News. 

Malik posted a statement of support for Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Facebook "just before the attack," one official familiar with the issue said. 

And now investigators are looking into whether the Pakistan-born Malik, who spent most of her childhood in Saudi Arabia, radicalized her husband, Syed Rizwan Farook.

You know if you could direct the sigh of relief from the Right Wing you could blow out a thousand birthday candles.

The FBI is still not saying that this attack was motivated by Islamic terrorism, and seem convinced that it was not part of an international terror plot, but at this point it really doesn't matter.

After all THIS is the kind of terrorism that Americans have been conditioned to accept, and respond to with panic and more calls for government intervention.

The shooters were brown skinned Muslims, with exotic sounding names, and that alone makes them the kind of "other" that allows white America to point the finger of accusation away from themselves.  


A point that was not lost on the New York Daily News.

Non-coincidentally the Planned Parenthood shooting has now been relegated to the bottom of the bird cage as this far more digestible terrorist attack soaks up all of the media attention.

Another thing which I am sure is helping the conservatives to breathe a lot easier. 

Update: They finally released a photo of the wife, Tashfeen Malik.


Posted by Gryphen at 2:00 PM 79 comments
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