A ton of the money that Trump is raising for his reelection bid is going to legal fees.

I'm like a reverse Robin Hood. I take from the stupid and give to me.

Courtesy of CNN: 

More than one-fifth of the $3.9 million that President Donald Trump's 2020 re-election campaign has spent this year has gone to legal fees, the campaign's latest quarterly Federal Election Commission filing shows. 

About $835,000 in payments for "legal consulting" were made to eight firms and the Trump Corporation, with the most -- $347,000 -- going to Jones Day. Another $185,000 went to the firm Larocca Hornik Rosen Greenberg & Blaha. About $24,000 went to the Trump Corporation. 

The steep legal bills come amid a probe into whether the Trump campaign was involved in Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election as well as a legal battle with adult film star Stormy Daniels. 

In the first two months of 2018, the campaign paid $93,181.25 to the firm of Charles Harder, the attorney representing Trump in the Stormy Daniels case.

Well to be honest, this is probably a good idea since it is really hard to run for office while sitting in a federal prison. 

But don't worry deplorables, Trump isn't just wasting your hard earned money on lawyer's fees, he is also using it to support his various businesses.

Trump's campaign has also spent about $150,000 at Trump businesses, including the legal fees, per the FEC report. That includes about $68,000 at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, to cover costs including event rental space, hotel stays and parking. 

The campaign spent another $58,000 on costs listed as "rent" divided between three recipients: Trump Plaza, Trump Restaurants and Trump Tower.

I am not certain that it is true, but I heard that if you look up the word "suckers" in the dictionary that this is the photo that you see. 

That may not be factually correct, but I BELIEVE it to be true.

Paul Ryan is reportedly tapping out.

Courtesy of CNN: 

House Speaker Paul Ryan is not seeking re-election and will retire from Congress after this year, his office announced Wednesday. 

"This morning Speaker Ryan shared with his colleagues that this will be his last year as a member of the House," Ryan aide Brendan Buck said in a statement. "He will serve out his full term, run through the tape, and then retire in January. After nearly twenty years in the House, the speaker is proud of all that has been accomplished and is ready to devote more of his time to being a husband and a father." 

According to two sources with direct knowledge, in calls this morning with his leadership team, Ryan made clear much of this decision was about spending time with his family, but also noted that he planned to leave after this Congress and didn't think it was fair to his district or the GOP conference to run for re-election only to leave right after. 

A source familiar told CNN that Ryan called House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy about his retirement before the news broke. 

Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, has been in Congress since 1999 and became House speaker in 2015.

This...is...huge...news.

Ryan did not want to be Speaker in the first place, but he clearly enjoyed being in politics and using his position to screw over poor people at every opportunity.

If he is throwing in the towel it is likely because he realizes that the Democrats will almost certainly be the majority in Congress after the midterms, and that his days as Speaker are over anyhow.

He might also fear the "Iron Stache," and realize that he is going to be humiliated in this next election cycle and wants to get out while the getting is good.

Can you say "Blue Wave?"

Trey "Benghazi" Gowdy calls it quits. Update!

Courtesy of NBC News:  

Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., who has been at the forefront of investigations into both Hillary Clinton and alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, said Wednesday he would not run for re-election, adding his name to a growing list of Republican lawmakers stepping aside. 

In a lengthy statement, Gowdy, a former federal prosecutor, said he would be leaving politics for good to return to a career in the justice system. 

"There is a time to come and a time to go. This is the right time, for me, to leave politics and return to the justice system," wrote Gowdy, who was first elected in 2010. 

"I will not be filing for re-election to Congress nor seeking any other political or elected office; instead I will be returning to the justice system," he added. "Whatever skills I may have are better utilized in a courtroom than in Congress, and I enjoy our justice system more than our political system."

Yeah, well if that skill set is supposed to include the ability to differentiate between fact and fiction, then I think Gowdy is poorly qualified to practice law in any capacity.

This decision seems to have been quite recent as Gowdy's team just sent out a fundraising email for his 2018 campaign. Kind of makes you wonder what happened, doesn't it?

Trey Gowdy, along with Darrell Issa, were among the idiots that promoted exaggerated misinformation about the Benghazi attack, and then used that to attack both President Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Trey Gowdy has not an ethical bone in his body and should be treated as a pariah from this day forward.

Of course I guess he could go back to playing he banjo.

As for Democratic hopes moving forward, well as the great Freddie Mercury used to sing:

"Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust, yeah
Hey, I'm gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust"

Update: The Daily show weighs in.

In honor of his retirement, it's The Trey Gowdy Hairstyle Guide! Our personal fave is #8, "The Benghazi Blowout." What's yours? pic.twitter.com/4LaY2EuVJF

— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) January 31, 2018

One of the strangest heads of hair in Congress.

Darrell "Benghazi" Issa sees the writing on the wall and will not seek reelection.

Courtesy of Politico:  

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) will not seek another term in Congress, he announced Wednesday. 

“While my service to California’s 49th District will be coming to an end, I will continue advocating on behalf of the causes that are most important to me, advancing public policy where I believe I can make a true and lasting difference, and continuing the fight to make our incredible nation an even better place to call home,” he said in a statement. 

Here is Issa's full statement:   

Two decades ago, when I stepped away from the business I’d built to enter public service, I never could have imagined that a long-shot bid for U.S. Senate would lead to 18 years in the House of Representatives and endless opportunities to make a meaningful impact. 

From the first successful recall of a sitting Governor in California history, to establishing new and stronger standards for government accountability, to protecting the Internet from harmful regulation, and enacting the nation’s first open data standards, we attempted and achieved much in the service of our nation. 

Together, we put an end to abusive Congressional earmarks, strengthened the Violence Against Women Act, empowered better oversight of the executive branch, and cleared the course for better intellectual property protections to stop the piracy of American ingenuity. 

Throughout my service, I worked hard and never lost sight of the people our government is supposed to serve. Yet with the support of my family, I have decided that I will not seek re-election in California’s 49th District. 

I am forever grateful to the people of San Diego, Orange and Riverside counties for their support and affording me the honor of serving them all these years. Most humbling for me — and for anyone who represents this area — has been the special privilege of representing the Marines and Sailors of Camp Pendleton and their families. On countless occasions, and in every corner of the world I met them, I was inspired by their bravery and humbled by their sacrifice to keep us all safe from harm. 

Representing you has been the privilege of a lifetime. 

While my service to California’s 49th District will be coming to an end, I will continue advocating on behalf of the causes that are most important to me, advancing public policy where I believe I can make a true and lasting difference, and continuing the fight to make our incredible nation an even better place to call home.

Yeah that's all bullshit.

In actuality Issa engaged in mostly baseless partisan investigations for two decades, including the so-called "Fast and Furious" debacle, the investigation into the IRS supposedly rejecting non-profit status for conservative groups,  Benghazi (of course), Hillary Clinton's private server, and so on, while also leaking misinformation about these investigations to the press.

Issa once called President Obama "one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times," yet accused the Democrats of going on a witch hunt when they wanted to investigate how the Bush Administration managed to "lose" 22 million emails.

Also realize that the only reason he is not running again is because he KNOWS he will be destroyed by his Democratic challenger.

So yeah, definitely fuck this guy.

And I hope he is soon joined by a bunch of these GOP parasites who spent millions of dollars of taxpayer money going after imaginary crimes,  just to smear their ideological adversaries.

Gay man who was refused a marriage license by Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis will run against her in 2018.

Courtesy of Pink News:  

Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis is set to re-run for election in 2018, despite her extreme opposition to LGBT rights and being put behind bars for contempt of court. 

Davis refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples when she operated as a county clerk in 2015, but says she intends to retain her seat as Rowan County Clerk in next year’s elections. 

The task might have just got much tougher, however, after one of the men she denied a license to, David Ermold, considers standing against her in the race.

After she was sent to jail for six days for refusing a federal order to issue same-sex marriage certificates, Davis became a staunch anti-gay marriage campaigner. 

The Apostolic Christian has said that she refused to issue the licenses because same-sex marriage goes against her beliefs. 

Now Ermold wants to stop her. 

No Democrat has yet put their name forward to oppose the Republican right-winger. 

“If Kim Davis was reelected in that position without an appropriate fight, I’d probably regret it for the rest of my life,” Ermold, an English professor, told WKU Public Radio.

I love everything about this, and after Virginia elected a transgender woman during Tuesday's election, I think that the time is right for this kind of a challenge.

And would it not be perfect for Kim Davis to lose her reelection bid to the very people who she discriminated against?

Now THAT would be schadenfreude.

Trump campaign using reelection money and RNC funds to pay legal fees resulting from Russia probes.

Courtesy of CNBC:

U.S. President Donald Trump is using money donated to his re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee to pay for his lawyers in the probe of alleged Russian interference in the U.S. election, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. 

Following Reuters exclusive report on Tuesday, CNN reported that the Republican National Committee paid in August more than $230,000 to cover some of Trump's legal fees related to the probe. 

RNC spokesperson Cassie Smedile confirmed to Reuters that Trump's lead lawyer, John Dowd, received $100,000 from the RNC and that the RNC also paid $131,250 to the Constitutional Litigation and Advocacy Group, the law firm where Jay Sekulow, another of Trump's lawyers, is a partner.

It should be noted that they are still soliciting donations on the Trump reelection website.

That means that the party of Ronald "Tear down this wall" Reagan is donating money to help the campaign of the current president fight charges that they may have colluded with the Russians to steal this last election.

Just let that sink in for a moment.

However according to Law Newz there is nothing necessarily illegal about this:  

“I have a hard time envisioning the FEC having a problem with this,” Paul S. Ryan told Law Newz in a phone interview. He’s the Vice President of Policy & Litigation at Common Cause, a watchdog group. He said these expenditures are probably legal, especially after the passage of the “Cromnibus” bill in December 2014, which relaxed campaign finance rules. In short, yes, politicians can use campaign funds to pay for legal frees arising from an election. 

One major restriction is that such money cannot be used for personal bills. Ryan referenced the legal battle surrounding Ex-Sen. Larry Craig, who used campaign funds to defend himself after his arrest for an incident at an airport report. The courts ruled that he illegally used that money for personal use. But since the Russia probe arises from allegations linked to the election, Ryan said the Trump team has a strong argument to show that this is a campaign-related matter.

Keeping that last part in mind there is also this bit of news courtesy of Raw Story:

After revelations that President Donald Trump is using funds from his campaign and the Republican National Committee to pay for his legal defense, news broke that the RNC also paid almost $200,000 to lawyers representing Donald Trump, Jr. 

According to the Wall Street Journal‘s Rebecca Ballhaus, the RNC paid $166,000 to Trump Jr.’s personal lawyer Alan Futerfas, and paid another $30,000 to Washington, D.C.-based firm Williams & Jensen. Both payments took place in the month of August. 

Futerfas, Ballhaus pointed out, received a $50,000 payout a few weeks before Trump Jr.’s infamous Trump Tower meeting with Russian operatives last June. 

In total, the RNC and the Trump campaign combined have shelled out at least $500,000 to defend the president and Trump Jr.

I would assume that since the Trump Tower meeting happened during the election, that they are still on relatively firm legal ground. Relatively firm.

However since this is supposedly a billionaire family, one might wonder why they do not pay their own fucking legal bills and leave the money donated to the RNC by hardworking Americans where it belongs?

Oh, and remember that promise to donate the left over inaugural funds to charity? 

Yeah, I'm going to assume that the money is now lining the pockets of Trump's legal team.

Donald Trump brings Republican Senators together for lunch, threatens the reelection of one, and then lies to the public about what is in the Senate Health Care bill.

TRUMP to HELLER: "Look, he wants to remain a senator, doesn't he?" pic.twitter.com/LFiwuEY693

— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) July 19, 2017

Courtesy of Slate:

President Donald Trump invited the Republican Senate caucus to lunch to talk about health care on Wednesday. The goal of the lunch was kind of a mystery, considering that enough Republican Senators have already come forward to torpedo both Trump’s signature effort to repeal and replace Obamacare with a program that would cost tens of millions of people their insurance, as well as his back up plan of just repealing it outright in a way that would cost more than 30 million people their insurance. 

It turned out that Trump had brought them to the White House to try to browbeat and harangue recalcitrant Senators into changing their mind. The most emphatic example of this attempted bullying came with Trump's treatment of Nevada Sen. Dean Heller. The seating arrangements conveniently placed Heller, one of the earliest Senators to come out publicly and vociferously against the initial Senate health care bill, next to the president. This offered the insult comic in chief the opportunity to come up with a singularly awkward gibe. 

As it turns out Heller's seat is especially vulnerable, so Trump putting a target on his back should be especially troubling to Mitch McConnell and the GOP.

Besides Heller was not one of the Republican Senators who actually torpedoed the health care plan:

What's especially fun about this is that Heller wasn't even one of the Senators to come out and kill the revised version of the bill, nor did he kill the backup plan of repealing Obamacare without a replacement. That was Sens. Susan Collins, Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Jerry Moran in the first instance, and Sens. Collins, Shelley Moore Capito, and Lisa Murkowski in the latter. 

Murkowski, by the way, was sitting several seats over on Trump's left, looking decidedly uncomfortable and completely unconvinced by his pathetic sales pitch.

And what a pitch it was. When Trump was not threatening or shaming the Republican Senators he was outright lying to the American people.

Trump listed off a number of bald faced lies about a bill that it is clear he has never read, including that it will cover more Americans, bring insurance costs down, and still cover all preexisting conditions.

The bill will do none of that, however it will will gut $772 billion in Medicaid funding over the next ten years which will imperil health care for millions of Americans including 5 million special needs children. And it will also kick tens of millions off of their health care plans.

 Perhaps Donald Trump should try selling THAT to the American people?

Republican member of the Senate Intelligence Committee says that we need an exhaustive investigation of Michael Flynn and Trump's ties to Russia.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Republican Sen. Roy Blunt, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Tuesday called for an exhaustive investigation into connections between President Donald Trump and Russia and said the Intelligence Committee should immediately speak with former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. 

Flynn resigned Monday evening amid revelations that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about conversations he had in December with Russia's ambassador to the US about sanctions placed on Russia. Pence had defended Flynn on television and denied he discussed sanctions after initial reports of the conversations. 

"I think everybody needs that investigation to happen," Blunt said on KTRS radio. "And the Senate Intelligence Committee, again that I serve on, has been given the principle responsibility to look into this, and I think that we should look into it exhaustively so that at the end of this process, nobody wonders whether there was a stone left unturned, and shouldn't reach conclusions before you have the information that you need to have to make those conclusions."

"But the Senate Intelligence Committee is looking at this," he continued. "I would think that we should talk to Gen. Flynn very soon and that should answer a lot of questions. What did he know? What did he do? And is there any reason to believe that anybody knew that and didn't take the kind of action they should have taken?"

Somebody asked me awhile back if I thought there was any chance that the Republicans would support an investigation Trump's ties to Russia, and the Russian hacking of our election.

My answer was that they would probably not do anything until not doing anything endangered their chances for reelection, which is really their motivating force for most of what they do.

Apparently we are getting to that place now.

Look for other Republicans to start jumping aboard this train as well in the coming days and weeks.

And let's face it, they already have a lot to work with already.

The notion that Flynn DIDN'T make these phone calls at DT's behest is laughable. Flynn leads directly to DT. pic.twitter.com/OBGXlommHx

— Free bird (@TearsInHeaven09) February 14, 2017

Though according to a Russian news outlet there is nothing to see here so everybody just needs to move along.

Courtesy of Sputnik News:  

The Kremlin spokesman said Moscow and Washington had not broached the issue of lifting anti-Russia sanctions.

According to the Washington Post several Russian lawmakers rushed to defend the Trump administration:

Leading Russian lawmakers rushed to defend President Trump’s former national security adviser Tuesday after he resigned amid furor over his misleading statements to senior White House officials, including Vice President Pence, about his contacts with Russia. 

The heads of the foreign-affairs committees in Russia’s upper and lower houses of parliament chalked up Michael Flynn’s resignation to a dark campaign of Russophobia in Washington, and said it would undermine relations between the White House and the Kremlin.


Oh, well there you go then.

Boy the Russians must REALLY think that the American people are gullible idiots.

Oh wait, they already KNOW they are because they easily manipulated them into putting Donald Trump into the White House.

I almost forgot.

One bright spot in yesterday's election, Joe Arpaio is no longer the sheriff of Maricopa County.

Courtesy of ABC 15:

Maricopa County has a new sheriff in town. 

Democrat Paul Penzone beat long-standing Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio Tuesday in a campaign that featured plenty of attacks on both sides. 

Arpaio, who has been sheriff since 1993, is still in the midst of criminal contempt charges for continuing to profile Latino drivers after a federal judge barred him from doing so.

In no way does this make up for a Trump victory, but at least it's something.

So at least this one county in Arizona is now a little less racist, while the rest of the country is pulling out their best white sheets and cutting little eye holes in them.

This maybe the very first time I have ever even considered moving to Arizona.

Uh oh it looks like karma is finally coming for John McCain.

Well shit!

Courtesy of PPP: 

PPP's new Arizona poll finds that John McCain has a negative approval rating with Republican primary voters, and is at pretty serious risk of losing nomination for another term. Only 35% of GOP voters approve of the job McCain is doing to 50% who disapprove. He's in particularly poor standing with conservative voters. Among 'somewhat conservative' voters his approval spread is 33/52, and among 'very conservative' voters it drops all the way down to 18/67. 

McCain is polling at only 39% in the Republican primary field. He's benefiting from having multiple opponents. Kelli Ward is at 26%, Alex Meluskey at 4%, Scott McBean at 3%, and Clair Van Steenwyk at 2%. 27% are undecided. McCain is very strong among moderates, leading Ward 60-10. But among 'somewhat conservative' voters he leads just 34-29, and with 'very conservative' ones he's down 35-28. When you narrow the field down to just a choice between McCain and Ward, it's a tie at 41%. Ward is polling this competitively at this point despite having only 41% name recognition. 

Even if McCain does manage to survive the Republican primary, it's not going to be a walk in the park for him in the general. His overall approval rating is 34/52, and he leads Ann Kirkpatrick only 42/36 in a head to head match up. The race is close despite Kirkpatrick having only 58% name recognition at this point. If Ward advances to the general election it looks like this contest will basically be a toss up- she gets 37% to 35% for Kirkpatrick so it's pretty much a wash. 

You know I think the best part of this whole thing is that McCain did it to himself by bringing Palin to the national stage where she immediately energized the radical right which is now using conservative purity tests to force any potentially reasonable Republican out of office.

And believe it or not at one time John McCain was actually a very reasonable Republican.

Almost impossible to remember that fact these days.

John McCain fundraiser arrested on suspicion of cooking meth. Seriously, who's surprised?

Courtesy of AZ Central:  

A woman listed as the RSVP contact for U.S. Sen. John McCain's re-election fundraisers was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of drug charges after Maricopa County sheriff's deputies found an active meth lab and other illicit drugs while conducting a search warrant at her north-central Phoenix home, officials said. 

The Sheriff's Office identified one of two people arrested in the drug bust as 34-year-old Emily Pitha, a former member of the staff of retired U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., who most recently worked on GOP campaign fundraising. 

McCain's campaign manager, Ryan O'Daniel, issued this response Tuesday night: 

"We commend the hard work and dedication of our law enforcement officers in their fight to keep our community safe from illegal drugs and associated criminal activity. The campaign immediately terminated any relationship with Ms. Pitha upon learning of her alleged involvement in the operation.” 

A Maricopa County Sheriff's Office spokesman said authorities were first alerted to possible drug activity at Pitha's Phoenix home by a parcel in transit from the Netherlands containing over 250 grams of MDMA – raw ecstasy. Detective Doug Matteson, the MCSO spokesman, said Pitha's boyfriend, 36-year-old Christopher Hustrulid, signed for the packaged when it arrived at their doorstep Tuesday afternoon.

You know I guess I kind of assumed that being a meth head was a prerequisite to working for John McCain.

After all we remember Sarah Palin right?

This arrest is of course not exactly good news for McCain who is facing perhaps his toughest bid for reelection ever.

Gee wouldn't it be awesome to have the first female President AND the first female Senator from Arizona elected in the same year? Why yes it would.

Senator John McCain, the man responsible for unleashing that unholy Wasilla terror on this country, will be a no show at the Republican convention this year.

Look what you helped do to the country.

Courtesy of AZ Central:

For the first time since 1984, Arizona Sen. John McCain won’t be speaking at the Republican National Convention, according to reports. 

That's because he won't be there, according to the Hill. A former GOP presidential candidate, sitting senator and go-to guy for the talking-heads news shows? 

You have to wonder: Is it Donald Trump or McCain’s Democratic challenger Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick who has Arizona’s one-time maverick senator running scared? 

McCain told the Hill he’d be focusing on his race against Kirkpatrick – and he’d better. Polls show them in a dead heat. 

There’s also the Aug. 30 GOP primary, when Arizona mastodons who feel McCain is insufficiently conservative will try to replace him.

Apparently the McCain is just one of the many vulnerable Republicans being warned to stay away from the convention.

Kind of ironic isn't it? Here is a man who was once considered essentially bullet proof now running scared because the woman that he plucked out of the wilds of Wasilla has helped to usher in the utter destruction of his political party.

Let's face it, if there were never a Sarah Palin, Donald Trump would not now be leading in the fight for the GOP nomination.

How is THAT for a legacy?

Marco Rubio will not seek reelection to his Senate seat. Instead focusing on winning the White House.

Courtesy of the Washington Post:  

Marco Rubio is a U.S. senator. And he just can’t stand it anymore. 

“I don’t know that ‘hate’ is the right word,” Rubio said in an interview. “I’m frustrated.” 

This year, as Rubio runs for president, he has cast the Senate — the very place that cemented him as a national politician — as a place he’s given up on, after less than one term. It’s too slow. Too rule-bound. So Rubio, 44, has decided not to run for his seat again. It’s the White House or bust. 

“That’s why I’m missing votes. Because I am leaving the Senate. I am not running for reelection,” Rubio said in the last Republican debate, after Donald Trump had mocked him for his unusual number of absences during Senate votes.

Well I think we all know that Rubio is not winning the presidential election so it looks like he is done in politics for awhile. 

And once again it seems that at least part of the reason is Donald Trump mocking him.

Just to sum up, Trump was also partially responsible for Scott Walker and Rick Perry dropping out, and is currently destroying the Jeb Bush campaign.

Which means that for all intents and purposes Donald Trump is now officially the worst thing to happen to the Republican party since Sarah Palin.

John McCain announces he will run for a sixth term.

Courtesy of NBC News: 

"I have decided to run for re-election," the Arizona senator told NBC News in an exclusive interview revealing his plans to pursue a sixth term on Capitol Hill. "I'm ready. I am more than ready. In some ways, I am eager." 

McCain is currently 78 years old but will be 80 by Election Day in 2016. He defended his vitality, saying that he is "just getting started" when it comes to his Senate career. 

"I say watch me," he said. "Take a look. Take a look at my 18 hour days. Take a look at the hearings we have. Take a look at my legislative accomplishments." 

With a smile, McCain also cited the longevity of his mother, Roberta. "I am happy to tell you my mother is 103 years old and she is doing well," he said. 

McCain finally landed a dream job this year as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. From that perch, he can continue the committee's long tradition of bipartisanship. But the post also gives McCain an even bigger megaphone on national security, which he uses often to criticize President Barack Obama. 

"I have never been more concerned about the security of this nation because of the feckless leadership of the president of the United States," he said.

So we keep the failed Republican presidential candidate in the Senate where he can continue to bitch about the guy that kicked his ass in 2008. Oh joy.

I have little doubt he will win. And seriously considering the offerings from Arizona, that might not be the worst thing in the world.

However I think the world knows that nobody should trust McCain's decision making these days.

He proved that beyond a shadow of  a doubt back in 2008.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming trip to Washington to shame our President might just cost him his reelection. Couldn't happen to a more deserving asshole.

Courtesy of Addicting Info: 

Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned speech before the US Congress may cost him his position as Prime Minister, it turns out. For the opposition Labor-Hatnuah alliance, called the “Zionist Camp,” the speech could not have been better timed. The coalition, running in opposition to Netanyahu’s Likud Party, has jumped on the plan as another example of the embattled Israeli leader being, as some now call him, “the Republican Senator from the great State of Israel.” 

In the latest polls, we find Netanyahu’s Lukid party coming in solidly behind Zionist Camp, with the other parties all gathering small pieces of the seats left over for Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. Of note, the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Lukid’s current partner in the ruling coalition, has lost so many seats in polling that it only barely qualified to even run a ticket, meaning that even if Lukid holds on to each seat it currently has, it still will lose power in the next Knesset. It is a major uphill battle for Netanyahu at this point. 

The perception that the Prime Minister would cause diplomatic tensions in order to pander to a base in politics is not bolstering his position as hoped. Instead, Netanyahu is finding support waning, and he is now under strong pressure to postpone, or even cancel his speech entirely. But at this point, the damage may have already become impossible for him to repair. 

Add to this situation, Mr. Netanyahu parading himself before a foreign government in order to incite another war? The Israeli people have simply had enough, according to the polls. A Zionist Camp coalition with the Arab List, Meretz, Kulanu and Yesh Atid, based on current polling, would be incredibly close to controlling the Knesset. The next few weeks are critical now, to see if they can indeed remove Prime Minister Netanyahu from office.

I have to tell you that it this Republican plan to embarrass the President costs Netanyahu the election, and a more reasonable, less war mongering, Prime Minister is elected who is willing to work with Obama, it will literally take me days to stop laughing about it.

John McCain strongly suggests that he will run for reelection in 2016. Because, oh why the hell not?

"Whoa Nelly, I'm gonna win it this time."

Courtesy of AZ Central:  

Veteran U.S. Sen. John McCain reiterated Thursday that he is "seriously considering" and "leaning towards" a 2016 re-election bid. 

"We were talking to our longtime supporters -- many of whom have been with us for many years and we're grateful for their support -- about the options, and what we see as the future of the party in Washington and here in Arizona," McCain said. "We're getting a lot of their input as to whether I should run for re-election or not. They know that I am seriously considering it, and leaning towards it." 

McCain, R-Ariz., made the remarks to reporters after a breakfast meeting with political allies at the Ritz-Carlton, Phoenix, at 24th Street and Camelback Road.

Sure why not? I mean what does Arizona deserve more than to have Methuselah representing them in Washington D.C.?

In 2016 John McCain will be eighty years old.

Not to be an "ageist" but if the old bastard were a horse they would not even bother putting him out to pasture they would just shoot him in the head and be done with it.

Personally I don't know how the old fossil can bring himself to show his face in public anymore. If I were the one who had released the Wasilla Wendigo on this country I would have done the honorable thing long ago and committed seppuku.

It looks like Johyn McCain's goal is to die on the Senate floor.

Actually he should consider himself lucky. If he and Palin had been elected, he would have died in his sleep from "mysterious causes" way back in 2009 or 2010.

That is unless he had been willing to go for a plane ride in Alaska.

"Hey children of Wisconsin, why selfishly demand toys from your parents this Christmas when instead you could use that money to support Scott Walker's reelection campaign?"

Courtesy of Think Progress:

 Last week, Walker’s campaign sent an email encouraging supporters not to buy gifts for their children and to use that money instead to support his reelection effort. 

“Instead of electronics or toys that will undoubtedly be outdated, broken, or lost by the next Holiday Season, help give your children the gift of a Wisconsin that we can all be proud of,” the email read. 

Here is the email in full:

 Wow! And here I thought I had seen just about everything!

"Hey kids, this Christmas instead of those silly toys you get to help support the corrupt Teabagger Governor who crushed the unions and helped destroyed your daddy's chance at employment."

Have these people ever heard of the term "patricide?"

John McCain hints that he may not seek reelection. Later attempts to tweet retraction.

Courtesy of Politico: 

Sen. John McCain suggested in an interview that he might not run for another term - and then backtracked on Twitter. 

“The president and I, he’s in his last term, I’m probably in mine, the relationship we have had over the past three years is quite good. Quite good,” McCain, 77, said to supporters while being interviewed by The Wrap on Thursday. 

When asked whether this would indeed be his final term by the publication, McCain (R-Ariz.) said he has “to decide in about two years.” 

“Nah, I don’t know. I was trying to make a point. I have to decide in about two years so I don’t have to make a decision. I don’t want to be one of these old guys that should’ve shoved off,” McCain said. 

Later McCain seemed to think better of it and sent off this tweet yesterday:

To clarify: I've long said I'll wait a few yrs before thinking about whether to seek reelection in 2016. Focused on our present challenges
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) September 13, 2013

Yeah he may try to cover his ass on this, but I tend to think he is more than ready to call it a career at this point.

Especially since the Arizona Republicans recently rebuked him for doing his job:   

The Legislative District 26 Republican Party in Arizona has spoken, and they’re not happy with Sen. John McCain. The group issued a sharp and formal written rebuke of their senator, calling his work across party lines — particularly with Democratic Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid — destructive to GOP party principles. 

In a resolution, the group charges Mr. McCain with “unilaterally negotiate[ing] with … Reid to secure Republican votes necessary to pass a number of controversial presidential nominees,” Breitbart.com reported. 

Yeah how DARE the Senator put the needs of his constituents ahead of partisanship occasionally!

You know I almost hate to say it but he might as well walk away, especially considering that no matter HOW much longer he spends in the Senate, he will forever be known as the guy who tapped Sarah Palin to run on the 2008 presidential ticket with him.

And with THAT as your legacy, why bother even trying anymore?

Poll numbers plunge for Senators who voted against background checks.

Courtesy of Public Policy Polling:

New PPP polls in Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, and Ohio find serious backlash against the 5 Senators who voted against background checks in those states. Each of them has seen their approval numbers decline, and voters say they're less likely to support them the next time they're up for reelection. That's no surprise given that we continue to find overwhelming, bipartisan support for background checks in these states.

The article then lists all of the above states and impact on each Senator's poll numbers from that background check vote. However I would like to focus on Alaska.

When we polled Alaska in February Lisa Murkowski was one of the most popular Senators in the country with a 54% approval rating and only 33% of voters disapproving of her. She's seen a precipitous decline in the wake of her background checks vote though. Her approval is down a net 16 points from that +21 standing to +5 with 46% of voters approving and 41% now disapproving of her. Murkowski has lost most of her appeal to Democrats in the wake of her vote, with her numbers with them going from 59/25 to 44/44. And the vote hasn't increased her credibility with Republican either- she was at 51/38 with them in February and she's at 50/39 now. 

Mark Begich is down following his no vote as well. He was at 49/39 in February and now he's at 41/37. His popularity has declined with Democrats (from 76/17 to 59/24) and with independents (from 54/32 to 43/35), and there has been no corresponding improvement with Republicans. He had a 24% approval rating with them two months ago and he has a 24% approval rating with them now. 

60% of Alaska voters support background checks to just 35% opposed, including a 62/33 spread with independents. 39% of voters say they're less likely to vote for each of Begich and Murkowski in their next elections based on this vote, while only 22% and 26% say they're more likely to vote for Begich and Murkowski respectively because of this.

I have already expressed my deep disappointment with Mark Begich over his vote, but until now I had not considered how that vote might affect Murkowski, who I have long felt was one of the safest Senators in the country.

To be honest I had thought that her vote in deeply red, gun loving Alaska would have relatively little impact.

It is interesting to find that I was wrong about that, and that, if this poll is correct, the country's shift on guns has been MUCH more profound than even I had once believed.

In fact this vote may be the one thing that puts Murkowski's inevitable reelection in jeopardy.

P.S. In the interest of full disclosure I must confess that I was actually part of this poll, and definitely one that voiced my outrage at both Mark and Lisa's vote.

Sean Hannity's ratings hit rock bottom after President Obama's reelection. Now THAT is change I can believe in!

"I'm losing to Rachel Maddow? How can this be?"

Courtesy of the New York Daily News:

In a fitting coda to 2012, we’ve learned that the ratings for rock-ribbed conservative Sean Hannity cratered after Barack Obama won his second term, with viewers tuning out the Fox News Channel talk-show host in droves. 

According to Nielsen numbers, Hannity lost around half of his audience in the weeks after the election, while his Fox News colleague Bill O’Reilly — who steadfastly refuses to identify himself politically as a conservative — retained around 70% of his audience. 

So what happened to Hannity? 

The going wisdom is that viewers who basked in his preelection anti-Obama rhetoric tuned him out when they were stunned to wake up on Nov. 7 and discover that the President had won a second term — a scenario that Hannity had all but promised could never happen. 

Before the election, Hannity was riding high in the ratings and topped thought leaders on the right, like Dick Morris, Ann Coulter, Peggy Noonan and talk radio bulldog Mark Levin, who predicted Obama would lose in a landslide. 

Those voices — and many others like them — all but drove the political coverage on Fox News, talk radio and conservative blogs. 

But as Conor Friedersdorf wrote in The Atlantic just after the election, “Outside the conservative media, the narrative was completely different.” 

And when the dust settled, it turns out Hannity’s viewers opted to vote again — with their remotes. 

Adding insult to injury, two of Hannity’s rivals on MSNBC, Ed Schultz and Rachel Maddow, held onto huge chunks of their audiences, while at CNN, far less politically polarizing host Anderson Cooper lost almost none of his viewers postelection. 

It got even worse for Hannity in the “money demo” of viewers 25-54, who are prized by advertisers. 

With this group, Hannity held onto less than half his preelection audience. O’Reilly, on the other hand, kept almost 70%. 

And through the early part of December, Maddow actually beat Hannity in the coveted group — a shocking turn, because until the election, Hannity was unassailable by any of his rivals, at least in terms of ratings. 

This is the kind of news that I find especially heartwarming. And you know the thing is that I doubt Hannity will be able to attract new viewers due to the Fox News demographic dying out and the newer generation's disgust with the vitriol and bullshit that flows from Fox News.

I see this as only the beginning of the end for many of Fox's most  aggressive purveyors of propaganda, and have to imagine that about now the powers that be are thinking of ways to revamp the network in order to survive in the coming years.

I also believe that this all but dooms any hope Sarah Palin might have had of having her contract renewed. With the very symbol of Right Wing conspiracy taking such a hit in the ratings I do not see what business sense there is in bringing Palin, who is the very antithesis of honesty and journalistic integrity, back onto the airwaves in any other capacity except comic relief.