Presumptuous Politics

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Nevada Democrats warn DNC Sanders supporters have 'penchant for ... violence'

The Nevada State Democratic Party warned the Democratic National Committee Monday that supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders have displayed a "penchant for ... actual violence' and could disrupt this summer's Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
The allegation is the latest fallout from a divisive Nevada Democratic convention that had to be shut down Saturday night because security at the Paris Las Vegas hotel could no longer ensure order. The gathering closed with some Sanders supporters throwing chairs; later, some made death threats against state party chairwoman Roberta Lange.
Sanders' backers had been protesting convention rules that ultimately led to Hillary Clinton winning more pledged delegates. Clinton won the state's caucuses in February, 53-47, but Sanders backers hoped to pick up extra delegates by packing county and state party gatherings.
Sanders had released a statement Friday night asking supporters to work "together respectfully and constructively" at the convention. But the state party alleged in its letter to the co-chairs of the DNC Rules and By-laws committee, "The explosive situation arose in large part because a portion of the community of Sanders delegates arrived at the Nevada Democratic State Convention believing itself to be a vanguard intent upon sparking a street-fight rather than attending an orderly political party process."
Michael Briggs, a Sanders campaign spokesman, said, "We do not condone violence or encourage violence or even threats of violence." He added that the campaign "had no role in encouraging the activity that the party is complaining about. We have a First Amendment and respect the rights of the people to make their voices heard."
On Saturday, Sanders backers shouted down the keynote speaker, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and others they thought were tilting the rules in Clinton's favor. Protesters shouted obscenities and rushed the dais to protest rulings.
"We believe, unfortunately, that the tactics and behavior on display here in Nevada are harbingers of things to come as Democrats gather in Philadelphia in July for our National Convention," the state party's general counsel, Bradley S. Schrager wrote in a letter to the DNC. "We write to alert you to what we perceive as the Sanders campaign's penchant for extra-parliamentary behavior — indeed, actual violence — in place of democratic conduct in a convention setting, and furthermore what we can only describe as their encouragement of, and complicity in, a very dangerous atmosphere that ended in chaos and physical threats to fellow Democrats."
Several Sanders backers have condemned some of the threats against Lange and other actions Saturday. Former state assemblywoman Lucy Flores, a current congressional candidate, said in a statement: "There were actions over the weekend and at the Democratic convention that very clearly crossed the line. Progressives need to speak out against those: Making threats against someone's life, defacing private property, and hurling vulgar language at our female leaders."
State party offices remained closed Monday for security reasons after Sanders supporters posted Lange's home and business addresses, email and cell phone number online. Copies of angry and threatening texts to Lange were included with the letter.
Lange said she'd been receiving hundreds of profanity-laced calls and texts from inside and outside of the U.S., threatening her life and her family. Lange said the restaurant where she works has received so many calls it had to unplug the phone.
"It is endless, and the longer it goes the worse it gets," Lange said in an interview. "I feel threatened everywhere I go."

Congressman: Classified details of Iran's treatment of US sailors will shock nation

The classified details behind Iran’s treatment of several U.S. sailors who were captured by the Islamic Republic during a tense standoff earlier this year are likely to shock the nation, according to one member of the House Armed Services Committee, who disclosed to the Washington Free Beacon that these details are currently being withheld by the Obama administration.
Rep. Randy Forbes (R., Va.) told the Free Beacon in an interview that the Obama administration is still keeping details of the maritime incident under wraps. It could be a year or longer before the American public receives a full accounting of the incident, in which several U.S. sailors were abducted at gunpoint by the Iranian military.
“I’ve had a full classified briefing” from military officials, Forbes told the Free Beacon. “It could be as long as a year before we actually get that released.”
Details of the abduction are likely to start an uproar in the nation and call into question the Obama administration’s handling of the incident, which many experts say violated international and maritime law.
“I think that when the details actually come out, most Americans are going to be kind of taken aback by the entire incident, both how Iran handled it and how we handled it,” Forbes disclosed. “I think that’s going to be huge cause for concern for most Americans. That’s why I’ve encouraged members of Congress to get that briefing so they do know exactly what did take place.”
Forbes suggested that Iran’s treatment of the U.S. sailors—which included filming them crying and forcing them to apologize at gunpoint—may have been much worse than what has been publicly reported.

White House snubs Chaffetz, refuses to let aide testify after controversial Iran remarks

The White House confirmed Monday that Obama adviser Ben Rhodes will not be allowed to testify before House lawmakers on the Iran nuclear deal, after a last-ditch attempt by Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz to pry the controversial aide loose for the hearing.
Chaffetz and the White House have been engaged in an escalating feud, all on the heels of a New York Times Magazine piece where Rhodes was quoted boasting about the administration’s success in crafting a public narrative for the Iran deal. The profile on Rhodes quotes him saying they built an “echo chamber” of experts who sold that narrative to young, often inexperienced reporters.
Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, wanted the deputy national security adviser to testify at a hearing set for Tuesday titled, “White House narratives on the Iran Nuclear Deal.”
“We’re planning as if he is attending, and he’ll have a comfortable seat awaiting his arrival,” Chaffetz said Monday afternoon of Rhodes.
But W. Neil Eggleston, White House counsel, sent a letter to Chaffetz late Monday saying Rhodes would not attend.
He cited what appeared to be an executive privilege-related claim, asserting that such a senior presidential adviser’s appearance “threatens the independence and autonomy of the President, as well as his ability to receive candid advice and counsel.” For those reasons, he said, “we will not make Mr. Rhodes available to testify.”
Chaffetz earlier had made a last-ditch attempt to pressure Rhodes into appearing. After White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest initially said he should invite GOP Sen. Tom Cotton, whom he accuses of spreading false information about the deal, Chaffetz did exactly that -- inviting Cotton to testify, on condition that Rhodes appeared as well.
“[Earnest] suggested that you should be invited to appear at the hearing as well, because you have some 'interesting insight' into the JCPOA [the Iran deal]. Therefore your appearance before the Committee would be contingent on Mr. Rhodes’ appearance at that hearing,” Chaffetz said in a letter Friday.
Asked earlier Monday about the possibility of a Rhodes appearance, Earnest did not rule it out but expressed what he called "thinly veiled skepticism about the whole exercise" and reiterated his claim that it is Republicans who should answer "for saying a lot of things about the Iran deal that turned out not to be true."
The letter from Eggleston later made clear Rhodes would not attend. Though Eggleston cited an executive privilege claim, Earnest told Fox News just four days earlier that “this has nothing to do with executive privilege.”
Sources tell Fox News that the committee was keen for Rhodes to appear voluntarily so they avoid the territory of a possible subpoena.
The magazine article that touched off the controversy outlined how Rhodes created a narrative of the deal coming out of the 2013 election of “moderate” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Iran’s subsequent “openness” and willingness to negotiate.
In fact, the story stated, the majority of the deal was hammered out in 2012, well before Rouhani’s election. However, the Rhodes narrative was politically useful to the administration as it presented them as reaching out to the moderates who wanted peace.

Monday, May 16, 2016

Hillary Cartoon

Kentucky, Oregon hold primaries Tuesday as Clinton, Trump look to November matchup

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton made campaign stops Sunday in Kentucky ahead the state’s primary later this week, pitching a pro-jobs agenda and trying to stop rival Sen. Bernie Sanders’ extended string of victories, as the primary season enters its final stages.
“We just have to get more Americans a chance for better jobs with better incomes so you can believe you’re going to give your children and grandchildren a better life,” Clinton said at a rally in Louisville. “We can put more Americans to work.”
Clinton and Sanders will compete Tuesday in Kentucky and Oregon, while Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump will try to add to his delegate count in Oregon.
There are 28 Republican delegates at stake in Oregon toward Trump securing the party nomination with 1,237. He now has 1,134 delegates with 436 still available in the party’s seven remaining state contests.
Trump was not on the campaign trail Sunday. Since becoming the nominee in early May, the billionaire businessman has increasingly focused on financing a general election campaign and getting the party to rally around his candidacy.
Clinton already has an insurmountable lead in the delegate race, 2,240-to-1,437, toward 2,383 to clinch to party nomination.
The 55 at stake in the state’s Democratic primary Tuesday and the 61 in Oregon won’t change the outcome of the party’s primary. However, Sanders has won 10 of the past 12 state contests, which is inspiring the Vermont senator to keep his campaign alive through the remaining nine Democratic contests and the party’s nominating convention in July.
“We are going to create an economy that works for all of us, not just the 1 percent,” Sanders said at a rally Sunday in Paducah, Ky. “What we are seeing is massive levels of poverty that should not be taking place in the richest country in the world. … A handful of wealth families are controlling the political and economic life of this nation.”
(The state’s unemployment rate of 5.6 percent is above the national average of 5 percent.)
Clinton is expected to do well in Kentucky, which has a Republican governor and two GOP senators. She soundly defeated Barack Obama their 2008 primary contest in the state, and limited polling shows Clinton with a double-digit lead ahead of Tuesday’s contest.
As one of the country’s most liberal states, Oregon would appear like Sanders territory. However, the state’s Democratic primary is open only to registered Democrats, a situation that has hurt Sanders in other states with so-called “closed primaries," considering his crossover appeal to independent voters.
Polling in the state varies, but a new and frequently cited survey by the Portland-based firm DHM Research shows Clinton leading by double digits.
The former secretary of state is also trying to move toward an anticipated general election race, against Trump. Her campaign sent out a fundraising email Saturday highlighting the cost of “running two races,” under the headline “Nuts.”
On Sunday, Clinton again turned to Trump, saying as she has before that he’s a “loose cannon” for suggesting that more countries have nuclear weapons and using the United States’ against the Islamic State.
“I’ve never heard such reckless, risky talk from somebody about to be a nominee for president than I’ve heard from Donald Trump when it comes to nuclear weapons,” Clinton said in Louisville. “He says he would use nuclear weapons. This is scary, dangerous talk. This is the talk of a loose cannon.”

Trump, Biden attend University of Pennsylvania graduation

PHILADELPHIA – Both Donald Trump and Joe Biden have attended a graduation ceremony at the University of Pennsylvania, but not on the stage as politicians -- they were in the audience as parent and grandparent.
The Republican presidential candidate's daughter Tiffany Trump and the vice president's granddaughter Naomi Biden were among the 1,500 students who graduated Sunday evening from the School of Arts and Sciences. Donald Trump graduated from Penn's Wharton School of Business in 1968.
Biden was seen embracing his granddaughter at the ceremony. He was accompanied by his wife, Jill Biden.
Trump was accompanied by his wife, Melania Trump, and his former wife, Marla Maples.
Trump and Biden aren't expected to attend Monday's main graduation ceremony for the Ivy League school.

Nevada Democratic Convention becomes 'unruly and unpredictable' amid rules disputes over delegates

The Nevada State Democratic Convention on Saturday night devolved into an “unruly and unpredictable” environment following several disputes over rules governing delegates for Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, leading to law enforcement officials being called to keep the peace.
Two issues in particular stung Sanders supporters gathered at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel: (1) the approval of a set of temporary rules seen as less favorable to the Vermont senator by his backers and (2) the allocation of the 12 delegates up for grabs. In the final tally, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took seven delegates and Sanders five. Clinton's supporters outnumbered Sanders’ backers 1,695-to-1,662, an echo of her slim victory in February’s Democratic caucus, 53-47.
But Sanders supporters, riled by the news that nearly five dozen people were not given delegate status, said the results were skewed. Convention Credential Committee Co-Chair Leslie Sexton said 64 Sanders delegates – almost double Sanders’ eventual 33 delegate shortfall – were disqualified for various reasons and not given the opportunity to appeal, The Hill reported.
Sexton initially said she was not allowed to give a report about Sanders’ delegates – for an unspecified reason – but she eventually presented her findings once chants of “recount” and “let her speak” broke out, The Hill reported.
“Contrary to procedures and precedents set by the committee, nearly none of the 64 people were presented with the opportunity to be heard by the committee or to demonstrate that they are registered Democrats,” Sexton said.
The Nevada State Democratic Party said 58 of those excluded Sanders supporters were denied for reasons such as not registering as a Democrat by May 1 or due to a lack of personal information. Of the 64, six were “allowed to be seated after their appropriate information was provided,” the party said. Eight Clinton supporters were denied delegate status for similar reasons, The Las Vegas Sun reported.
A decision by Convention Chair Roberta Lange to quickly gavel the convention after a “yea” or “nay” vote that Sanders’ backers protested only raised the ire of those already upset at Saturday’s results. Lange quickly left the ballroom after officially closing the meeting.
But Sanders supporters remained, chanting and pondering their options, according to videos of the event posted at RealClearPolitics. Law enforcement officers and hotel security quickly formed a line in front of the stage as an unidentified individual pleaded with the crowd to exit. At one point several lights in the hall were reportedly turned off to try to get attendees to leave. Eventually, the attendees in the room peacefully dispersed. No arrests were reported.
“The Director of Security for the Paris Las Vegas Hotel informed the State Party and representatives from both presidential campaigns that the property could no longer provide the necessary security under conditions made unruly and unpredictable,” Stewart Boss, Nevada state Democratic party press secretary, said in a Sunday statement.
Sanders hadn’t addressed the convention controversy as of Sunday night, but in a release to his supporters on Friday he touted “working together respectfully and constructively on Saturday.”
Of the 43 Nevada delegates headed to the Democratic National Convention in July, 20 will support Clinton and 15 are set to back Sanders, with eight others as “superdelegates” who can choose to vote for whomever they want. Most “superdelegates” have said they’ll back Clinton.
Most of the Nevada convention was a raucous affair, with Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., even getting booed at one point.
“If you’re booing me, you’re booing Bernie Sanders,” Boxer said. “Go ahead, boo yourselves out of this election.”
The Republican delegate-selection meeting Saturday at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center occurred without incident. A crowd of just more than 1,000 people selected 27 delegates to the Republican National Convention, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Those delegates are bound to vote on the first ballot according to February’s Nevada caucus results. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump won the state with 46 percent of the vote in that contest, securing 14 delegates.

RNC chairman warns against 'suicide' third-party run against Trump

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus warned Sunday that any effort by conservatives to draft a candidate to run against presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump would be a "suicide mission for our country."
"What it means is that you're throwing down not just eight years of the White House, but potentially 100 years on the Supreme Court and wrecking this country for many generations," Priebus told "Fox News Sunday". "And so, I think that's the legacy these folks will leave behind."
Over the weekend, The Washington Post reported that a group of anti-Trump Republicans led by 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney and conservative commentator William Kristol had begun recruiting candidates to make an independent run for the White House.
According to the paper, Romney has made personal overtures to Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, a prominent anti-Trump Republican, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Inquries have also been made to businessman and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
When asked by "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace what he would say to Romney and Kristol, Priebus responded, "I think they should consider the ramifications of what's going to happen on the Supreme Court, get assurances from Donald Trump that they're satisfied with that would show that he's committed to those conservative justices ... and I think that's the better way to go as opposed to this third party route."
Meanwhile, Trump's top ally in the Senate said the real estate mogul would require more public policy schooling to earn the confidence of other Republicans and show he's ready to take on likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
"I think he's going to need to learn. He's going to need to understand really completely ... how complex this world is," Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., told ABC's "This Week."
In particular, Sessions said Trump has much to learn about how to talk about matters of war, saying "It's just a very, very complex world and you have to be careful when you commit a military force."
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., a onetime Trump critic who nonetheless has vowed to back him in November, called him "a work in progress," more so than most candidates. "Usually you know a lot more about a candidate because they've run for other things. They've cast votes. They've done things. And he does have a shoot-from-the-hip style."
GOP officials are still trying to determine who should be the leading voice for party barely six months before Americans choose their next president in a likely showdown between Trump and Clinton, a former senator and secretary of state. Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who held a high-profile meeting in Washington last week, represent two Republican factions. Ryan has said he is not yet ready to back Trump.
Trump and Ryan said after their meeting Thursday that they were committed to unifying the party despite their difference over immigration, Muslim immigrants, taxes, benefit programs and trade. The discussion seemed to thaw relations enough to make a reconciliation seem possible, and the men spoke of keeping the lines of communication open and of finding common ground.
Ryan's predecessor as speaker, John Boehner, said at a conference of finance industry leaders in Las Vegas on Thursday that he endorsed Trump and that Ryan probably was "trying to help shape the direction of Trump's policies."
What concerns many Republicans is the prospect of their backing Trump and then having him stumble over the party's core policy issues. For example, he once suggested in an MSNBC interview that there should be "some form of punishment" for women who have had abortions. Ultimately, Trump said abortion providers, not women, were the ones who should be punished if abortions were outlawed.
The policy education for Trump and his team appears to be underway.
A few weeks ago, top aide Paul Manafort spent about an hour at the conservative Heritage Foundation Washington as part of what the think tank described as part of an ongoing series of policy briefings for candidates and their advisers. Other Trump officials have been meeting with individual members of the House. Trump himself met with senators on the same day he met with Ryan, and many emerged describing an open-minded, even earnest candidate.
And lately, Trump has taken to describing his policy proposals as merely "suggestions." But Trump also has said he's his own best foreign policy adviser.

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Ted Cruz Cartoon

In Texas GOP speech, Cruz resumes conservative fight; no word of Trump, restarting campaign

Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz on Saturday used his first speech since suspending his presidential primary campaign to tout his conservative principles on the economy and other key issues -- while neither mentioning presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump nor a potential return to the race.
“Growth doesn’t come down from government. It comes from small businesses across the United States,” Cruz said at the Texas Republican Party convention in Dallas-Fort Worth. “When you get the boot of government off small businesses, jobs and economic growth take off.”
Cruz acknowledge being “disappointed” about having to suspend his campaign, after Trump’s commanding May 3 primary win in Indiana. However, he appeared unwavering in his beliefs, also calling for the repeal of ObamaCare, as he has done in Congress and did on the campaign trail.
Cruz has left open the small possibility that he might return to the race, saying Tuesday morning before the Nebraska primary that he had no path to victory but that his campaign would “respond accordingly” if “that changes.”
However, by late afternoon, upon returning to his Senate office and talking to reporters, Cruz sounded more resigned to making his voice heard on Capitol Hill.
Once friendly, Cruz and Trump clashed bitterly before Cruz suspended his campaign. He hasn't since endorsed Trump nor called for the party to rally around the billionaire businessman.
On Saturday, Cruz also said the movement of freedom-loving patriots is "far more important than one candidate."
He said "we may face some challenges ahead" but that the conservative movement "will be the remnant, will be the core" that can pull "this country back from the abyss."

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Monday, May 16, 2016

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Sunday, May 15, 2016