Friday, September 16, 2016

Trump, Clinton trade barbs over Obama 'birther' movement


Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton traded barbs Thursday over the Republican nominee’s past suggestions that President Barack Obama was born outside the U.S. and thus ineligible to be president, despite the fact that he was born in Hawaii – also known as the “birther” movement.
Trump’s campaign spokesman said the Republican candidate now believes Obama was born the U.S., but has been called upon to say so himself. Campaign spokesman Jason Miller said Trump "did a great service to the country" by bringing closure to an "ugly incident" that Trump, in fact, fueled.
"In 2011, Mr. Trump was finally able to bring this ugly incident to its conclusion by successfully compelling President Obama to release his birth certificate," Miller said.
"Mr. Trump did a great service to the President and the country by bringing closure" to the issue, he added. "Inarguably, Donald J. Trump is a closer. Having successfully obtained President Obama's birth certificate when others could not, Mr. Trump believes that President Obama was born in the United States."
Trump’s “birther” comments were long seen by some as an attempt to delegitimize the nation’s first black president and have turned off many of the African-American voters he is now attempting to court in his bid for the White House.
According to the Associated Press, the statement came after The Washington Post asked trump whether he believed Obama was born in the U.S. "I'll answer that question at the right time," Trump told the paper. "I just don't want to answer it yet."

Asked by the paper whether his campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, was accurate when she said in a recent television interview that her boss now believes the president was born in the U.S., Trump responded: "It's okay. She's allowed to speak what she thinks. I want to focus on jobs. I want to focus on other things."
Clinton went on the attack Thursday night at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute over Trump’s refusal to say whether Obama was born in the U.S.
"He was asked one more time where was President Obama born and he still wouldn't say Hawaii. He still wouldn't say America," Clinton said. "This man wants to be our next president? When will he stop this ugliness, this bigotry?”
Trump fueled the “birther” movement in the days when Obama took officer. In August 2012 — more than a year after the president released the document in April 2011 — Trump was pushing the issue on Twitter, according to the AP.
"An 'extremely credible source' has called my office and told me that @BarackObama's birth certificate is a fraud," he wrote.
Trump has said repeatedly during the campaign that he no longer talks about the "birther" issue, but hasn’t retracted his previous statements.
"I don't talk about it because if I talk about that, your whole thing will be about that," he told reporters in his plane last week. "So I don't talk about it."
The Trump campaign’s statement late Thursday claims that Clinton launched the “birther” movement during her unsuccessful primary run against Obama in 2008.
"Hillary Clinton's campaign first raised this issue to smear then-candidate Barack Obama in her very nasty, failed 2008 campaign for President," the statement claims. "This type of vicious and conniving behavior is straight from the Clinton Playbook. As usual, however, Hillary Clinton was too weak to get an answer."
Clinton has long denied the claim.
Hillary For America press secretary Brian Fallon challenged Trump on Twitter to say he believed Obama was born in the U.S.
Obama had released a standard short form of his birth certificate before the 2008 presidential election. Anyone who wants a copy of the more detailed, long-form document must submit a waiver request, and have that request approved by Hawaii's health department.
In 2011, amid persistent questions from Trump about his birthplace, Obama submitted a waiver request. He dispatched his personal lawyer to Hawaii to pick up copies and carry the documents back to Washington on a plane.
The form said Obama was born at 7:24 p.m. on Aug. 4, 1961, at Kapiolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital in Honolulu. It is signed by the delivery doctor, Obama's mother and the local registrar.
On the day he released the document, Obama jabbed at Trump. "We're not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers," he said.

Thursday, September 15, 2016

New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman Cartoons & one for Ford






Judge Nap Looks At New York State's Planned Trump Fdn Criminal Probe


New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is opening an investigation into the Donald J. Trump Foundation, Shepard Smith reported Wednesday.
In response, Trump’s campaign called Schneiderman, a vocal Hillary Clinton supporter, a “partisan hack”
“This is nothing more than a left-wing hit job designed to distract from Crooked Hillary Clinton’s disastrous week,” Trump spokesman Jason Miller said.
Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Andrew P. Napolitano said Schneiderman is investigating an allegation of bribery by the foundation that occurred in Florida, where the group gave $25,000 to a SuperPAC supporting Sunshine State attorney general Pamela Bondi.
Bondi is a Republican and Trump supporter.
Bondi’s office was apparently investigating Trump at the time, but the investigation was curtailed around the time of the donation.
The IRS fined the DJT foundation $2,500 for the illegal gift, which the foundation said was made as a clerical error—it should have come from Trump personally rather than through his foundation.
Trump “has a long and unhappy history here in New York with Schneiderman,” Napolitano said on Shepard Smith Reporting, noting that Schniederman’s Albany office is also probing Trump University.
“I doubt that anything will come of this before Election Day,” Napolitano said.
“Don’t know where this is going to go.”
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman,Schneiderman, a supporter of Trump's Democratic rival in the presidential race, Hillary Clinton

CNN's Amanpour suggests Clinton health coverage sexist

Guy Benson: Amanpour attempted a spin on Hillary's behalf
After learning from the mainstream media during the last eight years of the Obama presidency that seemingly benign phrases and words like “Chicago,” “that one” and “golf” are now deemed racist, viewers are getting a similar lesson when it comes to Clinton coverage.
CNN host Christiane Amanpour suggested on air Monday that the heavy coverage of the Democratic nominee's health is simply sexist.
“Can’t a girl have a sick day or two?” Amanpour said, before asking: “What about Donald Trump’s tax returns, where are they?”
This was after Hillary Clinton for days experienced coughing fits on the trail and then came close to collapsing on the sidelines of a 9/11 event Sunday, before being whisked away in an SUV. Her campaign then revealed she had pneumonia, while saying she had become dehydrated and overheated.
Amanpour appealed to her colleagues to lay off.
“When it comes to overqualified women having to try a hundred times harder than underqualified men to get a break or even a level playing field, well, we know that story,” she said.
As proof that sick men can do the job of the presidency just fine, she first cited the example of President Franklin Pierce -- a mid-19th century president who passed out in the battlefield.
As first noted by Mediaite, Amanpour cited the examples of the media covering up President Franklin Roosevelt’s debilitating polio and John F. Kennedy’s many health issues – lapses in journalism that journalists generally accept as ethically problematic today. Amanpour said these health crises did not stop them from being good presidents.
“Leading the world in sickness and in health—if the boys can do it, why not the women?” she asked.
Amanpour seemed to approve of the bygone media attitude that the public didn’t need to know their commander-in-chief was wheelchair bound (FDR) or was given an anti-psychoticfor fluctuating moods (JFK).
Years ago, Amanpour’s husband, James Rubin, was a member of Clinton’s 2008 campaign.
Amanpour did not mention how male candidates' health has been scrutinized before. 2008 Republican nominee John McCain and 1996 nominee Bob Dole were both scuritinized for their health and their age – as was President Ronald Reagan when he stood for re-election.

U.S. to Cede Control of Internet Domain Names to Global Agency


Are we facing the beginning of the end of a free and open Internet?
Chief White House Correspondent James Rosen reported on what some Republicans are describing as relinquishing control of the Internet to authoritarian regimes.
On Oct. 1, under a plan in place for two decades, the Commerce Department will cease to exercise contractual control over a Los Angeles-based non-profit called the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the entity that approves the .com's, .gov's and other Internet domain names.
Republicans in the Senate Judiciary Committee, including Ted Cruz, today grilled Commerce Department and ICANN officials about the planned transition.

House Republicans reach deal to avoid vote on impeaching IRS commissioner

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen

House Republicans reached an agreement late Wednesday to avoid a potentially divisive floor vote on impeaching IRS Commissioner John Koskinen.
The deal scraps the vote on the so-called "privileged" impeachment resolution that had been expected to take place Thursday. Instead, the House Judiciary Committee will consider Koskinen's impeachment, with the IRS boss expected to testify sometime next week.
The agreement makes it unlikely that any vote by the full House to impeach Koskinen will happen until after the November election, if at all. House Republican leadership had balked on moving forward on impeachment proceedings during an election season, arguing that an impeachment vote risked irritating voters. Others said Koskinen deserved a full House Judiciary Committee probe before embarking on the seldom-used impeachment process.
The effort by conservative Republicans flows from the IRS' 2013 admission that for several years, it had targeted Tea Party groups seeking tax exemptions for rigorous examinations.
Conservatives say Koskinen obstructed the House GOP's investigation of the treatment of tea party groups seeking tax exemptions. Koskinen and his Democratic allies say he did nothing wrong and provided Congress with all the information he had and knew about.
The conservative House Freedom Caucus, which used a procedural maneuver to force a floor vote earlier this week, celebrated the development as a victory.
"This hearing will give every American the opportunity to hear John Koskinen answer under oath why he misled Congress, allowed evidence pertinent to an investigation to be destroyed, and defied Congressional subpoenas and preservation orders," the caucus said in a statement. "It will also remove any lingering excuses for those who have been hesitant to proceed with this course of action."
But the deal came only after conservatives predicted that their impeachment resolution was going to get sidelined by Democratic and Republican opposition Thursday. Even if the House was able to send the resolution to the Senate, Democrats there have enough votes to prevent Republicans from removing Koskinen from office.
The House needs only a simple majority vote to impeach a federal official, the equivalent of an indictment. The Senate then holds a trial and needs a two-thirds majority to find the official guilty and remove him or her from office.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Pleading the 5th Cartoons






Ivanka Trump: US must 'catch up with the times' on guaranteed maternity leave

Ivanka Trump on the importance of child-care reforms
Ivanka Trump told Fox News' Megyn Kelly Tuesday night that the U.S. must "catch up with the times" and offer guaranteed paid maternity leave.
"Cost of childcare is the single largest expense affecting American families ... even exceeding housing," Trump said on "The Kelly File." "The United States is the only country in the world that does not offer guaranteed maternity care."
Ivanka Trump spoke shortly after her father, Republican nominee Donald Trump, called for guaranteeing new mothers six weeks of paid maternity leave and suggested new incentives for employers to provide their workers with childcare.
Building on earlier proposals, Trump proposed allowing families with a stay-at-home parent to deduct the average cost of child care from their taxes, as well as costs associated with caring for elderly dependent relatives. The deduction would apply only to individuals earning $250,000 or less, or $500,000 or less if filing jointly.
"The tax codes were written at a time when American women weren’t part of the work force, so there have to be reforms," Ivanka Trump said Tuesday evening. "This is what the Trump presidency promises, new solutions, fresh solutions to existing problems."

The real estate mogul also called for the creation of "Dependent Care Savings Accounts" that would allow families to set aside money to look after children or elderly parents.

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Trump's Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, has called for 12 weeks parental leave for both mothers and fathers paid for by taxes on the wealthy. In response, Ivanka Trump said that childcare was an issue "the Democrats talk about, but they don't own."

Donald Trump has credited Ivanka, the second of his three children with ex-wife Ivana, with pushing him to formulate a policy on the issue.
"She is the one who has been pushing for it so hard: 'Daddy, Daddy we have to do this,'" Trump said in Iowa earlier Tuesday. "She's very smart, and she's right."

Clinton IT specialist ignores subpoena for House hearing; other witnesses plead 5th

Former Clinton aide Pagliano a no-show at email hearing
The former State Department IT specialist who set up Hillary Clinton’s private server ignored a subpoena to appear Tuesday before a House committee hearing, while other tech experts who helped maintain the system asserted their Fifth Amendment right not to testify – frustrating Republican lawmakers trying to dig deeper into the former secretary of state’s email setup.
House oversight committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said he’ll now consider a “full range of options” to address IT aide Bryan Pagliano’s “failure” to attend.
“He should be here. … It is not optional,” Chaffetz said. “His attendance is required here.”
Pagliano is considered a vital witness in the Clinton email case. He spoke previously to the FBI under immunity, telling the bureau there were no successful security breaches of the server. Pagliano also refused to answer questions last year before a House panel investigating the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya. His lawyers said at the time that Pagliano did not want to relinquish his rights under the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination.
Republicans on Tuesday questioned why Pagliano would avoid the latest hearing if he had immunity, though Democrats pushed back. According to Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., Pagliano’s lawyer said the request was an “abuse of process.”
Two other officials from Platte River Networks, Bill Thornton and Paul Combetta, did comply with subpoenas to appear. However, when it came time to answer questions, they pleaded the Fifth. The Denver-based technology company maintained Clinton’s server when it was moved from her Chappaqua, New York, home to a data center in northern New Jersey.
Combetta took the Fifth six times and Thornton took the Fifth four times, before both witnesses were excused.
After each question, they recited a variation of the line: “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer and assert my Fifth Amendment constitutional privilege.”
Cummings said he could “understand” why they were not addressing questions.
But Chaffetz voiced frustration when Thornton declined to even answer whether he’d been questioned by the FBI. GOP lawmakers have wanted to question tech officials on the deletion of email records and other alleged attempts to destroy devices.
Chaffetz also said there will be consequences for Pagliano's refusal to appear and for "thumbing his nose at Congress." He didn't specify what the penalties would be but said, "We're not letting go of this."
A letter from Pagliano's attorney released by the committee says Pagliano will continue to assert his constitutional right not to testify.
The only witness remaining after the unfruitful initial questioning was Bill Clinton aide Justin Cooper, who answered lawmakers’ questions.
During that process, he confirmed that he had access to the Clinton server but did not hold a security clearance.
The email issue has shadowed Clinton's candidacy, and Republicans have been steadfast in focusing on her use of a private server for government business, with several high-profile hearings leading up to the election. Democrats insist the sole purpose of the hearings is to undermine Clinton's bid for the presidency.
Chaffetz on Monday escalated the GOP's battle with the FBI after its decision in July not to recommend criminal charges against Clinton for her use of the private email system by serving a top FBI official with a subpoena for the full case file. Chaffetz and other Republicans on the panel said the bureau has withheld summaries of interviews with witnesses and unnecessarily blacked out material from documents sent last month.
“We are entitled to the full file," he said.
Dismissing the "emergency" hearing held late on a Monday, Cummings said: "As far as I can tell, the only `emergency' is that the election is less than two months away."
Chaffetz issued the subpoena to Jason Herring, the acting assistant FBI director for congressional affairs. Herring and six other Obama administration officials appeared before the committee to discuss the investigative files. The witnesses on several occasions said they could not answer the questions from lawmakers in an open forum.

BIAS ALERT: CBS edits out Bill Clinton slip on Hillary health

Hillary Clinton 'didnt think pneumonia was a big deal
CBS Evening News edited out what sure sounded like a Freudian slip and a lawyerly correction when Bill Clinton was talking about how often his wife collapses from dehydration.
“She’s been well, if it is it’s a mystery to me and all of her doctors, because frequently, not frequently, rarely, but on more than one occasion, over the last many, many years, the same sort of thing has happened to her where she got severely dehydrated,” the former president said of Hillary Clinton, who is seeking the office he once held.
The CBS News website posted video showing the exchange, and Clinton’s mid-sentence correction. But when the exchange with Charlie Rose occurred during the nightly newscast, the “frequently, not frequently, rarely” part edited out.
For folks who wonder if the public is being told all there is to know about the former secretary of state’s health, Clinton’s full sentence seemed to hold a tantalizing clue. By the time other news channels, including Fox, picked up the comment, the slipup was gone.
The Daily Caller was first to compare the ex-president’s full statement to the one that aired, and NewsBusters followed up with a side-by-side comparison.
CBS backpedaled Tuesday and included the full quote on their morning newscast. NewsBusters claimed it was only the latest example of deft editing by the liberal media to make Hillary Clinton look good, or her opponent, Donald Trump, look bad.
"The clip in question from former President Clinton’s interview with Charlie Rose ran in its entirety on CBS THIS MORNING, CBSNews.com and on CBSN, CBS News’ 24/7 digital streaming news service," Richard Huff, Executive Director of Communications for CBS News, said in a statement. "One clip that ran on CBS Evening News was edited purely for time while on deadline for the live broadcast."
Last month, CNN edited Trump Campaign Manager Kellyanne Conway speaking on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” to make it appear that Conway promised Trump would refrain from personal attacks. In fact, Conway said she didn’t approve of personal insults by candidates, but made no pledges on behalf of Trump.

Powell warned Clinton not to make him fall guy over email scandal, leaked messages reveal

Wall of silence at Clinton email hearing
Colin Powell attempted to persuade Hillary Clinton and her aides to not use him as a scapegoat for the controversy surrounding her private email server, according to leaked emails hacked from the former secretary of state’s Gmail account.
In the emails, which were obtained by The Intercept, Powell wrote to at least one confidant about his repeated warning to Clinton not to blame him for the scandal.
“I told her staff three times not to try that gambit. I had to throw a mini tantrum at a Hampton’s party to get their attention. She keeps tripping into these ‘character’ minefields,” he wrote. He also had tried to settle the matter in a meeting with Clinton aide Cheryl Mills in August.
In a separate email, Powell said he “warned her staff three times over the past two years not to try to connect it to me. I am not sure HRC even knew or understood what was going on in the basement.”
Powell had previously accused Clinton of trying to “pin” the scandal on him after Clinton told federal authorities in July that Powell had detailed to her his email practices under George W. Bush, according to a New York Times report in August.
The paper cited a passage from an upcoming book about Bill Clinton’s post-presidency that read, “Powell told her to use her own email, as he had done, except for classified communications, which he had sent and received via a State Department computer.”
Powell’s emails from his Gmail account were leaked by D.C. Leaks, a website that releases hacked emails from U.S. military officials and politicians and is said to have ties to Guccifer 2.0, who some believe has tied to Russian Intelligence.
According to The Intercept, Powell regularly exchanged emails with reporters and friends about Clinton’s server controversy, explaining that his situation had been different than Clinton’s. Powell never setup a private server and used a government computer for classified matters.
The Clinton campaign’s attempt to try to say Powell had encouraged the use of a private server left him deeply troubled.
“They are going to dick up the legitimate and necessary use of emails with friggin (sic) record rules. I saw email more like a telephone than a cable machine,” Powell wrote to business partner Jeffrey Leeds. “As long as the stuff is unclassified. I had a secure State.gov machine. Everything HRC touches she kind of screws up with hubris.”
Clinton had sought Powell’s advice about his private email account during a June 2009 dinner at former Secretary of State Madeline Albright’s house. Powell gave Clinton “written guidance on why and how [he] had been doing it.”
A spokesperson for Powell said in a statement last month that he had talked to Clinton about describing his use of his personal AOL account for “unclassified messages and how it vastly improved communications within the State Department. At the time there was no equivalent system within the Department.
"He used a secure State computer on his desk to manage classified information," the statement added.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Trump Deplorables Cartoons





Hillary

Duterte wants US forces out of southern Philippines


Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday he wanted U.S. Special Forces out of his country’s south and blamed America for inflaming Muslim insurgencies in the region, in his first public statement opposing the presence of U.S. troops.
Washington said it had not received a formal request to remove U.S. military personnel. White House spokesman reiterated that Duterte had tendency to make “colorful comments” and drew a comparison with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Duterte’s relationship with the U.S. has been a bit rocky since he became president in June. Duterte has been openly critical of American security policies aimed to chart a foreign policy that would not depend on America, his country’s treaty ally.
The U.S. military deployed troops to train, advise and provide intelligence and weapons to Filipino troops battling Al Qaeda-linked militant group Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines in 2002, but when most of them pulled out last year, the U.S. kept a few military advisers.
Duterte hasn’t specified on how he plans to pursue his wishes.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said Monday that the U.S. was aware of Duterte’s comments, but was “not aware of any official communication by the Philippine government to that that effect and to seek that result.” Kirby reiterated U.S. commitments to its ally.
In opposing the U.S. military presence in the southern Mindanao region, Duterte cited the killing of Muslims during a U.S. pacification campaign in the early 1900s, which he said was at the root of the long restiveness of minority Muslims in the largely Catholic nation's south.
"For as long as we stay with America, we will never have peace in that land," Duterte said in a speech to newly appointed government officials.
He showed photos of what he described as Muslim Filipinos, including children and women, who were slain by U.S. forces in the early 1900s and dumped in a pit in Bud Daho, a mountainous region in southern Sulu province. American soldiers stood around the mass grave.
"The special forces, they have to go. They have to go in Mindanao, there are many whites there, they have to go," he said, adding that he was reorienting the country's foreign policy. "I do not want a rift with America, but they have to go."
Last week at the ASEAN meetings, Duterte sparked controversy with his comments about President Barack Obama. He used the phrase "son of a bitch" in warning that he wouldn't accept lectures from Obama on human rights, which led to Obama canceling the meeting.
Despite the remark, the two leaders later shook hands and had a brief chat in a holding room where Duterte reportedly said his words were not directed at Obama.
Duterte, however, has continued to press his criticism of the American president.
In another speech late Monday, Duterte said for the first time that he deliberately skipped a meeting between Southeast Asian leaders and Obama at the summit in Laos out of principle. His spokesman said at the time that Duterte did not attend the meeting because of a migraine.
American colonial forces killed many Muslims in the southern Philippines more than a century ago "because you were here as imperialists, you wanted to colonize my country and because you had a hard time pacifying the Moro people," Duterte said in the speech.
While criticizing U.S. policies, Duterte has taken steps to repair relations with China, which were strained under his predecessor over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Clinton's 'deplorables' gaffe touches off merch, meme frenzy


Just days after Hillary Clinton said she regretted calling half of Donald Trump supporters a “basket of deplorables,” some of those supporters are embracing the title -- while enterprising web retailers seize the moment by quickly churning out a line of "deplorables" merchandise.
Clinton made the comment at a fundraiser Friday, saying "you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables," and calling them "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it."
Clinton walked back the remark the next day, with some commentators comparing it to Mitt Romney's "47 percent" gaffe.
Some pro-Trumpers, however, are adopting the "deplorable" name on social media, or at least having a lot of fun with it. One Internet meme that zipped around showed a doctored version of a poster for the 2010 movie “The Expendables,” replaced with key figures of the Trump campaign and conservative media, with the banner “The Deplorables.”
Former Trump adviser Roger Stone tweeted out the image Saturday, which features a cast of rogues including Stone, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Breitbart writer Milo Yiannopoulos, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and "alt-right" mascot Pepe the Frog.
Perhaps sensing a movement, a number of retailers began selling T-shirts and other merchandise that allows the “deplorables” to advertise themselves as part of Clinton’s despised group.
A T-shirt available for purchase on the Howie Carr Show’s website declares “Proud to be a Deplorable” while e-commerce website Etsy has a host of merchandise from various sellers, including mugs that label the drinker a founding member of “The Fraternity of the Basket of Deplorables” and a pendant that says simply: “Call me Deplorable – Trump 2016.”

Clinton says she didn't think pneumonia diagnosis disclosure 'was going to be that big a deal'


Hillary Clinton defended herself Monday over her campaign's lateness announcing her pneumonia diagnosis, saying she's "already met a high standard of transparency" while looking forward to returning to the campaign trail.
The Democratic presidential nominee told CNN in a phone interview she did feel dizzy and lost her balance while attending a 9/11 commemoration ceremony in New York, but now is "feeling so much better."
"I was supposed to rest five days, that's what they told me on Friday, and I didn't follow that very wise advice," Clinton said.
She told CNN her campaign didn't make her diagnosis on Friday public because "I just didn't think it was going to be that big a deal"
"I thought that I could just keep going forward and power through it, and obviously that didn't work out so well," she said.
When asked about her husband's comments in an interview with Charlie Rose to be aired on CBS and PBS that she occasionally has become dehydrated and gone through similar medical episodes in the past, Clinton said it is "something that has occurred a few times over the course of my life."

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"What happened yesterday was that I just was incredibly committed to being at the memorial, as a senator on 9/11, this is incredibly personal to me," she told CNN.
"I could feel how hot and humid it was. I felt overheated. I decided that I did need to leave, and as soon as I got into the air conditioned van, I cooled off, I got some water, and very quickly, I felt better," she said.
She added that now she is taking her doctor's advice "to just take some time to get over pneumonia completely."
As she is taking time off, Bill Clinton will host fundraisers and at least one campaign event while his wife recovers.
The former president will headline two fundraising events Tuesday in Los Angeles and a campaign event Wednesday in Las Vegas, Fox News learned Monday.
Hillary Clinton did call into a fundraiser event Monday night in San Francisco after she took to social media earlier in the day to give an update on her health.
“Thanks to everyone who’s reached out with well wishes!,” Clinton tweeted Monday afternoon. “I’m feeling fine and getting better.”
The incident Sunday -- in which Clinton appeared unsteady and needing assistance from aides -- has resulted in her and Republican rival Donald Trump each planning to release more personal health information.
The 70-year-old Trump said Monday that candidate health is now an “issue” in the White House race.
Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon said on MSNBC that the campaign will release more information in the next couple days.
Trump told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” earlier Monday morning that he’ll be releasing “very, very specific” details from a recent physical.
“I think they’re going to be good. I feel great,” he said. Fox News has learned Trump plans to release those details during his appearance Thursday on “The Dr. Oz Show.”
As for Clinton’s health, Trump said: “Something’s going on, but I just hope she gets well and gets back on the trail.”
Clinton, 68, is resting at her home in Chappaqua, N.Y.
Her doctor revealed she had been diagnosed Friday with pneumonia, after the episode at the 9/11 memorial, in which Clinton was also seen stumbling on her way to her van when leaving.
Clinton’s doctor also said she had become “overheated and dehydrated” at Sunday’s ceremony, but is “recovering nicely.”
The incident fueled questions about Clinton’s health. Trump on Monday brushed aside any speculation that Clinton might be replaced as the Democratic nominee, but said of the candidate’s health: “I think it’s an issue.”
Trump, meanwhile, continued to criticize Clinton for saying -- before her health episode -- that half of his supporters fall into a “basket of deplorables.” Clinton has expressed regret for the remarks, but Trump said, “I think this is the biggest mistake of the political season.”
Even before Monday’s comments, Trump already had said both candidates should release detailed medical records.
Clinton’s campaign earlier released a July 2015 letter from Dr. Lisa Bardack describing Clinton as “a healthy 67-year-old female whose current medical conditions include hypothyroidism and seasonal pollen allergies.” The letter noted her elbow fracture in 2009 and concussion in 2012. Bardack detailed how Clinton had to undergo “anticoagulation therapy” to dissolve a clot, and experienced “double vision for a period of time,” after the concussion.
But the campaign has not released detailed records beyond that.
Former President Obama adviser David Axelrod rapped Clinton Monday on her "penchant for privacy."

Pence says voters have 'right to know' about medical records, hits back at 'deplorables' remark


Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence said Monday on "Special Report with Bret Baier" that the Trump campaign will continue to criticize Hillary Clinton's "basket of deplorables" remark, while adding that voters have a "right to know" about candidates' medical records.
The Indiana governor said he and Donald Trump "wish her well” after the Democratic presidential nominee suffered a medical episode at a 9/11 memorial in New York Sunday. Her doctor later said she was diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday and was being treated for dehydration.
"We’re praying for her swift recovery, (we) want to see her back out on the campaign trail," he said.
Pence told Baier that Trump had a physical on Friday, and he will release "all that information about his health and physical condition" soon.
"I think it's very appropriate our candidates make that information available," he said.
He later described Clinton's remarks at the Barbara Streisand fundraiser in New York as "shocking."

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"For Hillary Clinton to literally say that millions of Americans are irredeemable, I think what you saw there in a prepared speech [was] the worst statement I have ever heard by a national candidate in my lifetime," Pence told Baier.
Pence responded to Clinton's accusations about Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin by saying that Trump is not endorsing the "small and bullying" Russian leader.
"Look, when Donald Trump and I said that the small and bullying president of Russia was a stronger leader on the world stage than this president and Secretary Clinton, that was not an endorsement of Vladimir Putin," Pence said. "That was an indictment of the weak and feckless leadership that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have practiced on the world stage."
Pence added that he and Trump "know what they're dealing with" with Putin, describing the leader harshly as a former KGB agent and authoritarian who has repressed the media, been associated with violence in his country and the invasions of Ukraine and Crimea.
"What you hear in Donald Trump is a man who is prepared to step onto the world stage as the leader of the free world and engage in diplomacy," he said.

Monday, September 12, 2016

Miami Dolphins Cartoons






Dolphins players kneel during National Anthem, Seahawks lock arms

Jelani Jenkins, left, Arian Foster, Michael Thomas and Kenny Stills kneel during the National Anthem.
Opening day in the NFL saw Kansas City cornerback Marcus Peters raise a black-gloved fist during the national anthem, a protest amplified later Sunday when four Miami Dolphins kneeled on the sideline with hands on their hearts as "The Star Spangled Banner" played in Seattle.
The protests were inspired by San Francisco backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick , the first NFL player who chose to sit and take a knee during the anthem in preseason games to call attention to what he termed the oppression of blacks and other minorities.
"I chose to get involved to see if I could create change, raise awareness. And I want to make it clear that there is no disrespect to the military or to police officers —I'm not about that. I love everyone," said Miami's Jelani Jenkins, one of the Dolphins to kneel. "I would like to keep moving forward in the right direction with everybody: equal rights, equal opportunity. From my position, it doesn't seem that it's happening. That's why I took a stand."
Peters' gesture was the only one visible throughout the early games Sunday, as the anthems took on more significance because of the 15th anniversary of Sept. 11 attacks.
"I come from a majority black community from Oakland, California ... so the struggle, I seen it," Peters said after the Chiefs beat San Diego 33-27 in overtime. "I still have some family in the struggle. All I'm saying is we want to educate those, the youth that's coming up."
The four Miami players — Arian Foster, Michael Thomas, Jenkins and Kenny Stills — registered their protest shortly before kickoff. The four players stood while President Obama's message played regarding the 15th anniversary of 9/11 before taking a knee. All four stood at the conclusion of the anthem.
"If it's about the knee that people are upset about, every Sunday people of faith take a knee to give thanks to their lord and savior, whatever faith or religion that they are," Foster said. "It's not about a knee, it's not about the (symbolism), it's about the message. They say it's not the time to do this, but when is the time?"
Several teams, including the Chiefs and Seahawks, saw their players link arms during the anthem. Peters, the 2015 defensive rookie of the year, was the last person in the Chiefs line and had his arm free to raise it.
"He spoke up about something he felt he needed to speak up about," Peters said last week. "I salute him for that."
Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall , a teammate of Kaepernick's in college at Nevada, took a knee during the anthem on Thursday night.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell weighed in on Kaepernick's protest last week as well, saying, "I don't necessarily agree with what he's doing."
Seattle's locker room was engaged in a lengthy discussion over the past few weeks about what type of message to send. The players enlisted coach Pete Carroll in the discussions almost from the start, and brought Dr. Harry Edwards to help direct the conversations.
"Gestures mean nothing without follow through. That's what Harry Edwards said and that's what I agree with," Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman said. "People get confused that you have to go out there and put on a show and make this gesture and make people aware of it, and we're more about action."
Wide receiver Doug Baldwin, who became a default spokesman for Seattle's actions, said the players are working to schedule a meeting with the mayor of Seattle and local law enforcement.
"We know that there has to be change and progress," Baldwin said. "Change is inevitable. Change will always happen. But you got to apply direction to change, and that's when it's progress. And so right now what we're doing as a team, we have a follow through."
Taped messages from Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush were played at each stadium. Bush attended the Giants-Cowboys match in Arlington, Texas, while Vice President Joe Biden was in Philadelphia for Browns-Eagles.
Peters' gesture was also a tribute of sorts to U.S. sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who won the gold and bronze medals, respectively, in the 200-meter race at the 1968 Olympics. Both then appeared on the medal stands with raised, black-gloved fists throughout the U.S. national anthem in what they called a "human rights salute."
And in the night game, New England's Martellus Bennett and Devin McCourty both held up their right arms. Teammate Danny Amendola was seen clutching the American flag unfurled on the field in Arizona.
The International Olympic Committee ordered Smith and Carlos expelled from the games because of the protest.

Rubio demands documents from Obama proving Iran money was not 'ransom'

Rubio: State Department should bar Clinton clearances
Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio is accusing the Obama administration of trying to "deceive" Congress and the American people about roughly $1.7 billion in payments to Iran -- suggesting at least some of the money was a "ransom" for American hostages and demanding official documents for the related transactions.
“Each day brings new revelations about your administration’s efforts to deceive Congress and the American people regarding payments of billions of dollars to the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism,” Rubio wrote Saturday in a letter to President Obama. “The America people do not believe the story that your administration did not provide Iran an illicit and potentially illegal ransom payment.”
The administration in January announced an agreement between the U.S. and Iran to settle a failed, decades-old arms deal that included Washington returning to Tehran $400 million and an additional $1.3 billion in interest.
However, reports in early August revealed the initial $400 million was delivered on Jan. 17 -- the same day Tehran agreed to release four American prisoners. And Republicans are calling it a ransom.
At least some of the money was in foreign currency, and a video originating on Iranian TV purports to show bundles of the cash on pallets.
The letter from Rubio -- a failed 2016 presidential candidate now in a tough race for a second Senate term -- came two days after administration officials told House Republicans that Iran wanted "immediate access" to the $1.7 billion paid by the United States in cash.

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Rubio submitted a list of nine demands in the letter, including a request for a copy of a waiver allowing the use of cash, instead of complying with a U.S. code that states “all federal payments made by an agency shall be made by electronic transfer.”
Rubio also wants to know why the administration didn’t issue a check, which he says is the required method when a transfer is inappropriate, according to another U.S. code.
“Iran has pocketed this money and continued to hold and take more American hostages,” Rubio also wrote. “It has likely used this foreign currency to fund its military including its ballistic missile programs and to support Iran's terrorist proxies throughout the Middle East.”
Though the administration has claimed the payment and the prisoner release were separate incidents, it recently acknowledged the cash was used as leverage until the Americans were allowed to leave Iran.
State and Justice officials at the hearing Thursday defended the payment and its cash delivery.
Christopher Backemeyer, a deputy assistant secretary of state, said Iran wanted immediate access to the money, but he said he wasn't aware whether Iran had asked for cash. He said it was his understanding that the money was going to "critical economic needs" in Iran.

Clinton health 'episode' could revive calls to release medical records

Are Clinton's health issues a legitimate campaign issue?
Hillary Clinton’s abrupt departure Sunday from a 9/11 ceremony in New York City due to what one source described as a “medical episode” could revive calls for the Democratic presidential nominee to release detailed health records.
The candidate, after resting at her daughter Chelsea’s apartment, told reporters late Sunday morning she was “feeling great.” Her campaign said that she left the 9/11 commemoration ceremony after 90 minutes due to feeling “overheated.”
According to the campaign, she is “feeling much better.”
"She is fine," a senior campaign aide said.
But the campaign for weeks has been dealing with – and working to quell – speculation about the candidate’s health, including a 2012 concussion, and Sunday’s incident is sure to fuel that fire. One video appeared to show the candidate stumbling as she was helped into a van. A law enforcement source who witnessed the episode said she appeared to faint.
The campaign last year already released a summary of Clinton’s medical records and conditions.
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In the July 28, 2015, letter, Dr. Lisa Bardack, an internist in Mount Kisco, N.Y., described Clinton as “a healthy 67-year-old female whose current medical conditions include hypothyroidism and seasonal pollen allergies.” The letter noted her elbow fracture in 2009 and concussion in 2012. Bardack detailed how Clinton, now 68, had to undergo “anticoagulation therapy” to dissolve a clot, and experienced “double vision for a period of time,” after the concussion.
Bardack concluded that Clinton was in “excellent physical condition and fit to serve.”
But the summary has not satisfied some skeptics, who have pointed not only to the concussion but her occasional coughing bouts on the campaign trail.
The letter falls short of steps taken by 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who invited reporters to review the full 1,173 pages of his medical records.
Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has made glancing references to his opponent’s health and “stamina,” on Aug. 28 tweeted that both candidates “should release detailed medical records.”
Clinton’s chief strategist Joel Benenson recently said the campaign has no plans to release more detailed records.
A campaign spokeswoman also blamed the health controversy on Roger Stone, a longtime conservative political operative who had a formal role as a Trump adviser until he left a year ago.
“Donald Trump is simply parroting lies based on fabricated documents promoted by Roger Stone and his right-wing allies," said campaign communications director Jennifer Palmieri. "Hillary Clinton has released a detailed medical record showing her to be in excellent health plus her personal tax returns since 1977, while Trump has failed to provide the public with the most basic financial information disclosed by every major candidate in the last 40 years.”
“I think the questions being raised are legitimate given that it impacts who leads our nation," Dr. Jane Orient, executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, said last month. "As a physician, you cannot help but to ask questions. But given that our information is limited, it would be wrong for any physician to diagnose someone without seeing them themselves.”
Orient said she has received both positive and negative responses to her column on the Association’s blog which asked whether Clinton is “medically unfit” to serve as president.
Dr. Lisa Bardack, an internist in Mount Kisco, N.Y.    

Clinton cancels West Coast visit to rest after health episode

Doctor: Clinton receiving treatment for pneumonia
Hillary Clinton canceled plans to visit California on Monday and Tuesday and instead will rest at her home in Chappaqua, N.Y. following a medical episode that caused her to stagger and faint Sunday at a 9/11 commemoration ceremony, her campaign said.
The Democratic presidential nominee fell on her way into her van and had to be helped by her security, according to witnesses and video of her leaving. A law enforcement source told Fox News that she “clearly (was) having some type of medical episode.” Clinton’s doctor revealed later that she had been diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday.
Clinton had planned two days of fundraising and made plans to appear on Ellen DeGeneres' talk show.
Clinton’s campaign released a statement more than an hour after the incident saying the former Secretary of State “felt overheated,” and later Sunday issued another release blaming the episode on pneumonia and dehydration.
"Secretary Clinton has been experiencing a cough related to allergies," Dr. Lisa R. Bardack said in the statement. "On Friday, during follow up evaluation of her prolonged cough, she was diagnosed with pneumonia. She was put on antibiotics, and advised to rest and modify her schedule. While at this morning's event, she became overheated and dehydrated. I have just examined her and she is now re-hydrated and recovering nicely."
But a witness told Fox News that Clinton stumbled off the curb, her "knees buckled" and she lost a shoe as she was helped into a van during her "unexpected early departure." The NYPD was sent to retrieve Clinton's shoe, according to NBC.
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The New Jersey resident who took the video, Zdenek Gazda, told Foxnews.com he had been a fireman in the Czech Republic and came to the 9/11 ceremony to pay his respects.
"Everything was fine, everything was good before," said Gazda, who snapped several shots of Clinton before taking the video. "I take a lot of pictures of her. She looked very nice and everything, and I don’t know what happened to her."
After Clinton left the ceremony, the reporters following her on the campaign trail were prevented from leaving the media area for a period of time.
Clinton emerged from Chelsea Clinton's apartment just before noon and said she was "feeling great."
"It's a beautiful day in New York," Clinton yelled to press waiting across the street.
She bent down to take a photo with a young girl and said "thanks everybody" to a nearby crowd cheering her. Asked again about her health, Clinton said she was "great, feeling great" and then got into her van. A spokesperson said she was headed to her house in Chappaqua, where former President Bill Clinton, who did not attend the 9/11 ceremony, was waiting. She was examined by her doctor after arriving in Chappaqua.
"I am glad to learn that Secretary Clinton is already feeling better and I wish her a speedy recovery," said DNC Interim Chair Donna Brazile in a statement. "I look forward to seeing her back out on the campaign trail and continuing on the path to victory."
Asked about Clinton's early exit, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said he didn't know anything about it. But Rep. Peter King told The Washington Post that during the ceremony it was Trump who informed King of Clinton's health issue.
“It was actually Trump who told me what was going on," King told a Washington Post reporter. "He leaned over and told me that 'Hillary wasn’t feeling well.' I said, 'Really?'"
Clinton was in New York for Sunday’s ceremony commemorating 15 years since the 9/11 terror attacks.
Clinton and Trump earlier greeted supporters as they entered the downtown Manhattan 9/11 memorial. Both had promised to suspend campaign activities to mark the 15th anniversary of the attacks.
Questions surrounding Clinton's health have emerged in recent weeks, and calls for the candidate to release her full medical records may intensify after Sunday's incident.
Clinton previously sustained a concussion in December 2012 after fainting, an episode her doctor attributed to a stomach virus and dehydration.
Clinton's doctor reported she is fully recovered from the concussion, which led to temporary double vision and discovery of a blood clot in a vein in the space between her brain and skull. Clinton also has experienced deep vein thrombosis, a clot usually in the leg, and takes the blood thinner Coumadin to prevent new clots.

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