Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Trump on Ryan: 'I don't want his support, I don't care about his support'


Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump lashed out again at members of his own party Tuesday night, saying he was "tired of nonsupport" from GOP leaders who distanced themselves from him after the emergence of lewd comments Trump made about women a decade ago.
"The fact is, I think we should get support and we don't get the support from guys like [House Speaker] Paul Ryan," Trump told Fox News' Bill O'Reilly on "The O'Reilly Factor."
Referring to a conference call Ryan held with lawmakers after the tape was made public this past Friday, Trump said, "This happens all the time. If you sneeze, he calls up and announces, 'Isn't that a terrible thing?' So look, I don't want his support, I don't care about his support."
In a series of tweets Tuesday morning, Trump referred to Ryan as "our very weak and ineffective leader" and accused the Speaker of "disloyalty."
For his part, Ryan told lawmakers on the conference call that he would no longer defend or campaign with Trump and said he would focus his efforts on helping Republicans hold the House this fall. However, unlike other top GOP figures, Ryan did not specifically withdraw his endorsement of Trump.
Trump also told O'Reilly that he should not have endorsed Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. in the veteran senator's August primary. McCain withdrew his endorsement of Trump after the recording of the real estate mogul emerged.
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"He was desperate to get my endorsement," Trump said. "I gave him the endorsement ... and frankly, he ran against a very good woman [former state Sen. Kelli Ward], I feel very badly I gave the endorsement."
Trump, who also described McCain as having "probably the dirtiest mouth in all the Senate," added that he "wouldn't want to be in a foxhole with these people, including Ryan. Especially Ryan."
The billionaire also downplayed the comments themselves, which he uttered during a conversation with then-"Access Hollywood" host Billy Bush in 2005 prior to a guest appearance on "Days of Our Lives."
As he did during Sunday's debate with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Trump described the remarks as "locker room talk."
"Most people have heard it before," Trump said, "and I've had women come up to me and say, 'Boy, I've heard that and I've heard a lot worse than that over my life.'
"And if that's why i'm going to lose an election to get rid of ISIS and to create strong borders and rebuild our military and do all the things we're gonna do ... if that's what it's gonna take to lose an election, that would be pretty sad."

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Paul Ryan Cartoons (Mr. Flip Flopper)






WikiLeaks’ Podesta email release reveals massive Clinton ‘hits’ file on Sanders

Clinton belittles Sanders supporters in leaked audio
Hillary Clinton’s campaign purportedly compiled a massive “hits” file on Democratic primary opponent Bernie Sanders, calling into question his “progressive bona fides” on issues ranging from labor to guns to Wall Street, according to a new trove of emails posted by WikiLeaks.
The 71-page, nearly 50,000-word document was released Monday as the second installment in WikiLeaks’ dump of Clinton Campaign Chairman John Podesta’s alleged emails. The email, titled “PLS REVIEW: Sanders Hits,” was sent by campaign research director Tony Carrk on Oct. 28, 2015 – nearly nine months before the liberal Vermont senator would endorse Clinton following their protracted primary battle.
“Attached are some hits that could either be written or deployed during the next debate on Sanders,” Carrk writes, noting that the immense opposition research file would eventually be expanded with critiques of Sanders’ plan to provide affordable college education.
The document, which was prepared in advance of February’s Iowa caucuses, also notes: “Per HRC’s request,” the research team is “doing a deeper dive on Sanders’s agriculture record.”
The document is broken up into 12 sections, with headings such as “Sanders Is Not Straight with People on His Spending” and “Sanders Not Straight with People on Taxes.” Subcategories then divide the attacks into specific points.
“Sanders, often thought of as a champion of labor unions, accepted support from a company while it was involved in a bitter labor dispute -- locking out union employees for nearly 22 months,” the document states in the “Labor/Pay to Play/Sugar” section. Sanders later voted “to protect the sugar program.”
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The document also criticizes Sanders for a lack of specifics on his tax plan.
“Sen. Sanders has not told the American people how much he is going to raise taxes and who is going to pay for them,” one section states. “When confronted on details of his tax plan, he simply says ‘it’s coming.’”
Jason Miller, senior communications adviser to GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, tweeted out a link to the WikiLeaks files on Monday afternoon with the comment: "And here...we...go." Clinton's campaign quickly rebuked Miller for the tweet and alluded to a popular theory that WikiLeaks has deep ties to Russia.
“It is absolutely disgraceful that the Trump campaign is cheering on a release today engineered by [Russian President] Vladimir Putin to interfere in this election, and this comes after Donald Trump encouraged more espionage over the summer and continued to deny the hack even happened at Sunday's debate," Clinton spokesperson Glen Caplin told FoxNews.com in an email. "The timing shows you that even Putin knows Trump had a bad weekend and a bad debate."

The research file was compiled between the first two primary debates, which occurred on Oct. 13 and Nov. 14. While Clinton faced four challengers at the first debate, Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee dropped out shortly afterward, leaving Sanders and the low-polling ex-Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley as her only opponents moving forward.
The alleged Podesta emails also show a former aide to the late Sen. Lloyd Bentsen criticizing Clinton for her "untrue" attacks on Sanders.
“Beyond this Hillary should stop attacking Bernie, especially when she says things that are untrue, which candidly she often does,” Brent Budowsky wrote to Podesta on March 13. “I am one of the people with credibility to suggest Bernie people support her in November, and she and [pollster Joel] Benenson and others have no idea of the damage she does to herself with these attacks, which she does not gain by making.”
During their first rally together on July 12, Clinton praised Sanders as someone who had “energized and inspired a generation of young people who care deeply about our country,” despite the apparent misgivings her campaign had about Sanders as reflected in the research file.
She added: “You will always have a seat at the table when I am in the White House.”

Huckabee: 'Bed-Wetting' GOP Afraid Trump Will Win, Not That He'll Lose


Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, also a former presidential candidate, said the marked amount of Republicans disavowing endorsements or support of Donald Trump following the release of the vulgar 2005 video were not made for reasons the public might think.
"A lot of these bed-wetting, hand-wringing Republicans--they're not afraid Donald Trump is going to lose: They're scared to death that Donald Trump is going to win," Huckabee said.
Huckabee said Trump will "mess up the neat little package of fun they have and they all play to the donor class."
"It's not a big surprise that he is crude and he is vulgar," Huckabee told Megyn Kelly, "we knew he was not a Sunday school teacher."
"I'm waiting on Hillary to apologize for lying to Congress...to the American people, destroying evidence [and] making a deal with Iran."
He also compared Trump to the captain from "Jaws", while he compared Clinton to the shark:
"She's going to eat your boat," he said, referencing her economic policy platform.

Debate dredges up Clinton's defense of accused rapist, audio of her ‘laughing’ at case

Women hurt by the Clintons speak: Where's Hillary's apology?
When Donald Trump invited several women who had accused Bill Clinton of sexual assault to Sunday night’s debate, he also highlighted a case that may have been unfamiliar to many voters -- that of Kathy Shelton.
Unlike the claims of Juanita Broaddrick, Paula Jones and Kathleen Willey -- the other women hosted by Trump -- Shelton’s accusations are not aimed at Bill Clinton. Rather, she alleges Hillary Clinton verbally attacked her while defending the man Shelton had accused of rape in 1975.
And while Clinton pushed back during the debate as Trump cited their stories, there is a paper trail to back up some of Shelton's account.
Shelton was 12 years old when she accused 41-year-old Thomas Alfred Taylor of rape. Taylor was defended by a 27-year-old Hillary Rodham, who took up the case despite saying she didn’t want it -- and called into question Shelton's reliability.
“I have been informed that the complainant is emotionally unstable with a tendency to seek out older men and engage in fantasizing,” Clinton wrote in an affidavit. “I have also been informed that she has in the past made false accusations about persons, claiming they had attacked her body. Also that she exhibits an unusual stubbornness and temper when she does not get her way.”
Clinton was successful and the man pleaded to a lesser charge – unlawful fondling of a child. The case was not widely publicized until The Washington Free Beacon in 2014 obtained footage of Clinton talking about it in the early '80s for an interview with an Arkansas paper, in which she laughs about getting Taylor off the more serious charge.
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“He took a lie detector test. I had him take a polygraph, which he passed, which forever destroyed my faith in polygraphs,” Clinton says on the recording while laughing.
“Oh, he plea bargained. Got him off with time served in the county jail, he’d been in the county jail about two months,” Clinton said on the recording, apparently not remembering the sentence accurately. According to the Free Beacon, her attacker was sentenced to one year in prison, with two months reduced for time served.
In an interview with British online mothers group Mumsnet in 2014, Clinton addressed the case: "When I was a 27-year-old attorney doing legal aid work at the [University of Arkansas] where I taught in Fayetteville, Arkansas, I was appointed by the local judge to represent a criminal defendant accused of rape," she said. "I asked to be relieved of that responsibility, but I was not. And I had a professional duty to represent my client to the best of my ability, which I did."
While referencing the Clinton accusers on Sunday, Trump mentioned Shelton specifically.
"One of the women, who is a wonderful woman, at 12 years old, was raped at 12," Trump said. "[Clinton’s] client she represented got him off, and she's seen laughing on two separate occasions, laughing at the girl who was raped. Kathy Shelton, that young woman is here with us tonight."
Clinton said about his accusations, “so much of what he's just said is not right” although she did not address the Shelton claims specifically.
There is no indication in the tape that Clinton was laughing at Shelton, but rather at the fact she was able to get Taylor off the more serious charge.
The case is an awkward one for Clinton considering her presentation of herself as a tireless advocate for women and children. Shelton, in a pre-debate press conference Sunday, made reference to Clinton’s past statements.
“ I, at 12 years old, Hillary put me through something that you would never put a 12-year-old through. And she says she’s for women and children. And she was asked last year on what happened, and she says she’s supposed to defend whether they did it or not and now she’s laughing on tape saying she knows they did it,” Shelton said.

Trump warns of 'rigged' vote, as Clinton claims opponent uses Chinese steel


Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump warned his supporters Monday to keep a close eye on the polls so the "election is not stolen from us," while Hillary Clinton hit her opponent with allegations he uses Chinese steel in his construction projects the day after a raucous second presidential debate.
Trump told supporters at a rally in Wilkes-Barre Township, Pa., that he wanted every vote "counted 100 percent" on Nov. 8, adding that they had to be vigilant so the White House is "not taken away from us."
He repeated his claims that the "system is rigged," adding that there was "no way" he is down in the polls in Pennsylvania.
The celebrity businessman also told supporters that as the election draws closer, he'll make "three to four" campaign stops a day, and in his final week may do up to six campaign events.
"I may be limping across that finish line, but we're going to get across that finish line," he said.
The Wilkes-Barre event was the second stop of a self-declared victory lap across the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Monday.
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"Hillary Clinton is highly over-rated," he told a crowd at an earlier campaign event in Ambridge, Pa.. "All crooked Hillary could do was talk about small, petty things last night. ... She wants to divide America. I want to bring us together."
Trump also continued to repeat claims he made the night before that former president Bill Clinton was a sexual predator whose wife attacked the victims, insisting his own words in a 2005 audiotape in which he is heard bragging about being able to kiss and grope women because he is a celebrity did not match the Clinton's alleged actions two decades ago.
"I was getting beaten up for 72 hours for inappropriate words, locker room talk, whatever you want to call it," Trump told supporters. "But Bill Clinton has sexually assaulted innocent women and Hillary Clinton was attacking those women viciously."
Clinton spent her first day on the campaign trail after the town-hall style debate in the battleground state of Ohio going after Trump with allegations he uses Chinese steel in his construction projects.
The Democratic nominee raised the charged with campaigning on the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus, where she urged students to register to vote before Tuesday's deadline.
Clinton said "for his talk of putting America first," Trump doesn't support American industry with his products and projects.
"When China floods our market with steel below price and people like Trump buy, that kills jobs," she said.
She also hit Trump over the comments he made the 2005 tape about women.
"I just happen to think that our athletes and coaches know a lot more about what happens in locker rooms than Donald trump does," Clinton told supporters.
Earlier on Monday, Trump clashed with House Speaker Paul Ryan after the top congressional Republican told rank-and-file lawmakers he will not campaign with the party’s presidential nominee or defend him – and even suggested he’s preparing for a Clinton presidency.
The details of Ryan’s comments came from sources on a conference call late Monday morning for GOP House leaders and rank-and-file members.
Trump has apologized repeatedly for the comments – but despite an aggressive debate performance Sunday where he sought to turn the tables on Clinton, Ryan said on the call he won’t campaign with Trump. According to sources, Ryan and other House GOP leaders also told those on the call to “do what’s best for you in your district” – advice that speaks to their concern about the impact Trump’s controversies could have down the ballot.
Ryan even appeared to signal the White House race might be a lost cause when he suggested in the call that the party should focus on ensuring that Clinton “does not get a blank check with a Democrat-controlled Congress.”
Ryan’s office later said he was not conceding the election's outcome and made clear he wasn’t walking back his endorsement either.
But Trump responded after the call by tweeting: “Paul Ryan should spend more time on balancing the budget, jobs and illegal immigration and not waste his time on fighting Republican nominee.”
Trump however still retained the backing of the Republican National Committee, which has overseen crucial field efforts for the candidate in battleground states. On a conference call with RNC members Monday afternoon, chairman Reince Priebus said the party remains in full coordination with Trump.
"Everything is on course," Priebus said, according to a participant in the call.

Monday, October 10, 2016

Anderson Cooper Cartoons





NBC suspends Billy Bush for role on Trump tape


NBC has suspended "Today" show personality Billy Bush indefinitely for his role in the recently surfaced videotape of Donald Trump's crude conversation about women.
"Today" show Executive Producer Noah Oppenheim said in a memo that "there is simply no excuse for Billy's language and behavior on that tape." NBC has suspended Bush from his job as host of the "Today" show's third hour, "pending further review of the matter."

The 2005 tape was made when Bush worked on the entertainment news show "Access Hollywood" as he rode with Trump to the set of a daytime drama where Trump made a cameo appearance. In the tape, the Republican presidential candidate brags about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women who were not his wife. Bush joins in, laughing at some of Trump's comments and later encouraging an actress to hug Trump.
Bush, 44, has been brutalized on his own Facebook page since the tape surfaced. Hundreds of hostile comments were attached to Bush's last posting on Friday — of him distributing a plate of bacon to "Today" viewers outside of the show's studio. "You are sickening!" one woman wrote, in a comment that nearly 5,000 had "liked" through Sunday afternoon.
Angering women viewers of a show as important to NBC's bottom line as "Today" is no small matter. Many viewers upset by 2012's messy dumping of Ann Curry as "Today" host took it out on colleague Matt Lauer; the show's ratings still haven't recovered. Women make up the majority of "Today" viewers, particularly in the last two hours.
Even before this incident, Bush had a rocky start. He was the reporter to whom American swimmer Ryan Lochte lied about being robbed at the Olympics. When Bush later tried to defend Lochte on "Today," he was dressed down by colleague Al Roker.
The "Access Hollywood" tape was an embarrassment on multiple levels for NBC News. The news division for days had been aware of the tape from the NBC-owned entertainment show, but was scooped by The Washington Post on Friday when the newspaper was tipped off about its existence and got a story out within hours.
Bush issued a statement on Friday apologizing for his actions.
The tape showed Bush and Trump speaking as the Republican was about to appear on the daytime drama "Days of Our Lives." From the bus they had ridden to the set, Bush pointed out to Trump an actress, Arianne Zucker, who was there to greet them.
Bush called the actress "hot," adding an expletive.
"I've gotta use some Tic Tacs, just in case I start kissing her," Trump said. "You know, I'm automatically attracted to beautiful ... I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything."
"Grab them by the p----. You can do anything," Trump added.
After getting off the bus, Bush asks the actress to hug Trump, then added, "How about a little hug for the Bushy?"
The married father of three is the nephew of former President George H.W. Bush.

CartoonDems