Ocasio-Cortez slams McCaskill after departing Dem calls her a 'thing' and a 'shiny object'

U.S. Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded to comments made by outgoing Sen. Claire McCaskill earlier this week in which she called the New York Democrat a “bright shiny new object.”
"Not sure why fmr Sen. McCaskill keeps going on TV to call me a 'thing' and 'shiny object,' but it's pretty disappointing," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Saturday.
"McCaskill promised she'd '100% back Trump up' on his anti-immigrant rhetoric & lost. In MO, almost all progressive ballot issues won," her tweet continued.
During an interview with CNN, MacCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, said of Ocasio-Cortez that she was “confused why she’s the thing,” referring to the attention Ocasio-Cortez has received from both major parties and the news media since defeating Democratic incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley in a June primary race, then beating Republican Anthony Pappas in November.
DEFEATED SEN. McCASKILL RIPS DEMOCRATIC PARTY OVER 'PURITY' DEMANDS, 'FAILURE' WITH RURAL AMERICA
“But it's a good example of what I'm talking about -- a bright shiny new object, came out of nowhere and surprised people when she beat a very experienced congressman,” McCaskill said.
McCaskill also cautioned Democrats to be wary of cheap rhetoric from rising Democratic stars like Ocasio-Cortez and said Republican senators privately think President Trump is "nuts."
Ocasio-Cortez, a self-described democratic socialist, has made climate change, income inequality and ending the “school-to-prison pipeline” her top priorities.
In a follow-up tweet, Ocasio-Cortez mentioned McCaskill again.
OCASIO-CORTEZ TAKES TIME OFF FOR 'SELF-CARE,' LAMENTS LOSS OF YOGA SESSIONS DUE TO POLITICS
“I'm also not sure why McCaskill is covering for the GOP by saying they 'secretly think Trump is nuts.'
"Nobody cares," Ocasio-Cortez wrote. "Trump is melting down our institutions and inciting division between people. At any time GOP could have checked him and choose not to. They're accomplices."

After Trump touts ‘Big progress’ in trade talks, China expresses willingness to work with US through ‘storms’

China’s foreign ministry said in a statement Sunday that Beijing is willing to work with the United States through “storms” in their relationship toward the goal of global stability.
The statement from ministry spokesman Lu Kang mentioned the consensus agreement that U.S. President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping reached during the Group of 20 Summit in Argentina earlier this month, Reuters reported.
On Saturday, Trump wrote in a Twitter message that “big progress” was being made in U.S.-China trade talks and that a potential deal was coming together “very well.”
“Just had a long and very good call with President Xi of China. Deal is moving along very well. If made, it will be very comprehensive, covering all subjects, areas and points of dispute. Big progress being made!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Following the call, President Xi expressed hope that the two countries could advance toward a more cooperative relationship, Reuters reported Saturday.
The U.S. and China have been involved in a tit-for-tat trade battle throughout the course of 2018. The countries – the world’s two largest economies – have slapped tariffs on one another’s goods, though Washington and Beijing agreed on Dec. 1 to postpone further hikes in an effort to negotiate a deal that satisfies both sides.
If no trade deal is reached, the U.S. is ready on March 2 to increase tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10 percent, which could potentially have a significant effect U.S. industries – such as electronics, furniture and machinery -- that depend on Chinese imports, the Wall Street Journal reported.
A tariff increase also could stall China’s economy, potentially slowing global growth, the report said.
A U.S. delegation of trade officials is expected to travel to Beijing in early January for negotiations with the Chinese. If those talks make progress, more negotiations will follow in Washington soon after, the Journal reported.
At the G-20 meetings, Trump and Xi agreed to a 90-day truce on tariff hikes in hopes of reaching a trade deal.

Women's March event canceled over concerns of being 'overwhelmingly white'

Protesters gather on the National Mall in Washington. in the first Women's March in Jan. 21, 2017. (Fox News)

Organizers of a Women’s March rally slated for Northern California next month have canceled the event, saying they were concerned that participants would have been “overwhelmingly white."
In a news release, organizers for the march in Eureka – about 270 miles north of San Francisco – said Friday the "decision was made after many conversations between local social-change organizers and supporters of the march.”
“Up to this point, the participants have been overwhelmingly white, lacking representation from several perspectives in our community,” the news release continued.
According to Census Bureau data from July, Humboldt County, where Eureka is the county seat, is 74 percent non-Hispanic white.
“I was appalled to be honest,” Amy Sawyer Long told the Washington Times. “I understand wanting a diverse group. However, we live in a predominantly white area … not to mention how is it beneficial to cancel? No matter the race people still want their voices heard.”

“I understand wanting a diverse group. However, we live in a predominantly white area … not to mention how is it beneficial to cancel? No matter the race people still want their voices heard.”
— Amy Sawyer Long

The rally, which had been planned for Jan. 19, would have commemorated the third anniversary of the original Women’s March, which was held Jan. 21, 2017, the day after President Trump took office.
The group said it is exploring shifting the rally to March to celebrate International Women’s Day.
The Women’s March movement has been marred by complaints from some black and Latina women, who've raised concerns that their input is often disregarded or overlooked, the New York Times reported.
The cancellation of the march in California follows a previous one in Chicago.
Women's March organizers in that city cited high costs and limited volunteer hours as reasons for nixing the annual rally, the Chicago Tribune reported.
“There’s no march, there’s no rally,” said Sara Kurensky, Women’s March Chicago board member. “We’re going to provide ways for people to organize and take action in their local communities.”
WOMEN’S MARCH LEADER CLAIMS SHE WAS KICKED OUT OF PROGRESSIVE GROUP FOR BEING JEWISH, REPORT SAYS
Meanwhile, the Women’s March national leadership has faced accusations of anti-Semitism because of ties to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
In a speech in February, Farrakhan praised a Women's March co-President Tamika Mallory and declared “the powerful Jews are my enemy.”
Leaders of Women’s March Inc. have come under scrutiny for not condemning Farrakhan’s rhetoric fast enough. The Nation of Islam is considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
ALYSSA MILANO WON’T SPEAK AT WOMEN’S MARCH UNLESS ORGANIZERS CONDEMN LOUIS FARRAKHAN
Earlier this month, a Washington state chapter of the Women's March disbanded in protest because of the national group's links to anti-Semitism.
Marches and rallies are still planned for Jan. 19 in Washington, D.C., and dozens of other cities nationwide and internationally.

Nancy Pelosi Hawaii Cartoons

 

Pelosi Relaxes During Gov't Shutdown at Expensive Hawaii Resort

Zachary Petrizzo

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Posted: Dec 28, 2018 3:15 PM

Most of us would imagine that Nancy Pelosi would be in Washington, D.C., working to strike a deal with President Trump to re-open the government. Right? 
Instead, the Democratic House leader was recognized at a luxury resort in Hawaii on Thursday.
The Washington Free Beacon reports:

Pelosi, who has put blame squarely on President Donald Trump for the current government shutdown, was spotted Thursday vacationing in Hawaii at the Fairmont Orchid resort, where room accommodations range from $899-a-night for a standard room to $4,899-a-night for the presidential suite.
The resort, on Hawaii's Big Island, features a golf course, six restaurants, and a 10,000-square-foot oceanfront pool. It also features a "Spa Without Walls," where the 110-minute Ali'i Royal Experience is available for $369 and a 50-minute couples massage runs $549, according to the spa menu. While at the spa, guests can snack on a gluten-free grilled prawn summer roll for $19.
Trump canceled his Christmas trip to Florida and remained in the White House, saying on Christmas Eve that he was "waiting for the Democrats to come back and make a deal." The president left the White House on Christmas to travel to Iraq and meet with American troops stationed overseas.

I suspect she is not only relaxing in Hawaii but also doing some high dollar fundraising to secure herself a Speakership come January. Fundraising remains one of the mandatory obligations that any Speaker regardless of their political party must do and must do it exceptionally well.   
The president, on the other hand, has been in Washington, D.C., striving and willing to make a deal, but it seems as though Pelosi is on vacation... LITERALLY!

I am all alone (poor me) in the White House waiting for the Democrats to come back and make a deal on desperately needed Border Security. At some point the Democrats not wanting to make a deal will cost our Country more money than the Border Wall we are all talking about. Crazy!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 24, 2018

Reactions on Twitter were swift and critical of the soon to be Speaker of The House, Nancy Pelosi:

Well, aloha, Nancy. Happy to see the "government shutdown" is not curtailing your Christmas vacation! #BuildTheDamnWall #GovernmentShutdown #SecureTheBorder #BuildThatWallNOW https://t.co/0tAPa5PLHa

— Graham Ledger (@GrahamLedger) December 28, 2018

A reminder, despite that parts of the government are shutdown abortion-giant Planned Parenthood will continue to receive taxpayer dollars.

Nancy Pelosi Is Spending Shutdown at Hawaii Resort via @freebeacon https://t.co/6uSUYRRbNw

— March for Life Action (@MFLAction) December 28, 2018

Meet the new Speaker, same as the old Speaker -- Marie Antoinette... https://t.co/yqn4qBFTur

— Charlie Hurt (@CharlesHurt) December 28, 2018

Anti-Trump Dem says break-in at his office 'probably not related to my politics'

U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, a critic of President Trump, says a break-in at his Houston office was "probably not related to my politics." (Office of Congressman Al Green)

The Houston office of Democratic U.S. Rep. Al Green was broken into Thursday morning, but it doesn't appear that anything was taken, authorities said.
Whether the crime was politically motivated was unclear, they said. But the congressman expressed his doubts.
"My belief is that this is probably not related to my politics," Green told Houston's KPRC-TV. "[I] can never be sure until we have someone apprehended and get additional information."
Houston police responded to a report of a break-in around 8:50 a.m. inside a commercial building where Green's office is located, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Surveillance video obtained by Houston's KPRC-TV shows two burglars dressed in black with their faces covered making a hole in a wall leading to Green's office. The suspects allegedly made more holes and hit several other adjacent businesses, including a pharmacy and law office, reports said.
Green, 71, has served in Congress since January 2005. He represents Texas' 9th Congressional District, which covers the southwestern portion of the Houston metropolitan area. He has previously called for the impeachment of President Trump.
The U.S. Capitol Police - which is in charge of protecting members of Congress - was notified of the incident.

Sealed response submitted in secret Supreme Court case over unnamed company fighting subpoena

The federal government filed a sealed response Friday to an unnamed foreign company’s fight to get the Supreme Court to weigh in on a mysterious grand jury subpoena rumored to be connected to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.
The filing’s contents are hidden from public view and it does not mention Mueller’s office, but was filed before a Dec. 31 deadline set by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
Details of the clash between the company and prosecutors remained unclear, but Politico reported it may involve Mueller’s team due to its secrecy.
A federal court last week ruled against the company’s effort to quash the subpoena. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held the company in contempt and rejected its arguments that its governmental ownership makes it immune from a grand jury subpoena.
The court also rejected that company’s request that it should be excused from responding to the subpoena because it violated the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and that the subpoena was unenforceable, the Hill reported.
Mueller’s team has not publicly commented on the dispute, while lawyers for President Trump said the case does not involve the president.
“We’re not involved in it — we’re not aware of the nature or scope of the litigation,” Jay Sekulow, one of the president’s lawyers, told the New York Times.
Aside from Mueller's probe into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, the special counsel has reportedly investigated actions involving other countries as well, including Turkey, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates, according to the Hill.
If the Supreme Court decides not to deal with the case, details of the fight and the identity of the company could remain secret, according to Politico.

House probe of FBI-DOJ's alleged anti-Trump, pro-Clinton bias hits unceremonious end -- with no report

House Republicans unceremoniously ended their investigation into the way the FBI and the Department of Justice handled Hillary Clinton’s email scandal and the bias allegations against President Trump.
The House probe was led by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the Judiciary Committee and sought to look into allegations that the FBI and the DOJ were biased against Trump during the 2016 presidential election and favored Clinton’s candidacy.
Two Republicans chairing the committees – Reps. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., and Robert Goodlatte, R-Va. – said in a letter Friday that the DOJ must appoint a special counsel to investigate the “seemingly disparate treatment” of the investigations into Clinton’s use of private emails and Trump’s alleged ties to Russia.
The letter came less than a week before the Republicans formally lose control of the House to Democrats, while both Gowdy and Goodlatte are retiring from politics.
The Democrats have long criticized the Republican-led probe as a distraction from Mueller’s Russia investigation, with U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, taunting Republicans for their unceremonious end of the probe.
“This is how the House Republican effort to undermine Mueller by ‘investigating the investigators’ ends. Not with a bang, but with a Friday, buried-in-the-holidays whimper, and one foot out the door,” he wrote in a tweet.
But both Gowdy and Goodlatte reject criticism that their investigation undermined the Mueller probe.
“Contrary to Democrat and media claims, there has been no effort to discredit the work of the special counsel,” they said. “Quite the opposite, whatever product is produced by the special counsel must be trusted by Americans and that requires asking tough but fair questions about investigative techniques both employed and not employed.”
The lawmakers sent the letter to the Justice Department and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., saying that their investigation “revealed troubling facts which exacerbated our initial questions and concerns.” The House investigation didn’t produce a full final report of the panel's findings.
Republicans say top FBI officials were biased against then-candidate Donald Trump in 2016, pointing to Peter Strzok, the disgraced FBI official who was ousted from Robert Mueller’s team and later from the agency after his anti-Trump text messages with his colleague and lover Lisa Page were revealed.
STRZOK, PAGE AND THE FBI TEXTING SCANDAL EXPLAINED
The pair exchanged more than 50,000 text messages throughout the 2016 presidential election, with many of them expressing anti-Trump sentiments. In one message, Page asked Strzok if Trump could become president, prompting his reply: “No. No he won't. We'll stop it.”
Goodlatte and Gowdy also refer to the report by the Justice Department’s internal watchdog earlier this year that claims Strzok’s anti-Trump text messages raise questions about the agency’s bias, while fired FBI Director James Comey repeatedly broke the protocol.
The lawmakers also stress in the letter that the probe into Clinton’s use of emails was too lenient and cleared her of any wrongdoing without sufficient inquiry into the controversy.
The letter urges Congress to continue the investigation, saying that “while Congress does not have the power to appoint a special counsel, Congress does have the power to continue to investigate,” and notes that “the facts uncovered thus far” merit the continuation of the probe.