Presumptuous Politics

Monday, May 30, 2016

Veteran memorials in 3 states vandalized ahead of Memorial Day

LOS ANGELES – Memorials to veterans in a Los Angeles neighborhood and a town in Kentucky, as well as a Civil War veterans cemetery in Virginia, were damaged as the nation prepares to mark Memorial Day, officials said.
A Vietnam War memorial in the Venice area of Los Angeles has been extensively defaced by graffiti. The vandalism occurred sometime during the past week, KCAL/KCBS-TV reported. The homespun memorial painted on a block-long wall on Pacific Avenue lists the names of American service members missing in action or otherwise unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.
News of the vandalism came as another veterans-related memorial was reported damaged in Henderson, Kentucky. Police say a Memorial Day cross display there that honors the names of 5,000 veterans of conflicts dating back to the Revolutionary War has been damaged by a driver who plowed through the crosses early Saturday.
In Virginia, the Petersburg National Battlefield has apparently has been looted, the National Park Service said. Numerous excavations were found at the Civil War battlefield last week, Jeffrey Olson, and agency spokesman, said in a news release Friday. Petersburg National Battlefield is a 2,700-acre park marks where more than 1,000 Union and Confederate soldiers died fighting during the Siege of Petersburg 151 years ago.
In Los Angeles' Venice neighborhood, the wall for missing veterans has been tagged previously, but the latest vandalism covers the bottom half of the memorial for much of its length.
To George Francisco, vice president of the Venice Chamber of Commerce, it's not just graffiti. "It's a desecration. I mean it's very simple. There's no sort of other way around it, said Francisco, who also runs a nonprofit called Veterans Foundation Inc.
"I've known the sacrifices these people made in an incredibly unpopular war. So to continue the mistreatment of Vietnam veterans is somewhat shocking, somewhat shocking and quite sad," Francisco said.
Painted by a Vietnam veteran and dedicated in 1992, it declares, "You are not forgotten" and states the number of missing as 2,273.
According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the number of unaccounted-for Americans was listed at 2,646 in 1973. About half were those missing in action, and the others were those killed in action but the body was not recovered. Since then, the remains of more than 1,000 American have been identified and returned and about 1,600 have still not been accounted for, although efforts continue.
In Henderson, Kentucky, Jennifer Richmond, a spokesman for the Henderson Police Department, said the community is devastated and working frantically to repair and replace the crosses that were put on display for a Memorial Day ceremony in Central Park.
She said a 27-year-old local man drove straight through the cross display in the Henderson park, about 130 miles west of Louisville, just before 6 a.m. Saturday, but investigators don't know if it was deliberate.
Anthony Burrus has been charged with criminal mischief in the first degree and leaving the scene of an accident. Online jail records do not list an attorney for Burrus.

Sanders: Americans, superdelegates must 'take a hard look' at IG report on Clinton emails

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday that American voters, superdelegates and others must “take a hard look” at the recent federal report that found primary rival Hillary Clinton’s email setup while running the State Department broke agency rules.
“It was not a good report for Secretary Clinton. That is something that the American people, Democrats and delegates are going to have to take a hard look at," Sanders told CBS' "Face the Nation," during one of two TV network interviews Sunday.
The inspector general’s report last week concluded Clinton broke agency rules by using a private email server and that she would have been denied permission to have one had she first sought permission.
On Sunday, Sanders, desperately trailing the front-running Clinton in the delegate count, continued to not comment directly on the controversy.
But he repeated the notion that superdelegates, of which he needs more in a longshot bid to take the nomination, should indeed scrutinize the report.
“I mean everybody in America is keeping it in mind, and certainly the superdelegates are," Sanders said.
The Clinton campaign said Wednesday that the report shows "just how consistent (Clinton's) email practices were with those of other secretaries and senior officials at the State Department who also used personal email."
The campaign also said the report notes that Clinton's use of personal email was known to officials within the department and that there is no evidence to show any successful breach of the former secretary of state's server.
In a separate interview Sunday with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Sanders said he is focused on “the future of the American middle class and how we deal with the fundamental problems they are facing.”
He also declined to comment on the FBI investigation into the Clinton email scandal, including what impact the findings might have on a Clinton general election bid.
However, Sanders appeared to perhaps take his concerns about the emails a step further, suggesting Americans are “tired of those kinds of politics.”
And he made clear presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has and will continue to make an issue of them if and when he faces Clinton directly in the November election.
“Donald Trump and other Republicans will seize on it,” he told NBC. “There’s no doubting that.”

Rubio all-in for Trump, sorry for personal attacks

Former Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio said Sunday that he fully supports former rival Donald Trump’s White House bid, apologized for his personal attacks in the bruising primary and hinting that he’d even speak for Trump at the July nominating convention.
“I want to be helpful,” the Florida senator said on CNN's "State of the Union."
Rubio argued that supporting Trump, now the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, is the only way to keep Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton from becoming president, regardless of some of his scorched-earth campaign rhetoric.
“Despite all my differences with Donald Trump, I have a better chance to get a conservative-nominated Supreme Court with him than I ever will with Hillary Clinton,” he said.
Rubio said Trump also will support other parts of the conservative agenda including the repeal of ObamaCare and rolling back federal regulations that are “damaging” to the U.S. economy.
Rubio suggested early last week that he wanted to help Trump defeat Clinton but that his decision was difficult.
Trump, through the primary season, which concludes June 7, repeatedly attacked Rubio, calling him “Little Marco” and suggesting his response to a debate attack in New Hampshire by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was a “meltdown” and robotic.
With his campaign failing, Rubio later went on the counter-attack, challenging Trump’s manliness by saying he had “tiny hands.”
On Sunday, Rubio said he privately apologized to Trump for the remark.
Rubio also suggested no single mistake led to his failed campaign, which he ended in mid-March after losing his home-state primary. But he suggested the personal attacks on Trump and not attacking Christie’s record in the debate were significant.
“If I had to do it over again, I just would have gone after him and attacked his record,” Rubio said.
Rubio, who is not seeking re-election in November for his Senate seat, was non-committal about his political future, saying again only that he might have sought re-election had friend and Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera not entered the race.

Trump aide Lewandowski defends Martinez criticism, says focus should be jobs and economy

Top Donald Trump aide Corey Lewandowski on Sunday defended Trump’s recent criticism of New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, a fellow Republican, and deflected a host of other complaints about Trump's presidential campaign, saying the real issues are jobs and the economy.
“The governor is not doing the job,” Lewandowski said about Martinez on “Fox News Sunday,” in a sharp exchange with host Chris Wallace. “Let’s get it right. … This is not a Republican issue. This is not a Democratic issue. We stand by our statement.”
Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, is being chastised by party leaders and others for attacking a Latino Republican governor, in her home state, particularly when Republicans sorely need the minority and female vote to win the general election.

Governor Susana Martinez | InsideGov

"Your governor has got to do a better job," Trump said at a rally Tuesday in Albuquerque, hitting Martinez on high state unemployment and other issues. "She's not doing the job. Hey, maybe I'll run for governor of New Mexico. I'll get this place going."
The remarks quelled speculation that Trump might pick Martinez, also chairman of the Republican Governors Association, as his running mate and brought to her defense such GOP leaders as House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, whom Martinez endorsed for the party’s presidential nomination.
Martinez's office responded by telling reporters in a statement: "Apparently, Donald Trump doesn't realize Governor Martinez wasn't elected in 2000, that she has fought for welfare reform, and has strongly opposed the president's Syrian refugee plan."
Lewandowski on Sunday argued the real issues are jobs, the economy and immigration.
“We need to stop illegal immigration,” he said. “We need to put people back to work, cut taxes. That’s what this is about.”
Lewandowski also argued his purported disputes with fellow top campaign adviser Paul Manafort are media hype, saying they speak several times daily and work together on key decisions.
He also defended Trump’s decision not to debate Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, suggesting the billionaire businessman was joking when he brought up the idea.
Lewandowski said the campaign is “solely focused” on beating Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.
“We’re not going to waste our time debating Bernie Sanders when he’s not going to be the nominee,” he said.
Sanders said Friday night on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” that he would still “love” to debate Trump and essentially asked him to reconsider.
“Trump claims to be a real tough guy, pushes people around. Hey Donald, come on up and let's debate about the future of America," Sanders said.
Lewandowski also defended against criticism that the campaign staff is too small to win a general election against one as deep and far-reaching as Clinton’s.
“We’ve been leaner with better results,” said Lewandowski, arguing the campaign won’t have 700 or 800 people, like Clinton’s. “We spent less money, got better results.”

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Army Rangers Release Memorial Day Song From Afghanistan

Clinton, Sanders Cartoons

Sanders, Clinton split delegates at Wyoming convention; Bernie supporters challenge

Clinton, Sanders supporters clash at convention in Nevada


Where are all this Idiots coming from?

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – A supporter of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders has submitted a challenge to how pledged Wyoming delegates were split 7-7 despite the Vermont senator reportedly winning the popular vote.
Richard Kusaba, a land surveyor from Kemmerer in southwest Wyoming, said the state party's decision to accept the challenge and forward it to the Democratic National Committee defused animosity that had been building ahead of the convention.
"After Nevada, I think the party realized that it needs Bernie Sanders' supporters in order to win the presidency," Kusaba said.
In Nevada earlier this month, Sanders' supporters threw chairs and shouted down convention speakers. Later, the state party chairwoman said she received death threats.
Clinton won the Nevada caucuses in February, but Sanders backers had hoped to pick up extra delegates by packing county and state party gatherings.
Sanders responded to the Nevada turmoil by dismissing characterizations of his supporters as prone to violence and pressing party leaders to recognize that "millions of Americans are outraged at establishment politics."
Mary Hales, a member of the Democratic National Committee representing Wyoming and a national convention delegate from Casper, has said she received nasty calls and letters from out-of-state Sanders supporters upset with her earlier pledge to support Clinton. Hales said there were no specific threats to do her harm, but she felt threatened by the calls and letters. She did not complain to the police.
On Saturday, the atmosphere in a Cheyenne ballroom was cordial and orderly. Top national advisers to Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders worked together as some 300 Democrats' opened the state convention.
At a recent party meeting in Philadelphia, Wyoming officials asked Sanders' deputy campaign manager, Rich Pelletier, to attend, Pelletier told The Associated Press. He said his goal in Cheyenne was to ensure a smooth process and that all delegates could express any concerns they have.
"It's democratic party with a small D as well as a big D," he said.
Marlon Marshall, who is Clinton's director of state campaigns and political engagement, also said he wanted a smooth process. "At the end of the day, we all have the same goals in mind," Marshall said.
Wyoming will split the delegates equally but also has four superdelegates that are technically not bound and can vote any way they want at the national convention. They had earlier pledged to support Clinton.
Wyoming party chairwoman Ana Cuprill said they agreed to accept Kusaba's challenge in order to seek clarity at the national level. Cuprill, a super delegate, declined to name who she will support at the convention but said she will support whomever has the most pledged delegates.
Kusaba has 15 days to draft his challenge and gather enough signatures from registered voters.

Cleveland officials to outline security measures for Republican National Convention

Union chief: Police not ready for GOP convention. This is exactly why Americans are sick and tire of these sissy a** politicians.

Cleveland’s mayor and police chief plan to outline what security measures the city will need to take for the Republican National Convention next week.
Officials in Cleveland are gearing up for the thousands of visitors expected to descend upon northeast Ohio for the convention from July 18 to 21. The convention is expected to nominate billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump.
Trump’s rallies themselves have drawn intense protests with demonstrations resulting in violence between supporters and opponents and arrests and rioting in some cities. At least 35 people were arrested Friday in San Diego after one of his events.
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson will join the Police Chief Calvin Williams and other city officials Tuesday to go over a “comprehensive overview of security preparations” for the upcoming convention, Jackson said in a statement.
"Despite rumors, the Division of Police is prepared and is on track with its planning goals," the statement said.
A Cleveland police union official has been sounding the alarm for months about how Cleveland officers are not being properly trained to deal with potentially tumultuous protests.
"The city of Cleveland has been absolutely irresponsible for preparation of this convention," Steve Loomis, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, said Friday.
Furthermore, several police departments across the nation have already pulled out of going to the convention, citing security concerns.
Greensboro, North Carolina police had planned to send at least 50 officers to Cleveland, but decided not to after saying earlier this week the city isn’t providing workers’ compensation for coverage for out-of-town officers and is requiring them to get physical exams they’d have to pay for themselves.
Deputy Police Chief Brian James wrote in a memo to the city’s police chief that he had spoken with police administrators experienced in planning events like the GOP convention and that they expressed “a lack of confidence in the city of Cleveland and their preparedness.”
"We have a responsibility to ensure that we are sending our officers to an event that is well planned," James wrote.
A Cincinnati police spokesman said Friday that the previous police chief had discussed sending officers to Cleveland, but his successor decided against it because of the insurance issue and because Cincinnati is hosting the national NAACP convention the same week.
City Council members have said officials are deploying about 5,000 officers – including police from other law enforcement agencies – to provide security for the convention.
"A lot has been said that Cleveland is not prepared for the RNC," Williams assured Wednesday at a news conference. "Well, I'll tell you today, we are prepared."