Presumptuous Politics

Thursday, May 26, 2016

China reportedly will send nuclear-armed submarines to patrol Pacific

The Chinese military plan to send submarines armed with nuclear weapons to patrol the Pacific Ocean for the first time, according to a published report.
The Guardian, citing Chinese military officials, reports that while the timing for a maiden patrol has not yet been determined, Beijing insists that such an action is inevitable.
The report comes days after U.S. President Barack Obama announced that he had lifted a decades-long arms embargo against Vietnam. Chinese officials publicly praised the move, but an opinion piece in a state-run newspaper warned that any attempt to enlist Vietnam in an effort to contain China "bodes ill for regional peace and stability, as it would further complicate the situation in the South China Sea, and risk turning the region into a tinderbox of conflicts."
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry responded Monday by saying that it was China's actions in the South and East China Seas that could create a tinderbox.
"I would caution China to not unilaterally move to engage in reclamation activities and militarization of islands," he said.
The Pentagon says China has reclaimed more than 3,200 acres of land in the southeastern South China Sea and is developing and building military installations on the manmade islands.
As a consequence, the U.S. and Vietnam have steadily strengthened their relationship in recent years, in line with growing Vietnamese concern over Chinese moves to assert its maritime claims.
Despite China and Vietnam being Communist countries, clashes in 1988 over their conflicting claims in the South China Sea killed dozens of people. The tensions reared again in 2014, when China parked an oil rig off Vietnam's central coast, sparking confrontations at sea and deadly anti-China riots in Vietnam.
Last week, the Pentagon said two Chinese fighter jets flew within about 50 feet of a U.S. Navy reconnaissance plane in what was termed an "unsafe intercept."
China responded by demanding that the U.S. end surveillance patrols around the South China Sea, with a foreign ministry spokesman claiming that such missions "seriously endanger Chinese maritime security."
Earlier this month, a U.S. Navy destroyer sailed within 12 miles of China’s Fiery Cross reef, an artificial island made after months of dredging operations. It was the third time the Navy sailed a warship close to a contested Chinese island in what the Pentagon calls “freedom of navigation” operations. Beijing responded by scrambling fighter jets to show its displeasure.

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Illegal Alien Voter's Cartoons

This is really funny isn't it?

Democrats reportedly discuss dropping DNC chair Wasserman Schultz

DNC challenger: Debbie Wasserman Schultz should be worried

Democrats on Capitol Hill have discussed the possiblity of removing Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz from her position prior to the party's national convention this summer in Philadelphia.
According to The Hill, some Democrats believe that Wasserman Schultz's ongoing battles with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders have made her too divisive a figure to unite the party ahead of this fall's election campaign.
"There have been a lot of meetings over the past 48 hours about what color plate do we deliver Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s head on," one Democratic senator who supports frontrunner Hillary Clinton told The Hill.
"I don’t see how she can continue to the election," the lawmaker added. "How can she open the convention? Sanders supporters would go nuts."
"There’s a strong sentiment that the current situation is untenable and can only be fixed by her leaving," a senior Senate Democratic aide said. "There’s too much water under the bridge for her to be a neutral arbiter."
However, The Hill reported that other senior Democratic senators went on the record to express their support for Wasserman Schultz, with Florida Sen. Bill Nelson flatly say a change at the top is "not going to happen."
On Monday, the DNC announced a deal that limited Wasserman Schultz's role in drafting the party's platform at the convention. Under the agreement, the Clinton campaign got to appoint six members of the 15-member drafting committee, the Sanders campaign picked five, while Wasserman Schultz picked four.
Sanders has repeatedly criticized Wasserman Schultz and the DNC, claiming both are favoring Clinton. He has criticized the party for scheduling debates on weekend nights, for having many closed primaries and for its super delegate system that has helped Clinton pad her lead.
Last week, Wasserman Schultz criticized Sanders' response to actions by his supporters during Nevada's state Democratic convention, calling them anything but acceptable."
In response, Sanders endorsed Wasserman Schultz's primary challenger in Florida's 23rd congressional district and told CNN that if he's elected president, "she would not be reappointed to be chair of the DNC."

Clinton, Trump crank up the vitriol in prelude to November

The crossfire between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton reached new levels of intensity Tuesday in a prelude to their expected November presidential election battle, as the candidates traded blows over everything from past Clinton scandals to claims Trump was rooting for a housing market crash before the recession.
Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, hit the presumptive GOP nominee on his years-old housing comments at a campaign stop earlier Tuesday.
"When he was talking about the possibility of a housing market crash before the Great Recession, he said, ‘I sort of hope that happens,' " Clinton said. "He actually said that, he actually said he was hoping for the crash that caused hard working families in California and across America to lose their homes, all because he thought he could take advantage of it to make some money for himself."
Trump's campaign issued a statement defending his comments, made in the mid-2000s, as the mortgage, then housing bubble began to burst.
"I am a businessman and I have made a lot of money in down markets, in some cases as much as I've made when markets are good. Frankly, this is the kind of thinking our country needs -- understanding how to get a good result out of a very bad and sad situation," Trump said in the statement.
"Politicians have no idea how to do this -- they don't have a clue. I will create jobs, bring back companies and not make it easy for companies to leave.”
The New York real estate mogul has reached the general electorate with a pro-jobs message that in part includes vows to end the kind of international trade deals that have sent U.S. manufacturing jobs overseas.
The exchange between Clinton and Trump came a day after Trump released an incendiary web video that including allegations from two women who accused Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, of sexual assault years ago.
Two polls released this past weekend show Clinton and Trump essentially tied in the White House race.
The Trump campaign on Tuesday also denied claims by Democrats and those of a former adviser that Trump helped pay the mortgage of a woman who years ago accused the former president of sexual assault and was just featured in a scathing Trump campaign video.
"There's no truth to that,” campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks told Fox News, responding to the mortgage claims.
The pushback comes after a Democrat-tied group posted the video and transcript of a February interview in which Trump ally Roger Stone described efforts to financially help Kathleen Willey, who claims former President Clinton groped her in 1993.
The Washington Post also said Monday that Trump, in a recent interview, said the 1993 death of Clinton administration attorney Vince Foster was “very fishy.”
Investigators ruled his death a suicide. But Clinton detractors have suggested the first couple was involved in Foster’s death to hide secrets. Trump, nevertheless, called the allegations of possible foul play “very serious.”

Trump easily wins Washington primary, moves closer to securing GOP nomination

Dr. Carson on why it's time for GOP to unify behind Trump

Facing no active opposition, Donald Trump easily won the Republican presidential primary in Washington state Tuesday, inching him closer to the magic number of 1,237 delegates necessary to wrap up the GOP nomination.
With 70 percent of precincts reporting, Trump had garnered 76 percent of the vote. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich each earned 10 percent of the vote, while retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson earned 4 percent of the vote. In all, approximately 115,000 votes out of 482,000 were cast for former Trump rivals.
Trump's convincing victory came days after Washington state's GOP convention awarded 40 of its 41 elected delegate slots to Cruz supporters. However, under party rules, each delegate is bound to the primary results for the first round of voting at the national convention.
Republicans in Washington were to allocate all 44 delegates to this summer's national convention in Cleveland based on the primary results. Trump had secured at least 27 delegates as of late Tuesday, leaving him 41 short of the number needed to clinch the nomination.
Trump is expected to easily secure the nomination on June 7, when GOP contests are held in California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota, with a total of 303 delegates at stake.
Washington has both a presidential primary and a caucus system. But Democrats will ignore the results of Tuesday's primary, which frontrunner Hillary Clinton was projected to win, having chosen to use the party caucus system to allocate their national convention delegates.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders handily won the Washington Democratic caucuses in March, receiving 74 delegates to the national convention in Philadelphia to Clinton's 27.
Cornell Clayton, director of the Foley Institute for Public Policy at Washington State University, said even though the Democratic primary is nothing more than a poll, there's still value for the campaign that prevails.
"They're going to tout this as the will of the people," he said.
Clinton is just 78 delegates short of clinching the Democratic nomination for president. She is on track to do so in early June, even if she loses all the remaining contests.
When superdelegates are included, Clinton has 2,305 delegates and Sanders has 1,539. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic nomination.
About 1.3 million voters had already sent in their ballots prior to Tuesday's election. Election officials said that as of Tuesday evening, 31 percent of voters have returned their ballot. There are more than 4 million registered voters in Washington state, who can either vote by mail or by dropping their ballot at an election drop box.
The record number of presidential primary ballots counted in Washington was nearly 1.4 million in 2008, according to the secretary of state's office. The record percentage return was 42.6 in 2000. Both of those elections were held in February. Under state law, the presidential primary is held on the fourth Tuesday of May, unless the parties agree to change it, which they did in both of those years.
Last year, Republican Secretary of State Kim Wyman pushed to have this year's primary moved to March, but the move, opposed by Democrats, failed to get the two-thirds vote required by the Presidential Primary Date Selection Committee.
The inevitability of the Republican race doesn't sit well with some voters who say they are not ready to support Trump.
Daniel Emborg said Tuesday he voted for Cruz. Emborg, who was depositing his ballot at a drop box in Everett, said if Trump is the GOP nominee, he will vote for a third-party candidate.
However, Tom Lasswell said he voted for Trump because "you need to instigate change."
"I like Ted Cruz, but I believe Donald Trump can pull this together, and I'm willing to give him a chance," he said.

Protests turn violent outside Trump New Mexico event

Little Mexicans burning the American Flag, because they want to be U.S. Citizens.

Man without a Job.

This makes me want to vote for Trump even more.

Police in riot gear and mounted patrol units faced off against a violent crowd of protesters outside a Donald Trump campaign event in Albuquerque Tuesday night.
Hours after Trump and some 4,000 of his supporters left the Albuquerque Convention Center, approximately 100 demonstrators remained in downtown. Smoke grenades were used in an effort to disperse the crowd, while protesters threw rocks, plastic bottles, burning T-shirts and other items at officers.
Albuquerque police said on Twitter late Tuesday that "several" officers were being treated for injuries as a result of being hit by rocks. At least one person was arrested.
Inside the Trump rally, demonstrators shouted, held up banners and resisted removal by security officers. The banners included the messages "Trump is Fascist" and "We've heard enough."
Trump responded with his usual bluster, mocking the protesters by telling them to "Go home to mommy."
He responded to one demonstrator by asking, "How old is this kid?" Then he provided his own answer: "Still wearing diapers."
Trump's supporters responded with chants of "Build that wall!" At one point, a female protester was physically dragged from the stands by security. Other protesters scuffled with security as they resisted removal from the convention center.
The altercations left a glass door at the entrance of the convention center smashed. During the rally, protesters outside overran barricades and clashed with police in riot gear. They also burned T-shirts and other items labeled with Trump's catchphrase, "Make America Great Again."
Trump supporters at the rally said they appreciated his stance on boosting border security and stemming the flow of people crossing the border illegally, but some said they were frightened by the violent protests outside.
Albuquerque attorney Doug Antoon said rocks were flying through the convention center windows as he was leaving Tuesday night. Glass was breaking and landing near his feet.
"This was not a protest, this was a riot. These are hate groups," he said of the demonstrators.
Karla Molinar, a University of New Mexico student, said she participated in disrupting Trump's speech because she felt he was attacking members of her family who are living in the country illegally. She said she believes Trump is using them as scapegoats for the nation's problems.
Tuesday marked Trump's first stop in New Mexico, the nation's most Hispanic state. Gov. Susana Martinez, head of the Republican Governors Association and the nation's only Latina governor, has harshly criticized his remarks on immigrants and has attacked his proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The governor did not attend the rally and has yet to make an endorsement.

Trump read off a series of negative statistics about the state, including an increase in the number of people on food stamps.
"We have to get your governor to get going. She's got to do a better job, OK?" he said, adding: "Hey, maybe I'll run for governor of New Mexico. I'll get this place going."
The governor's office fired back, saying Martinez has fought for welfare reform.
"The potshots weren't about policy, they were about politics," said spokesman Michael Lonergan. "And the Governor will not be bullied into supporting a candidate until she is convinced that candidate will fight for New Mexicans, and she did not hear that today."

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

TSA Cartoons

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe under investigation by DOJ over possible illegal campaign contributions

Federal officials are investigating whether Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe's 2013 campaign accepted illegal campaign contributions, sources familiar with the investigation confirmed Monday to Fox News.
The Democratic governor and Clinton ally is the target of a Justice Department investigation into whether he violated campaign finance laws.
The probe, first reported by CNN, involves a $120,000 donation from Chinese businessman Wang Wenliang through his U.S. businesses. U.S. election law prohibits foreign nationals to donate to political races.
McAuliffe's attorney, Marc Elias, said in a statement his office was not aware of the investigation, but would cooperate if contacted by federal officials.
"We cannot confirm the CNN report. Neither the Governor nor his former campaign has knowledge of this matter, but as reported, contributions to the campaign from Mr. Wang were completely lawful," Elias said. "The Governor will certainly cooperate with the government if he is contacted about it."
A spokesman for Wang told CNN the businessman holds permanent resident status in the U.S.
Wang also has been a donor to the Clinton foundation, pledging $2 million, CNN reported.
McAuliffe now becomes the second consective Virginia governor to be investigated by the Justice Department.
McAuliffe's predecessor in the governor's mansion, Republican Bob McDonnell, was convicted on federal corruption charges but has appealed his conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Before winning his gubernatorial campaign in 2013 over Republican Ken Cuccinelli, McAuliffe made his name in national Democratic politics as a prolific, well-connected fundraiser with close ties to Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Although McAuliffe is close to the Clintons, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press that the investigation of McAuliffe is unconnected to a separate FBI investigation looking at the legality of private email servers that Hillary Clinton used while serving as secretary of state.
Last year, McAuliffe's political action committee, Common Good Va., returned a $25,000 donation from a company with ties to Angola's state-owned oil company after The Associated Press raised questions about its legality. Federal law prohibits campaigns at any level from receiving money from outside the U.S.
McAuliffe's international business connections also came under scrutiny prior to his gubernatorial campaign. He served as chairman of GreenTech Automotive, a company that hoped to bring supercompact automobiles to the U.S. market.
The company attracted hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign investment, in part through a federal program that granted visas to investors who met certain job-creation thresholds.
McAuliffe resigned from the company in December 2012. GreenTech, which received millions of dollars in economic incentives from state and local officials to build a plant in Mississippi, faced criticism for falling well below expectations in production and job creation.

Pro golf groups will continue to hold events at Trump courses

Three major golf events will proceed as scheduled at golf properties owned by Donald Trump, U.S. Golf Association and PGA of America officials tell Fox News.
The announcement was made despite much hand-wringing and public outrage from golf industry leaders.
Golf’s governing bodies came together in June 2015 after Trump announced his White House bid in a speech that included controversial comments about Mexican immigrants, which cast doubt on whether the groups would continue to hold their largest events at Trump properties.
On Monday, several prominent golf professionals joined Trump’s daughter Ivanka at the Trump National Golf Club, in New Jersey, to promote the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open.
Concerned about negative publicity that could come from staging one of its prominent events at a Trump course, USGA Executive Director Mike Davis said last summer that his organization would be “evaluating things.”
A spokesperson for the USGA confirms to Fox that the event remains on the calendar for mid-July 2017.
“While our position on Mr. Trump’s views has been well documented, we are singularly focused on conducting a stellar U.S. Women’s Open at the course, where we have successfully conducted championships in the past,” the spokesperson also said.
The PGA of America also confirmed to Fox that it intends to host next year’s Senior PGA Championship at the Trump National Golf Club, near Washington D.C.
The group will host its premiere event, the PGA Championship, in 2022 at Trump’s course in Bedminster, N.J.
Another PGA event, set for October 2015 at the Trump golf course near Los Angeles, was scrapped following the controversy.
Instead of going to a different venue, the PGA decided to eliminate its Grand Slam of Golf altogether.
Last summer, the country’s leading golf organizations issued a joint statement to distance themselves from the billionaire businessman.
“While the LPGA, PGA of America, PGA Tour and USGA do not usually comment on presidential politics, Mr. Trump's comments are inconsistent with our strong commitment to an inclusive and welcoming environment in the game of golf,” the statement read.
Neither the USGA nor the PGA of America put out statements in recent months explaining why they’ve decided to keep their future events at Trump courses.
In March, Trump briefly left the campaign trail to play host at his Doral Resort, in Miami, which has hosted an annual PGA Tour event for decades.
The contract with event sponsor Cadillac has expired, and PGA Tour executive Ty Votaw tells Fox News no decision has been made on whether to keep the event at Trump National Doral or permanently sever the relationship.

Sanders warns Democratic National Convention could be 'messy'

LOS ANGELES – Bernie Sanders predicted Monday that the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia could be "messy" as he pushed the party to adopt his progressive agenda, but added, "Democracy is not always nice and quiet and gentle."
The Democratic presidential candidate said in an interview with The Associated Press that his supporters hoped to see a platform at the July convention that reflects the needs of working families, the poor and young people as opposed to one that represents Wall Street and corporate America.
The Vermont senator said he will "condemn any and all forms of violence" but his campaign was bringing in newcomers to the process and first-time attendees of political conventions. He said the Democratic Party could choose to be more inclusive.
"I think if they make the right choice and open the doors to working-class people and young people and create the kind of dynamism that the Democratic Party needs, it's going to be messy," Sanders said. "Democracy is not always nice and quiet and gentle but that is where the Democratic Party should go."
Asked if the convention could be messy, Sanders said: "So what? Democracy is messy. Everyday my life is messy. But if you want everything to be quiet and orderly and allow, you know, just things to proceed without vigorous debate, that is not what democracy is about."
Sanders is vying for support ahead of California's June 7 primary, a day that also includes contests in New Jersey and four other states. Rival Hillary Clinton has 271 more pledged delegates than Sanders and is just 90 delegates shy of clinching the nomination when the total includes superdelegates, the party officials and elected leaders who can support the candidate of their choice.
Sanders said he had a "shot" at winning the June 7 California primary against Hillary Clinton and said, given his delegate deficit, it was "imperative" that he perform well.
"What happens if I win a major victory in California? Will people say, 'Oh, we're really enthusiastic about Hillary Clinton despite the fact that Bernie Sanders has now won whatever it may be, 25 states, half the states?'" he said.
If that happens, he added, superdelegates "may rethink that. That is why you want the process to play out."
The senator spoke after the Democratic National Committee announced a 15-member platform drafting committee, which write the first draft of the party platform and will include allies of both candidates.
Sanders said the drafting of the platform would be an "excellent time to educate the American people. There are two sides to every issue and I'm sure that Secretary Clinton will have very vigorous proponents of her point of view, as we will have."

Clinton declines Fox News invitation to proposed Dem debate

Hillary Clinton rejects Fox News debate invitation

Hillary Clinton's campaign has declined an invitation to a proposed Fox News-hosted Democratic presidential debate that her primary opponent Bernie Sanders tentatively accepted last week.
The campaign released a statement Monday, almost a week after Fox News invited both Democratic presidential candidates to a final debate in California before the June 7 primaries.
"We have declined Fox News' invitation to participate in a debate in California," Clinton Campaign Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri said in a statement. "As we have said previously, we plan to compete hard in the remaining primary states, particularly California, while turning our attention to the threat a Donald Trump presidency poses.
"We believe that Hillary Clinton's time is best spent campaigning and meeting directly with voters across California and preparing for a general election campaign that will ensure the White House remains in Democratic hands."
“Naturally, Fox News is disappointed that Secretary Clinton has declined our debate invitation, especially given that the race is still contested and she had previously agreed to a final debate before the California primary," Bill Sammon, Fox News VP and Washington Managing Editor said in a statement.
Sanders’ campaign tentatively accepted the invitation last week under the assumption they could reach a "mutual agreement” with Clinton.
Sanders said in a statement Monday night he was "disappointed but not surprised" by Clinton's decision not to participate.
“The state of California and the United States face some enormous crises. Democracy, and respect for the voters of California, would suggest that there should be a vigorous debate in which the voters may determine whose ideas they support. I hope Secretary Clinton reconsiders her unfortunate decision to back away from her commitment to debate.
"I also would suggest that Secretary Clinton may want to be not quite so presumptuous about thinking that she is a certain winner. In the last several weeks, the people of Indiana, West Virginia and Oregon have suggested otherwise," he said.
The Vermont senator echoed his statement at a campaign apperance in Santa Monica, Calif. Monday night.
"I gotta tell you this," Sanders said, "I think it is a little bit insulting to the people of California, our largest state, that she is not prepared to have a discussion with me about how she will help the Californians address the major crises that we face."
The campaigns earlier this year agreed in principle to hold a May debate.
California is one of six states holding Democratic primaries or caucuses on June 7. The others are Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and North and South Dakota.

TSA head of security forced out amid furor over long airport lines

TSA administrator Peter Neffenger

The Transportation Security Administration's head of security operations was removed from his post Monday, law enforcement sources told Fox News.
The departure of Kelly Hoggan was one of a series of shakeups at the agency amid a furor over growing security delays at American airports.
Members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee expressed outrage in a May 12 hearing over a $90,000 bonus package Hoggan received, even after reports surfaced of systematic security screening failures at airports around the country. Those security lapses were detailed in a Department of Homeland Security Inspector General report last year.
TSA administrator Peter Neffenger announced Darby LaJoye, former head of security operations at Los Angeles International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport, as Hoggan’s replacement effective immediately, according to the email obtained by Fox News.
In that same memo Neffenger said LaJoye’s expertise has “driven a renewed agency-wide focus on security effectiveness,” which is an issue TSA has been wrestling with since last year’s scathing DHS inspector general's report, and now, with passengers experiencing extraordinarily high screening line wait times at airports around the country.
Wait times have eclipsed three hours at many airports, a phenomenon Neffenger and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson have attributed, in part, to a shortage of TSA officers combined with heightened air traveler volume.
It is for those reasons the agency’s chief announced Monday the establishment of a national command center at TSA headquarters. The Incident Command Center will “closely track daily screening operations, shifting officers, canine resources, the National Deployment Force and other resources to meet mission demands in advance of predicted passenger volume,” Neffenger wrote in the email.
As part of an immediate strategy, Secretary Johnson and Administrator Neffenger unveiled a ten-point plan earlier this month aimed at streamlining TSA screening wait times. That effort expedites the hiring of hundreds of TSA officers, maximizes the use of overtime for existing staff, and reduces the size and number of carry-on bags passengers can travel with.
But despite TSA’s best efforts, the agency is still warning airline passengers to expect wait times and to “manage expectations” when preparing for travel. While acknowledging the hardship increased wait times pose, both Johnson and Neffenger have vowed not to compromise aviation security in the face of heightened passenger volume.

Monday, May 23, 2016

Mark Cuban Cartoons

Cuban rules out third-party bid, open to being Clinton, Trump's VP

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said Sunday that he'd "absolutely" consider being either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton’s running mate.
And if neither of those two scenarios work out, maybe he'll run for president in 2020 or 2024, the NBA team owner and reality show star told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Cuban said Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, has a "real chance to win" but that his statements sound like "he's proposing things based off the last person he talked to."
The interview followed a recent Washington Post story in which Cuban's name was mentioned as a possible independent candidate whom some Republicans were trying to recruit to challenge Trump in the general election.
Cuban also appeared to dismiss an independent 2016 run to beat Trump or Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, and the idea of running on the Libertarian Party ticket.
“I haven't really delved into the Libertarian Party to know where they stand,” he said. “I'm not sure they would want to bring somebody in that isn't quite a match with their views. But you know, it's too late for this election.”

Populist paradox: Why Donald Trump could grab some Bernie voters

One of the strangest questions in politics is whether disaffected Bernie backers might wind up on the Trump train.
It scrambles all the usual Beltway assumptions on left-right politics. After all, how could diehard supporters of Bernie Sanders—who’s so far left that he’s unhappy with eight years of Obama liberalism—move to a Republican who wants to build a wall on the Mexican border and temporarily bar Muslim immigrants?
Part of the answer is that the electorate has changed. And part is that voters don’t operate the way pundits do, with an issue-by-issue checklist that requires ideological consistency.
Trump rails against a rigged system. Sanders rails against a rigged system. Trump even says the Democratic Party is screwing Bernie and, in a bit of mischief-making, urges him to run as an independent.
They both tee off on unfair trade deals and play to middle-class economic anxieties. That populist approach touches a nerve far more than a bunch of carefully worded position papers.
“A lot of those people would come with me,” Trump said of Sanders supporters yesterday on “Fox & Friends.” “I'm no fan of Bernie Sanders, but he's right about one thing: trade agreements.”
Many Americans go with their gut. Trump comes from outside the political system. Sanders is a veteran senator but until last year wasn’t even a Democrat. They are both leading movements. No wonder there’s some overlap.
In the end, I think most of those feeling the Bern will fall into line and back Hillary Clinton. But the fact that Trump has a shot at a good chunk of them—which could help put a few Democratic-leaning states in play—is a sign of the scrambled politics of 2016.
It’s also a sign of a changing electorate. Trump was arguably the least conservative Republican in that field of 17. Sanders would have been the most liberal Democratic nominee since LBJ.
National Review Editor Rich Lowry picks up that point:
“Sanders’s and Trump’s styles and affects are very different — the rumpled, oddball lecturer in Socialism 101 vs. the boastful, power-tie-wearing business mogul — but they have worked in tandem to ensure that the center of gravity in this fall’s presidential election will be further to the left than it has been in decades.”
Lowry argues that “Sanders and Trump have executed a squeeze play on the Madam Secretary. Sanders pushed her to the left on trade and Social Security in the primary, when she disavowed the Trans-Pacific Partnership that she helped negotiate and embraced increasing Social Security benefits. She probably won’t be snapping back to the center on those issues in a general election because it would open her up to Sanders-like attacks from Donald Trump. Such is the shift in the tectonic plates of our politics that the presumptive Republican nominee for president, endorsed by voices on the right ranging from Sean Hannity to Mitch McConnell, is making a far-fetched but not entirely irrational pitch for the support of fans of a Vermont socialist.”
Let’s take this a step further. If both parties are edging left, it doesn’t come as some kind of backlash to a right-wing administration.
Charles Krauthammer declares that “after nearly two terms of Barack Obama’s corrosively unsuccessful liberalism — both parties have decisively moved left. Hillary Clinton cannot put away a heretofore marginal, self-declared socialist. He has forced her into leftward genuflections on everything from trade to national health care. At the same time, Bernie Sanders has created a remarkably resilient insurgency calling for — after Obama, mind you — a political revolution of the Left…
“The Republicans’ ideological about-face is even more pronounced. They’ve chosen as their leader a nationalist populist who hardly bothers to pretend any allegiance to conservatism. Indeed, Donald Trump is, like Sanders, running to the left of Clinton on a host of major issues including trade, Wall Street, NATO, and interventionism.”
This was deemed heresy by true-blue conservatives during the primaries, but I kept reminding folks it would make Trump a stronger general-election candidate if he got that far.
And there is growing nervousness on the left that Hillary could lose to The Donald:
“Clinton has no chance of winning a majority of working-class white voters,” Salon says. “They have voted heavily Republican for years, especially working-class men. In the 2014 midterm elections, for example, working-class whites voted for Republicans by a 30-point margin. But Clinton needs to win some of them. In 2012 Barack Obama won the support of about 35 percent of working-class whites, which was enough to help him win reelection…
“If she lets Trump position himself as the tribune of the working class, she’ll only dig a deeper hole for herself with blue-collar voters.”
It’s no secret that an evolving electorate is driving some of this political upheaval. The growing proportion of minority voters means a Republican has to win more white voters to offset losses in that community. A new generation of younger voters takes for granted such matters as same-sex marriage, which used to be a Republican wedge issue.
And voters who came of age during the Iraq war may share a wariness of military intervention, reflected in Trump’s frequent criticism of George W. Bush’s invasion.
Perhaps Trump, who doesn’t emphasize social issues, and Sanders, who doesn’t emphasize foreign policy, both sensed this new reality. And maybe the idea that they share a certain appeal isn’t so crazy after all.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET). He is the author of five books and is based in Washington. Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz.

Polls show Clinton, Trump tied in likely November matchup, record un-favorability

Two polls released Sunday show Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton tied with presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in a likely general election race, after having a double-digit lead just months ago.
Clinton leads Trump 46-to-43 percent in a NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, compared to a similar one in April in which Clinton had an 11-point lead.
The new poll also shows Clinton primary rival Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders leading Trump by 15 percentage points, 54-to-39 percent, in a hypothetical November matchup.
“Polls this far out mean nothing,” Clinton said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “They certainly mean nothing to me. And I think that if people go back and look, they really mean nothing in terms of analyzing what's going to happen in the fall.”
Earlier Sunday morning, a Washington Post/ABC News poll showed voters favored Trump over Clinton 46-to-44 percent. The numbers also show Clinton losing an identical 11-point lead since earlier this spring.
Both polls were within the statistical margin of error, which means Clinton and Trump are essentially tied.
Trump said on the Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” show that he suspects some of the support is coming from Sanders’ backers, now that their candidate faces very long odds in winning the Democratic nomination.
“I hear and I look at polls, and I hear a lot of those people are coming with us,” Trump said in a phone interview. “A lot of the Bernie Sanders’ voters, they do not like Hillary Clinton. … A lot of those people will come with me.”
The Washington Post/ NBC poll also shows a majority of the electorate has an unfavorable impression of Clinton, a former secretary of state, and Trump, a billionaire businessman, and that likely voters are “motivated as much by whom they don’t like as by whom they do.”
According to The Washington Post: “Never in the history of the Post-ABC poll have the two major party nominees been viewed as harshly as Clinton and Trump.”
The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll reported voters also have record-low opinions of those two candidates.
“Trump and Clinton are currently the two most unpopular likely presidential nominees in the history of the NBC/WSJ poll,” the pollsters said.

US lifts Vietnam arms embargo in move to counter China

President Obama lifted the 41-year-old U.S. arms embargo against Vietnam Monday in an apparent effort to shore up the communist country's defenses against an increasingly aggressive China.
Obama announced the full removal of the embargo at a news conference in Hanoi alongside Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang. The American president said the move was intended as a step toward normalizing relations with the former enemy and to eliminate a "lingering vestige of the Cold War."
Obama added that every U.S. arms sale would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
U.S. lawmakers and activists had urged Obama to press for greater human rights freedoms in the one-party state before lifting the embargo. Vietnam holds about 100 political prisoners and there have been more detentions this year.
Washington partially lifted the embargo on arms in 2014, but Vietnam wanted full access as it tries to deal with China's land reclamation and military construction in the disputed South China Sea. Vietnam has not bought anything, but removing the remaining restrictions shows relations are fully normalized and opens the way to deeper security cooperation.
"At this stage both sides have developed a level of trust and cooperation, including between our militaries, that is reflective of common interests and mutual respect" Obama said.
Obama said the United States and Vietnam had mutual concerns about maritime issues and the importance of maintaining freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. He said that although Washington doesn't take sides on the territorial disputes, it does support a diplomatic resolution based on "international norms" and "not based on who's the bigger party and can throw around their weight a little bit more," a reference to China.
Lifting the arms embargo will be a psychological boost for Vietnam's leaders as they look to counter an increasingly aggressive China, but there may not be a big jump in sales.
Obama was greeted Monday by Quang at the Presidential Palace, where Obama congratulated Vietnam for making "extraordinary progress." Quang praised the expansion in security and trade ties between "former enemies turned friends" and called for more U.S. investment in Vietnam. He said there was enormous bilateral trade growth potential.
Obama is the third sitting president to visit Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. Four decades after the fall of Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City, and two decades after President Bill Clinton restored relations with the nation, Obama is eager to upgrade relations with an emerging power whose rapidly expanding middle class beckons as a promising market for U.S. goods and an offset to China's growing strength.
The United States is eager to boost trade with a fast-growing middle class in Vietnam that is expected to double by 2020. That would mean knocking down auto, food and machine tariffs to get more U.S. products into Vietnam.
During his three days in Vietnam, Obama will make the case for stronger commercial and security ties, including approval of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Trade agreement that is stalled in Congress and facing strong opposition from the 2016 presidential candidates.

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Trayvon Martin Foundation Cartoons

Conservatives brace for GOP platform battle in Cleveland

What does Trump have in store for the GOP convention?

While Republicans work through their issues with Donald Trump as their standard bearer, the presumptive presidential nominee and conservatives could be headed for a convention showdown over what the party stands for -- and the possibility Trump may try to tweak the party platform in his own image.
And while Trump has made no public moves to do so at this point, that doesn't mean conservative warriors won't be ready in case he does.
“I have one goal now, and it is simple -- to get as many solid, constitutional conservatives to Cleveland and onto the platform and rules committees,” Iowa GOP Rep. Steve King told FoxNews.com.
The platform, in the GOP's own words, is a document outlining "who we are and what we believe." The language can be fiercely contested, and the possibility of such a debate may be driving ex-candidate Ted Cruz's push to ensure his delegate allies go to the convention. King is one of those Cruz delegates who plans to be on the floor, fighting for a conservative platform.
“I have not yet seen a real effort to change the platform. But my point from the beginning is that we have to be prepared,” he said.
Another Cruz supporter, former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, reportedly sent an email asserting it was “imperative that we fill the Rules and Platform Committees with strong conservative voices like yours.”
The concerns reflect the broader tension in the party between Trump and stalwart conservatives not quite convinced he's one of them. Recognizing the need to assuage such concerns, Trump dispatched campaign chairman Paul Manafort to Capitol Hill on Thursday for a series of meetings with Republican Party leaders.
“He suggested that there weren’t going to be any changes to the party platform,” Rep. Scott DesJarlais told BuzzFeed News.
The Tennessee Republican, a Trump endorser, added there “was good two-way dialogue” on issues. Manafort also met with Cruz supporter Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Senate aides.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, who has tried to smooth over tensions in the party over Trump's primary victory, has offered similar assurances the platform will not be substantially changed in July.
"I don't think Donald Trump is interested in rewriting the platform of the Republican Party," he told The Associated Press last week.
The Trump campaign did not respond to questions from FoxNews.com on whether it planned to seek any changes.
But Trump's rhetoric and the party platform adopted in 2012 would appear sharply at odds in some areas.
On trade, for example, the 2012 platform states, “Free Trade Agreements negotiated with friendly democracies since President Reagan’s trailblazing pact with Israel in 1985 facilitated the creation of nearly ten million jobs supported by our exports.”
Trump has blasted trade deals like NAFTA, and just hours after Manafort worked Capitol Hill, Trump said at a fundraiser for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie: " We’re losing $500 billion in trade with China. Who the hell cares if there’s a trade war?"
He rebuffed criticism from “very conservative ideologues,” stressing that he is “a free trader, but I’m only a free trader if we make good deals.”
On entitlements like Medicare, meanwhile, the platform says: “We must restructure the twentieth century entitlement state so the missions of important programs can succeed in the twenty-first century.”
Yet even before he officially jumped in the race, Trump tweeted last May that he was “the first & only potential GOP candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid.”
The question is whether Trump tries to make these positions part of the official party mission statement.
“How Donald Trump approaches the debate over the platform will send a very clear message to the grassroots about just how conservative he really is and how serious he is about uniting the party,” said the Heritage Foundation's Lee Edwards, who has attended more than a dozen party conventions.
Edwards said conservatives also “will want to have strongest pro-life plank possible. How [Trump] responds will be a key test about how accommodating he can be on other issues.”
Trump indeed has expressed a willingness to change the platform to include abortion exceptions in the case of rape, incest and the life of the mother.
“Yes, I would. Absolutely, for the three exceptions, I would. I would leave it for the life of the mother, but I would absolutely have the three exceptions,” Trump said during an April appearance on NBC News’ “Today" show.
Like Trump, Republican nominees John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012 also stated support for those three exceptions, but neither sought to change the language of the platform.
While delegates will not arrive in Cleveland until July, the process of selecting members of the platform committee and drafting the platform itself is well underway.
According to the party rules, each state nominates two people to serve as members of that committee.
As the convention draws closer, a website and online surveys will be used to gather feedback on the platform, according to convention spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski. The committee members will meet the week of July 11 to complete the drafting, and release the document at the beginning of the convention.
It will eventually be voted on and adopted, in some form.
Michael Barone, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and principal co-author of the annual Almanac of American Politics, suggested most of the document will not be contentious. “While there are real differences and fissures on policy like trade and the direction of American foreign policy, I don’t see all of those becoming matters of debate in the platform. It is a non-binding document,” he said.
The platform may be purely symbolic, but Iowa's King said it represents the belief system of the Republican Party.
"These are principles important to the millions of conservatives who stayed home last election," he said. "[Trump] needs to speak to them."