Wasserman Schultz to step down as DNC chairwoman, amid email fallout

You need to cut back on that booze lady.

PHILADELPHIA –  Debbie Wasserman Schultz announced Sunday she will soon step down as Democratic National Committee chairwoman, amid the fallout over leaked emails indicating an anti-Bernie Sanders bias in her operation -- a stunning development just hours before the start of her party's convention.
In a written statement, the controversial party leader said she was "privileged to serve as the DNC Chair for five and a half years."
She said her first priority is serving the people of her Florida congressional district while stressing the importance of helping elect Hillary Clinton, adding: "Going forward, the best way for me to accomplish those goals is to step down as Party Chair at the end of this convention."
She said she would still "open and close the convention," which begins Monday in Philadelphia, and address delegates "about the stakes involved in this election," in her role as party chair.

She apparently will step down at the end of the convention. Vice Chairwoman Donna Brazile is slated to take over as interim chair during the rest of the general election campaign.
The announcement came just hours after reports first surfaced that Wasserman Schultz may be denied a speaking role at the convention, and that she would not be presiding -- a decision apparently made under pressure from the Clinton campaign and the White House.

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Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, the former chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, will instead preside over the Democratic proceedings as convention chairwoman. On the sidelines, party officials were already discussing Wasserman Schultz' role as DNC chairwoman.
One Democratic source told Fox News, “Debbie is being forced out sooner than later.”
The rapid-fire set of developments ahead of the convention kick-off raise immediate questions about whether the party can unite its battling factions in Philadelphia this week.
Officials were clearly trying to prevent anger over the email leak controversy and other issues from disrupting proceedings. The emails only bolstered claims from Sanders – and Republican nominee Donald Trump – that the system was rigged against the Vermont senator.
Trump tweeted after the DNC news broke:
Sanders himself blasted the DNC and Wasserman Schultz in interviews earlier Sunday, demanding her resignation as party chairwoman.
“I think [Wasserman Schultz] should resign. Period. And I think we need a new chair who is going the lead us in a very different direction,” Sanders told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, hours before the resignation was announced.
He later issued a statement thanking her for her service, and saying she made "the right decision for the future of the Democratic Party."
President Obama and Clinton both issued statements thanking Wasserman Schultz for her service.
"I am grateful to Debbie for getting the Democratic Party to this year's historic convention in Philadelphia, and I know that this week's events will be a success thanks to her hard work and leadership," Clinton said, adding that she will serve as "honorary chair of my campaign's 50-state program to gain ground and elect Democrats in every part of the country" and act as a surrogate.
The WikiLeaks document dump, which included emails from January 2015 to May 2016, purportedly came from the accounts of seven DNC officials. In a May 5 email, a DNC employee asked a colleague to collect information on his religious beliefs – claiming it might sway voters in West Virginia and Kentucky. In that particular email, Sanders' name was not mentioned, but he was the only other candidate in the race at that time against Clinton.
DNC chief financial officer Brad Marshall wrote, “This would make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist.”
Others from Wasserman Schultz herself contained very strong language, raising questions about her status as an ostensibly neutral party official.
Responding to Sanders’ complaints the party hasn’t been fair to him, she wrote to a staffer in an April email: “Spoken like someone who has never been a member of the Democratic Party and has no understanding of what we do.”
Responding to the same staffer a month later regarding Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver blaming the Nevada state party for a raucous convention, she wrote, “Damn liar. Particularly scummy that he barely acknowledges the violent and threatening behavior that occurred.”

Clinton says there is 'Hillary standard' for her on campaign trail

Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton said in an interview broadcast Sunday that chants of "lock her up" at last week's Republican National Convention in Cleveland made her feel "very sad," while also suggesting she faces more scrutiny than other politicians.
Clinton told "60 Minutes" in an interview alongside her running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, that she didn't know what the GOP convention was about, "other than criticizing me."
"I seem to be the only unifying-- theme that they had," she told CBS News. "There was no positive agenda. It was a very dark, divisive campaign."
Clinton added that GOP speakers painted a negative picture of the country "that I did not recognize. So I was saddened by it."
She also said she feels as if she faces more scrutiny than other politicians.
"I often feel like there's the Hillary standard and then there's the standard for everybody else," she told CBS.

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When asked to explain further, Clinton pointed to "unfounded, inaccurate, mean-spirited attacks with no basis in truth" she said "take on a life of their own."
"People are very willing to say things about me, to make accusations about me that are, I don't get upset about them anymore, but they, they are very regrettable," she said.
When asked in the interview about what she calls Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in response to his repeated use of the term "Crooked Hillary," Clinton said she has no nickname.
Clinton said she won't "engage in that kind of insult-fest that he seems to thrive on."
Clinton added that she will focus on how Trump "has hurt people in business time after time after time," and will also call attention to the "total disregard that he has shown toward large groups of people in our country."
Clinton's running mate Tim Kaine said the repeated use of the term "Crooked Hillary" and chants of "lock her up" at last week's Republican convention was ridiculous.
The Virginia senator added that "most of us stopped the name-calling thing about fifth grade."
When asked by CBS’ Scott Pelly if he would be ready to be president if needed, Kaine said he was “ready to lead.”
"I think I'm ready to lead. I-- I'm ready first to be a supportive vice president so that the presidency of Hillary Clinton is-- is a fantastic one," Kaine said. "But if something were to put that in my path, as much as any human being would be ready, I'd be ready."

Sanders backers plan convention protests, adding to chaotic kick-off

PHILADELPHIA –  The Democrats’ convention kicking off Monday still faces the potential for rowdy protests from Bernie Sanders delegates and supporters, despite the ouster of Democratic National Committee leader Debbie Wasserman Schultz serving as somewhat of a peace offering to liberal factions of the party that have accused her of tipping the scales for Hillary Clinton.
Sanders supporters were angry over leaked emails that show the Florida congresswoman and her team blasting Sanders and discussing ways to undermine him.
While her resignation could calm that storm, the liberal wing still appears intent on protesting over other grievances including Clinton, the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, picking Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia as her running mate.
Norman Solomon, a Sanders delegate from California, said Sunday that Clinton picking a centrist like Kaine is an “assault” on the progressive agenda. He said the roughly 1,250 Sanders delegates connected to his Bernie Delegates Network are considering walking out during the Virginia senator’s expected acceptance speech at the Wells Fargo Center, and they are even looking into contesting his nomination.
He said their response “reflects anger and disappointment” over Clinton and like-minded Washington Democrats’ control over the party.
“We don’t know exactly what to expect” on the convention floor, Solomon also said.

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The uncertainty and rancor on several fronts puts the Democrats in a similar position as the Republicans when they entered their convention a week ago looking to soothe tensions between their presidential nominee and those who backed his primary rivals.
Only the clashes on the Democratic side have already outmatched last week’s fireworks in Cleveland, with Wasserman Schultz’ resignation standing as a stunning development on convention eve.
The political spectacle already has distracted from the historic convention where Clinton is set to become the first female presidential nominee of a major party.
While Wasserman Schultz has been largely sidelined from the convention -- though she will open and close it -- Sanders is set to speak Monday. In a written statement, he praised the DNC chairwoman for stepping down.
“Debbie Wasserman Schultz has made the right decision for the future of the Democratic Party. While she deserves thanks for her years of service, the party now needs new leadership that will open the doors of the party and welcome in working people and young people. The party leadership must also always remain impartial in the presidential nominating process, something which did not occur in the 2016 race,” he said.
The resignation comes after WikiLeaks on Thursday released roughly 20,000 DNC emails, with more revelations emerging Sunday about Wasserman Schultz criticizing the Vermont senator to staffers.
“He isn't going to be president,” she wrote in one May 21 email, also saying that Sanders vowing at the time to replace her as chairwoman was a “silly story.”
Clinton chief strategist Joel Benenson, on "Fox News Sunday," defended the fairness of the primary elections and said the DNC would conduct a full review of the emails. He said people should not jump to conclusions.
"The DNC’s impact in these things is minimal compared to the results. What candidates and campaigns spend and do on the ground, talking to voters day in and day out, that’s what determines who wins,” he said.
Solomon suggested Sunday that the Sanders delegates’ frustration goes beyond the Kaine pick to include convention rules, climate change and the party platform, which they think fails to include enough of Sanders’ hard-fought progressive agenda.
On Sunday in Philadelphia, several large protests took place near City Hall, in nearly 100-degree temperatures and under the watchful eye of city police officers.
“A lot of Democratic supporters labeled Bernie Sanders supporters conspiracy theorists. The WikiLeaks confirms what we thought all along,” said Perry Mitchell, a 32-year-old Maryland who came to Philadelphia to participate in protests.
Most of the protests focus on concerns about clean energy.
“You see both parties are controlled by the oil and gas industry; those are the big donors,” said Wendy Brawer a protester from New York City. “But in a movement, you still have to do something to create change. Changing your lifestyle means you’re part of the solution. People have to use less.”

Secretary of State John Kerry Cartoons

Kerry: Air conditioners as big a threat as ISIS

Idiot Secretary of State Kerry (aka: Lurch?)

Idiot

Secretary of State John Kerry said in Vienna on Friday that air conditioners and refrigerators are as big of a threat to life as the threat of terrorism posed by groups like the Islamic State.
The Washington Examiner reported that Kerry was in Vienna to amend the 1987 Montreal Protocol that would phase out hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, from basic household and commercial appliances like air conditioners, refrigerators, and inhalers.
“As we were working together on the challenge of [ISIS] and terrorism,” Kerry said. “It’s hard for some people to grasp it, but what we–you–are doing here right now is of equal importance because it has the ability to literally save life on the planet itself.”
Kerry said that most of the substances banned in the Montreal Protocol have increased the use of HFCs and claimed that the coolant was thousands of times more potent than CO2. He added that the increase of HFCs has led to the trend of global climate change.
“The use of hydrofluorocarbons is unfortunately growing,” Kerry said. “Already, the HFCs use in refrigerators, air conditioners, and other items are emitting an entire gigaton of carbon dioxide-equivalent pollution into the atmosphere annually. Now, if that sounds like a lot, my friends, it’s because it is. It’s the equivalent to emissions from nearly 300 coal-fired power plants every single year.”
Members of the Montreal Protocol have met their obligations and have aided in the shrinking of the hole in the ozone, as well as created jobs and improved the quality of life, Kerry said.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy was also present at the negotiations and is serving as the lead negotiator for the United States. McCarthy has said that her goal is to enact the HFC agreement by the end of the year.
New EPA rules along with the global deal would band HFCs in the United States and push for alternative chemicals for use in appliances. The negotiations are part of President Obama’s climate agenda to combat global climate change.

Wikileaks dump appears to show DNC favored Clinton campaign

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) (2nd R) attends a LGBT Pride Month reception at the White House in Washington, U.S. June 9, 2016

A new trove of leaked emails seem to show that top officials at the Democratic National Committee openly mocked and criticized Sen. Bernie Sanders during the primary race against Hillary Clinton -- a startling revelation that raises questions about the Democratic Party’s impartiality and an issue that could play out poorly at the party’s convention this week in Philadelphia.
WikiLeaks posted close to 20,000 emails and 8,000 attachments Friday sent or received from top Democratic officials that seem to suggest the committee’s chairwoman, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and other higher ups tried to tip the scales in Clinton’s favor. WikiLeaks dubbed the document dump the “Hillary Leaks series.”
Sanders has repeatedly claimed that he thought the system was “rigged” during the primaries.
Republican candidate Donald Trump weighed in Saturday morning, tweeting: “Leaked e-mails of DNC show plans to destroy Bernie Sanders. Mock his heritage and much more. On-line from Wikileakes (sic), really vicious. RIGGED.”
The leaks, from January 2015 to May 2016, purportedly came the from accounts of seven DNC officials and feature conversations by staffers debating everything from how to deal with media requests to syncing the party’s message with interest groups in Washington.

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Now Playing Leaked DNC emails show effort to undermine Bernie Sanders

The officials are: Senior Adviser Andrew Wright, National Finance Director Jordan Kaplan, Finance Chief of Staff Scott Comer, Communications Director Luis Miranda, Northern California Finance Director Robert Stowe, Finance Director of Data & Strategic Initiatives Daniel Parrish and Finance Director Allen Zachary.

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In one email, DNC staffers were looking for ways to blunt Sanders’ popularity with Democrats. In a May 5 email, a DNC employee asked a colleague to collect information on his religious beliefs – claiming it might sway voters in West Virginia and Kentucky. In that particular email, Sanders name was not mentioned but he was the only other candidate in the race at that time against Clinton.
DNC chief financial officer Brad Marshall wrote, “This would make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist.”
Stephen Hayes, a columnist at the Weekly Standard, told “Special Report” on Fox News that the emails show a clear pattern of Wasserman Schultz and the DNC “thumbing the scales’ in favor of Clinton and scheming for ways to “thwart” Sanders.
A May 15, 2016 email, shows the DNC was in close contact with news websites on articles related to the Democratic Party, Sanders and Clinton.
A Real Clear Politics article claimed that Sanders supporters are causing a lack of unity at the Democratic National Convention. Wasserman Schultz took issue with the headline and told another Democratic official the “headline needs to be changed.”
What followed was a back and forth between DNC officials to pressure Real Clear Politics to change their story.
The last email on the thread between DNC officials reads, “Done. Article has been updated.”
The Real Clear Politics story headline was corrected to reflect that the incident in question involved the Nevada state convention and not the national one.

Clinton, Sanders compromise could limit role of superdelegates in future campaigns (A day late and a dollar short?)

Sanders looks like he's crying!

The Democratic National Convention's rules committee Saturday defeated an attempt by supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders to abolish superdelegates in future presidential campaigns, but later approved a plan that could see their influence significantly reduced.
The Sanders and Hillary Clinton campaigns worked out an agreement to create a so-called "unity commission" to revise the nominating process, including changing superdelegate rules. The plan won near-unanimous support from the committee.
The 21-member commission will study a number of issues, including how to improve access to caucuses and how to broaden the party's appeal. For superdelegates, the commission's recommendation is that Congress members, governors and other elected officials should remain as unpledged delegates, but that other delegates would be bound proportionally to the primary results of their state.

Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver endorsed the plan, saying it would "result in the reduction of superdelegates as we know them by two-thirds." The Clinton campaign also expressed support for the commission.

Any changes to superdelegate rules would still be subject to DNC approval. A report by the commission is due by Jan. 1, 2018.
The compromise was reached after a lengthy meeting in which Sanders supporters grew increasingly frustrated as their efforts on superdelegates were voted down.

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Discussing his proposal to eliminate superdelegates, Aaron Regunberg, a Sanders delegate and a Rhode Island lawmaker, argued that the current system does not reflect the "core values" of the Democratic party.
Supporters of the effort said earlier Saturday that they had enough support to potentially bring the issue to a vote on the convention floor in Philadelphia next week. But it was not immediately clear whether that would still happen after the passage of the compromise plan.

As the various amendments were voted down, Sanders supporters in the back of the hall expressed their frustration, shouting: "Shame ... shame ... shame!"
"Young people in the Democratic Party are very, very angry," Indiana delegate Jonathan Little said during debate on one of the amendments. "The party is very close to splitting."
Sanders has been critical of superdelegates during his contentious primary fight with Clinton for the nomination. His supporters argue Clinton's substantial superdelegate lead may have influenced the outcome of the race, although Clinton also led Sanders with pledged delegates. Late in the race, Sanders sought to flip superdelegates with little success.
There are 713 superdelegates, mainly members of Congress and members of the Democratic National Committee. Clinton leads Sanders with superdelegates 602 to 48. Combining pledged delegates and superdelegates, Clinton leads 2,807 to 1,894.
With the convention just days away, the hearing was one of the last opportunities for Sanders' supporters to push their agenda.
The party platform debate concluded recently with a draft document that included many of Sanders' priorities, including proposals for a $15 federal minimum wage, abolition of the death penalty and steps to break up large Wall Street banks.

Trump pushing for a 'Philly fight?'

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Saturday called on Bernie Sanders supporters to unite against presumptive presidential Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Trump tweeted: “The Bernie Sanders supporters are furious with the choice of Tim Kaine, who represents the opposite of what Bernie stands for. Philly fight?”
Clinton on Friday announced Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine as her running mate. Kaine, an experienced politician seen as a strong centrist, was widely thought to be Clinton’s safest pick.
But the Trump campaign wasted no time in slamming Kaine on social media.
“Tim Kaine is, and always has been, owned by the banks,” Trump tweeted. “Bernie supporters are outraged, was their last choice. Bernie fought for nothing!”
Trump also name-checked Sanders during his primetime speech on the last day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, reaching out to Sanders supporters join the Trump train.

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“I have seen firsthand how the system is rigged against our citizens, just like it was rigged against Bernie Sanders. He ever had a chance,” Trump said. “But his supporters will join our movement, because we will fix his biggest issue.”

Virginia Sen. Timothy Kaine Cartoons

Justice Department charges three in $1 billion Medicare fraud scheme

Philip Esformes

The Justice Department on Friday unsealed charges in its largest-ever criminal health-care-fraud case, charging three individuals with using a network of doctors, hospitals and health-care providers across South Florida to improperly bill more than $1 billion to Medicare and Medicaid.
Philip Esformes, the owner of more than 30 Miami-area skilled-nursing and assisted-living facilities, was the project’s mastermind, the indictment alleged. He and two co-defendants, along with other co-conspirators, allegedly paid and received bribes and kickbacks to get thousands of patients admitted to facilities Mr. Esformes controlled.
In those facilities, they were often given medically unnecessary and sometimes harmful treatments, which were then billed to Medicare and Medicaid, according to court papers.
Esformes attorneys Marissel Descalzo and Michael Pasano of Carlton Fields said their client “adamantly denies these allegations and will fight hard to clear his name.”
The case was brought as part of an interagency Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which operates in nine locations across the country, officials said. Since its creation in March 2007, the task force has charged nearly 2,900 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $10 billion, they said.
Fraud continues to plague the roughly $600 billion Medicare program, though new criminal cases have slowed in recent years. Fraud enforcers have brought fewer cases since 2013, but convictions and settlements since the start of the decade have netted Medicare between $1 billion and $2.5 billion annually, according to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General.

Trump buries bitter rival Cruz in farewell to Cleveland

Trump: Cruz will still try to endorse but I don't want it

Donald Trump said goodbye to Cleveland Friday, pronouncing the Republican National Convention a yuge success and launching a barrage of parting shots at GOP rival Ted Cruz, who refused to endorse Trump in a controversial speech that got the Texas senator booed off the stage.
The vindictive victory lap laid bare Trump's simmering anger at Cruz, who brought drama to Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday when he began a speech to cheers and ended it by garnering a raucous chorus of boos after he refused to endorse the man who had bested him.
“I like Ted, he’s fine,” Trump said in a trademark, ad-libbed press conference. “I don’t need his endorsement. If he gives it to me, I will not accept it.”
Trump said if Cruz had endorsed him, it may have brightened his former rival's future presidential prospects.
"He should have done it," Trump said. "He would have been in better shape in four years."
Added Trump: "He's got intellect, but he didn't use it."

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Speaking 12 hours after his historic acceptance speech, and with running mate and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence at his side, Trump praised his children, and predicted a major bounce coming out of the four-day convention. But the GOP nominee spent most of the news conference pounding Cruz, who finished second to Trump in a bruising primary campaign that began as a field of 17.
Trump dredged through a primary’s worth of animosity with Cruz, blasting him repeatedly while basking in the glow of his victory.
While Trump and Cruz initially steered clear of criticizing each other as other candidates fell by the wayside, the gloves came off once state primaries and caucuses began. A Cruz super PAC ran an ad featuring a racy picture of Trump’s former supermodel wife, Melania, in an effort to tar him in the conservative state.
Trump responded with a retweet that showed Melania side-by-side with an unflattering picture of Cruz’s wife, Heidi, and the words:  “No need to ‘spill the beans.’ The images are worth a thousand words.”
On Friday, Trump managed to praise Heidi while delivering a stinging backhanded blow to Cruz.
“I think Heidi Cruz is a great person,” Trump said yesterday. “I think she’s the best thing he’s got going, (that) and his kids.”
Trump was just getting started in settling his score with Cruz, who he allowed to speak in a prime time slot on Wednesday, even though Cruz declined to endorse him. Trump predicted Cruz would never mount a serious campaign for president and said that if he does, “maybe I’ll start a super PAC” to attack him.
Hopes that the two could bury the hatchet and unite the party disappeared when Cruz spoke on Wednesday, urging Republicans to “vote your conscience” but refusing to accede to chants of “Endorse Trump” that were followed by a loud chorus of boos.
During the campaign, Cruz bitterly lashed out at Trump when the National Enquirer, which had also ran an unsubstantiated story accusing him of having multiple affairs, published a picture purportedly of Cruz’s father, Rafael Cruz, standing near Lee Harvey Oswald. Trump mentioned the story in multiple interviews, clearly angering Cruz.
“[I’m not going to] come like a servile puppy dog and say, ‘thank you very much for maligning my wife and maligning my father,’” Cruz told Texas delegates during a sometimes contentious meeting Thursday morning.
Trump took a shot at Ohio Gov. John Kasich, another primary rival who refused to attend the convention even though it was in his home state.
"Whether you're the governor of Ohio, whether you're a senator from Texas, or any of the other people that I beat so easily and so badly, you have no choice," Trump said. "You've got to go for Trump."

Obama administration mum as Turkey's post-coup crackdown expands

Van Hipp: Turkey had been festering, but Obama admin asleep

The Obama administration’s relative silence on Turkey’s alarming crackdown following last week’s failed coup attempt is tantamount to a green light for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to continue his assault on democracy in the NATO nation, experts said.
Questioned about Erdogan’s ongoing roundup of some 50,000 academics, judges, teachers, soldiers and civil servants, and the declaration Wednesday of a state of emergency, a State Department official earlier this week meekly warned against “overreach.”
“I cannot overstate the sense of the Turkish government and the Turkish people right now that they truly felt and truly feel under threat,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told an Associated Press reporter at a department briefing. “We support completely the efforts to bring the perpetrators of the coup to justice. We just also caution against any kind of overreach that goes beyond that.”

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Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks after an emergency meeting of the government in Ankara. (Associated Press)

But when pressed, Toner declined to characterize the arrest, firing or suspension of the tens of thousands of Turkish government workers as “overreach.”
Erdogan’s government, which blames U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen for inciting the coup attempt, in which more than 200 people were killed and members of the military briefly commandeered tanks, aircraft and communications channels, has reacted with a vengeance.

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Gulen, who lives in a Pennsylvaniua compound, could be extradited to Turkey. (File photo)

The state of emergency gives Erdogan and his cabinet new powers to implement laws without parliamentary approval. It also allows Ankara to censor media broadcasts, search citizens, impose curfews and restrict gatherings both public and private.
Erdogan has simultaneously demanded the U.S. hand over Gulen, a onetime Erdogan ally who lives in a Pennsylvania mountain compound and runs a profitable chain of Islamic charter schools. Secretary of State John Kerry has said the department is considering the request, but it remains unclear what evidence Erdogan’s administration has provided.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said the crackdown shows Erdogan is taking advantage of the failed coup to further strengthen his grip on power. The strongman, who has ruled Turkey as either president or prime minister since 2001, has been steadily stripping the long proudly secular nation of its constitutional freedoms and increasingly adopted Islamist rhetoric.
“When he was mayor of Istanbul 20 years ago, he said democracy is like a street car — you ride it to the stop you want and then you get off,” Bolton said of Erdogan. “This will enable him to pursue his objective of Islamisizing the Turkish government and overturning the secular constitution. That’s what’s underway. I don’t think there’s much question about it.”
Bolton said that the Obama administration appears to have done “very little” to pressure Turkey to ease up on its people, either publicly or behind the scenes. That gives Erdogan all the encouragement he needs, Bolton said.
“The situation will continue to deteriorate as Erdogan arrests more people and puts them in jail,” he said.
The European Union has more aggressively sought to rein in the crackdown, with two EU officials warning Thursday that Turkey’s declaration of a state of emergency had led to “unacceptable decisions on the education system, judiciary and the media.”
“We call on Turkish authorities to respect under any circumstances the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right of all individuals concerned to a fair trial,” EU high representative Federica Mogherini and commissioner Johannes Hahn said in a statement.
Ahmet Yayla, who was chairman of the sociology department at Harran University and a former police chief in Turkey, said many of those being rounded up in Turkey include the Muslim nation’s bulwark against terrorism.  Police, soldiers and judges deemed disloyal to Erdogan have been detained, leaving a diminished human infrastructure to deal with security threats, he said.
“Those are the people who were fighting against terrorism in Turkey,” said Yayla, who fled to the U.S.  eight months ago when ISIS threatened his life for interrogating terrorist defectors.
Yayla said Erdogan’s dangerous dance with ISIS – tacitly supporting the terror group and allowing foreign fighters to pass through Turkey on their way to the terrorist army’s caliphate – could combine with the post-coup unrest to threaten the nation’s stability.
“In the near future, Turkey will face a lot of danger coming from terrorism because the newly appointed officers in the military and police are not going to be able to fight or deal with terrorism threats that exist in the country, especially by Erdogan’s allowing the terrorists inside the country,” he said.

Clinton names Virginia Sen. Kaine as running mate

Looks like a strong leader to me, little hands :-)

Hillary Clinton on Friday announced Virginia Sen. Timothy Kaine as her running mate, going with an experienced politician seen as a strong centrist who could attract independents and possibly disenchanted Republicans – and most certainly the safe pick.
 “I'm thrilled to announce my running mate, @TimKaine, a man who's devoted his life to fighting for others,” Clinton tweeted ahead of the Democratic National Convention set to kick off Monday in Philadelphia.
For his part, Kaine tweeted that he was "honored" to be her running mate.

The pair was expected to make their first campaign appearance Saturday at a rally in Miami at Florida International University.
Their opponent, Donald Trump, texted supporters several hours after the anouncement, "Tim Kaine is Hillary's VP pick. The ultimate insiders - Obama, Hillary and Kaine. Don't let Obama have a 3rd Term."

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In the final deliberations, Clinton was said to be weighing Kaine, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, having whittled down her short-list over the past several weeks.
In Kaine, who also is a former Virginia governor and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, her campaign is going not with a bulldog or political firestarter but a measured, moderate nice guy with swing-state appeal, including in his home battleground state of Virginia.
One of the first to react to the announcement was House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi who called Kaine "an exceptional choice."
On the Republican side, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said, "Hillary Clinton has chosen someone who holds positions she's spent the entire primary trying to get to the left of."
The pick comes as the Clinton campaign tries to paint newly anointed Republican nominee Donald Trump as divisive and dangerous, a theme they hit hard coming out of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Trump closed his convention Thursday night with a wide-ranging 75-minute acceptance speech heavy on law-and-order themes and promises to put “America first.”
“He offered a lot of fear and anger and resentment, but no solutions about anything that he even talked about,” Clinton countered during a speech to supporters Friday in Tampa, Fla., before the VP announcement.
Kaine isn’t as liberal as some other VP prospects, notably class warrior Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. – and is unlikely to whip up the base like Clinton’s dogged primary rival Bernie Sanders. But Kaine is an ally, having endorsed Clinton early on in the campaign. He also speaks fluent Spanish, which could be useful in increasing the campaign’s reach among Hispanic voters.
Clinton’s announcement and move to seize the spotlight from Cleveland follows four days of steady attacks by Republicans against the presumptive Democratic nominee – over her email scandal, her reputation for poll-tested politics and her record in public office.
In his nomination acceptance speech, Trump blasted Clinton’s foreign policy record as secretary of state – citing the bloody tumult in Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Libya – saying her legacy is “death, destruction, terrorism and weakness” and a “change in leadership” is needed.
“Hillary Clinton’s legacy does not have to be America’s legacy,” he said.
Clinton, over the course of the Democratic veepstakes, also met with several other prospects, including Warren, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Labor Secretary Tom Perez and Housing Secretary Julian Castro.
Problems surfaced in recent days for a couple of them, notably Castro who was cited by a government watchdog for allegedly violating federal law by touting Clinton’s candidacy in his official capacity during a media interview.
Kaine's selection by Clinton leaves his Senate seat open.

Hillary Cartoons

Trump speaks to America’s ‘forgotten men and women’ in big, bold speech

A postscript to the 2016 Republican National Convention: just how is the wide of a gulf between a Fourth Estate that nitpicked and nunchucked the Republicans’ every move in Cleveland and a viewing audience drawn to this convention’s more forthright rhetoric?
That includes Donald Trump’s acceptance speech Thursday night.
Critics of the Republican presidential nominee wasted no time relegating it to history’s dustbin.
But here’s what they missed (and, no, I’m not a Trump supporter): for a guy who calls Manhattan and Palm Beach home Trump sounded an awful lot like a bridge-and-tunnel guy in touch with working-class concerns.
Which is precisely what he set out do, in Thursday prime time.
Here’s one way to assess Trump’s big speech: how it stacks up against four previous GOP nominees.

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That includes:
Barry Goldwater, 1964. Like Trump, Goldwater faced a divided party – moderate Republicans who saw the GOP as hijacked by the far right.
Read the famous “extremism in the defense of liberty” speech and it’s clear: Goldwater was as much interested in defining the GOP as he was championing freedom.
“Republican”, or some variation of the word, came up 34 times in a 40-minute address.
In Ohio, land of the late Robert Taft, Trump didn’t try to position himself as the new “Mr. Republican”.  He mentioned the word twice in the opening moments of his speech and only once long after that.
For those of you keeping score at home, there also was zero mention of “conservative” or “Ted Cruz”.
This speech wasn’t about establishing an ideological beachhead within the Republican Party, so let’s move on to…
George H.W. Bush, 1988. If Goldwater was about the movement; Bush 41’s speech was all about a man with a purpose – a former torpedo bomber pilot who, in his words, “sees life in terms of missions – missions defined and missions completed”.
Trump’s speech took a similar flight path: “I have had a truly great life in business,” he declared. “But now, my sole and exclusive missions is to go to work for our country – to go to work for you. It’s time to deliver for the American people.”
Ironic, given Trump’s toxic relationship with Jeb, there was one other Bush influence in Trump’s speech: branding.
George W. Bush, 2000. Befitting the first Republican president of the Information Age, Bush 43’s speech was an attempt at recast the GOP in the candidate’s more compassionate image.
In Bush’s words: “Everyone, from immigrant to entrepreneur, has an equal claim on this country's promise.” Preceded by: “I want to change the tone of Washington to one of civility and respect.”
Trump tried the same in Cleveland – not seeking a group hug (though he did utter “compassionate” once, with regard to immigration laws), but instead casting himself as a needed combatant on the side of “the American people”. Trump’s villains: “big business”, “special interests”, “elite media” and “major donors”, he said, all backing Hillary Clinton to preserve an economic and political system, in his words, “rigged to their benefit”.
Trump made it clear there will be a new sheriff in town: “I have a message to every last person threatening the peace on our streets and the safety of our police: when I take the oath of office next year, I will restore law and order to our country”.
And in case you missed it the first time, a few moments later: “In this race for the White House, I am the law-and-order candidate”.
In this regard, what we discovered at a national convention with little to show in the way of bloodlines – no Bushes, no Mitt Romney, no John McCain, and little mention of Ronald Reagan – is Trump having Republican ancestry…
Richard Nixon, 1968. Befitting a nominee with a troubled soul but the most accurate of political compasses, Nixon’s speech was spot-on for a nation wracked with domestic and foreign turmoil.
Nearly a half-century ago, Nixon singled out “forgotten Americans” chafed by economic hardship, racial tension, disrespect of the law, cultural decay and the nation’s inability to wage war effectively.
And Trump?
“Every day I wake up determined to deliver a better life for the people all across this nation that have been ignored, neglected and abandoned.”
“I have visited the laid-off factory workers,” he continued, “and the communities crushed by our horrible and unfair trade deals.”
“These are the forgotten men and women of our
country. People who work hard but no longer have a
voice.”
“I am your voice.”
Trump echoed Nixon foreign policy, making Clinton/Obama his Humphrey/Johnson for leading the nation on a host of foreign policy follies -- ISIS, Egypt, Libya and a host of overseas follies.
There was no declaration that Clinton has blood on her hands, as on Monday night, but there was this brutal summation: “This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death,
destruction, terrorism and weakness.”
Finally, the similarity between Nixon and Trump’s closing passages.
Nixon: “The time has come for us to leave the valley of despair and climb the mountain so that we may see the glory of the dawn – a new day for America, and a new dawn for peace and freedom in the world.”
Trump: “History is watching us now. It’s waiting to see if we will rise to the occasion and if we will show the whole world that America is still free and independent and strong.”
Trump didn’t plagiarize Nixon’s remarks, but one thing he did lift: bumper stickers. Trump-Pence and Nixon-Agnew are all five-letter names.
One last observation: we’ve never had an election like this in modern times – two nominees so engrained in the nation’s mindset, both deeply unpopular.
It begs the question of a post-convention “bounce” – since 1968, all non-incumbent presidential winners have picked up at least 4 points in the immediate aftermath of their acceptance speeches.
Mitt Romney didn’t get much of one in Tampa, back in 2012. I’ll wager Trump does. Why? The speech connected. Replace Trump with a less controversial figure and it really connects in a time when voters are down on individuals and institutions.
But bounces can be fleeting. If one considers that every presidential gets four bites out of the apple – the day they announce, the day they clinch the nomination, the night they accept it at the national convention, and finally the three fall debates.
This may prove to be an election with the winner determined by what those debates yield, and what events overtake the candidates closer to Election Day – violence at home, unrest overseas.
The national conventions are important milestones, but not necessarily crucial to the cause.
And the blunt talk, mini-controversies and odd political-celebrity hybrid that is the Trump show?
It’s over, in Cleveland.
With another 15 weeks to play out.

Trump turns serious, rolling the dice on a policy-packed speech

CLEVELAND –  Donald Trump wasted no time in making a lofty promise at the Republican convention:
"The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon--and I mean very soon--come to an end," and the day he is sworn in, "safety will be restored."
He cannot keep that promise, of course, but it's not meant to be taken literally. Like so much in the Trump persona and candidacy, he promises greatness, details be damned, and his supporters respond to the aspirational bluntness.
If I had to pick a signature line in the oration that roused the crowd here in Cleveland, it would be this, about "people who work hard but no longer have a voice. I am your voice."
It was an attempt to fuse his loud, rough-edged and sometimes divisive voice with the needs of ordinary folks.
What seemed so ludicrous to so many a year ago, that this bombastic billionaire and New York street fighter would be accepting the Republican nomination, also created for him a special challenge. A man who loves to riff and joke and feed off the energy of crowds, he was reading the ultimate scripted speech. There was little levity and only a few personal lines, about his parents and late brother. Trump was all business, and his mission was to persuade wavering voters that he has the depth and discipline to run the country.

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In short, to pass the commander-in-chief test.
Trump larded the address with attacks on Hillary Clinton, calling her a "puppet" of big donors and ripping her record on such issues as trade. He denounced President Obama for "irresponsible rhetoric."
He hit his marks on such signature topics as immigration and terrorism.
But Trump also sounded notes that are muted for many Republicans. He spoke of nearly four in 10 African-American children living in poverty, and 43 million people on food stamps. He mentioned Ferguson.
And Trump even made a pitch to sway backers of Bernie Sanders, painting him as another victim of a rigged system--a Republican appealing to followers of a self-proclaimed socialist.
He was reading the ultimate scripted speech, and a very long one at that.
For Trump to win with an electoral map tilted against the GOP, he has to peel off enough Democratic and independent voters.
Given his high negatives, Trump's speech was about more than facts and figures. It was about earning trust, despite his lack of political experience.
As the pundits pick apart the speech and replay the sound bites, he may or may not get a bump in the polls. But this was the businessman's best shot, with his biggest audience, to close a deal that at the moment remains in doubt.
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.

Ivanka Trump tells GOP convention her father will fight for working people

Ivanka Trump, the daughter of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, cast her father as a "fighter" for working people, particularly working women, in her remarks to the Republican National Convention Thursday night.
 Ivanka, a senior executive in her father's business, the Trump Organization, noted that the company has more female than male executives.
Then, matching a campaign promise by presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, she vowed her father would "fight for equal pay for equal work and I will fight for this too, right alongside him."
Ivanka, Trump's older daughter and the last of four Trump children to speak at the convention, sought to underscore her father's personal warmth beneath the public persona. She recalled playing with "Legos and erector sets" in her father's office, as well as his efforts to help ordinary people suffering from hardship.
"He would talk to them and then draw on his extensive network to find them a job or get them a break," she said. "And they would leave his office, as people often do after being with Donald Trump, feeling that life could be great again."
Ivanka is expected to be a key surrogate for her father in the general election campaign, particularly as he tries to make up ground against Clinton among women. A Fox News poll taken last month showed Clinton leading Trump by 19 points, 51 percent to 32 percent, among women

Trump claims GOP nomination, tells struggling Americans 'I am your voice'

CLEVELAND –  Just over a year after Donald J. Trump descended his iconic escalator in Manhattan to announce he was joining a packed field of political veterans seeking the Republican nomination for president, the New York billionaire completed an astonishing and historic political ascent Thursday night in Cleveland, officially claiming his party’s nomination — and declaring to struggling Americans, “I am your voice.”
Trump electrified the convention crowd on closing night, with chants of “U.S.A.” frequently breaking out as the nominee vowed to put “America first.” He used the speech to align his campaign squarely on the side of struggling American workers of all political stripes, as he moved to broaden his appeal beyond the Republican base that largely decided the primaries.
“Every day I wake up determined to deliver for the people I have met all across this nation that have been ignored, neglected and abandoned. … These are people who work hard but no longer have a voice,” Trump said. “I am your voice.”
And he delivered a tough law-and-order message throughout, declaring from the convention floor in Cleveland, “Safety will be restored” under a Trump presidency.
“America will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced,” Trump vowed.
He described the nation at a “moment of crisis,” citing terror attacks, violence against police and “chaos in our communities” including rising inner-city crime. “I will restore law and order to our country,” he said, while vowing to crack down on illegal immigration.

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Trump’s highly anticipated speech -- at 75 minutes, the longest convention acceptance address since 1972‎ --  amounts to his closing argument before Clinton and the Democrats get their turn starting Monday in Philadelphia. As much as Republican leaders bashed the presumptive Democratic nominee in Cleveland, Democrats are likely to be just as tough on the Republicans at their convention.
The next big step for Clinton, though, will be to name her running mate, a decision that could come as early as Friday.
But before the attention turns to Clinton, Trump got in his final shots.
The businessman closed his address by turning rival Clinton’s “I’m with her” campaign slogan on its head.
“I choose to recite a different pledge. My pledge reads, I’m with you,” Trump said.
He blasted Clinton’s foreign policy record as secretary of state – citing the bloody tumult in Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Libya – saying her legacy is “death, destruction, terrorism and weakness” and a “change in leadership” is needed.
“Hillary Clinton’s legacy does not have to be America’s legacy,” he said.
And defending his aversion to political correctness, he said for anyone who wants to hear “the corporate spin, the carefully crafted lies, and the media myths, the Democrats are holding their convention next week -- go there. But here, at our convention, there will be no lies.”
Trump also cycled through his campaign promises, including the controversial calls to build a southern border wall and “immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism until such time as proven vetting mechanisms have been put in place.”
He added, “We don’t want them in our country.”
Trump vowed as well to protect LGBTQ citizens from terrorism like the Orlando club shooting. In a moment that allowed him to show his gay-rights support, Trump thanked the crowd for cheering that line: “It is so nice to hear you cheering for what I just said.”
The speech caps a dramatic convention week marked by powerful displays of party unity but also tensions, flaring most recently when Ted Cruz withheld his endorsement Wednesday night.
The omission prompted boos from pro-Trump delegates, and the unrest continued into Thursday, when the Texas senator defended his decision before an audience of Texas delegates clearly divided over Cruz’s handling of the convention speech.
At the same time, Trump’s newly anointed running mate Mike Pence deftly set the stage for Trump’s big night, effectively making the conservative case for the billionaire businessman in his own nomination acceptance speech on Wednesday. The choice of Pence – a classic conservative with Midwestern roots – helped bring various factions of the party together even before the convention began.
Despite the Cruz commotion, top party leaders from House Speaker Paul Ryan to RNC Chairman Reince Priebus worked to heal divisions in the party over the course of the Cleveland coming-together.
“He’s brought millions of new voters to our party because he’s listening to Americans” anxious about the state of the country, Priebus said. “With Donald Trump and Mike Pence, America’s ready for a comeback after almost a decade of Clinton-Obama failures.”
Priebus claimed Republicans are the party with new ideas, while Democrats are the “same party doing the same old thing,” trotting out the “same old candidate” next week.
“Let’s stay united as Republicans,” Priebus said.
Members of Trump’s family also spent the week giving voters a glimpse into the tycoon’s more personal side, with daughter Ivanka introducing her father Thursday night. Appealing to women, she praised the businessman’s record supporting female employees at his organization. And touting her dad as a tireless fighter who can bring his work ethic and aptitude to the nation’s highest office, Ivanka asked all voters to put their faith in him.
“For more than a year, Donald Trump has been the people’s champion, and tonight he is the people’s nominee,” she said. “… When my father says he’ll make America great again, he will deliver.”