Tuesday, January 17, 2017

political protests cartoons





Pro-life group dropped from list of partners for inauguration protest march

Protesters protesting the protesters?                               





The organizers of a women's protest march set to hit the streets of Washington D.C. the day after Donald Trump's inauguration said Monday it had dropped one of its partner organizations because the group opposes abortion.
The nonprofit group, New Wave Feminists, vowed to take part in the protest anyway.
"We will definitely be there with our pro-life, pro-woman message," group leader Destiny Hernon-De La Rosa told FoxNews.com. "These are the women we would be trying to reach, anyway."
On Sunday, New Wave Feminists announced on its Facebook page that it had been chosen as an official partner of the Jan. 21 Women's March on Washington, putting them on a par with Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America.
On its website, New Wave Feminists decry that their "womanhood [has been] traded in for a handful of birth control pills, the 'privilege' to degrade ourselves in playboy [sic], and the 'right' to abort our children." The group calls for "the return of common sense feminism that refuses to exploit women in the name of liberation."
The group's partnership status was mentioned in a story published Monday on the Atlantic magazine's website and drew outrage from several left-wing writers.
Soon after, New Wave Feminists was removed from the partner list.
"The Women's March platform is pro-choice and has been from day one," the march organizers said in a statement. "We look forward to marching on behalf of individuals who share the view that women deserve the right to make their own reproductive decisions.
"The anti-choice organization in question," the statement added, "is not a partner of the women's March on Washington. We apologize for the error."
The head of New Wave Feminists, Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa told the website Newsbusters that she had not heard from the march organizers about the group's demotion.
"I can only assume," she said, "they caved to the backlash on social media after the Atlantic piece came out saying we were listed as partners."

Mayor quits golf club as members try to block Obama's entry


The local mayor and member of the exclusive Maryland country club whose members are preemptively trying to keep President Obama out over his stance on Israel announced that he was dropping out over the controversy.
Jeffrey Slavin, the mayor of the Montgomery County town of  Somerset, said he could no longer belong to a community at Woodmont Country Club with such “intolerance,” The New York Post reported.
The Washington Post reported that some members of the historically Jewish club were bothered by Obama’s recent decision not to vote on a U.N. resolution criticizing Israeli settlements.
“[President Obama] has created a situation in the world where Israel’s very existence is weakened and possibly threatened,” longtime member Faith Goldstein wrote in a Dec. 26 email obtained by the Washington Post. “He is not welcome at Woodmont. His admittance would create a storm that could destroy our club. "
There has been no official indication Obama plans to apply for membership at Woodmont, but he has played at least four rounds at the course during his presidency and reports from last summer indicate Woodmont would be his club of choice when he leaves the Oval Office.
The Washington Post reported that Slavin signed his email to the club, “Thanks for many great memories” and quoted “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” with the words, “stay woke.”

Trump to meet with Boeing CEO again to talk Air Force One


President-elect Donald Trump is expected to meet with the head of Boeing Tuesday to discuss the contract to update the next Air Force One, The Seattle Times reported, citing a person familiar with the plans.
Last month, Boeing’s Dennis Muilenburg met with Trump and told him that his company can build a new Air Force One for less than originally quoted. Trump made headlines for blasting the company on Twitter for alleged cost overruns and called on the government to cancel the contract.
The paper reported that it is unclear what the two will discuss at the meeting. Muilenburg has appeared to strike an agreeable tone with the incoming president and said he made a “personal commitment on behalf of the Boeing company.”
Since early December, Trump has been browbeating Boeing and Lockheed Martin over the costs of the next Air Force One and the F-35, respectively.
“I don't need a $4.2 billion airplane to fly around in,” Trump told “Fox News Sunday” earlier this month, referring to Air Force One.

CIA's Brennan rejects Donald Trump's criticism, says dossier didn't come from intel community

Sen. McCain on Trump's feud with CIA director Brennan
John Brennan, the outgoing Central Intelligence Agency director, rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s suggestion that he may have leaked the unsubstantiated dossier that claimed Russia had compromising allegations about Trump.
“First of all, this is not intelligence community information,” Brennan said Monday. Brennan said he did not read the document and, according to the Wall Street Journal, gave it no particular credence.
Trump blasted outgoing director on social media Sunday after Brennan said Trump does not have a “full understanding” of Russia’s power and threat to the world.
“I don’t think he has a full understanding of Russian capabilities and the actions they are taking on the world,” Brennan told “Fox News Sunday.”
He also suggested that Trump lacks a “full appreciation” of Russia’s aggression or about why President Obama imposed sanctions on the Kremlin for meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
“Mr. Trump has to understand that absolving Russia is a road that he needs to be very, very careful about moving down,” Brennan said.
Trump responded with a two-tweet message that criticized the CIA's record under Brennan and questioned whether the director had leaked a dossier of unverified allegations that Russia spies had obtained compromising personal and financial information about Trump.
TRANSITION OF POWER
The day after the dossier's contents were published by BuzzFeed, Trump posted on Twitter that intelligence agencies "should never have allowed this fake news to 'leak'" before asking "Are we living in Nazi Germany?"
Brennan was reportedly indignant that Trump attacked his fellow spies, according to The Journal. He mentioned Trumps tweet on Nazi Germany in particular.
“Tell the families of those 117 CIA officers who are forever memorialized on our wall of honor that their loved ones who gave their lives were akin to Nazis,” Brennan said. “Tell the CIA officers who are serving in harm’s way right now and their families who are worried about them that they are akin to Nazi Germany. I found that to be very repugnant, and I will forever stand up for the integrity and patriotism of my officers who have done much over the years to sacrifice for their fellow citizens.”

Monday, January 16, 2017

Still Crying Cartoons





Former U.S. officials urge Trump administration to work with Iran opposition


EXCLUSIVE: Nearly two dozen former top U.S. government officials have urged President-elect Donald Trump to work with Iran's opposition once in office, according to a letter obtained by Fox News.
A letter signed by 23 former officeholders calls on Trump to consult with the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). The group has called for free elections and freedom of religion in Iran, as well as an end to what it calls Tehran's "religious dictatorship."
IRAN DISSIDENTS SEEKING MEETING WITH TRUMP
While the Iranian government calls the group terrorists, the NCRI’s network of supporters in Iran helped the U.S. with intelligence during the Iraq invasion. The group also helped expose Iran's nascent nuclear weapons program.
"Iran's rulers have directly targeted US strategic interests, policies and principles, and those of our allies and friends in the Middle East," the letter reads, in part. "To restore American influence and credibility in the world, the United States needs a revised policy."
The letter's signatories include former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani; former Sen. Joe Lieberman; and retired Army Gen. Hugh Shelton, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Bill Clinton.
Last month, Fox obtained a letter to Trump from a group of Iranian dissidents that urged the president-elect to follow through on his campaign promise to revisit the nuclear deal between Iran and six global powers, including the U.S.
"I think what's being offered here is to say, 'Look, there is an opposition in Iran,'" former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton told Fox News. "It's a lot of different pieces, like all opposition movements [and] a lot of the groups don't get on well together, but let's be clear: There is an alternative to the ayatollahs."
The Trump transition team has not given any official response to the letter, and it's unclear whether Trump has any plans to take a meeting with Iran dissidents and groups.
Earlier Sunday, Iran's deputy foreign minister told reporters that "the new U.S. administration cannot abandon the deal." Abbas Araghchi added that the agreement "will not be renegotiated" and repeated an earlier warning by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who publicly stated, "If they tear it up, we will burn it," without elaborating.

Trump slams outgoing CIA director Brennan after criticism over Russia threat

CIA Director Brennan casts doubt on Assange's credibility
President-elect Donald Trump blasted outgoing CIA Director John Brennan on social media Sunday after Brennan said Trump does not have a “full understanding” of Russia’s power and threat to the world.
“I don’t think he has a full understanding of Russian capabilities and the actions they are taking on the world,” Brennan told “Fox News Sunday.”
He also suggested that Trump lacks a “full appreciation” of Russia’s aggression or about why President Obama imposed sanctions on the Kremlin for meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
“Mr. Trump has to understand that absolving Russia is a road that he needs to be very, very careful about moving down,” Brennan said.
Trump responded with a two-tweet message that criticized the CIA's record under Brennan and questioned whether the director had leaked a dossier of unverified allegations that Russia spies had obtained compromising personal and financial information about Trump.
The day after the dossier's contents were published by BuzzFeed, Trump posted on Twitter that intelligence agencies "should never have allowed this fake news to 'leak'" before asking "Are we living in Nazi Germany?"
Trump has repeatedly hoped for better U.S. ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and he has been particularly suspicious of the entire U.S. intelligence community since it concluded Russia and Putin tried to influence the elections, in an apparent effort to help Trump defeat Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Brennan said Trump likening the U.S. intelligence community to Nazi Germany for presumably leaking the content of an opposition-research dossier on him is “outrageous.”
"There is no interest in undermining the president elect,” he said. “Our responsibility is to understand dangers on the world stage so (Trump and his Republican administration) have the intel we have so they can make the best decision.”
However, he said Trump “needs to be disciplined” and that he’ll face numerous challenges” in his presidency that begins Friday -- with terrorism, cybersecurity, North Korea and Middle East instability among those at the top.
“So many issues on Day One,” said Brennan, who President Obama appointed to lead the CIA in 2013.

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