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You are here: Home / Politics / An Unexamined Scandal / Getting The Band Back Together / Adapt Or Die

Adapt Or Die

by Zandar|  October 19, 201512:32 pm| 212 Comments

This post is in: Getting The Band Back Together, Hillary Clinton 2016, Republican Venality, I Reject Your Reality and Substitute My Own, Nobody could have predicted

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The Benghazi strain is dying in the wild:

Hillary Clinton will be testifying before the Select Committee on Benghazi on Thursday, and by the time she walks out of that hearing room, chances are that all the Republicans’ hopes of using this issue to bring Clinton down will be officially gone.

The timing of Clinton’s testimony couldn’t have worked out better for her, coming as it is after a string of revelations and embarrassments for the committee. First, then-presumptive Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy said on Fox News that the committee’s purpose was to bring down Clinton’s poll numbers, a “gaffe” that had an extraordinary impact, especially when you consider that he was only acknowledging what everyone in Washington already knew. Then we learned that the Select Committee has all but abandoned investigating Benghazi to focus on Clinton’s emails (and that committee staffers are so busy they’ve formed a wine club and a gun-buying club).

Then we learned that a former staffer for the committee is suing them, alleging that he was fired because he wanted to keep investigating Benghazi and not Clinton. Over the weekend, we learned that Democrats are questioning committee chair Trey Gowdy’s accusation that Clinton recklessly used the name of a secret CIA source in an email. According to Democrats, the CIA says the information isn’t sensitive. “I would say in some ways these have been among the worst weeks of my life,” Gowdy told Politico. No wonder.

So it will just have to mutate and adapt to the new climate:

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) recently spoke with talk radio host Matt Murphy and said the real issue with Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state is “how many lives she put at risk by violating all rules of law that are designed to protect America’s top-secret and classified information from falling into the hands of our geopolitical foes who then might use that information to result in the deaths of Americans.”

Brooks added Republicans are going to make sure this issue follows Clinton into office, should she be elected president in 2016.

“And in my judgement, with respect to Hillary Clinton, she will be a unique president if she is elected by the public next November, because the day she’s sworn in is the day that she’s subject to impeachment because she has committed high crimes and misdemeanors,” he said.

At least Republicans in 2008 waited until the day after President Obama’s inauguration before plotting to sabotage the country.  You have to admire their efficiency in attempting to impeach someone years before she’s even nominated for the White House, let alone elected, but here we are.

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Reader Interactions

212Comments

  1. 1.

    max

    October 19, 2015 at 12:33 pm

    You have to admire their efficiency in attempting to impeach someone years before she’s even nominated for the White House, let alone elected, but here we are.

    Since they were going to do that anyways … early slanderer gets the press appearances!

    max
    [‘I mean, what else are they gonna do, legislate?’]

  2. 2.

    kindness

    October 19, 2015 at 12:37 pm

    Maybe, just maybe the French were not so wrong in how they went about their revolution.

  3. 3.

    Doug R

    October 19, 2015 at 12:39 pm

    This is the real reason the Obama administration didn’t start prosecuting Cheney and Bush for war crimes, you know they would have found some fast and furious excuse to prosecute Obama and Clinton.

  4. 4.

    Amir Khalid

    October 19, 2015 at 12:39 pm

    I look forward to commenter Thoughtful Today’s thoughts on the impending demise of Hillary’s candidacy.

  5. 5.

    SatanicPanic

    October 19, 2015 at 12:40 pm

    Can you be impeached for something you did before you were president? Wait, nevermind, you can be impeached for anything, but still, isn’t this just being ridiculous? wait, nevermind. Forget I said anything at all. This is Republicans we are talking about

  6. 6.

    Amir Khalid

    October 19, 2015 at 12:41 pm

    @Doug R:
    I think they were threatening for years to impeach AG Holder. Whatever became of that?

  7. 7.

    Doug R

    October 19, 2015 at 12:41 pm

    Email Shillary?

  8. 8.

    eldorado

    October 19, 2015 at 12:42 pm

    @kindness: robespierre 2016. good ideas. better execution.

  9. 9.

    Brachiator

    October 19, 2015 at 12:44 pm

    The Benghazi strain is dying in the wild:

    Strangely enough, we may have Trump of all people to thank in part for this.

    CNN Anchor Asks Bush To Explain His Double Standard For Benghazi And 9/11. It Doesn’t Go Well.

    During the latest stop in his media tour to defend his brother’s actions as president, Jeb Bush asked on CNN Saturday if anyone actually blames his brother for the attacks on 9/11, saying if they do, “they’re totally marginalized in our society.”

    CNN’s Jake Tapper pushed back, asking Bush about the Republican Party’s double standard.

    “Obviously Al-Qaeda was responsible for the terrorist attack of 9/11,” Tapper said. “But how do you respond to critics who ask if your brother and his administration bear no responsibility at all, how do you then make the jump that President Obama and Secretary Clinton are responsible for what happened at Benghazi?”

    The younger Bush had no coherent answer….

    The controversy began on Friday when Donald Trump asserted that the older Bush brother was president at the time of the 9/11 attacks. “When you talk about George Bush, I mean, say what you want, the World Trade Center came down during his time,” Trump said. “He was president, O.K.?”

    http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/10/19/3713610/jeb-bush-benghazi/

    You have to admire their efficiency in attempting to impeach someone years before she’s even nominated for the White House, let alone elected, but here we are.

    Since Clinton was the early favorite, it was obvious that the GOP would try to throw slime at her early and often.

  10. 10.

    dmsilev

    October 19, 2015 at 12:46 pm

    To be honest, I’m surprised the current bunch of lunatics “running” the House haven’t already tried to gin up some sort of impeachment proceeding against Obama. Maybe that’s one of the demands that will be made of any prospective Speaker.

  11. 11.

    Hal

    October 19, 2015 at 12:46 pm

    because the day she’s sworn in is the day that she’s subject to impeachment because she has committed high crimes and misdemeanors,” he said.

    Years ago David Brock was on Fresh Air telling Terry Gross he had heard of talk of impeaching Bill Clinton before he even took office. Nice to see republicans haven’t learned a thing from that whole fiasco.

  12. 12.

    Roger Moore

    October 19, 2015 at 12:46 pm

    I assume this is more about signaling to the wingnut base than it is about making a serious threat of impeachment. Of course, it’s going to come back and bite them in the ass when they either can’t get the votes to impeach or the whole thing falls flat when it gets to the Senate; that will rile up the wingnut base because they’ve betrayed the country with their inability to throw out that traitor Hitlery.

  13. 13.

    Amir Khalid

    October 19, 2015 at 12:48 pm

    @Hal:
    It seems the lesson they took was that they hadn’t tried hard enough.

  14. 14.

    philpm

    October 19, 2015 at 12:50 pm

    How soon before we hear of the ‘pubs retroactively trying to impeach Hillary during her time as First Lady for . . . something?

  15. 15.

    Princess

    October 19, 2015 at 12:52 pm

    Speaking of scandal, I am surprised that this one about our old friend, David “diapers” Vitter hasn’t gotten more play around here:

    “Former mistress of GOPer David Vitter claims he got her pregnant and asked her to abort”

    ETA: FYWP, why doesn’t the link work. Anyway, it is here:

    http://www.rawstory.com/2015/10/former-prostitute-accuses-family-values-republican-of-impregnating-her-and-asking-her-to-abort/

  16. 16.

    kc

    October 19, 2015 at 12:53 pm

    “I would say in some ways these have been among the worst weeks of my life,” Gowdy told Politico.

    Waaahhh.

    Though I do appreciate Gowdy’s fine work in exposing the duplicity of our ally, Tony Blair.

  17. 17.

    Archon

    October 19, 2015 at 12:53 pm

    I’m still surprised they haven’t impeached Obama yet, especially when they found out the President wouldn’t meekly accept his status as the lamest of lame ducks thrust upon him by the media after the midterms.

  18. 18.

    Brachiator

    October 19, 2015 at 12:55 pm

    @Doug R:

    This is the real reason the Obama administration didn’t start prosecuting Cheney and Bush for war crimes

    No, people who think that Bush and Cheney would ever be prosecuted for war crimes are living in a fantasy world.

    you know they would have found some fast and furious excuse to prosecute Obama and Clinton.

    That’s part of it.

  19. 19.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 19, 2015 at 12:55 pm

    @dmsilev: To be honest, I’m surprised the current bunch of lunatics “running” the House haven’t already tried to gin up some sort of impeachment proceeding against Obama.

    Yeah, I think that’s evidence that however weak the Establishment may be, however dumb and weak Boehner may be, they’ve still got some pull, and that’s the one demon they’ve managed to keep in the box. To my recollection, not even Cruz has served that up to his goon squad in the other chamber. I suspect they’d be on it in a heartbeat if he even hinted at it.

  20. 20.

    Eric U.

    October 19, 2015 at 12:58 pm

    the day after Clinton was elected the first time, a guy in my office loudly proclaimed that he was going to be impeached. I don’t know what wingnut b.s. fountain he was wired into, that sort of thing wasn’t as visible as it is now

    I see someone mentioned this above. Like I said, this had made it into right wing propaganda just after the election. The guy I worked with wasn’t exactly a genius. He wasn’t even the smartest welder I know

  21. 21.

    Thoughtful Today

    October 19, 2015 at 1:07 pm

    Josh Marshall expresses his sympathy to Republican Gowdy after Gowdy complained that “these have been among the worst weeks of my life”: “It’s Hard Out There for a Pimp.“

  22. 22.

    jl

    October 19, 2015 at 1:11 pm

    I see signs of desperation on the part of GOP. After having their fake Benghazi investigation exposed as a partisan political smear campaign targeting HRC, they double down on combing through HRC emails looking for smoking gun evidence that HRC is a bad person, whether or not it has anything at all to do with the tragic attack on the embassy.

    So, the most important issue of all time they are pounding now is that HRC passed on some code word, no, top secret, no, I mean secret, no no… I mean confidential, er um… information known to the public that HRC should have realized was ‘sensitive’ through her email. And if the CIA says otherwise it is proof that the CIA was corrupted by political pressure to protect HRC.

    I suppose if the hearings this week produce some one second HRC snippet of a quote they can take out of context for gotcha smear ad that they can use to rile up their base, then they will consider it a success.

    Meet the new Trey Gowdy, emerging from the worst tribulation of his whole life, same as the old Issa.

    Edit: and maybe Issa can rest easy that Gowdy won’t show him up as the most complete failure and vicious loon of fraudulent GOP House Congressional investigation history, and will stop stalking the committee hearings and meetings?

  23. 23.

    Gavin

    October 19, 2015 at 1:11 pm

    I hope the first thing President Clinton sets out to do is to remove DWS as chair of the Democratic national apparatus and get on with the problem-solving regarding the dearth of Democratic office-holders in state-level [and below] government.

  24. 24.

    Rob

    October 19, 2015 at 1:12 pm

    Serious question for constitutional scholars: Can a government official be impeached for conduct/events which occurred at a previous government position with or without a hiatus in government service?

  25. 25.

    Patricia Kayden

    October 19, 2015 at 1:14 pm

    I don’t think Repubs know how repugnant and stupid they sound to normal people.

    “the real issue with Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state is ‘how many lives she put at risk'”

    Could Rep Mo Brooks identify even one person who was placed at risk by Secretary Clinton’s use of a private email server? Ditto the lives of anyone who was placed at risk by the other Secretaries of State who also used private email servers? This nonsense has gone way beyond its sell by date.

  26. 26.

    Brachiator

    October 19, 2015 at 1:15 pm

    @philpm:

    How soon before we hear of the ‘pubs retroactively trying to impeach Hillary during her time as First Lady for . . . something?

    That would be something. You would have to be dumber than Palin and crazier than Carson to try this something like this. First Lady is not a real office, so you could never “impeach” a First Lady or First Gentlemen.

    But some of the Republican base is so stupid and vengeful, that they would go for something like this, or see it as a possibility.

  27. 27.

    Cacti

    October 19, 2015 at 1:17 pm

    Drunken Bernie-bro assaults Muslim woman in Indiana café, shouting “white power” while trying to tear her hijab from her head.

  28. 28.

    Patricia Kayden

    October 19, 2015 at 1:18 pm

    @jl: Since Secretary Clinton will be testifying in public, I don’t see how Repubs can take her words out of context (although they will certainly try to do so). I hope Secretary Clinton embarasses the hell out of Gowdy and his compatriots on Thursday and puts an end to this whole Benghazi charade. It’s a bogus scandal that should never have caught on in the first place. I’m kind of surprised that the family of the four people killed during the Benghazi incident haven’t protested the use of their family members’ deaths as a political weapon.

  29. 29.

    philpm

    October 19, 2015 at 1:19 pm

    @Brachiator: Well, Louie Gohmert and Steve King are still in office.

  30. 30.

    rikyrah

    October 19, 2015 at 1:20 pm

    Brooks added Republicans are going to make sure this issue follows Clinton into office, should she be elected president in 2016.

    “And in my judgement, with respect to Hillary Clinton, she will be a unique president if she is elected by the public next November, because the day she’s sworn in is the day that she’s subject to impeachment because she has committed high crimes and misdemeanors,” he said.

    get the phuck outta here.

  31. 31.

    Miss Bianca

    October 19, 2015 at 1:21 pm

    @eldorado:

    You know, I’ve been researching the hell out of the French Revolution, and I have to say that I would seriously consider voting for a revivified Robespierre. Guy got a seriously bad rap from the crew of post-Napoleonic monarchical apologists. Altho’ I’m more of a Danton fan, personally….

  32. 32.

    philpm

    October 19, 2015 at 1:22 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    I’m kind of surprised that the family of the four people killed during the Benghazi incident haven’t protested the use of their family members’ deaths as a political weapon.

    They did protest to the PAC that ran it, but the media for the most part didn’t seem to care. I’ll see if I can find a link.

  33. 33.

    jl

    October 19, 2015 at 1:22 pm

    @Gavin: That was (to me at lwast) was a typically infuriating slate pitch blog post by the smart ass Yglesias. The big problem I have with his piece is that he seems to have no awareness that policy platforms and initiatives that appeal to voters do have some role in getting people elected.

    What policies can the Democrats push that will help them in state and House district level? If not aggressively pushing progressive policy proposals that the public favors, what are they? Going GOP lite? How has that worked for the Democrats? Not very well IIRC.

    As usual, Yglesias provides text that postures vigorously as incisive and sltatpitch contrarian and clever analysis, but is a bunch of talking points.

  34. 34.

    Roger Moore

    October 19, 2015 at 1:22 pm

    @Rob:
    Not a constitutional scholar, but the rules on impeachment are extremely vague. They say only that impeachment can happen for bribery, treason, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. It doesn’t say that the crimes have to have happened while the person was in office, or be in any way connected to the exercise of that office. As I understand it, at least some of the framers of the constitution expected impeachment to be used for purely political purposes and thought it was a good idea to offer a less drastic way of getting rid of people than assassination.

  35. 35.

    Jeffro

    October 19, 2015 at 1:23 pm

    Pre-impeaching, now are we, GOP??!!??

    This is beyond nuts. HRC’s smart enough to see the implied intimidation (of Dem voters, not just her) here and will use it to rally the troops.

    I wasn’t all that invested in one candidate or another, just planning on voting Democratic Party as usual, but the more the GOP heads this direction, the more of those soothing, cathartic $50 donations to Dems and allied groups I’ll just have to make…anyone have a good purple district Dem to recommend, or should I just send it straight to Planned Parenthood?

  36. 36.

    gvg

    October 19, 2015 at 1:23 pm

    I saw a billboard saying impeach Clinton within weeks of his first election. I thought it was some nut. I do not know how soon it was up because it wasn’t in my town, it was in the town my grandmother lived in and I saw it when visiting. I also did not know what the source was, nor did I take it that seriously at the time. A few years later I understood it had been more significant than I had known.

    I disbelieved the affair info when it was first in the news simply because the sources had been wrong so often before that I assumed they were lying again. By that time I was very tired of the endless investigations. I have been told by lawyers that the perjury was very serious etc but I still don’t agree in that case. I wouldn’t like it in other cases so I am kind of hypocritical. I can’t help it, I just think it’s none of our business and I hate that the whole non American world got to laugh at us. It wasn’t till the DNA evidence came out that I accepted the truth. Clinton was obviously a leach and normally I wouldn’t like that at all, however at that point he had had to veto several anti woman bills that the GOP wanted to go through and was as now preventing a lot of harmful legislation that specifically would have hurt women. His legislative principles were helping keep us safe. Usually though personal actions are more in line with political. I wonder if this explains the conservative voters overlooking some real sleazy hypocrites when they are on their side.

    At the time I also came to resent their attacks on Hillary who wasn’t in office and to me seemed like an ordinary woman with a profession, much like my mother. When they attacked her as a bad woman and mother because she worked and made fun of her for not being a Hollywood starlet in looks, it felt to me like an attack on my loving mother and I have carried a grudge since. Prior to that I had been pretty apolitical. There was also nothing especially bad about her looks, they just saw her through some type of evil lens. Told me alot about them.

  37. 37.

    Kropadope

    October 19, 2015 at 1:23 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Since Secretary Clinton will be testifying in public, I don’t see how Repubs can take her words out of context

    Umm, take a short clip of something exploitable from the hearings and trust people not to follow up? C’mon, it’s their whole MO.

  38. 38.

    philpm

    October 19, 2015 at 1:24 pm

    @philpm: Linky: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/10/14/the-anti-hillary-clinton-ad-thats-angering-some-family-members-of-benghazi-victims/

  39. 39.

    Roger Moore

    October 19, 2015 at 1:24 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Since Secretary Clinton will be testifying in public, I don’t see how Repubs can take her words out of context

    They can take her words out of context if the media let them get away with it. Obama was speaking in public when he made his “you didn’t built that” comment, but that didn’t stop the Republicans from taking it out of context and pretending it was scandalous.

  40. 40.

    jl

    October 19, 2015 at 1:25 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: I agree that it will be difficult to get something that will work with the general voting public, but easy to get something, anything, to rile up their base.

    I hope HRC doesn’t try to embarrass them, but rather she just give truthful answers and let them embarrass themselves.

  41. 41.

    Patricia Kayden

    October 19, 2015 at 1:26 pm

    @Brachiator: Isn’t it a shame that Jeb! has to waste time on his campaign trail talking about his brother’s presidency? Such an unexpected and sad turn of events. After all George did keep us safe, if you ignore the 3,000 + who were killed on his watch on 9/11, which you totally should.

  42. 42.

    jl

    October 19, 2015 at 1:28 pm

    @Roger Moore: IANAL, but seems to me that impeachment was intended for those currently holding public office, since after impeachment, there is a trial in the Senate to convict and removal from office. Noting about Senate conviction and prohibition from holding office in future. So, seems to me the House will have to wait until the begin session in 2016 to bring some nutcase impeachment to floor.

    But I’m interested in informed explanation of what crazy things might happen.

  43. 43.

    Cacti

    October 19, 2015 at 1:28 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Isn’t it a shame that Jeb! has to waste time on his campaign trail talking about his brother’s presidency? Such an unexpected and sad turn of events. After all George did keep us safe, if you ignore the 3,000 + who were killed on his watch on 9/11, which you totally should

    Or the 1,800 or so who died from Katrina, while the emergency response was directed by a personal Dubya lackey whose professional experience was in horse shows.

  44. 44.

    dubo

    October 19, 2015 at 1:29 pm

    Come on, you can’t blame Mo Brooks for that. Remember, Republicans never wanted to impeach Obama but he used Muslim Hoodoo to compel them to obsess over it all the time. He probably taught those techniques to Hillary.

  45. 45.

    peach flavored shampoo

    October 19, 2015 at 1:30 pm

    @jl: I agree this is most likely. In the absence of any real harm they can show Clinton caused, they’ll just make it up. Hillary directly caused the death of 41 undercover spies!

    And when the Media Fanboys reporters ask to see the evidence, the GOPers will claim its “Top Secret” or “Not For Sharing” or some such shit. It’s all about the accusations, not the reality. This has been Trump’s M.O. for months.

  46. 46.

    jl

    October 19, 2015 at 1:31 pm

    @Cacti: And the 6000 plus US military dead from a fraudulent invasion of a country non involved in the 911 attacks.

    So unexpected these issues would come up, and so unfair to hold president W in any way responsible for anything that transpired during his reign.

  47. 47.

    Belafon

    October 19, 2015 at 1:31 pm

    @Cacti: I’m trying to figure out what part of his actions match anything supported by Sanders.

  48. 48.

    Amir Khalid

    October 19, 2015 at 1:32 pm

    @jl:
    Can the Republicans convict President Hillary and remove her from office for something Secretary of State Hillary did?

  49. 49.

    MattF

    October 19, 2015 at 1:32 pm

    Remember ‘Impeach Earl Warren’? Impeachment has been on the ‘to do’ list of right-wing loonies for a long time. The target will change, but anyone named ‘Clinton’ is a prime suspect, by definition.

  50. 50.

    catclub

    October 19, 2015 at 1:32 pm

    @gvg:

    however at that point he had had to veto several anti woman bills that the GOP wanted to go through and was as now preventing a lot of harmful legislation that specifically would have hurt women.

    I think Gore might have vetoed the same bills.

  51. 51.

    jl

    October 19, 2015 at 1:32 pm

    @Amir Khalid: I don’t know. Maybe one of the BJ legal flying wedge will come by and help out.

  52. 52.

    different-church-lady

    October 19, 2015 at 1:32 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Dude, quit saying Beetlejuice.

  53. 53.

    Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA

    October 19, 2015 at 1:33 pm

    @dmsilev: I think the point of impeachment would have been just to get him out of office before he could win a second term.

    1. Impeach Obama;
    2. The nation’s outrage at this horrible criminal Democratic President leads to everyone voting Republican;
    3: Profit!

    Once they saw that 2012 was lost, they started really ramping up against Hillary. Because otherwise they’d have to be competent, maybe try not being hostile to the majority of Americans, stop the voter suppression, and then actually try to win fairly on their records. At this point it’s much easier for them to attack whoever wins the election than to win it themselves.

  54. 54.

    scav

    October 19, 2015 at 1:33 pm

    Somehow, keeping up traditional behaviors, traditional attacks, traditional smears, and traditional committees long past their sell-by (let alone best-by) date seems the very essence of the conservative mindset. ” If pathetic, expensive and long-winded attempts at shut-down and impeachment were good enough for our forefathers, they’re the only option for us!”

    ETA.
    Seriously, don’t you think they’ve got a pool going on somewhere in the background about how long they can keep the ball in the air, how much money they can spend? Little pencil marks in back room doorframes comparing Starr to Jarndyce to Behghazi?

  55. 55.

    different-church-lady

    October 19, 2015 at 1:33 pm

    @SatanicPanic:

    Can you be impeached for something you did didn’t do before you were president?

    Fixed.

  56. 56.

    MattF

    October 19, 2015 at 1:33 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Does a bear shit in the woods? Is Hillary’s last name ‘Clinton’?

  57. 57.

    Amir Khalid

    October 19, 2015 at 1:34 pm

    @Cacti:
    Bernie’s a decent guy as politicians go, but he’s been attracting some pretty ugly supporters in this campaign.

  58. 58.

    Patricia Kayden

    October 19, 2015 at 1:34 pm

    @philpm: Thanks. Glad to see that most family members are upset about the political exploitation of their family members’ deaths. I would be livid.

    Had to laugh that one of the people involved with putting out the anti-Clinton ad had the nerve to claim that he doesn’t know how to contact the family members. Really? Has he ever heard of Google? He should just admit that he could care less about how the family members feel.

  59. 59.

    Roger Moore

    October 19, 2015 at 1:34 pm

    @peach flavored shampoo:

    I agree this is most likely. In the absence of any real harm they can show Clinton caused, they’ll just make it up. Hillary directly caused the death of 41 undercover spies!

    “I have here in my hand a list of 205—a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party placed in danger by her email policy and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in mortal peril because of their work in the State Department.”

  60. 60.

    Amir Khalid

    October 19, 2015 at 1:35 pm

    @different-church-lady:
    It’s been a while since I had my very own troll-like follower on these threads.

  61. 61.

    MazeDancer

    October 19, 2015 at 1:37 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    I hope Secretary Clinton embarasses the hell out of Gowdy and his compatriots on Thursday

    May it be so! And may the Democrats on the committee help her do same.

    Like all the Dems could use their time to chastise the whole escapade. Rail against the $4.5 million bucks, Gowdy never showing up, keeping the testimonies sealed. Or just read outloud the opinions of McCarthy and Hanna.

    Hope the Dems have some co-ordinated guerilla theatre action to help save Democracy from these small tyrants. And make every Republican look like the crazed, witch-hunting idiots they are.

    It could help head off the absurd attacks that will start when Hillary’s President. They can quote Reagan, “There you go again…”

  62. 62.

    Heliopause

    October 19, 2015 at 1:37 pm

    So, if Hillary is elected we’re going to have a GOP House, probably a GOP Senate, a Speaker who may be more amenable to the far right, and a President who was deeply loathed by them decades before anybody even had heard of Obama. This could make the last few years look like a stroll in the park.

  63. 63.

    scav

    October 19, 2015 at 1:38 pm

    @Amir Khalid: But, personal trolls are a special treat, not a right, and if you indulge yourself too much you’ll rot your teeth. So, play wisely and brush thoroughly afterward. Pick up the candy wrappers afterwards.

  64. 64.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 19, 2015 at 1:39 pm

    Following up on yesterday’s hard-hitting discussion of rigidly non-partisan, uber-professional prosecutor, nice Sunday School boy Trey Gowdy and how he’s nobly coping with the brutal attacks of nasty Clinton partisans, rigidly non-partisan just-the-facts journalists at Politico tell us that Howdy-3 just may have made a small boo-boo. No bigs.

    Gowdy appears to accidentally release CIA source’s name
    By Josh Gerstein

  65. 65.

    different-church-lady

    October 19, 2015 at 1:40 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    , I don’t see how Repubs can take her words out of context

    When have little things like the nature of spacetime ever stopped a wingnut?

  66. 66.

    Grumpy Code Monkey

    October 19, 2015 at 1:41 pm

    Then we learned that the Select Committee has all but abandoned investigating Benghazi to focus on Clinton’s emails (and that committee staffers are so busy they’ve formed a wine club and a gun-buying club).

    Same as it ever was. Remember how the Whitewater investigation started with allegations of shady real estate dealings and morphed into “where did Bill put his penis today?”

    It’s not about finding evidence of official wrongdoing, it’s about finding dirt. At least they’re being honest about it this time.

  67. 67.

    Roger Moore

    October 19, 2015 at 1:41 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Gowdy appears to accidentally release CIA source’s name

    IOKIYAR.

  68. 68.

    MattF

    October 19, 2015 at 1:41 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Oopsie. Classified material is just soo tricky– so many rules. So many people trying to trip you up.

  69. 69.

    Brachiator

    October 19, 2015 at 1:42 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    Bernie’s a decent guy as politicians go, but he’s been attracting some pretty ugly supporters in this campaign.

    I think it’s a stretch to link this guy and Sanders. This guy seems like a troubled person looking for something to latch onto, and grasping at free-form anger. One of his Facebook posts is just angry and sad and disconnected from anything remotely political.

    A search also reveals Bickford posted a racial slur for no apparent reason in March 2013 on the Facebook page for the Chinese restaurant chain Panda Express, and he also tweeted a complaint Sept. 27 about “loud foreign students” waking him up.

  70. 70.

    Cacti

    October 19, 2015 at 1:43 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    Bernie’s a decent guy as politicians go, but he’s been attracting some pretty ugly supporters in this campaign.

    Unlike Trump, when a supporter of his committed a hate crime, I doubt Bernie will use this as evidence of his supporters’ “passion”.

    But the fact remains that the only two campaigns (so far) with supporters who have committed race-based hate crimes are the campaigns of the two shout-iest white guys.

  71. 71.

    Karen

    October 19, 2015 at 1:45 pm

    @dmsilev:

    Oh I figure that they’ll skip the impeachment kabuki theater and make either Obama leaving and electing Criuz or Inflicting the death penalty to Obama as part of their demands to not kill the country.

  72. 72.

    mai naem mobile

    October 19, 2015 at 1:47 pm

    I don’t understand why the fact that a recent former president of the United States lives with Hillary. Do they think the Secret Service doesn’t pay attention to Hillary’s and Bill’s basement server? Do they think anybody just hacks into the.home of an ex-POTUS?

  73. 73.

    Amir Khalid

    October 19, 2015 at 1:52 pm

    @Cacti:
    Yeah, Bernie’s a better human being than Donald any day of the week.

  74. 74.

    Peale

    October 19, 2015 at 1:52 pm

    @Karen: You joke, but since erasing Obama’s legacy is top of the list of things to do, I would not be surprised if Obama ended up the first president driven into exile for awhile.

  75. 75.

    philpm

    October 19, 2015 at 1:52 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: Exactly. In his position, why lie about something you never planned on doing in the first place.

  76. 76.

    dedc79

    October 19, 2015 at 1:53 pm

    Was hoping someone would post about this National Review article that ran last week and speculated about the topics the Benghazi Committee would cover with Huma:

    The news of an unknown e-mail account and additional technical troubles will likely factor in to Abedin’s closed-door testimony before the Benghazi Committee on Friday. In Abedin’s first appearance before the committee, lawmakers are expected to focus on work she did for the private, Clinton-connected consulting firm Teneo while she was still employed at the State Department.

    Which was followed by this hilarious “update”:

    A Benghazi Committee aide said in a statement sent to reporters this afternoon that Abedin “will be questioned about issues pertaining to the committee’s charter,” specifically the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya and the Obama administration’s subsequent response. It appears she will not be subject to questioning on Teneo or the Clinton Foundation.

    The initial plan mostly likely WAS to focus on all this email nonsense. Then Rep. McCarthy went and acknowledged the obvious and spoiled the committee’s fun.

    ETA: A link for those who are interested in reading the whole thing: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/425641/huma-abedin-email-address-discovered-benghazi-committee-testimony

  77. 77.

    Brachiator

    October 19, 2015 at 1:54 pm

    @Cacti:

    But the fact remains that the only two campaigns (so far) with supporters who have committed race-based hate crimes are the campaigns of the two shout-iest white guys.

    Wow. This is wrongheaded on so many levels.

    You’re joking, right?

  78. 78.

    Cacti

    October 19, 2015 at 1:55 pm

    It’s scary how much the Israeli right wing has in common with the U.S. right wing:

    An African asylum seeker was shot by an Israeli guard who mistook him for an assailant and was then kicked by a mob as he lay bleeding before he died, according to a video posted Monday amid a wave of violence that has left the nation on edge.

    But I’m sure their white hot hatred for President Obama is entirely policy-based.

  79. 79.

    Amir Khalid

    October 19, 2015 at 1:56 pm

    @Amir Khalid:
    That said, Bernie pulls in the younger bros while Donald pulls in their reactionary dads.

  80. 80.

    Brachiator

    October 19, 2015 at 1:59 pm

    @Peale:

    I would not be surprised if Obama ended up the first president driven into exile for awhile.

    How would this work? Would he be sent back to Kenya, where he was born?

    There are practical limits to Republican hate. I think Obama will do fine after he leaves office.

  81. 81.

    Patricia Kayden

    October 19, 2015 at 1:59 pm

    @Cacti: Wowzers. But Sen. Sanders has zero control over the behavior of his supporters and I’m pretty sure he will condemn Bickford’s behavior (unlike Trump who claimed that his racist supporters were “passionate”) when it’s brought to his attention.

  82. 82.

    Cacti

    October 19, 2015 at 1:59 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Wow. This is wrongheaded on so many levels.

    You’re joking, right?

    Is it your position is that resentment-based white populist campaigns tend to be positive developments for racial, ethnic, and religious minorities?

    The historical record would beg to differ.

  83. 83.

    Peale

    October 19, 2015 at 2:00 pm

    @Heliopause: We’ll have that with any Dem at this point. I think we’ll end this round of the republic looking like Thailand – with one party that wins national elections handily whenever it is allowed on the ballot, but whose leaders are immediately arrested in the name of restoring order and instituting reform.

  84. 84.

    bystander

    October 19, 2015 at 2:00 pm

    If Hillary has committed high crimes, is Trey going to wait until she takes office to charge her?

    And if we are going to go all French Revolution on these peabrains, has anyone considered what we do with the people who sent them to DC and Charleston? I still think we should just give them Texas and Arizona and they can start their own brave new world.

  85. 85.

    cckids

    October 19, 2015 at 2:01 pm

    @dmsilev:

    To be honest, I’m surprised the current bunch of lunatics “running” the House haven’t already tried to gin up some sort of impeachment proceeding against Obama.

    Isn’t that part of the teabagger’s anger towards the Washington “establishment”? They promised to defund/repeal O-Care, to eliminate abortion, and “look into” impeaching Pres. Obama. And they’ve done NONE of it. So the nutz are voting Trump/Carson. For reasons.

  86. 86.

    Thoughtful Today

    October 19, 2015 at 2:05 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    You keep bringing me up in threads I’m not in and are clearly trying to start something.

    You’re the Huckabee of Balloon Juice.

  87. 87.

    Patricia Kayden

    October 19, 2015 at 2:07 pm

    @cckids: “They promised to defund/repeal O-Care, to eliminate abortion, and “look into” impeaching Pres. Obama.”

    I believe Repubs have tried very hard to do all three. How many times have they voted to defund Obamacare? (Plus they supported two anti-ACA Supreme Court cases). They’re also trying to defund Planned Parenthood. And no doubt, they’ve looked into impeaching the first Muslim, Kenyan, Socialist, Communist President but decided that it wasn’t feasible. He hasn’t given them any ammunition and is pretty much scandal-free.

  88. 88.

    dedc79

    October 19, 2015 at 2:07 pm

    @Cacti: The issue (well, one issue) is that you flip back and forth between the candidate (Sanders) and some of his supporters whenever it suits you. So first you put the blame on him b/c he’s one of the two “shout-iest white guys”, but then, when you get called out, you start talking about populist campaigns and whether they’re good for minorities. Since the campaign has started you’ve taken every opportunity to try to slander Sanders with the worst behaviors of his worst supporters.

    I will vote for Clinton over Sanders, but I think it’s ridiculous the way you keep trying to portray him as a race baiter.

  89. 89.

    JPL

    October 19, 2015 at 2:09 pm

    What an exceptional country we live in. We can impeach at will. Wahoo!

  90. 90.

    goblue72

    October 19, 2015 at 2:10 pm

    The Republicans are just doing their job to protect the Real America from a Feminazi President Hilezzery.

    That these goobers control both houses of Congress, the majority of state legislatures, the majority of state governorships and the majority of SCOTUS is just depressing.

  91. 91.

    Cervantes

    October 19, 2015 at 2:12 pm

    @Cacti:

    Drunken Bernie-bro assaults Muslim woman in Indiana café, shouting “white power” while trying to tear her hijab from her head.

    That’s pretty bad.

    And then there’s you.

    @Belafon:

    I’m trying to figure out what part of his actions match anything supported by Sanders.

    “Made you look!”

  92. 92.

    Thoughtful Today

    October 19, 2015 at 2:14 pm

    Snapshots in time:

    “Clinton stands at 45% in the race for the Democratic nomination, with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders behind her at 29%. Vice President Joe Biden, who is considering a run for presidency and did not participate in last week’s debate, follows at 18%.”

    http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/19/politics/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-poll/

    h/t Amir

  93. 93.

    Cacti

    October 19, 2015 at 2:16 pm

    @dedc79:

    The issue (well, one issue) is that you flip back and forth between the candidate (Sanders) and some of his supporters whenever it suits you. So first you put the blame on him b/c he’s one of the two “shout-iest white guys”, but then, when you get called out, you start talking about populist campaigns and whether they’re good for minorities. Since the campaign has started you’ve taken every opportunity to try to slander Sanders with the worst behaviors of his worst supporters.

    I will vote for Clinton over Sanders, but I think it’s ridiculous the way you keep trying to portray him as a race baiter.

    When I think back to all the indignant snorts in the liberal blogosphere over BLM attacking their “natural allies” by suggesting that liberal racism was a thing among Sanders supporters, I can’t even pretend to give a crap that it hurts the feelings of the same group to now have a hate criminal among their ranks.

  94. 94.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    October 19, 2015 at 2:17 pm

    @Cacti:

    A similar crowd was attracted to Dean in 2004, so I don’t think it’s totally unreasonable to say that white dudes with a streak of unexplained bigotry are going to be more drawn to Sanders than to Clinton. But IMO there’s a big difference between Trump supporters attacking people at Trump rallies and a drunk college student attacking someone in a restaurant.

    Also, too, that age is when bipolar disorder and other issues with psychosis can show up in men, so hopefully someone will be doing a full psychiatric evaluation of him at some point.

  95. 95.

    lgerard

    October 19, 2015 at 2:17 pm

    Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) recently spoke with talk radio host Matt Murphy and said the real issue with Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state is “how many lives she put at risk by violating all rules of law that are designed to protect America’s top-secret and classified information from falling into the hands of our geopolitical foes who then might use that information to result in the deaths of Americans.”

    Sadly, our geopolitical foes seem to be congressional republicans.

  96. 96.

    Amir Khalid

    October 19, 2015 at 2:17 pm

    @Thoughtful Today:
    In my own strange way, I like you.

  97. 97.

    gratuitous

    October 19, 2015 at 2:20 pm

    Pre-impeachment is a lot easier than winning an election. Requires a whole lot less effort.

  98. 98.

    cckids

    October 19, 2015 at 2:23 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: But accepting all those things requires that said teabaggers check into reality. They don’t seem willing to do that, hence their free-floating anger.

  99. 99.

    Roger Moore

    October 19, 2015 at 2:23 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    I believe Repubs have tried very hard to do all three.

    Trying hard isn’t enough. Wingnuts demand success, not just effort. They’ve been told that the Democrats are trying to destroy the country, so they demand that the Republicans do everything by means fair or foul to stop them. It’s the logical position for anyone who believes the stuff the Republican hatemongers have been spewing for the past 25 years.

  100. 100.

    Brachiator

    October 19, 2015 at 2:24 pm

    @Cacti:

    Is it your position is that resentment-based white populist campaigns tend to be positive developments for racial, ethnic, and religious minorities?

    My position is that you are delusional if you see Sanders’ campaign as resentment based.

  101. 101.

    Mandalay

    October 19, 2015 at 2:27 pm

    @Cacti:

    It’s scary how much the Israeli right wing has in common with the U.S. right wing

    And a bit closer to home, it’s scary how much some of your posts have in common with the the U.S. right wing.

  102. 102.

    Thoughtful Today

    October 19, 2015 at 2:29 pm

    @Cacti:

    Cacti says:

    “When I think back to all the indignant snorts in the liberal blogosphere over BLM attacking their “natural allies” by suggesting that liberal racism was a thing among Sanders supporters,”

    I’ll bite: Could you clarify?

    It’s honestly not clear what you’re suggesting.

    Who are the racists?

  103. 103.

    Matt McIrvin

    October 19, 2015 at 2:30 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Ted Rall wrote an article crowing about how Hillary Clinton’s campaign was over the moment the email server story broke.

  104. 104.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 19, 2015 at 2:32 pm

    OT, is that what the youths are calling it these days? adjusting your pocket gun?

    A man accidentally shot himself in the leg during a Friday night showing of “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials” in the central-Kansas city of Salina.
    Cody Deneault, 24, was adjusting the handgun in his pants pocket during the film when it went off, according to the Salina Post on Monday.
    Deneault was taken to the hospital with a non-fatal wound. No other injuries were reported.

    I guess this is what Kansans would call sang froid if they weren’t real heartland Americans. I think I’d’a been a mite concerned.

    Tim Coleman, a father who took his 12-year-old daughter and her friend to the movie, told the Salina Journal on Sunday he wasn’t worried about an “active shooter” because he only heard one shot.

    I think TPM would’ve said if he’d removed himself from the gene pool, so we can count on the continuation of the Deneault line.

  105. 105.

    Southern Beale

    October 19, 2015 at 2:33 pm

    This may be old news to you guys but I just read this about Trey Gowdy getting busted for redacting a Clinton email to make it look like she outed a CIA source:

    In a letter earlier this month, Benghazi Committee Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) asserted that an email Clinton got from outside adviser Sidney Blumenthal contained what the U.S. government considers one of its most closely held secrets: the name of a source relied on by the intelligence community.

    However, the ranking member on the Benghazi panel — Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland — said the CIA advised the committee on Saturday that the information Gowdy suggested required extreme caution is, in fact, unclassified.

    “The CIA yesterday informed both the Republican and Democratic staffs of the Select Committee that they do not consider the information you highlighted in your letter to be classified. Specifically, the CIA confirmed that ‘the State Department consulted with the CIA on this production, the CIA reviewed these documents, and the CIA made no redactions to protect classified information,'” Cummings wrote in a new letter to Gowdy (posted here).

    Ooops.

  106. 106.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    October 19, 2015 at 2:33 pm

    @dedc79:

    In 2008, especially on the internet, Clinton supporters tended to be a little (sometimes a lot) racially insensitive and Obama supporters tended to be a little (sometimes a lot) gender insensitive. I’m not that surprised that otherwise liberal people with a few racial blind spots find themselves drawn to Sanders, and I also don’t think that Sanders is encouraging that in any way. It’s just the way people are sorting themselves right now.

    Frankly, I’m expecting some weird anti-Semitic remarks to come from a few Hillary supporters as the race heats up but, again, that’s kind of what happens. Candidates can’t always control why or how voters are drawn to them.

  107. 107.

    MattF

    October 19, 2015 at 2:34 pm

    @Southern Beale: Makes you wonder about his record as a prosecutor.

  108. 108.

    Cacti

    October 19, 2015 at 2:35 pm

    @Thoughtful Today:

    I’ll bite: Could you clarify?

    It’s honestly not clear what you’re suggesting.

    Who are the racists?

    There’s a search function in the upper right hand corner.

    Since you post here, I’ll assume you have functioning fingers.

    Feel free to use it at your leisure.

  109. 109.

    goblue72

    October 19, 2015 at 2:36 pm

    @Brachiator: When I think about the NPR-listening, organic co-op shopping tote baggers I know who are Sanders supporters, angry & resentful is EXACTLY the first thing that springs to my mind.

    “What do we want!”
    “Fair Trade, shade grown Guatemalan, dark roast!”
    “When do we want it!”
    “Sometime in the next few weeks if its not too much a bother!”

  110. 110.

    dedc79

    October 19, 2015 at 2:37 pm

    @Cacti: @Cacti: You sound practically gleeful at having found “proof” of the racist heart beating within the Sanders campaign. You’re not all that different than the Klobach fellow in Kansas who is positively beaming because he thinks he finally found some real voter fraud.

  111. 111.

    celticdragonchick

    October 19, 2015 at 2:37 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    You know, I’ve been researching the hell out of the French Revolution, and I have to say that I would seriously consider voting for a revivified Robespierre. Guy got a seriously bad rap from the crew of post-Napoleonic monarchical apologists. Altho’ I’m more of a Danton fan, personally….

    I have a paper on Robespierre posted at academia

    ABSTRACT
    The Terror became the apotheosis of revolutionary desire for a radical utopian restructuring or renewal of society within the framework of war both within and without. Historians have split over the utilitarian necessity of the Terror insofar as how the implemented policies were actually mandatory to the survival of the state. Ultimately, Robespierre, both in his utopian obsession with societal virtue as well as with existential enemies, conflated violence with virtue. In doing so, he used the Terror to not only rid the radical revolutionary government of foreign and domestic enemies but also to remake or ‘regenerate’ society into a permanent virtuous revolution.

    https://www.academia.edu/14171983/The_Reign_of_Terror

  112. 112.

    goblue72

    October 19, 2015 at 2:39 pm

    @Cervantes: Seriously? Some drunk as a skunk 19-year old in Indiana goes mental and THAT is somehow indicative of Sanders?

    What are you on, peyote?

  113. 113.

    Cacti

    October 19, 2015 at 2:40 pm

    @Mandalay:

    And a bit closer to home, it’s scary how much some of your posts have in common with the the U.S. right wing.

    Maybe one day, I’ll reach that stage of progressive enlightenment that prompts me to shout “Taze them!” at minority activists, or assault random religious minorities.

    But I doubt it.

  114. 114.

    beltane

    October 19, 2015 at 2:42 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): All candidates for elected office who have supporters are going to attract a few unsavory people. Remember this type of bullshit in 2008? http://still4hill.com/2013/10/08/farewell-harriet-christian/

  115. 115.

    Gin & Tonic

    October 19, 2015 at 2:42 pm

    @goblue72: Is peyote still popular?

  116. 116.

    rikyrah

    October 19, 2015 at 2:42 pm

    Ava DuVernay ‏@AVAETC 3h3 hours ago

    David Oyelowo to play OTHELLO on Broadway! One would think NYT would lead w/ the actor who plays the lead. But nah.

    http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/artsbeat/2015/10/19/daniel-craig-and-david-oyelowo-to-star-together-in-off-broadway-othello/?referer=https://www.google.com/

  117. 117.

    MattF

    October 19, 2015 at 2:42 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: The quote from the guy who administered first aid:

    I feel absolutely terrible for the gentleman that shot himself, but the first thing I thought of was thank God he didn’t shoot anybody else.

    Except for future generations… Remember, every sperm is sacred.

  118. 118.

    Brachiator

    October 19, 2015 at 2:43 pm

    @goblue72:

    When I think about the NPR-listening, organic co-op shopping tote baggers I know who are Sanders supporters, angry & resentful is EXACTLY the first thing that springs to my mind.

    I know!

    I’ve seen some of these people getting positively steamed and nearly shouting “gosh darn it” after coming from a live performance of an especially emotional episode of “A Prairie Home Companion.”

  119. 119.

    dedc79

    October 19, 2015 at 2:44 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): Yeah, things did get pretty heated, personal, and on occasion racist/sexist between the clinton and obama campaigns. I mean, people obviously get heavily invested in their candidates, and that investment sometimes leads to defensiveness, and that defensiveness sometimes leads to offensiveness.

    Haven’t seen much if any signs of anti-semitic stuff being leveled at the Sanders campaign (not from Hillary supporters anyway) yet, and I hope it never comes to pass.

  120. 120.

    rikyrah

    October 19, 2015 at 2:44 pm

    Can’t have a car that breaks down – add that to the list of things Black people can’t do.

    And, of course, to justify this man’s MURDER…

    we’ll get the story that, after the car broke down, and he asked for the tow truck, he decided to something criminal, because he didn’t have anything better to do.

    and, of course, a Black man, sitting in his car, waiting for a tow truck, is a threat.
    …………………………….

    Family of victim killed by Palm Beach Gardens officer stunned
    UPDATED 2:15 PM EDT Oct 19, 2015

    PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. —One day after a Palm Beach Gardens police officer fatally shot Corey Jones, 31, his family says they can’t understand what happened.1 dead in officer-involved shooting

    According to family members, Jones, who worked for the Delray Beach Housing Authority and played in the band Future Prezidents as a drummer, was on his way home from a performance when his Hyundai Santa Fe broke down on the southbound exit ramp of I-95 and PGA Boulevard around 2:30 a.m.

    Jones called his brother and asked him to call for a tow truck.

    “Eight minutes later my husband called him back, and there was no answer,” said Denise Jones. “So we figured he got the tow truck and my husband went to bed. At 3 p.m. in the afternoon, a sheriff’s deputy came to the house and said there had been an altercation between Corey and an officer, and he was shot and killed.”

    The Palm Beach Gardens Police Department said officer Nouman Raja was on duty in plain clothes and in an unmarked police car when he stopped to investigate what he believed to be an abandoned vehicle on the exit ramp. As he exited his vehicle, he was suddenly confronted by an armed subject.

    As a result of the confrontation, the officer discharged his weapon, killing Jones, a release said.

    Raja is on paid leave while the Sheriff’s Office investigates the shooting.

    A source in the department said the officer involved in the shooting is a rookie officer.

    “He was just a quiet guy who, when he wasn’t working or playing drums, was sleeping,” said a tearful Jones. “We just can’t understand how this could have happened.”

    http://www.wpbf.com/news/family-of-victim-killed-by-palm-beach-gardens-officer-stunned/35922984

  121. 121.

    Cacti

    October 19, 2015 at 2:47 pm

    @dedc79:

    You sound practically gleeful at having found “proof” of the racist heart beating within the Sanders campaign. You’re not all that different than the Klobach fellow in Kansas who is positively beaming because he thinks he finally found some real voter fraud.

    Uh huh.

    I’m Chris Kobach for pointing out a Bernie supporter committed a random hate crime against a religious minority.

    Meanwhile, if I really wanted to be rude about it, I could have said that maybe the Bernie-bro mistook her for a BlackLivesMatter activist. ;-)

  122. 122.

    Brachiator

    October 19, 2015 at 2:51 pm

    @rikyrah:

    David Oyelowo to play OTHELLO on Broadway! One would think NYT would lead w/ the actor who plays the lead. But nah.

    Craig may be the bigger box office draw and has a new Bond movie opening next month, and apparently was the one who approached the director about doing the play.

    Tangentially related, the Met has decided to stop using dark makeup on singers who play Otello:

    When the fall production of Verdi’s Otello opens next month, its lead character will not be wearing the traditional blackface-style makeup.

    The Met tells NPR by email that its upcoming production of Otello will be the first without dark makeup since the company first produced the opera in 1891.

    The Met says in a statement that it is “committed to color-blind casting” and that the Latvian tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko, who will play Otello, “will not wear dark makeup in the Met’s production.”

    http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/08/04/429366961/metropolitan-opera-to-drop-use-of-blackface-style-makeup-in-otello

  123. 123.

    dedc79

    October 19, 2015 at 2:52 pm

    @rikyrah: Will not be surprised in the least if the characterization of Jones as “armed” is later changed to “thought to have been armed.”

  124. 124.

    srv

    October 19, 2015 at 2:52 pm

    Big gov’t becomes even bigger:

    The FAA announced on Monday that recreational drone operators will be required to register their aircraft.

    A million kids are going to have to register their drones for Christmans because who will protect the children. In the meantime, Santa Claus flies wherever.

  125. 125.

    Patrick

    October 19, 2015 at 2:52 pm

    First, then-presumptive Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy said on Fox News that the committee’s purpose was to bring down Clinton’s poll numbers, a “gaffe” that had an extraordinary impact, especially when you consider that he was only acknowledging what everyone in Washington already knew.

    Then why the didn’t the media in Washington point this out over the least few years?

  126. 126.

    gene108

    October 19, 2015 at 2:55 pm

    @dmsilev:

    To be honest, I’m surprised the current bunch of lunatics “running” the House haven’t already tried to gin up some sort of impeachment proceeding against Obama. Maybe that’s one of the demands that will be made of any prospective Speaker.

    They were kicking the impeachment idea around last year.

    They settled on a lawsuit against President Obama instead.

    I think they feared energizing leap year only voters into action, with something as high profile as impeachment.

    House Republicans are taking President Obama to court.

    In a 225-201 vote along party lines, the House authorized a lawsuit against the president over the GOP’s contention that Obama made changes to the Affordable Care Act without congressional authorization. Five Republicans and all 196 Democrats in attendance opposed the resolution

    The move is laced with irony, as House Republicans essentially intend to sue Obama for delaying provisions of a law they have opposed at every turn. At the top of their complaints is the president’s decision to unilaterally delay enforcement of the requirement of businesses to provide health insurance to their employees, a mandate Republicans argue will kill jobs throughout the country.

    http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/07/house-gop-tells-obama-well-see-you-in-court/375344/

  127. 127.

    Iowa Old Lady

    October 19, 2015 at 2:59 pm

    @gratuitous: Rs used to say that the Clintons would do anything to win an election. The answer to that was that Rs would do anything except get more votes.

  128. 128.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 19, 2015 at 2:59 pm

    Here, have some good news

    am Stein ‏@ samsteinhp 57m57 minutes ago
    for first time since May 2013, Obama’s job approval is positive in ABC/WaPo poll

    51%

  129. 129.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    October 19, 2015 at 3:00 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Like it or not, Daniel Craig is a Movie Star and David Oyelowo is not. Journalists love it when official Movie Stars slum it on Broadway. But I get why DuVernay wants to boost her friend and star of 2 of her films.

    Speaking of Broadway, I kept trying to figure out why the guy playing Aaron Burr in “Hamilton” looked so familiar. It turned out to be Leslie Odom Jr., who’s been on approximately 10 million TV shows, including “Smash.” Hopefully he’ll get the Tony — he got beaten out for the (off-Broadway) Drama Desk awards by the guy who played the Bard in “Something Rotten.”

  130. 130.

    Rob

    October 19, 2015 at 3:01 pm

    @Roger Moore #34: Thanks for your answer. I didn’t know about that founding father line of reasoning and assassination.

  131. 131.

    Mandalay

    October 19, 2015 at 3:01 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Nouman Raja was on duty in plain clothes and in an unmarked police car

    Without prejudging what happened, there’s scope for trouble right there: a man is waiting for a tow truck at 3:15 in the morning when a car pulls over and someone gets out. Did the cop immediately announce who he was? And the brief statement from the police is a bit troubling:

    A spokeswoman for the Palm Beach Gardens Police, Ellen Lovejoy, said Raja claimed he came upon what he believed to be an abandoned vehicle on the southbound exit ramp of Interstate 95 at PGA Boulevard. Lovejoy said Raja claimed he was confronted by an armed subject…

    Lovejoy did not say what kind of weapon Jones had on his person, or whether a weapon was found at the scene.

    WTF? The police say that the cop claims he was “confronted by an armed subject” but refuse to say whether a weapon was found at the scene? That really gives the appearance of the police needing time to decide what actually happened.

  132. 132.

    srv

    October 19, 2015 at 3:04 pm

    @Mandalay: You clearly have never been confronted with a tire iron before.

    You have to admire their efficiency in attempting to impeach someone years before she’s even nominated for the White House, let alone elected, but here we are.

    See, you liberals can never let go. Republicans finally give up on impeaching Obama and all you can do is whine about it.

    Also, all she has to do is make Sanders her VP.

  133. 133.

    Goblue72

    October 19, 2015 at 3:04 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Don’t look at me. I only just found out that Ecstasy is now called Molly and it comes from China.

  134. 134.

    rikyrah

    October 19, 2015 at 3:08 pm

    Bernie IS NOT a Democrat.

    Joe Biden IS.

    GET.DA.PHUQ.OUTTA.HERE. with this bullshyt.

    Joan Walsh ✔ @joanwalsh
    How a Biden run disrespects Bernie Sanders via @thenation http://www.thenation.com/article/the-democratic-primary-doesnt-need-joe-biden/ …
    11:20 AM – 19 Oct 2015

  135. 135.

    Brachiator

    October 19, 2015 at 3:08 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    Like it or not, Daniel Craig is a Movie Star and David Oyelowo is not.

    According to the article, both are movie stars.

    Mr. Craig, whose fourth outing as James Bond, “Spectre,” opens in the United States next month, will be paired with another British movie star, David Oyelowo

    But Craig is the movie star with the bigger name and a movie opening next month.

  136. 136.

    Mandalay

    October 19, 2015 at 3:09 pm

    @srv:

    You clearly have never been confronted with a tire iron before.

    You make a fair point, but in that case you’d think the police would have mentioned that (if they had nothing to hide).

    I wonder whether unmarked police cars have dash cams?

  137. 137.

    catclub

    October 19, 2015 at 3:09 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): My thoughts also. Putting Oyelowo on the left is equal or higher billing.

  138. 138.

    Matt McIrvin

    October 19, 2015 at 3:10 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Probably an outlier; it doesn’t look to me from the HuffPo averages as if Obama’s job approval is trending up, though it’s better than it was in 2014.

  139. 139.

    rikyrah

    October 19, 2015 at 3:14 pm

    so, you mean that Texas’ investigation came up different than all the rest of those states’ investigations?
    oh….it didn’t…

    well now….

    hmmmmmm

    …………………………

    State to drop Planned Parenthood from Medicaid over videos

    AUSTIN — Texas health officials have decided to cut Planned Parenthood out of the state Medicaid program entirely because of issues revealed in a controversial undercover video, the Houston Chronicle has learned.

    …Officials plan to inform the women’s health organization of their decision Monday.

    “The State has determined that you and your Planned Parenthood affiliates are no longer capable of performing medical services in a professionally competent, safe, legal and ethical manner,” inspector general Stuart Bowen wrote in a letter to be sent to the organization

    http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/State-to-drop-Planned-Parenthood-from-Medicaid-6577380.php?t=a313f4e721438d9cbb&cmpid=twitter-premium

  140. 140.

    Cervantes

    October 19, 2015 at 3:15 pm

    @goblue72:

    @Cervantes: Seriously? Some drunk as a skunk 19-year old in Indiana goes mental and THAT is somehow indicative of Sanders? What are you on, peyote?

    I may be on peyote but at least I can read. You seem unable.

    What on earth are you rabbiting on about?

  141. 141.

    Goblue72

    October 19, 2015 at 3:15 pm

    @rikyrah: yes because what the Democratic Party really needs is another war hawk centrist running.

    In a sane world, there’d be space in the Democratic Party for a Labour wing. But instead we have the American equivalent of Lib-Dems.

  142. 142.

    NonyNony

    October 19, 2015 at 3:15 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Cody Deneault, 24, was adjusting the handgun in his pants pocket during the film when it went off, according to the Salina Post on Monday.

    Responsible gun owner!

    Seriously – when I first read this story this is pretty much exactly what I figured had happened. Some idiot who doesn’t know how to handle a gun gets himself a concealed carry permit because they’ll give them out to anyone with a pulse and don’t require you to actually do anything to prove that you’re not a dumbass. Guy sticks the gun into his pocket, loaded and with a bullet in the chamber. He also may or may not have had the safety on but since it’s in his fucking pants pocket who cares? The safety might get snagged on your car keys or something. Shift in your seat and bang – bullet in your leg. At least that’s all that happened – he could have hit some teenager in the back of the head if the angle on his gun had been slightly different.

    Note to all morons who would like to carry concealed: Get a holster. Use your holster. Do not stick your gun in your pocket. Also do not stick the gun down the back of your pants. Your ass crack is not a holster. Don’t walk around with a bullet in the chamber. If your gun is not in your hand, there should never be a bullet in the chamber. Clear the chamber before you put it away. In your holster. Not your pocket or your ass crack. The life you save could be your own. Dumbasses.

    (Seriously can we at least get a multiple choice test that asks anyone who wants to conceal carry whether or not it’s ever appropriate to stick your gun in your pocket or in the back of your pants? This is like the lowest possible bar to cross – if you can’t answer that question correctly you should not be carrying around a gun.)

  143. 143.

    jl

    October 19, 2015 at 3:16 pm

    @Southern Beale: Gowdy responds that this just shows the CIA is incompetent about security classifications, or don’t care because in the bag for HRC and has become politically corrupted.

    I guess he figures that will fly long enough, at least until he can come up with some more BS.

    Seems like the GOPers figure that they can just carry on. Maybe they think that the ‘permission’ that McCarthy and Hanna gave to the media to seriously discuss an obvious possibility (that the House hearings are bogus and really an HRC smear campaign) will fade away and disappear with time, so they should just double down on mining the emails for BS they can try to gin up into a scandal.

  144. 144.

    trollhattan

    October 19, 2015 at 3:16 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Tim Coleman, a father who took his 12-year-old daughter and her friend to the movie, told the Salina Journal on Sunday he wasn’t worried about an “active shooter” because he only heard one shot.

    What the fucking fuckity fuck?!? Kansas FOTY nominee: “We’re fine, I was just worried about that poor man possibly losing his beautiful pistol. Kids, I can always make me another.”

    Oh wait, I forgot, kids become bulletproof at 12. Just ask mine.

  145. 145.

    srv

    October 19, 2015 at 3:16 pm

    @Mandalay: I see no reason a disabled motorist should be carrying a tire iron when someone pulls up behind them.

  146. 146.

    Brachiator

    October 19, 2015 at 3:18 pm

    @catclub:

    Putting Oyelowo on the left is equal or higher billing.

    This is not the official billing, yet, but you’re right, and maybe this was even negotiated by the actors’ publicists.

    Craig’s name comes first, but Oyelowo’s photo comes first.

    But where is Desdemona, dammit!

  147. 147.

    trollhattan

    October 19, 2015 at 3:19 pm

    @NonyNony:
    And brings me back yet again to the Salt Lake City elementary school teacher who shot herself with her concealed precious while using the faculty can. And Utah law protects the anonymity of teachers packing heat. Mr. Coleman would clearly ask for his daugher to be placed in her class, because safety and freedom.

  148. 148.

    Patrick

    October 19, 2015 at 3:19 pm

    First, then-presumptive Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy said on Fox News that the committee’s purpose was to bring down Clinton’s poll numbers, a “gaffe” that had an extraordinary impact, especially when you consider that he was only acknowledging what everyone in Washington already knew.

    Then why didn’t the media in Washington point this out years ago?

  149. 149.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    October 19, 2015 at 3:19 pm

    @Mandalay:

    Yeah, if I’m in a broken-down car at 3 am, I’m not sure I would believe that the random car pulling up behind me just happens to be a plainclothes cop. And I probably would have some kind of weapon, because it’s 3 am and some strange guy in street clothes is knocking on my car window claiming to be a cop.

  150. 150.

    mark k

    October 19, 2015 at 3:19 pm

    Got a great idea if Hillary wins. Have Pres. Obama pardon her a la Ford/Nixon right before she swears in. Then any investigation into her past (and their will still be a million) will have no teeth.!

    Always thought Bill Clinton should have changed his first name to “Blame” just to f’up all the fascist whiners so that every time they start bearing false witness, it will look stupid “Well, I think it is Blame Clintons fault!” like this morning of Fox for ex.

  151. 151.

    jl

    October 19, 2015 at 3:20 pm

    @srv:

    ” You clearly have never been confronted with a tire iron before. ”

    Then the tire iron was the weapon that the deceased driver of a broke down car was armed with and it should be at the scene, should it not?

    You need to be more creative at dismissing the obvious problems with the police story on this one, which looks pretty bad for the police.

    Supposing that there was a confrontation because the driver was alarmed by an unidentified person stopping and approaching him where the driver felt it was unsafe, why did the plain clothes officer not call it in and have a uniformed officer respond? What was going on that required immediate attention? It is not as if the police are unaware of the danger posed to both citizens and the police by the possibility of criminals impersonating law officers.

  152. 152.

    scav

    October 19, 2015 at 3:22 pm

    @catclub: They did go for the low-hanging mass-market fruit though by talking so much about Craig. There’s a lot that could be said about Oleyowo’s career — but then, he’s done a lot more Shakespeare, so Craig benefits from the novelty angle.

  153. 153.

    rikyrah

    October 19, 2015 at 3:25 pm

    IG: tonylcaldwell @tonycaldwell
    Sandra Bland can’t smoke a cigarette. Eric Garner can’t sell a cigarette. Trayvon can’t have skittles. #CoreyJones can’t have a flat tire…

    Keegan Stephan @KeeganNYC
    Cops in FL shot & killed church musician #CoreyJones after his car broke down on Sunday: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/fla-church-musician-killed-side-road-article-1.2402760 … pic.twitter.com/zMpx8rYwvU

  154. 154.

    rikyrah

    October 19, 2015 at 3:27 pm

    @srv:

    @Mandalay: I see no reason a disabled motorist should be carrying a tire iron when someone pulls up behind them

    of course, you don’t.

    so, take your azz out on the middle of a highway at 3 am. and just smile when someone in plain clothes approaches you.

    yeah, ok.

    phuq.outta.here.with that bullshyt.

  155. 155.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    October 19, 2015 at 3:29 pm

    @Brachiator:

    They did a really interesting production of Othello in Chicago years ago that was “Kabuki Othello.” Within the story, Othello was an Ainu and the rest of the characters were Japanese. It was really cool.

  156. 156.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    October 19, 2015 at 3:33 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Dude, if you really think that the guy who played Martin Luther King Jr. is a bigger Movie Star than the guy who plays James Bond, you’re a little confused about how Hollywood works.

  157. 157.

    goblue72

    October 19, 2015 at 3:33 pm

    @srv: Yeah, cuz at 3 AM, alone with a disable car, and another car pulls up behind me – I’m gonna be all NOT paranoid and cautious. Where do you live – in Mayberry inside Andy Griffith’s head?

    And here’s one for you – what if the facts were slightly different and he was in the middle of changing a blown tire?

  158. 158.

    catclub

    October 19, 2015 at 3:33 pm

    Good grief. AOL account. I wonder if he is still paying $9.95/month for dialup.

    The New York Post first interviewed the alleged hacker, who said he accessed an AOL email account associated with Brennan that included files regarding his security clearance application, and the hacker also claims to have accessed a Comcast account associated with Johnson.

    http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/19/politics/cia-fbi-alleged-hacking-report/

  159. 159.

    schrodinger's cat

    October 19, 2015 at 3:35 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): I answered your comment about the Sepoy Mutiny, the other night, I don’t know whether you saw it.

  160. 160.

    goblue72

    October 19, 2015 at 3:35 pm

    @Cervantes: Apologies. iPhone user operator fail. My response was supposed to be to Cacti, not you.

  161. 161.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    October 19, 2015 at 3:37 pm

    @NonyNony:

    Your ass crack is not a holster.

    This needs to be a rotating tag line.

  162. 162.

    catclub

    October 19, 2015 at 3:38 pm

    @rikyrah: That’s not all. Marriage can be dangerous.

    Detroit Free Press

    Family of man killed by pastor: ‘It’s unbelievable’
    Detroit Free Press – ‎2 hours ago‎
    Detroit Police are investigating allegations that the pastor accused of fatally shooting a man in church Sunday afternoon was having an affair with the victim’s wife.

  163. 163.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 19, 2015 at 3:39 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): seconded!

  164. 164.

    Mandalay

    October 19, 2015 at 3:40 pm

    @jl:

    You need to be more creative at dismissing the obvious problems with the police story on this one, which looks pretty bad for the police.

    Unfortunately the only conceivable problem for the police is if there was any recording of what happened. Otherwise it all rests on the word of the police officer, who will presumably claim that he fired his gun because he feared for his safety.

    Which only makes sense in a bizarro world: the dead man decided he would pass the time by attacking a cop while he waited for the tow truck to arrive? Really?

    Everyone will know it was murder, but nobody will be able to prove it.

  165. 165.

    trollhattan

    October 19, 2015 at 3:41 pm

    @goblue72:
    He would never live in Mayberry because Andy only allowed Barney one bullet, which he had to carry in his pocket.

    No Freedom whatsoever.

  166. 166.

    goblue72

    October 19, 2015 at 3:42 pm

    @catclub: And the director of Homeland Security is using whatever “free” email account that comes with his Comcast package.

    This is our government folks – Boomers (both early and late) for whom “the Internet” is a whizbang technology and they still can’t figure out why nobody uses Blackberries anymore. Young enough to program the clock on their VCR, old enough to still have an AOL account.

  167. 167.

    Roger Moore

    October 19, 2015 at 3:42 pm

    @Rob:
    Looking it up, it was apparently Ben Franklin who made that argument:

    Dr. Franklin was for retaining the clause [on impeachment], as favorable to the executive. History furnishes one example only of a first magistrate being formally brought to public justice. Every body cried out against this as unconstitutional. What was the practice before this, in cases where the chief magistrate rendered himself obnoxious? Why, recourse was had to assassination, in which he was not only deprived of his life, but of the opportunity of vindicating his character. It would be the best way, therefore, to provide in the Constitution for the regular punishment of the executive, where his misconduct should deserve it, and for his honorable acquittal, where he should be unjustly accused.

  168. 168.

    Punchy

    October 19, 2015 at 3:42 pm

    @dedc79: WAISTBAND! MUTHAFUCKAH WENT WAISTBAND ON ME!

    Honestly, “reaching near his waistband” is the automatic Get Out of Any Shooting Anywhere Card. So much easier than planting a piece on him. As subjective as necessary to fit any (non-dashboard cam’d) sitchy.

    Hell, in FL, he could probably just go SYG on the judge and say he felt threatened when he saw the man was Black and alive.

  169. 169.

    catclub

    October 19, 2015 at 3:43 pm

    It is like BLS GDP and unemployment figures, but more dead bodies.

    Initial accounts of a deadly Sept. 24 stampede outside Mecca during the hajj pilgramage suggested that more than 700 people had been killed. The Associated Press has since kept a running tally of how many individuals are believed to have died, and it now says that number is at least 2,121:

    http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/10/19/hajj_stampede_killed_at_least_2_121_associated_press_tally_indicates.html

  170. 170.

    Applejinx

    October 19, 2015 at 3:44 pm

    Balloon Juice. Balloon Juice never changes. :/

    It looks like Bernie Sanders has reached the ‘and then they fight you’ part of the primary.

    I hope he sticks to what he’s been doing: taking the high road, not getting nasty with other Democratic nominees-in-the-making, and using his extreme influence to get people used to genuinely progressive policies and outlandish, previously inadmissible notions like ‘taxes pay for things and you can have government doing useful things’. Sounds appropriate.

    Nice that Donald Trump is taking point on the previously inadmissible notion of ‘9/11 happened when W was president’. He’s on such a roll, he might even suggest that the government didn’t handle Hurricane Katrina perfectly, and the total destruction of an American city (thanks to climate change we are likely to see THAT happen again, somewhere) was a bad thing!

    I will also quietly hope for one of two things: either (a) that the Clinton people taking the low road so she doesn’t have to, will figure out we’re in a big rules change and try to not do ridiculous shitflinging, or (b) that people recognize it’s just habit at this point and don’t freak out.

    Notably, those of us that are Bernie people had better be as smart as him, and as focussed on the end goal. That’s not a cult of personality thing, that is furthering left-wing representation in America by whatever means are necessary and being smart and patient about it. If the shit-flinger scorched earth people are actually Clinton people (like when Obama ran against her), we still need their votes and the votes of those who are tuned out but generally sympathetic.

    Times are changing mighty quick. Don’t do shitflinging politics out of habit. Be a builder of general society concepts, not ‘Hunger Games only with Politicians’. The MSM will not help us get a clue this way so we gotta do it anyhow, and shake off the distractions.

    I humbly suggest that desperately hunting for a nutjob who supports Bernie is a distraction, as is requiring him to personally make loyalty statements for and against every freak who pops onto the media’s radar screen. He’s delivered a damn good bitchslap to Martin Shkreli, that should be enough for now.

  171. 171.

    catclub

    October 19, 2015 at 3:46 pm

    @goblue72: SF86 forms should have asked if you have an AOL account and reject security clearance (OR renewal) of those who do.

    Better yet, ask if password is weak and anyone with one that can be cracked via rainbow tables is also rejected.

  172. 172.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 19, 2015 at 3:47 pm

    Balloon Juice. Balloon Juice never changes. :/

    It looks like Bernie Sanders has reached the ‘and then they fight you’ part of the primary.

    How many of the 167 comments before yours mentioned Sanders?

  173. 173.

    trollhattan

    October 19, 2015 at 3:47 pm

    Baby steps.

    The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the main parts of gun control laws passed in New York and Connecticut after the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

    The laws ban semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity magazines.

    New York governor Andrew Cuomo praised the decision in a statement:

    “This case validates a simple, fundamental truth about gun control: that it is possible to have strong laws that keep our communities safe, while at the same time respecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners. New York has set the example – and it’s far past time for Washington to follow suit and pass a sensible national gun control policy.”

    NPR’s Hansi Lo Wang reports for the Newscast unit:

    “The laws were challenged by coalitions of gun owners, firearms dealers and gun rights advocates. They said the bans in New York and Connecticut violated Second Amendment rights.

    “But now a panel of three judges on the the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals say they disagree. Their ruling says the core provisions of these laws do not violate the Second Amendment.”

    The court did, however, find certain parts of the laws unconstitutional. The judges reversed New York’s ban of magazines loaded with more than seven rounds of ammunition and Connecticut’s ban of the non-semiautomatic Remington 7615.

    Hansi adds that the plaintiffs plan to appeal the ruling to the nation’s highest court.

  174. 174.

    Brachiator

    October 19, 2015 at 3:47 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    Dude, if you really think that the guy who played Martin Luther King Jr. is a bigger Movie Star than the guy who plays James Bond, you’re a little confused about how Hollywood works.

    We do not have any argument. I said in another post that Craig is the bigger star and also has a movie opening next month. Craig also approached the director about doing the play.

    This is kinda like Meryl Streep getting prominent billing in Suffragette because her presence helped the movie get financed.

    But I also noted that the article identifies both men as movie stars. It’s not just about how Hollywood works, it’s about how the NY Times editors and writers work as well.

    They did a really interesting production of Othello in Chicago years ago that was “Kabuki Othello.” Within the story, Othello was an Ainu and the rest of the characters were Japanese. It was really cool.

    OK. I can see how that works.

    And Kurosawa’s Ran is one of the best versions of “King Lear” I’ve ever seen.

  175. 175.

    Ksmiami

    October 19, 2015 at 3:50 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: not to mention a few thousand New Orleans residents – w had quite the death toll during his reign of error – (let’s also not count the 100k plus Iraqis who died)

    I really really hate the Bush family- rotten rotten people

  176. 176.

    Face

    October 19, 2015 at 3:52 pm

    @catclub: So a bunch of them went from indirectly speaking to Allah to meeting him straight up. Probably not the way religious outings are supposed to commence. Tell me again why religion is such the shizzle?

  177. 177.

    Grumpy Code Monkey

    October 19, 2015 at 3:53 pm

    =sigh=

    Tripped the moderation filter.

    Let’s try that again:

    Then we learned that the Select Committee has all but abandoned investigating Benghazi to focus on Clinton’s emails (and that committee staffers are so busy they’ve formed a wine club and a gun-buying club).

    Same as it ever was. Remember how the Whitewater investigation started with allegations of shady real estate dealings and morphed into “where did Bill put his ding-a-ling today?”

    It’s not about finding evidence of official wrongdoing, it’s about finding dirt. At least they’re being honest about it this time.

  178. 178.

    burnspbesq

    October 19, 2015 at 3:58 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Not to justify or excuse this despicable act, but if the kid was blowing .19 at 7:30 p.m. on a football Saturday, he’d probably spent the entire day fucked up, and probably puked his impulse control into a dumpster along with the remains of his first four Jack-and-Cokes.

  179. 179.

    Peale

    October 19, 2015 at 3:58 pm

    @Grumpy Code Monkey: Ummmm. No. I don’t think we can give them “honest about it” credit. The republicans on the committee are still being dishonest. It’s just that people who aren’t on the committee won’t shut up and let them do their work.

    Is the Times more honest this time? I don’t think so. They are just lying more shamelessly.

  180. 180.

    goblue72

    October 19, 2015 at 3:58 pm

    @catclub: I’d make fun of Obama too for still using a Blackberry, but my understanding is that there are some security related issues as to why world leaders still use them.

  181. 181.

    catclub

    October 19, 2015 at 4:03 pm

    @goblue72: It would be funny if the FBI/NSA forbid Obama from getting an iphone with end-to-end encryption. They hate that.

  182. 182.

    Peale

    October 19, 2015 at 4:04 pm

    @catclub: It’s brilliant. The Chinese can try and hack it…but it takes 16 hours to download 1 WordPerfect attachment.

  183. 183.

    Mandalay

    October 19, 2015 at 4:05 pm

    @rikyrah: This is what people are saying about the threat that the cop eliminated:

    He was a church musician… a church man. He was the most laid back, easy going guy I’ve ever worked with.

    The police killed a friend of mine this morning. Before they tell you he was a thug, he played drums in church every single Sunday.

    Half a dozen family, friends, and co-workers each told the Daily News that they did not know Corey to carry a firearm or even touch guns recreationally.

    Delray Beach Housing Authority CEO Dorothy Ellington told local reporters that Corey had only taken one vacation in eight years and was one of the best, most respectful, compliant employees she had ever had.

    The cops are going to have a really hard time concocting a credible story for this murder.

  184. 184.

    Doug R

    October 19, 2015 at 4:05 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Their social skills will get better or they’ll dump him when they don’t get their unicorn.

  185. 185.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    October 19, 2015 at 4:05 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Thanks! I was out and about most of the weekend, so I probably missed it. I’ll run back and take a look and (if needed) respond back the next time you review the show. I don’t know as much about Indian history as I probably should, so I do appreciate you answering my dumb questions about it. ?

  186. 186.

    bystander

    October 19, 2015 at 4:06 pm

    The last time Daniel Craig was on Broadway, he played with his wife, Rachel Weisz, in a Pinter play. The reviews were mediocre. Even the advance word of mouth was tepid.

    Tickets were for resale on StubHub for $700 per orchestra seat. Many people thought it had something to do with Craig’s popularity as a movie star, no matter how many millions and millions of rabid Pinter fans there are. Nobody even mentioned Weisz’s name although she’s a far better actor. IMHO. Sexism? You decide.

  187. 187.

    Tom

    October 19, 2015 at 4:07 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Maybe they found out that F&F was started by the Cheney administration?

  188. 188.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    October 19, 2015 at 4:12 pm

    @Brachiator:

    For some reason, another Meryl Streep movie came to mind when I was thinking about the distinction between a Movie Star and a movie star — “Into the Woods.” You can safely say that Meryl Streep and Anna Kendrick are both (lowercase) movie stars because they’ve both starred in movies, but of the two of them, only Streep is a Movie Star (TM).

  189. 189.

    Spinoza is my Co-pilot

    October 19, 2015 at 4:18 pm

    @Goblue72: Nah. Real molly (actual MDMA) mostly comes from the Netherlands (good labs there). “Molly” from China is who-the-hell-knows shit (unlikely to have much or even any MDMA). Ecstasy mostly hasn’t been MDMA-based for years.

    So I hear.

  190. 190.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    October 19, 2015 at 4:19 pm

    @jl:

    My other question is, why the hell was a rookie cop patrolling alone in plainclothes at 3:00 am? Something about this story is not adding up, and it’s not from the victim’s side.

  191. 191.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    October 19, 2015 at 4:22 pm

    Random question I’ll probably have to ask again later — does anyone know if the new Misty Copeland documentary would be suitable for a kid under age 10? My niece has been taking dance lessons for several years, so she might be interested, but she’s only 9.

  192. 192.

    eldorado

    October 19, 2015 at 4:24 pm

    @Miss Bianca: that’s what happens when you let post-Napoleonic monarchical apologists write the history books.

  193. 193.

    gelfling545

    October 19, 2015 at 4:25 pm

    “And in my judgement”

    Ah, if only he had some!

  194. 194.

    Brachiator

    October 19, 2015 at 4:25 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet):

    For some reason, another Meryl Streep movie came to mind when I was thinking about the distinction between a Movie Star and a movie star — “Into the Woods.” You can safely say that Meryl Streep and Anna Kendrick are both (lowercase) movie stars because they’ve both starred in movies, but of the two of them, only Streep is a Movie Star (TM).

    And in “The Prince and the Showgirl,” Marilyn Monroe is the movie star, not Laurence Olivier. A situation that informs “My Week With Marilyn.”

  195. 195.

    boatboy_srq

    October 19, 2015 at 4:27 pm

    @Jeffro: The GOTea long ago ceased to be a party and became a shared delusion. It’s only in the last few years that the symptoms have become visible. I blame Obama Rush Limbaugh and Michael Weiner Savage.

  196. 196.

    jl

    October 19, 2015 at 4:30 pm

    Seems like some of media response to outing the House investigation as a fraud is to double down on BS so as to take up the slack.

    The short version is that State Dept cybersecurity was substandard before, during and after HRC, much of it due to antiquated technology, but it is all HRC’s fault, or at least she should take the blame in the headline.

    AP Enterprise: Under Clinton, State’s cybersecurity suffered
    http://news.yahoo.com/ap-enterprise-under-clinton-states-083816644.html

  197. 197.

    Yatsuno

    October 19, 2015 at 4:30 pm

    @NonyNony:

    Some idiot who doesn’t know how to handle a gun gets himself a concealed carry permit because they’ll give them out to anyone with a pulse and don’t require you to actually do anything to prove that you’re not a dumbass.

    This is Kansas. He didn’t even need the permit.

  198. 198.

    rikyrah

    October 19, 2015 at 4:31 pm

    @catclub:

    Detroit Free Press

    Family of man killed by pastor: ‘It’s unbelievable’
    Detroit Free Press – ‎2 hours ago‎
    Detroit Police are investigating allegations that the pastor accused of fatally shooting a man in church Sunday afternoon was having an affair with the victim’s wife

    saw that. I believe the victim. Pastor is no damn good.

  199. 199.

    boatboy_srq

    October 19, 2015 at 4:33 pm

    @Mandalay: Not really. “Palm Beach Gardens” pretty much covers it. It will be interesting, though, to find out exactly how Jones was supposed to know a plainclothes guy in an unmarked car pulling up behind him in the middle of the night was a cop.

  200. 200.

    schrodinger's cat

    October 19, 2015 at 4:33 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): No problem, I am no expert either. What most people know about Indian history is unfortunately through a Victorian lens, so it needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

  201. 201.

    Peale

    October 19, 2015 at 4:38 pm

    @Amir Khalid: It became more useful to have Holder in office as the man they could say was behind all of the guns the kids were using to kill themselves. Every mass shooting could be seen as another attempt by Holder to stage an attack to discredit the gun nuts.

  202. 202.

    rikyrah

    October 19, 2015 at 4:41 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet):

    Random question I’ll probably have to ask again later — does anyone know if the new Misty Copeland documentary would be suitable for a kid under age 10? My niece has been taking dance lessons for several years, so she might be interested, but she’s only 9

    I haven’t seen it, but it’s a documentary. Copeland’s background isn’t sugarplums…she’s had a difficult life. And, I think she’s very honest about race in dance. Looked at the Amazon.com ratings for it, and folks were like they thought it would focus more on race….so, take that for what it is. Does go over her background and race in ballet, but doesn’t seem to overwhelm the movie.

  203. 203.

    Mandalay

    October 19, 2015 at 4:48 pm

    @boatboy_srq:

    “Palm Beach Gardens” pretty much covers it.

    No it doesn’t. There are plenty of issues arising from this incident that that the cops need to address, and thankfully they can no longer be as dismissive about them as they have in the past.

    They may still end up getting away with legalized murder in this case if there is no recording, but they are not going to get a free pass.

  204. 204.

    catclub

    October 19, 2015 at 4:54 pm

    @Mandalay: I think it is impressive/appalling that the Doonesbury from the mid-80’s has Palm Beach racism in it.

  205. 205.

    redshirt

    October 19, 2015 at 5:37 pm

    Palm Beach is hella racist.

  206. 206.

    JR

    October 19, 2015 at 6:09 pm

    I’m actually surprised that nobody is trying to impeach her right now. Impeachment can be done for past actions even after the official has left office, and prevents the impeached official (if convicted in the Senate) from holding any office of trust or profit, presumably including the presidency.

    In other words, impeaching her now for things she did as Secretary of State could make her ineligible to be President. But they’re not doing it. Weird.

  207. 207.

    Cervantes

    October 19, 2015 at 6:20 pm

    @JR:

    Impeachment can be done for past actions even after the official has left office, and prevents the impeached official (if convicted in the Senate) from holding any office of trust or profit

    Federal judge Alcee Hastings was impeached by the House in 1988, convicted and removed by the Senate in 1989, and elected to the House in 1992, where he is still to this day incumbent.

  208. 208.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    October 19, 2015 at 6:43 pm

    Didn’t, like, Trey Gowdy accidentally reveal the location of a CIA facility by accident during the Benghazi hearings? And that wasn’t the first time one of those dimwits released classified info by accident. So, if we’re going to start talking about who is putting lives at risk…

  209. 209.

    J R in WV

    October 19, 2015 at 6:53 pm

    @Cacti:

    Or the 1,800 or so who died from Katrina, while the emergency response was directed by a personal Dubya lackey whose professional experience was in failing at organizing horse shows.

    Fixed that for you. Also:

    Plus the 5000+ military KIA and tens of thousands injured and permanently injured.

    Plus the hundreds of thousands of completely innocent Iraqi civilians killed and maimed.

    Plus the total anarchy now rolling all over the central mid-eastern area, killing, enslaving children as sex objects, destroying our historical heritage.

    All George Walker Bush’s fault for not requiring excellence in organizing both the military attack AND the post-war management of Iraq. They didn’t even know the difference between Sunni and Shia for Heaven’s sake!!

    The FEMA manager may have done a better job than Rummy, Powell and Cheney’s minions. Well, not likely, but he could have hardly done worse.

    Monsters of banality.

  210. 210.

    Denali

    October 19, 2015 at 6:58 pm

    @Rikyrah,

    Every day I am glad I don’t live in Texas. My daughter, who is on Medicaid, very much needs the services that Planned Parenthood provides. Guess she would have to rely on her dentist.

  211. 211.

    A guy

    October 19, 2015 at 8:24 pm

    Blaming a video equals either a lie or incompetence. Which are you willing to tolerate

  212. 212.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    October 19, 2015 at 9:34 pm

    @A guy:

    Prairie chicken alert!

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