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President Obama: Git R Done!

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There. I said it.

Like so many Americans with at least half a brain, I am sick to death of ignorant, stupid jackasses who think they know what’s best for America. We all know them. The ones who don’t read — but claim to. The ones who can’t name the founding fathers — yet use the memory of them for their own misguided, selfish purposes. The ones who think that government is bad — but have no idea how to replace it or make it better. The ones who spend their time bashing Obama because they feel powerless, never realizing that — right or wrong — their own words have power.

Obama rode into office on the white steed of populist anger at a Republican government that didn’t believe in government and worked hard to prove its misbelief right, and a left-wing that thought they saw their hearts in his eyes — and thought they heard their hearts in his words. Pre-election Barack Obama was an agent of change. But now, we fear, post-inaugural Barack Obama is an agent of big banks, big pharma, and big words – without the big balls to carry through on his big promises — at least to us.

We’ll see.

Ever since the fiasco that was the Massachusetts special election last Tuesday, the word “populism” has seen a huge spike in usage — mostly from the right. Using the Tea Party bigots (I’m sorry, “Tea Party Americans,”), the Republicans are claiming Scott Brown’s victory is a victory for “Average Americans.” Never mind that Brown, a real estate lawyer and graduate of tony Tufts University and Boston College, owns five houses and may just be too cheap to buy another damn truck.

Maybe Obama needs his own truck. He’s made it clear by railing against banks and tossing up a spending freeze that he’s moving toward the dangerous ground of trying to score points by tapping into this populist rage. Tom Friedman said it today, in, “Adults Only, Please,”

“Lately, we’ve seen an explosion of situational thinking. I support the broad proposals President Obama put forth last week to prevent banks from becoming too big to fail and to protect taxpayers from banks that get in trouble by speculating and then expect us to bail them out. But the way the president unveiled his proposals — “if those folks want a fight, it’s a fight I’m ready to have” — left me feeling as though he was looking for a way to bash the banks right after the Democrats’ loss in Massachusetts, in order to score a few cheap political points more than to initiate a serious national discussion about an incredibly complex issue.”

Ditto.

But who knows? In this week’s Newsweek, Michael Cohen writes,

“Three forces have conspired to prevent President Obama from running the country effectively: congressional Republicans, congressional Democrats, and the American people. Obama should confront them in the State of the Union.”

And I think Obama should kick the shit out of them. Seriously.

But we know Barack Obama. He won’t.

But he will find a way to come out swinging when his back is up against a wall. So, Mr. President, start swinging. It’s time to say “STFU” to the GOP, the Blue-Dog Dems, and the special interests. You’re never going to get them to like you, respect you, or work with you. It’s time to lead, take no prisoners — consequences be damned.

President Obama, here’s a list of things we need to hear you say in tonight’s State of the Union address. And, more importantly, follow up on. You want to tip your hat to “populism?” In the words of one of the most famous American populists, “Larry The Cable Guy,” it’s time to “Git R Done.”

Civil Rights

Stop teasing and slowly doling out little bits and pieces. Americans deserve equality — all Americans. Yes, even LGBTQ Americans. Why not put together a comprehensive package of LGBTQ rights — rights that you promised us, rights you campaigned on, and some you didn’t.

Repeal DADT. For the 66,000 LGBTQ Americans now proudly serving, and for the 13,500 who were discharged for being who they were created to be. Embrace them all, and invite back the ones we lost to DADT.

Repeal DOMA, and ensure all couples can adopt.

Push Congress to have ENDA passed. Then sign it.

Economy

Jobs at all costs. Throw caution to the wind. No, you don’t even have to do that. Create a “Rebuild America” program. Fix America’s infrastructure. Our roads and bridges are falling apart. Don’t wait for the next Michigan bridge collapse. Don’t wait for the next catastrophe to happen. Do it now. Repair bridges. Build bridges. Build schools. Build wind farms. Pay people to figure our how to remove our country from being dependent of foreign oil. Pay our best and brightest to go to college. We know you hold dear the value of education — act on that. American minds and spirit are the only assets we truly have left.

Find an appropriate path to dress down Wall Street — one that doesn’t force the DOW to drop 5% in two days. But one that says, “Bankers, we’re in charge now.”

Demand Congress pass a health care bill. Demand the public option be put back. Tell America that they wanted it, and you’re going to fight for it.

Congress

This may be hard for you sir, but the time has come to play hardball. Dirty, nasty, mean-spirited, low-down, roll up your sleeves, roll in the mud politics.

Call out every Congressman who voted or stood against health care reform.

Call out every Congressman who voted or stood against your nominees — like Erroll Southers.

Call out every Congressman who voted or stood against the stimulus.

Call out every Congressman who voted or stood against any of your platform.

Connect the dots for the American people. Show us why obstructionists are the real terrorists.

Fight back, sir.

In short, Mr. President, tell America you’re going to fight for us. And make sure you do. Because, right now, it feels like you’re not.

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OPINION

‘I Hope You Find Happiness’: Moskowitz Trolls Comer Over Impeachment Fail

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12 hours ago

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April 24, 2024

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U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) is mocking House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Comer over a CNN report revealing the embattled Kentucky Republican who has been alleging without proof President Joe Biden is the head of a vast multi-million dollar criminal bribery and influence-peddling conspiracy, has given up trying to impeach the leader of the free world.

CNN on Wednesday had reported, “after 15 months of coming up short in proving some of his biggest claims against the president, Comer recently approached one of his Republican colleagues and made a blunt admission: He was ready to be ‘done with’ the impeachment inquiry into Biden.” The news network described Chairman Comer as “frustrated” and his investigation as “at a dead end.”

One GOP lawmaker told CNN, “Comer is hoping Jesus comes so he can get out.”

“He is fed up,” the Republican added.

Despite the Chairman’s alleged remarks, “a House Oversight Committee spokesperson maintains that ‘the impeachment inquiry is ongoing and impeachment is 100% still on the table.'”

RELATED: ‘Used by the Russians’: Moskowitz Mocks Comer’s Biden Impeachment Failure

Last week, Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) got into a shouting match with Chairman Comer, with the Maryland Democrat saying, “You have not identified a single crime – what is the crime that you want to impeach Joe Biden for and keep this nonsense going?” and Comer replying, “You’re about to find out.”

Before those heated remarks, Congressman Raskin chided Comer, humorously threatening to invite Rep. Moskowitz to return to the hearing.

Congressman Moskowitz appears to be the only member of the House Oversight Committee who has ever made a motion to call for a vote on impeaching President Biden, which he did last month, although he did it to ridicule Chairman Comer.

It appears the Moskowitz-Comer “bromance” may be over.

Wednesday afternoon Congressman Moskowitz, whose sarcasm is becoming well-known, used it to ridicule Chairman Comer.

“I was hoping our breakup would never become public,” he declared. “We had such a great thing while it lasted James. I will miss the time we spent together. I will miss our conversations. I will miss the pet names you gave me. I only wish you the best and hope you find happiness.”

Watch the video above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Doesn’t Care if Pregnant Women Live or Die’: Alito Slammed Over Emergency Abortion Remarks

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OPINION

‘Doesn’t Care if Pregnant Women Live or Die’: Alito Slammed Over Emergency Abortion Remarks

Published

15 hours ago

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April 24, 2024

By

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case centered on the question, can the federal government require states with strict abortion bans to allow physicians to perform abortions in emergency situations, specifically when the woman’s health, but not her life, is in danger?

The 1986 federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), signed into law by Republican President Ronald Reagan, says it can. The State of Idaho on Wednesday argued it cannot.

U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, The Washington Post’s Kim Bellware reported, “made a clear delineation between Idaho law and what EMTALA provides.”

“In Idaho, doctors have to shut their eyes to everything except death,” Prelogar said, according to Bellware. “Whereas under EMTALA, you’re supposed to be thinking about things like, ‘Is she about to lose her fertility? Is her uterus going to become incredibly scarred because of the bleeding? Is she about to undergo the possibility of kidney failure?’ ”

READ MORE: Gag Order Breach? Trump Targeted Cohen in Taped Interview Hours Before Contempt Hearing

Attorney Imani Gandy, an award-winning journalist and Editor-at-Large for Rewire News Group, highlighted an issue central to the case.

“The issue of medical judgment vs. good faith judgment is a huge one because different states have different standards of judgment,” she writes. “If a doctor exercises their judgment, another doctor expert witness at trial could question that. That’s a BIG problem here. That’s why doctors are afraid to provide abortions. They may have an overzealous prosecutor come behind them and disagree.”

Right-wing Justice Samuel Alito appeared to draw the most fire from legal experts, as his questioning suggested “fetal personhood” should be the law, which it is not.

“Justice Alito is trying to import fetal personhood into federal statutory law by suggesting federal law might well prohibit hospitals from providing abortions as emergency stabilizing care,” observed Constitutional law professor Anthony Michael Kreis.

Paraphrasing Justice Alito, Kreis writes: “Alito: How can the federal government restrict what Idaho criminalizes simply because hospitals in Idaho have accepted federal funds?”

Appearing to answer that question, Georgia State University College of Law professor of law and Constitutional scholar Eric Segall wrote: “Our Constitution unequivocally allows the federal gov’t to offer the states money with conditions attached no matter how invasive b/c states can always say no. The conservative justices’ hostility to the spending power is based only on politics and values not text or history.”

Professor Segall also served up some of the strongest criticism of the right-wing justice.

READ MORE: ‘They Will Have Thugs?’: Lara Trump’s Claim RNC Will ‘Physically Handle the Ballots’ Stuns

He wrote that Justice Alito “is basically making it clear he doesn’t care if pregnant women live or die as long as the fetus lives.”

Earlier Wednesday morning Segall had issued a warning: “Trigger alert: In about 20 minutes several of the conservative justices are going to show very clearly that that they care much more about fetuses than women suffering major pregnancy complications which is their way of owning the libs which is grotesque.”

Later, predicting “Alito is going to dissent,” Segall wrote: “Alito is dripping arrogance and condescension…in a case involving life, death, and medical emergencies. He has no bottom.”

Taking a broader view of the case, NYU professor of law Melissa Murray issued a strong warning: “The EMTALA case, Moyle v. US, hasn’t received as much attention as the mifepristone case, but it is huge. Not only implicates access to emergency medical procedures (like abortion in cases of miscarriage), but the broader question of federal law supremacy.”

READ MORE: ‘Blood on Your Hands’: Tennessee Republicans OK Arming Teachers After Deadly School Shooting

 

 

 

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News

Gag Order Breach? Trump Targeted Cohen in Taped Interview Hours Before Contempt Hearing

Published

17 hours ago

on

April 24, 2024

By

Hours before his attorneys would mount a defense on Tuesday claiming he had not violated his gag order Donald Trump might have done just that in a 12-minute taped interview that morning, which did not air until later that day. It will be up to Judge Juan Merchan to make that decision, if prosecutors add it to their contempt request.

Prosecutors in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office told Judge Juan Merchan that the ex-president violated the gag order ten times, via posts on his Truth Social platform, and are asking he be held in contempt. While the judge has yet to rule, he did not appear moved by their arguments. At one point, Judge Merchan told Trump’s lead lawyer Todd Blanche he was “losing all credibility” with the court.

And while Judge Merchan directed defense attorneys to provide a detailed timeline surrounding Trump’s Truth Social posts to prove he had not violated the gag order, Trump in an interview with a local television station appeared to have done so.

READ MORE: ‘They Will Have Thugs?’: Lara Trump’s Claim RNC Will ‘Physically Handle the Ballots’ Stuns

The gag order bars Trump from “commenting or causing others to comment on potential witnesses in the case, prospective jurors, court staff, lawyers in the district attorney’s office and the relatives of any counsel or court staffer, as CBS News reported.

“The threat is very real,” Judge Merchan wrote when he expanded the gag order. “Admonitions are not enough, nor is reliance on self-restraint. The average observer, must now, after hearing Defendant’s recent attacks, draw the conclusion that if they become involved in these proceedings, even tangentially, they should worry not only for themselves, but for their loved ones as well. Such concerns will undoubtedly interfere with the fair administration of justice and constitutes a direct attack on the Rule of Law itself.”

Tuesday morning, Trump told ABC Philadelphia’s Action News reporter Walter Perez, “Michael Cohen is a convicted liar. He’s got no credibility whatsoever.”

He repeated that Cohen is a “convicted liar,” and insisted he “was a lawyer for many people, not just me.”

READ MORE: ‘Old and Tired and Mad’: Trump’s Demeanor in Court Detailed by Rachel Maddow

Since Cohen is a witness in Trump’s New York criminal case, Judge Merchan might decide Trump’s remarks during that interview violated the gag order, if prosecutors bring the video to his attention.

Enter attorney George Conway, who has been attending Trump’s New York trial.

Conway reposted a clip of the video, tagged Manhattan District Attorney Bragg, writing: “cc: @ManhattanDA, for your proposed order to show cause why the defendant in 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘷. 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 should not spend some quiet time in lockup.”

Trump has been criminally indicted in four separate cases and is facing a total of 88 felony charges, including 34 in this New York criminal trial for alleged falsification of business records to hide payments of “hush money” to an adult film actress and one other woman, in an alleged effort to suppress their stories and protect his 2016 presidential campaign, which experts say is election interference.

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Blood on Your Hands’: Tennessee Republicans OK Arming Teachers After Deadly School Shooting

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