June 27, 2018

Schumer: GOP Should Follow McConnell Precedent, No SCOTUS Vote In '18

Source: Talking Points Memo



By Matt Shuham | June 27, 2018 3:31 pm

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Wednesday urged Republicans to follow Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) 2016 precedent and wait until after upcoming elections to consider a nominee to fill retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s seat.

“Our Republican colleagues in the Senate should follow the rule they set in 2016 not to consider a Supreme Court justice in an election year,” he said. “Sen. McConnell would tell anyone who listened that the Senate had the right to advise and consent, and that was every bit as important as the President’s right to nominate. Millions of people are just months away from determining the senators who should vote to confirm or reject the President’s nominee, and their voices deserve to be heard now as Leader McConnell thought they should deserve to be heard then.”

“Anything but that would be the absolute height of hypocrisy,” he added.

In 2016, McConnell and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) refused to consider President Barack Obama’s nominee to fill late Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat, Merrick Garland. Instead, the seat was held open for months following Garland’s March 2016 nomination, until President Donald Trump had assumed office and nominated Neil Gorsuch for the seat.

###


Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/schumer-gop-should-follow-mcconnell-precedent-no-scotus-vote-in-18

June 27, 2018

Fox News begins drumbeat to void women's rights: 'Anyone who's read the Constitution...

Fox News begins drumbeat to void women’s rights: ‘Anyone who’s read the Constitution should be against Roe v. Wade’

DAVID EDWARDS
27 JUN 2018 AT 15:41 ET

America’s most-watched conservative news network, Fox News, began a drumbeat on Wednesday that could eventually overturn abortion rights for women.

Just hours after the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy was announced, Fox News host Dana Perino brought on conservative writer Ben Shapiro to talk about the possibility that the court could outlaw abortion by overturning its Roe v. Wade decision.

“On the left, that’s what they’re concerned about,” Perino said. “Your thoughts?”

“I don’t think that’s completely inaccurate,” Shapiro explained. “The fact is that Roe v. Wade is a horribly decided decision. Any justice that the president appoints should be against Roe v. Wade because anybody who’s read the Constitution should be against Roe v. Wade — even if you are a pro-choice person.”

Shapiro argued that it was “highly unlikely” that states would “outlaw” abortion soon after a new justice was appointed.

more + video:
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/06/fox-news-begins-drumbeat-void-womens-rights-anyone-whos-read-constitution-roe-v-wade/

June 27, 2018

Bernie Sanders Defends Sarah Sanders: People Have a Right To Go to a Restaurant for Dinner

by Caleb Howe | 2:01 pm, June 27th, 2018

On MSNBC on Wednesday, former democrat presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders defended White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on the currently dominant political topic of civility in politics.

“Look, as I’ve said before, yeah, I think people have the right to go into a restaurant and have dinner,” said Sanders (Bernie) about Saunders (Sarah) being kicked out of a restaurant with her family over political differences.

Host Kristen Welker was asking the Vermont senator about the lack of civility in general at first, and he said he’s “not a great fan of shouting down people or being rude to people,” but that people have a right to be angry.

Echoing Sen. Chuck Schumer, who was characterized by Women’s March organizer Linda Sarsour as an obstacle to justice and Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy on the same network last night, Sanders said that voters should channel their anger constructively and do “exactly what Alexandria [Ocasio-Cortez] did last night.”

“Get involved in campaigns so that we end one-party reactionary rule here in Washington,” said Sanders. “That’s how you should take your anger out.”

###

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/bernie-sanders-defends-sarah-sanders-people-have-a-right-to-go-to-a-restaurant-for-dinner/

June 27, 2018

Parents torture & kill 10-year-old after he says he 'likes boys'

Source: LGBTQ Nation




By Alex Bollinger · Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Investigators said that a 10-year-old child who died recently after years of physical abuse may have come out as gay just before he was killed.

Last Wednesday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department responded to a 911 call at Anthony Avalos’s home and were told by his mother Heather Barron that the child had “suffered injuries from a fall.”

He had severe head injuries and cigarette burns on his body, and his mother and her boyfriend Kareem Leiva had been reported numerous times for child abuse. Anthony was unresponsive and taken to the hospital, where he died a day later.

Since 2013, the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and the police received 16 calls from school officials and family members concerning child abuse by Barron and Leiva. At least 13 of those calls, according to an anonymous source who spoke with the LA Times, were about Anthony specifically, not one of his six siblings.


Read more: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2018/06/parents-torture-kill-10-year-old-says-likes-boys/

June 27, 2018

America's Trading Partners Are Having Plenty of Fun Without Us

By Wendy S. Cutler

Ms. Cutler served as acting United States trade representative from June 2013 to October 2015.

June 27, 2018

There is a new buzzword in trade circles these days: diversification. “There has never been a better time to diversify,” a spokesman for Canada’s trade minister wrote in a tweet after the disastrous recent Group of 7 meeting.

South Korea became so frustrated as it renegotiated its six-year-old trade agreement with the United States in the spring that it became determined to turn elsewhere. South Korea’s trade minister started a “trade diversification” strategy soon after the agreement was announced.

Diversification is the polite way of saying that America’s friends and allies believe we have become an unreliable partner, and they are now looking elsewhere. From Ottawa to Brussels to Seoul, our trading partners are fed up with the Trump administration’s tariffs, and they have given up on trying to charm President Trump or persuade him that free trade is good. To reduce their economic dependence on the United States and their exposure to a potential global trade war, they are forging trade deals that leave us out of the picture altogether.

On June 14, Canada’s government asked Parliament to ratify a new version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which the United States backed out of last year. On June 18, the European Union trade commissioner visited Australia and three days later, New Zealand to begin negotiations for free-trade agreements; and on June 22, South Korea announced plans to pursue negotiations for its first free-trade agreement with Russia.

more
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/opinion/trump-tariffs-allies-trade-deals.html

June 27, 2018

Democracy in peril: With the Supreme Court backing down, who will stop Donald Trump?

Congress has become a craven enabler, and the high court just gave Trump free rein. It’s all up to Mueller now

HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
JUNE 27, 2018 12:30PM (UTC)

The biggest question of the Trump era so far has been whether the institutions would hold under this president's ongoing assault on the rule of law. He does not understand how government is supposed to work on the most basic level, has no respect for or knowledge of the U.S. Constitution and is an instinctive authoritarian demagogue with no sense of his own limits. His own people cannot restrain him.

By this time it's clear that the Republican Congress is failing to perform its duty. It is a willing accomplice in the president's continuous violation of every established rule and norm. In fact, congressional leaders are now helping President Trump evade the legal consequences of his campaign's complicity in an attack on the electoral system.

They have likewise shown no appetite to challenge Trump on policy, allowing him free rein to enact a draconian anti-immigrant program, start a global trade war, tear up treaties and international agreements, denigrate our long-term alliances and use executive agencies to take a wrecking ball to the regulatory apparatus that keeps the citizens safe from disasters both natural and man-made. Republicans in Congress have also turned a blind eye to the rampant corruption permeating every corner of the executive branch, including the Oval Office. The Congress, as currently configured, is beyond useless as a check on a rogue president. It is functioning as his co-conspirator.

That leaves the third branch of government, the courts. Up until now, they have been the only functioning bulwark against the worst of Trump's impulses. As of yesterday, however, it became clear that the Supreme Court, the only co-equal branch of government that could have checked the president's power, is also abdicating its duty. In its ruling on Trump's "travel ban," it pretty much gave the president a blank check when it comes to dealing with foreigners. He has a free hand now and will no doubt waste little time in implementing his most oppressive anti-immigrant policies. He may well be inspired by the high court's deference to his power to push the envelope in any other way he chooses.

more
https://www.salon.com/2018/06/27/democracy-in-peril-with-the-supreme-court-backing-down-who-will-stop-donald-trump/

June 27, 2018

Here's the Viral Two-Minute Ad That Helped Propel Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Her Stunning Upset Win

https://www.mediaite.com/online/heres-the-viral-two-minute-ad-that-helped-propel-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-to-her-stunning-upset-win/

June 27, 2018

Kellyanne Targets Senate Intern Who Heckled Trump By Name, Says WH Would Have Fired Her

by Ken Meyer | 9:34 am, June 27th, 2018

Kellyanne Conway just called out the Senate intern — by name on Fox News — who was suspended for yelling “fuck you” at President Trump several days ago.

The White House special counselor gave an interview to Fox & Friends on Wednesday, where she was asked about how press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is receiving Secret Service protection in light of the harassment she and other Trump officials have received recently. As Conway swatted down critics for “inciting violence” against White House staff, she eventually targeted media executives for hiring political observers and commentators and letting them “get away with saying things there that you would not get past an editor’s desk and that’s very concerning.”

After that, Conway named congressional intern Caitlin Marriott on air, saying “I’m sure she’s being deified on the Left.”



Conway went on to say there’s “no moral equivalence” between the rhetoric Trump used during his campaign rallies, urging attendees to assault protestors, and the recent comments from Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA).

So lets see here: yelling profanity at a politician is a fireable offense, but when White House official Kelly Sadler jokes that Sen. John McCain is irrelevant because he’s “dying,” the White House ignores it.

Got it.

###

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/kellyanne-targets-senate-intern-who-heckled-trump-by-name-says-wh-would-have-fired-her/

June 27, 2018

Did Michael Avenatti Just Hint He's Running for President in 2020?

by Ronn Blitzer | 9:49 am, June 27th, 2018

Twitter is abuzz with speculation that the legal and media battle of 2018 may be the political battle of 2020, after Stormy Daniels‘ lawyer Michael Avenatti posted a comment on Twitter Tuesday night about what it would take for someone to go up against President Donald Trump.

https://twitter.com/MichaelAvenatti/status/1011828046293291008

Avenatti has similarly described himself this way in the past, and has certainly shown no fear in publicly going after the president.

The reactions to the comment were excited, to say the least.

https://twitter.com/ManInTheHoody/status/1011828778253864960
https://twitter.com/nonconfromist/status/1011828430634082305
https://twitter.com/nonconfromist/status/1011829297382711296

It doesn’t look like Avenatti has answered these questions yet, although when someone asked if his tweet meant he’d be up for the role of U.S. Attorney General, he did say no to that.

https://twitter.com/MichaelAvenatti/status/1011914046164041728

In an email to Law&Crime, Avenatti explained that he meant that he’s not interested in being Attorney General in the current administration. Regarding the presidential buzz, he simply said, “As for the response, I am extremely fortunate to have some very strong and passionate supporters who don’t hesitate to tell me what they think.”

###

https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/did-michael-avenatti-just-hint-hes-running-for-president-in-2020/

June 27, 2018

DOJ Tells Congress To Fix Immigration After Judge's Order To Reunite Families

Source: Associated Press



By Associated Press | June 27, 2018 8:34 am

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department says a judge’s order to reunite families separated at the border “makes it even more imperative” that Congress pass immigration legislation that would enable it “to simultaneously enforce the law and keep families together.”

Otherwise, the administration says, “lawlessness at the border will continue.”

On Tuesday, a judge in California ordered U.S. border authorities to reunite separated families within 30 days. If the children are younger than 5, they must be reunited with their families within 14 days of the order.

The Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy on illegal border crossings resulted in some 2,000 children separated from their families so the adults could be detained. It’s unclear how legislation might enable him to continue his policy without separating families or placing children in jail-like settings.

###

Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/doj-congress-immigration-fix-family-separation-policy-border