May 28, 2015

OH, SHIT. PRIMARY SEASON...

May 26, 2015

TOM TOMORROW: Iraq - The "Bad Intelligence"

DAILY KOS LINK: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/25/1386847/-Cartoon-The-bad-intelligence

May 23, 2015

Hodding Carter III: "Glenn Greenwald, I’m sorry: Why I changed my mind on Edward Snowden"

http://www.salon.com/2015/05/23/glenn_greenwald_im_sorry_why_i_changed_my_mind_on_edward_snowden/

SATURDAY, MAY 23, 2015 10:29 AM EDT

Glenn Greenwald, I’m sorry: Why I changed my mind on Edward Snowden

HODDING CARTER III

- snip -

When Edward Snowden’s breathtaking leap off the high board made its first splash, most public and media reactions featured shock and outrage, even among those appalled by the scope of the government’s electronic eavesdropping that he revealed. A minority applauded. A smaller minority yawned. But public ambivalence all but vanished within a month. Consecutive polls showed growing numbers giving emphatic thumbs-down. “You weren’t acting on my behalf,” they seemed to roar.

- snip -

As for the three reporters he entrusted with portions of the material, were they chosen because he trusted them to use it wisely? They were enablers of the unthinkable or traitors themselves. It was a hard position to maintain, since they were varied in background and outlook. Snowden apparently picked each because of what he saw as their unsparing coverage of government’s rogue activities. They include Laura Poitras, a left-wing freelance television producer whose previous work had stirred waters, and Barton Gellman, a mainline journalist who had won two Pulitzer Prizes while working for The Washington Post. The most prolific was Snowden’s tireless Boswell, Glenn Greenwald, a columnist for the British newspaper, The Guardian. He was, and is, unrestrained in his free-swinging indictment of what he considers to be mainstream media’s absence without leave from the fray. Major press heavies returned the compliment, labeling him a radical nouveau whose rants outran reason. To reread their snide fulminations is to realize that the best antidotes to arrogance are looped replay or a long memory.

MORE

May 23, 2015

Senate Blocks House Bill That Would Have Ended NSA's Bulk Collection of Domestic Phone

Source: Associated Press

@AP: BREAKING: Senate blocks House bill that would have ended NSA's bulk collection of domestic phone records: http://t.co/ry8Mywn4FJ/s/YhE7

Senate blocks House surveillance bill and 2-month extension
BY KEN DILANIAN
MAY. 23, 2015 1:07 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate struggled to prevent an interruption in critical government surveillance programs early Saturday, rejecting both a House-passed bill and a short-term extension of the USA Patriot Act.

The back-to-back votes left lawmakers without a clear fallback, although current law doesn't expire until midnight May 31.

The White House has pressured the Senate to back the House bill which would end the National Security Agency's bulk collection of domestic phone records. Instead, the records would remain with telephone companies subject to a case-by-case review.

The vote was 57-42, short of the 60-vote threshold to move ahead.

That was immediately followed by rejection of a two-month extension to the existing programs. The vote was 45-54, again short of the 60-vote threshold.

Republican officials said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., intended to try again, this time with an even shorter renewal of current law.

Whatever the Senate approves must be passed by the House, which has already left Washington for a weeklong Memorial Day break.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/60c0d988801742cf96cf8d725466c6e0/senate-expected-act-nsa-collection-phone-records

May 23, 2015

@SenatorReid: I just voted no on the fast-track trade bill. If there was an option to...

@SenatorReid: I just voted no on the fast-track trade bill. If there was an option to vote hell no, I would have done that.

m.twitter.com

May 23, 2015

BREAKING: Senate Approves Trade Bill in Major Win for President

Source: Associated Press

@AP: BREAKING: Senate approves trade bill in major win for President Barack Obama.

Senate approves Obama's hard-fought trade negotiating bill

MAY. 22, 2015 9:23 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-led Senate has handed President Barack Obama a major victory by approving his request for enhanced trade negotiating authority.

The bill now faces a tough battle in the House.

The Senate voted 62-37 Friday to endorse Obama's request for "fast track" negotiating authority. It would let him present trade agreements that Congress can ratify or reject, but not change.

Obama says fast track would improve chances for a long-negotiated trade deal with 11 other Pacific Rim nations.

Labor unions and many liberals oppose the bill. They say free-trade deals send U.S. jobs overseas.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/78e8d671ea7a40e1a33523cb3690ead5/senate-approves-obamas-hard-fought-trade-negotiating-bill

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@jricole: RT @carlymelin: Thanks @amyklobuchar & @alfranken for being "no" votes. I'm so disappointed in the Obama administration over this. https://t.co/aZxa1sCZNS/s/gwr9

May 22, 2015

Federal Judge Rules Again That Gay Couples Have Right to Wed in Alabama

Source: Associated Press

Federal judge rules again that gay couples have right to wed in Alabama

Thu May 21, 2015 11:50pm EDT

(Reuters) - A federal judge on Thursday reaffirmed her earlier ruling that same-sex couples in Alabama have a right to wed under the Constitution, but she put the ruling on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court issues a landmark decision on gay marriage.

U.S. District Judge Callie Granade in January overturned the state's ban on same-sex marriage, in a ruling that went into effect the following month and led probate judges throughout much of the state to begin issuing licenses to the couples.

In March, the Alabama Supreme Court ordered probate judges to stop issuing marriage licenses. Attorneys on behalf of same-sex couples later sought a ruling from Granade to formally define as a plaintiff class all same-sex couples seeking to legally wed in the state.

Granade on Thursday granted that request and reaffirmed her earlier decision, even as she acknowledged that probate judges will be faced with either complying with a direction from the Alabama Supreme Court or complying with her own order.

"However, the choice should be simple," Granade wrote in her 14-page opinion. "Under the Supremacy Clause (of the U.S. Constitution), the laws of the United States are 'the supreme Law of the Land.'"

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0O707S20150522

May 21, 2015

President Obama in Intro to Letterman's Final Show

May 21, 2015

David Letterman's Final Late Show Entrance

May 21, 2015

That Was a Fantastic Final Montage on Letterman's Last Show Last Night (VIDEO)

A bit like being whipped through my adulthood memories.