DonViejo
DonViejo's Journal'Judge a man by the company he keeps.' That's from Donald Trump's favorite book! - Tom Toles
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2017/05/01/judge-a-man-by-the-company-he-keeps-thats-from-donald-trumps-favorite-book/?utm_term=.e178021814d0&wpisrc=nl_popns&wpmm=1
Reince Priebus is a dunderhead (and he can't sue me for saying so) - by Erik Wemple
The courts have interpreted the First Amendment so as to allow the Erik Wemple Blog to call people names. “Defamatory statements are those that harm a person’s reputation and are clearly more than insults,” writes David Schultz in the “Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court.” So it’s perfectly legal to state:
Reince Priebus is a dunderhead.
Reince Priebus is a lunkhead.
Reince Priebus is a ninny.
Reince Priebus is a dunderpate.
Reince Priebus is a birdbrain.
Grounds for all those statements come from an " target="_blank">interview between Priebus, President Trump’s chief of staff, and Jonathan Karl of ABC News.
Asked about candidate Trump’s pledge to “open up” libel laws, Priebus indicated that it’s “something that is being looked at, but it’s something that as far as how it gets executed, where we go with it — that’s another issue.” Another fantasyland issue, that is. For a president who cannot wrangle a premier campaign issue — replacing Obamacare — through the legislative process, changing libel jurisprudence would pose a challenge that journalists would enjoy documenting. Surely Trump would declare at some point: “Nobody knew the separation of powers could be so complicated.” Which is to say, Priebus, Trump & Co. can’t just write an executive order to adjust libel laws.
Although this group of dunderheads might give it a try.
###
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/05/01/reince-priebus-is-a-dunderhead-and-he-cant-sue-me-for-saying-so/?utm_term=.92c7c3d4e4bc&wpisrc=nl_popns&wpmm=1
'I do my best not to listen to what he says': Ex-Rep. Joe Walsh offers strategy for continuing...
‘I do my best not to listen to what he says’: Ex-Rep. Joe Walsh offers strategy for continuing to back TrumpAppearing on MSNBC Monday afternoon, ex-congressman Joe Walsh (R-IL) defended President Donald Trump while admitting that he tries his best to ignore the things said.
Appearing with host Katy Tur, Walsh took up the topic of Trump stating he would be “honored” to meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. “As a Trump supporter I do my best not to listen to what he says,” Walsh told Tur. “I’ll tell you what, if I pulled my hair out for every nutty thing he said, I’d be bald. ”
“Look, ” he continued. “To say that you would be honored to meet with Kim Jong-Un is beyond offensive. And I’m sorry, everyone gives Sean Spicer a pass, he’s got the most difficult job in the world — that’s an easy one to slap away. There is no way Trump should have said ‘honored.'”
“Congressman, if you say you have to ignore most of what the president says, why are you still a Trump supporter?” Tur pressed.
“Katy, it’s not an easy job,” Walsh replied. “I try to focus on what he does, but I’ll be the first to acknowledge, that, look, he makes it very difficult.”
more + video
http://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/i-do-my-best-not-to-listen-to-what-he-says-ex-rep-joe-walsh-offers-strategy-for-continuing-to-back-trump/
Ex-RNC Chair: President Trump Has a 'Clear Lack of Understanding of the History This Country'
by Aidan McLaughlin | 1:22 pm, May 1st, 2017
After playing a clip of the interview on her show, Andrea Mitchell asked Michael Steele, former head of the Republican National Committee and MSNBC political commentator, about the comments.
“I think he’s re-writing history,” Mitchell said.
Steele — jokingly — suggested the reason for the war was “probably because of the resistance by the North, and not so much what the South was doing.”
He then told Mitchell these historically-challenged comments are part of a larger pattern:
Again, there’s a clear lack of understanding of the history of this country, particularly with matters related to race and civil rights, and the Civil War.
more + video
http://www.mediaite.com/trump/ex-rnc-chair-president-trump-has-a-clear-lack-of-understanding-of-the-history-this-country/
CNN President Jeff Zucker Attacks Fox News as 'State-Run TV'
by Matthew Balan | 3:54 pm, May 1st, 2017
CNN president Jeff Zucker took aim at his network’s competitors in a Friday interview with New Yorker magazine’s weekly radio program. Zucker labeled Fox News “state-run TV” and contended that MSNBC “has become the opposition” to President Donald Trump.
He also predictably placed CNN as being in the center, asserting that the network was “seeing the truth.”
New Yorker editor David Remnick prompted Zucker for his take on the politics on the major cable news outlets. The CNN president, who once claimed that his network was “truly fair and balanced” in August 2016, replied with shots at Fox News and MSNBC.
After some hesitance, he said, “Certainly in prime time and in the morning, Fox is state-run TV, and is extolling the line out of the White House. MSNBC has become the opposition. And I think CNN is seeking the truth.”
more
http://www.mediaite.com/online/cnn-president-jeff-zucker-attacks-fox-news-as-state-run-tv/
Glenn Thrush Presses Spicer on Duterte: Does Trump 'Have a Thing With These Totalitarian Leaders?'
by Joe DePaolo | 3:37 pm, May 1st, 2017
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer fielded a tough question Monday from one of his most prominent briefing room nemeses, Glenn Thrush of The New York Times.
During Monday’s briefing, Thrush pressed Spicer on President Donald Trump‘s feelings about various totalitarian leaders around the world after the recent White House invitation extended to Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who admitted to killing drug suspects.
Thrush also referenced Trump’s kind words during the campaign about Russian President Vladimir Putin and asked: “Does the president have a thing with these totalitarian leaders? Does he admire something about the way these guys conduct themselves?”
Spicer didn’t directly address Thrush’s question, particularly as it related to his words of praise for Putin. He instead spoke about North Korea, and said that Trump extended a White House in invitation to Duterte was extended because of North Korea and the Philippines’ proximity to that country.
more + video
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/glenn-thrush-presses-spicer-on-duterte-does-trump-have-a-thing-with-these-totalitarian-leaders/
Joaquin Castro says he won't challenge Ted Cruz for Senate in 2018
Source: Texas Tribune
01 MAY 2017 AT 15:51 ET
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, has decided not to challenge U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in 2018.
He announced the decision in an email to supporters Monday, saying he wants to remain focused on his work in the House. The decision leaves U.S. Rep. Beto ORourke, D-El Paso, as Cruzs main competition.
Ive kept my pledge to fight for hard-working Texans, and Ill keep doing that, Castro said in the email. However, with the threats posed by Russia and North Korea, coupled with the reckless behavior of this Administration and their failure to invest in economic opportunity for the American people, at this time I believe I can best continue that work by focusing on my duties in the House Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committees.
Castro, seen as a rising star among Texas Democrats, had been mulling a Senate run for several months. In recent weeks, he promised to announce his decision by the end of April. As recently as last week, he was non-committal to House colleagues.
Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2017/05/01/joaquin-castro-not-challenge-ted-cruz-senate/
Trump starts dismantling his shadow Cabinet
Tensions have been rising between Cabinet officials and White House advisers embedded at their agencies.
By MICHAEL GRUNWALD , ANDREW RESTUCCIA and JOSH DAWSEY 05/01/17 05:09 AM EDT
The White House is quietly starting to pull the plug on its shadow Cabinet of Trump loyalists who had been dispatched to federal agencies to serve as the president’s eyes and ears.
These White House-installed chaperones have often clashed with the Cabinet secretaries they were assigned to monitor, according to sources across the agencies, with the secretaries expressing frustration that the so-called “senior White House advisers” are mostly young Trump campaign aides with little experience in government.
The tensions have escalated for weeks, prompting a recent meeting among Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, and other administration officials, according to two sources familiar with the meeting. Now, some of the advisers are being reassigned or simply eased out, the sources said, even though many of them had expected to be central players at their agencies for the long haul. The tumult underscores the growing pains that are still being felt throughout Trump’s government, more than 100 days into his term.
“These guys are being set up for failure,” said one administration source. “They’re not D.C. guys. They’re campaign people. They have no idea how government works.”
The White House began deploying the advisers throughout the bureaucracy in January, assigning them to report back on what was happening in their departments. But according to several sources, their meddling quickly began to irritate high-powered officials accustomed to running their own shops -- including Defense Secretary James Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, both former generals; Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, a successful financier; and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who had been a Cabinet secretary before.
more
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/01/trump-starts-dismantling-his-shadow-cabinet-237819
Christie vetoes Trump-inspired bill to require tax returns from presidential candidates
Source: Politico
By MATT FRIEDMAN 05/01/17 12:53 PM EDT
Calling it unconstitutional and a “transparent political stunt,” Gov. Chris Christie on Monday vetoed a bill that would require future candidates for president to disclose their tax returns in order to appear on New Jersey’s ballot.
“Unwilling to cope with the results of last November’s election, the Legislature introduced this unconstitutional bill as a form of therapy to deal with their disbelief at the 2016 election results, and to play politics to their base,” Christie, a friend and ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, said in his veto message.
The veto was not a surprise. The question was whether Christie, a Republican, would simply veto the measure or conditionally veto it in order to highlight hypocrisy by state lawmakers, who are not required to disclose their tax returns. Instead, they fill out vague financial disclosure forms.
Christie instead rewrote the bill to expand the state’s Open Public Records Act to legislative records, most of which are exempt from the law. He eliminated its provisions requiring presidential candidates to disclose tax returns.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2017/05/01/christie-vetoes-bill-to-require-tax-returns-from-presidential-candidates-111677
'The Trump University Case is Not Over': Objector to Trump U Settlement Appeals to Ninth Circuit
Source: LawNewz
‘The Trump University Case is Not Over’: Objector to Trump University Settlement Appeals to Ninth Circuit
by Ronn Blitzer | 2:18 pm, May 1st, 2017
Sherri Simpson, who had unsuccessfully objected to the settlement agreement that was to resolve the class action claims against Trump University, is now appealing a District Court ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Back in March, Simpson, one of the alleged victims of fraud, claimed that the settlement didn’t give her an opportunity to opt out and file her own individual lawsuit against Trump University. At the time, this caused concern because if the objection was granted, it could have unraveled the entire deal. One of the reasons why President Donald Trump agreed to settle the case was to avoid further litigation, so if new cases were permitted, Trump theoretically could have pulled out of the agreement.
As it turns out, Judge Gonzalo Curiel ruled against Simpson, and issued a final approval of the settlement agreement. Now, however, Simpson is challenging Judge Curiel’s ruling. Her attorneys filed a notice of appeal on Monday.
“The Trump University case is not over,” Simpson’s attorney, Gary Friedman, told LawNewz.com. He said Sherri “feels terribly” about delaying the process whereby people would be collecting money from the settlement, however, he said that Judge Curiel’s order “doesn’t withstand any scrutiny, it falls apart.”
Read more: http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/objector-to-trump-university-settlement-appeals-to-ninth-circuit-court-of-appeals/
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Name: DonGender: Male
Hometown: Massachusetts
Home country: United States
Member since: Sat Sep 1, 2012, 03:28 PM
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