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Paul Merrell

Jon Stewart as presidential debate moderator? Petition hopes so - Aug. 20, 2015 - 0 views

money.cnn.com/...index.html

Auction 2016 debates Jon-Stewart

shared by Paul Merrell on 21 Aug 15 - No Cached
  • Jon Stewart has traded jabs with some of the biggest names in U.S. politics during his 16-year year tenure as host of "The Daily Show." Now, thousands want him to moderate a presidential debate. Over 100,000 people have signed a Change.org petition that wants the satirical host to moderate a 2016 presidential debate.
  • Paul Merrell on 21 Aug 15
     
    Given his irreverence, that might be fun. Perhaps some real issues would wind up being discussed. 
Paul Merrell

Walker falls to 10th in Iowa in latest poll | TheHill - 0 views

thehill.com/...to-10th-in-iowa-in-latest-poll

Auction 2016 Iowa polls Trump Carson Walker

shared by Paul Merrell on 11 Sep 15 - No Cached
  • Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's support in Iowa continues its free fall as fellow presidential hopefuls Donald Trump and Ben Carson remain ahead of the Republican pack by double digits, according to a new Quinnipiac University Poll. Walker, the former front-runner, tumbles to 10th place in the GOP presidential pack just two months after taking the top spot in the university’s July poll. Then, he had 18 percent support, compared to just 3 in the new poll.ADVERTISEMENTAs governor of a neighboring state, Walker had long been thought to be the presumptive leader in Iowa. But his support has steadily dropped since Trump entered the race in late June. The new numbers underscore the slide that Walker has seen across the board. He has dropped below former business executive Carly Fiorina for fifth place in the five most recent Iowa polls, just a hair above former Gov. Jeb Bush (Fla.). He’s in seventh place nationally and in the second presidential nominating state of New Hampshire. 
  • By contrast, outsiders Trump and Carson continue to have a dominant hold on the polls. Real estate mogul Trump showed 27 percent support, while retired neurosurgeon Carson received 21 percent, well ahead of Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), who received 9 percent support.If Trump was not in the race, Carson is the second choice of a vast plurality of Trump voters, with 30 percent backing him. Cruz is the second choice of 11 percent of Trump voters.
Paul Merrell

New Authorization for Use of Military Force?, and More from CRS - 0 views

fas.org/...new-aumf-crs

war & peace ISIL legislation U.S.-foreign-policy Syria Iraq

shared by Paul Merrell on 22 Oct 14 - No Cached
  • New publications from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has withheld from online public disclosure include the following. A New Authorization for Use of Military Force Against the Islamic State: Comparison of Current Proposals in Brief, October 21, 2014
  • Paul Merrell on 22 Oct 14
     
    Overview of pending legislation (multiple bills) to authorize use of U.S. military force against ISIL. Table of contents: The IS Crisis and the U.S. Response ............................................................................................... 1 Presidential Authority to Use Military Force Against the Islamic State .......................................... 1 2001 Post-9/11 Authorization for Use of Military Force ........................................................... 1 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq ...................................................... 2 Presidential Authority Under Article II of the Constitution ....................................................... 2 Calls for a New AUMF Targeting the Islamic State ........................................................................ 3 Current IS AUMF Proposals ............................................................................................................ 3 Scope of Force and Military Activities Authorized ................................................................... 4 Targeted Entities .................................................................................................................. 5 Purpose of Authorization ..................................................................................................... 5 Conditions on Use of Military Force ................................................................................... 6 Limitations on Use of Military Force .................................................................................. 6 Repeal of Previous AUMFs ................................................................................................. 7 Reporting and Certification Requirements .......................................................................... 8 War Powers Resolution and Expedited Consideration Provisions ...................................... 8 Tables  Table 1. Proposed Authorizations
Paul Merrell

Czech President: US Ambassador unwelcome at Presidential Residence | nsnbc international - 0 views

nsnbc.me/...come-at-presidential-residence

war & peace NATO NATO-breakup Czech-Republic

shared by Paul Merrell on 06 Apr 15 - No Cached
  • The President of the Czech Republic, Milos Zeman, responded to U.S. Ambassador Andre Shapiro’s comments on President Zeman’s visit to Moscow on V-Day by saying that Shapiro is not welcome at the Czech Presidential residence and that the Czech Republic has its own foreign policy. Czech President Zeman responded to the U.S. ambassador’s negative remarks in the official parliamentary online site, saying that the doors of the Prague Castle, the Czech Republic’s Presidential Residence are closed for Ambassador Shapiro.
  • Zeman stressed that he won’t have any ambassador to meddle in Czech sovereign affairs and the program of his visit to Moscow. During a previous TV appearance the Czech President stressed that his visit to Moscow, contrary to some claims would not undermine “the Wests position on Ukraine”. Zeman stressed the necessity to maintain and develop relations with Moscow, and not only relations based on trade, but also relations with regards to a strategic partnership. The Czech President’s response falls in line with a continuously growing continental European consensus that opposes the predominantly US/UK driven policy of tensions towards Russia. This growing consensus includes, among others, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and others.
  • In June 2014 both the Czech Republic and Slovakia opposed “suggestions” by U.S. President Obama to station NATO troops in the two countries. The U.S. initiative was attempted as the US stationed additional troops in Poland and the Baltic countries. It is also noteworthy that a 2014 poll revealed about half of the German population opposes NATO’s eastwards expansion that occurred after the German reunification and in violation of oral agreements. About half of the German population would prefer to see Germany as bridge with an equal distance to both the East and the West while about half of the German population does not perceive Germany as solidly anchored within NATO.
Paul Merrell

Assad's opponents dismiss Russian ideas for solving Syria crisis | Reuters - 0 views

www.reuters.com/...position-idUSKCN0T01AI20151111

war & peace Syria Russia peace-proposal

shared by Paul Merrell on 11 Nov 15 - No Cached
  • Syrian opposition figures and Gulf commentators dismissed on Wednesday a Russian draft proposal for a process to solve the Syrian crisis, saying Moscow's aim was to keep President Bashar al-Assad in power and marginalize dissenting voices.A draft document obtained by Reuters on Tuesday showed Moscow would like Damascus and unspecified opposition groups to agree on launching a constitutional reform process of up to 18 months, followed by early presidential elections.Russia, which with Iran has been Assad's top ally during Syria's nearly five-year conflict, has denied any document is being prepared before a second round of international peace talks in Vienna this week.The text, obtained by Reuters, does not rule out Assad's participation in early presidential elections, something his enemies say is impossible if there is to be peace."The Syrian people have never accepted the dictatorship of Assad and they will not accept that it is reintroduced or reformulated in another way," said Monzer Akbik, member of the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition."The Russians are now trying to play the game they have been playing since Geneva," he told Reuters, referring to United Nations-led peace talks that collapsed in 2014.
  • Paul Merrell on 11 Nov 15
     
    "The text, obtained by Reuters, does not rule out Assad's participation in early presidential elections, something his enemies say is impossible if there is to be peace." Real reason: Assad would win re-election by a landslide, like he did the last time. That's why the U.S.-led opposition insists on Assad bowing out as a pre-condition to peace negotiations.
Paul Merrell

Guide to the Presidential Candidates' National Security Positions | Just Security - 0 views

www.justsecurity.org/...es-national-security-positions

Auction 2016 candidates-positions national-security-issues

shared by Paul Merrell on 26 Feb 16 - No Cached
  • Last spring, we launched the first version of Just Security’s guide to the 2016 presidential candidates’ positions on national security matters. We’re relaunching that guide below with interactive features designed to make it easier use. For this version of the guide, we’re focusing on candidates who, according to Five Thirty-Eight’s forecasts, have a better than 10 percent chance of winning a primary. As a result, this version includes Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump. As the field shifts over the coming weeks, we may add or remove candidates from this list. We’ll also be periodically updating the information about the candidates’ positions as they wind their way through primary season and move into the general election. This guide features sources for each summary and, whenever possible, cites official government websites or the candidates’ websites. In our research, we relied on their own statements and records rather than commentary on the candidates’ positions.
Paul Merrell

Donald Trump to postpone Israel trip until 'after I become US president' | US news | The Guardian - 0 views

www.theguardian.com/...r-i-become-president-of-the-us

Auction 2016 Trump Israel-trip Netanoyahu

shared by Paul Merrell on 12 Dec 15 - No Cached
  • Donald Trump has said he will “postpone” a trip to Israel and a meeting with the country’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, until “after I become president of the US”.
  • Netanyahu had on Wednesday confirmed he would meet the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination to succeed Barack Obama in the White House despite an international outcry over his suggestion that Muslims should be banned from entering the US. Several hours after confirming the meeting, Netanyahu’s office tweeted that the prime minister rejected Trump’s comments about Muslims but had agreed to meet any US presidential candidate who visited Israel.
  • Trump’s visit had been opposed by dozens of Israeli MPs – both Jews and Arabs – after his remarks drew condemnation across the Israeli political spectrum. The cancellation also followed reports in the Israeli media that Trump had requested a visit to the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount religious site, revered by Muslims and Jews alike, and home to the al-Aqsa mosque – one of the most important sites in Islam. Some 37 Israeli MPs had signed a letter asking that Trump not be allowed to visit in light of his remarks. The letter, drafted by MP Michal Rozin, and mainly signed by opposition lawmakers, said that, “while leaders around the world condemn the Republican presidential candidate’s racist and outrageous remarks, Netanyahu is warmly embracing him” and any meeting would “disgrace Israel’s democratic character and hurt its Muslim citizens”. Equally damaging for Trump was the fact that Israel’s rightwing energy minister, Yuval Steinitz, one of Netanyahu’s closest political allies, had weighed in, criticising Trump’s remarks. “I recommend fighting terrorist and extremist Islam, but I would not declare a boycott of, ostracism against, or war on Muslims in general,” Steinitz told Israel’s Army Radio.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Netanyahu’s office insisted it had not intervened over the cancellation and had not spoken to Trump about his decision. Trump’s proposed visit had clearly created problems for Netanyahu, whose office had declined to comment on Tuesday about the billionaire’s intended trip, then said he was still welcome on Wednesday. By Wednesday evening, however, Netanyahu was seeking to distance himself more forcefully from Trump. A statement released by the prime minister’s office said: “The State of Israel respects all religions and protects stringently the rights of all its citizens. At the same time, Israel is struggling with extremist Islam that is attacking Muslims, Christian and Jews as one and is threatening the entire world.” The cancellation is a blow to Trump, with Israel treated as a regular campaign stop for many US presidential candidates.
  • As Noah Pollak, the executive director for the Emergency Committee for Israel said: “Israelis appreciate American moral support and will always give our politicians a gracious reception. For the candidates, visiting is an easy way to be seen showing support for a close ally and gaining exposure to Middle East policy issues.” However, Pollak pointed out “trashing anyone who disagrees with him works for Trump domestically, but it won’t work with the prime minister of a close ally who is especially beloved by Republicans. Netanyahu criticized Trump, and Trump can’t attack him. The trip would have been humiliating, so he bailed.” Underlining the hints of difficulties and tensions around his proposed trip, Trump – in yet another of the brazen untruths that have become the hallmark of his campaign – had on Wednesday attempted to deny he had said he would be meeting Netanyahu despite the fact that the comment had been recorded.
Paul Merrell

Neocons Launch 2016 Manifesto « LobeLog - 0 views

lobelog.com/neocons-launch-2016-manifesto

war & peace Auction 2016 neocons Republican-platform

shared by Paul Merrell on 27 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • A mostly neoconservative group of national-security analysts have published perhaps the first comprehensive outline of what they believe a Republican foreign policy should look like as of Inauguration Day 2017. It’s titled “Choosing to Lead: American Foreign Policy for a Disordered World.” Although it concedes that “there are limitations on American power,” according to the book’s “Forward” by former George W. Bush speechwriter, Peter Wehner, all of the contributors …understand, too, that with the right leadership and policies in place, the United States can once again be a guarantor of global order and peace, a champion of human rights, and a beacon of economic growth and human flourishing. There is no reason the 21st century cannot be the next American Century. …Choosing to Lead offers perspectives and recommendations on how to make the next American Century happen. In doing so, we believe it will serve the world as well as the United States of America.[Emphasis added.] If you sense a rebirth of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), you’re probably not far off, although Bob Kagan and Bill Kristol, who co-founded PNAC, are not among the large number of contributors. PNAC published two volumes, Present Dangers and Rebuilding American Defenses, that together formed a neocon manifesto for the Republican presidential candidate in the 2000 election in which the organization initially backed John McCain.
  • The new compilation is the product of the John Hay Initiative, named after Theodore Roosevelt’s chief diplomat, and brings together many of the foreign-policy advisers to Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign. The Initiative is co-chaired by Eliot Cohen (a charter member of PNAC), former Romney adviser Brian Hook, and Eric Edelman (who succeeded Doug Feith as undersecretary of defense under George W. Bush and has since served as co-founder and director—with Kagan and Kristol—of PNAC’s lineal descendant, the Foreign Policy Initiative). The 200 “experts” connected to the Initiative have reportedly advised almost all of the 2016 Republican presidential candidates. The Initiative has made no secret of its hope that a successful Republican presidential candidate will appoint many of its members to senior policy-making positions (much as PNAC’s charter members, such as Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and Elliott Abrams, were all rewarded with senior posts under George W. Bush. Cohen positioned himself for an appointment in that administration by writing the perfectly timed book, Supreme Command, in the run-up to the Iraq invasion about how the best wartime presidents ignored the more cautious advice of their generals. A faithful signer of PNAC’s letters, Cohen was named counsel to Condoleezza Rice in Bush’s second term.
Paul Merrell

Washington Hits Back at Putin's Humiliation - 0 views

www.strategic-culture.org/...ts-back-putin-humiliation.html

Auction 2016 U.S.-foreign-policy Russia election-hacking Hillary emails Syria gun-running perjury

shared by Paul Merrell on 11 Oct 16 - No Cached
  • The Obama administration is now accusing Russia of cyber-crime and trying to disrupt the US presidential election. The claim is so far-fetched, it is hardly credible. More credible is that the US is reeling from Putin’s stunning humiliation earlier this week. Since June, US media and supporters of Democrat presidential contender Hillary Clinton have been blaming Russian state-sponsored hackers for breaking into the Democratic party’s database. It is further alleged that Moscow is stealthily trying to influence the outcome of the election, by releasing damaging information on Clinton, which might favor Republican candidate Donald Trump. Russia has vehemently denied any connection to the cyber-crime charges, or trying to disrupt the November poll. Now the Obama administration has stepped into the fray by openly accusing Russia. «US government officially accuses Russia of hacking campaign to interfere with elections», reported the Washington Post. This takes the row to a whole new level. No longer are the insinuations a matter of private, partisan opinion. The US government is officially labelling the Russian state for cyber-crime and political subversion.
  • Predictably, following the latest allegations, there are calls among American lawmakers for ramping up more economic sanctions against Russia. While US intelligence figures are urging for retaliatory cyber-attacks on Russian government facilities. Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov derided the US claims as «rubbish». He noted that the Kremlin’s computer system incurs hundreds of hacking attempts every day, many of which can be traced to American origin, but Moscow doesn’t turn around and blame the US government for such cyber-attacks. There are several signs that the latest brouhaha out of Washington is a bogus diversion. As with previous Russian-hacker claims by the Democrats and US media, there is no evidence presented by the Obama administration to support its grave allegations against the Russian government. Assertion without facts does not meet a minimal standard of proof. When reports emerged in June – again through the Washington Post – that the Democrat National Committee (DNC) was hacked by Russian agents, the allegation relied on investigations by a private cyber security firm by the name of CrowdStrike. The firm is linked by personnel to the NATO-affiliated, anti-Russian think tank Atlantic Council. Again no verifiable evidence was presented then, just the word of a dubious partisan source.
  • Back then the Russian scare story, for that’s what it was, served as a useful diversion from far more important issues. Such as the 19,000 emails released from the DNC database showing that the party chiefs had preordained Clinton’s presidential nomination over her Democrat rival Bernie Sanders. Much-vaunted «US democracy» was exposed as a fraud, and so the Washington establishment quickly went into damage-limitation mode by smearing Russia. It was the whistleblower site Wikileaks, run by Australian journalist Julian Assange, that released the embarrassing emails. It had nothing to do with Russia. Assange has since hinted that his source was within the Democrat party itself. This is where it gets really explosive. Assange has vowed to release more emails that will prove that Clinton as Secretary of State back in 2011-2012 masterminded the supply of weapons and money to Islamist terror networks in Libya and Syria for the objective of regime change. Furthermore, Assange says that the emails prove that Clinton lied under oath to Congress when she denied in 2013 that she was had any involvement in facilitating arms to the jihadists. Assange has said that Wikileaks is going to publish the incriminating emails on Clinton’s alleged gun-running to terrorists this month. If the evidence stands up, Clinton could be prosecuted for perjury as well as treason in aiding and abetting official terrorist enemies of the US.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • The exposure of an American presidential candidate as being involved in state sponsorship of terrorism while serving as a top government official is a powerful incentive for the Obama administration to find a lurid diversion. Hence, the latest charges by the US government against Russia as perpetrating cyber-crime and of trying to subvert American democracy. This is just one more illustration of how irrational and unhinged the US government has become. Day by day, it seems, leads to more damning revelations of Washington’s complicity in illegal wars, covert subversion of foreign states, and systematic collusion with terrorist networks which have inflicted thousands of deaths on American citizens, among many more thousands of other innocent civilians around the world. In addition to exposure by sources like Wikileaks, much of revelation about US criminality and state-sponsored banditry has emerged from Russia’s principled military intervention in Syria. Russia’s intervention has not only helped salvage the Syrian nation from a foreign conspiracy of covert war for regime change. Russia’s intervention has also brought into clear focus the systematic links between Washington and its terrorist proxy army working on its behalf in Syria.
  • Washington’s mask of moral and legal superiority has been ripped from its face. And what the world is seeing is the vile ugliness beneath. Such is Washington’s ignominious fall from pretend-grace to its grim, odious reality that Vladimir Putin this week was empowered to speak from the moral high ground. In announcing Russia’s unilateral suspension of a 2002 accord with the US for the disposal of nuclear-weapon-grade plutonium, Putin went much, much further. He gave Washington a list of ultimatums that included the US ending its trumped-up sanctions against Russia, with financial compensation, as well as the scaling back of NATO forces from Russia’s border. In other words, the Russian leader was talking truth to American power in a way that megalomaniac Washington, with all its ridiculous delusions of «exceptionalism», has never ever heard before.
  • American pretensions of greatness are eroding like a castle built on sand. Washington’s criminal enterprises and specifically the complicity in terrorism for the supreme crime of foreign aggression are being glaringly exposed. And now with due contempt, Russia is putting manners on Washington. It must be excruciating the humiliation for the narcissistic American tyrant to be treated with the disrespect that it deserves and which is long overdue. Moreover, the humiliation is not just in the eyes of the world. The American people can see the true ugly nature of their rulers too. When a giant banner declaring «Putin a peacemaker» was unfurled off Manhattan bridge in New York City this weekend, the popular enthusiasm went viral. Washington is reeling from Putin’s righteous courage to call it out for what it is. The truth-telling is hard to take for this unipolar unicorn. Its deluded myth-making about its own virtues are being stripped bare. What’s going on here is a world-class, historic exposure of American power as a nefarious excrescence on humanity.
  • he reaction is understandable: foaming-at-the-mouth, desperate, hysterical and panicked. Accusing Russia of hacking into the American «democratic process» is a wild attempt to divert from the paramount issues: Washington’s exposed descent into a vile morass of its own making; the emperor is a criminal; the people know it; and a genuine world leader like Vladimir Putin has the temerity to lay it on the line to this has-been.
Paul Merrell

South Korea's Constitutional Court Upheld Park's Impeachment - nsnbc international | nsnbc international - 0 views

nsnbc.me/...court-upheld-parks-impeachment

South-Korea Park-Geun-hye impeachment

shared by Paul Merrell on 10 Mar 17 - No Cached
  • South Korea’s Constitutional Court, on Friday, upheld the motion to impeach president Park Geun-hye. Acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-Mi read the ruling on the impeachment in a nationwide televised broadcast saying the Court’s decision by the eight justices was unanimous.
  • outh Korean law stipulated that the ruling has immediate effect – which means Park Geun-hye has been impeached and ousted from the presidency with immediate effect. She will be required to leave the presidential residence  – the Blue House – as soon as possible. A presidential election will be held in 60 days.
  • Since the December 9 adoption of the impeachment bill in the National Assembly, a total of 20 hearings had been held in the court. It took 92 days before the court’s final decision. Park will now possibly be subject to indictment and detention by prosecutors as she lost her presidential immunity following the court’s ruling. Prosecutors have identified Park as an accomplice of her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil, who is at the center of a corruption scandal that led to Park’s impeachment for multiple charges including bribery, abuse of privileged information and nepotism. Having been impeached, Park will be stripped of most of the privileges granted to former presidents, including a monthly pension worth 12 million won or 10,400 U.S. dollars –  to 13 million won per month, one paid chauffeur and three paid secretaries. Free medicine and costs for a personal office will not be given to the impeached leader either. Moreover, the period during which she will have a special presidential security detail will be reduced from ten to five years.
Paul Merrell

Gary Johnson Libertarian Candidate Worries Republicans - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...minee-worries-republicans.html

shared by Paul Merrell on 18 Oct 12 - No Cached
  • Now campaigning as the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee, Mr. Johnson is still only a blip in the polls. But he is on the ballot in every state except Michigan and Oklahoma, enjoys the support of a few small “super PACs” and is trying to tap into the same grass-roots enthusiasm that helped build Representative Ron Paul a big following. And with polls showing the race between President Obama and Mitt Romney to be tight, Mr. Johnson’s once-fellow Republicans are no longer laughing. Around the country, Republican operatives have been making moves to keep Mr. Johnson from becoming their version of Ralph Nader, the Green Party candidate whose relatively modest support cut into Al Gore’s 2000 vote arguably enough to help hand the decisive states of Ohio and Florida to George W. Bush.
  • Paul Merrell on 18 Oct 12
     
    The linked article and a pair of quotes I ran across recently have provoked some thought: "We are conservatives in primaries and Republican in general elections and we aim to win." "Given that we all had to suffer through the Bush administration even though Gore and Nader voters combined for a majority of the electorate, two de facto rules were laid down: Keep progressive challenges to center-right Democrats confined to Democratic primaries, not general elections." Both seem to embody the choice of evils approach to presidential elections. But the inherent lie is the notion that any minority group can ever obtain a seat at the power broker's table if the minority group is unwilling to deprive the majority group of election victories so long as their concerns are ignored. And the major parties *always* manufacture propaganda themes portraying the pending election as a potential doomsday event, a "must win" situation. But reality seldom supports such a theme. E.g., Obama and Romney are two peas from the same pod and the makeup of Congress is going to stay about the same. So given that all truly revolutionary change has to be approved by Congress, things will stay about the same unless one were to believe that it matters which of those two peas nominates new Supreme Court justices. (The vetting process assures that it does not matter.)So given that all truly revolutionary change has to be approved by Congress, things will stay about the same unless one were to believe that it matters which of those two peas nominates new Supreme Court justices. (The vetting process assures that it does not matter.) Certainly one could make a strong argument that all of the Supreme Court justices including Obama's Supreme Court appointments are Establishment whores, avowed corporatist/globalists. Should we expect anything different from Romney? It's a choice of thugs, not a choice of evils if one adopts the view that the choices are limited to the two major parties' candidates.
Paul Merrell

Sheldon Adelson will support Trump as Republican nominee | The Times of Israel - 0 views

www.timesofisrael.com/rt-trump-as-republican-nominee

Auction 2016 Trump Adelson-endorsement

shared by Paul Merrell on 07 May 16 - No Cached
  • rominent Republican donor Sheldon Adelson on Thursday said he would support Donald Trump for the US presidency. Get The Times
  • rominent Republican donor Sheldon Adelson on Thursday said he would support Donald Trump for the US presidency
  • “Yes. I’m a Republican, he’s a Republican,” Adelson said at a Manhattan event when asked if he would back Trump, according to The New York Times. “He’s our nominee. Whoever the nominee would turn out to be, any one of the 17 — he was one of the 17. He won fair and square.” The Jewish billionaire, and owner of the pro-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu daily Israel Hayom, said he believes Trump “will be good for Israel,” and noted, without elaborating, that the two spoke recently. Adelson donated tens of millions of dollars to Mitt Romney and organizations supporting the Republican challenger in the last election, and was by far the largest such donor. Adelson had previously declared Trump to be “very charming” after meeting him in December, but stopped short of endorsing him or supporting his campaign. Trump has prided himself in his campaign speeches on not needing the support of mega-donors like Adelson, whom other candidates, at the time, were assiduously courting. In October, Trump tweeted “Sheldon Adelson is looking to give big dollars to Rubio because he feels he can mold him into his perfect little puppet. I agree!”
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • US Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, the nation’s top Republican, said Thursday he was not yet prepared to support Trump as the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, signaling a deep rift within the GOP. “To be perfectly candid… I’m just not ready to do that at this point,” Ryan told CNN. “I hope to, though, and I want to. But I think what is required is that we unify this party.” Ryan, who repeated he would not accept the nomination in case of a contested convention, was the Republican vice presidential nominee in 2012 and is currently second in line to the presidency.
  • He’s got some work to do,” Ryan said, noting that “the bulk and the burden” was on Trump to begin the healing after a brutal primary campaign and the brash billionaire’s string of insulting remarks about other candidates, Muslims, Mexicans, refugees, women and others. “It’s time to set aside bullying. It’s time to set aside belittlement,” Ryan said.
  • Thursday’s comments were all the more startling because Trump has now emerged as the party’s standard-bearer and Ryan will be co-chairman of the Republican presidential nominating convention in July. Trump shot back within minutes. “I am not ready to support Speaker Ryan’s agenda,” he said in a statement. “Perhaps in the future we can work together and come to an agreement about what is best for the American people.”
  • Paul Merrell on 07 May 16
     
    Looks like Adelson is trying to repair the damage in his relationship with Donald Trump. Adelson is one of the largest Israel-firster donors in U.S. politics but made the mistake of backing Marco Rubio.  The exchange of comments by Paul Ryan and Trump suggest that there will be a battle for leadership of the Republican Party in Congress if Trump is elected. Trump has thrown down his gauntlet. 
Paul Merrell

Trump leads Ohio in 4-way presidential race - The Blade - 0 views

www.toledoblade.com/...n-4-way-presidential-race.html

Auction 2016 polls Trump Hillary johnson Stein

shared by Paul Merrell on 11 Sep 16 - No Cached
  • The presence of minor party candidates on the Ohio ballot appears to hurt Democrat Hillary Clinton more than Republican Donald Trump, according to a poll of likely voters released Thursday. In a four-way race, the latest Quinnipiac University Poll shows the New York real estate mogul with a 4-point lead over the former secretary of state. That’s still within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. “Libertarian Gary Johnson could decide the presidential election in the Buckeye State,” said Peter A. Brown, the Connecticut-based poll’s assistant director. “He is getting 14 percent from Ohio voters, and how that cohort eventually votes could be critical in this swing state and the nation.” In a four-way race, Mr. Trump draws 41 percent to Mrs. Clinton’s 37 percent. Last month’s Ohio poll also had Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump in a statistical tie, but with Mrs. Clinton holding a 2-point edge. Since then, Mr. Johnson’s support in Ohio has climbed 6 percentage points while the Green Party’s Jill Stein, at 4 percent, has added one point.
Paul Merrell

Upcoming Trove Of Wikileaks Files To Expose Google, U.S. Government - 0 views

www.mintpressnews.com/...221113

war & peace Wikileaks Asssange Auction 2016

shared by Paul Merrell on 04 Oct 16 - No Cached
  • uring a press conference in Berlin on Tuesday, the media organization WikiLeaks touted 10 years of drawing the veil of secrecy away from governments and businesses worldwide while also confirming that a new batch of documents—specifically targeting the U.S. government and internet giant Google—will be released over the next two months. “Our upcoming series includes significant material on war, arms, oil, Google, the U.S. elections, and myself,” WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said via video link from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he has been living since 2012. He saidthe documents would be released before the end of the year, with the first cache coming within the week. There was significant anticipation surrounding Tuesday’s announcement, which was originally set to come from a balcony at the embassy but was reconfigured due to “security concerns.” As the New York Times noted, “[the] remarks from Mr. Assange disappointed many followers of WikiLeaks in the United States, who had stayed up into the early hours hoping to hear information relevant to the presidential election.”
  • Indeed, The Verge reported: There was a lot of build-up to today’s press conference, in anticipation of what had been billed as an “October surprise” that could swing the U.S. presidential election. Instead, WikiLeaks devoted most of the event to recounting its most notorious releases and refuting criticism levied against it. Assange acknowledged the anticipation of a bombshell release in a winding address to reporters, though he declined to say whether the upcoming leaks would tilt the election toward Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. “There is enormous expectation in the United States,” Assange said of the forthcoming leaks. “Some of that expectation will be partly answered; but you should understand that if we’re going to make a major publication in relation to the United States at a particular hour, we don’t do it at 3am.” Assange’s previous hints about forthcoming leaks led Republican operatives to express hope that WikiLeaks’ “October Surprise” would cripple Hillary Clinton’s presidential candidacy. But Assange appeared to quash that narrative on Tuesday, declaring: The idea that “we intend to harm Hillary Clinton, or I intend to harm Hillary Clinton, or I don’t like Hillary Clinton, all those are false.”
meheksharma

Hillary Clinton May Win US Presidential Election 2016 With Wide Margin - 0 views

manageyourinvestment.blogspot.in/...n-may-win-us-presidential.html

DONALD TRUMP MESSED IT UP WIN HILLARY CLINTON USA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2016

shared by meheksharma on 08 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • meheksharma on 08 Nov 16
     
    20 years plus industry veteran of domestic and international ICT domain with the expertise in Business, Technology, Strategy and Analysis. Specializes in forecasting impact analysis, trends and recommendations for Investments, Technology and Regulations.
Paul Merrell

How Democrats & Republicans Took Control Of The Presidential Debates - 0 views

www.mintpressnews.com/...6065

Auction 2016 two-party-system presidential-debates history

shared by Paul Merrell on 16 Oct 16 - No Cached
  • In a recent episode of Act Out! host Eleanor Goldfield looked at the history of debates in America, reminding us that they used to include third party candidates. Here’s a brief history of how the two parties came to control the debates. Ever feel like you’re watching two heads of the same beast go at it in a rigged charade? Well, that’s because you are. The two-party system wants to control the political stage, and this is how they’re doing it.
Paul Merrell

Congress Votes to Give Jihadists Anti-Aircraft Missiles | Global Research - Centre for Research on Globalization - 0 views

www.globalresearch.ca/...5562564

war & peace U.S.-foreign-policy Syria MANPADs legislation Obama

shared by Paul Merrell on 19 Dec 16 - No Cached
  • On Thursday, the Senate passed a bill that puts every American who travels by plane at risk.  It is among the stupidest pieces of legislation ever written and it explains– to a great extent– why the US Congress has a public approval rating of 13 percent and is among the most loathed institutions in America. The 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed the House last Friday in a 375-34 vote. On Thursday, it cleared the senate with a 92 to 7 margin.  The bill will now be sent to Obama where it is expected to be signed into law. According to an article on SOFREP titled  “Congress authorizes anti-aircraft missiles for Syrian opposition”: Congress for the first time authorized the Department of Defense to provide vetted-Syrian rebels with anti-aircraft missiles. The provision is contained within the $619 billion Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, which passed the Senate on Dec. 8 and the House on Dec. 2. Under the bill, the Secretaries of Defense and State must submit a report to Congress explaining why they determined Syrian groups need man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS). (SOFREP: Trusted News and Intelligence From Spec Ops Veterans, “Congress authorizes anti-aircraft missiles for Syrian opposition”)
  • You read that right, Congress just passed a bill that will provide shoulder-launched ground-to-air missiles to lunatic jihadists who will undoubtedly use them to take down American or Israeli jetliners. The argument that these Islamic militants are fully vetted is complete nonsense as both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have repeatedly shown. According to a recent article in the New York Times, rebel groups supported by the USG  “have entered into battlefield alliances with the affiliate of al Qaida in Syria formerly known as al Nusra.”  The Wall Street Journal reports that rebel groups are “doubling-down on their alliance with al Qaida. This alliance has rendered the phrase ‘moderate rebels’ meaningless.” Everyone who has followed developments on the ground in Syria knows that the distinction between the “good” terrorists and the “bad” terrorists is pure bunkum. The various militias are merely the many heads of the same homicidal anti-government hydra that has killed over 400,000 Syrians and decimated a large part of the country. The CIA should not be assisting any of these madmen let alone providing them with lethal state-of the-art weapons that will inevitably be used to take down US aircraft.  Here’s more from the same article: The inclusion of the provision represents a departure from previous versions of the NDAA. The original House bill specifically prohibited the transfer of MANPADS to “any entity” in Syria, while the Senate bill did not address it. So, the original bill forbid “the transfer of MANPADS” to Syrian militants because it was considered too dangerous. But now that Obama’s proxy-army is getting pulverized in Aleppo,  Congress has taken off the gloves and gone into full-revenge mode.  Isn’t that what’s really going on?
  • And it looks like Obama has already given this crazy policy a big thumbs up. Check out this “Presidential Determination and Waiver ….on the Arms Export Control Act to Support U.S. Special Operations to Combat Terrorism in Syria” that the White House issued late Thursday: By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 2249a of title 10, United States Code, sections 40 and 40A of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) (22 U.S.C. 2780 and 2781), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I hereby: determine that the transaction, encompassing the provision of defense articles and services to foreign forces, irregular forces, groups, or individuals engaged in supporting or facilitating ongoing U.S. military operations to counter terrorism in Syria, is essential to the national security interests of the United States.(Presidential Determination and Waiver) It looks to me like our Nobel prize-winning president just gave Congress’s idiot plan his ringing endorsement.
  • Paul Merrell on 19 Dec 16
     
    Mike Whitney eloquently expresses my anger.
Paul Merrell

South Korean Parliament Voted for Impeachment of President Park Geun-hye - nsnbc international | nsnbc international - 0 views

nsnbc.me/80375

South-Korea impeachment park-Geun-hye

shared by Paul Merrell on 09 Dec 16 - No Cached
  • The South Korean parliament, on Friday, voted in favor of the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. The country’s Constitutional Court will have 180 days to decide whether it will uphold or reject the impeachment.
  • The parliament passed the bill following more than six weeks of protests. The motion to impeach President Park received the necessary two-third approval from South Korea’s legislators. For the final approval, the impeachment motion is required to be upheld by the constitutional court. The constitutional court will have as long as 180 days to rule on it, and the two-thirds of the nine-judge court must endorse it to formally impeach the scandal-hit president 234 legislators voted in favor of the impeachment, 56 voted against, 2 abstained, and 2 votes were declared invalid. President Park Geun-hye will be stripped of her presidential powers immediately after receiving a written notice, about 3 – 4 hours after the vote. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn is will temporarily assume presidential powers until the Constitutional Court has made a final decision after no more than 180 days. President Park Geun-hye has been accused of colluding with her close friend and confidente Choi Soon-sil who is at the center of a corruption scandal. On November 20, South Korea’s prosecutors charged Choi and two former officials of the presidential administration with corruption, extortion and abuse of powers.
  • Choi was among others accused of forcing a number of companies to donate tens of millions of dollars to the foundations she controlled. Although this influence has not been proven, investigators believe the president was aware of these ‘donations.’ Earlier this week Park, who had made three public apologies, said she would calmly accept an impeachment. A dignified gesture against the backdrop of an increasingly hateful rhetoric from the political left that compared Park with her father, who has widely been denounced as “the last South Korean military dictator”.
Paul Merrell

Austrian court overturns presidential election, orders rerun - The Washington Post - 0 views

www.washingtonpost.com/...6-9e16-4cf01a41decb_story.html

EU-politics Austria President election

shared by Paul Merrell on 01 Jul 16 - No Cached
  • VIENNA — In a move that could turn into the next blow to the EU after Britain’s exit vote, Austria’s highest court on Friday ordered a rerun of the country’s presidential election. The landmark decision gives a right-wing candidate the chance to turn his narrow defeat into victory. Unprecedented in Austria’s post-war history, the court ruling also appeared to be unique within the European Union and is looming large in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the 28-nation bloc. The decision, announced by Constitutional Court chief judge Gerhart Holzinger, represents a victory for the right-wing Freedom Party, which had challenged the May 22 runoff on claims of widespread irregularities. It comes just a week before independent politician Alexander Van der Bellen was to be sworn in as president and 40 days after he was declared the winner of the vote.
  • But it also has wider implications. With Britain’s impending departure from the EU, a chance by Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer to turn his loss into a win would boost not only his party but also far-right and nationalist movements elsewhere in Europe who are all lobbying for a weaker EU or an outright exit from the bloc. Those parties had hailed Hofer’s strong showing in May as proof of a surge in anti-EU sentiment. Several wasted no time in responding to Friday’s court decision.
Paul Merrell

White House threatens to veto 9/11 lawsuit bill - CNNPolitics.com - 0 views

edition.cnn.com/...index.html

war & peace 9-11 Saudis legislation sovereign-immunity litigation

shared by Paul Merrell on 20 Apr 16 - No Cached
  • A bipartisan bill to let families victimized by the 9/11 terrorist attacks sue Saudi Arabia ran into sharp setbacks Monday, as the White House threatened a veto and a GOP senator privately sought to block the measure.The move comes as presidential candidates from both parties are seizing on the legislation to score points with New York voters ahead of Tuesday's critical primary there.And it has pit the likely next Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, squarely against the Obama administration.The White House and State Department are bluntly warning lawmakers not to proceed with the legislation over fears it could have dramatic ramifications for the United States and citizens living abroad to retaliatory lawsuits. The President lands in Riyadh Wednesday for talks with Saudi Arabia over ISIS and Iran at a time of strained relations between the countries, making the bill's timing that much more sensitive.
  • The stepped-up lobbying against the legislation comes as it is coming up against fresh roadblocks on Capitol Hill, with party leaders learning that a GOP senator is objecting to taking up the bill, according to a source familiar with the legislation. The senator's identity has not yet been revealed publicly.Proponents of the measure, for their part, are beginning to intensify their pressure campaign."If Saudi Arabia participated in terrorism, of course they should be able to be sued," Schumer said Monday. "This bill would allow a suit to go forward and victims of terrorism to go to court to determine if the Saudi government participated in terrorist acts. If the Saudis did, they should pay a price."Speaking to reporters Monday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest fired back, warning that it would jeopardize international sovereignty and put the U.S. at "significant risk" if other countries adopted a similar law."It's difficult to imagine a scenario where the President would sign it," Earnest said.
  • The bill, which Schumer and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas are pushing, would prevent Saudi Arabia and other countries alleged to have terrorist ties from invoking their sovereign immunity in federal court.Saudi Arabia has long denied any role in the 9/11 attacks, but victims' families have repeatedly sought to bring the matter to court, only to be rebuffed after the country has invoked legal immunity allowed under current law."It makes minor adjustments to our laws that would clarify the ability of Americans attacked on U.S. soil to get justice from those who have sponsored that terrorist attack," Cornyn said of the bill, which is entitled the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • As pressure grows on Congress to let 9/11 victims' families pursue their claims against Saudi Arabia in federal court, Saudi officials are quickly pushing back.In a stark warning to members of Congress, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir warned lawmakers last month in Washington that his kingdom would sell $750 billion in U.S. assets, including treasury securities, if the measure became law, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. The development was first reported in The New York Times.Cornyn, however, dismissed the threat.
  • Presidential candidates were also unmoved. Ahead of the New York primary, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders quickly sought to align themselves with the Cornyn-Schumer bill.After Clinton said in a Sunday appearance on ABC that she had to study the bill and would not take a position, a spokesman later said she backs the bill.Sanders, in a statement Sunday night, announced that he supports the bill and called on the Obama administration to declassify the 28 pages of the 9/11 report that could implicate Saudi Arabia. Other Presidential candidates jumped into the fray, including GOP front-runner Donald Trump.Appearing on the Joe Piscopo Show, a New York radio program, Trump evinced no concern about Saudi Arabia's threat to sell off U.S. assets."Let 'em sell 'em," Trump said. "No big deal."Trump added: "Hey, look, we protect Saudi Arabia. We protect them for peanuts. If we weren't protecting them, they wouldn't be there for a week."
  • Paul Merrell on 20 Apr 16
     
    Sounds like the bill would also open the doors to suing Israel for 9-11. Could be interesting because that's where much of the evidence points, incliding the all important answer to the question, qui bono (who benefits).  
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