2016 Elections

[Vrede too]

Somewhat related to the Honduras post above -

Mothers of Plaza De Mayo Reject Obama Visit to Argentina

The Argentine human rights group Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo is rejecting the timing of President Barack Obama's visit to Argentina.

Obama is set to arrive on March 23 for a two-day visit where he will meet with President Mauricio Macri.

The following day marks the 40th anniversary of the military coup that began Argentina's 1976-1983 military dictatorship.

Nora Cortinas is a founding member of the group that has campaigned to find people forcibly "disappeared" by the dictatorship. She told local radio Friday that she's "not amused" that Obama's visit will coincide with the coup anniversary because the U.S. facilitated the South America dictatorships during the 1970s.

Human rights groups say about 30,000 people died or disappeared in Argentina's dictatorship.

Oppressed people don't forget.

[rstrong]

Coming soon: PolitiFact North Carolina

Today we announce the creation of PolitiFact North Carolina through a partnership with The News & Observer of Raleigh. Starting in a few weeks, reporters will begin analyzing the claims and promises of North Carolina state and local politicians -- including the candidates for U.S. Senate and governor.

PolitiFact, which won the Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the 2008 presidential coverage, now has partners in 16 different states.

[bannination]

Coming soon: PolitiFact North Carolina

Today we announce the creation of PolitiFact North Carolina through a partnership with The News & Observer of Raleigh. Starting in a few weeks, reporters will begin analyzing the claims and promises of North Carolina state and local politicians -- including the candidates for U.S. Senate and governor.

PolitiFact, which won the Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the 2008 presidential coverage, now has partners in 16 different states.

Ooooooo this should be fun, can't wait!

[Vrede too]

It'll be great, but it's not like absolutely proving or disproving assertions is all that relevant here and now.

[Seth Milner]

:?: As I thought was clear from my post under the detailed article on the topic -

Making naturalized citizens eligible to run for president would take a constitutional amendment, which voters have no direct say in. SCOTUS can't strike that down.

Then, if a naturalized citizen runs, voters can decide whether they like her/him or not.

Not all that clear; got it now.

[JTA]

Donny T in the lead.

[Vrede too]

Diversity in the POTUS race:

A black
A woman
A Jew
2 Cubans
2 1 1/2 Spanish speakers
One or more nutcases
That thing on Trump's head
A Canadian and a guy from VT, which might as well be Canada

America.

...
A senior citizen
A terrorist
A morbidly obese person

Kasich next or does he wait to see if the Shrubbery gives him a little boost? Do his voters and the Shrubbery go mostly to Rubio? He's the establishment candidate now, is that enough?

Wneglia, care to share who you voted for?

[Seth Milner]

Jeb Bush drops out, Trump wins S.C. .... shit.

[Vrede too]

Hillary 53, Bernie 47 in a very diverse state, a win but not decisive.
Rubio and Cruz within 1100 votes of each other out of 330K cast for the 2 of them!
Rubio won Columbia and Charleston, otherwise all Trump.

Rubio campaign cries foul over last-minute Cruz mailer

Michael Isikoff
‏@Isikoff

How they do it in SC. Here's @tedcruz mailer on @marcorubio

:!: So, it's now bad for a Republican to support "free" trade for corporations? Or is it solely because Obama supports "free" trade?

Assuming that establishment candidate Rubio is in to the end, does Cruz ever catch Trump and if not who do his voters start migrating to?

[rstrong]

:!: So, it's now bad for a Republican to support "free" trade for corporations?

The TPP fight is best described as "Obama and the Republican Party vs the Democratic Party."

It's pretty much a repeat of NAFTA, in that NAFTA was widely supported by Republicans, negotiated by Republicans, signed by an Republican President... and Clinton's job was to convince Democrats to go along with it.

Or is it solely because Obama supports "free" trade?

UNLIKE NAFTA, the TPP isn't a free trade deal. That free trade already largely exists.

It's an investment agreement. A corporate sovereignty agreement. An agreement to dictate that countries, provinces and states can't just pass laws protecting worker safety, the environment, local jobs and whatnot if it might hurt investors' profits. And dictating that they extend their copyright terms by several decades.

[rstrong]

Jeb Bush drops out,

NOW, I'll clap.

[Vrede too]

Hence my quotes around "free" and surprise that a Republican is so enthusiastically running against it.

[rstrong]

Jeb Bush drops out...

And remember, the GOP hasn't won a Presidential election without a Bush or Nixon on the ticket since Hoover in 1928. (Eisenhower's VP was Nixon. Reagan's VP was Bush I.)

Nixon has a grandson with an undergraduate degree in politics, a law degree, worked in John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, and ran for Congress in 2010. Endorsed by Jeb Bush.

But he needs a few months in Congress or as a governor before being seen as qualified to run for the White House. But at least there's *some* hope for 2020 beyond Jeb!.

BTW, does this mean that we can refer to Jeb! now without the exclamation point?

[Vrede too]

On the contrary, seeya Jeb! Just shut up, Jeb! Don't let the door hit you, Jeb!

[Wneglia]

Thanks, rstrong.

[Vrede too]

"Dr. Ben Carson ... received as many delegates in South Carolina as all other candidates but the winner."
-- Larry Ross, Communications Director for 6th place Dr. Ben Carson
https://www.facebook.com/realbencarson/ ... 6813680122

:thumbsup:


The 17 saddest moments of Jeb Bush’s very sad campaign

Too many juicy ones to bother quoting them all, but I do want to mention this:

... Bush's campaign (and the pro-Jeb super PAC Right to Rise) spent over $100 million on his campaign. He won no states....

Not even close. Has there ever been such a massive and completely ineffective transfer of money from fat cat cons to the "liberal" media?

[rstrong]

On the contrary, seeya Jeb! Just shut up, Jeb! Don't let the door hit you, Jeb!

Say what you will about Jeb; it's refreshing to finally see a Bush successfully implementing an exit strategy.

[rstrong]

"Dr. Ben Carson ... received as many delegates in South Carolina as all other candidates but the winner."
-- Larry Ross, Communications Director for 6th place Dr. Ben Carson

Carson will drop out when the money stops coming in.

Remember Stephen Colbert in 2012, demonstrating how SuperPAC money could be transferred to the SuperPAC owners' own bank accounts, tax-free? Remember Sarah Palin touring America in a campaign bus, raising $millions for her SuperPAC, and then not running?

ThinkProgress: As Ben Carson’s Campaign Tanked, Top Advisors Reaped Millions

Carson’s newly disclosed fourth quarter spending shows huge payments to companies controlled by his current and former advisors.
[...]
The campaign also paid more than $2.3 million to InfoCision, a controversial company that has previously raised money for political action committees that spent the bulk of their money on overhead only.

The real effect of Citizens United is fake political campaigns. "Candidates" running not to win, but to raise money.

You have to wonder if that was what Trump was doing, and it got out of control. He's done everything in his power to lose, and it keeps getting him more support. (No, he's not campaigning just on his own money.)

[Vrede too]

Maybe God will tell Carson to keep up the fight (and just coincidentally keep making money).

[rstrong]