8/20/2019

the crap that is harry reid.

1st off, last episode of 'animal kingdom' for this season airs tonight on tbs, don't forget.

harry reid is a piece of s**t and always has been.

'vice' reports:

 Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) isn’t happy that some of his party’s presidential candidates are pushing for Medicare for All and decriminalizing border crossings, two hot-button issues in the Democratic primary.
In a half-hour phone conversation with VICE News, Reid was blunt when asked if he thought supporting Medicare for All would be problematic in the 2020 general election.
“Of course it would be,” he said. “How are you going to get it passed?”
“I think that we should focus on improving Obamacare. We can do that — without bringing something that would be much harder to sell,” he said when asked his thoughts on the debate over whether Democrats should pursue Medicare for All or a more modest Obamacare expansion. “Improving Obamacare: People understand that. They would appreciate that. It locks in many important things.”
The onetime Democratic powerhouse and Nevada kingmaker had similar thoughts about another issue dividing the 2020 Democratic presidential field: whether to decriminalize the act of crossing into the U.S. without authorization.


oh, harry, no 1 gives a s**t what you say.  just go away.

remember in january of 2015 when he was injured?  remember how he lost in court when he tried to blame it on some workout equipment?

remember how the rumor was that in reality harry got beat up by a male trick he picked up?

remember how the injury - or rather how it happened - forced harry not to seek re-election?

why not?

because he didn't want to be exposed as a gay man?

poor harry, if it's true.  how sad for him, he fled his senate seat to avoid saying the words 'i'm gay.'

gay rumors plagued him from the beginning.  it was said that's what the nevada mob had on him and why they were able to push him around the way they did.

just hide in your closet, harry.

those of us who stand in the sun know medicare for all is needed and we know immigration reform is needed.

what's not needed?

your closet queen ass, so go away.


let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'


Tuesday, August 20, 2019.  Deportations in Iraq continue to happen because we're not (a) paying attention and (b) being honest.  There is no justification to remove anyone from the US and force them to Iraq.



Last week, more talk emerged about how Congress could do something to stop Iraqis from being sent back to Iraq.  This followed the August 6th death of Jimmy Aldaoud who had been deported to Iraq two months prior.


 Aug 13
Jimmy Aldaoud died in a Baghdad apartment last Tuesday after vomiting blood and begging to return to the US. He had lived in the Detroit area from infancy until he was deported in June.
12 replies161 retweets222 likes
 
 



But the talk had been going on before that.  In fact, May 8th, Niraj Warikoo (DETROIT FREE PRESS) reported:
Two Michigan congressmen, one Democrat and one Republican, introduced a House bill this week that would block the deportations of more than 1,000 Iraqis.
U.S. House Reps. Andy Levin, D-Bloomfield Township, and John Moolenaar, R-Midland, introduced the bipartisan legislation Tuesday titled 'Deferred Removal for Iraqi Nationals Including Minorities Act.' The bill calls upon Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to stop any deportations of the Iraqi immigrants, most of whom have criminal records and had final orders of removal.
"Conditions in Iraq have worsened dramatically since these removal orders were entered," reads the bill. "Many Iraqis with removal orders will face persecution, torture, or death if removed."
The bill is cosponsored by 12 of Michigan's 14 U.S. House representatives, including all its Democrats and all but one Republican. There are nine other cosponsors in the House from other states, including California.
Many of the 1,000 Iraqis who face deportation are Chaldean, Iraqi Catholics who have faced discrimination and violence in recent years in Iraq. They were legal immigrants and some have lived in the U.S. for decades, but because of their criminal records, are eligible for removal.



That was back in May.  And nothing has been done.

People are missing the point and then some.


  1.  Aug 18
If this continues, Jimmy Aldaoud won’t be the last.
3 replies32 retweets38 likes
 
 


SLATE's article goes on to insist that more people will be deported to countries they did not grow up and . . .


How stupid are they?

The issue with regards to Iraq is very simple: It's a corrupt country.  ISIS is again on the rise.  It is a country at war.  You do not send people there.  Forget the fact that the US started the war, you don't send people to an unsafe country.

This is on Congress, for not acting, this is on court system for not providing the proper review, it's on us for allowing it to happen because we're so damn apathetic.

Just because you got bored with the Iraq War doesn't mean it ended.  It continues.

The Iraqi people continue to be persecuted.


  1.  48 minutes ago
Replying to 
Iraqi people are dying every day inside Iraq. At the same time Iraqi refugees are dying in the host countries because of long waiting of resettlement in the host countries. No one calls for their right to live in safe&dignity. Please recieve Iraqi refugees
 
7 retweets7 likes
 
 




And the US is forcing people to leave the US and go to Iraq?

That's not safe, that's not humanitarian.  That doesn't follow the laws or customs of the United States.  Somehow, everyone wants to overlook that basic fact.

The SLATE article is powerful and a wonderful generic article.  But in terms of Iraqis, it serves no purpose.

Iraq is not generic country X.  Iraq is a war torn country, a failed state, one of the five most corrupt nation-states in the world, a place where bombs are dropped -- we're not talking suicide bombers, we're talking US planes, Turkish planes, 'coalition' planes,' etc -- daily.


 2 hours ago
Turkish jets neutralize 5 PKK terrorists in N. Iraq
4 retweets8 likes
 
 




There is no legal justification to force anyone to leave the US and go to Iraq.

Congress has refused to provide oversight on Iraq -- despite the tantrum they threw to get Bully Boy Bush to set benchmarks.  For those who have forgotten, he sat them.  These benchmarks were to be met or support would be cut off.  But then Iraq refused to meet them and Congress looked the other way.  By 2008, the only one publicly mentioning them was US House Rep Lloyd Doggett.  Today, amnesia has set in and Congress acts as though the benchmark episode never happened.)  They failed to do their oversight role in the lead up to the Iraq War (yes, that would refer to then-Senator Joe Biden, among others.  They failed once the Iraq War started.



  1.  Jun 27
I helped lead the opposition to the Iraq War. Joe Biden voted for it. When we talk about foreign policy there is a very clear difference in this election.
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287 replies1,993 retweets8,578 likes
 
 



  1.  24 hours ago
Biden said he was a coal miner. Biden said he was “shot at” in Iraq. Biden said he participated in sit-ins at segregated restaurants and movie theaters. These are just a few examples of Joe Biden describing major events in his life that never happened
288 replies1,392 retweets3,021 likes
 
 

 10 hours ago
Biden said he was a coal miner. Biden said he was “shot at” in Iraq. Biden said he participated in sit-ins at segregated restaurants and movie theaters. These are just a few examples of Joe Biden describing major events in his life that never happened
18 replies71 retweets97 likes
 
 



  1.  24 hours ago
Joe Biden vs Bernie Sanders on Iraq🇮🇶: Bernie: Saddam Hussein doesn't pose an imminent threat to the US, predicts expensive long-term occupation+terrorism Joe: Praises Bush's approach...says Saddam may be seeking nukes. Now who would you trust more on foreign policy? 🙃
/>
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 Aug 18
Replying to  
Why do you not already know this? It’s like the thing. Remind me, who was the Chairman of the Senate Forign Relations Committee, Intelligence etc, that in 2001 helped to shovel Bush’s WMD BS down our throats. His latest campaign advisor Burns, was Bushs pint man on Iraq
1 reply
 
 


  1.  Aug 18
17 Things You Might Not Know About Joe Biden 1.) Biden’s Newest Advisor Is a George W. Bush Appointee Who Supported the Iraq War 2.) Hear what he said when he...
 
 




Congress only wanted a pretense of oversight when Bully Boy Bush was in the Oval Office.  This was made clear when Stuart Bowen was telling Congress -- begging them -- that the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction needed to remain open.  But it was 2013 and Barack Obama was president so they just didn't care.

The US Embassy in Baghdad just bragged yesterday about $750 million US taxpayer dollars being given to Iraq in aid.  Where does that money go?  As we noted yesterday, that's enough money to give every Iraqi person $19.2 million.

Where does that money go?

There's no oversight.

Every years, millions are given to the Iraqi government, US taxpayer dollars, and life does not improve for the Iraqi people.

They know better than anyone how corrupt their government is.  Yesterday, we noted the NDI polling on this topic.

Congress is not doing their job.

And Iraq is not safe for the Iraqis there.

Iraq: 31 unidentified bodies found buried in KarbalaHuman rights groups accuse the government of covering up possible sectarian violence.
Profile image of authorAl Jazeera News
Aug 20, 2019


The last thing that needs to happen is for any government to force an Iraqi to return to Iraq.




The following sites updated:

Posted by at

women should reject 'the unicorn'

'he's like catnip to these women' insists a failed 'saturday night live' actress in a promo for cbs' new show 'the unicorn.'

seriously?

are any women behind the scenes of this stupid show?

walton goggins would never be catnip to women.

he's very ugly.

he looks like a meth addict with that skin stretched taunt as a drum across his face.

that hair is ridiculous for any 1 but especially a grown man of 47.

'the unicorn' is crap.

it's supposed to be a romantic comedy that women want to see.  no, no woman wants to walton jr. try to be romantic.  he's butt ugly. 

and he has no charisma.

i'm so sick of these men pimping ideas of what women find sexy and it's always these ugly men. 

why do they do that?

they're happy to pit women against women, they're happy to refuse to cast even plain women.  but they will repeatedly cast an ugly man as a romantic lead and we're supposed to accept it.

oh, hell no.

we should reject this garbage.

let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'


Monday, August 19, 2019.  What might stop the US deportations to Iraq, the corruption in Iraq is so bad that even the NDI is seeing objections to it in their polling, and much more.



An e-mail notes last night's entry and that US House Rep Tulsi Gabbard's plans are met with skepticism here.  Yes, they are.  She talked about taking on War Hawks and ending forever wars in interview after interview and then, the last week of July, she's on a debate stage with War Hawk Joe Biden and she refuses to call him out and then, in the days after, makes excuses for him.  She is a fake ass and we don't pretend otherwise.


If you do, that's on you.  But as for her campaign's nonsense that we called out last night:




 18 hours ago
"We spend $4 billion every month on a war in Afghanistan. How can we look our veterans in the eye & tell them we have no money for their healthcare? As president, I’ll work to end these wars, bring our troops home, & treat our veterans with the respect they deserve." —TeamTulsi


That's sheer stupidity.


Who has been telling the veterans "we have no money for their healthcare"?  Who?

That's the stupidest remark I've seen from her campaign so far and that's really saying something.

If anyone has said that in our government, as a member of the House, she should have immediately called for hearings.

And we all get that, right?

That she's a sitting member of Congress.  And that she can call hearings.  And that if she ever wanted to, she could work with Democrats in Congress on veterans issues.  If she wanted to.

But her campaign's Tweeting that veterans are being told that "we have no money for their healthcare."  That's nonsense.  It's a lie and it's garbage and I really think that she's a stupid idiot for being in the reserves and making some of the statements she's made.  They go against what you're allowed to say while you are serving.

And certainly, her campaign Tweeting that nonsense, that's conduct unbecoming because no one has said 'we don't have money to pay for veterans health care.'  That's conduct unbecoming because (a) it's a lie and (b) it's  incendiary and could create a panic.

We went easy on her here previously.  We take you at your word until you demonstrate that you're full of s**t which she did.

So she gets no pass anymore.

If she's concerned about veterans issues, why the hell hasn't she led on that in the House?

And don't whine that she's not on the House Veterans Affairs Committee.  She can lead from outside the Committee, she can introduce legislation, as a non-Committee member she can offer testimony, there is so much that she could do.

But maybe the better question is: Why isn't Tulsi on the House Veterans Affairs Committee?

And don't whine about Nancy Pelosi here.  This is her soft spot and Nancy knows it.  She was an idiot to turn the Democratic side of the Committee over to now convicted-felon Corinne Brown.  Veterans were appalled by that decision -- rightly so.  And Corinne's arrest and conviction since that decision was made leaves Nancy vulnerable with regards to that Committee.  If Tulsi wanted to be on it, she'd be on it.  If Nancy tried to stop her, all Tulsi would have to do is go public and VSOs would object to Nancy decision.

She's done nothing in the House to help veterans with their healthcare but her team wants to pretend that a President Tulsi will be different.  Manana.  That's becoming her campaign slogan.  I didn't do anything today but tomorrow -- pinkie swear! -- I will.

And some people may believe her.  But a lot of us who hoped she meant what she was saying have already seen that wasn't the case.

What if she froze in the debate?  Some of her supporters have argued that.  Well if she froze in the debate then she really isn't up to running for the presidency.  But if she froze, she had a ton of interviews immediately following the debates and could have used those interviews to get her points across.  Instead, she used them to offer excuses for Joe Biden's support for and selling of the Iraq War.

For months, she made herself a distraction by pretending to be a tough talker who would end wars but she couldn't even hold Joe Biden accountable on stage.  She's wasted everyone's time and should stop conning people and just drop out of the race.  She's not getting the nomination.  Her support in polls remains pathetic.  I'm not surprised.  I've noted here in multiple snapshots that she has no real support on campus.  I've noted that Beto O'Rourke has more support on campus than Tulsi does.  That should be her core support -- college students.  But they're for Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren.  They're not for Tulsi.

Having exposed herself in the July debate, she really should do the other candidates a favor and drop out so that she's not distracting from real potentials.


I would have loved to have seen a strong run by her but that's not what she's offered.  That's her fault, not anyone else's. 


 3 minutes ago
Happy ! The U.S. is proud to be the largest donor of humanitarian assistance in Iraq - $730 million this year! We are proud supporters of today and every day.
1 retweet1 like




Yes, the US pays money to the puppet government.  Where does the money go?  It doesn't go to better the Iraqi people's lives.  $750 million is a lot of money for a country that has less than 40 million people. The World Bank estimate is Iraq has 38.27 million people. That's before you factor in that it's an oil rich country..  The US is handing over $750 million?  That's roughly 19.2 million for each Iraqi citizen.  Where's the money really going because, year after year, it hasn't gone to the Iraqi people.

There's something very sick about handing money over to a government that you know is corrupt but pretending otherwise and patting yourselves on the back while you pretend the money goes to the Iraqi people.


The National Democratic Institute is not about democracy, to be clear.  If you're late to the story, see Naomi Klein's work for THE GUARDIAN on the NDI and the NED -- don't go to THE NATION, they carried Naomi's columns but weren't interested in taking on Mad Maddie Albright -- though happy to reprint Naomi on James Baker and the Republicans.

The NDI is not anyone I endorse or pretend does great work.

But they have some polling out that we will note.





Popular pessimism in is driven by perceptions of endemic corruption + low levels of trust in government’s ability to address major concerns such as jobs and unemployment. Large majorities (83%) say both corruption and unemployment are getting worse.
11:45 AM - 16 Aug 2019
1 retweet4 likes





Corruption is a major driver of pessimism for people in , especially widespread perceptions of corruption among senior government officials. More than 3 in 10 Iraqis report being forced to pay a bribe in at least half of interactions with authorities.
12:55 PM - 18 Aug 2019
2 retweets3 likes





Corruption in Iraq.  It's never been addressed.  Thug Nouri al-Maliki, fearing an Arab Spring in Iraq during his second term, promised to address it and then didn't.  Hayder al-Abadi was going to address it but never did.  Now we have Adil who is going to address it, right?


NRT reports:

The Council of Representatives wants to invite Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi and five ministers to answer questions about corruption, but senior aides to the prime minister have objected, according to an opposition politician.
The deputy head of the Wisdom Movement (al-Hikma) Asaad al-Morshidy said on Sunday (August 18) that “the Council of Representatives is attempting to invite Abdul Mahdi and five ministers…but several finance aides close to the government are hindering the process and pressuring Abdul Mahdi not to pursue corruption cases against some people.”
“Adil Abdul Mahid always talks about the necessity of ending corruption, but he has not taken any serious steps to eliminate corruption. He has surrendered to private forces and collusion more than former prime ministers.”
Recently [t]he Sairoon Alliance described Abdul Mahdi as a failed prime minister and warned that it would take a harder line in the future.


Mahdi has done nothing.



  1.  Aug 17
For the first time in nearly a decade of NDI polling, half of Iraqis said they either weren’t sure they'd vote in the upcoming provincial elections, or wouldn’t vote at all. But there’s still time to enact needed electoral reform + earn voters' confidence:
3 likes





Why should they vote when nothing changes?  More to the point, why should they vote after 2010?  They voted Nouri al-Maliki out as prime minister but the US government overturned their vote with The Erbil Agreement because keeping Nouri as prime minister was more important to the Barack Obama administration than was the will of the Iraqi people.

Changes in the voting procedures are taking place -- not good ones, but Omar Sattar (AL-MONITOR) reports:

Recent amendments made to the provincial and district council elections law have sparked a wave of criticism in Iraq as the national parliament adopted a change in the Sainte-Lague voting system formula that was rejected by small blocs and parties, as well as by elites, human rights organizations and civil society organizations.
Parliament voted July 22 to amend the provincial elections law and adopt a first electoral divisor of 1.9 under the Sainte-Lague proportional representation seat-allocation system, compared with 1.7 in the 2018 elections for the national parliament. The higher divisor will give large electoral blocs a greater advantage over smaller blocs in terms of winning seats in local parliaments. 
The provincial elections are scheduled for April 2020.
The Sainte-Lague system is a mathematical method of allocating parliamentary seats. Votes received by each bloc are divided by a denominator that starts with 1 or above but lower than 2. When votes are divided by a smaller initial number, small lists have better chances of winning seats. The higher the electoral denominator, the fewer the chances for smaller lists and the greater the opportunities for big lists. Under the Sainte-Lague system, vote totals are also divided by succeeding odd numbers — 3, 5, 7 and upward — as necessary to determine seat allocations. For example, if a bloc's vote total divided by 7 was greater than another bloc's vote total divided by 1.9, the first bloc would receive four seats before the other bloc could even receive one seat.

Meanwhile, the US continues to deport people to Iraq.


  1.  18 hours ago
A return to Iraq would be a death sentence.’ — This man has lived in the U.S since he was 3 years old, but the Trump admin could put his life at risk by deporting him to Iraq
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