Good morning! Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Joining us today... Dorian Warren, David Ignatius, Michael Crowley, Geraint Vincent Jeffrey Goldberg, Brian Jenkins, Dick Vitale, Joe Klein, Sen. Ted Cruz, Barney Frank, Alison Wright, Brian Sullivan, Bianna Golodryga, Mark Kelly, Bobbi Brown, and more!
The election in Israel is happning now. The polls have been opened for about 9 hours so far and Netanyahu has done a quick shift to the right. The new York Times reports that under pressure on the eve of a surprisingly close election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Monday doubled down on his appeal to right-wing voters, declaring definitively that if he was returned to office he would never establish a Palestinian state.
The statement reversed Mr. Netanyahu’s endorsement of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a 2009 speech at Bar Ilan University, and fulfilled many world leaders’ suspicions that he was never really serious about peace negotiations. If he manages to eke out a fourth term, the new stance would further fray Mr. Netanyahu’s ruinous relationship with the Obama administration and heighten tension with European countries already frustrated with the stalled peace process.
The leaders of the Zionist Union, Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni, at center in dark glasses, emerged from behind a security screen in Ar’ara, northern Israel.Netanyahu Shifts Tactics as His Likud Party Appears to Slip in Final Surveys. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem last week. After the 2009 election, he became prime minister even though his party did not win the most votes.In Israeli Race, Winning First Place Is No Guarantee of Becoming the PM. “I think that anyone who is going to establish a Palestinian state today and evacuate lands is giving attack grounds to the radical Islam against the state of Israel,” he said in a video interview published on NRG, an Israeli news site that leans to the right. “There is a real threat here that a left-wing government will join the international community and follow its orders.” Isaac Herzog, third from right, of the center-left Zionist Union, posed with supporters Monday at party headquarters in Tel Aviv. (Credit Nir Elias/Reuters)
Mr. Netanyahu’s chief challenger, Isaac Herzog of the center-left Zionist Union, backs the two-state solution and has promised to try to restart talks with the Palestinians, though he has warned an agreement may not be possible. He has, however, made Mr. Netanyahu’s alienation of allies, especially Washington, a prime campaign point, and said Israel’s international isolation is itself a security threat.
With his conservative Likud Party trailing the Zionist Union in the last pre-election polls, Mr. Netanyahu has ratcheted up his statements in a panicky blitz of interviews and campaign stops in recent days. He accuses rivals of colluding with Arabs and moneyed antagonists in a global conspiracy to oust him. He has also belatedly begun to address the pocketbook questions that polls suggest will drive most people’s votes. But in many corners, these efforts and the Palestinian flip-flop only underscore a longstanding critique: that Mr. Netanyahu, 65, who led Israel for three years in the 1990s and returned to the premiership in 2009, places staying in power above all else.
He himself called these early elections three months ago, confidently aiming to replace a governing coalition fractured over the Palestinian conflict and matters of religion with one he could more easily control. Instead, as Israelis head to the polls Tuesday, Mr. Netanyahu is struggling for political survival in a nation itself riven over those issues and consumed with the high cost of housing and groceries. Suddenly, the man crowned “King Bibi” — whose hard-line stance against the Iranian nuclear program and continued construction in West Bank settlements hurt him in some foreign capitals but resonated in an increasingly defensive and religious Israel — is being asked whether he would retire if he were not re-elected. The election has become a referendum on Mr. Netanyahu’s rule. While Israel’s complicated electoral math gives him a good chance of remaining at the helm even if the Zionist Union wins more of Parliament’s 120 seats than the Likud, the campaign has revealed a yearning for change across the spectrum.
The Israeli leader’s settlement policy resembles his predecessors’, but it is a march toward permanence at a time when prospects for peace are few. “A lot of people on the right wing are still right wing, they are just tired of him specifically, it’s very, very personal,” said Tal Schneider, a political blogger. “Israelis, they perceive themselves as creative, as nonconformists, they hate the feeling of stagnation, of seeing themselves as counting down to another war. This vacuum, this feeling of forever status quo, this is the Bibi fatigue.”
Mr. Herzog, the son of a storied Israeli dynasty whose father, Chaim, was Israel’s sixth president, prayed Monday at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City and vowed to unify the nation “after a long period of division.” “I promise: I will be a prime minister to everyone,” said Mr. Herzog, 54. “For right and left, for settlers, Haredim, Druze, Arabs, Circassians; I will be prime minister for the center and for the periphery.” Later, he announced that his partner in Zionist Union, Tzipi Livni, had agreed to drop their deal to rotate the premiership — a focus of Mr. Netanyahu’s case against them. Ms. Livni’s lower popularity had made the deal an electoral liability and would also complicate coalition brokering.
“We are united in our task to change the government,” Mr. Herzog said on Israeli television Monday evening. “The choice tomorrow is between desperation and hope, and the hope of the greater good for this country is change of the government.” It was the formation of the alliance that altered the arc of the campaign. Polls quickly proved it more than the sum of its parts — Mr. Herzog’s midsize Labor Party and Ms. Livni’s tiny Hatnua — and put it on par with Likud in terms of Parliament seats. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel spoke at a Jewish settlement the day before the Israeli election, warning that his opponents Tzipi Livni and Isaac Herzog would fail to protect residents. Video by Reuters on Publish Date March 16, 2015. Photo by Abir Sultan/European Pressphoto Agency. But the right-wing bloc still looked far larger than the center-left, making Mr. Herzog’s path to the premiership difficult to plot. Seen more as consensus builder than commander in chief, he took voice lessons to address a persistent squeak and asked people not to use his nickname, Bougie. The gap between him and Mr. Netanyahu on whom Israelis saw as most suitable to lead them shrank but remained significant.
Mr. Netanyahu’s emphasis on security, his strong suit, backfired somewhat with the sharp Democratic criticism of his speech to Congress this month opposing the emerging nuclear deal between six world powers and Iran. He got the standing ovations he expected, but also provided an opening for attacks on his preferred playing field. Mr. Herzog and others argued that he was actually threatening Israel’s security by angering the White House, and that all his strident speeches had not yielded results on improving the terms of the Iran negotiations. The Zionist Union, meanwhile, hammered Mr. Netanyahu on domestic issues, especially housing, helped by a harsh state comptroller’s report showing prices shot up 55 percent from 2008 to 2013 and had continued to climb since. (A previous comptroller’s report on spending at the prime minister’s residences, including a $40,000 take-out tab one year, hardly helped the Netanyahu fatigue.)
The economic platform was also seized by Yesh Atid, the centrist faction that had stunned Israel by winning 19 Parliament seats in the last election, 2013, and Kulanu, a new party led by a popular former minister who broke from the Likud and had few nice things to say about his former boss. Bibi rules out two states. Bibi refuses to accept all Palestinians as Israelis with equal rights. What's left for the Palestinians? The elephant in the room remains the fact the Palestinians have always rejected any, and all, two state solution(s) that leaves Israel as...He made those statements six years ago.He never meant those words he spoke in 2009 would apply for ever, so the fact his position has...“What’s striking is that the Israeli public seems to have lost interest with the Palestinian question — the general feeling is that it’s like the weather, nothing you can do about it,” observed Guy Ben-Porat, a political scientist at Ben Gurion University. “Economy, housing, all these issues where nobody’s sure what the difference is, exactly, between the parties, there’s a feeling of government failure. I think it’s really a personal election, meaning anti-Netanyahu.” Israelis return to the polls on Tuesday, only 26 months after their last national election, but the political dynamic has changed.
Most analysts agreed that Tuesday was unlikely to produce a clear winner. Once the votes are counted, Israel’s president, Reuven Rivlin, will poll party heads to see whom they prefer as prime minister, a process that could take 10 days. Whoever Mr. Rivlin designates then has six weeks to try to create a coalition and form a government. Given the divisions, another possibility is a unity government, with the Zionist Union and Likud rotating the premiership — something both sides publicly oppose. Leaders of smaller parties said Monday night that Ms. Livni’s withdrawing her rotation agreement suggested that secret negotiations for shared power between Mr. Herzog and Mr. Netanyahu were already underway.
Tamar Hermann of the Israel Democracy Institute said the campaign has been “a struggle over the identity of the nation,” where she sees “overlapping cleavages” in income, education, religion and worldview. “I’m very much afraid of the morning after,” Ms. Hermann said. “I see no way of either a right-wing government or a left-wing government acquiring the necessary public legitimacy, grass-roots legitimacy, in order to design — and more than that, implement — grand strategies on social-economic issues or even security-diplomatic matters.” Voters appear energized by the close contest, and the last polls, published on Friday, suggest a large chunk remain undecided. Sara Dahan, a Jerusalem mother of three, said Sunday that she would either vote for the new Likud-breakaway, Kulanu, or, “if there is a chance my vote may influence helping making a change,” the Zionist Union.
“I don’t claim to know what is best for the country, but I do know what I see now and what I feel are the biggest problems,” said Ms. Dahan, who never before voted for Labor. “On the one hand is the security situation, which I would love to have some kind of solution for. On the other hand,” she added, “it’s the difficulties of a young couple, both working, having a difficult time buying an apartment, groceries, making it through the month.” Mr. Netanyahu’s final push to win back voters from the right seemed to have worked on Adi Perkin, 24, who in 2013 backed the pro-settler Jewish Home, but said Sunday that “probably in the end I will vote for Bibi in order to strengthen him.” “This election had a very bad side, which was that instead of talking to the citizens, the campaigns were about besmirching the others,” Ms. Perkin said. “All the ads were ‘just not Bibi,’ ‘just not Herzog.’ Instead they should have explained to the voters what they plan and what they want.” But Ido Nitai, 21, a bar manager, voted for Mr. Netanyahu last time, and now is shopping for someone — anyone — else. “If I wanted to keep the country in the same situation it is in today then I would vote for Bibi,” he said, “but I want to see a change here.” Irit Pazner Garshowitz contributed to this part of that report.
I cannot imagine that the speech in the USA to Congress had a huge role with regard to this outcome but I may agree with David Ignatius in that it could have been a complete distraction from what was going on from the ground level.
Also, it is being reported that the letter from the Senate to the Iran officials that tried to undermine the talks about a deal is actually affecting that deal. Evidently, John Kerry has been put in a pretty bad position or maybe the report said it is now an uncomfortable position for him. Iranian diplomats voiced concerns with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry about an open letter from Republican U.S. senators to Tehran’s leadership that threatens to undo any agreement reached on Iran’s nuclear program, according to U.S. and Iranian officials.
The letter wasn’t helpful to the negotiations, said a senior U.S. official. It was raised by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif with Mr. Kerry during roughly five hours of meetings at the lakeside city of Lausanne on Monday, the official said. But the American diplomat stressed the U.S. and Iranian sides remained committed to forging a comprehensive agreement to curtail Iran’s nuclear program by a March 31 diplomatic deadline. The letter, written this month by Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) and signed by 46 other Republican senators, warned Iran that any nuclear deal signed by President Barack Obama might not last beyond his presidency without the U.S. Congress signing off on it as well. The official said that the Obama administration believes it can still sell an accord with Iran to skeptical lawmakers if it can be shown how Tehran will be blocked from acquiring nuclear weapons.
“The Iranians raised it. These kinds of distractions aren’t helpful,” said the senior U.S. official, referring to the letter. “The negotiations aren’t about the letter,” the official added. “The negotiating teams have been very focused on what goes on in the room.” However, Mr. Zarif mentioned the letter in comments to reporters before leaving Lausanne to meet with European officials in Brussels. Supporters of the Iranian opposition protest ahead of the Iran nuclear talks held in Lausanne, Switzerland, during a rally in Brussels on Monday. “Many subjects have been discussed, from sanctions to the letter by the congressional lawmakers,” Mr. Zarif said. “Although we see the letter as a political move, we need to know the U.S. government’s stance on this issue.”
Mr. Cotton’s office didn’t respond to a request to comment. U.S. and Iranian officials said the talks this week will be crucial in determining whether an agreement can be reached by March 31. In Brussels, European officials said after meeting with Mr. Zarif that there was still a lot of ground to cover. “I see the elements for a deal to be reached but I still see the gaps that need to be fulfilled,” European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said. U.K. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, who was joined by counterparts from France and Germany, said there was still “a long way to go if we are going to get there.”
In Lausanne, the senior U.S. official again stressed that Mr. Obama believes Iran will have had enough time to weigh the crucial political, security and economic ramifications of a nuclear deal by month’s end. Washington, Tehran and other world powers have been negotiating for more than 18 months. “There comes a point that it’s either now, or you’re unlikely to get there,” the American diplomat said. “We do believe it’s time.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Zarif, left, with the European Union’s foreign-policy chief Mogherini on Monday. Washington and Tehran are trying to put in place a political agreement that would contain Iran’s nuclear capabilities for at least a decade in return for a removal of international sanctions on Iran. A particularly decisive issue is the pace at which sanctions will be removed, according to participants.
Mr. Zarif has stressed that Tehran wants an immediate removal of U.S., European and United Nations sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy over the past three years and cut in half its oil exports. The Obama administration is maintaining that the sanctions will only be repealed in stages, and can be “snapped back” into place if Tehran isn’t seen as abiding by the nuclear agreement. “From our perspective, we believe sanctions relief has to come in a phased way,” the senior U.S. official said. The interventionist role taken by lawmakers in the Iran diplomacy has emerged as a wild card.
The Republicans’ letter warned Tehran’s leadership that Congress has the power to either amend or kill an agreement that they do not like. There is legislation pending on Capitol Hill that would impose sanctions on Tehran if no agreement is reached by month’s end. A second bill seeks to give Congress a vote on either approving, rejecting or amending any agreement reached with Iran this month. Mr. Obama has threatened to veto either bill.
Senior Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , have publicly questioned in recent days whether the White House will be able to execute any agreement forged with Tehran. But Mr. Kerry stressed to Mr. Zarif that Congress can’t block an executive agreement.
“I think we had whatever appropriate discussions we needed to have on the letter,” said the U.S. official. American and Iranian officials said it was unclear if they’d reach a political agreement in negotiations this week, which are expected to last until Friday. “On some issues we are closer to a solution and based on this we can say solutions are within reach,” Mr. Zarif told Iranian state media. “At the same time, we are apart on some issues.”
Mr. Kerry’s negotiating team includes Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman, and nuclear and sanctions experts. Mr. Zarif has been accompanied by Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization. —Laurence Norman in Brussels contributed to this article.
There is news story and a report by some media outlet that the letter seems to be undermining the role John Kerry is trying to play in those meetings. I guess it has been effective in that regard so maybe what they set out to do, is working for that GOP.
Anyway, next big story is the Hilary email issue and when Jen Psaki was asked about her exit interview with Human resources. Which I do not think there was one but CNN does report that her numbers have dropped 6%. Unfavorable views of Hillary Clinton are on the rise and perceptions of her as "honest and trustworthy" have dropped following the revelation that while serving as secretary of state she used a personal email address and home-based server to conduct State Department business. But questions about Clinton's email practices may not harm her chances if she makes a run for the White House in 2016, as a new CNN/ORC poll finds 57% of Americans say she's someone they'd be proud to have as their president.
Overall, 51% in the poll call Clinton's use of a personal email system rather than a government provided one a very or somewhat serious problem, 48% say it's not too serious an issue or no problem at all. And the public is similarly split over whether Clinton did something wrong by using the personal system; 51% say she did, 47% that she did not. The survey was conducted after Clinton's press conference last week addressing the controversy over her emails. Clinton said she relied on the private system for "convenience," that it would be easier to carry one device for both work and personal emails rather than separating the two.
At the time Clinton served, the State Department did not allow staffers to automatically access personal email accounts on the same mobile device as official department emails. The poll finds 46% think Clinton's explanation was enough, while 51% feel she has not done enough to explain why she used this private email system during her time as secretary of state. The public is less interested in the emails themselves, with 41% saying Clinton has revealed too little about the emails and a narrow majority of 51% saying she's revealed the right amount.
Clinton said she has turned over to the State Department roughly 30,000 of the 60,000 emails sent or received through her personal account during the time she served as secretary, and has asked the department to make those emails public. The State Department says it is reviewing those emails for sensitive information and will release them once the review is complete. Clinton says the emails she has not shared with the State Department were deemed personal through a review process by her and her aides, and have been deleted.
With Clinton widely expected to launch a presidential campaign soon, 52% said her handling of these emails is not relevant to her character or her ability to serve as president, while 46% see it as an important indicator of her character and readiness for the job. There are sharp partisan divisions in the public's assessment of Clinton's email practices, but even among Democrats, a sizable minority think Clinton should explain more about why she used a personal email system and that she did something wrong by using a personal email.
About a quarter of Democrats (27%) think Clinton did something wrong by using the personal email system, along with 53% of independents and 74% of Republicans. And 30% of Democrats say Clinton has not done enough to explain why she chose to use the personal email system. That climbs to 79% among Republicans and 50% among independents. Overall, the survey finds that Clinton's favorability rating has dropped six points since November and now stands at 53% favorable to 44% unfavorable. The former first lady's favorability ratings improved following her 2008 run for the presidency, peaking at 69% favorable in September 2011.
But as the 2016 presidential nomination contest approaches, these figures have slipped and now closely resemble her ratings during the '08 campaign. At the same time, the share who see her as "honest and trustworthy" has declined in the last year. Half (50%) say they see her as honest and trustworthy, down six points since last March and similar to the share saying so in October 2007. Still, 58% say that Clinton says what she believes and not what she thinks voters want to hear.
Her husband Bill Clinton's favorability ratings are about the same as the last CNN poll on them in spring 2014, with 65% viewing the former president favorably. The CNN/ORC International poll was conducted by telephone March 13-15. It included interviews with 1,009 adult Americans, and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Also, on another note, Chris Borland, a 24 year old has retired from the NFL. He cites that he wants to be pro active in keeping himself out of harms ways from head injuries. I assume he must have some great education to make this leap from the NFL into the real world. This is the first football player that has left the game well before any (head) trauma could even happen. I wonder what his position is even though getting hit in general has got to suck for anyone that plays that game. I also assume lineman on both sides are the ones that get hit the most but then again, Wide receivers and Quarterbacks and actually, running backs and linebackers and corner backs seem like they would get hit harder even if not constant like lineman get hit on every play. That is a rough game now that I break it down this way.
Morning Papers: There is an investigation and house hearing maybe about the Secret Security people that were drunk while driving around before hitting a barricade outside ofthe White House fence. Charlie Crist will not jump into general election next year. Buzz Feed reports that he spent more money in stupid ways for some piece of artwork or maybe it was replica of a the podium used by the POTUS? Did I hear that correct and fundamentally asking, 'they make replicas of the podiums the POTUS uses. This guys spending habits were nuts while he was in that office. I also like Willies podium today (a chair) and I get that joke now. Oregon is the first state to use automatic voter registration and why isn't it that way in every state? There should be automatic registration done in every sate in the USA. And, Mitt Romney is stepping into the ring to fake box Evander Holyfield for a charity but that is scary.
I am so tired today. I got no sleep last night.
And, Robert Durst can feasibly get the death penalty for the murders in Los Angeles and in California but he was also arrested now in NOLA for gun charges. The problem BTW, with regard ti using the finale or scene I should say in Court is that they would be able to now use the entire Documentary Film too. That's the law and that is basically what saved Michael Jackson in his kids charges and that also helped Robert Blake after he did some interview. The reason is that was him uttering words in odd ways which can be construed as being sarcastic whereas when he was asked about the murders other times point blank and head on, his reply were vehemently a 'no.' But then again, like I said two Mondays ago, it is about convincing a jury so who knows but his defense lawyers (with the ten gallon hat) are great lawyers. And, like I said yesterday is that I think Durst may thrive on this stuff. I don't get why he basically got himself nabbed every time (first time, he shoplifted food and now he admits it on a microphone in some bathroom after writing a letter to the Police about their being a dead body). Its wild to me but maybe he is bored. I can't figure out why he would shoot himself in the feet over and over.
The guy from the Atlantic that wrote the story about 'is it time for Jews to leave Europe' is on now. I read that the other day. I thought it was going to be harsh but it was the opposite. It was not literal. The irony is that is the last thing a Jew would do which is to leave some area where they are not wanted. Even if they were in harms way. I guess most attacks overseas happen to Jews which make up 1% of those populations. There are many things to point at for that mentality with old ideals about Jews mixed with new ideals about Jews. How did we get to this point as Willie asks? Its quite disturbing now that I think about it out loud. I guess there is no surprise about anti Semitism in Europe even though I thought it does a slow death there for some reason. Maybe the influx of Muslim people into Europe over the last decade or so is what make up in part, the so called new ideals about Jews.
Anyway, Frankie (cat I found outside in the sewer that must have gotten out of his house again) is back at the house. I have to find his family's number but he came right into my house. He is now checking out the birds through a window while they eat outside on one of my porches. Seeing him again at least woke me up.
The threat of ISIS as Brian Jenkins is on before he testifies on Capital Hill this morning. He is the senior adviser for the ran Corporation whatever that is but I wonder what his deal is that he gets to speak on the hill today. Michael Crowley is on too. They are talking about how to stop the threat of it and how to stop the people from joining it. Joe said good luck to about his Capital Hill thing today. Evidently, the online push for ISIS and radicalization is very high according to (David) Ignatius. We do hear how their online presence is great and guess whom is up next? Dick Vitale with his picks for the NCAA Tournament.
Oh and also, the other thing I want to discuss is why the jokes about the fast and Furious guy that died during the Justin Bieber roast that is being aired on Comedy Central. What does that guy have to do with Justin Bieber? Were they friends because i just realized that Justin just turned 20 years old or some young age. I thought he was older in age.
And, who is the team that could beat Kentucky? Let's see if they mention Maryland. He mentions Notre dame in that region which I had no clue how good they played this year. I thought we (Maryland) beat them this year and he mentions that because you only need to lose one time, it could happen compared to say a best of 7 series. He states no one would beat Kentucky in a best of seven series. Still no mention of Maryland. He does mention Michigan State as a dark horse team. They just beat Maryland on Saturday and they played Wisconsin well on Sunday (overtime game). I forgot about the Judd/Vitale kiss which we all know they have been friends for years. It looked awkward but it was not. It was how that pic was taken because the next shot was her smiling while being kissed by Dick (Vitale).
Ted Cruz is on soon. That kid asking about there being a fire was priceless. That was so cute.
Beforehand, we get a report from Tel Aviv about the election in Israel which the guy says the turn out is huge today. I am not sure of that would favor a Netanyahu or his opponent and remember too, like Joe said today that Netanyahu could lose the election but of he gets the backing of that party in that country, he could gain back that seat. Its an odd way of dealing and honestly, I had no idea that if you build some coalition big and strong enough in Israel, that you could win even if you lose that popular vote.
Joe Klein is now on talking about his article he wrote in Time Magazine which is about the letter to the Iranian officials sent by the 47 Senators. He says that it (letter) helped empower the hardliners in Iran. I still think that letter was ridiculous to do in this situation. Like I said many times, they put the cart before the horse so to speak. Even though the hardcore Jews that speak against any deal freak out about any deal which I just don't agree with. Why can't Iran be thought about as humans? Or, as people? Besides the fact they want to decimate Israel. Which we should be able to educate them better about getting them to change their stances with Israel. The other thing that bothers me actually is how neighboring countries like the UAB and like Saudi Arabia are not trying to enrich Nuclear Power. I have hope that if Iran can't do it, those countries would stop doing it and I just remembered that with hardcore Jews, they are not into the Sunset part of the deal after ten years. I think their point is what happens then? Which I see both sides but still, I think a good deal is best. I also think that after ten years, officials will still be monitoring that situation in Iran. But ten years is a long time away so who the hell knows what will happen then.
Ted Cruz is on now. Joe says that he made little girls cry (as a joke) which he did not at all and boy was she cute. Although, he maybe should have said something about there not being a fire rather than reiterating that the world was on fire to the girl. He did say that her mom would help put out the fire and I get you have to think quick which is very hard. I did not think anything bad about it and I thought it was so cute. He said New Hampshire was fabulous as Joe presses the issue about the press and onslaught of them. But yes. They do take Politics seriously and I had no clue till about a year and a half ago how far right that state is for an east Coast State. There are a ton of tea Party people.l I took pictures at one market that had shirts that were harsh as far the content on them. I think the guy hated me without even talking to me. It is so funny how his platform today is like a democratic Platform. it almost sounds like Liz Warren talking now about the economy and the lack of middle class. And, how we can reverse what is a thirty year trend now that started from back during the Reagan era. The rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poor is what he (Ted Cruz) says. After Cruz mentions how to set deals up and Mika goes there about the Iran letter he signed. The point is missed though because it was about breaking the deal. He just admits it. I do NOT think there is/was a question that it has to go through certain areas of the congress for approval but no one said it was not going through that way. Mika called it destructive and that my feeling is that the congress should always hone in on the government and with any POTUS but they should not be doing it this way. That was not what was done. They went around the POTUS and the admin doing the deal. Congress should be up the POTUS' butts accordingly, but the POTUS. Not the Ayatollah. What they did has nothing to do with 'checks and balances.' There should be checks and balances but writing to the Ayatollah is not that whatsoever and Mika says it perfectly in that the defenses of it, is all deflecting. They constantly mention that the deal should be a certain way. This has nothing to do with that end result. They do NOT want an end result. The point of that letter was to thwart any so called end result. It was meant to stop it in tracks.
I am so fricking tired today. I can't even keep up. I hope I make sense because I can't articulate squat today. (Ted) Cruz is on for a while too which is also why its hard to keep up and what about a goat? Media people say he hurt some goat after making the girl cry? Even though Cruz says its up in the air technically, he is no doubt running for POTUs and honestly, after him saying that he would sign the letter again (after Mika said that John McCain could feasibly regret signing it after ward), he says he would do it in huge letters so the Ayatollah would not need his reading glasses. I like that even though i am against the letter. I like it when people and politicians especially are real about their stances. I cannot fault him for it since it was he believes so much. I commend Ted Cruz. More people should be like him when it comes to being real about their platforms. Good for him even though again, I think the letter was counter productive in so many ways. But then again, I am not a politician so i am sure they know things I do not even think about either. I happen to not mind Ted Cruz. I like him and his interview this morning was excellent. He totally answered everything right on which is great.
And, now, Barny Frank is on pushing a book he wrote since he left his post. It is about his life in politics and they are also discuss his sexuality issues while growing up gay in congress. What is he most proud of today with regard to his political career? The LGBT stuff he says and something else I missed (LGBT was # 2) and the fact that he was skeptical against home ownership. I guess he was in favor of people renting.
The woman who acts in that show, The Americans is on now. I need to watch that show once and for all. Joe says he loves it. I heard it was good from a friend of mine. I have to watch it from the first episode till the most recent one.
Business before the Bell. Interest Rate Hike could raise. Wawawa wa wawawa (when adults talk on Charlie brown shows). I have no clue what in gods name they are talking about and speaking of Tesla. I saw a Tesla car on a flat bed truck last night. Which I thought we could not have them in new jersey. I assume it ran out of juice as Brian just says about Tesla's in general. Maybe it was in NJ from Philly.
And, so what is this story about a flight from DC to Denver being diverted back to DC? A passenger was restrained by other passengers? Wow. Oh man. he evidently tried to run up into the cock pit while yelling he had a bomb. That is pretty hardcore. That is pretty stupid. Sounds like an acid trip gone bad.
Who is this now on with the lovely Bianna Golodryga? Is it Mark Kelly? I hope he talks gun safety but he seems to be talking about him and his brothers being able to go into space. "Astrotwins: Project Blastoff" is the name of a book he just wrote. It is based on the childhood of him and his brother Scott. I love Mark Kelly. He's cool. I especially love his push with gun safety laws. I wish he could do more for everyone. They are now discussing Gabby (Giffords) (his wife) and her rehabilitation. She's cool too. They have a great marriage. Cool though. They are getting into the gun laws he is pushing for. They are actually talking about how he could potentially run for a spot in politics. That would work. But again, the latest thing he is working is that bill for gun safety and background checks and closing up loop holes at gun shows.
Hey there, people, I'm Bobby Brown
They say I'm the cutest boy in town
My car is fast, my teeth is shiney
I tell all the girls they can kiss my heinie
Here I am at a famous school
I'm dressin' sharp 'n' I'm actin' cool
I got a cheerleader here wants to help with my paper
Let her do all the work 'n' maybe later I'll rape her
Oh God I am the American dream
I do not think I'm too extreme
An' I'm a handsome son of a bitch
I'm gonna get a good job 'n' be real rich
(Get a good
Get a good
Get a good
Get a good job)
Women's Liberation
Came creepin' across the nation
I tell you people I was not ready
When I f**** this d**e by the name of Freddie
She made a little speech then,
Aw, she tried to make me say "when"
She had my b**** in a vise, but she left the d***
I guess it's still hooked on, but now it shoots too quick
Oh God I am the American dream
But now I smell like Vaseline
An' I'm a miserable son of a bitch
Am I a boy or a lady, I don't know which
(I wonder wonder
Wonder wonder)
So I went out 'n' bought me a leisure suit
I jingle my change, but I'm still kinda cute
Got a job doin' radio promo
An' none of the jocks can even tell I'm a homo
Eventually me 'n' a friend
Sorta drifted along into S&M
I can take about an hour on the tower of power
'Long as I gets a little golden shower
Oh God I am the American dream
With a spindle up my b*** till it makes me scream
An' I'll do anything to get ahead
I lay awake nights sayin', "Thank you, Fred!"
Oh God, oh God, I'm so fantastic!
Thanks to Freddie, I'm a sexual spastic
And my name is Bobby Brown
Watch me now, I'm goin down,
And my name is Bobby Brown
Watch me now, I'm goin down, etc.
(Frank Zappa Lyrics)
Sorry. I had to do it.
Bobbi brown is the woman who runs things feature today. I thought that segment was done but i must have missed it yesterday or the show went too long for them to feature anyone (although Claire McCaskill was on so maybe she was it). Speaking of women and pay. It looks like we will get equal pay in America. Not until 2058 but still. America ranks 58th in the world when it comes to equal pay. Eqypt ranks 8th or 6th to put things in great perspective about that issue.
What time is it in Israel now? I wonder the election ends today.
Regardless of it all, please stay in touch and lets hope Phish announces summer tour dates today too.
