Is this how we handle terrorism these days, to have everyone run back to their homeland? Isn’t that what the terrorists want… segregation?
In a speech on Sunday, Netanyahu, while talking about a Jewish man who was killed in an attack outside Copenhagen’s main synagogue. suggested the separatist way as the way to stop terrorism – segregation.
“Jews have been murdered again on European soil only because they were Jews,” Netanyahu said. “Of course, Jews deserve protection in every country, but we say to Jews, to our brothers and sisters: Israel is your home.”
Denmark’s chief rabbi Jiar Melchior said he was “disappointed” by Netanyahu’s invitation. “If the way we deal with terror is to run somewhere else, we should all run to a deserted island.”
Separately, Netanyahu also announced $45 million to encourage the immigration of Jews from France, Belgium and Ukraine in a government initiative planned before the Copenhagen attacks.
It’s getting a bit too easy finding contradictions and hypocritical statements in what Governor Chris Christie is saying these days. That must mean he’s running for president.
On his signature issue, pension and benefit reform, the governor went back on his promise to make a full payment for 2014, and his administration even argued in court that the 2011 reform bill is unconstitutional. These are both odd turns, but they are simply a matter of doing business under a man who shamelessly switches policy positions, excoriates those who disagree with him, and simply does what is politically expedient with no central philosophy or plan to guide him.
And through all of this hypocrisy, Christie has the nerve to say that he “tells it like it is.” As a keen observer of national and state politics, I can say with 100% confidence that people who rely on that phrase do not tell it anything near what it is and are, in fact, blowhards who like to hear themselves talk.
The latest example of Christie’s flip-flop road show occurred this week on the issue of the Common Core educational standards. Two years ago, the governor was all for the national standards and agreed with President Obama that the country would be better off with benchmarks on which all states could be evaluated. He even said that this issue should not be politicized.
“I have grave concerns about the way this has been done, especially the way the Obama administration has tried to implement it through tying federal funding to these things. And that changes the entire nature of it, from what was initially supposed to be voluntary type system and states could decide on their own to now having federal money tied to it in ways that really, really give me grave concerns. “So we’re in the midst of re-examination of it in New Jersey….It is something I’m very concerned about, because in the end education needs to be a local issue.”
Yes, he even used the word “grave” twice. This is a man who is definitely running for president.
The problem is that he is mistrusted among the conservatives who will decide two of the first three Republican popularity tests, Iowa and South Carolina, and is mistrusted in New Hampshire, the third test, because he has no record to run on. In fact, he’s running fourth among the early names being bandied about for the GOP nod, which wouldn’t be terrible, except that two of the four ahead of him, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, are competing for the same voters as Christie is. He’s going to have to muscle past those two, and they don’t have the scandals and YouTube rantings that he does. I would never count Christie out, but pandering to the right is not the road that “tell it like it is” Chris wants to navigate.
This also comes on the heels of a poll in New Jersey that shows the governor’s popularity and approval ratings at their four year lows. That’s not the political environment in which you’d like to start a national run, but that’s what the man has done since being reelected rather emphatically in November 2013. For a politician who says he knows how to safeguard public money, he sure has spent and wasted a great deal of political capital.
If Christie really wanted to reverse himself, I’d rather it be that he decides next week to build the third rail tunnel under the Hudson River. Or by fully funding public education. Those would definitely show that he knows how to tell it like it is. I’m not holding my breath, though.
That a newspaper will be forced to make this type of a correction, shows the level to which we have plunged to in “news” reporting in America.
The North Carolina newspaper reportedly published the following correction — which the Houston Chronicle called “one of the nuttiest corrections of the year” — last week:
Do you think this was a mistake? If you do, I have a bridge to sell you.
Fox5 San Diego showed the graphic on its Friday night news broadcast, while talking about a rape suspect who was cleared for lack of evidence.
At 10:04 p.m., viewers heard anchor Kathleen Bade say: “The only suspect in a sex assault at SDSU will not be charged.” At the same time, a picture of Obama appeared with the legend “NO CHARGES.”
The Obama shot lasted about 5 seconds, but it was noticed immediately in the newsroom, said Mike Wille, an assignment editor.
“Yeah, there was an accident when they had an over-the-shoulder” display, Wille told Times of San Diego. “It wasn’t on purpose.”
The news continued for 56 minutes, ending at 11 p.m.
Asked why there was no on-air acknowledgment or apology for the error, Wille said: “They really don’t do that when it’s a small thing like that.”
It’s all about the politics. It’s never about what’s best for the America people or what’s best for the country the pledged allegiance to. For Republicans, it’s all about politics and what’s best for their re-election and if it means disrespecting the president, then they’re all in.
Take this current issue surrounding the upcoming Netanyahu Congressional speech for example. Congressional Republicans are using this speech to not only divide the country with many Americans calling the move a huge mistake and a slap in the face of the Obama administration, but they are also driving a wedge between America and Israel. And this fact was brought up in a recent interview between Chris Wallace of Fox News and Republican House Speaker, John Boehner.
“Haven’t you taken one of the few bipartisan issues in this country — support for Israel — and turned it into a political football?” Wallace asked.
“I have not. The fact is that we had every right to do what we did,” Boehner responded. “I wanted the prime minister to come here. There’s a serious threat facing the world. And radical Islamic terrorists are not going to go away.”
“And then when it comes to the threat of Iran having a nuclear weapon, these are important messages that the Congress needs to here and the American people need to hear,” the speaker continued. “And I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu is the perfect person to deliver the message of how serious this threat is.”
Wallace then pointed out that Boehner asked Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., not to tell the White House about the joint meeting with Netanyahu.
“Why would you do that?” Wallace asked.
“Because I wanted to make sure that there was no interference. There’s no secret here in Washington about the animosity that this White House has for Prime Minister Netanyahu. I frankly didn’t want that getting in the way, quashing what I thought was a real opportunity,” Boehner responded.
Wallace challenged Boehner, commenting that the invitation created controversy.
“Shouldn’t the relationship between the U.S. and Israel be outside of politics?” he asked.
“It’s an important message that the American people need to hear. I’m glad that he’s coming, and I’m looking forward to what he has to say,” Boehner responded.
In this week’s Weekly Address, President Obama spoke about education and replacing No Child Left Behind with a more modern, smarter policy that guarantees a better education for our children.
“I want to work with both parties in Congress to replace No Child Left Behind with a smarter law,” the president said. A law “that addresses the overuse of standardized tests, makes a real investment in preschool, and gives every kid a fair shot in the new economy.”
Capt. Gordon Griswould says Smith was arrested Monday and charged with stealing a bicycle from Hill Watson Peoples Funeral Service. During that investigation, police found evidence that the man had sexual contact with the body of a woman at the funeral home.
Funeral director Cedric Hill declined to discuss details. He says the business looks for the best protection and security for families.
Smith pleaded guilty to the burglary and remains in jail.
Now you already knew that Republicans have pushed for the construction of the Keystone pipeline that would bring dirty oil-sands from Canada to refineries here in America, despite the environmental challenges and the minimum amount of jobs the project might create.
But here is the real issue of the Keystone pipeline, it pays each ‘yes’ vote in Congress $250,000. That’s $250,000 to every Congress member who voted to approve the pipeline.
The oil and gas industry gave nearly $250,000 to each of the 62 senators who voted in favor of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project late last month, according to MapLight, a nonpartisan research organization that tracks the influence of money in politics. The revelations come as the House of Representatives is set to vote on and expected to pass the Senate legislation Wednesday that would approve the pipeline and start transferring oil in western Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast. President Barack Obama has threatened to veto the project on a number of grounds, including environmental concerns.
The oil and gas industry, which stands to benefit from the Keystone XL pipeline, gave $236,544 on average to the senators who voted yes on Keystone, or about 10 times more than the senators who voted no. The 36 senators against the pipeline received about $22,882 apiece in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry. There was no data on contributions to House members.
He’s running around the country gearing up for a 2016 presidential run, but back in the state of New Jersey, the state he actually governs, Chris Christie’s approval ratings just hit a new low.
In a Rutgers University-Eagleton poll released on Friday, 53 percent of New Jersey voters view Christie unfavorably and just 37 percent hold a favorable view of the governor — down 7 percentage points in two months.
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The possible 2016 GOP candidate’s job approval ratings are facing similar blows. Fifty-two percent of New Jersey voters disapprove of the job Christie is doing while 42 percent approve. In December, 48 percent of voters approved of Christie’s job performance.
Those questioned for the poll were able to elaborate on why exactly they hold unfavorable opinions of their governor. When asked, 20 percent cited his “attitude, personality and behavior,” while 15 percent specifically mentioned Bridgegate and 10 percent mentioned his national ambitions to possibly run for president in 2016 as affecting his ability to govern the state.
“As one respondent said, ‘Christie visiting different states for the presidential race made New Jerseyans not like him,’” David Redlawsk, director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling, said in a news release.
“Others used words like ‘arrogance,’ ‘rudeness’ and ‘abrasive’ to explain the turnaround from his high flying post-Sandy days. And of course, all manner of mentions of Bridgegate and other scandals were offered.”
The former senior political adviser to the president told CNN that the freedom from having to run another campaign has empowered the President, allowing him to better fight for his policies.
“He’s having the time of his life right now. I think he feels very much unrestrained in terms of speaking to all these issues,” Axelrod said in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday.
Obama has indeed drawn notice for his newly relaxed and frank posture and comments, now that he’s nearing the end of his presidency. During his State of the Union address, Obama tossed a couple of zingers at Republicans, the likes of which had been absent in previous years.
As far as Republicans are concerned, the safety and security of the United States means nothing if they cannot get president Obama to roll back his immigration order. And Republicans they will defund The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) if they cannot get their way.
Well, maybe that is not a totally fair statement. I was able to find one Republican who thinks that the safety and security of the United States is important and should not be used as a bargaining chip.
Republican Sen. Mark Kirk said Wednesday that his party made a mistake by picking a fight over President Barack Obama’s immigration actions, and said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) should bring up a “clean” bill to keep the Department of Homeland Security funded.
“I generally agree with the Democratic position here. I think we should have never fought this battle on DHS funding,” the Illinois senator said in the Capitol. “I think it’s the wrong battle for us at the wrong time.”
Does the GOP share blame for the impasse over DHS?
“It does,” Kirk said. “Had I been consulted, which I wasn’t, I don’t think we should have ever attached these issues to DHS funding. I always thought the burden of being in the majority is the burden of governing.”
Jon Stewart, who turned his biting and free-wheeling humor into an unlikely source of news and analysis for viewers of “The Daily Show,” will leave as host this year, Comedy Central said Tuesday.
His departure was announced by Comedy Central President Michele Ganeless after Stewart, host of the show since 1999, broke the news to the audience at Tuesday’s taping in New York.
“Through his unique voice and vision, ‘The Daily Show’ has become a cultural touchstone for millions of fans and an unparalleled platform for political comedy that will endure for years to come,” Ganeless said in a statement.
She called Stewart, 52, a “comic genius.” He will remain as host until later this year, she said, but did not specify his exit date or what lead to his decision.
Reaction was swift from his admirers and, in some cases, likely past targets.
“Just had the honor of being the great Jon Stewart’s guest (on ‘The Daily Show’), where he announced he’s leaving. Emotional night,” David Axelrod, former adviser to President Barack Obama, posted on Twitter.
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