I guess you can say that the new sanctions on North Korea are working.
After it was revealed that they were responsible for the Sony hack, President Obama levied heavier sections on the already isolated nation, causing the North to decry those sanctions as “wars of aggression.”
“The U.S. took part in wars of aggression … But it has never experienced a hail of bullets and shells on its own territory,” North Korea’s National Defense Commission said in a warning through state-run media. “The U.S. should roll back its hostile policy towards the DPRK of its own accord if it does not want to suffer a war disaster.”
The United States on Friday slapped sanctions on 10 individuals and three entities, including North Korea’s primary intelligence organization and its arms dealer, over the country’s alleged role in a cyberattack that threatened to derail Sony’s release of “The Interview” and made public emails that embarrassed top-level executives.
As if the Cowboy kerfuffle wasn’t enough of a distraction for the governor, along comes another story where ‘Boys owner Jerry Jones condescends to Christie’s fandom by saying that having Christie in the owner’s box is payback for when the not-governor was too poor to pay for parking. Jones also said that he will support Christie if he decides to run for president.
Which he will. And apparently he will make that announcement by the end of the month. It would certainly be a delicious treat for the candidate-in-waiting to be able to announce his intentions a day or two after the Cowboys win the Super Bowl on February 1, but I don’t believe that is in the offing if the Green Bay Packers have anything to say about that. A Cowboys loss this Sunday would clear the news cycle for Christie’s announcement, which I assume will come during the week when there’s no game scheduled. The man might be unsuitable to be president, but he does have a knack for public relations.
But, oh! the complications. First up is a report that one of New Jersey’s marquee employers, Mercedes-Benz, is leaving the state and heading for Georgia, which is cheaper and has lower taxes. This doesn’t help Christie with the pro-business crowd and will further reduce the chance that New Jersey’s economy has a robust recovery in time for the governor to run on a miracle.
Then comes another story that says that of people involved in an interstate move involving New Jersey, the vast majority are leaving the state–fleeing is the headline word–rather than moving in. This is not a scientific survey as the data is being supplied by United Van Lines, a moving company, but it does attest to what anecdotal evidence has suggested for years. The Governor will probably seize on these numbers to continue to argue against a millionaire’s tax because his main argument has always been that more people will leave the state rather than pay. But since people seem to be leaving anyway, it doesn’t say much about his improving things in the state.
The real damage, though, comes because these are more negative stories about New Jersey. Christie can go around the country and tell tales about bipartisanship and how he got the Democratic legislature to pass a pension and benefits bill, but his refusal to actually make a mandated payment will also follow him. As will the videos of him yelling at veterans and public employees. Americans do want someone who will fight for them, but they don’t want someone who will fight them because he disagrees with them.
Finally, there’s that darned Bush family. Yes, Jeb Bush is off and raising money for a White House bid that will directly compete for the same voters Christie needs for support during the primaries. And Jeb’s talking about big issues like immigration and income inequality, while Christie is huddling with foreign policy experts to learn what to say in interviews.
It’s clear that Christie will rise above the silliness of the Dallas story, but the pertinent point is that once he declares himself a candidate for president, he will have precious little to run on.
Don’t call them stupid, just call them Fox News watchers… well, maybe they are stupid for watching Fox!
In a Public Mind poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University released Wednesday, more than half of Republicans — 51 percent — and half of those who watch Fox News — 52 percent — say that they believe it to be “definitely true” or “probably true” that American forces found an active weapons of mass destruction program in Iraq.
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Thirty-two percent of Democrats, 46 percent of independents, 41 percent of people who reported to watch CNN and 14 percent of MSNBC viewers answered similarly.
Overall, 42 percent still believe that troops discovered WMDs, a misleading factor in the decision to invade Iraq in 2003. It was later found that Iraq did have individual stockpiles of chemical weapons, but there was no active WMD program in the country.
After being a leader of The Party of NO, going against every economic policy implemented by the president and Democrats and being a member of the party that shut down the government, Mitch McConnell is now doing his best trying to take credit for economic prosperity we are now facing in this country.
“After so many years of sluggish growth, we’re finally starting to see some economic data that can provide a glimmer of hope; the uptick appears to coincide with the biggest political change of the Obama administration’s long tenure in Washington: the expectation of a new Republican Congress,” McConnell said on Wednesday.
“So this is precisely the right time to advance a positive, pro-growth agenda.”
The comment provoked snide chuckles from Democrats. The Democratic National Committee emailed out a statement with the subject line “DNC to McConnell: Hahahahahahahahahahaha.”
Here’s the statement from DNC Communications Director Mo Elleithee:
Hahahahahahahahahahaha. That Mitch McConnell is one funny guy. He likes to remind people all the time that he’s not a scientist. Now we know he’s not a mathematician or an economist either. The fact is, under President Obama we’ve had 57 straight months of private sector job growth leading to nearly 11 million jobs added. All Republicans have given us is a government shutdown that cost the economy $24 billion. I get why he wants to take credit for the economic recovery. But maybe he should first do something to help contribute to it.
The new Republican controlled Congress is now formally on its way and yes, Jon Stewart had something to say about that, especially given the fact that Congress is presently scraping the bottom of the barrel in job approval, yet, on their first day back to “work, they arrived at noon!
Noon! You had to get there at noon! You know, normally that would make me mad, but since Congress probably isn’t doing anything anyway, alright, why not get a late start? Hell, why not just serve them legislation in bed for God’s sake? No wonder you folks have a 14 percent approval rating and apparently a roughly 95 percent incumbency rate. You know, 14 percent disapproval to 95 percent incumbency is the same disapproval to recurrence ratio currently enjoyed by the herpes virus.
It’s one thing to sit in the owners box and discuss politics or bidness with a somewhat straight face and an unemotional posture.
Then there’s what Governor Chris Christie did on Sunday evening with Dallas Cowboy’s owner Jerry Jones. Christie looked like an unabashed fan who had just won a side of beef in a bet after America’s Team came back from 13 points down to win their playoff game against the Detroit Lions. He never got to actually hug Jones, so much as wrapping his hands near the owner’s underarms and besides, Christie never looks good when his feet leave the ground.
So now to the political fallout. This was not a good moment for the Governor. First of all, he has three teams from which to choose in his own market–the Giants, Jets and Eagles–yet he chose to go halfway across the country to essentially be a win-chaser and to actually look like he was in thrall to Jerry Jones. Christie wants to appear as a lunch pail every day Jersey guy, but now that’s been jettisoned as the Presidential-Candidate-In-Waiting shows his true colors. I’m sure he’s had the money conversation with Jones and they look like they’re real pals, which means something in a race that will also feature the former Governor of Texas.
Mr. Christie, characteristically, doubled down in the face of criticism. He seemed happy to replay the incident when he called into the Boomer and Carton show on New York’s WFAN sports radio, as it gave him another chance to boast of his closeness to Mr. Jones. He gave details on the locker room celebration that the camera did not capture, saying that Dez Bryant, the wide receiver, was the first person to hug him. “Dez knows exactly who I am, yes,” the governor assured his hosts.
Why would the governor want to boast of his closeness to Jones? Aren’t the Tisch’s and the Johnson’s wealthy enough? Or do they see right through Christie’s act?
This is but one episode in what will become a complete circus once Christie enters the presidential race and unveils his true persona to the American people. They will then learn what we in New Jersey already know; Christie has no shame and no filter. These will be his greatest strengths at the beginning of the campaign, but will ultimately prove to be his undoing.
The crazy nutcase from Texas who got 3 votes will not be mentioned in this post. He got 3 votes!
The House has re-elected John Boehner to be speaker in the new Republican-led Congress, despite opposition by tea party lawmakers that underscored party divisions.
The Ohio Republican garnered the votes of 216 GOP lawmakers as Congress convened Tuesday. That was enough for him to win a third two-year term leading the House.
But in an embarrassing slap, 25 Republicans voted for other candidates or voted present. They consider Boehner to be too accommodating and not conservative enough.
Their repudiation of Boehner was an awkward display of GOP schisms at a time when party leaders want to show voters that they can govern effectively. They want to show they won’t be forced by tea party legislators into unwinnable, unpopular showdowns with President Barack Obama.
Coming up soon, the new Republican led house votes on their new House Speaker, whether that be John Boehner or some even crazier like Louie Gohmert is left to be seen!
NBC is reporting that authorities are questioning a suspect in connection with the Monday night shootings of two NYPD officers responding to a robbery call in the Bronx, police and law enforcement sources say.
The man being questioned went to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in upper Manhattan with a gunshot wound to the back. Authorities are investigating if he is connected to the shootings of 30-year-old NYPD officer Andrew Dossi and 38-year-old officer Aliro Pellerano.
Pellerano was shot in the abdomen and arm near East 184th Street and Tiebout Avenue in Fordham at around 10:30 p.m. Monday, officials said at a news conference early Tuesday. Dossi was shot in the arm and lower back. Both are in stable condition at St. Barnabas Hospital, the NYPD said.
Sticking to their true colors, the Republicans in Congress anointed Steve Scalise as their new House Majority Whip, the same Steve Scalise who gave a speech at a David Duke white supremacy event in 2002. That Steve Scalise is now the third ranking Republican in Congress. And the White House is weighing in on that sad fact.
During his Monday briefing, one day before the start of a new congressional session, Earnest said it will be up to House Republicans to decide if Scalise should keep his leadership post despite his admission that in 2002 he spoke to a Louisiana group created by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. But, Earnest went on, if Republicans do keep Scalise as one of their leaders, it will reflect on their party’s values at a time when the GOP is trying to reach out to voters of color.
“There’s no arguing that who Republicans decide to elevate into a leadership position says a lot about what the conference’s priorities and values are,” Earnest said during the briefing.
“Ultimately, Mr. Scalise reportedly described himself as ‘David Duke without the baggage,'” he continued, referring to a comment Scalise allegedly once made to a reporter. “It will be up to Republicans to decide what that says about their conference.”
Now after carefully considering all the potential candidates for president in 2016, Jon Stewart settled on who he thought was the best person among the group of wannabes – Sen. Melvin Dickpic-Tweet.
For example, former Sen. Jim Webb, a Democratic hopeful, is defending more than $90,000 in payments from his PAC to his family members for work on his website.
“So you’re saying Jim Webb is embroiled in a scandal involving a website,” Stewart said. “It’s the most ironic fall from grace since Sen. Melvin Dickpic-Tweet.”
Stewart took a look at the field on both sides, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Fox News host and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and more. After carefully considering the candidates, Jon Stewart announced his pick for 2016.
Maybe that’s why the Republican dunce, Louie Gohmert is challenging Boehner for the House Speakership position!
The national survey of more than 600 Republican voters found a majority wary of embracing incumbent House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. (Full results at the end of this story.)
Boehner, who will face a challenge from members of his own party in Tuesday’s speaker vote, fares worse than McConnell in the poll. Sixty percent of Republican voters say they want someone new rather than Boehner.
Only 25 percent of voters favor putting Boehner and McConnell in leadership positions. Even fewer—16 percent—want both Boehner and McConnell to serve in the House and Senate’s top jobs. According to the poll, 53 percent want neither or would prefer to see new party leadership.
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