May Day! Oh, wait, that was yesterday. It’s time “Get More Smarter.” If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example). If you are more of a visual learner, check out The Get More Smarter Show.
TOP OF MIND TODAY…
► The editorial board of the Washington Post pulls no punches in blasting Attorney General William Barr over his embarrassing testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee:
Mr. Barr has lit his reputation on fire, and he just added more fuel during his Wednesday testimony before a Senate panel.
Much of the hearing centered on the attorney general’s decision to release a highly misleading representationof the findings of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia investigation. In particular, Mr. Barr failed to acknowledge the alarming nature of Mr. Mueller’s analysis on whether President Trump obstructed justice, and he did not explain why the special counsel declined to say whether Mr. Trump was guilty of the charge. This really matters: Given the damning account in Mr. Mueller’s report, what appeared to be keeping the special counsel from accusing the president of criminal acts was not the lack of evidence but the fact that the president cannot be charged under Justice Department rules…
…Mr. Barr’s long history in Washington belies his argument: He should have known how his pre-spinning of the Mueller report would distort the truth of the special counsel’s damning findings to the president’s benefit. He did it anyway.
Barr was supposed to testify today in front of the House Judiciary Committee but didn’t show up. As the New York Times explains:
The House Judiciary Committee convened at 9 a.m. despite the fact that the witness chair — where Attorney General William P. Barr was supposed to sit — was empty. After opening statements from the chairman and ranking Republican, it adjourned.
Representative Jerrold Nadler, the committee’s chairman, gave opening remarks castigating the attorney general and what Democrats are increasingly labeling wholesale obstruction of their inquiries by the Trump administration.
Following the hearing, Nadler indicated that Democrats may proceed with a formal process of holding Barr in contempt for refusing to testify.
► With two days left in the 2019 legislative session, Colorado Democrats are working feverishly to finish off several important bills as Republican talking points on obstructionism implode. A proposal from Gov. Jared Polis to ask voters to increase nicotine taxes took some big steps toward passage on Wednesday. A separate bill designed to improve vaccination rates in Colorado also continues to move forward.
► Senator Michael Bennet (D-Denver) officially announced his candidacy for President this morning. Bennet is the 21st Democrat to join the race for the 2020 Democratic nomination.
► Leaders of a planned recall effort targeting Gov. Jared Polis say that Republicans George Brauchler and Darryl Glennhave agreed to be official candidates to replace Polis should the long-shot recall effort move forward. You can make a strong argument that Glenn was the worst statewide candidate in Colorado history when he was the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in 2016. Brauchler, meanwhile, didn’t even last a full year as a candidate for Governor in 2017 before he switched races to Attorney General…where he was handily defeated by Democrat Phil Weiser.
So much momentum.
► Colorado is looking like a good bet to be home to a new U.S. Space Force. According to a memo obtained by CNN, there are 4 Colorado locations on the list of 6 potential homes for a U.S. Space Command.
The six finalists are: Buckley Air Force Base (Colorado); Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Base (Colorado); Peterson Air Force Base (Colorado); Shriever Air Force Base (Colorado); Vandenberg Air Force Base (California); and Redstone Arsenal (Alabama).
There is an election in Denver on Tuesday, but based on ballot returns, Denver voters either don’t know or don’t care.
As of Tuesday night, just 12.7% of Denver voters had returned their ballot. That’s 53,000 people.
How many haven’t voted yet? Enough to fill Mile High Stadium nearly five times: 365,000.
► The first openly gay commandant in the history of the Air Force Academy has been removed as part of an “ongoing investigation.”
► President Trump is ignoring pleas from advisers to stop talking about Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden. As Chris Cillizzawrites for CNN, Trump’s own actions indicate how nervous he is about Biden:
Before 6:30 a.m. on the East Coast Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump had retweeted 58(!) comments mostly from accounts claiming to be firefighters — or family members of firefighters — praising him and attacking the International Association of Fire Fighters and their recently endorsed candidate for president Joe Biden…
…if Trump wanted to show people he wasn’t at all worried about the threat Biden poses to him if the former VP emerges as the Democratic nominee for president, this was a crap way of going about it. Especially when you consider that earlier this week, Trump fired off five tweets in a 24-hour period attacking “Sleepy Joe” Biden as a weak and ineffective candidate.
► The president of the Cherry Creek school board is apologizing for making a racial slur at a teacher’s banquet on Tuesday. David Willman initially doubled-down in defense of his “tar baby joke.”
► An analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) suggests that transitioning to a single-payer health care system in the United States could be very messy.
► Congressional Republicans are exasperated with President Trump’s negotiating skills on infrastructure after the big orange guy made a $2 trillion deal with Democrats.
► Congressman Steve Cohen (D-Tennessee) expressed his thoughts following Attorney General William Barr’s refusal to testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee:
Rep. Cohen calls the Attorney General “Chicken Barr.”
Your Daily Dose Of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
► A Republican State Representative in Washington state has been urging supporters to stockpile assault rifle ammunition in preparation for civil war. From The Guardian:
Matt Shea and several associates regaled an audience with conspiracy theories, separatist visions and exhortations for listeners to arm themselves ahead of a looming civil war, at a gathering at a remote religious compound in the north-east of the state last year.
In recordings obtained by the Guardian, Shea and Jack Robertson, also known as radio personality John Jacob Schmidt, invoked their visions and fears of a violent leftist revolt in speeches at the 2018 God and Country event in Marble.
The Guardian last week published leaked chat records in which Shea and Robertson were revealed to have discussed the use of surveillance, “psyops” and violence against liberal and leftist activists.
Robertson – who aired fantasies of extreme violence against liberal activists in the leaked chats – told the audience at the 2018 event that they should be prepared for civil war.
► President Trump’s re-election campaign is out with a new campaign ad blaming President Obama for Russian election meddling in 2016.
36 thoughts on “Get More Smarter on Thursday (May 2)”
Re: Bennet.
1) Every US Senator looks in the mirror and sees the next President.
2) Forget the polls. I’m using announcement crowds to separate the contenders from the pretenders. Who has been able to draw even 5,000+ people to an announcement rally? Harris, O’Rourke, Buttigieg, Klobuchar come to mind. Bernie may have had a large internet/house party turnout, The rest announce on TV shows or to small crowds because they have no enthusiastic constituency. Even Biden had to use a small union hall for his event. So, if Hickenlooper or Bennet can’t even draw 5,000 supporters to turn out here in Colorado, then the O&G folks and Anschutz should put their wallets away.
No need to boycott CNN advertisers, no body watches after their fake news and lies about Trump/Russia collusion. Now that the investigation into how the Democrats used the Justice system to frame the Trump Presidency, the weeping and nashing of teeth has begun.
Using the same tactics as Muller, solitary confinement will have them singing so loud we will hear it in Colorado. Maybe they can build a special unit at the Super Max in Florence.
Looks like somebody's been getting names out of a phone book (yes, they're still around. I had one left on my doorstep a few months ago).
Am I the only one who yawns in boredom when somebody quotes Breitbart?
There are some reasons to watch Fox News; Chris Wallace, Shepard Smith, Judge Napolitano, Neil Cavuto.
If I want comedy, I'll check out Comedy Channel. That channel is far funnier than the paid entertainers on Fox: Carlson, Hannity, Ingraham, Pirro. I noted on Yahoo News earlier today where Wallace cleaned Ingraham's clock in saying that he reports actual facts, after she called in to his show to whine, an implication that Ingraham does not.
I sort of like my mild tinnitus. Provides white noise to help me sleep, when I think of it.
Maybe Pear can use his "powers of persuasion" to convince Colorado Peak Politics to open up their right leaning site for voter comments, like Pols allows.
“The questions I was asking him couldn’t have been clearer,” the attendant told reporters. “I asked him if he wanted to order a Smokehouse Brisket sandwich. He refused to give me a yes-or-no answer.”
“I came away feeling that he had been less than candid,” the attendant said.
Speaking through an official spokesperson later in the day, Barr said that he would never appear at Arby’s again.
Mark Kennedy was, unfortunately, confirmed as CU President on a 5-4 party line vote. The overwhelming consensus of faculty and students not to have this incompetent throwback as the public face of CU was ignored. Good f*cking luck with that, CU Republican Regents. You broke it, you own it.
Bennet was featured on Maddow tonight in an extended interview. He's a reasonable neo-liberal, but just as Hick is the advocate for oil and gas, Bennet is the advocate for Wall Street finance. Don't look to Mikey B for any financial reform. Free public universities without crushing (and profitable) student debt? Forget it.
Incremental change to health care, incremental change on student loans, it's all profitable for the industries that donate to Bennet.
Heaven forbid that anyone would suggest fiscal sanity in a country where the annual deficit is now $1.3 trillion and total accumulated debt $20 trillion. Must have free stuff. Must have free stuff.
How's come no one mentions the rampant fraud, waste and abuse in the military budget? I'm not talking about actual operations, I'm talking about stuff that can be trimmed without changing operational capability.
Guess that's not as fun as saying "No free stuff for people except me!".
Only the mathematically illiterate think you can balance the budget by cutting $1.3 trillion from $686 billion
Think ya got the figures bass-ackwards, there. And again, I never said anything about the entire military budget. But you go back to squawking about "Free Stuff".
Ain't no back and forth. You think you can balance a budget with a $1.3 trillion decifit by cutting just part of a defense budget of $686 billion. That is mathematically impossible. End of discussion.
Bear in mind that the study said the Pentagon could save $125 billion OVER A FIVE YEAR period. Obviously, it should be done but it isn't really enough to erase a deficit now running at $7 TRILION cumulative over that same five-year period.
There simply is no painless way to erase the deficit by cutting fraud and waste. Gigantic tax cuts under Bush and Trump put us in this hole. Only tax increases can get us out. And, no, it won’t be just the super rich that pays them.
That's only part of what could be saved by addressing the fraud, waste and abuse in the military-industrial complex; but I'm not against higher taxes for anyone, as long as the system is fair. Currently, we don't have that.
They don't want us to have a fair system, Curmy. By running us into bankruptcy via tax cut they are trying to "starve the beast" and keep their power and money intact even in the face of a democratic Congress and president.
May 02, 2019 09:32 AM UTC
36 Comments
May Day! Oh, wait, that was yesterday. It’s time “
Re: Bennet.
1) Every US Senator looks in the mirror and sees the next President.
2) Forget the polls. I’m using announcement crowds to separate the contenders from the pretenders. Who has been able to draw even 5,000+ people to an announcement rally? Harris, O’Rourke, Buttigieg, Klobuchar come to mind. Bernie may have had a large internet/house party turnout, The rest announce on TV shows or to small crowds because they have no enthusiastic constituency. Even Biden had to use a small union hall for his event. So, if Hickenlooper or Bennet can’t even draw 5,000 supporters to turn out here in Colorado, then the O&G folks and Anschutz should put their wallets away.
No need to boycott CNN advertisers, no body watches after their fake news and lies about Trump/Russia collusion. Now that the investigation into how the Democrats used the Justice system to frame the Trump Presidency, the weeping and nashing of teeth has begun.
Bye bye: COMEY, MCCABE, BAKER, ANDERSON, PAGE, STRZOK, PRIESTAP, YATES, CARLIN, MCCORD, LAUFMAN, COLEMAN, STEINBACH. BROWER, RYBICKI, BRAND, CAMPBELL, KORTAN, OHR, KADZIK, AXELROD, SCOTT, BRENNAN, CLAPPER, and of course, CLINTON.
Using the same tactics as Muller, solitary confinement will have them singing so loud we will hear it in Colorado. Maybe they can build a special unit at the Super Max in Florence.
https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2019/04/25/nolte-massive-viewership-collapse-drops-cnn-prime-time-to-15th-place/
Sir, this is an Arby's.
Looks like somebody's been getting names out of a phone book (yes, they're still around. I had one left on my doorstep a few months ago).
Am I the only one who yawns in boredom when somebody quotes Breitbart?
There are some reasons to watch Fox News; Chris Wallace, Shepard Smith, Judge Napolitano, Neil Cavuto.
If I want comedy, I'll check out Comedy Channel. That channel is far funnier than the paid entertainers on Fox: Carlson, Hannity, Ingraham, Pirro. I noted on Yahoo News earlier today where Wallace cleaned Ingraham's clock in saying that he reports actual facts, after she called in to his show to whine, an implication that Ingraham does not.
CNN/Colorado Pols; background noise, no maybe more like tinnitus. Give Dr. Julie a call for fast relief.
That clanging around in your belfry? . . .
. . . Maybe not just tinnitus.
I sort of like my mild tinnitus. Provides white noise to help me sleep, when I think of it.
Maybe Pear can use his "powers of persuasion" to convince Colorado Peak Politics to open up their right leaning site for voter comments, like Pols allows.
They do not allow lefties or centrists on that site?
“Oh?? . . .
. . . Right.
Sooo, hmmmm, . . . in that case I’d like two of your Chik-fil-A Deluxe meals, and, hmmmmm, . . . an order of Chik-n-Minis, extra crispy???
. . . AND NONE OF THAT SNEAKY LIBERAL CNN STUFF THIS TIME, CAPEESHY AMIGO?!”
Pear could always follow the example of his hero Barr at the Arby's drive-in window.
Mark Kennedy was, unfortunately, confirmed as CU President on a 5-4 party line vote. The overwhelming consensus of faculty and students not to have this incompetent throwback as the public face of CU was ignored. Good f*cking luck with that, CU Republican Regents. You broke it, you own it.
Bennet was featured on Maddow tonight in an extended interview. He's a reasonable neo-liberal, but just as Hick is the advocate for oil and gas, Bennet is the advocate for Wall Street finance. Don't look to Mikey B for any financial reform. Free public universities without crushing (and profitable) student debt? Forget it.
Incremental change to health care, incremental change on student loans, it's all profitable for the industries that donate to Bennet.
Heaven forbid that anyone would suggest fiscal sanity in a country where the annual deficit is now $1.3 trillion and total accumulated debt $20 trillion. Must have free stuff. Must have free stuff.
Let's talk about "free stuff" and who's paying for it:https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/12/opinion/editorials/trump-tax-cuts.html
Rich people have even less of a right to free stuff than the middle class.
How's come no one mentions the rampant fraud, waste and abuse in the military budget? I'm not talking about actual operations, I'm talking about stuff that can be trimmed without changing operational capability.
Guess that's not as fun as saying "No free stuff for people except me!".
Current military budget is about $686 billion.
current deficit is about 1.3 trillion.
Only the mathematically illiterate think you can balance the budget by cutting $1.3 trillion from $686 billion.
Only the mathematically illiterate think you can balance the budget by cutting $1.3 trillion from $686 billion
Think ya got the figures bass-ackwards, there. And again, I never said anything about the entire military budget. But you go back to squawking about "Free Stuff".
No, my figures are right. Your reasoning is wrong. The entire military budget is $$686 billion. The deficit is $1.3 trillion. And growing.
Even if you cut every cent from the military budget, you would have an unsustainable deficit.
Math is hard, Curmy.
Lay off, Bob. The folks have asked us to stop the back and forth. I can abide by that.
Ain't no back and forth. You think you can balance a budget with a $1.3 trillion decifit by cutting just part of a defense budget of $686 billion. That is mathematically impossible. End of discussion.
Only the mathematically illiterate think you can balance the budget by cutting $1.3 trillion from $686 billion.
Bob? Do you not see your statement has you taking the total of the deficit from the defense budget? You sure you wanna lecture about math?
Anyways.
I rest my case
https://www.coloradopols.com/diary/11628/what-happened-to-bob-ewegen
Me too.
So your notion of "abiding" with the request to stop your continuous attacks is a vicious effort to "out" me in violation o f the rules?
Stop it.
That is an excellent point Curmy.
Someone should be asked to give up the $900 toilet seats and $80 screw drivers.
Chicken feed. Keep people talking about toilet seats and screw drivers, and no one talks about the real problems.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/pentagon-buries-evidence-of-125-billion-in-bureaucratic-waste/2016/12/05/e0668c76-9af6-11e6-a0ed-ab0774c1eaa5_story.html
Bear in mind that the study said the Pentagon could save $125 billion OVER A FIVE YEAR period. Obviously, it should be done but it isn't really enough to erase a deficit now running at $7 TRILION cumulative over that same five-year period.
There simply is no painless way to erase the deficit by cutting fraud and waste. Gigantic tax cuts under Bush and Trump put us in this hole. Only tax increases can get us out. And, no, it won’t be just the super rich that pays them.
That's only part of what could be saved by addressing the fraud, waste and abuse in the military-industrial complex; but I'm not against higher taxes for anyone, as long as the system is fair. Currently, we don't have that.
They don't want us to have a fair system, Curmy. By running us into bankruptcy via tax cut they are trying to "starve the beast" and keep their power and money intact even in the face of a democratic Congress and president.
…and more free stuff: regulatory environment that lets our public and private interests treat our air – water –lungs as a no-toll dumping ground?
Bah. If the poors don't like it, they can buy their second home somewhere that's healthier.
Thurston is on MSNBC this morning and Morning Joe and Mike are fawning over him.
They, too, have friends on Wall Street…it's a big club.
I saw the interview on CBS…a little more lively and focused than I expected. He appears to have a second gear…
Keep shifting upward, Senator.