Category: Uncategorized

Posted on

Two Very Different Responses To A Tragic Event

After a North Carolina country Republican Party headquarters was bombed over the weekend, it’s interesting to note how the two presidential candidates addressed the terrible event.

Hillsborough police are investigating after the Republican Party headquarters was vandalized with graffiti and damaged with a flammable material thrown through the front window. No injuries were reported.

The graffiti included a swastika and the words, “Nazi Republicans leave town or else,” according to officials, which was spray-painted in black on the side of an adjacent building.

Yesterday, Hillary Clinton posted this tweet calling the attack “horrific and unacceptable.” She added that she’s “very grateful that everyone is safe.”

And then there’s this from her opponent, Donald Trump:

With no proof, Trump jumps to inflammatory accusations – again.

This is not leadership.

p.s. Just to show you who the good guys are, North Carolina Democrats set out to raise money to help rehab the Republican offices. In just 40 minutes over $10K was raised. #Class

Posted on

McCain: GOPers Will Unite To Oppose “Any” SCOTUS Nominee From Hillary Clinton

Sen. John McCain

CNN reports that Sen. John McCain, in an interview with 1210 WPHT Philadelphia radio, said that Republicans will oppose “any” nominee from Hillary Clinton for the U.S. Supreme Court.

“I promise you that we will be united against any Supreme Court nominee that Hillary Clinton, if she were president, would put up,” McCain said in comments meant to bolster the campaign of Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, who is in a tight reelection race.

Hillary Clinton consistently says she’s ready to work with “anyone” in Congress on finding common ground. Considering the country is pretty fed up with a dysfunctional, partisan government, I’m not sure that’s a winning message from McCain.

And this is before we even HAVE the presidential election.

Of course, a spokesperson from McCain’s Senate office later walked back those comments:

“Senator McCain believes you can only judge people by their record and Hillary Clinton has a clear record of supporting liberal judicial nominees,” said McCain spokesperson Rachael Dean. “That being said, Senator McCain will, of course, thoroughly examine the record of any Supreme Court nominee put before the Senate and vote for or against that individual based on their qualifications as he has done throughout his career.”

Posted on

Trump Supporter Threatens Violence: “Hillary Needs To Be Taken Out”

More threats of violence as a Trump supporter who describes himself as a “patriot” says if Hillary Clinton is elected president, he would do everything in his power to take her out.

Via Buzzfeed:

The supporter, identified as 50-year-old Dan Bowman, told the Wall Street Journal last Thursday, “I feel like Hillary needs to be taken out. If she gets into government, I’ll do everything in my power to take her out of power. Which if I have to be a patriot, I will.”

When asked what he meant, Bowman responded, “Take it any way you want to take it.” After the Journal told him it sounded like a threat, Bowman said, “I’m a patriot.”

Bowman, who was wearing a Trump mask, also told the Boston Globe that Clinton should be “in prison or shot” and that there would be “a lot of bloodshed” if she won the election.

“If she’s in office, I hope we can start a coup,” Bowman told the Globe. “She should be in prison or shot. That’s how I feel about it. We’re going to have a revolution and take them out of office if that’s what it takes. There’s going to be a lot of bloodshed. But that’s what it’s going to take… I would do whatever I can for my country.”

A spokesperson for the Secret Service told BuzzFeed News they would respond with a statement.

Posted on

Campaign Ad: “Bully”

A new campaign ad from the Hillary Clinton campaign juxtaposes Republican Donald Trump with iconic movie bullies sending a message that Americans shouldn’t let Trump bully his way into the White House.

Opening with a textbook definition of a bully — “A blustering, overbearing person who puts down or intimidates others” — the clip overlaps the taunts from bullies from well-known movies with jeering comments Trump has made on the campaign stump.

The spot then focuses on a moment from a town hall earlier this year where Clinton was asked by a 10 year old girl, “What are you going to do about bullying?”

Clinton asked the young girl, “Can you tell me a little bit more about why that’s on your mind?”

“I have asthma and occasionally I hear people talking behind my back,” said the fifth-grader.

Clinton responds to the little girl saying, “I really do think we need more love and kindness in this country. That’s why it’s important to stand up to bullies wherever they are and why we shouldn’t let anybody bully his way into the presidency because that is not who we are as Americans.”

It’s funny how people see what they want to see in the world. Trump supporters see a “leader” while I see a man who would embarrass the United States with his dark and overbearing angry tone.

Others say Clinton has led a negative campaign while this is the message I see from her.

Posted on

Fox News’ Shepard Smith Casually Comes Out

Shepard Smith

Fox News anchor Shepard Smith casually came out as a gay man today in a new interview with Huffington Post.

Addressing a question of whether or not recently ousted Fox News head Roger Ailes ever asked him to stay closeted, Smith was clear and direct.

“That’s not true. He was as nice as he could be to me. I loved him like a father. I trusted him with my career and with ― I trusted him and trusts were betrayed. People outside this company can’t know [how painful that betrayal was]. This place has its enemies, but inside, it was very personal, and very scarring and horrifying.”

Additionally, Smith told the Huffington Post that Ailes had never made homophobic remarks around him.

“He treated me with respect, just respect,” Smith continued. “I wasn’t new in the business when I came here ― I’d been doing reporting for 12 years ― but I wasn’t old in it either, and he gave me every opportunity in the world and he never asked anything of me but that we get it right, try to get it right every day. It was a very warm and loving and comfortable place.”

Rumors have circled for years regarding Smith’s sexuality, which has resulted in his being regularly featured in the likes of OUT Magazine’s “Power 100” issue.

I’m never one to ‘out’ another, unless someone is using their position (as some closeted politicians have done) to hurt the LGBT community. So, Smith’s sexuality has never been a big story for me here on The Randy Report.

That said, I’m happy to see that Smith feels comfortable enough to live his life authentically. Congrats to Shep Smith!

Posted on

Nate Silver: Clinton Has 88% Chance Of Winning White House

With the presidential election three weeks away, super-stats guy Nate Silver and his FiveThirtyEight team crunch the latest polling numbers and finds Democrat Hillary Clinton with an 88% chance of winning the race for the White House.

Nate Silver successfully predicted 49 of 50 states in the 2008 election, and 50 of 50 in 2012.

The New York Times Upshot poll trackers sees Clinton with a 90% chance of winning based on recent poll numbers.

UPDATE: I think it’s worth adding here that Monmouth University just released the results of it’s latest national poll showing Hillary Clinton with a 12 point lead. According to the survey, 50% of likely voters support Clinton, 38% back Trump, 5% support Libertarian Gary Johnson and 2% back Jill Stein of the Green Party. Just three weeks ago, Clinton led by only 4 points in the same poll.

Posted on

CNN Poll Of Polls: Hillary Clinton Leads Donald Trump +8

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton holds a 8 point lead in the latest CNN Poll of Polls, which averages the results of four national polls.

The poll shows Clinton getting the support of 47% of voters, while Republican Donald Trump is holding at 39%. Libertarian Gary Johnson garners 7%, and Green Party nominee Jill Stein gets 2%.

All four of the polls were taken after release on October 7 of a 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape showing Donald Trump making lewd comments about women.

Posted on

Arizona Republic Responds To Death Threats From Trump Supporters Over Clinton Endorsement

Mi-Ai Parrish

The president of the Arizona Republic,Mi-Ai Parrish, responds to the death threats – yes, you read that correctly – the paper and it’s reporters received after endorsing a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time in the paper’s history.

As someone who has spent a career in the business of words, it’s unusual to find myself speechless.

Yet, there I was, a little more than two weeks ago.

What is the correct response, really, to this?

YOU’RE DEAD. WATCH YOUR BACK.

WE WILL BURN YOU DOWN.

YOU SHOULD BE PUT IN FRONT OF A FIRING SQUAD AS A TRAITOR.

How did I come to be hearing these threats?

More than a year ago, The Republic’s editorial board began taking a stand against the actions and positioning of Donald Trump. In piece after piece, we made it clear that his principles weren’t conservative. They were bad for the party, bad for Arizona, dangerous for America.

But in its more than 125 years, The Republic had never endorsed a Democrat for president. So, over the many months of the campaign, we found ourselves with this question: Endorse no one, or endorse a Democrat for the first time in our history?

We made our choice soberly. We knew it would be unpopular with many people. We knew that, although we had clearly stated our objections to Trump, it would be a big deal for a conservative editorial board in a conservative state to break ranks from the party.

We chose patriotism over party. We endorsed the Democrat.

And then the reaction started pouring in. Threats against our business. Threats against our people.

So, what is the response?

What is the correct response to any of the vile threats against me? What is the correct response to the more disturbing actions and words directed against so many others?

I’ve thought about those responses a lot. Today, I offer you a few.

If you’d like to see the kind of political discourse Donald Trump has helped create, I really encourage you to read the entire op-ed.

I’ll be looking for Donald Trump to denounce these threats.

#ThisIsTrumpNation

(h/t JoeMyGod)

Posted on

New Poll: Hillary Clinton Moves Into 11 Point Lead Over Donald Trump

According to the latest national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll conducted entirely after the second presidential debate, Democrat Hillary Clinton has widen her lead over Republican Donald Trump to 11 points.

The same poll taken last week directly before and after the 2nd presidential debate showed Clinton leading by 9 points.

From NBC News:

In a four-way race, Democrat Clinton holds an 11-point lead over Republican Trump among likely voters, 48 percent to 37 percent, with Libertarian Gary Johnson at 7 percent and the Green Party’s Jill Stein at 2 percent.

In a two-way contest without Johnson and Stein, Clinton is ahead by 10 points, 51 percent to 41 percent.

To put Clinton’s current 11-point lead into perspective, Barack Obama beat John McCain by seven points nationally in 2008. And Obama’s margin of victory over Mitt Romney in 2012 was four points.

Looking inside the numbers of the two-way horse race, Clinton holds a 20-point lead among female voters (55 percent to 35 percent), while Trump is ahead among men by just three points (48 percent to 45 percent).

Finally, the NBC/WSJ poll finds President Obama’s job-approval rating at 53 percent among registered voters, which is up one point from last month.

It’s the six-straight month where the president’s rating has been above 50 percent in the poll, and it’s his highest rating since Dec. 2012, after he won re-election four years ago.

Posted on

Andrew Sullivan: Electing Hillary Clinton President Is “The Only Adult Thing To Do”

During an appearance this past Friday on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” Andrew Sullivan, who has spent years being hyper-critical of the Clintons announced that he is “passionately in favor” of electing Hillary Clinton president, adding, “it’s the only adult thing to do.”

Sullivan continued, “This is not a time to express your Libertarianism. This is a time to stop this monster.”