Category: Uncategorized

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Humane Society Endorses Hillary Clinton For President

The Humane Society has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, and in no uncertain terms denounced the idea of a Donald Trump presidency.

In our view, Trump represents the greatest threat ever to federal policy-making and implementation of animal protection laws, and we are taking the unusual step of wading actively into a presidential campaign. HSLF has members who are Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, and supports lawmakers and candidates from all over the political spectrum. We evaluate candidates based on a single, non-partisan criterion—their support for animal protection—and do not default to one party or the other.

When you consider the potential for advancing animal welfare reforms at the federal level, or rolling back the recent gains and rulemaking actions, there could not be a greater contrast among the White House hopefuls. One ticket has a clear, compelling record of support for animal protection, while the other has assembled a team of advisors and financial supporters tied in with trophy hunting, puppy mills, factory farming, horse slaughter, and other abusive industries.

The names that Trump’s campaign has floated for engagement on Interior and Agriculture department issues are a “who’s who” of zealous anti-animal welfare activists. Troublingly, Donald Jr. has even been floated as a possible Interior Secretary. Both sons at the very least would be Trump’s top advisors and strategists on trophy hunting issues.

The risk of having a globe-trotting trophy hunter at or near the helm at Interior, or having the ear of the President, should be a terrifying prospect for any animal advocate.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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Out Music: Brandon Stansell “Slow Down”

Check out “Slow Down,” the new single from out singer/songwriter Brandon Stansell.

According to his official website, the song is the epicenter of his “California Country” sound with the raw emotion of those first moments in a budding relationship.

“Slow Down” was produced by Nashville-based producer, writer, and guitarist Erik Halbig. Stansell met Erik a few years ago through friend, Ty Herndon, who is featured on the track.

While his casual country sound is appealing, there is more that meets the eye with this crooner of Nashville roots. He is navigating the path of an openly-gay Country Artist. Brandon, while not the first to chart these waters, is one of few people in the industry willing to lay everything out for the listener and the result is an honest, beautiful musical experience.

I’ve previously written about Brandon’s music video “Dear John” here.

Brandon’s new EP is currently available on iTunes here.

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Arizona: New Poll Puts Hillary Clinton Ahead Of Donald Trump +2

A new poll from Emerson College shows Hillary Clinton has moved into the lead in Arizona ahead of Republican Donald Trump.

The poll shows Clinton now leads by a margin of 44 percent to 42 percent.

Libertarian Presidential candidate Gary Johnson received 9 percent in the poll, while Green Party candidate received just 1 percent.

Notable in the results – 78% of Bernie Sanders supporters now say they favor Clinton.

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Trailer: Jackie

 Natalie Portman is getting rave reviews for her delicate portrayal of Jackie Kennedy in the new film, JACKIE.

The film follows the former First Lady through the aftermath of the assassination of her husband: her grief and trauma to regain her faith, console her children, and define her husband’s historic legacy.

Official synopsis:

JACKIE is a searing and intimate portrait of one of the most important and tragic moments in American history, seen through the eyes of the iconic First Lady, then Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (Natalie Portman).

JACKIE places us in her world during the days immediately following her husband’s assassination. Known for her extraordinary dignity and poise, here we see a psychological portrait of the First Lady as she struggles to maintain her husband’s legacy and the world of “Camelot” that they created and loved so well.

JACKIE hits theaters December 2, 2016.

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Donald Trump Threatens To Sue Those Responsible For “Nasty” Ads

Campaigning in Nevada today, GOP White House hopeful Donald Trump announced he’s going to sue whoever put together a “nasty” campaign ad showing military veterans criticizing his statements about Purple Hearts, sacrifice and more.

“I saw today, I left the room and I saw a commercial where it was really a nasty commercial, totally made up about me with vets. There is nobody that loves the vets more or respects the vets more.

“They’re spending hundreds of millions of dollars on false commercials and it’s a disgrace. So what we’ll do — I guess we’ll sue them. Let’s sue them. Right? Let’s sue them.”

Trump never names the ad or the group running the ad that got his back up.

But he’s gonna sue them. Believe me. (sarcasm intended)

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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The Atlantic Endorses Hillary Clinton

For only the third time in The Atlantic‘s 156 year history, the publication has endorsed a presidential candidate, and it is Democrat Hillary Clinton.

From The Atlantic:

Today, our position is similar to the one in which The Atlantic’s editors found themselves in 1964. We are impressed by many of the qualities of the Democratic Party’s nominee for president, even as we are exasperated by others, but we are mainly concerned with the Republican Party’s nominee, Donald J. Trump, who might be the most ostentatiously unqualified major-party candidate in the 227-year history of the American presidency.

These concerns compel us, for the third time since the magazine’s founding, to endorse a candidate for president. Hillary Rodham Clinton has more than earned, through her service to the country as first lady, as a senator from New York, and as secretary of state, the right to be taken seriously as a White House contender. She has flaws (some legitimately troubling, some exaggerated by her opponents), but she is among the most prepared candidates ever to seek the presidency. We are confident that she understands the role of the United States in the world; we have no doubt that she will apply herself assiduously to the problems confronting this country; and she has demonstrated an aptitude for analysis and hard work.

Donald Trump, on the other hand, has no record of public service and no qualifications for public office. His affect is that of an infomercial huckster; he traffics in conspiracy theories and racist invective; he is appallingly sexist; he is erratic, secretive, and xenophobic; he expresses admiration for authoritarian rulers, and evinces authoritarian tendencies himself. He is easily goaded, a poor quality for someone seeking control of America’s nuclear arsenal. He is an enemy of fact-based discourse; he is ignorant of, and indifferent to, the Constitution; he appears not to read.

The Atlantic goes on to say that Trump “is spectacularly unfit for office.”

I can imagine that, after a while, all these endorsements may not seem to mean much to folks. After all, isn’t that what publications/newspapers do?

But, in this unusual election cycle, it’s more than notable that historically conservative newspapers – or publications that generally don’t endorse at all – are choosing Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump.

What it means is: we aren’t crazy. He is. Trump is the one candidate uniquely unqualified to serve as president and it needs to be pointed out again and again.

Could Mitt Romney have been president? John McCain? Sure. And while the U.S. would have headed in different directions, at least we’d have had a competent leader.

Donald Trump is not that man.

I really encourage you to read the entire op-ed from The Atlantic.

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Hillary Clinton Up +10 Over Donald Trump In New National Poll

The latest Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll shows Democrat Hillary Clinton with a 10 point lead over Republican Donald Trump.

As a matter of fact, the Democratic ticket beats the Republican team no matter how you mix it up. GOP veep pick Mike Pence does decidedly better than his running mate against Hillary Clinton.

Via press release:

In the race for the White House, the most recent national survey of likely voters from Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind finds Democrat Hillary Clinton with a ten-point lead over Republican Donald Trump. However, if Clinton were instead facing Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, the race would be a statistical dead heat. If Trump were up against Clinton’s running mate, Tim Kaine, he would fare even worse than he is against the former Secretary of State.

Right now, half of all likely voters (50%) say that if the election were held today, they would vote for Clinton. Forty percent would vote for Trump. When third-party candidates are included among the list of candidates, Clinton and Trump both experience a four percent reduction in support – Clinton to 46 percent and Trump to 36 percent.

“The post-presidential debate landscape is clearly favoring Clinton. Trump’s continued weight shaming of a former Miss Universe and the weekend disclosure of his 1995 tax returns are but a sample of difficult news coverage for the Republican candidate,” said Krista Jenkins, professor of political science and director of the FDU poll, PublicMind.

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Vice-Presidential Debate Recap: Pence Wins On Style, Kaine Wins On Substance

Last night, voters got to see their vice-presidential candidates – Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Republican Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana – face off for the one and only time this election cycle.

While Kaine had some issues with style (the interrupting from the get-go was a bit off-putting), he did what he needed to do. And that was bring up all the distasteful things Trump has said throughout the campaign, which Pence tried to deny.

Pence was successful in looking calm and presidential, hoping to tamp down some of the fallout from last week’s first presidential debate where his running mate Donald Trump ran off the rails a bit.

As an LGBT advocate, I was disappointed that Kaine didn’t take an opportunity to highlight Pence’s virulently anti-LGBT record, which I’ve documented many times here on The Randy Report. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow felt the same way.

It did seem Kaine got under Pence’s skin a bit by bringing up Trump’s anti-Mexican comments. At one point Pence turned to Kaine and said, “You whipped out that Mexican thing again,” which immediately became an Internet meme.

The CNN/ORC poll right after the debate showed Pence won by a narrow margin. A CNN focus group of undecided voters, however, felt Kaine was the victor.

However, when it came to who defended their running mate better, Kaine won by a wide margin.

In the end, I don’t think the debate will move the needle much in either direction. As others have said, Pence helped Pence while Kaine helped Clinton. Kaine knew exactly what he was doing.

Kaine’s pugnacious performance made it possible to produce videos like the two below, which are devastating to the Trump/Pence campaign.