Category: Uncategorized

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Ambassador Chris Stevens’ Family: We Do Not Blame Hillary Clinton For Benghazi

In the aftermath of the 800 page report by the Republican-led panel which investigated the attack on Benghazi, the sister of Ambassador Chris Stevens — one of the four American casualties from the September 11, 2012 attack on a compound in Benghazi, Libya — says that the fault does not lie with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Dr. Anne Stevens spoke to the New Yorker, and said, in part:

It is clear, in hindsight, that the facility was not sufficiently protected by the State Department and the Defense Department. But what was the underlying cause? Perhaps if Congress had provided a budget to increase security for all missions around the world, then some of the requests for more security in Libya would have been granted. Certainly the State Department is underbudgeted.

I do not blame Hillary Clinton or Leon Panetta. They were balancing security efforts at embassies and missions around the world. And their staffs were doing their best to provide what they could with the resources they had. The Benghazi Mission was understaffed. We know that now. But, again, Chris knew that. It wasn’t a secret to him. He decided to take the risk to go there. It is not something they did to him. It is something he took on himself.

Dr. Stevens went on to say about Hillary Clinton, “She has taken full responsibility, being head of the State Department, for what occurred. She took measures to respond to the review board’s recommendations. She established programs for a better security system.

“But it is never going to be perfect,” she admitted to The New Yorker. “I don’t see any usefulness in continuing to criticize her. It is very unjust.”

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U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Critical Of Donald Trump’s Trade Plans

https://twitter.com/USChamber/status/747862410267136000

After hearing presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump speak today on his economic policies, the conservative leaning U.S. Chamber of Commerce dispatched this via Twitter.

Now, when business conservatives have reservations about his policies…

The  Chamber of Commerce says we would lose 7 million jobs and head back into recession if the U.S. followed Trump’s ideas.

The U.S. recession would set in within the first year under Trump’s proposed trade policies, which include a 35 percent tariff on imports from Mexico and a 45 percent tax on goods coming in from China. Over the next three years, the U.S. economy would shrink by 4.6 percent and the unemployment rate would nearly double to 9.5 percent.

Should China and Mexico decide not to retaliate against Trump’s steep tariffs with heightened trade barriers of their own – an unlikely scenario based on recent history – the U.S. would still lose a minimum of 2 million current jobs, while another 1.5 million would not be created. In other words, even under the best case scenario, Trump’s tariffs would strip our country of at least 3.5 million jobs.

Does that sound like “making America great again” to you?

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GOP-Led House Benghazi Panel Issues 800 Page Report – No Bombshell

Benghazi committee chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy

After two years and more than $7 million dollars, the GOP-led House investigation into the Benghazi attack of 2012 has concluded with no “bombshell” or new revelations.

CNN reports:

The more than 800-page report paints a picture of a perfect storm of bureaucratic inertia, rapidly worsening security in Libya and inadequate resources in the months that led up to the killings of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three colleagues on September 11, 2012.

The attack was initially thought to be perpetrated by an angry mob responding to a video made in the U.S. mocking Islam and the Prophet Mohammed, but the assault was later determined to be a terrorist attack — a finding Republicans accused the White House of covering up to protect President Barack Obama’s re-election prospects.

The House Benghazi Committee report doesn’t directly blame Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state at the time and is now the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, for the attacks. But it does suggest she and other administration officials did not adequately address the risks involved. It also found Stevens himself bore responsibility for securing his post.

At the end of the day, House Republicans were unable to actually pin blame on Hillary Clinton for the attack. The most they could attach to Clinton was that she should have realized the situation in Libya was dangerous from available intelligence.

I’m guessing they mean that in the same way that President George W. Bush “should” have been able to avoid 9/11 after intelligence reports were available saying “Bin Laden Determined To Strike In US?”

Oddly, I don’t recall House Republicans holding investigations into Dubya’s culpability.

The Republican-run Congress spent more time investigating Benghazi than both 9/11 and the Iraq War combined, and yet thousands more Americans died in those conflicts.

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Federal Judge Rules Mississippi County Clerks Don’t Get To Refuse Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

After the historic SCOTUS ruling last year which brought marriage equality to the entire United States, Mississippi passed a law as an attempted end-run around same-sex marriage allowing county clerks to recuse themselves from issuing marriage licenses.

A federal judge has ruled that law unconstitutional.

Via Chris Geidner at Buzzfeed:

“[T]he Supreme Court’s ruling will be enforced,” U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves wrote of the year-old decision in Obergefell v. Hodges.

There was already a court order that stopped Mississippi from enforcing its ban on same-sex couples’ marriages. On Monday, the judge agreed to expand that order to address the so-called “recusal” provision of HB 1523, which was passed earlier this year and would go into effect on July 1.

“Having reviewed the relevant section of HB 1523, the parties’ arguments, and the scope of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell, the Court finds that [the recusal provision] may in fact amend Mississippi’s marriage licensing regime in such a way as to conflict with Obergefell,” the judge wrote.

Judge Reeves also addressed the idea of any ongoing disapproval over marriage equality after Obergefell:

“Mississippi’s elected officials may disagree with Obergefell, of course, and may express that disagreement as they see fit – by advocating for a constitutional amendment to overturn the decision, for example. But the marriage license issue will not be adjudicated anew after every legislative session.”

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Matt Baume: “Is Donald Trump A Friend To The Gays?”

All-around smart guy Matt Baume asks “Is Donald Trump a friend of ‘The Guys?'”

“Ask the gays,” Donald said, “who’s your friend?”

Well, the gays are ready with their answer, and it’s probably not what he wanted.

Here are some of Donald’s quotes about marriage equality, civil unions, and job protections for LGBTs … and also some “friends” that Donald Trump might not want the gays to know about.

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Mike Huckabee Hit With $25K Tab For Playing “Eye Of The Tiger” At Kim Davis Rally

Gov. Mike Huckabee (L) with Kim Davis (C)

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee may have ended his 2016 presidential campaign on February 1st of this year, but he’s still paying off the debts racked up on his behalf.

Part of that tab is settlement from a copyright infringement lawsuit surrounding his campaign’s using the song “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor at a rally for anti-marriage equality County Clerk Kim Davis.

Apparently, Huckabee initially tried to get out of paying the royalty infringement by saying in court the rally was a “religious assembly.” But then the item showed up as a presidential campaign expense on his Federal Election Commission filing.

Clearly presidential campaigns are not “religious assemblies.”

From CNN:

Huckabee played the triumphant song by the band Survivor at a rally he held for Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

But Huckabee never paid for the rights — so his campaign got sued for copyright infringement.

He recently agreed to a confidential settlement with Rude Music. That company is owned by the Survivor guitarist who cowrote the song, Frankie Sullivan.

They settled out of court, and it came to light when Huckabee listed the $25,000 cost as a campaign expense on federal election records. A payment to Rude Music is listed as a “legal settlement” for “copyright infringement.”

Huckabee paid half of it in May and listed the $12,500 payment as an “itemized disbursement.” He listed the other half as “debts and obligations.” Both appear on a June 20 filing.

Huckabee ran for the Republican ticket until he dropped out Feb. 1, but he’s still paying off the cost of his campaign.

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Sean Hayes: “I Regret Not Coming Out Sooner”

Former Will & Grace star Sean Hayes tells Playbill he wishes he had come out publicly during the run of the hit TV series.

“I got Will & Grace, and I thought, ‘Oh, this is different. I don’t know how to handle this. I’m not bright enough, I’m not quick enough, I don’t have the DNA to be a spokesperson for any kind of group of people.’”

“I had personal issues inside of myself that I regret.

“I regret not coming out sooner and helping more people, and I regret not coming out during the show.

“Everybody in the gay community knew I was gay, but it was this fight I had with the press because they want you to come out on their terms, and other gay people want you to come out on their terms, and if you don’t come out on their terms you’re just an asshole, and you’re wrong. Well, each individual human being has a lot of stuff that nobody knows about.

“Nobody knows what anybody else is going through at any point in their lives.”

Hayes eventually came out in 2010, four years after the end of Will & Grace.

He married his partner, Scott Icenogle, in 2014, and is currently starring on Broadway in the play An Act of God.