COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Saturday, February 13, 2016

“Turkey (Nato member) is bombing YPG (backed by US, Russia) & SDF (backed by US), for attacking FSA (backed by US, Turkey & Saudi),”

Turkish military shells Assad forces, Kurdish militias in northern Syria - reports

The Turkish army has shelled Syrian government forces and Kurdish targets near the city of Azaz in northwestern Syria, including an air base recently retaken from Islamist rebels.


Anatolia news agency reports that the Turkish military hit Syrian government forces on Saturday, adding that the shelling had been in response to fire inflicted on a Turkish military guard post in Turkey’s southern Hatay region.

The Turkish shelling of Kurdish positions has continued for more than three hours almost uninterruptedly, a Kurdish source told RT, adding that the Turkish forces are using mortars and missiles and firing from the Turkish border not far from the city of Azaz in the Aleppo Governorate.


The shelling targeted the Menagh military air base and the nearby village of Maranaz, where “many civilians were wounded,” local journalist Barzan Iso told RT. He added that Kurdish forces and their allies among “the Syrian democratic forces” had taken control of the air base on Thursday.

According to Iso, the Menagh base had previously been controlled by the Ahrar ash-Sham Islamist rebel group, which seized it in August of 2013. The journalist also added that Ahrar ash-Sham militants at the base had been supported by Al-Nusra terrorists and some extremist groups coming from Turkey.

Ahrar ash-Sham is a militant group that has trained teenagers to commit acts of terror in Damascus, Homs, and Latakia provinces, according to data provided to the Russian Defense Ministry by Syrian opposition forces.

The group, which has intensified its attacks on the Syrian government forces since January, was getting “serious reinforcements from Turkey,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during a briefing in Moscow on January 21.

A source in the Turkish government confirmed to Reuters that the Turkish military had shelled Kurdish militia targets near Azaz on Saturday.

The Turkish Armed Forces fired shells at PYD positions in the Azaz area,” the source said, referring to the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which Ankara views as a terrorist group.

A Turkish security official told Reuters that the shelling of the Kurds had been a response to a shelling of Turkish border military outposts by the PYD and forces loyal to Damascus, as required under Turkish military rules of engagement.
Turkey’s PM Davutoglu also confirmed that the country’s forces had struck Syrian Kurdish fighters and demanded that the Kurds retreat from all of the areas that they had recently seized.

“The YPG will immediately withdraw from Azaz and the surrounding area and will not go close to it again,” he told reporters, adding that Turkey “will retaliate against every step [by the YPG],” Reuters reports.

A Kurdish official confirmed to Reuters that the shelling had targeted the Menagh air base located south of Azaz.

According to the official, the base had been captured by the Jaysh al-Thuwwar rebel group, which is an ally of PYD and a member of the Syria Democratic Forces alliance.

Syrian Kurds are actively engaged in the fight against the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorist group and have been recently described as “some of the most successful” forces fighting IS jihadists in Syria by US State Department spokesman John Kirby, AFP reports.

Earlier, the US also called the PYD an “important partner” in the fight against Islamic State, adding that US support of the Kurdish fighters “will continue.”

Turkey’s shelling of the Syrian Kurds comes just days after a plan to end hostilities in Syria was presented in Munich after a meeting of the so-called International Syria Support Group (ISSG), in which Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, US Secretary of State John Kerry, and UN Special Envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura participated.


‘We will strike PYD’ – Turkish PM


Earlier on Saturday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu threatened Syrian Kurds with military action, saying that Turkey will resort to force against the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) if it considers the step “necessary.”

As I have said, the link between the YPG and the [outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party] PKK is obvious. If the YPG threatens our security, then we will do what is necessary,” Davutoglu said on February 10, as quoted by the Hurriyet Daily.
“The leadership cadre and ideology of the PKK and PYD is the same,” he argued in a televised speech in the eastern city of Erzincan on Saturday, AFP reports.
Davutoglu also said that if there is a threat to Turkey, “we will strike PYD like we did Qandil,” referring to a bombing campaign waged by Turkey against the PKK in its Qandil mountain stronghold in northern Iraq, Daily Sabah reports.

Turkey regards the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its military wing, the YPG, as affiliates of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a decade-long insurgency against Turkish authorities, demanding autonomy for Turkish Kurds.

The latest developments come as Turkey continues a relentless crackdown on Kurds in its southeastern region. Ankara launched a military operation against Kurdish insurgents from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in July of 2015, breaking a ceasefire signed in 2013.

Turkey’s General Staff claim that Turkish forces killed more than 700 PKK rebels during the offensive in the southeastern districts of Cizre and Sur. Meanwhile, Amnesty International has reported that at least 150 civilians, including women in children, were killed in the Turkish military operation, adding that over 200,000 lives have been put at risk.

According to the Turkish Human Rights Foundation, at least 198 civilians, including 39 children, have been murdered in the area since August of 2015.

95 comments:

  1. Saudi Arabia took its first step in preparing an invasion of Syria by moving ground forces and fighter aircraft to Turkey’s Incirlik base.

    Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced the move on Saturday, just two days after Saudi Arabia said the decision to send its forces into Syria was “final” and irreversible.

    “Saudi Arabia declared its determination against Daesh — the Arabic term for Islamic State [ISIS] — by saying that they were ready to send both jets and troops,” said Cavusoglu to the Turkish Yeni Safak newspaper, “at every coalition meeting we have always emphasized the need for an extensive result-oriented strategy in the fight against the Daesh terrorist group.”

    Cavusoglu also confirmed that Turkey would likely coordinate with Saudi Arabia in any invasion of Syria, saying “if we have such a strategy, then Turkey and Saudi Arabia may launch an operation from the land.”

    News of the troop deployment coincides with a claim made by Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir during an interview with CNN that Saudi Arabia will remove Syrian president Bashar al-Assad by force, if necessary.

    Saudi Arabia’s deployment could put Thursday’s announcement of a potential ceasefire in Syria in jeopardy. The agreement between the U.S., Russia and other major powers with interests in Syria provides for a “cessation of hostilities,” however, a Russian commitment to cease its bombing campaign against Syrian opposition forces was noticeably absent. The powers involved in the discussion hoped that a complete ceasefire could be reached “within a week,” but that possibility appears less likely in light of the Saudi-Turkish announcement.

    The Saudi move increases the possibility of a massive escalation in the Syrian conflict, which Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned could lead to a “new world war.” Currently, Russia, Iran and Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah are backing al-Assad. While the opposition fights the government and their backers, ISIS, Nusra front and various other terrorist organizations are also a threat.

    Send tips to russ@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

    Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

    Tags: Adel al-Jubeir, Bashar al-Assad, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey



    Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/13/saudi-arabia-massing-troops-in-turkey-on-verge-of-invading-syria/#ixzz405Vu7r7n

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wake Up Obama. Suspend the NATO Treaty with Turkey. It should have been done years ago. It will send the right signal to Russia and should set off all the klaxons to the Turkey military.

    ReplyDelete
  3. FOLLOW THIS

    Turkey and Saudi Arabia could launch a ground operation against ISIL extremists in Syria as part of a coordinated strategy with the US-led coalition, the Turkish foreign minister said on Saturday.

    Mevlut Cavusoglu said Riyadh had already sent fighter jets to Turkey’s Incirlik airbase.

    “Some say ‘Turkey is reluctant to take part in the fight against Daesh,’” Mr Cavusoglu was quoted by Turkish media as saying at the Munich Security Conference. “But it is Turkey that is making the most concrete proposals.”

    He clarified that “there is no plan” yet for Saudi ground forces to deploy to Turkey’s border with Syria. But he said his Saudi counterpart had told him that “if the necessary time comes for a ground operation then we could send soldiers”.

    Saudi foreign minister Adel Al Jubeir said on Saturday that “if the coalition should decide to deploy special forces in the fight against IS in Syria, Saudi Arabia will be ready to participate”.

    While both Turkey and Saudi Arabia are the main regional backers of Syrian rebels, along with Qatar, they have had tense relations since 2011 and have supported different rebel groups in Syria.

    But Ankara and Riyadh now appear to be coordinating much more closely in the face of major advances by regime and militia forces, led by Iran and backed by a crushing Russian air campaign. These advances have allowed regime forces to nearly encircle the key northern city of Aleppo, half of which is held by rebels.

    In recent days the conflict in Syria has grown even more volatile as the various local, regional and international players react to the Russian-backed offensive that has tipped the balance of power on the ground towards the Syrian regime, and as regime forces intensify their military efforts to take Aleppo completely ahead of a potential pause in fighting.

    Further complicating the dynamics, Kurdish forces in northern Syria who had been coordinating closely with the US against ISIL now appear to also be coordinating with the Russian air force. Earlier this week these forces – supported by Russian air strikes – captured the Menagh airbase from Turkish-backed Syrian rebels.

    On Saturday Turkish artillery began bombarding areas of Aleppo province controlled by Kurdish YPG forces, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group.

    “Turkey (Nato member) is bombing YPG (backed by US, Russia) & SDF (backed by US), for attacking FSA (backed by US, Turkey & Saudi),” tweeted Charles Lister, an expert on the conflict and fellow at the Middle East Institute, underlining the growing confusion.

    Meanwhile, about 20 Russian warplanes were spotted over northern Aleppo province on Saturday as regime forces pressed their offensive to encircle the city, according to Mr Lister.

    http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/turkey-and-saudi-arabia-talks-of-troops-for-syria

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good idea.

    Turkey out of NATO.

    Replaced by Israel.
    **


    Scalia died.

    Damn.

    ReplyDelete

  5. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Antonin Scalia was found dead Saturday on a luxury resort in West Texas, federal officials said.

    Scalia, 79, was a guest at the Cibolo Creek Ranch, a resort in the Big Bend region south of Marfa. MySanAntonio.com said he died of apparent natural causes.

    Scalia arrived at the ranch on Friday and attended a private party with about 40 people, the website of the San Antonio Express News said. When he did not appear for breakfast, a person associated with the ranch went to his room and found a body.

    The U.S. Marshal Service, the Presidio County sheriff and the FBI were involved in the investigation, according to the report.

    Officials with the law enforcement agencies declined to comment.

    A woman who answered the phone at the ranch told the Post she was unaware of the justice’s death, and no manager was available to discuss the matter.

    A federal official who asked not to be named told the San Antonio Express News paper there was no evidence of foul play and it appeared that Scalia died of natural causes.

    Scalia was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan.

    ReplyDelete
  6. You guys beat Drudge, NY Times and CNN.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Two local Texas news outlets are reporting this afternoon that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has died at age 79.

    According to both My San Antonio and KVIA, Scalia was staying at the Cibolo Creek Ranch to go hunting and died of natural causes. He was reportedly found dead by someone who worked at the ranch in his room.

    The tragic news was confirmed in a statement by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Now the fun begins. Obama will do everything to fill his slot and the Republicans the obverse. This will galvanize the Democratic base and should throw the Presidential race to The Democrats.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The Democrats will paint the GOP as obstructionists on the court appointment and that is something everyone will understand.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm betting on a Black Woman.

    I wonder if Loretta Lynch has any plans for the next 40 or 50 years? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He might feel compelled to go with a sitting judge, though. Would probably be better politics.

      Delete
  11. The Democrats need to talk about billionaires controlling US elections and people will finally pay attention to Citizens United.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anyone who has the where with all to go to Cibolo Ranch should. Right up there with Monterrey Peninsula. A well kept secret in West Texas.

    http://www.cibolocreekranch.com/

    ReplyDelete
  13. If Obama gets another Supreme Court Justice it will:

    1. Eliminate the argument that a Democrat President is needed as the balance of the court will be overturned.

    2. Fill the Spot that Obama wants for himself.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But again, an Obama nominee may never make it off the floor of the Senate.

      Delete
  14. I doubt anyone will be appointed right now due to the election cycle.

    I doubt it will have much effect on the election.

    How could it be any more polarized ?

    I'm sad because I liked the guy.

    The 2nd Amendment - one vote decision.....

    And many others....

    How about a WASP ?

    WASPs are an endangered species on the Supreme Court.

    I demand a WASP replacement, to even things out just a little bit.

    !!!

    :)


    ReplyDelete
  15. The thing is, the republicans don't get a whole hell of a lot by stalling.

    You now have 4 Solid liberals, 2 Rock-ribbed conservatives, and a couple on the right that will wander just a bit off-kilter every now and then (see: Roberts on Obamacare.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They don't ?

      What planet are you from ?

      All they need do is what until after the election, in which the Democrat Party is going to be thumped, and they call all the shots.

      People are sick of the corrupt Democrat Party.

      And if the Democrat Party should win the Presidency, how are the Republicans in a worse position as to the Supreme Court than now ?

      You should never be allowed anywhere near a 'smoke filled room'.

      Delete
  16. The Democrats need to play hardball. Appoint the replacement and if the GOP obstructs, Sanders should announce that he will appoint Obama when he gets in. Give the GOP some old time religion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sanders or Clinton we neither make it thru the convention...

      I predict that Biden or Bloomberg will be drafted.

      Delete
    2. That sounds to me like it might actually add to the Republican vote total in the thumping that the Democrat Party is soon to experience.

      So, I like the idea.

      Delete
    3. Hard Drinkin' Joe the Plagiarizer is always a great fallback position.

      :)

      Delete
    4. Not an 'insider' either.

      Joe's the guy !

      The nation turns its weary eyes to Joe !

      bwabwabwahahahaha

      Delete
  17. Obama doesn't want to be a Supreme. He wants the head UN job.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Well now, rat in 2 days has posted 4 provable lies and slanders...

    Each time they are rebutted?

    A new thread appears...


    LOL

    Rat, the blog's affirmed distorter and slanderer in chief.

    ReplyDelete
  19. You got me. I sync my entire schedule on your rebuttals.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, I don't think that you do that...

      I just think that Rat get's off easy on his lies...

      Delete

    2. Rat is a fiction you have fixated upon, "O"rdure.

      I do not think he has posted to a thread in over a year.

      It is interesting that you associate Yahweh and Allah, think of them as being one and the same ...

      That you think that Pork "Rinds for Yahweh" is the same thing as "Pork Rinds for Allah".
      Goes to the core of your belief system, doesn't it?

      Delete
  20. Worth reposting


    QuirkSat Feb 13, 04:29:00 PM EST
    .

    Israel's Unprecedented Geopolitical Strength

    It may seem counterintuitive, or even downright strange, but Israel's geopolitical position is probably stronger now than at any time in the country's history. This is likely to continue at least in the short-to-medium term, but looming long-term challenges should give some pause to Israel's current leaders. They should recall that even way back in the 1960s, then-Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol sardonically referred to Israel as "Shimshon der nebekhdiker," or "poor little Samson."

    It is therefore rich with irony that it is undisputed among Republican presidential candidates that President Barack Obama has "thrown Israel under the bus," while Hillary Clinton promises "no daylight" between the United States and Israel, instead of advocating policies that would strongly encourage Israel to ameliorate the Palestinians' untenable situation. It is, moreover, ironic that Bernie Sanders, who once spent a year on a kibbutz as a young man, prefers to avoid the issue entirely...


    So how can one claim Israel's position is stronger than ever?

    Israelis are stuck in the insecure mindsets of 1948 and 1967, despite the region's dramatic changes. Though the word "Israel" still elicits anger from most Arabs, such passion no longer poses a threat to Israel's existence for the following reasons:

    -- Israel is now an integral part of the regional status quo...

    -- The most important Sunni countries in the region actually see Israel as a de facto ally...

    -- It is more than likely that Iran, if it ever truly was an existential threat, will recede as one in the coming years...

    -- Widespread regional turmoil makes Israel a secondary issue...

    -- Israel's economic prowess is unprecedented...

    It is solely Israel's insistence on holding onto the territories it occupied in 1967 that prevents most of these elements from being publicly acknowledged and undeniable. Israel, because of its own experiences and those of the Jewish people, is stuck in a mindset that was forged in the 1940s, but that is out of kilter with the current era. Of course, it is still in a dangerous neighborhood, but most of its neighbors are now anxious to be friends. How long will Israel refuse to take notice of that and accept its rightful place in the region?

    .

    Reply
    Replies

    What is "Occupation"Sat Feb 13, 05:32:00 PM EST
    But Quirk, Jack claims Israel is dying...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      I don't remember what rat said.

      That you reprinted the article though tells me that you probably didn't bother pulling up the link and reading the entire article.

      IMO opinion the parts I put are undoubtedly true...

      1. In a relative sense. Israel is obviously a powerhouse in the ME, militarily, economically, and to a lesser extent politically.

      2. As the author states, this situation should continue in the short-to-medium term.

      However, in the parts I didn't post, the author mentions the long term threats to Israel (though without the emphasis I would have used). At least the long term threats to the Israel that exists today; the defensive mindset that has not changed since the beginning, the rightward demographics and attitudes of the people, the unwillingness to negotiate, and hard right political majority which considers everything from Hezbollah, to Iran, to BDS, to Arab terrorism, to Breaking The Silence as existential threats to the state (or at least so it says).

      IMO, long term, that doesn't bode well for Israel. However, what is long term? That's the question.

      .

      Delete
  21. Continued from the other threads.

    Syrian, with Hezbollah, Iraqi militias and Iranian Revolutionary Guards have successfully slaughtered 300,000 Syrians (included are about 12,000 Palestinians), Then America and France, started in, then Russia really threw in too...

    The combined efforts now stand at about 470,000 killed and about 11 million refugees...

    The UN estimates are all over the board for the breakdown of how many actual civilians (not the Hamas or rat versions of civilians but ACTUAL non-combatants)

    When you look at the region of the middle east, from North Africa to Iran alone you see that a dozen arab nations are now in near ruins.

    Millions of moslems of varying ethnics are fleeing towards Europe and causing more destabilizition.


    Maybe the world should take a lesson from Israel on how to fight the Islamic hoards?

    Or maybe not...


    ReplyDelete
  22. Dammit, just when I want to watch Fox my Fox connection goes bonkers again.

    I want to hear what Judges Pirro and Napolitano have to say....

    ****

    Jack says Israel is dying ?

    He's just pissing in the wind again, and projecting his twisted desires....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies


    1. Jack said no such thing.
      If he had, "O"rdure would have brought it forward.
      But, obviously, he did not. Reason being, because Jack didn't say shit about it.

      Delete
    2. Jack "the Self confessed Criminal" Hawkins pleads his innocence, again.

      But any reader can easily read the previous weeks threads to see his repeated bullshit, distortion and lies.

      Rat aka Jack, has been proven over and over to lie, slander and distort...

      easy peasy..

      But we don't have to repeatedly prove it over and over..

      the readers know the truth..

      Delete

    3. Proven .... You have no prove, not even a post to bring forward, "O"rdure

      What you have is typical Zionist libel, false flags and outright lies.

      Zionists have murdered Jews, hundreds at a time, to achieve their propaganda goals

      Zionists have killed US sailors on the high seas, in an attempted False Flag operation.

      Zionists have definitely lied, here at the Elephant Bar.
      Libeling anyone that dared speak out against the policies that the Israeli government holds dear. To include, but not limited to Q, Ash, Deuce, Rufus ...

      But the truth is coming to the fore ...

      Yahweh = Allah
      Hat tip: "O"rdure

      Delete
    4. Jack, or shall we say "Mr Stalker"?

      You claimed the Columbus Ohio was a Mossad false flag, you claimed the Hamas kidnapping and murder of 3 people was a mossad false flag.

      Have you no shame?

      Heck, we all know you don't..

      A man like you?

      You are a criminal. Pure and simple.

      you bully, threaten, lie and distort everything and every point you try (and fail) to make.

      Allen and Quirk excellently rebutted you a dozen times proving your are a liar.

      I have done the same.

      Now go polish your wheelchair and shut the fuck up...

      Delete

    5. "O"rdure, how can anyone who post on a public forum tell us he is being stalked?
      Now, it is true that you libeled Rocco Wachman, wrote pure lies about a nice Jewish man.

      Your own words come back to haunt you, your own statements are not well thought out.

      You tell us that "Pork Rinds for Yahweh" is an impersonation of "Pork Rinds of Allah", which informs us that you equate Allah and Yahweh, that, for you, they are one and the same.

      That is not my doing, but yours.
      Be more careful in what you write, if seeing repeated makes you appear foolish.

      Like telling us that Sodastream was undervalued when it was selling at $29.11
      Now it is trading at $12.77

      {;-)

      Delete
  23. .

    Scalia was one of a kind.

    RIP

    McConnel and Grassley say they won't approve any SCOTUS nominees in this session of the Senate.

    I find it hard to believe they will be able delay confirmation for the better part of a year.

    Shit happens. In the words of one of the most influential Justices in SCOTUS history when talking of those who complained about the Bush v Gore decision

    "Get over it."

    .

    ReplyDelete
  24. Conservatives Quickly Refuse Any Obama Court Replacement After Antonin Scalia's Death

    It took only a few minutes after news broke of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's death on Saturday for conservatives to demand that Senate Republicans block any replacement nominated by President Barack Obama.

    It took just a little while more for Republican leadership to agree with them.

    In a swift statement designed to warn Barack Obama against even nominating a replacement, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pledged to sit on his hands for the remaining 11 months of the president's term.

    "The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice," the statement read. "Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President."

    McConnell's reaction makes it incredibly hard to envision Obama filling the Supreme Court vacancy created by Scalia's death. The majority leader has large control the floor of the Senate. And on this front, he is being cheered on by the conservative faction of his party.

    Mere minutes after the Scalia news broke, Conn Carroll, a spokesman for Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who sits on the Judiciary Committee -- through which any Supreme Court nominee must go -- placed the chances of a replacement at nil.

    The Motherfuckers Absolutely, Worst, everloving Nightmare :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Obama can fuck the GOP over big time if they refuse to consider an appointee. He can just make executive decision after another and the court can’t stop him with a 4 to 4 vote.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He's already doing it. Has been doing it.

      And it takes time to take something to the Supreme Court.

      At this late date it makes no difference.


      "The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice," the statement read. "Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President."

      This is correct. Both the Senate and the House are in Republican hands now. Let the new President whoever that may be handle it, and the new Senate.

      Delete
    2. It does make things "interesting"

      No clue how it will play out now.

      Delete

  26. The Republicans are already known for their obstructionism ...

    Now they are going to double down on it.

    Foolishness, to the extreme.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Jim Gilmore has thrown in the towel, with an amazing 0% of the American people supporting him.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Sen. Mitch McConnell in 2005: 'The President, and the President alone, nominates judges'

    Sen. Mitch McConnell, in 2005, defending the absolute right of a sitting president to nominate judges.

    "The Constitution of the United States is at stake. Article II, Section 2 clearly provides that the President, and the President alone, nominates judges. The Senate is empowered to give advice and consent. But my Democratic colleagues want to change the rules. They want to reinterpret the Constitution to require a supermajority for confirmation. In effect, they would take away the power to nominate from the President and grant it to a minority of 41 Senators."
    "[T]he Republican conference intends to restore the principle that, regardless of party, any President's judicial nominees, after full debate, deserve a simple up-or-down vote. I know that some of our colleagues wish that restoration of this principle were not required. But it is a measured step that my friends on the other side of the aisle have unfortunately made necessary. For the first time in 214 years, they have changed the Senate's 'advise and consent' responsibilities to 'advise and obstruct.'"

    ReplyDelete
  29. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  30. .

    The response from the GOP and their leadership is disgusting. It's on a par with the disgusting display by the Dems when they turned the memorial service for Paul Wellstone into a political rally.

    The GOP could have waited at least until the guy was mourned and buried before starting out with this shit.

    Not only dicks but piss-poor examples of human beings.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  31. Jack HawkinsSat Feb 13, 09:24:00 PM EST

    Rat is a fiction you have fixated upon, "O"rdure.

    I do not think he has posted to a thread in over a year.




    Rat and Jack are the same person.

    Rat and Jack have dozens of logins to which he has proudly acclaimed multiple times.

    The funny thing?

    The person behind these "avatars" actually believes the shit that he writes...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Well then, "O"rdure, we all know that each of the avatars has its own account.
      Which are not used, here.
      Unless I want to.

      But you and Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson use the 'name/url' option a lot.
      But the truth of it is ...
      whichever avatar I use, it is you that has brought us all to the light.

      Yahweh = Allah
      hat tip: "O"rdure

      Delete

    2. I'll have to ask Rocco Wachman if that is a commonly held Jewish belief.

      Or one that is propagated by impostors.

      Delete
    3. Desert rat Jack Hawkins is full of shit.

      Delete

    4. Is that you, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, or an impostor?
      If it is you, why not sign in to your Google account?

      Delete
    5. Quirk said he was some kind of defective.

      Delete
    6. Is there some kind of law that says I got to sign in with a Google account ?

      I used to have a Google account, but I remember well, defective, how you even mimicked that.

      So what's the use ?

      Delete

    7. You are the one who is the impostor, here.
      Unable to use Robert's sign-in and password.

      Why is that?
      Has your brain become so defective it is unable to comprehend the complexities of signing in?

      Delete

    8. Or are you really just another part of Team "O"?

      Israel Pays Students For Pro-Israeli Social Media Propaganda

      The move was publicised in a statement from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, the Associated Press reported. Students will receive scholarships to "engage international audiences online" and combat anti-Semitism and calls to boycott Israel, it was alleged.

      According to Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz, the most recent proposition is being spearheaded by Danny Seaman, who was slammed by the media for writing anti-Muslim messages on Facebook.

      Students will be organised into units at each university, with a chief co-ordinator who receives a full scholarship, three desk co-ordinators for language, graphics and research who receive lesser scholarships and students termed “activists” who will receive a “minimal scholarship”, the Independent reported.

      Delete
    9. Law that requires a person to sign-in ...

      Not that I know of, but ...
      It does illustrate which of us is truly 'defective'.

      Delete
  32. My Lord, my better half pointed out to me the size of Marco Rubio's left ear.

    Holy Shit !!

    Once you notice, you can't get it out of your mind.

    If you are voting ears, vote Rubio !!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Democrat Party has no one than can compete with Rubio ear to ear.

      All they got is The Criminal, The Communist, and Hard Drinkin' Joe "the Plagiarizer" Biden "the Outsider" as backup.

      The Corrupt Democrat Party is sooooo screwed !

      Delete
    2. If that were true, you who claims to be Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, you would not have to keep repeating it, as if to convince yourself.

      Delete
    3. Naw, defective, it's just the simple truth, so I say it.

      Just like describing you as a defective.

      Your problem is you say again again again and again things everyone knows are false.

      I know !

      Why not go away again for a month or two and leave everyone in peace again ?

      Delete

    4. Rocco Wachman wouldn't approve of that.

      Delete
  33. I think Dr. Ben Carson and The Donald won the debate, tied for First Place.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Former Obama intel official: Hillary Clinton should drop out

    By Nicole Gaouette

    Updated 1307 GMT (2107 HKT) February 13, 2016 | Video Source: CNN

    VIDEO

    http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/12/politics/hillary-clinton-michael-flynn-email-fbi-investigation/index.html?eref=edition


    ReplyDelete
  35. Who said:

    "South Carolina is too small to be a Republic, but too big to be an insane asylum ?"

    ReplyDelete
  36. Here's why I call Hillary 'The Criminal' -

    The Democrats’ Likely Nominee Appears to Be a Felon — This Is Not Business as Usual

    by Andrew C. McCarthy February 13, 2016 4:00 AM @AndrewCMcCarthy

    Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/431254/hillary-clinton-email-classified-criminal-democratic-nominee


    Because she is one. Which matters not a bit to our Rufus. Or to any of the other 'progressives' that might vote for this world class felon.

    You really should read this long article. She is into it up to her double chin, and beyond. Way beyond.

    My Lord, what's become of our country ?

    Where fools like Rufus will "Definitely" vote for a Criminal.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So I want to pass over that for now and think about something rarely mentioned in the Clinton caper: the unknown e-mails. What has been revealed about Mrs. Clinton’s disclosed e-mails has been so shocking that we often forget: There are 30,000 other e-mails that she attempted to destroy. We do not know what’s in them, so it is only natural that we have focused instead on what is knowable — the e-mails that have been disclosed. But there have been media reports that the FBI, to which Mrs. Clinton finally surrendered her private servers some months ago, has been able to retrieve many of the “deleted” e-mails, perhaps even all of them. Mrs. Clinton told us she destroyed these e-mails because they were private and unrelated to government business. Basically we are to believe that one of the busiest, highest-ranking officials in our government had time to send tens of thousands of e-mails that were strictly about yoga routines, her daughter’s bridesmaids’ dresses, and the like. This, from the same Mrs. Clinton who looked us in the eye and insisted that none of her e-mails contained classified information. Anyone want to join me in indulging the possibility that many of the deleted e-mails involve government business?

      I ask because, wholly apart from any classified information crimes, there is another penal law defining an offense that is very easy to prove: the federal embezzlement statute (Section 641 of Title 18, U.S. Code).

      This provision targets anyone who, among other things, embezzles, steals, purloins, or knowingly converts to his use . . . , or without authority . . . conveys or disposes of any record . . . of the United States or of any department or agency thereof . . . ; or . . . conceals, or retains the same with intent to convert it to his use . . . knowing it to have been embezzled, stolen, purloined or converted. [Emphasis added.]

      As with the afore-described crime of mishandling classified information, the penalty for violating this statute is up to ten years’ imprisonment for each instance of theft.

      Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/431254/hillary-clinton-email-classified-criminal-democratic-nominee


      Let's see here.....what is 30 thousand times 10 years......how many years is that ?

      Is that 300,000 years ?

      That's real hard time.

      Delete
    2. No wonder The Donald says she is running for President so she can stay out of prison.

      Delete
    3. State Dept Releases New Batch of Hillary Emails...

      84 classified, 3 secret...

      CADDELL: 'Worse than Watergate'......Drudge


      And Pat Caddell is a......Democrat !

      Delete

    4. Where is the indictment or the resignation of the FBI agents, you posted that one or the other were imminent, a couple of weeks ago?

      Delete

    5. You posted statements allegedly made by Tom DeLay and Darrell Issa, but what was promised has not occurred, why not?

      Delete

    6. Did DeLay and Issa lie, or were those statements fabricated fictions?

      Delete

    7. Or is the case against Mrs Clinton not the "Slam Dunk" you have reported it to be?

      Delete

  37. Poor air quality kills 1.4 million people in India annually

    More than 1.4 million people die prematurely every year in India due to household and outdoor air pollution, researchers have estimated

    While air pollution kills more than 5.5 million people prematurely every year, India and China together account for 55 percent of these deaths, the research showed.

    The international team of researchers from India, China, Canada and the US estimated that despite efforts to limit future emissions, the number of premature deaths linked to air pollution will climb over the next two decades unless more aggressive targets are set.

    Power plants, industrial manufacturing, vehicle exhaust and burning coal and wood all release small particles into the air that are dangerous to a person's health.

    In India, a major contributor to poor air quality is the practice of burning wood, dung and similar sources of biomass for cooking and heating.


    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health-news/Poor-air-quality-kills-1-4-million-people-in-India-annually/articleshow/50981761.cms

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. "India needs a three-pronged mitigation approach to address industrial coal burning, open burning for agriculture, and household air pollution sources," said one of the researchers Chandra Venkataraman, professor at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, in Mumbai.

      Delete
  38. .

    Henry Kissinger Feels the Bern


    Of all the dastardly deeds for which Henry Kissinger can be blamed, here’s an especially odd one: he made Hillary Clinton lose a foreign policy debate with Bernie Sanders. Last night at the Democratic presidential debate in Milwaukee, in a moment to baffle the youthful voters who helped give Sanders his crushing victory over Clinton in the New Hampshire primary, Sanders (age 74) blasted his opponent (age 68) for being too cozy with Kissinger (age 92).

    Kissinger usually gets a free pass in Washington, where celebrity has a way of overshadowing historical analysis, but it’s still jarring to see Hillary Clinton embracing him. After all, in her youth, she protested against the Vietnam war and served as a staffer on the House Judiciary Committee considering impeaching President Richard Nixon for Watergate. But in more recent days, she lauded Kissinger’s historic outreach to China in her 2014 memoir Hard Choices, and wrote a fawning Washington Post review of his latest book in September 2014, calling him a personal friend and adviser while praising the book as “vintage Kissinger, with his singular combination of breadth and acuity.”

    Despite Kissinger’s efforts to cultivate Clinton and other grandees, his reputation has been undermined by the realities revealed on the White House tapes. In 1969, he recommended a risky nuclear alert in 1969 to spook the Soviet Union. In September 1971, he privately told Nixon, “If we had done Cambodia in ’66, and Laos in ’67, the war would be history.” And in 1971, in one of the darkest American chapters of the Cold War, he and Nixon supported a brutal military dictatorship in Pakistan while it unleashed a devastating crackdown on what was then East Pakistan and is now Bangladesh. Both the CIA and the State Department conservatively estimated that about two hundred thousand people perished, while ten million desperate Bengali refugees fled into India. Kissinger joked about the massacre of Bengali Hindus, and privately scorned those Americans who “bleed” for “the dying Bengalis...”


    Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/02/henry-kissinger-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-debate-213626#ixzz407uV0SVQ


    The article goes on to provide even more highlights from the life of Henry Kissenger, adviser to Ms. Clinton.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well what can one say.....if they had done Cambodia in '66 the Cambodians might not have done themselves in '75, which of course has been denied by that Khmer lover and Cambodian holocaust denier Chomskhy that Deuce is always quoting.

      Henry the Humanitarian.....

      Delete
    2. What Chomsky said about Cambodia is way too much of a stretch for your comprehension level. Kissinger, not so much.

      Delete
    3. Let's not forget that Vietnam was a Democrat Party war, begun seriously by LBJ, fought to a treaty by Nixon negotiated by Super K, and then thrown away by the very same Democrat Party that started it in the first place.

      The Democrat Party withdrew the funding, and the North Vietnamese waltzed right on in....

      After that came the Boat People, the executions, the 're-education camps' and the rest of it.

      Eisenhower had told us not to get into a land war in Asia, and to 'beware of the military-industrial complex'.

      Delete
    4. Chomsky is a turd, and crazy as hell.

      There is no 'comprehending' an asshole like that.

      Delete
  39. Sanders and Clinton won the GOP Gong Show.

    ReplyDelete
  40. It is hard to pick which Republican candidate is the least worst.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Easy.

      Ben and The Donald.

      And neither of them is a Crimianal nor a Communist.

      Delete
    2. Trump probably was the least damaged. Carson is a non-entity.

      Delete
    3. Carson is too good and decent a man for politics.

      Delete
  41. WASHINGTON TO ISTANBUL ASS STABBERS

    —The U.S. government called Saturday on Turkey to stop shelling American-backed Kurdish fighters in northern Syria .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Israelis would not be shelling American-backed Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.

      jeez, it's 1 am here.

      I'm being hauled to church later this morning...

      Bedtime

      Delete