Category: Video

The Donald Calls Hillary a War Monger

No Comments

It looks like Donald Trump is going to be the anti-war candidate this election:

Donald Trump derided Hillary Clinton’s hawkish foreign policy record over the weekend, a glimpse into a potential general election strategy of casting Clinton as the more likely of the two to take the nation to war.

Just moments after maligning Syrian refugees at a rally in Lynden, Washington, Trump pivoted into a tirade against Clinton as a warmonger.

“On foreign policy, Hillary is trigger happy,” Trump told the crowd. “She is, she’s trigger happy. She’s got a bad temperament,” he said. “Her decisions in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya have cost trillions of dollars, thousands of lives and have totally unleashed ISIS.”

And he expressed a rarely heard appreciation for the “other side to this story,” noting: “Thousands of lives yes, for us, but probably millions of lives in all fairness, folks” for the people of the Middle East.

Trump implied that casualties inflicted by the U.S. military were far higher than reported. “They bomb a city” and “it’s obliterated, obliterated,” he said. “They’ll say nobody was killed. I’ll bet you thousands and thousands of people were killed every time you see that television set.”

I think that Trump is an isolationist, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.

When you look at the history of US military and diplomatic interventions over the past 60 years, overthrowing a democratically elected government in Iran as well as any number of Latin American nations (Chile, Argentina, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, etc), and interventions in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq (1963, 1990, 2003), Lebanon, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), Cambodia, Angola, Grenada, Kuwait, Somalia, Libya, the Ukraine, and Syria, you have a poor record.

At best (Kuwait) you have us propping up a corrupt, reactionary, and totalitarian state. 

At worst, you have the effective destruction of a country and its society, particularly in Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq,  and Cambodia, and the death toll is in the tens of millions.

The only post Korea success that I can think of is in the former Yugoslavia.

The world would be better off if we were more isolationist.

Here is a suggestion for Hillary:  If you are making Donald Trump sound sane about anything, you are on the wrong side of history.

How Evocative

No Comments

Last night said that he had mixed emotions about Ted Cruz leaving the race, because it cleared the decks for Trump:

Is this a yay? I’m so conflicted. I mean, Ted Cruz lost, but it’s because Donald Trump won. It’s like finding out your herpes is gone but it’s because your dick fell off.

This is an almost perfect metaphor for the campaign season.

The Only Opinion that Matters ……… Except Maybe his Own

No Comments

Stephen Colbert just gave major props to Larry Wilmore for his White House Correspondents Dinner speech:

………

 Last night Stephen Colbert opened his monologue with that ‘phone call.’

 “Now personally, I thought Larry gave a great speech, that did not let the President or the press off the hook, And I am confident that Larry will receive the ultimate recognition for his work — never being invited back.”

 He also addressed the end of Larry’s speech, which if you have ever watched The Nightly Show you know was not a racial slur or insult. But leave it to Colbert to put it in perspective.

 “There was a little controversy, a moment at the end where Larry said the n-word. It was shocking, but it did lay the groundwork for President Trump to say it next year.”

That sound you hear is a mic dropping.

Larry Willmore Slayed at the White House Correspondents Dinner

No Comments

Made Even Better by the Crowd Reaction

It is pretty clear that he looked at Colbert’s now famous talk 10 years ago, and decided give me some more of that:

Comedian Larry Wilmore held no punches at the 2016 White House correspondents’ dinner, taking aim at presidential candidates, reporters and Bill Cosby. (Erin Patrick O’Connor/The Washington Post)

It’s always the big question after the White House correspondents’ dinner: Did the comedian flop?

Opinions vary wildly, but there’s no question some of Larry Wilmore’s jokes received a very frosty reaction inside the Washington Hilton on Saturday night.

………

But that was nothing compared to when he tried out his jokes about the media — to a crowd filled to the brim with journalists.

………

On TV, the reaction sounded like hushed murmurs. Our colleagues inside the dinner reported the line bombed. “Boo!” someone yelled. “Hiss!” yelled another.

Wilmore laughed nervously. “No — alright, fine, I like Wolf.” He was booed again when he took another shot at Wolf’s network: “I don’t know about you guys, but I cannot get enough of that CNN countdown clock. Now we can see exactly when they hit zero in the ratings.”

Another joke that didn’t go over so well? “A little bit about me, I am a black man who replaced a white man who pretended to be a TV newscaster,” Wilmore said. “So yeah, in that way Lester Holt and I have a lot in common.”

There were audible, very loud gasps at that joke that obviously called out Brian Williams, replaced by Holt on “NBC Nightly News” after it was discovered he exaggerated or misrepresented stories over the years.

………

Melissa Harris-Perry, whose messy departure with MSNBC was specifically referenced in the routine (Wilmore says MSNBC now stands for “Missing a Significant Number of Black Correspondents”), tweeted support for Wilmore, which is unsurprising:

It was a good talk, made even better by the frosty reception of the room, who are still as thin skinned as they always were.

The best line was not a dig at Fox, but by a line about MSNBC, “MSNBC got rid of so many black people I thought Boko Haram was running that network,” though the best moment when Don Lemon flipped the bird in response to a dig at him.

He also dropped the N-bomb.

It was good, and he had to know that he would piss off most of the guys in the room.

Well played Mr. Wilmore.

Here is the complete transcript .

Bill Clinton Tried for Another Sistah Soulja Moment

No Comments

Yes Bernie, He Does Owe Us an Apology

I’m sure that all of you read about Bill Clinton’s confrontation with Black Lives Matter protestors:

Former President Bill Clinton on Thursday faced down protesters angry at the impact his 1994 crime reforms have had on black Americans and defended the record of his wife, Hillary Clinton, who is relying on the support of black voters in her quest for the presidency.

 The former president spent more than 10 minutes confronting the protesters at a campaign rally in Philadelphia for his wife over criticisms that the crime bill he approved while president led to a surge in the imprisonment of black people.

 The Democratic race for the Nov. 8 election has become increasingly heated as Hillary Clinton, stung by a string of losses in state contests, has traded barbs with her rival for the party’s nomination, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, over who is better prepared for the White House.

 In Philadelphia, several protesters heckled the former president mid-speech and held up signs, including one that read: “CLINTON Crime Bill Destroyed Our Communities.”

 ………

 Bill Clinton, 69, who was president from 1993 to 2001, defended her 1994 remarks, which protesters say were racially insensitive, and suggested the protesters’ anger was misplaced.

 “I don’t know how you would characterize the gang leaders who got 13-year-old kids hopped on crack and sent them out on the street to murder other African-American children,” he said, shaking his finger at a heckler as Clinton supporters cheered, according to video of the event. “Maybe you thought they were good citizens. She (Hillary Clinton) didn’t.”

 “You are defending the people who kill the lives you say matter,” he told a protester. “Tell the truth.”

The worst thing here is not that Bill Clinton has lost his sh%$. It’s that he hasn’t lost his sh%$.

It has been clear that the Clinton campaign has realized that their attempts to present themselves as being progressive are not working.

They have been tacking right for the past few weeks, and this is Bill Clinton trying for another Sistah Soulja moment, wherein he reinforces his position with rich and comfortable white people by sh%$#ing all over black people.

Much like his crime bill and his disastrous welfare reform, when the Clintons are politically threatened, they throw minorities under the bus.

It Ain’t just the Caucuses that are F%$#ed up In Iowa

No Comments

There is a bill being mooted in the Iowa Senate proposing that Stanford University be published because their marching band is too mean.

There is something seriously wrong here, even without the whole “Bill of Attainder” thing:

………

 Stanford’s football team defeated the University of Iowa 45-16 in the game. In addition, the Stanford band, which has a history of irreverent performances, poked fun during the halftime show with a dancing cow, a frowning farmer formation and other tongue-in-cheek gestures that upset some Iowans. ESPN, which televised the game, cut away from the band’s performance. State Sen. Mark Chelgren, R-Ottumwa, told The Des Moines Register at the Iowa Capitol on Wednesday that he introduced Senate File 2081 because he believes Stanford officials have condoned improper behavior by the marching band. “I think it’s unfortunate because here in Iowa we try to teach sportsmanship,” Chelgren said. “We try to teach courtesy, and when someone behaves in a way that is contrary to that, we need to point it out.”

 Good thing we can all ignore Iowa again until the 2018 state fair.

Seriously, what the actual f%$#?

Of Course He Handled Losing Graciously. He’s Gone Bankrupt 3 4 Times. He Knows How to Do This.

No Comments

Donald Trump gave a remarkably magnanimous in acknowledging his 2nd place finish in Iowa:

Donald Trump, who no one thought was a viable candidate for President just 6 short months ago, managed to come in a solid second place in today’s Iowa caucuses. For some, the fact that he didn’t come in first was shocking, for other’s, it was a relief.

Throughout the entire election season thus far, Trump has been the voice of xenophobic hate talk, blathering about building walls, deporting immigrants, ridiculing disabled reporters and offending pretty much everyone except white Americans. The fact that he was poised to come in first in Iowa terrified many. Although, having Tea Party favorite, Ted Cruz, come in first may actually be more terrible in the long run.

Regardless, Trump took his narrow loss with grace and gave a fairly humble and short speech.

It’s almost classy.

Oh, Snap!

No Comments

Roll Tape!

One of the issues that seems to be giving the Bernie Sanders campaign its legs is the perception that Hillary Clinton is too close to the Banksters on Wall Street.

This 2007 video of Hillary Clinton giving a speech before banksters blaming ordinary people for the mortgage crisis is not going to help her campaign:

When Clinton ran for president during her second term as New York’s U.S. Senator, she gave a tepid speech at the NASDAQ headquarters on December 5, 2007 — before the financial crisis reached a boiling point — about reforming Wall Street’s housing loan practices, largely excusing financial criminals for their behavior.

“Now these economic problems are certainly not all Wall Street’s fault – not by a long shot,” Clinton said early in the speech.

Clinton’s NASDAQ address amounted to essentially asking the financiers assembled to take voluntary action or else she would “consider legislation” to stop banks from kicking families out of their homes. But early on in the speech, Clinton placed equal blame for the subprime mortgage crisis on low-income homeowners alongside Wall Street.

“Homebuyers who paid extra fees to avoid documenting their income should have known they were getting in over their heads,” Clinton said.

One YouTube user found video of the statement and put it side-by-side with her claim at the first Democratic debate in which she said she went to Wall Street before the crisis and told them to “cut it out.”

This sort of crap is like death to her campaing, because it plays into her greatest weakness, a perceived lack of authenticity.

She is firmly in the Bob Rubin, Larry Summers, Timothy Geithner,  Barack Obama wing of the Democratic Party.

Trying to pretend that she is more of a populist than Bernie Sanders is laughable.

It Took Long Enough

3 Comments

SpaceX has finally managed to safely land a first stage on their booster:

SpaceX engineers and on-board software maneuvered the first stage of a Falcon 9 launch vehicle back to a steady, tail-down landing at Cape Canaveral Monday, 10 min. after returning the kerosene-fueled rocket to flight following an ascent explosion on a mission to the International Space Station in June.

Success in recovering the stage, after two unsuccessful attempts to land on a barge in the Atlantic, marks a major step toward the long-sought dream of reusable commercial space launchers. While Blue Origin brought its liquid-hydrogen/liquid oxygen New Shepard vehicle back from a suborbital launch to space on Nov. 23, Monday’s SpaceX recovery was the first known landing for an unmanned orbital launcher.

Silicon Valley venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson, an early SpaceX backer, tweeted “Congrats @SpaceX for landing the rocket back on land!!!! Incredible!!! One giant leap!”

The landing at a surplus launch pad on Cape Canaveral AFS, Florida, came in the middle of three significant milestones for commercial spaceflight. For SpaceX, it marked a return to flight for the Falcon 9 launch vehicle that is the linchpin of the company’s business in the near term. For its customer, Orbcomm, it completed launching of a 17-spacecraft low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation of second-generation Machine-to-Machine “OG2” satellites.

Although only a secondary test objective on the Orbcomm-2 mission, landing the Falcon 9 stage at Launch Complex 13 on Cape Canaveral — a surplus Atlas launch site designed “Landing Complex 1” by SpaceX — was a major achievement for the Hawthorne, California-based company.

I am dubious as to the ultimate significance of the reusable stage.

At least some of the potential savings is eaten up by the additional fuel that needs to be carried to fly home, as are any arrangements for a landing site, with its associated blockhouse and firefighting equipment.

We’ll see.

It’s Tough When Your Sick Fantasy is Revealed as a Sick Fantasy

No Comments

I am, of course, referring to the “Good guy with a gun” myth.

Jordan Klepper at The Daily Show looks at the efficacy of that mythical figure in some paint ball scenarios.

It ain’t pretty.

He gets shot by the gunman, shoots innocent students, and finally gets shot by the police.

Way too many of the ammosexuals have this fantasy of finding a bad guy and shooting them.

That crazy woman who unloaded a clip at a bunch of fleeing shoplifters is a classic example: It wasn’t about her trying to help, it was about her seizing an opportunity to go Rambo with her pistol.

Because Comedy Central vids autoplay on some platforms, I have put the video after the break:

Part 1:

Part 2:

That is Going to Leave a Mark………

No Comments

Tervor Noah had a very special guest on The Daily Show last night, Jon Stewart:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been obstructing a bill to pay for the health coverage for the first responders at the Twin Towers because he wants to hold it hostage to a change in oil export policy.

Jon Stewart came out of retirement, and appeared as a guest.

He also went down to Congress to harangue what were clearly uncomfortable Senators and Representatives.

Watch the whole thing, particularly the round table toward the end.

It sucks to be Mitch McConnell on even the best of days, this makes it suck even more.

Because Comedy Central vids autoplay on some platforms, I have put the video after the break

Rats Turning on Each Other

No Comments

Rats

Following the release of dashcam footage of  the shooting of Laquan McDonald, which took a year of court fights, the shooter Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with the first-degree murder.

Now, with the heat rising for various attempts to bury this story for a year,Rahm Emanuel has fired Police superintendent fires Garry McCarthy:

The head of the Chicago Police Department was fired Tuesday amid widespread criticism over how authorities responded to the fatal shooting of a black teenager by a white police officer last year.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) said he formally asked Garry F. McCarthy, the Chicago police superintendent, for his resignation on Tuesday morning, a week after video footage of the shooting was released and the officer was charged with murder.

“He has become an issue, rather than dealing with the issue, and a distraction,” Emanuel said. He added that while he is loyal to McCarthy, whom he praised for his leadership of the department, the needs of the city are more important.

Even as the embattled Emanuel dismissed his police superintendent and made other vows of increased police accountability, announcing a task force to review police oversight, another Illinois official suggested that federal intervention was needed for the Chicago police. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan wrote a letter Tuesday asking the Justice Department to investigate possible civil rights violations by the Chicago Police Department.

Anger has erupted in Chicago since authorities released footage of Jason Van Dyke, a city police officer, shooting Laquan McDonald, a 17-year-old, last year. In the video, Van Dyke is seen firing a volley of shots at McDonald, many of them after the teenager had already fallen to the ground.

What is clear now that the video has been released, is that there has been an aggressive attempt to sweep everyting under the rug.

The arbiter of banal mainstream opinion that is the New York Times editorial board has cut Rahm Emanuel a new asshole:

The cover-up that began 13 months ago when a Chicago police officer executed 17-year-old Laquan McDonald on a busy street might well have included highly ranked officials who ordered subordinates to conceal information. But the conspiracy of concealment exposed last week when the city, under court order, finally released a video of the shooting could also be seen as a kind of autonomic response from a historically corrupt law enforcement agency that is well versed in the art of hiding misconduct, brutality — and even torture.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel demonstrated a willful ignorance when he talked about the murder charges against the police officer who shot Mr. McDonald, seeking to depict the cop as a rogue officer. He showed a complete lack of comprehension on Tuesday when he explained that he had decided to fire his increasingly unpopular police superintendent, Garry McCarthy, not because he failed in his leadership role, but because he had become “a distraction.”

Mr. Emanuel’s announcement that he had appointed a task force that will review the Police Department’s accountability procedures is too little, too late. The fact is, his administration, the Police Department and the prosecutor’s office have lost credibility on this case. Officials must have known what was on that video more than a year ago, and yet they saw no reason to seek a sweeping review of the police procedures until this week.

………

Justice Department officials, however, said on Tuesday that the department did not ask the city to withhold the video from the public because of its investigation. That makes this whole episode look like an attempt by the city, the police and prosecutors to keep the video under wraps, knowing the political problems it would most likely create.

I hope that this is a death knell for Emanuel’s political career, he is a cancer on Democratic Party politics, but the next election is 3 years down the road, and that is a long time in politics.

Lewis Black is a Nation Treasure

No Comments

Completely Not Safe for Work (NSFW)

As you may be aware, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS or Mormons) have decided that the children of gay parents cannot be baptized.

There was just a mass resignation from the Church as a consequence of the policy.

Lewis Black reads a resignation letter from an unnamed former Mormon, and it is both on point and hysterically funny.

Click play, just not at work.