Trump Lawyer Admits to Paying Stormy Daniels, ICE Lawyer Stole Immigrant Identities, Berkeley Becomes Cannabis Sanctuary City: A.M. Links

• 

  Thunder Kick Photos/Splash News/Newscom

  President Trump's special counsel, Michael Cohen, admitted that he paid $130,000 to porn-star Stormy Daniels last fall but said that he used his own money, "neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction," and neither reimbursed him for payment.

• "Federal immigration authorities have specifically targeted prominent and outspoken immigrant rights activists across the country on the basis of their speech and political advocacy," states a new lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), filed by activist Ravi Ragbir.
• Raphael Sanchez, ICE's former chief counsel in Seattle, has been indicted for allegedly stealing immigrant identities.
• A former employee of Vice media is suing the company over an alleged pay disparity in men and women's salaries.
• The city of Berkeley, California, has declared itself a sanctuary city for marijuana use.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

President Trump's special counsel, Michael Cohen, admitted that he paid $130,000 to porn-star Stormy Daniels last fall but said that he used his own money...

I can't imagine what his billing looks like.

[Eek Barba Durkle]

Someone with more imagination than me, help me out -

Is there any reason a lawyer would pay off a porn star HE didn't fuck, with his own money, unless he was ordered to by the person who DID fuck her?

[Fist of Etiquette]

If the client was big enough and it was understood that it was the attorney's duty to insulate the client while cleaning up his messes?

[Adam330]

Here's his statement: "In a private transaction in 2016, I used my own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford. Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly."

So he denies that the Trump Organization or the Trump campaign reimbursed him, but doesn't mention Trump himself.

[Deven]

Hmm, what if the lawyer is the one who actually slept with SD?

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

What if Ivana ordered the payoff? What if Ivana was the fucker?

[Leo Kovalensky]

Now I won't be able to think about anything else for... weeks. Thanks!

[loveconstitution1789]

Best porn eva!

[Ron]

In some parts of the world its not unusual for the wife to pay off the husbands mistress

[Mickey Rat]

Some part of what he said is untrue. The question is: which part?

[SQRLSY One]

See http://reason.com/blog/2016/03.....nt_5994639 ? About Hooker Hulk Hogan? "Hooker Hulk" gets $115 MILLION, v/s "Stormy Daniels" gets only $130 K, for each of them being skanky hos. The MALE skanky ho gets almost THREE orders of magnitude more money!!! How is THAT for sexual equality?!

But what gets my bowels in an uproar even more, is that through the courts and policemen enforcing court orders and/or contracts here in these kinds of cases, Government Almighty is the Pimp Daddy and hit-man enforcer of it all! And then they go and jail $50 and $100 poor hookers, to "protect us from trafficking in sex slaves".

If Government Almighty is going to be the Big Pimp Daddy and hit-man enforcer, for the rich and famous, then could they PLEASE stop being hypocrites, and stop punishing the "little people" for doing the same things!??!

[SQRLSY One]

SIDE-BAND SNIDE COMMENT:

As a socio-economic and sexual-political experiment, I think someone should get Hooker Hulk Hogan to fuck Stormy Daniels. Which of the two would owe how much money, to the other?

MAIN COMMENT:

I think I have figured out WHY does Government Almighty play Big Pimp Daddy to the rich and famous, while punishing the dirt-poor hookers?! When $130 k or $115 million gets thrown around, Government Almighty gets to tax the payment and the lawyers, and grab at least 1/3 of it. Easy-peasy on the big transactions? When a small-time hooker turns a trick "under the table" (a kinky place to do it!), it is MUCH harder to collect! Especially if he or she is paid in smack or crack or Ripple wine?

I am UTTERLY crushed to have fingered out that Government Almighty (which claims to LOVE me and want to PROTECT me from sleezy sex), is actually just wanting to line its own wallet!!!

[Ron]

the timing of when the payment will be made, after Trump has served his term as president

[Griffin3]

When you have a kid in diapers, and something comes squirting out, do you make the kid clean it up? Or do you just sigh, take a deep breath, and wipe it up -- because over all, knowing that overall, the kid is a net benefit?

[Brandybuck]

$130,000 for fake plastic is ridiculous. Definitely sounds like hush money.

[loveconstitution1789]

Because she was trying to blackmail Trump?

Either way. Trump does not portray himself as a husband who doesn't cheat.

Funny, the left is trying to make such a big deal about this. After Bill Clinton and JFK used the White House as their own personal fuck palace, I will not let the lefties win no this issue.

[BYODB]

Personally I'm just confused on why a society that watches shows like Altered Carbon or Game of Thrones gets into a tizzy when grown adults fuck each other. Are we puritans or are we sexually liberated? It seems to depend on the politician for some reason.

[Brandybuck]

Oh if only politics were pay per view, we would be so much better off.

[Tony]

You are such a hypocrite I need a shower.

[loveconstitution1789]

You need to shower because you are a filthy socialist piece of shit.

You probably cannot even stand to look at yourself in the mirror. Or maybe you can. You lefties are lunatics after all.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

"A former employee of Vice media is suing the company over an alleged pay disparity in men and women's salaries."

lol.

[Rhywun]

Lean in, gurl.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The city of Berkeley, California, has declared itself a sanctuary city for marijuana use.

Oh, how delicious. I can't wait to see how quickly they cave.

[Rhywun]

That website is so sh---y I can't get it to load properly long enough to read their f-----g articles.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Kind of a little late to the game on that one.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A former employee of Vice media is suing the company over an alleged pay disparity in men and women's salaries.

Moynihan deserves to make more than those hipster millennial chicks.

[Libertarian]

"Trump lawyer admits to paying Stormy Daniels"

I guess Trump should have paid him to keep his mouth shut too.

[Anomalous]

I would think that Trump wanted Daniels to open her mouth.

[Rich]

Raphael Sanchez, ICE's former chief counsel in Seattle, has been indicted for allegedly stealing immigrant identities.

"You take our jobs, we take your identities."

[Conchfritters]

Raphael Sanchez, ICE's former chief counsel in Seattle, has been indicted for allegedly stealing immigrant identities.

They are the shield that guard the realms of men.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Make America Horny Again tour to hit West Palm later this month.

[$park? leftist poser]

Does that mean you're going to try jerking off left-handed?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Federal immigration authorities have specifically targeted prominent and outspoken immigrant rights activists across the country on the basis of their speech and political advocacy...

The War on Illegals has begun, which activates the Sedition Act.

[John]

If I rob a bank and then brag about it on Facebook, I don't think I can call the police noticing and coming to arrest me punishing me for Sedition. If you are here illegally, making a show of yourself is not a very good idea.

[Rhywun]

Au contraire. Becoming an "activist" makes you "someone who's a credit to this country". So all you have to do with advocate for the rights of other bank robbers.

[BYODB]

I'm just glad that the left has finally admitted that guilt doesn't carry down through generations, so none of the white people today are at all guilty of any of the horrible things that were inflicted upon minorities in the past.

Oh, wait, they're saying that only brown people are immune to genetic guilt? Oh...

[DJF]

"""""Federal immigration authorities have specifically targeted prominent and outspoken immigrant rights activists across the country on the basis of their speech and political advocacy,""""

Or it could be that they are targeted because they are out in public yelling "Hey over here, I am illegal" and so it easier to grab them then to try to find illegals that are hiding.

[Rhywun]

The quote conveniently leaves out that bit of information.

[Tony]

What does it mean "to be illegal" or "to be an illegal"? Why does this phrasing apply only to one specific infraction?

[BYODB]

Go to North Korea and try to get a job and I wager you'll find out, but we treat people way better for the same crime here. In fact, we treat them better than virtually anywhere else on the planet.

[Tony]

That has nothing to do with my question. And why don't you ask any of the people being ripped from their families and deported or put in cages by the Trump regime how nicely we treat undocumented immigrants.

[BYODB]

Notably, the people who caused their family to get ripped apart are the one's who chose, of their own free will, to break the law of a foreign nation by entering illegally. Also, if they choose to leave their kid in foster care in America rather than take them with them, it could easily be said they abandoned their kid. For a better life, perhaps, and for altruistic reasons maybe but they made a choice.

Pretending they don't have agency is just about par for the course for the left.

[Azathoth!!]

What does it mean "to be illegal" or "to be an illegal"? Why does this phrasing apply only to one specific infraction?

It's short for "crossing the border without the okay of the nation one is currently in as well as residing and/or working in said nation outside the labor laws that bind the citizenry"

And it only applies to this infraction because the infraction is a state of being. Another, just as valid term, would be 'trespasser' or 'invader'. 'Alien' is also sometimes used.

It refers to a person who has done something that has made their subsequent existence a criminal act.

[Rich]

One injured in shooting at Fort Meade, SUV stopped at security gate

The FBI tweeted it "is aware of the incident at Fort Meade" and is sending personnel to the scene.

With all due respect, WTF is it with this tweeting?

[Bacon-Magic glib reasonoid]

He talks to his boss that way too...the best way to be heard in DC now.

[Domestic Dissident]

It's probably John Brennan, James Clapper, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, or one of the other members of Negro Nixon's gang of plumbers who knows they're royally fucked now.

[$park? leftist poser]

You are so stupid it's ridiculous.

[Domestic Dissident]

Do the world a favor and go bum-rush a federal security gate like your buddies, retard.

[loveconstitution1789]

They are burning files and servers as the story develops.

The Deep state fucked up and got caught.

[Conchfritters]

Vice used to be OK, some Juggalo articles were entertaining, but in the last couple years the whole site has pretty much sucked. They tried too hard to be woke, so the sexual harassment and gender pay disparity shit are pretty fucking hilarious in my opinion.

[John]

It is almost like people latch onto political ideology as a rationalization for their own private depravity. Who knew?

[Rhywun]

As awful as this reads, watching the mayor speak about this stuff is even more naseating.

appointing a commission to propose a plan to fund local election campaigns mostly with public money

You know who else was always proposing commissions aimed at boosting their own power base?

[Mickey Rat]

You should feel good about being made to pay for the privilege of which politician gets to metaphorically grope you.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

According to an indictment filed this week, ICE's top attorney in its Seattle office allegedly devised a plan to steal the identities of seven immigrants over a four-year period while their cases were being processed by the federal immigration agency.

The lawyer, Raphael A. Sanchez, faces one count of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Only one count for seven ID thefts?

[This Machine Chips Fascists]

Piling on charges wouldn't be professionally courteous.

[John]

http://thehill.com/homenews/me.....with-trump

Media forfeiting credibility in war with Trump. I don't think there is any way they can get it back. The thing that explains so much of the media and Washington's behavior regarding Trump is that no one thought he was going to win. They never thought they would ever have to live the counterfactual of Trump being President and actually have to answer for whatever predictions they made. Moreover, the crazier and more extreme their criticisms of Trump and predictions about the dangers of him being President, the more important they could feel when Trump inevitably lost. So, the more extreme the prediction about a Trump presidency, the bigger danger they could later claim to have saved nation. So the whole thing became an orgy of virtue signaling and insanity as the entire media and establishment convinced themselves that Trump was a Nazi, a white supremacist, an unbalanced lunatic who was going to start a nuclear war over a bad tweet and so forth.

[John]

The problem with that is that Trump won. And when you are wrong about a reasonable prediction or criticism, you can later admit you are wrong and still look reasonable. If, however, you are wrong about a lunatic prediction, you can't admit you were wrong without admitting you are a lunatic. If the media had made reasonable criticisms of Trump; that he was a phony and didn't mean what he said, that he was a political neophyte who would never accomplish anything as President, that his policies were wrong-headed and so forth, they could now still make those criticisms and also walk back on a few of them without looking like lunatics. They didn't do that. And here we are a year into his being President, and whatever you think of him as President, he is not a Nazi, there seems to be no more danger of a nuclear war than there ever is and Trump is even if you don't like him just a rather unconventional President. He may be wrong in your view but he is as they say "wrong within the normal parameters of wrong."

[John]

The media cannot admit this reality no matter how obvious because to do so means answering for the over two years now of lunatic things they have been saying. Reasonable people don't think Presidents are going to start nuclear wars over tweets or are the dark night of fascism because they think we need to do something about illegal immigration. Lunatics think that. So, the media's choices are to continue to deny reality as more and more of the public looks around and wonders what the hell all the screaming was about or accept reality and admit they were basically lunatics for two years. Neither option will restore their credibility.

[Kivlor]

there seems to be no more danger of a nuclear war than there ever is

I'm not completely convinced of this. But I also wouldn't put the blame on Trump for the increased danger that I perceive. I think there's an actual small chance for a war on the Korean peninsula, whereas 2 years ago I'd have said there's a zero percent chance of such. But I attribute that chance to the discovery of the largest known deposit of rare earth minerals on the planet in North Korea.

Just like I wouldn't count out US intervention in Venezuela now that they've dropped pricing oil in dollars and switched to the Yuan. I expect that if this doesn't change then we will intervene, either directly or covertly.

[John]

Sadly, we may have a nuclear war, but if we do it won't be because TRUMP.

[loveconstitution1789]

Yup. North Korea has to be dealt with soon and that might involve a nuke being used by one side or the other.

Of course, the media would never blame the numerous presidents starting with Truman for kicking the Korean War can down the road.

[Kivlor]

I seriously disagree with the "North Korea has to be dealt with soon" line of thinking. But I'm an isolationist at heart.

The question of the Korean Peninsula has zero good answers. Suppose the state quietly for 3 years prepared a sneak attack, and launched the best waged war imaginable at the start of the next Administration. How does anyone think this is going to end?

[loveconstitution1789]

I am a NAP person but am fine with pre-emptive attacks where there is a capable threat of violence by the other party.

I blame every president who kicked the can but like you say, there are no good solutions. China resolving for the USA would be the least violent because the seizure would be so fast. Kind of like the USSR sweeping over the Japanese army in Manchuria in 1945.

The problem is what China would do with NK after it killed Fat Boy-Un.

Sadly, it will be the USA in war with NK and putting pressure on China not to get involved. War with China would mean that we could void all debt with them but it would be messy too.

[Kivlor]

No, it won't be Trump's fault. It very well may happen under his watch.

There was a lot of stuff I hated about Obama, but I really never criticized his handling of NK because there just are not any good answers to it. What are we going to do, invade a nuclear power? If we do, it's going to result in the largest loss of life since WWII. If we don't, we really have no clue of what they'll do going forward.

[John]

The problem is that it is one thing to ignore them when they are threatening Japan and South Korea. It is quite another thing when they start launching missiles that can reach the US. I do not think any President of either party would tolerate North Korea threatening the US with nuclear weapons. Obama got lucky because the problem only started coming to a head after he left office.

[Kivlor]

I don't see a good way to handle this. Really, in my mind there are few options from a meta-game perspective. We can wait and see, or we can strike first, or we can wrench the arm of the Chinese and try to get them to do it for us.

No one knows what happens if we wait, but if we do, and the Norks hit the US with a nuke, or even attempt it, that would be worse than attacking. Striking first would require a build-up period, and a lot of coordination, and complete secrecy for it to limit the number of South Korean casualties. I don't think we could manage it, honestly. Getting the Chinese to do our dirty work on the other hand has the value of damaging the obvious Great Power rising to take our place, while eliminating a pest.

[John]

The only way to handle it is to convince China we are no longer kidding around and their choices are help force either a regime change or the North Koreans giving up their nukes. A war in Korea is not in China's best interests. It would cost them a fortune in lost trade with South Korea and would risk them getting into a general war in Asia when they are still unable to win one.

No one wants a united Korea. The Koreans don't want it because dealing with the wreck that is North Korea would cost them dearly. China doesn't want it because a united Korea creates a pathway for a land invasion by the Koreans or Japanese like happened in the 1930s. Japan doesn't want it because a united Korea could potentially fall into China's orbit and be a dagger pointed at the Japanese mainland.

[John]

China has spent decades using North Korea as not just a buffer against the US And Japan but as a means of causing mischief and problems for the US and its allies. North Korea's usefulness to China has ended, however. All North Korea is accomplishing now is creating the possibility of a war China doesn't want and driving South Korea, Japan and the US closer together and further away from Chinese interests. I think things have gotten so bad in North Korea that even China can't control it like it once did. So, we are going to have to give China a reason to face the problem and work with us and our allies to denuclearize Korea. They can keep North Korea as a buffer state. Everyone wants that. They just can't have it as a nuclear state threatening the US.

[loveconstitution1789]

Sadly, war North Korea and the USA is probably inevitable without China stepping in and resolving it for the USA.

South Korea will be partially wrecked but they recovered from the Korean War in the 1950s.

North Korea has threatened to nuke the USA but they just don't have the capability...yet. I support pre-emptive destruction of North Korea before they can make good on their threats to nuke the USA.

[damikesc]

We could simply, you know, not refine Venezuela's oil. We are the only ones who CAN do it. We should've stopped a while ago.

[Kivlor]

Pretty much ALL oil is priced in USD. Every time a nation says they aren't going to do it anymore, we invade them and topple the government, making sure that the new one switches back to USD. Oil is the resource on which all economies run.

By forcing everyone to buy dollars to purchase oil we make the dollar strong internationally and we reap many benefits from it. Also, by forcing everyone to buy dollars to make their economy run we have created a situation of trillions of USD sitting outside of the US, being traded regularly. If oil stops being traded on USD, then those dollars are going to come home. Which very likely means hyperinflation.

The State can't afford to sit around and let upstarts like Venezuela, Libya and Iraq try to throw a wrench in the system. Simply refusing to refine or purchase the oil in Venezuela would encourage nations like China to develop the infrastructure to do it in our place, and that would weaken our control over the market.

[John]

I am not sure I buy that argument. Dollars are just a measure of value. If tomorrow the value of the dollar dropped, US exports would become very competitive. Also, an economy the size of the US's economy creates its own economic weather. The vast majority of trade that occurs in the US economy is internal. Only about 27% of the US economy is foreign trade. In the 1960s it was 3%. So it is a lot bigger than it used to be but it is still less than a third and some of that is export driven trade that would be helped by a crashing US dollar.

The other thing to consider is that our trading partners would have no interest in the US dollar crashing. Countries have long tried to manipulate their currencies to be artificially low to support their export industries only to see their trading partners rebel and either counteract the nation's manipulation or use the threat of sanctions to get them to stop. No one wants to live in a world where the largest economy in the world's exports are artificially cheap and imports to it are artificially expensive.

So color me skeptical about the possibility of the US dollar ever crashing without the US economy crashing in 1929 proportions first.

[Kivlor]

I am merely positing that the end of the USD as the pricing measure of oil would cause this. I don't think it will happen, because we won't let it go there.

I also think the days of oil as the primary resource of the modern economy are numbered. As green energies actually become truly competitive in the next 2-3 decades, oil will be less important, and it is likely to be rare earth minerals which are absolutely necessary for modern electronics.

The state realizes this, and I would argue that is why we immediately recommitted to Afghanistan once we discovered one of the largest deposits in the world there. I think this is going to play into the North Korea situation as well, and we are going to have an interest in toppling the regime not only for defense purposes, but to put those resources in the hands of a more friendly state.

[Kivlor]

Also, I want to reemphasize that although oil will not be the resource that all economies run on in the future, it will still be very important as a lubricant and a source of plastics.

[John]

Ultimately, any economy runs on energy. You have to have access to cheap energy or you are not going to go very far. Things like solar and wind are limited by the laws of physics. The amount of energy contained in a lump of coal, a gallon of gasoline or cubic foot of natural gas or a pound of uranium is enormous. There is just no way solar and such is ever going to be able to compete with that.

Beyond that, oil is necessary for a lot of things besides as energy. It is the petro chemical industry. The big shift that is happening now and will have enormous consequences for the next century is not green energy but fracking. The US no longer being an energy importer and its economy no longer being so vulnerable to price shocks in oil and natural gas changes its own and the world's strategic calculations in ways that we can only begin to comprehend.

[BYODB]

True, but China is on the other side of the planet from Venezuela so if they want to ship oil over there to refine it, it's going to cost them a lot more than if they sent it here. You can't transmit oil over the internet yet.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

They don't care about you. They've long since dropped the cloak of impartiality and are just cheerleaders now, and they know they are on the right side, the popular side, the once and future politically correct side.

[John]

Yes, they are. But it doesn't do any good to be a cheerleader if no one listens to or believes your cheers. So, their losing all of whatever remained of their credibility is not a good thing from their perspective. But they did it to themselves. No one made them go insane and refuse to even try to hedge their bets a bit on Trump. But they did and now are facing the consequences.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

The steadily growing perception that the Democratic party is actually the political arm of the media, rather than the media being the PR arm of the Democratic party, is contributing to this more than anything else. It's been this way for a long time, Trump becoming President just brought it out in the open.

[John]

That is an interesting way to put it. And it is not wrong. It is just another way of describing how the gentry left now own the Democratic Party. The media is kind of the national spokespeople for the gentry left.

[Number 2]

What makes you think they really are unhappy that Trump won? The New York Times, Washington Post, NBC, CNN and MSNBC are reaping a financial bonanza from the Trump presidency. And they need no longer focus on messy things like policy issues; all the need to do is cover Trump's theatrics, express outrage, and increasingly respond in kind.

On the Sunday after the false report of a ballistic missile attack on Hawaii, the lead story on NBC's Weekend Today, complete with a live reporter on the White House lawn, was that Trump had not yet tweeted about the incident. Seriously.

Trump may not be the President America wants. But he is the President America deserves.

[John]

I don't know that they are happy or unhappy. What I do know is that they didn't think Trump would win and as a result felt no restraint about making crazy predictions about the dangers of him being President. And now that he has won and they have to answer for those predictions, they are unlikely to ever get their credibility back.

[loveconstitution1789]

I would say they are unhappy but will take the financial benefits.

Unhappy because Trump is actually rolling back decades of their work to make America more socialist and Trump's maneuvers are setting up decades of holding the line against socialist incrementalism again. Especially, when trump gets to appoint a new justice when RBG dies and Kennedy retires or croaks. The left will freak out when this happens.

[Robespierre Josef Stalin Pot]

Yeah, John, and you were the first person I thought of when it came to reasonable discourse over Obama, who-- let's see-- was a radical socialist (if only!) who hated America and White people and sold out Americans in Libya because he had a secret sympathy for ISIS.

Don't put words in my mouth, John. I don't think Trump is a Nazi or a White supremacist or a lunatic. He is a serial liar and a sexual predator who plays for the votes of Nazis and White Supremacists by invoking racist rhetoric. Big difference, I know. People that call him a Nazi should be ashamed because the only thing Trump does is play Nazis for suckers. You got the media's number, John. It's 867-5309.

[John]

I never said Obama hated the country. I said he was a bad President. I defended Obama on several things, including his decision to pull out of Iraq. And many of the criticisms of Obama, like his use of drones and detention polcies were equally valid against Bush.

I also never said he sold out the country on Libya because he liked Isis. I said he fought a half assed war in Libya should have never been fought and when it was fought was fought poorly.

Have fun arguing with the voices in your head. I am sure there are a lot of them and the arguments frequent and passionate. But, the rest of us live in reality and can only argue against points that are actually made. So why don't you run along now and either take your meds or enjoy the arguments and let the adults talk for a while.

[Robespierre Josef Stalin Pot]

The leading article on CNN today is that Trump paid off a porn star. I didn't see anything about him being a Nazi. A liar who cheated on his pregnant wife, yes. Nazi, no.

[John]

And I give a shit about who he has sex with and who he pays off as a result about as much as I give a shit about your delusions that he is a Nazi or the people who cared that Obama's father was Kenyan. We had this argument in the 1990s and the side that said no one gives a shit who the President screws won. Whatever you think of that result, that was the result and those are the rules now.

CNN now claiming that this sort of thing matters in light of what happened with Bill Clinton is just another example of why no one gives a shit what they have to say anymore.

[loveconstitution1789]

People not really listening to the media's opinions is driving the lefties crazy.

How can propaganda work if you tune them out?

[Tony]

So by your reasoning, nobody would have cared if Obama fucked around on the side?

Give me a break. It's not like the right's monumental multi-tiered hypocrisy in supporting Trump is some big secret they're managing to hide.

[BYODB]

Why wouldn't it have been ok if Obama did it? The previous Democrat in office before him did, and all that happened was that he lost his law license.

[Tony]

I'm suggesting that just maybe the Republicans wouldn't have let it pass.

[BYODB]

And what could Republicans have done about it, since notably they were absolutely unable to do anything about it in other identical circumstances?

[loveconstitution1789]

Assumptions Tony. Assumptions.

[Eidde]

"The city of Berkeley, California, has declared itself a sanctuary city for marijuana use."

In other news, dog bites man, water still wet, and the President said something which offended somebody.

[Libertymike]

Today's Black History Month Outrage:

Reason has failed, perhaps deliberately, to note that Frederick Douglass was born on this day in 1818. February 14th should, above all, including Valentine's day, the Valentine's day massacre, be about commemorating the birth of Frederick Douglass.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Oh yeah? Last I read the day off Douglass birth was unknown. Did something change recently? Real question.

[Libertymike]

Well, today, when I woke, I remembered that his birth was on February 14th, 1818.

I just googled "birthdate of Frederick Douglass" and the very first entry indicates that he was born on February 14th, 1818.

Of course, his birthday may not be today as he was born as a slave and slaveholders did not necessarily keep accurate records with regard such matters.

I do not proclaim to be a Douglass scholar. You, OTOH, may be and could know a lot more about him than me.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Nope, not a Douglas scholar in the least. Though after a little looking around it seems that Douglas did, in fact, choose the 14th to celebrate his birthday. His actual day of birth was unknown, and so he made the decision to celebrate it today. So, that's where the confusion lay.

[Libertarian]

Ironclad proof that FD is a complex, heroic, freedom lover, and not just an ex-slave that Lefties lay claim to: today's google doodle isn't about him.

[Brandybuck]

""The city of Berkeley, California, has declared itself a sanctuary city for marijuana use.""

Oh yeah, sure. Wait until AFTER it's legalized. Brave Berkeley, brave!

[Robespierre Josef Stalin Pot]

Today in 1945 was the first day of the fire bombing of Dresden. Love is in the air.

[loveconstitution1789]

If you look hard enough, you will find Stalin had at least hundreds today but probably thousands killed today back in 1945.

[Don't look at me.]

Mao Zedong, founder of the People's Republic of China, qualifies as the greatest mass murderer in world history, killing est. 45 million in 4 years.

[BestUsedCarSales]

A tragic moment in the history of the world.

[Rebel Scum]

"Federal immigration authorities have specifically targeted prominent and outspoken immigrant rights activists

Are these "activists" also "illegal aliens"?

[Rebel Scum]

A former employee of Vice media is suing the company over an alleged pay disparity in men and women's salaries.

Even proggies don't provide equal pay.

[damikesc]

"Federal immigration authorities have specifically targeted prominent and outspoken immigrant rights activists across the country on the basis of their speech and political advocacy," states a new lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), filed by activist Ravi Ragbir.

Better headline: Confessions to crime lead to criminal prosecution.

If you're here illegally, perhaps making it quite public is an exceptionally stupid idea, you fucking moron.

[BestUsedCarSales]

To celebrate this Ash Wednesday time to complain about the Church.

The Catholic church risks damaging its moral authority and plunging its followers into confusion if the Vatican presses ahead with an with the Chinese government, a group of influential Catholics has warned.

This is bullshit. I understand the urge to try to enter into China, but they are doing so at the cost of bowing down the Chinese Communist party. This is a major moral misstep. They even have agreed to remove two priests who were functioning underground, actual priests not ones appointed and created by the Chinese government, and replace them with Chinese approved priests.

The Bishop of Hong Kong has personally asked Pope Francis to please not do this. And I have to agree. They cannot enter into communion with the Communist party of China. I really hope this either falls apart or that I'm deeply misunderstanding the actions at play here.

[John]

The Pope is a commie. He likely agrees with the Chinese view of things.

[Kivlor]

I mentioned this in another thread, but I know a lot of traditional Catholics who are becoming quite convinced that the current Pope is a heretic and is damaging the Church.

[BYODB]

None of my Catholic friends like the current Pope. As a matter of fact, all the them that I've spoken to on the issue hate him. Anecdotal evidence from a minority-catholic nation, admittedly, so that's not really proof of much other than American Catholics may feel differently about the current Pope than, say, Spanish Catholics.

[BYODB]

Wow, yeah. If the Pope thinks that's a good idea just wait until we get a repeat of the Western Great Schism. If China decides to elect their own Pope, what is Francis going to do about it? Abdicate?

[BestUsedCarSales]

I'm most bothered by the treatment of the actual bishops at the cost of this. Removing the two bishops who had been working underground, and under surveillance from a government that is no stranger to torturing dissidents to death. To agree to turn them away after what they've been doing is such a slap in the face. A slap in the face to people showing real bravery in the pursuit of the Church's work.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

This is bullshit. I understand the urge to try to enter into China, but they are doing so at the cost of bowing down the Chinese Communist party. This is a major moral misstep.

Why? Doesn't The Pope continuously release "encyclicals" which rail against capitalism and western values?

[BestUsedCarSales]

Yes, and I disagree with the Pope on that as well. One is allowed to do that.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

A former employee of Vice media is suing the company over an alleged pay disparity in men and women's salaries.

Live by it, get sued by it.