Paul on Urban Protests: 'We Need to Understand Where It's Coming From'

He'd taken heat for a dark joke about the civil unrest in Baltimore. He'd generally stayed quiet on the topic, to the surprise of civil libertarians. On Monday, finally, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul used a campaign rally in Michigan to expand his remarks.

"You wonder why people are unhappy in our cities?" he asked an audience in Grand Rapids. "Some aren't doing it right. Some are protesting violently, and there's no excuse for violence, but the thing is, there is an unhappiness. Those of us who don't live in poverty, we need to understand where it's coming from."

Paul's plea for understanding was reminiscent of what he'd said for years, before a radio interview with Laura Ingraham led to accusations of glibness. “I came through the train on Baltimore last night,” Paul had said. “I’m glad the train didn’t stop." By week's end, campaign advisers were assuring reporters and allies that the senator did not mean to minimize what had happened to Freddie Gray, or why citizens had broken curfews to protest.

The old Paul made a triumphant, libertarian return to Grand Rapids. Most of his remarks focused on civil and police issues, from urban unrest to the National Security Agency to civil forfeiture. "I want us to be the party of the entire Bill of Rights," Paul said. "That means the Fifth Amendment and Sixth Amendment as well." He invoked the 1996 story of Richard Jewell, a security guard whose reputation was shredded–on false pretenses–after he located bombs aimed at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

"Think if Richard Jewell had been a black man in the South in the 1920s," said Paul. "White kids do drugs as much as black kids do them, but everybody in prison is black or brown."

...

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-05-04/paul-on-urban-protests-we-need-to-understand-where-it-s-coming-from-

Clinton agrees to testify on Benghazi, emails this month

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton has agreed to testify on Capitol Hill later this month about the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, and about her email practices.

Her lawyer David Kendall wrote to lawmakers Monday telling them she would agree to the request from a special panel investigating the September 2012 attacks that killed four Americans.

But Kendall said Clinton would testify only for one session. The committee chairman, GOP Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, had requested that she appear twice, for a hearing on Clinton's use of private emails and for a separate session on Benghazi.

Kendall said Clinton would answer all lawmakers' questions during one session and it would not be necessary for her to appear twice.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150504/us-congress-benghazi--21c1701055.html

See how this goes? She's telling the House Select Committee's Chairman when and how long she'll testify for when it should be him subpoenaing her about what is expected of her. More indication of how big of a hot shot she thinks she is and primarily why she'd make a terrible president. She'll just bs her way through this session and it will be meaningless, this is how investigations take place in Congress these and they can even get away with outright lying like the NSA chief did last year.

I don't disagree w/ your sentiment that a moral people are needed to have the kind of government we're supposed to have but many of the Founders were deists and thus used the terminology of ''The Creator" rather than God. This is how they spelled out natural law in the founding documents, specifically the Declaration of Independence.

No doubt, people have to have blinders on or not paying attention to see what she's been up to and how she'll continue to proceed if elected. All major policies are the same when it comes to the establishment types like her, Bush and the entire neocon ilk.

That's foolish talk coming from a senior member around here. Bitcoin is the tool to use to bypass all those a-holes.

I'm unclear about what's going on now. Does the new campaign roll over existing members or does everyone have to reapply? I'd think veteran posters would be grandfathered in, hope so anyway.

Justin Amash endorses Rand Paul for president, a "once-in-a-generation sort of candidate"

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) endorsed Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) for president Monday.

The endorsement from Amash, who was an ally of Paul's father, Ron, was no surprise. Amash and Paul come from the same playbook: libertarian-leaning members of Congress who relish in being a thorn in the side of the establishment, are privacy advocates and are willing to lob bombs at their opponents.

"Rand Paul is a once-in-a generation sort of candidate," Amash said at the Kent County Republican Party headquarters here, where he appeared with Paul. Amash praised Paul's calls for a balanced budget and to stop government surveillance of phones and computers, and his attempts to broaden the Republican Party by courting young people and minorities.

"Rand Paul is the most electable candidate for president that we have," Amash said. "He's the one person who can unite our party and also bring new people into the party."

Amash joins former congressman J.C. Watts, who introduced Paul at his campaign launch last month.

...

More...http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/05/04/justin-amash-endorses-rand-paul-for-president/

2016 hopefuls may skip Nevada caucus because it's "rigged" for Rand Paul

Several likely GOP presidential campaigns are threatening to skip the Nevada GOP caucus because they fear it’s rigged for a Rand Paul win, said Republican insiders concerned the Silver State could lose its clout as one of four early voting states.

As a result, some campaigns are pressing behind the scenes for the Legislature to drop caucuses run by the political parties in favor of a government-staged state primary in February.

“A number of presidential campaigns are waiting to see what happens in the Legislature before deciding whether to engage in Nevada or not,” said a top GOP operative. “There is real concern that the state party will either be incompetent — or use incompetence as an excuse to rig it for Rand Paul.

More bullcrap...http://www.reviewjournal.com/politics/gop-presidential-hopefuls-might-skip-nevada-s-caucus

This is just a small taste of the kind of garbage that will be on display going forward. It's how they try running a narrative in advance to prevent a true opposition candidate from gaining momentum and getting positive electoral news coverage. Stay tuned

Yeah, I can almost guarantee that kwuk's account was sold and repurchased quite a while ago. Pretty sure I've had this one on ignore for over 6 months now, just didn't seem normal for an old account to post such bullcrap.

I've advised folks to stop laboring away and going paragraph to paragraph w/ this guy, it's a dead end after all this time. He's dug in his heels so deep that he has to keep up the ostrich routine because his ego is too aged and set in stone. Ya can't teach this dog a new trick.

I'm slightly getting bored of ''this is gentlemen'' since it's been a bad omen the last year and a half. Going forward, I propose we start going for, "This is Aristocratic?"

There could be a mini or so drop on btc-e while we're at 239+ atm. The point is to realize what will happen next and what trend it will take. UP or Down? Later in the day is when action takes place from what I've seen lately so go figure...

If the reversal of Bitcoin is on the soon trip then the litecoin boom is coming faster than you can imagine. But, anything can happen.

Higher intelligence comes when it was thought extinct. I'm hoping that Ms was just messing around tho I doubt it.

People in Britain are less happy than those in Australia, New Zealand or the US, but more contented than their peers in Germany, France and Spain, the 2015 World Happiness Report has found.

According to the new study, which examined factors including economics, psychology, health and public policy in 158 countries, Switzerland is officially the happiest country on Earth, followed by Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Canada.

Britain lagged behind in 21st place, up one place from last year’s survey. New Zealand at No 9, Australia 10, the United States 15, Germany 26, France 29, and Spain at 36.

First published in 2012, the World Happiness Report is an initiative of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Solutions Network, which ranks countries in terms of their population’s wellbeing and reflects the recent global interest in happiness as criteria for informing government policy.

More...http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/switzerland-officially-the-happiest-country-on-earth--with-britain-lagging-in-21st-place-10221591.html

Yeah, the best for the ultimate failure of the US. The only candidate that can right the US ship, if that's even possible aka reduce debt, is Rand Paul. Hillary is a top notch warmonger in the field of Dick Cheney. She, as a Senator, was all for the Iraq war and all of the above. Then as SOS, started the fling in LIbya which created more instability and sent weapons to IS and we've all seen what has happened in Iraq and Syria because of that.

Hollywood bundlers are losing the spotlight 4 HRC or are they?

...
To be sure, a bevy of the usual suspects are busy on both coasts raising thousands of $2,700 contributions — the maximum that any single donor can give to a candidate’s primary campaign committee. That’s the price tag at two Hollywood events slated for Clinton on May 7, a luncheon at the home of TV producer Steven Bochco and his wife, Dayna, and a dinner at the home of Power Rangers magnate Haim Saban and his wife, Cheryl.

The Sabans, in particular, are longtime Clinton friends and supporters, who have been raising and giving money to both Bill and Hillary Clinton for 20 years.

Meantime, Andy Spahn, the longtime political adviser to such entertainment industry titans as David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg, is doing the same thing: Focusing on the first round of hard-money donors and raising money for Clinton through social media appeals.
“It’s back to the future,” said one major Los Angeles Democratic donor and party activist. “Andy Spahn, like a good soldier, is bundling, bundling, bundling.”

At least one top Hollywood fundraiser quarreled with the notion that longtime donors are feeling left out or disempowered. In the 1990s, before the 2002 McCain-Feingold law’s ban on soft money, the national party committees could raise large amounts from individual donors to pay for “issue ads” promoting candidates, effectively in full coordination with their campaigns.
...

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/hollywood-bundlers-are-losing-the-spotlight-117565.html#ixzz3Z8KnG3Cv

U.S. Split Along Racial Lines on Backlash Against Police, Poll Finds

Americans are bracing for a summer of racial disturbances around the country, such as those that have wracked Baltimore, with African Americans and whites deeply divided about why the urban violence has occurred, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll has found.

A resounding 96% of adults surveyed said it was likely there would be additional racial disturbances this summer, a signal that Americans believe Baltimore’s recent problems aren’t a local phenomenon but instead are symptomatic of broader national problems.

When asked to explain recent events in Baltimore and other cities that have seen confrontations between police and members of the African-American community, blacks and whites viewed the situation differently.

Asked to choose between two possible explanations for recent events, 60% of blacks said they reflected “long-standing frustrations about police mistreatment of African Americans.” Some 27% of black respondents said the disturbances were caused by people who used protests over an African American man dying in police custody  “as an excused to engage in looting and violence.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/05/03/u-s-split-along-racial-lines-on-backlash-against-police-poll-finds/

Baltimore protesters celebrate, defy curfew after officers charged

Baltimore (AFP) - Protesters in Baltimore erupted in celebration and hundreds of people broke the city's curfew, a day after six police officers were charged over the death of an African-American man in their custody.

The death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray had sparked rioting and days of protests in the US East Coast port city over alleged police racism and brutality.

But the mood on the streets was drastically different on Saturday, with people singing and dancing as they cheered the charges including second-degree murder and manslaughter laid against the six police officers -- three of them black.

More...http://news.yahoo.com/thousands-hold-street-party-baltimore-officers-charged-021024806.html

Hillary Clinton Won’t Support Legal Weed Any Time Soon, But She Should

...
But it seems that Clinton diverges from Millennials on an issue we are repeatedly associated with: marijuana legalization.

Clinton is not necessarily opposed to pot legalization but, as Vox notes, her stance is very similar to that of President Obama and many other politicians.

It’s evident she doesn’t see legalization as a pressing issue, and she would rather leave it up to each individual state. She’s also argued she doesn’t believe research surrounding the benefits of medicinal marijuana is conclusive.

But at present, polls show a majority of Americans, especially Democrats, support the legalization of marijuana.

Even within this majority, Millennials stick out in terms of their pro-pot stance.

More...http://elitedaily.com/news/politics/hillary-clinton-wont-support-legal-weed-time-soon/999113/