[TheZookie007]

Yes, it is easier for people like Jack Kingston to claim that there is no way that these soon-to-be young adults could be so eloquent all on their own, or be more mature about the situation than the supposed adults are. They claim they're "crisis actors", they claim they're "being coached by the Democrats", they claim that George Soros is sponsoring them, etc.

All easier to claim than to just admit that the fetishization of guns only puts money into the coffers of the gun manufacturers, their chief lobbyists in the NRA, and the politicians that have been mesmerized by all that money flowing into their campaigns no thanks to the "Citizens United" ruling.

Their values are so grotesque that their leader Wayne LaPierre is out here saying this is all the Democrats' fault and that they are spreading "a socialist agenda" and "As usual, the opportunists waited not one second to exploit tragedy for political gain,” somehow forgetting that this tragedy would have been much harder to occur in the first place if not for him and others like him bribing politicians to make sure that they don't close loopholes that allow people to travel across state lines to purchase guns.   

Their values are so corrupted that when the Parkland students went up to the state legislature building in Tallahassee, the Florida state legislature declined to vote on gun control measures but instead voted to declare that pornography was a public health crisis. WTF.

[andrat2000]

Didn't Trumpelstilsken before election tell that he wants to listen to the people, told them he hears them and give them a voice?

Why the fuck does someone then need to write this down for him if it was key in his campaign? Something he promised or has he already forgotten his promise?
Is it possible he was lying to his voters about this all the time? That they were dumb enough to fall for his lies for his big show time? My answer would be: Hell yes, his voters are idiots!

[TheZookie007]

That's the first picture I've seen of the notes that show all five "remember what to talk about" points.

What kind of human being needs to be reminded of how to be empathetic? Oh, that's right: one who has no milk of human kindness whatsoever.

Also, if that photo isn't altered in any way, I guess it IS true about him having small hands.

[TheZookie007]

This just in:

"A major car rental conglomerate which operates three prominent national brands is ending its corporate relationship with the National Rifle Association, as backlash grows in the wake of the Parkland mass shooting.

Until Thursday, Enterprise Holdings, which operates Enterprise, Alamo, and National, had a partnership with the NRA to provide discounts to members of the gun lobby. The discounts were available to NRA members once they paid the $40 annual fee, and the companies were among the 22 corporations offering discounts and 'five star savings' to the gun lobby’s members.

On Thursday, however, all three brands announced that they would be ending the program on March 26.

The announcement follows close on the heels of First National Bank of Omaha’s decision to end its relationship with the NRA. For more than a decade the bank has offered NRA members specially branded Visa credit cards, but in a tweet Thursday the bank said that 'customer feedback has caused us to review our relationship with the NRA.'"

[TheZookie007]

Also just in:

ABC News: "Former Trump aide Richard Gates tells loved ones of plans to plead guilty, cooperate with special counsel"

Vanity Fair: "Mueller Tightens the Noose, and Breaks Rick Gates"
Hours after Mueller brought new charges, Manafort’s business partner is pleading guilty—and likely turning state’s evidence.

"Less than 24 hours after Robert Mueller filed a new 32-count indictment against Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates, Gates is expected to plead guilty. Two sources familiar with Gates’s plight told The New York Times that the former Trump campaign aide could enter his plea as soon as Friday afternoon, indicating that he will join Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos in turning state’s evidence in exchange for leniency.

The breaking of Rick Gates represents a dramatic escalation of Mueller’s probe into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. While the White House previously said it was unconcerned by the possibility that Gates would sing, the former campaign official was present at several critical junctures of the Trump-Russia affair. As deputy campaign chairman, Gates was on board during Don Jr.’s Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer, as well as for the campaign surrogates’ meeting with Russian officials during the Republican National Convention, when the decision was made to change the language in the official Republican platform to make it more sympathetic to Russian interests. And he remained on the Trump team throughout the transition period, when Jared Kushner and other campaign officials made contact with Russians, including Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and Vnesheconombank Chairman Sergey Gorkov.

While he previously pleaded not guilty, yesterday’s indictment raised the stakes for Gates, who was reportedly struggling to pay his legal bills and concerned about the effect a drawn-out court battle would have on his family. In the new charges, Mueller accused Manafort and Gates of orchestrating a decade-long money-laundering scheme in which they allegedly lied on their income tax returns and committed bank fraud to secure loans. While they did not directly involve the Trump campaign, the fresh charges indicated that Mueller was ratcheting up the pressure on both Manafort and Gates to cooperate with the F.B.I. in the ongoing investigation—an effort that clearly paid off. Both former campaign aides faced de facto life sentences for the charges, according to Patrick Cotter, a former federal prosecutor in Chicago. “This is pretty raw criminality,” Cotter told The Washington Post. “According to the indictment, these are two fellows on a multi-year tear of lying to every bank they could find about their income. To a federal prosecutor, it’s fairly crude. It’s extensive and bold and greedy with a capital ‘G,’ but it’s not all that sophisticated.”...

Observers of the Mueller investigation have compared it to the former F.B.I. director’s takedown of the notorious Gambino crime family. “Mueller’s doing a rollup just like he did with the Gambinos,” former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon told Chris Whipple in a book adaptation recently published by the Hive. “[Paul] Manafort’s the caporegime, right? And [Rick] Gates is a made man!”

[rtpoe]

The dragnet is getting closer.

A Grand Jury Just Indicted Former Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort on New Charges

Ben DreyfussFeb. 23, 2018 4:50 PM   

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/02/a-grand-jury-just-indicted-former-trump-campaign-manager-paul-manafort-on-new-charges/

The indictment says that Manafort, “secretly retained a group of former senior European politicians to take positions favorable to Ukraine, including by lobbying in the United States” and  “In 2012 and 2013, Manafort used at least four offshore accounts to wire more than 2 million euros to pay the group of former politicians."

I link to Mother Jones because they've got the full 28 page indictment there for your perusal.

COUNT ONE: Conspiracy against the United States
COUNT TWO: Conspiracy to launder money
COUNT THREE: Unregistered agent of a foreign principal
COUNT FOUR: False and misleading FARA statements     (FARA = Foreign Agent Registration Act)
COUNT FIVE: False statements

[rtpoe]

So a number of high schools and their districts are saying they intend to suspend any students who skip school to take part in various "March For Our Lives" protests and demonstrations.

“Life is all about choices and every choice has a consequence whether it be positive or negative. We will discipline no matter if it is one, fifty, or five hundred students involved. All will be suspended for 3 days and parent notes will not alleviate the discipline.” - Superintendent Curtis Rhodes, Needville TX Independent School District

Well, you know who doesn't care about any suspensions? (all from various official Twitter feeds)

"Here at @Yale, we are proud to support all students for participating in peaceful walkouts for gun control or other causes, and we will not rescind admissions decisions for students who do so regardless of any school’s disciplinary policy."

"Students disciplined by your high schools for joining in responsible anti-gun protests—you won’t get your admission rescinded at @MIT"

"Admission to Boston University will not be jeopardized should your school levy a penalty for participating in peaceful protests, such as the National School Walkout Day. See Dean of Admissions Kelly A. Walter's full statement here: http://spr.ly/6012DRTEk "

"Dartmouth supports active citizenship and applauds students’ expression of their beliefs."

"Brandeis supports students' right to stand up for their beliefs. Those who participate in peaceful protests will not jeopardize their admission to Brandeis. Speak up, speak out."

"Students: If you participate in peaceful protests against gun violence and receive school discipline for walking out, staging your protest, etc., please rest assured that you can report it to UMass Amherst, and we won't hold it against you."

"Applicants to Brown: Expect a socially conscious, intellectually independent campus where freedom of expression is fundamentally important. You can be assured that peaceful, responsible protests against gun violence will not negatively impact decisions on admission to Brown."

"We want to reassure students who have applied or have been admitted to Northeastern University that disciplinary actions associated with participation in peaceful protests will not jeopardize your admission."

"UConn would like to assure students who have applied or been admitted to the University that disciplinary action associated with participation in peaceful protests will not affect your admission decision in any way."

"UCLA supports students who use their right to peacefully demonstrate and have their voices heard. We stand with you."

“Peaceful protest is something that our students do before they arrive at Smith, it’s something that they do while they’re at Smith, and it’s something that they do after Smith."

Well over 100 colleges and universities are saying "Hey, we like the First Amendment! Go ahead and protest!"

[Cutter]

Did anyone check the date of the "March for our Lives" gathering/protest or whatever you want to call it?

As I am aware of it, it will be on March 24th.  The 24th is on a Saturday. 

I may be old but I do not know of any school that is on a Saturday.

[rtpoe]

That's the main march, there are others planned for other dates. And one should allow for travel time....

[TheZookie007]

Nepotism run rampant. A "first daughter" slips in and out of her role as "senior adviser" whenever anyone holds her feet to the fire. "First sons" who travel overseas on our dime while making money for their father's business. An extraordinarily inept son-in-law who had access to this country's deepest secrets while not having a security clearance for more than a year.

This entire "administration" is just a cruel, cruel joke.

[rtpoe]

Jared's being downgraded to Eric's level. Best nickname for Jared: "Tratorious Squeaky Toy".

And Trump is now trying to launch a trade war over steel tariffs, he's fighting with his own attorney general, he was all over the map on a discussion of gun control measures - INCLUDING suggesting that the gov't take people's guns THEN do "due process" (btw, wasn't it Obama who was coming to take yer gunz?), the ongoing corruption of him and his appointees is giving the Democrats a ready-made issue to campaign on in the mid-terms.....

....and it's being reported that Robert Mueller is asking people if Trump had any "inside information" when, during the 2016 campaign, he openly asked Russia to go get Clinton's "missing" e-mails.

[andrat2000]

So China is preparing a life time leadership for president Xi. Other fascist nations like Russia and Turkey changed the rules, too for their president.

Now Trumpelstilsken proposes this for the US, too.

Proof of what I a always said.

[andrat2000]

And Trump is now trying to launch a trade war over steel tariffs, he's fighting with his own attorney general, ...

I hope all other nations that smart that in their answer they only apply import tariffs to the same products, but in the same absolute dollar numbers. If the EU is affected with let's say 20 billion $US we apply the same 20 billion $ to steel an aluminum products from the US. Same products, same total amount. Everything else just enhances the trade war, but doing the same just re-establish the fairness again.

[3deroticer]

http://time.com/4371452/orlando-shooting-ar-15-military-civilian-family/

I think we can put to rest of it being an assault rifle! Probably not!

[Hiram]

I hope all other nations that smart that in their answer they only apply import tariffs to the same products, but in the same absolute dollar numbers.

That wouldn't work due to currency fluctuations - it would have to be in a percentage.  But I agree with your point, if the US add 20% tariff so should the EU.