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Tuesday, March 15, 2016

'Hamilton' Creator Raps at the White House With Obama



Well one thing for sure...


If Trump gets elected this kind of shit will come to a screeching halt! He can make time for this but not Nancy Reagan’s funeral?


Before the video ended, Obama hugged Lin-Manuel saying, ‘You think that’s going viral?' 

The only thing “viral” about Barry is blundering away 8 years in the WH before creating a library to celebrate it.

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President Obama ended a memorable day at the White House Monday, crossing off another item from his bucket list when he helped a Broadway star freestyle rap in the Rose Garden.


“This is some serious business right here,” Obama deadpans in the opening of a video posted on his Facebook page. “We are this is the Rose Garden right here. That must be a little nerve-racking. I hope I don’t drop these cards. You ready? We getting the cue? All right. Drop the beat.”


A Marine band drummer kicks up a beat on a kit placed on the Colonnade outside the Oval Office, while President Obama shows Grammy-celebrated composer Lin-Manuel Miranda a series of cue cards with various DC buzzwords like Obamacare, Oval Office and Opportunity. 


“He’s throwing up some words, I’m getting to say some freestyling that you never heard,” Miranda raps. “Constitution, the POTUS, I’m freestyling, you know this.”


The act continues before Miranda finishes strong.

“POTUS is holding up the signs I’m not done. This is the Oval Office, Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I’m there. It’s so much more intimidating than if it was square,” he observes. “Opportunity knocks, and I can’t stop. I’m here with the president and my pops. And yo the mic drops.”

The lyricist’s quick skills won high praise from the president.

“How good is that? You think that’s going viral?” Obama asked rhetorically. “That’s going viral.”









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Saturday, March 12, 2016

Meanwhile at Torchy's Tacos...



Imagine years from now Michelle Obama dies and the sitting white president does not show up at the funeral. Think there would be any repercussions? 

America mourns Nancy Reagan, but the President stays away: Relatives from TEN White House families attend former first lady's funeral with 1,000 guests while Obama speaks at tech festival


Nearly 1,000 people, including a veritable who's-who of American political life, journalism and Hollywood gathered on Friday in Simi Valley, California, for the funeral of Nancy Reagan. 

The dignified and powerful service saw readings and remembrances by Reagan's niece and nephew, as well as former Former White House Chief of Staff James A Baker and journalists Diane Sawyer and Tom Brokaw. 

The guests also witnessed Patti Davis describe her turbulent relationship with her mother and their undying love in devastating fashion. 

Davis described her parents as 'two halves of a circle', recalling a long-ago memory of seeing the two of them sitting on a Southern California beach at sunset in what she called an impenetrable 'island for two'. 

Reagan's son, Ronald Prescott Reagan, also spoke at the funeral, telling guests there likely would not have been a President Ronald Reagan without Nancy Reagan, saying she had an absolute belief in him, as well as provided guidance and a refuge. 

Friday's service brought together Democrat and Republican, an unusual tableau at a time of deep division in Washington and the 2016 campaign trail. The biggest stars in entertainment - not only of today, but those of Reagan's time in the White House - are also in attendance.

President Barack Obama did not attend the the services, as he had a prior engagement in Austin, Texas, where he is a keynote speaker at South By Southwest. 

The funeral started at 11am on Friday, with a musical prelude beginning at 10.15am by the Santa Susana High School Advanced Women's Choir and Abbe Road A Cappella, and an instrumental prelude by the 1st Marine Division Band, Marine Corps Camp Pendleton.

A love letter from Ronald Reagan to Nancy was also read at the service by former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney as a reminder that their romance was one of the more enduring romances in modern American public life.




NOTABLE FUNERAL GUESTS


Presidential families:

- Former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush

- Michelle Obama

- Hillary Clinton

- Rosalynn Carter

- Tricia Nixon Cox

- Steven Ford

- Lynda Bird Johnson Robb

- Luci Baines Johnson

- Caroline Kennedy

Current and former politicians:

- California Gov. Jerry Brown

- Former California Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger

- Former California Gov Pete Wilson

- Former US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi

- Newt and Callista Gingrich

- Former US Secretary of State George Shultz

Military:

- Capt Christopher Bolt, commanding officer USS Ronald Reagan

Media and celebrities:

- Katie Couric

- Sam Donaldson

- Steve Forbes

- Larry King

- Chris Matthews

- Peggy Noonan

- Diane Sawyer

- Bo Derek

- Mike Love

- Wayne Newton

- Anjelica Huston

- Melissa Rivers

- Former television producer George Schlatter 

- Tina Sinatra

- Tom Selleck

- Gary Sinise

- Yakov Smirnoff

- John Stamos

- Mr T










































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Friday, March 4, 2016

The Pope says 'it is a social fact' that Europe is seeing an 'Arab invasion' - and it's a GOOD thing







BTW... Wasn't it Pope John Paul II who was shot 4 times by a Muslim?

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Pope Francis described the influx of migrants into Europe as an 'Arab invasion' before explaining that the new arrivals will enhance Europe for the better.

(So the wall around the Vatican is preventing the Pope from being "enhanced" like the rest of Europe. Wonder why?

The pontiff was giving a speech to an audience of French Christians when he reflected on Europe's history of migration and the positive impact it has had on its culture today.

He described the migrant crisis as 'a social fact' before explaining the change will help Europe in the future by making it more multi-cultural, according to Bloomberg.



Pope Francis described the influx of migrants into Europe as an 'Arab invasion' before explaining that the new arrivals will enhance Europe for the better

Pope Francis referred to an 'Arab invasion' when he was recalling the moments of mass migration to Europe in history, according the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.

'Today we can talk about an Arab invasion. It is a social fact,' he told his audience.

The pope went on to explain that the arrival of migrants, predominantly from Syria and Iraq, should be seen from a wider perspective in time and impact.

He insisted Europe will 'go forward and find itself enhanced by the exchange among cultures.'

Speaking proudly of Europe, the Pope declared that the continent 'can bring about a certain unity to the world.'


Men pray outside in the 'Jungle' migrant camp in the French port city of Calais




The news comes as Greek's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accused Austria and other Balkan countries of 'ruining Europe'



The number of Syrians seeking asylum doubled to 362,800 last year while the growing number of Iraqi nationals has now reached 121,500, the European Commission said today.

The news comes as Greek's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accused Austria and other Balkan countries of 'ruining Europe' by imposing border restrictions.

The restrictions have been designed to try to slow the flow of migrants heading north from Greece.

Austria angered Greece by not inviting it to a meeting of Balkan leaders in Vienna last week to coordinate a slew of border restrictions. 


Refugees who hope to get on a waiting list to cross the border wait in line in Greece 




The number of Syrians seeking asylum doubled to 362,800 last year and the number of Iraqis jumped to 121,500, the European Commission said today 

Some 30,000 migrants are now stranded in Greece, waiting for Macedonia to reopen its border so they can continue their northward trek, mostly to Germany.

'What those countries agreed on and decided goes against all of the rules and against the whole of Europe and we regard it as unfriendly,' Tsipras told Germany's mass-selling Bild newspaper in an interview due to be published on Saturday. 

Tsipras urged his European Union partners to reject unilateral measures at a summit in Brussels on Monday. The summit will discuss progress on protecting the EU's external borders and helping Greece to cope with the influx of migrants, who mostly arrive by sea from Turkey.

'The situation is difficult but not out of control,' Tsipras said. 'We have fulfilled more than 100 percent of our commitments, whereas others have not even fulfilled 10 percent and prefer to criticize us.'

Germany, which has taken in more than a million migrants in the past year, strongly backs mandatory migrant quotas for all EU member states, but some countries, especially in former communist eastern Europe, are opposed to them.








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Thursday, March 3, 2016

This ain't good news for Killary




DOJ reportedly grants immunity to former State Dept staffer in Clinton email probe

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The Justice Department has reportedly granted immunity to a former State Department staffer who worked on Hillary Clinton’s private email server.

A senior U.S. law enforcement official told The Washington Post on Wednesday that the FBI secured the cooperation of Bryan Pagliano, who worked on Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign before setting up the private server at her New York home in 2009.

Current and former agents told the newspaper that agents will likely want to interview Clinton and her senior aides about the decision to use a private server, and whether any of the participants knew they were sending classified information in emails as part of the ongoing investigation.

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas called the latest developments on the Clinton investigation "ominous" in an interview with Fox News' Megyn Kelly on "The Kelly File," and that it meant the process was moving to "a whole other level."

"That suggests the legal jeopardy is getting greater and greater," he said Wednesday.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Monday in an interview with Fox News that the Justice Department has no deadline for concluding the Clinton email investigation and that it’s being handled “like any other review,” even with the presidential election just months away.

Lynch said on "Special Report with Bret Baier" that the investigation is being handled by the agency’s “career independent lawyers” and that they will “review the facts and the evidence and make a determination in due course.”

Lynch, nominated by President Obama to the attorney general post in 2014, also said the agency would look “efficiently, fairly, thoroughly, without any kind of artificial deadline” into whether Clinton broke any laws as secretary of state by using a private email server for official communications.

Lynch was steadfast in declining to discuss specifics about the Clinton case -- including whether Clinton has been interviewed, if a grand jury had been convened, which departments within the agency are involved and whether she would ultimately decide whether the case will go forward.

“We handle it in the same way, and that's what I'd like to convey to the American people,” she said. “We owe it to the citizens and we owe it to anybody who may be involved in the matter.”

She also declined to comment on Clinton's then-chief of staff Cheryl Mills maintaining her top secret security clearance despite sending information that's now being classified to the Clinton Foundation.









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Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Panicked GOP braces for big Trump win on Super Tuesday






Odd headline when you think about it.

A Republican is on fire beating everybody in sight and the GOP is in a "panic". You wouldn't normally read something like this. Then again this isn't your normal election. Still not sure if that's a good or bad thing. The way I see it Trump has no choice. He has to "Make America Great Again" because if he fails it certainly won't be a problem getting him impeached. 


On a side note.

McConnell want's to drop Trump like a "hot rock". To tell you the truth I'd like to see old Mitch, McCain, and about a half dozen others put on a horse and ridden out of DC.

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Donald Trump is poised to win almost all of the states voting on Super Tuesday, despite warnings from his rivals and other GOP critics that the party could split apart at the seams if he becomes the presidential nominee.

Unless there is a huge upset on Tuesday, Trump will take another massive leap toward the nomination. He has won three out of four contests so far and has secured almost five times as many delegates as his closest rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Trump has 82 delegates to Cruz's 17.

The prospect of a Trump nomination is abhorrent to many in the Republican Party.

The ramifications would be "huge and catastrophic," according to Peter Wehner, who served in the administrations of the three most recent Republican presidents: Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. "This would be an epic political moment because it would be the fundamental redefinition of a great political party. It would, in many ways, be a dismantling of it."

Wehner, despite the length of his association with the GOP, is adamant that he would not support Trump in a general election, even against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

"I am not going to vote for Trump under any circumstances," Wehner said. "I see him as an existential threat ... a threat to America and the Republican Party and conservatism unlike anything I have ever seen."

Such views are gaining wider currency as conservatives emerge from a lengthy period of denial to confront the fact that the celebrity businessman is now a red-hot favorite to become the GOP standard-bearer.

Trump holds clear polling leads in seven of the 11 contests Republicans will hold Tuesday. A candidate other than Trump is the favorite in just one state: Cruz, in his home state of Texas. The other three states suffer from a dearth of reliable polling.

A strong performance by Trump could see him build up so much momentum as to render him unstoppable.

In a reflection of how high the stakes have become — and of how ineffective anti-Trump attacks have been so far — the race took a lurch toward nastier ground over the weekend. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio mocked the billionaire for his tan ("he needs to sue whoever did that to his face") and his small hands. Trump hit back, blasting the Floridian as "Little Marco" and "a very nasty guy" during an appearance on "Fox News Sunday."

Further fueling the feverish atmosphere now enveloping the GOP race, Trump three times declined to disavow former Ku Klux Klansman David Duke during an appearance on another Sunday political talk show, CNN's "State of the Union" with Jake Tapper.

That performance earned condemnation from 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, who described the remarks as "disqualifying & disgusting" in a Monday tweet. MSNBC anchor Joe Scarborough, who has previously been described as friendly toward Trump, also called the remarks "disqualifying." 

Trump later blamed the peculiar exchange on a faulty earpiece. 

In another example of mounting GOP panic, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) took to social media on Sunday to express broader opposition to Trump's campaign. He assailed the real estate mogul in a series of tweets and, in a letter posted to his Facebook page, announced that in a hypothetical match-up between Trump and Clinton, he would vote for neither.

Sasse's Facebook posting asserted that "Mr. Trump's relentless focus is on dividing Americans, and on tearing down rather than building back up this glorious nation." Sasse also suggested that Trump's use of the word "reign" was "creepy," saying it seemed as if "he thinks he's running for King."

As for the future of the Republican Party, Rubio warned on Friday that "the Republican Party would be split apart if he became the nominee, because we cannot allow the party of Reagan to be taken over by a con man."

There is a real divide even among elected officials about Trump. 

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who dropped out of the White House race in February, delivered a seismic shock to party insiders when he endorsed Trump on Friday. Then the New York tycoon gained his first senatorial endorsement, when Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) backed him on Sunday. The senator's home state votes on Tuesday, and Trump has a lead of almost 18 points there, according to the ­RealClearPolitics average.

Rep. Scott DesJarlais (Tenn.) and Rep. Tom Marino (Pa.) also backed Trump on Monday, becoming the third and fourth GOP House members to do so. The others are Reps. Duncan Hunter (Calif.) and Chris Collins (N.Y.).

The endorsements cause indignation among those who are most vigorously opposed Trump. 

"This is a man utterly unfit to be president of the United States and nobody should be pretending otherwise," said Eliot Cohen, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Cohen worked in the State Department during George W. Bush's administration and was a special adviser on foreign policy to Romney during the 2012 campaign. 

Of Trump's candidacy in general, Cohen added, "It's just dreadful. And I should be clear, I am a Republican. It's extremely painful."

Asked about the Christie endorsement, in particular, Wehner said, "I thought it was shameful — just unbelievably shameful. ... It was sheer political opportunism."

Christie, of course, would vigorously reject that characterization. At his speech in Texas announcing his backing of Trump, the New Jersey governor insisted that "there is no one who is better prepared to provide America with the strong leadership that it needs both at home and around the world than Donald Trump."

Some establishment-minded Republicans continue to hold out hope that some kind of machinations at the Republican National Convention could wrest the nomination out of Trump's grasp. But such an outcome would engender an enormous counter-reaction from the businessman's supporters.

And there is no guarantee such a maneuver will even be possible.

"One can argue that he has thrown out the old rule book and, 'well, if he has thrown out the old rule book, you can't rule out a brokered convention,' " said Cohen. "But at the moment, he looks like the favorite. You have to admit it."









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