The reincarnation of Che

Handshake sets stage for meeting between Obama, Castro

(POTUS demonstrates his familiar habit...The Barry Curtsy)

April 10, 2015: U.S. President Barack Obama (L) and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro shake hands as U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (R) looks on, before the inauguration of the VII Summit of the Americas in Panama (Reuters)


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From the rooftops in Havana the cry Che, Che, Che, resonated throughout the city.

Using his power of  Executive Order Barry granted them amnesty before declaring Cuba the "58th" state.

Sadly, the festivities were cut short. Barry had a previous invitation in Qatar for a dinner party held in his honor by the Taliban 5. Bowe was expected to attend but said he will be busy meeting with his interior designer to discuss his new digs at Leavenworth. 

Meanwhile...back in Washington reporters pressed Bob Menendez for a comment on normalizing relations with Cuba.

He pled the 5th.

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With a cordial evening handshake, President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro moved Friday toward a historic meeting on the sidelines of the Summit of the Americas.

The meeting between the U.S. and Cuba Saturday with the leadership of the Western Hemisphere gathered around them could signal substantial progress. Both sides are still working through issues that would lead to the opening of embassies in Washington and Havana, the first state of a new diplomatic relationship.

The first clues of an improved relationship between Obama and Castro came Friday evening as they both arrived at a Panama City convention center for the summit’s opening ceremonies. A reporter for a Venezuelan TV network posted video online showing the two greeting each other comfortably with multiple handshakes and extended small talk, while U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez looked on.

A White House official said the interaction was informal and there was not a substantive conversation between the two leaders. Both men are expected to speak further Saturday – the first extended conversation between leaders of the U.S. and Cuba in more than 50 years.

Obama, speaking to a meeting of civil society groups, cast the move to end hostile relations as a triumph for the Cuban people.

"As the United States begins a new chapter in our relationship with Cuba, we hope it will create an environment that improves the lives of the Cuban people," he told the gathering, which included Cuban dissidents. "Not because it is imposed by us, the United States, but through the talent and ingenuity and aspirations, and the conversations among Cubans from all walks of life so they can decide what the best course is for their prosperity."

The White House was coy over the status of the State Department's recommendation to remove Cuba from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terror. Removal is a top issue with Castro because it would not only eliminate Cuba's status as a pariah, but also ease Cuba's ability to conduct simple financial transactions.

There is still is speculation that an announcement over the terror list could come soon.

The U.S.-Cuban outreach entered a new, accelerated stage in recent days, with Obama speaking with Castro by phone Wednesday and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry holding a lengthy meeting with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez late Thursday.

The Cuban foreign ministry issued a brief account of the Kerry-Rodriguez meeting, saying they met for nearly three hours in a "respectful and constructive atmosphere."

It was the highest-level, face-to-face contact between officials from the two countries since the Dec. 17 announcement that Washington and Havana would move to restore diplomatic relations that were severed in 1961.

Even as Washington talked up the historic shift toward Cuba, leftist leaders in Latin America took shots at the U.S. in solidarity with Venezuela.

Barely off the plane, President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela laid a wreath at a monument to victims of the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989. To shouts of "Maduro, stick it to the Yankee," he vowed to personally ask Obama to apologize to Panama and compensate victims of what he called a "massacre" that left more than 500 people dead during the invasion.

"Never again a U.S. invasion in Latin America," Maduro said.

President Evo Morales of Bolivia said he backs Maduro's drive to end U.S. intervention in the region.

The flurry of diplomacy around the summit was recognition of the historic nature of the new relationship intended to end five decades of American presidents either isolating or working to overthrow Fidel Castro's government. Officials hoped to make the most of the exchange between the two men.

Obama still plans to meet with 15 Latin American activists, including two Cubans who have challenged the Cuban government. The White House identified the Cubans as Laritza Diversent, a human rights lawyer and independent journalist, and Manuel Cuesta Morua, a leader of a centrist opposition group. A large contingent of pro-Castro Cubans who were supposed to participate in a larger civil society forum left shortly before Obama spoke to protest the inclusion of Cuban dissidents.

Removing Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terror would be a major milestone and likely generate controversy in the U.S., given the political repercussions of any Cuba opening. The sensitivities over Cuba are especially acute in Florida, a key presidential battleground, and they are likely to ignite vigorous debate among the presidential candidates.

Congress would have 45 days from the day Obama removes Cuba from the list to issue a resolution of disapproval, but the margin of passage would have to be veto-proof.

Rep. Jeff Duncan, the chairman of a House panel on the Western Hemisphere, criticized taking Cuba off the list. And Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is among Republicans considering a presidential bid, decried the expected Obama-Castro meeting and called the Cuban leader an "entrenched dictator."

The reincarnation of Che

Clinton to announce presidential run

 She should announce it on C-Span.

(click to enlarge)

(Reuters) - Hillary Clinton will announce her second run for the presidency on Sunday, starting her campaign as the Democrats' best hope of fending off a crowded field of lesser-known Republican rivals and retaining the White House.

Clinton returns to the campaign trail seven years after losing the Democratic Party nomination in 2008 to Barack Obama.

She has been a high-profile figure in American politics for more than two decades since her husband, Bill Clinton, won the presidency in 1992, and her fame still eclipses her other likely Democratic contenders and Republican opponents.

Her advisers, including her husband, have urged her to take nothing for granted, arguing voters would be repelled by anything that resembles a pre-ordained coronation.

A Democrat close to the Clinton camp told Reuters on Friday the former U.S. senator and secretary of state would announce her long-anticipated plans through video and social media.

After the announcement, she will travel to early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, said the source, who asked to remain unidentified.

A representative for Clinton declined to comment.

Clinton, 67, has sounded out potential campaign themes during public appearances, casting herself as both a love-filled new grandmother with a vested concern in the future and a wise former diplomat who understands how countries thrive and fail.

In contrast to her 2008 campaign, Clinton has shown signs she will not play down how being a woman distinguishes her from the 44 men who have previously become president. 

She has filled speeches with paeans to the moral and economic importance of gender equality and women's rights, arguing that economic growth, the health of the middle class and the stability of foreign peace treaties all hinge on reducing gender discrimination. 

"Just think about all the hard-working families that depend on two incomes to make ends meet," Clinton said in a paid speech at a conference for women technology executives in California's Silicon Valley, citing her own experience of raising a young daughter while working as a partner at an Arkansas law firm in the 1980s. "When one is short-changed, the entire family suffers."

What this might mean in terms of policy proposals is vague, although she said in the same speech she was "embarrassed" the United States remained one of the few countries where there is no national right to paid family leave.

There are a dozen or so likely Republican contenders vying for the presidency, many still relatively unknown. Clinton has a different task: reassuring voters who already like her, and wooing those who do not.

Only two percent of Americans say they have never heard of her, according to a Gallup poll last month, a level of name recognition exceeding that of Vice President Joe Biden, a name unknown to a tenth of Americans. 

Her nearest likely rivals for the Democratic nomination, former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley and Jim Webb, the former U.S. senator from Virginia, struggle to get a fraction of Clinton's media coverage, favorable poll numbers and donations.

Clinton's use of social media to announce her White House run amounts to the adoption of tactics deployed by Obama in 2008 to raise large sums through small donations and appeal to young voters.

Also on Friday, Clinton released an update to her memoir, "Hard Choices," in which she described her final days as secretary of state and her feelings about her first grandchild.

CONTROVERSY AND CRITICISM

Clinton has been a target for Republican criticism since Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign. He promised voters then that they would get "two for one" by putting them both in the White House, but quickly dropped that claim when it proved unpopular.

Hillary Clinton's biggest initiative while her husband was president, national healthcare reform, fell apart without coming to a vote in Congress.

She became a figure of public fascination, and admiration in some quarters, for standing by Bill Clinton when allegations of his sexual infidelities first surfaced during the 1992 campaign, and again in 1998 when his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky surfaced.

Both the Clintons have been investigated repeatedly by Republican lawmakers and the then United States Office of the Independent Counsel.

As Hillary Clinton prepared to start her campaign, she faced criticism from Republicans for using only a personal email account while secretary of state, and for the Clinton Foundation's reliance on donations and payments from foreign governments for its philanthropy work abroad, even as she served as the country's top diplomat.

During the campaign, Clinton will be expected to say whether she will more closely align with the centrist economic policies of her husband's administration or the populist policies championed by the progressive wing of her party.

Some Democrats have urged Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, a leader of the party's liberal wing and a critic of Wall Street and big banks, to challenge her, but Warren has declined.

Clinton to announce presidential run

Keeping the maggot from the deceased

You got to give this family credit.

Rev. Al Sharpton's Ferguson 'circus' not wanted by family of cop shooting victim Walter Scott, report says

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Hoping to avoid a Ferguson style "circus," The family doesn't want the Rev. Al Sharpton to attend the funeral for alleged police shooting victim Walter Scott, according to the Daily News. 

"We don't want another Ferguson type of circus here," a source close to the Scott family in South Carolina was quoted as saying in the Daily News.

The family reportedly was referring to Sharpton's speech at the funeral for black teen Michael Brown who was fatally shot by a white police officer who wasn't charged in the incident in Ferguson, Mo., sparking numerous protests.

Rev. Sharpton, head of the National Action Network based in Harlem, reportedly has no plans to show up at the funeral.

On Wednesday, Rev. Sharpton issued as statement saying that he spoke with the Scott family attorney, Chris Stewart, and soon planned to visit the community of North Charleston, S.C., where Scott was shot. The National Action Network's South Carolina chapter leaders were meeting with the family, Sharpton said.

Patrolman Michael Thomas Slager has been charged in the shooting of Scott who was fleeing from a traffic stop on Saturday.

Keeping the maggot from the deceased

How secure are you with a President Hillary Clinton?

Let me get right to the point and talk about brass tack. I cannot tell you who the Republican nominee will be in 2016. But with almost 100% certainty I can say Hillary will be the Democratic nominee.

Hillary has played 3 major roles in her political life. 

1.First Lady 

2. Senator

3. Secretary of State

Lets list all the major accomplishments in each role she played. Well okay...there aren't any. So lets list what she's best known for in each role. 

1. First lady

January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001

What stands out above all others? She is the wife of Monica's Lewinsky's x-boyfriend. She vehemently denied her husband was cheating on her (wouldn't be the first time nor the last) and went as far as to blame the GOP calling it "a vast right wing conspiracy". She later made the claim "she's no Tammy Wynette standing by her man". In true Clintonesque tradition both statements turned out to be lies.

Remember that awkward trot to Marine One?

2. Senator Clinton

January 3, 2001 – January 21, 2009

During her campaign run against Barry Senator Clinton made repeated campaign statements about having been the target of snipers during a March 1996 visit to U.S. troops at Tuzla Air Base in Bosnia. Others aboard the plane including Sinbad said this wasn't true.

When this picture surfaced. (Probably leaked by Barry)

Clinton said she misspoke. Misspoke to me means she said she arrived in Bosnia Tuesday but actually it was Wednesday. Just how do you misspeak about being shot at?!?

3. Secretary of State

January 21, 2009 – February 1, 2013

Benghazi...Need I say more.

That 3am phone call might have been Chris Stevens. 4 dead Americans blamed on a video. To add insult to injury when grilled by Congress she proclaimed, "What difference does it make". 

As a going away present to the GOP it came to light Hillary had secret email accounts containing classified material. While still under investigation she deleted over 30,000 emails from the server. To draw an analogy. You kill someone with your 9mm Beretta. The police confiscate your gun to run a ballistics test. You know the trail will end at your doorstep. So you break into the PD steal the gun to destroy the evidence before they can run the test. 

Crazy right? Not if you're a Clinton! 

There certainly is a double standard. 

18 1/2 missing minutes of tape and Nixon would have been impeached.

30,000 missing emails and Hillary could get elected president!

These are her credentials to run on for POTUS?

How secure are you with a President Hillary Clinton?

Do you trust Hillary? The Clintons live in a marinade of lies and scandals. And the scariest thought of all... 

Hillary going toe to toe with the likes of these scumbags? 

Iran

ISIS

The Taliban

Putin 

Assad 

North Korea 

Pakistan

China 

Libya 

Boko Haram 

Hamas 

al-qaeda 

Hezbolla

To say I'm skeptical would be a major understatement!

We already have a president with no balls. 

Do we really want another one?

How secure are you with a President Hillary Clinton?

Obama says US has 'ONCE IN A LIFETIME' chance to complete Iran nuclear deal

Reading between the lines.

"I've been very clear that Iran will not get a nuclear weapon on my watch, and I think they should understand that we mean it," Obama said. 

I guess he means... as opposed to the red line he drew in Syria. 

" Iran will not get a nuclear weapon on my watch" ... 

 "legacy" defined:  

 Paving the way for the next president to deal with it because he lacks the balls to tackle the problem himself! 

This administration claims to be the most transparent in history. Really? Congress is bypassed and hasn't a fucking hint as to what's being negotiated away in these talks. If Iran is building  nuclear facilities for " energy and medical purposes" why are they buried underground? Why do they go into a grand mal seizure every time someone mentions an unannounced spot check? 

Because they’re liars maybe?

There’s only one solution to prevent Iran from getting a nuke and Bibi knows what it is…bomb them. Do we learn anything from history? We kissed Kim Jong-il’s ass, provided them with food, signed deals and treaties, gave them millions not to build a nuke. 

And what was the end result?

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President Barack Obama said Sunday that an agreed framework of a nuclear deal with Iran represented a "once in a lifetime opportunity" to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and take a giant step toward stabilizing the Middle East.

"I've been very clear that Iran will not get a nuclear weapon on my watch, and I think they should understand that we mean it," Obama said in an interview with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman published Sunday. "But I say that hoping that we can conclude this diplomatic arrangement — and that it ushers a new era in U.S.-Iranian relations — and, just as importantly, over time, a new era in Iranian relations with its neighbors."

Obama cautioned that there are many details that still need to be worked out with the Iranians and cautioned that there would be "real political difficulties" in implementing an agreement in both countries. He reiterated his opposition to a legislation that would give the U.S. Congress final say in approving or rejecting a deal, but said he hoped to find a path to allow Congress to "express itself."

On Sunday, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told "Fox News Sunday" that he planned to move forward with a bill that would give Congress a mandatory review of the framework agreed upon in talks with the U.S., Iran, and five other nations in Switzerland last week. Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that the Senate is two or three votes shy of the 67 needed to override a vowed White House veto.

The so-called P5+1 nations -- the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China -- have until June 30 to agree on all the details of a final deal with Iran. 

"The American people want to know somebody is teasing out the information" about the deal, Corker said Sunday. "Congress has to be involved in this way."

Apart from Congress, Obama must also handle Arab allies who are skeptical about a possible agreement. The president has invited leaders of six Gulf nations to Washington this spring and said he wanted to "formalize" U.S. assistance.

The nuclear talks have marked a remarkable shift in the frozen relationship between the U.S. and Iran. It has become normal for officials from both countries to communicate and hold face-to-face meetings. Obama is yet to meet with Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, though they did speak on the phone. He has also exchanged letters with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Obama said the letters include "a lot of reminders of what he perceives as past grievances against Iran." But he said the concessions Khamenei allowed his negotiators to make in the nuclear talks suggests that "he does realize that the sanctions regime that we put together was weakening Iran over the long term, and that if in fact he wanted to see Iran re-enter the community of nations, then there were going to have to be changes."

Obama says US has 'ONCE IN A LIFETIME' chance to complete Iran nuclear deal