Ambassador Joseph Wilson at TPMCafe: Jeb Bush “failed the most basic foreign policy test of his candidacy.”
Among the items that President Obama’s new ban on military equipment for police includes:
- armored vehicles on tracks
- weaponized aircraft or vehicles
- firearms or ammunition of .50-caliber or higher
- grenade launchers
- bayonets
- camouflage uniforms
More on the ban here.
In case you missed it yesterday, the Iraq War watershed seems to still be shedding. We noted last week that Marco Rubio, in seeming to shift gears to say the Iraq War was a mistake, relied on President Bush supposedly saying the same thing when in fact Bush hadn’t. That was a good sign Rubio is still trying to have it both ways; and he stumbled again on the question on the Fox Sunday show yesterday. Read the transcript.
I have a Republican friend – semi-retired from the political business – who frequently notes that the GOP has never had a reckoning with the Iraq War, no process akin to the years long angst and struggle the Democrats had over the decision-making and consequences of the Vietnam War. Last week it seemed like that long delayed process was coming about suddenly – hinged around the fumbling candidacy of former President Bush’s brother and his own efforts to come up with a position on the war. But we can see from yesterday that it won’t be nearly that easy or so quick.
I just saw the news that an extreme athlete named Dean Potter died in a BASE jumping accident after jumping from a 7500 feet drop in Yosemite National Park. It turns out that it was only a few days ago I saw for the first time at least this kind of what’s called BASE jumping (I’ve now found out from readers that what I’m referring to is BASE jumping with a wingsuit, which is a particularly insane subcategory of BASE jumping). If you haven’t seen it, it basically involves jumping off an extremely high cliff in what looks something like a flying squirrel suit – basically a skin tight suit with webbing between the legs and between the arms and legs.
After failing in a long-shot bid to unseat scandal-plagued Rep Scott DesJarlais, Robert Doggard decided to lead a militia attack against a Muslim group in Hancock, New York.
Florida prosecutors have hit the man who took a shot at George Zimmerman last week with a series of charges. Matthew Apperson and Zimmerman have had an ongoing dispute.
A quick look at how “Jade Helm 15” Obama military takeover hysteria took over Biloxi, Mississippi.
With your feedback I’ve learned a little more about wingsuit BASE jumping. It’s all confirmed my initial sense that it is both fascinating and really crazy. To recapitulate, BASE jumping is simply parachuting from very high fixed objects: bridges, cliffs, etc. The addition of the wingsuit is where it gets interesting and almost mind-bogglingly dangerous.
TPM’s Tierney Sneed spent days looking for one-time Iraq War architects and cheerleaders to see if any were still willing or able to say that invading Iraq was a good idea. Here’s what she found.