The judge in the Bridgegate case just told Christie’s lawyers they have to turn over the notes for the investigation they conducted to exonerate the governor – notes they earlier suggested no longer exist.
On September 17th, 1969, then-presidential aide Daniel Patrick Moynihan wrote to President Nixon to alert him to the danger that the rise of carbon dioxide introduced into the atmosphere by fossil fuels would lead to the warming of the planet. “I would think this is a subject the Administration out to get involved with.” Here’s Moynihan’s letter.
Catherine Thompson with two great pieces on the Jade Helm military exercise, which gets underway this week and has spawned more conspiracy theories than your tinfoil hat can count. She has the full rundown of the latest conspiracy mongering (come on, Russia helping Mexico reclaim Aztlan is the BEST!).
But there was also news over the weekend that a self-appointed group of volunteers have taken it upon themselves to monitor the military during the exercise, especially as the anticipated takeover of Texas unfolds.
“If a team member sees two Humvees full of soldiers driving through town, they’re going to follow them,” a leader of the volunteer effort said. “And they’re going to radio back their ultimate location.”
What could possibly go wrong?
Trump reportedly told a meeting of Hollywood conservatives that the US should have invaded Mexico instead of Iraq – which certainly would have cut down on the flow of migration …
You may have seen here that President Obama has commuted the sentences of 46 federal inmates convicted of non-violent drug offenses. This is part of the administration’s general push for prison and criminal justice reform – particularly in relation to the drug war. It is welcome news on all those fronts. But there’s a slightly different issue I want to focus on.
Over the last several decades, the presidential pardon power – which includes a broad power to pardon offenses or simply commute sentences – has all but disappeared. The controversy over President Clinton’s end-of-term pardons played some role in that. But the trend was already well underway.
How do your GOP presidential contenders line up on responding to the Mexican-bashing of Mr. Republican Donald Trump?
Also, is your GOP candidate a Mexico regime-change hawk or dove?
This is my candidate for most inappropriate way to show your resistance to the Supreme Court’s decision legalizing same sex marriage: The county commission in Dent County, Missouri voted unanimously yesterday to lower the flags at the county courthouse periodically for the next year to officially mourn traditional marriage. Late reports are it will now reverse that decision, out of respect to veterans. Oops. More soon.
Norm Ornstein makes a good point in Tierney Sneed’s piece today about the underlying budget dynamics that led to the House GOP suddenly finding itself in the horrible position of defending the Confederate flag.