Debunking: Rand Paul on ISIS response by Ashley Killough, CNN

Washington (CNN) -- Sen. Rand Paul declared the war against ISIS "illegal" in a new opinion piece Monday, urging conservatives to speak out against President Barack Obama's decision not to seek congressional authorization for military action against the terrorist group. [What a "real" journalist would do here is provide facts about whether or not this claim made by Rand Paul, who has a history of being proud to admit that he lies, is valid.]

 
"This war is now illegal. It must be declared and made valid, or it must be ended," the Kentucky Republican wrote in an op-ed published Monday by the Daily Beast. [She didn't do what she should have after the first paragraph, think there's much hope she's going to do it now that she doubled-down on the claim?]

 
The U.S. began airstrikes in Iraq in early August and in Syria in September, citing a 2001 measure known as the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) as the president's legal basis for going after terrorist threats. [Should we assume that she knows all about that measure and believes we do, too, or that she's just too lazy to give it even a teeny-weeny bit of explanation?]

 
Paul cites the War Powers Resolution of 1973 in stressing his long-held position that all military action must be approved by Congress. The exception is when a situation is considered urgent. In that case, a president has 60 days to get authorization after military action. If there's no approval from Congress, the president has 30 days to end the mission. [Wait. Isn't 2001 after 1973?]

 
Rand Paul plants feet between both sides of foreign policy debate(.)
[In other words, he says what he thinks the audience he's in front of at the moment wants to hear?}

 
While Paul said he doesn't think the War Powers Resolution specifically applies to the ISIS situation -- because the U.S. had not been attacked -- he notes that even if it did, the president's time would be up. [Probably should have ended this sentence after 'Paul said he doesn't think', since the rest doesn't really matter. He either knows positively and owns his statement, or he shouldn't be quoted and given media space.]

 
"Taking military action against ISIS is justified. The president acting without Congress is not," he wrote, reiterating a stance he's held since September. [Congratulations, Dangerous Dweeb, on holding a stance this long. That's surely a record for you.] This fall Paul has described the airstrikes in Syria as appropriate action but said Obama's method for doing so was "unconstitutional." [Isn't it ridiculous when a disastrous, dangerous, uncertified doctor who believes the 1^st amendment gives him the right to lie and the right to deny others freedom from his religious beliefs, and the second amendment gives his militia buddies the right to overthrow a legitimately elected President tries to pretend he knows more about the constitution than his President, who is a constitutional lawyer? Come on, wannabe-journalist, you didn't write the op-ed, the least you can do is debunk it or add some substance to the fluff piece you're peddling.]
The op-ed comes as Paul, who's seen as a likely presidential candidate in 2016, has been trying to shed his isolationist image yet maintain his libertarian-leaning roots. [Shoot. You tried to be original but that's really just a bunch of nothing.]

 
In the new op-ed, he specifically reached out to conservatives, saying they "they should end their conspicuous silence about the president's usurpation of Congress' sole authority to declare war." [Is blowing air up their asses really how you reach out to conservatives?]

 
Paul blasts Obama as arrogant 'autocrat' [I've seen other kids do this. Not sure which would be the appropriate punctuation so leave it blank – or, if you are a die-hard right-winger you might try a row of commas or exclamation points.)

 
He suggested conservatives are being hypocritical in their criticism of Obama by lambasting him for acting alone through executive actions but staying quiet when he authorizes military action without approval. [The master of hypocrisy has spoken!]

 
"Conservatives who blast the president for ignoring the separation of powers on immigration display a fatal inconsistency by embracing unlimited war-making powers," he wrote. [Why all of these once-sentence paragraphs. You know something about crap apples, I'll bet.]

 
Paul: Washington's 'barnacled enablers' push for constant war [. There you go. I have plenty of extra periods so I'll lend you one of mine. Did he borrow 'barnacled enablers' from a movie line? Someone want to point out that the push for constant war comes from his party, because I'm positive the author of this article isn't going to, even if she knows that?]
His piece comes as a report from Politico lists new details about his all-but-certain presidential campaign. The report says he would likely headquarter his campaign in Louisville, Kentucky, and would move forward with a 2016 re-election bid for the Senate on top of a presidential run. [I don't want this pathetic, dangerous liar in my city. This warning might be the only useful information in this entire article about someone else's article.]

 
Paul, who's attempting to sharpen his foreign policy brand, also raises questions about Hillary Clinton's physical stamina, as well we as her record as secretary of state and her involvement in Libya. [And this grammar-nazi, media watch-dog has enjoyed raising questions about the lack of mental stamina of both Rand Paul and the writer who either knows very little about him or is too lazy to bother typing it.]

 
Even believing that CNN was just a baby-step away from being on the same level as FOX, this surprised me. We deserve better than this from people who stick the word news in their titles. I encourage everyone to tweet your thoughts about this piece to @killoughCNN.

Not Everyone?

Someone(s) is trying to keep people from seeing this. Wonder who and why? It an only be viewed by people who have the link. So, here's the video and here is the link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sba-0YDYkj0  Please, share widely, and often.

Debunking AP Release: Immigration Dispute Erupts During Bipartisan Lunch

Debunking: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/07/obama-congressional-leaders_n_6124082.html


 
WASHINGTON (AP) — A White House lunch aiming for cooperation [I'm willing to accept the assumption that it was aimed at cooperation since President Obama said he was willing work with them if they were also willing] boiled [boiled? By whose temperature measurements? I want details and facts.] into a fresh dispute [fresh, as in it is not the same dispute they were having before the election? What's new about this one?] with newly empowered Republicans over immigration reform Friday, with GOP leaders warning President Barack Obama to his face not to take unilateral action. The president stood unflinchingly [seriously unflinching physically, or stood firm] by his plan to act.

 
Republicans attending the postelection lunch at Obama's invitation [okay, his invitation, confirming what I hoped was a safe assumption about 'aiming for cooperation' in the last paragraph] said they asked him for more time to work on legislation, but the president said his patience was running out. [I want names and quotes.] He underscored his intent to act on his own by the end of the year if they don't approve legislation to ease deportations before then and send it to him to sign.

 
The Republicans' approach, three days after they resoundingly won control of the Senate in midterm elections, "seemed to fall on deaf ears," Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said [thank you, it's important to know the source so we can verify your source's history with honesty] in a telephone interview. "The president instead of being contrite or saying in effect to America, 'I hear you,' as a result of the referendum on his policies [bullshit alert! Who says this was a referendum on his policies?] that drove this last election, he seems unmoved and even defiant."

 
"I don't know why he would want to sabotage his last two years as president by doing something this provocative," said Cornyn. [Oh, but I do know why Cornyn would make this passive/aggressive suggestion to media] Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell earlier this week said the president's stance was "like waving a red flag in front of a bull." [Okie Dokie – let's pump out some comments about this stupid statement by our stupid Senator. Bruce started with his excellent comment above the article – now, who wants to put it in a letter to McConnell or an article about him that we can all share?]

 
Obama press secretary Josh Earnest said there was no reason that executive action on immigration should kill opportunities for the president and Republicans to find common ground.

 
"I could stand up here and say Republicans to vote once again for the 50th time to repeal the Affordable Care Act, that that's playing with fire or waving a red flag in front of a bull. I'm not really sure what that means," Earnest said. [Thank you for pointing out how stupid that statement was.]

 
The White House said lawmakers went home from the meeting with a parting gift — a six-pack of beer brewed at the White House. The White House also said Obama laid out three areas where he and Congress could work together before the end of the year — emergency funding to combat the Ebola outbreak, approval of a federal budget and quick action on spending to fight the Islamic State militant group. [Looks like President Obama is ready to do what I hope we will do – suggest actions that will get things done.]

 
House Speaker John Boehner's office [just thought I'd mention that office's don't speak, people do, and it's nice to have a name] said he told Obama [huge red flag this author doesn't respect our President enough to give him a title after she gave Boehner one] he was ready to work with the president on a new authorization for military force against the IS [IS?] group if the president worked to build bipartisan support. [Everyone else's blood boil when they saw this? I think we need to remind the media and Boehner that his party is totally against anything bipartisan and have proven it repeatedly] The White House announced soon after lunch ended that the U.S. was sending as many as 1,500 more troops to Iraq to serve as advisers, trainers and security personnel as part of the mission. [PRESIDENT Obama is also asking Congress for more than $5 billion to help fund the fight. [why is that thrown on at the end of that paragraph?]

 
Friday's two-hour meeting was tense at times, according to a senior House Republican aide [was the aide present, and does s/he have a name?]. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, about to lose his grip [poor choice of words – purposely?] on the upper chamber, barely said a word, the aide said [who is this mysterious aide?]. The aide said at one point as House Speaker John Boehner was making an argument on immigration, Obama [okay, seriously, fuck this source – I don't trust the author to be unbiased – not even a tiny little bit] responded that his patience was running out and Vice President Joe Biden interrupted to ask how long Republicans needed. Obama angrily cut Biden off, the aide said. [Hope everyone is ready to call out this author and every rag that picked up this AP garbage]

 
The aide was not authorized to describe the back-and-forth publicly by name and spoke only on condition of anonymity. [aha! So this is all just so much bullshit so you can yank us around and pretend your stupid opinion piece is really something? You just wasted a bunch of my time and I resent it.]

 
Publicly Obama's tone was more upbeat [if you're implying something in the use of the word 'publicly' we got a big bone to pick] as he opened the gathering. He pledged to work on ending long-running partisan gridlock and to be open to Republican ideas. The president said the lunch was a chance to "explore where we can make progress" after Americans showed in the midterm elections that they wanted to see more accomplished in Washington.

 
"They'd like to see more cooperation," Obama [yes, you are going to hear from me. And I hope about 1,300 other people] said, sitting at the middle of 13 lawmakers in the Old Family Dining Room set with the Truman china. "And I think all of us have the responsibility, me in particular, to try to make that happen."

 
Reporters were ushered out before any lawmaker spoke or the lunch of sea bass was served. Republican descriptions of the meeting were provided after they returned to Capitol Hill.

 
For the record, Boehner's office said he suggested that the president should back a Republican jobs bill as a starting place for bipartisan action.

 
Obama said at the start he was interested in "hearing and sharing ideas" for compromise on measures to boost the economy, then mentioned his personal priorities of college affordability and investment in road and building projects. He also touted improved monthly job growth numbers out Friday as evidence his economic policies are working, saying, "We're doing something right here."

 
Briefings on Ebola and the Islamic State from Pentagon officials dominated much of the meeting, and the immigration debate was said to have lasted about half an hour. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said Republicans told Obama that any executive order, particularly on immigration but any issue, would be a "toxic decision."

 
"He still hasn't come to grips with the reality of the election and the consequences of the election," Barrasso said. "His tone and tenor didn't seem to reflect that of somebody whose policies were just significantly rejected all across the country just three days ago."

 
___

 
Associated Press writers Donna Cassata and Andrew Taylor contributed to this report.

Stop Peeing on My Leg About Tuesday Because You’re Pissing Me Off

I've been channeling Judge Judy for about twenty-four hours now. Can't count the times I've already thought, in her voice, "Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining." The latest time was when I saw a pundit try to convince us that the final sale of our country to the Koch brothers isn't really such a bad thing because old, white Republican voters will die soon.

 Assuming that my readers are sane, I'll give you a minute to recover.

 Ready?

 Seriously. That's how ridiculous the spin on the death of our country really is. The even worse news is that seemingly sane and reasonably intelligent people suck up everything those pundits purge and savor it like candy. My Facebook news feed shows a steady flow of already-recovered mourners totally relieved to see that someone thinks all will be okay once a whole voting block drops dead, or who are pleased to gloat over the fact that maybe McConnell will have to do some work or face VETO, and some who feel great about themselves because this loss gave them renewed energy to fight harder next time.

 Time for another break. Let 'next time' settle for a few seconds. We have plenty of years to waste.

 And then there are the ones who started late Tuesday night, talking about all of the mistakes the Democrats made (even pointing out how they deserved to lose for running scared of the truth that the critics won't admit) and who we should run next time - like brides who think only of the wedding and not the marriage.

 Yeah. That's the answer. Republicans will probably be a nicer bunch of degenerates next time and it'll be a piece of cake. Let's just forget this tragedy, wait for the old white folks to die, and it'll all be okay. Good plan.

 In two, four, or six (depending on the race) years, Republicans will no longer own the voting machines. They will have won over enough minority voters to give up on suppression and disenfranchising. (Wait! Won't those minority voters they've won over replace the old, white corpses?) They'll gladly redistrict and maybe even apologize for gerrymandering. And they will be too broke to run dirty campaigns, even if they still wanted to lie. Sounds great. Glad I walked myself through this so I can stop mourning, too.

 Honestly, who is really naive enough to believe these were all 'close races' that Republicans actually won, no matter how many times and how many ways the corporate-owned media say it? I can't imagine a less-informed bunch of people anywhere else on earth.

 It takes a special kind of twisted thinking to blame Democrats who did not vote, Democratic candidates who didn't say every single thing that every single voter wanted to hear, Democrats who didn't knock on enough doors, Democrats who couldn't outspend the Koch and Rove machines, MSNBC, the DCCC . . . Although every one of those things probably harmed momentum and turn out, and we need to address the mistakes made, the bottom line is this: Uninformed, willfully ignorant, misguided, corrupt, dregs of society Republican VOTERS sold us out, and turned this country over to the highest bidders. I plan to hold the ones I encounter responsible.

 I also hope to start a movement to edit all documentation to change the words democracy and republic to oligarchy. That should be our first order of business during this marriage – uh, administration. Because, the next election is two years away and we have work to do before we start talking about it.

 If I had any faith in Americans, I would put replacing voting machines with paper ballots, requesting UN monitoring of our elections, providing every citizen of voting age with a free voter ID card – but I can't go through the disappointment of being rejected and threatened over those again. I'm old and I'm weary.

 And I'm shopping for a new country.

 I pledge no allegiance to the flag of the un-united states of America, and to the oligarchy for which it stands, one nation, divisible, with liberty and justice for a few.

 
My friend says it much more eloquently here.


 

McConnell: Majority Leader or Oscar Contender?

McConnell:

The only thing more disgusting than the candidates your party ran, including and especially you, is the person who voted for you. I’ve seen and heard all of the absurd concessions in which seemingly sane people congratulated some of your party winners [sic] who cheated and lied throughout their campaigns, and the equally ridiculous blame being shifted to people who didn’t bother to vote and candidates who lost. Although I am disgusted with anyone who didn’t bother to go vote against Republicans, and unhappy with the Democrats who feared the lies they would invite from you if they demonstrated pride in their party and OUR successful President, ultimately, the people who did vote for you own the responsibility for giving you the power to destroy what is left of this country.

Your campaign is one of the most disgusting things I have witnessed in my sixty years on this earth. Your party polls people to find out what the majority wants, then campaigns as though those are the things you will deliver. Ignorant – terminally ignorant, desperately stupid, foolish people who brag about hating facts and not wanting to know the truth, and who haven’t paid attention to anything you’ve done – hear and read your Koch-sponsored dishonest ads and think it sounds good. They are too stupid to know that you have already obstructed, filibustered, denied them all of those things, and will do so again. To finish it off with some faux warm and fuzzy, you go find some foolish tools, like Noelle, to make some dishonest ads and prove that some people are gullible enough to suck up any plate of maggots you put before them as long as you tell them it’s rice and it’s good for them. (For what it’s worth, I resent and dislike her and you for intruding my personal time with that ridiculous, dishonest call.)

The majority of Americans (at first I typed we, then changed it to our society, but I want to be sure to exclude myself and the too few others who have shirked the social mores that make the rest so ridiculously complicit in harming others for the sake of maintaining sick relationships and staying infected) are gleefully dishonest. Concession speeches are written to congratulate people who cheated and lied their way to a win. How stupid is that? You guys stand on the Senate floor and talk about your friends across the aisle when we all know that you are not (or should not be) friends. Friends don’t treat me the way you treat people. Friends don’t lie to me. Friends don’t destroy my country. Friends don’t expect me to be stupid enough to fall for their deception.

I don’t want my representatives or my President to ever call you my friend and I sure don’t want you to refer to me as your friend. I am not your friend and you are not mine. This is our understanding of nice? Repeating lies designed to sound nice? This is sick. And this is why people like you are in positions to hurt so many others. It must stop.

The duplicity demonstrated by your supporters is mind-boggling. These people who insist that food stamp recipients and public housing residents must be drug tested overlooked or were okay with the fact that your family is under investigation for major drug crimes, and the pathetic tool who made the ad and robo-call in which she gave you credit for recovering her child when the truth of the matter was she was a drug addict who had been charged with child endangerment and you met her at the airport for a photo-op. (Even if television cameras follow you to the airport routinely, they don’t publicize all of your other personal business.) Your supporters can be found all over the internet whining about drug users getting anything – education, food, housing, healthcare, air to breathe . . . yet, they are okay with your drug using friends. Why the disgusting duplicity?

Likewise, your supporters share horrendously offensive, racist garbage on the internet and in email groups. Find any Republican group on the internet and you will find flaming racism. Yet, you, your campaign, and your party trotted out the few non-white people desperate enough to lend their image and reputation in exchange for a few minutes of attention, and insult everyone by expecting us to believe that your party cares anything about them. Your record says otherwise. You, McConnell, and your party were unsuccessful in disenfranchising what you believed was the necessary number of voters, so you decided to pander to them this time so they’d vote you in and give you the power to take away more of their rights. Shame on you.

You successfully programmed your mindless supporters to ramble and rant incessantly about voter fraud, and then they condone your blatant attempt at fraud. Please, don’t send me the usual form letter that will assume I’m stupid enough to believe you were ignorant or innocent in this. I’m not stupid.

Worth repeating. It MUST stop.  

There is no way any thinking person on this earth could not know how corrupt and dishonest you and your party are. No way. As long as Americans continue to think that the person who calls you and your allies out on your lies and corruption is rude, while you slide home free, I know you will continue to harm me and my country. I will not participate in the national enabling of careless voters. I will hold every Republican voter I encounter responsible for all that is wrong in this country.

And, finally, I’ve given a lot of thought to your new title. I dropped Senator from your name when you dropped President from Obama. My real hope, honestly, is that you don’t live to see your first day as Majority Leader. You are not a leader and you do not represent the majority of people in this country. I seriously doubt that you received the majority of votes in my state (know you didn’t get them in my/your county). But, should that day come, I will address you as Oscar Contender McConnell, because that is the only title you earned in this campaign.

Mourning the death of my country,

Sandy

p.s. My wish for every person who voted for you yesterday is that they never know another comfortable day. 

Vote blue!

Lives depend on it.

The Kaleidoscope Known as McConnell

McConnell:
Hopefully, this will be the last letter before I get to write the good-bye letter to you. With only a few days until the election, your ridiculous ads and the dirty-money ads your allies are running on your behalf are flooding the television, radio, internet, and mailboxes with such desperation that the only thing most of us want to do is sit in a silent room. Guess that's what you are hoping we will do, huh? Glad to disappoint you on that one. 

I thought the stink bugs had invaded my place this week but it turns out it was the desperation of your ads smelling up the entire state. The fake women for McConnell television commercial made me giggle a bit, despite the ridiculousness of you thinking we are stupid enough to believe that even a few, vibrant, bright-eyed, snow-white, Kentucky gals would support you. Alas, one of the four is registered in another state and can't vote for you. Seriously, you really couldn't find four young Kentucky females who either needed the money or wanted the attention enough to take the job? That's amazing. 

And, just what did you hope to accomplish with that ad? Could it possibly be exactly what one of them is trying to project onto Secretary of State Grimes? Come on, you can be honest with me just one time. Weren't you really hoping that some young, white girls, would listen to those girls who look just like them? You included a blonde, a red head, a brunette, and a platinum (wow, Team Mitch is all over that platinum fad – good job) by design, didn't you? Really, just once is all I ask. Honesty. Please.

It gets uglier after that. The ad in which you call Secretary of State Grimes (notice how easy it is to use titles, like Secretary of State and President) a hypocrite for providing legal representation for family members who pay their restaurant employees the going (legal) rate for tipped employees is – well, hypocritical. I don't mind sounding like a broken record so here goes: Always, 100% of the time, without fail, more dependable than February coming after January, everysinglesolitary time, when you and your allies falsely accuse someone else of doing something, that means you are absolutely, without doubt, positively, for sure doing it yourselves*. That's the only thing we can depend on you to do. 

Must surely have crushed your soul – oops. Silly, silly me. You have no soul. You have no conscience. It must have pissed you off beyond measure that the story about all those drugs being found on the ship connected to your family came out at the same time. Hypocrite would be a compliment compared to what you are. 

But, it gets even worse. The television is flashing a kaleidoscope of unbelievable (seriously, unbelievable to any sane person) ads of you smiling and shaking hands with people who are not white, appearing to mingle through your hand-selected mini-crowds of paid enthusiasts, muddling your way on that Hugh Jass bus that your dirty-money allies provided for you through parts of Kentucky that you probably didn't even know existed before whoever was holding your arm to hide (or should that be highlight) the fact that you are a feeble fossil whispered the name of the county to you…
And while we suffer that kaleidoscope of disgust, THIS IS HAPPENING. You, Senator McConnell, may have committed two felonies with illegal* voter intimidation tactics. That tells me that you are a disgrace to Kentucky and to the United States. The only thing more disgraceful than you would be the person who votes for you. It also tells me that you are desperate, and I enjoy every second of thinking that you are feeling like a loser. And, finally, it tells me that you are just as dishonest as the rest of the Republican Party. I guess that makes sense, since you are their supposed leader. 

Feeling lighter, 

Sandy

(if I spot any errors, I will probably not correct them since this ended on 666 words and that feels appropriate)

Dear Readers:
I think it might be a great time to blow up the White House phone lines with calls to investigate Senator McConnell's Party's illegal voting tactics. Today, tomorrow, and Monday. (212) 456-1414 and/or email here http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments