Sexist Tweet of the Day: Donald Trump Edition

Via Addicting Info: Comedian Lenny Jacobson did a screen capture of this sexist retweeted fired off by Donald Trump.

I wonder if Trump is clueless or just works hard at being a douche. Trump's own children have begged him to stop talking about politics. Trump's kids know that he is hurting the family's brand name.

Hillary Clinton Speaking At the University of Miami

Former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton spoke at the University of Miami. Clinton spoke on social equality. Clinton stressed that there is more work to be done to ensure that people of different ethnicity, religions, and sexual identity are given the same rights as all Americans.

Clinton stressed that America needs to stop subsidizing oil. Clinton stressed the need to move to clean energy. I hope Clinton is sincere. However, Clinton comes from the corporate wing of the Democratic Party.

The funniest part of the Q and A is Clinton being asked about her Twitter bio.

Meet the Kappa Beta Phi of Wall Street

Journalist Kevin Roose infiltrated the party of the Wall Street secret society Kappa Beta Phi. What Roose found is Wall Street titans gleefully making fun of woman, gays and how they got bailout money after the economy crashed in 2008.

The new inductees to Kappa Beta Phi had to dress in drag. Remember, these are the people Republicans say are too heavily taxed because they are job creators.

Paul Queally, of Welsh, Carson, Anderson, & Stowe, brought Ted Virtue, of MidOcean Partners, for a Q and A that involved telling sexist jokes about Hillary Clinton.

Q: “What’s the biggest difference between Hillary Clinton and a catfish?” A: “One has whiskers and stinks, and the other is a fish”

Queally also told a homophobic joke about former Congressman Barney Frank.

Q: “What’s the biggest difference between Barney Frank and a Fenway Frank?” A: “Barney Frank comes in different-size buns”

Investment banker Warren Stephens sang a reworked version of Dixie on how Wall Street went to the Federal Reserve for money after they blew up the economy.

“In Wall Street land we’ll take our stand, said Morgan and Goldman. But first we better get some loans, so quick, get to the Fed, man.”

The new inductees sang a reworked version of "I Believe" from The Book of Mormom. In this version God was going to give these future Masters of the Universe seven figure bonuses.

“I believe that God has a plan for all of us. I believe my plan involves a seven-figure bonus.”

Roose was discovered recording the dinner party. Alexandra Lebenthal, President & CEO, Lebenthal & Co, LLC, and investor Wilbur Ross attempted to bribe Roose into killing his story.

But the extent of their worry wasn’t made clear until Ross offered himself up as a source for future stories in exchange for my cooperation.

“I’ll pick up the phone anytime, get you any help you need,” he said.

“Yeah, the people in this group could be very helpful,” Lebenthal chimed in. “If you could just keep their privacy in mind.”

There are very powerful people in the financial industry in Kappa Beta Phi. They make jokes about receiving bailout money. The americans that lost their jobs and homes didn't get billions of dollars from the federal government.

Newt Gingrich's Silly Attack on Hillary Clinton

According to Newt Gingrich, Hillary Clinton shouldn't run for President since she hasn't drove since 1996.

“Here’s a woman whose effort to get back in touch with us doesn’t involve driving across America — or even driving to the grocery store,” Gingrich said. “It’s being chauffered to the national auto dealers convention to tell them, quote, ‘I wish I could drive one of your cars’?”

Perhaps people can relate to Newt Gingrich claiming to be a fiscal conservative while facing bankruptcy. Let's not even talk about Gingrich's well-publicized personal life.

Hillary Clinton Coming to the University of Miami

From the University of Miami website.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (January 16, 2014) — The University of Miami will welcome Hillary Rodham Clinton, former Secretary of State and former U.S. Senator from New York, to deliver remarks at a special event for the University campus and invited guests on February 26 at the BankUnited Center on the UM Coral Gables campus.

When: February 26

Time: 8:30 p.m.

Tickets are likely to go to the most well connected students, facility and community leaders. Short answer: you likely have no chance of attending this event.

Republicans Benghazi Rage Not About National Security

You will be shocked, shocked I say, when you hear Politico's Mike Allen tell Charlie Rose that the reason Republicans are making an issue out of Benghazi is to damage Hillary Clinton's chances in 2016.

ALLEN: Privately, Republicans say that Benghazi probably wouldn't be an issue if it weren't for Hillary Clinton. Unlike the IRS...

ROSE: If this wasn't for her in 2016, this wouldn't be an issue?

ALLEN: Yeah, because it's something that people don't understand. Even the White House will tell you it's never going to be resolved to anyone's satisfaction, but there is going to be a real effort to make it last.

And when we're talking about these three controversies, we should remember, world event history tells us that world events can change everything. Somebody pointed out to me that if the Boston marathon happened next week, this would all look different.

ROSE: Right.

I wish there actually was a debate on improving security for diplomats and CIA operatives. Instead we are debating talking points. Mitt Romney was more concerned about whether or not President Obama called the Benghazi consulate attack an act of terror. Obama did label the attack an act of terror in a speech.

"No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation."

If there were mistakes made by members of the Obama administration then those people should be held accountable. The problem is Republicans are more concerned about blaming the Obama administration for talking points that were partly crafted by disgraced CIA director David Petraeus. The same talking points Republicans asked Petraeus to give them.

Tas wrote a guest post on how difficult it is for U.S. official to move unseen in a place like Benghazi.

As for the Benghazi “scandal”, that attack happened at a time of protests in Muslim majority cities around the globe. There was absolutely no intelligence about an upcoming attack on a US consulate office in Libya’s second city. After all, usually it’s the embassy in a capital city that is targeted, not a minor office. We don’t even know if the Benghazi attack was planned ahead of time or just happened on the spot. I've lived in Cairo, so I’m familiar with how streets in Arab cities in Africa look; and there’s not a lot of opulence in those streets. If an American ambassador is driving into town in a rich American car, with security in tow, then the city residents can at least deduce that this is somebody important. There are a lot of weapons available in a country that just went through a civil war, and from there the only organizing that takes place is a couple of on the spot telephone calls and, bam, you have an attack.

That’s. It. There was no conspiracy to hide information about this attack because there was probably absolutely no information at all until it happened. And it happened at a time of global protests in Muslim cities, which was enough to make anyone question whether it was a protest gone awry or an attack. Period. End of story.

We do need to improve diplomatic security. Republicans don't care about that. If they did they wouldn't cut funding for diplomatic security. A person warning Republicans in 2011 about cutting diplomatic security was Sec. of State Hillary Clinton.

Noting her own eight years in Congress, Clinton said she understands the tight fiscal environment and the need to trim spending. “But the scope of the proposed House cuts is massive,” she said. “The truth is that cuts of that level will be detrimental to America’s national security.”

This is why I don't take Republicans seriously on Benghazi.

Mark Penn is Still Stupid

The most unsurprising news ever: Mark Penn is unlikely to join the Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign. I wrote a post in 2008 titled "Just How Dumb Is Mark Penn." Turns out Penn is really stupid. So stupid that he became a punchline in Democratic circles. Let's count the ways.

1. Penn based his strategy on Hillary winning the nomination by taking California. Penn wasn't aware that California delegates weren't winner take all.

2. Penn convinced Clinton to not run on change. We now know that President Obama won the nomination on campaigning for change.

3. Penn made the outlandish claim that 1.7 million bloggers make a profit from blogging. Penn used no methodology on these for-profit bloggers before he published his Wall Street Journal op-ed.

Penn helped create the boring political group No Labels.

4. Penn is a clueless political operative. This memo he penned is classic Penn.

It is a vast right and left wing conspiracy. Listening to Brit Hume say that Obama is surging while Hillary failed to do X is almost comical and certainly transparent. The right knows Obama is unelectable except perhaps against Attila the Hun, and a third party would come in then anyway.

Penn really had his pulse on the 2008 election.

Hillary Clinton's Support of Gay Marriage Comes Late

Former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton has filmed a video for the Human Rights Campaign. In the video, Clinton announces her support of gay marriage.

I personally think that Clinton has been too afraid of gay rights issue in the past. Clinton has flipped-flopped on her support of DOMA. This is what Clinton's spokesman Phil Singer told Ben Smith of Politico in 2007. It doesn't pass the laugh test.

Clinton spokesman Phil Singer adds, "Sen. Clinton backed the Defense of Marriage Act because it enabled us to fend off right wing attacks like the Federal Marriage Amendment by keeping marriage as the purview of the states. She believes DOMA served an important purpose in that respect. Marriage should be left up to the states.

The Christian Right had zero chance of adding the Federal Marriage Amendment to the Constitution. Adding amendments to the Constitution is extremely difficult. The real reason DOMA was passed was because President Bill Clinton was running for re-election in 1996. Clinton was in full trianglation mode. Clinton feared getting attacked on gay marriage. The result was President Clinton throwing the LGBT community under the bus.

Hillary Clinton is Popular in Florida

Public Policy Polling finds that Hillary Clinton is extremely liked by Florida Democrats.

Hillary's favorability with Democratic primary voters in Florida is 88%

I don't want to play the 2016 speculation games. It is amazing how Mrs. Clinton went from a maligned figure during her husband's presidency to arguably the most popular Democrat in America. It took a lot of mental toughness for her to stay in the spotlight.

Hillary Clinton on Empowering Women

Hillary Clinton speaking at Women of the World 2012.

Ignore Jonathan Alter

Talk of Hillary Clinton replacing Joe Biden as vice-president isn't serious journalism. Alter could provide a thoughtful analysis of the policies of President Barack Obama and the Republican presidential candidates. Instead, Alter writes a column that has less seriousness than an Us Magazine article on Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. This level of unseriousness is to be expected from Alter.

For those that aren't familiar with Alter's work, he penned the repugnant op-ed "Time To Think About Torture."

Couldn't we at least subject them to psychological torture, like tapes of dying rabbits or high-decibel rap? (The military has done that in Panama and elsewhere.) How about truth serum, administered with a mandatory IV? Or deportation to Saudi Arabia, land of beheadings? (As the frustrated FBI has been threatening.) Some people still argue that we needn't rethink any of our old assumptions about law enforcement, but they're hopelessly "Sept. 10"--living in a country that no longer exists.

When Alter wrote this op-ed in November of 2001 he was actually stupid enough to believe that the federal government would let the warrantless wiretapping provision in the Patriot Act sunset.

A welcome "sunset" provision means the expansion of surveillance will expire after four years. That's an important precedent, though odds are these changes will end up being permanent. It's a new world.

Warrantless wiretapping went on during the entire Bush years. The Obama administration has continued has extended warrantless wiretapping and have defended the policy in court. Alter is a columnist best ignored.

Blast From the Past: Sen Obama On Going After OBL

Remember when John McCain and Hillary Clinton said Barack Obama was foolish for saying he would order action against Osama bin Laden. Regardless of whether or not he had the permission of the Pakistan government. McCain attempted to portray Obama as experience since McCain was so right about Iraq.

Big Brother Government: State Department Edition

The new changes the State Department is making it harder for travelers to require a passport.

The U.S. Department of State is proposing a new Biographical Questionnaire for some passport applicants: The proposed new Form DS-5513 asks for all addresses since birth; lifetime employment history including employers’ and supervisors names, addresses, and telephone numbers; personal details of all siblings; mother’s address one year prior to your birth; any “religious ceremony” around the time of birth; and a variety of other information. According to the proposed form, “failure to provide the information requested may result in … the denial of your U.S. passport application.”

This will just create a backlog of paperwork. Why does the State Department need to know the details of the religious ceremony of my birth. I have no idea if I was baptized after I was born. I don't have contact information for my employers from when I was a teenager. I don't even know if the people I worked for is still alive.

The State Department is now assuming al-qaeda terrorists are homegrown in the United States. None of the 9-11 hijackers were born in the U.S.

Here is a PDF copy of the State Department form. The form asks your mother's address at the time of your birth, a year after your birth and your mother's employer at the time of your birth. The State Department also wants to know the name of your mother's employer at that time and the job address. How people whose mothers are deceased going to be able to provide that information is not the State Department's problem. You also have to know if your mother had pre-natal or post-natal medical care.

I blame Hillary Clinton for this form.

Hillary Clinton Gallup Poll

Hillary Clinton's favorability rating is at 66 percent in a Gallup poll.

Hillary Clinton on Egypt

Sec. of State Hillary Clinton has come out against the treatment of journalists covering the protests in Egypt.

"We condemn attacks on reporters," Clinton said.

Clinton added , ""Free and fair elections are essential."

A few days ago Clinton was waffling on the issue of Egypt. Clinton must realize that is is over for the Mubarak regime.

Obama Has No Afghanistan Strategy

Another example of why President Obama is not a policy wonk or takes policy seriously: special adviser Richard Holbrooke announced that the United States has no exit strategy for Afghanistan.

"We do not have an exit strategy but a transition strategy," Holbrooke said, adding that "2014 is not the end of international presence in Afghanistan (but) to be sure there will be some drawdown (of troops) in July next year. The size and pace will be decided by the president."

Translation: the Obama administration is winging this. Last year, Robert Gibbs told Chip Reid of CBS News that the 2011 withdrawal date was "locked" in. Gibbs' statement contradicted those of Sec. of State Hillary Clinton and Sec. of Defense Robert Gates. Both said that their offices had made no plans for withdawal in 2011. Bob Woodward reported that General David Petraeus has refused to provide President Obama with an exit strategy for Afghanistan. Obama could have fired Petraeus for insubordination. Obama chose political safety over firing a General who undermined his own policy.

We now know the the 2011 date is not "locked" in. Obama's promise of Afghan police and military ready to fend for themselves by 2011 was pure fantasy. Obama has never adequately addressed what is the mission in Afghanistan. Reports indicate al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden have moved to Pakistan.

During the election, Obama hinted at sending in troops into Pakistan. With the expection of special forces and predator drones; Obama has not given any indication of using full military manpower to invade al-Qaeda strongholds in Pakistan.

In 2009, military contractors outnumbered troops in Afghanistan. Phillip Carter and Paul Glastris wrote a highly controversial article in The Washington Monthly making the case to reinstitute the draft.

But there's a deeper problem, one that any president who chose to invade a country the size of Iraq would have faced. In short, America's all-volunteer military simply cannot deploy and sustain enough troops to succeed in places like Iraq while still deterring threats elsewhere in the world. Simply adding more soldiers to the active duty force, as some are now suggesting, may sound like a good solution. But it's not, for sound operational and pragmatic reasons. America doesn't need a bigger standing army; it needs a deep bench of trained soldiers held in reserve who can be mobilized to handle the unpredictable but unevitable wars and humanitarian interventions of the future. And while there are several ways for an all-volunteer force can create some extra surge capacity, all of them are limited.

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have made it more difficult to retain and recruit soldiers. This is why the United States has relied heavily on contractors. These military contractors do not report to the military chain of command have endangered U.S. troops and civilians. Obama will keep using contractors because he knows the draft would be highly unpopular with the American public.

Obama's Afghanistan policy has nothing to do with defeating al-Qaeda or killing Osama bin Laden. Obama isn't willing to institute a policy that would remove troops from Afghanistan or defeat the al-Qaeda network in Pakistan. Obama is looking for a solution that will cause him the least amount of political pain. Unfortunately, brave men and women will die because Obama is more concerned with being elected for a second term.

Obama's Passive Case Against Koran Burning

I watched George Stephanopoulos ask President Barack Obama his feelings on Pastor Terry Jones, of the Dove World Outreach Center, plans to burn 200 Korans on September 11th. Obama speaks in a low and unconfident sounding voice. There is no forcefulness in his voice. The best he can do is wish Jones will "listen to his better angels." Jones said he is willing to die in order to burn the Koran. The angels have left the Space Ship Terry Jones long ago.

Obama sounds like he is afraid he will offend someone or get accused of being a Muslim if he comes out against Koran burning. The people that would be offended would never vote for Obama. The Dove World Outreach Center has been universally condemned by religious leaders, Gen. David Petraeus and even Sarah Palin.Hillary Clinton did a better job articulating the Obama administration's position on the Koran burning.

No Deadline For Afghanistan Withdrawal

Sec. of Defense Robert Gates and Sec. of State Hillary Clinton told Bob Schieffer there is no absolute deadline to pull troops out of Afghanistan. Gates and Clinton do their best to spin. The fact is President Barack Obama said troops will start pulling out in July of 2011.

But taken together, these additional American and international troops will allow us to accelerate handing over responsibility to Afghan forces, and allow us to begin the transfer of our forces out of Afghanistan in July of 2011. Just as we have done in Iraq, we will execute this transition responsibly, taking into account conditions on the ground. We'll continue to advise and assist Afghanistan's security forces to ensure that they can succeed over the long haul. But it will be clear to the Afghan government -- and, more importantly, to the Afghan people -- that they will ultimately be responsible for their own country.

White House Press Sec. Robert Gibbs told CBS News Chip Reid the july 2001 deadline was locked in. Troops would be coming home at the deadline. Clinton and Gates are publicly stating there is no guarantee of U.S. military personal coming back at that time.

SCHIEFFER: But Mr. Secretary, is there a deadline or is there not?

GATES: There isn’t a deadline. What we have is a specific date on which we will begin transferring responsibility for security district by district, province by province in Afghanistan to the Afghans. The process of that and the subsequent thinning of our forces will take place over a period of time and will happen and will be done based on conditions on the ground. And the decision on that will be made by our commanders in the field.

Clinton told Schieffer troops will come home based "on conditions on the ground."

SCHIEFFER: But does that mean, Madame Secretary, that American forces will still be there as we start… That they’re not going to start bringing the troops home? That we’ll just begin handing over responsibility?

CLINTON: No, it means that as we assess the conditions on the ground we will be transferring responsibility to the Afghans. And depending on the assessment at the time, that means some of our troops can begin coming home. I think that…

SCHIEFFER: Can begin coming home?

CLINTON: Absolutely, can begin coming home.

SCHIEFFER: But not will begin coming home?

The Obama administration is starting to sound like the Bush administration. I have been hawkish on Afghanistan and was hoping for an increase in Special Forces missions into Pakistan to hunt down al-Qaeda. There is no talk about capturing or killing Osama bin Laden or destroying al-Qaeda in their Pakistan hiding places. (Or wherever the hell they are.) Obama is esculating a war with a fantasy of President Karzai's corrupt government being able to create military and police forces. Karzai wants America in Afghanistan forever. The moment America leaves his corrupt regime will leave.

Obama is playing centrist politics with Afghanistan. He doesn't want to be accused of being weak by Republicans. Obama also wants to keep the anti-war Democratic base happy with a deadline. The only thing Obama has successfully done is piss off both sides. This is cynical politics at it's worse.

Quote of the Day

""We have expressed concern about the number of Venezuelan arms purchases.They outpace all other countries in South America... And certainly raise questions as to whether there is going to be an arms race in the region."

Sec. of State Hillary Clinton

Is Clinton serious about an arms race with Venezuela or is this just tough rhetoric?

Hillary Clinton on Afghanistan Elections

Hillary Clinton issued a statement on the upcoming Afghanistan elections. Most Afghan citizens are illiterate. Many Afghans live away from polling stations. The President Hamid Karzai government has attempted to bride the Taliban into not staging attacks during the election. The difficulties of holding elections is extreme. The votes will take weeks to count.

We need to destroy al-Qaeda and get the hell out of Afghanistan.

"In three days’ time, the Afghan people will go to the polls to elect a President and new Provincial Councils. This election day will not be without its challenges, but the Afghan people have seen unparalleled campaigning, debate and dialogue in their country. Presidential candidates have debated each other in public and travelled throughout the country to talk to voters. The Afghan media and Afghan leaders have made politics accessible to Afghans in new ways. The Afghan people should be commended for their courage in conducting this election despite the stresses of wartime, and we and the international community are proud to support them.

The United States of America remains impartial in this election. We do not support or oppose any particular candidate. Like the Afghan people we want to see credible, secure and inclusive elections that all will judge legitimate. We hope that, from top to bottom, every effort will be taken to make election day secure, to eliminate fraud, and to address any complaints fairly and quickly.

It will be several days before we have preliminary results and we hope initial reports will refrain from speculation until results are announced. Final results could take several weeks. We call on candidates and their supporters to behave responsibly before and after the elections.

Finally, we look forward to working with whomever the Afghan people select as their leaders for the next five years. We trust that the next President, as well as provincial council members also being elected at this time, will work for the interests of all the people of Afghanistan," Clinton said.