2015 American Politics Thread: The 114th Congress Is in the House!

MSF/DWB:

“MSF is disgusted by the recent statements coming from some Afghanistan government authorities justifying the attack on its hospital in Kunduz. These statements imply that Afghan and US forces working together decided to raze to the ground a fully functioning hospital with more than 180 staff and patients inside because they claim that members of the Taliban were present.

“This amounts to an admission of a war crime. This utterly contradicts the initial attempts of the US government to minimize the attack as ‘collateral damage.’

“There can be no justification for this abhorrent attack on our hospital that resulted in the deaths of MSF staff as they worked and patients as they lay in their beds. MSF reiterates its demand for a full transparent and independent international investigation.”

https://theintercept.com/2015/10/05/the-radically-changing-story-of-the-u-s-airstrike-on-afghan-hospital-from-mistake-to-justification/

these doctors appear to be fucking furious. good for them.

MSF is probably the safest enemy of the Pentagon to donate to, tho i'd like to spread the love around today

whatta maroon
https://twitter.com/monicacrowley/status/651043858541879296

well, she was in Richard Nixon's company for several years.

Was that Simply Red billboard from East Berlin too?

She's since clarified that it was irony.

other things that work:
-asbestos
-thalidomide
-chemical weapons
-leaded gasoline

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/business/trans-pacific-partnership-trade-deal-is-reached.html

Its full 30-chapter text will not be available for perhaps a month, but labor unions, environmentalists and liberal activists are poised to argue that the agreement favors big business over workers and environmental protection. Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the Pacific trade accord as “a bad deal,” injecting conservative populism into the debate and emboldening some congressional Republicans who fear for local interests like sugar and rice, and many conservatives who oppose Mr. Obama at every turn.

Good week for Obama! With TPP, he's guaranteed lots of dough for his library, board positions for Michelle, and lots more corporate thank you's! AND, he got to test how good he's gotten at killing people (as he himself said) by blowing up a hospital! Kids in burning beds! He's so...likable, isn't he?

shd give him another peace prize

firemccarthy.com

Cool logo Alan Keyes

Spencer Ackerman
‏@attackerman

4th time in 4 days US changed story on Kunduz strike.
1: dunno if hospital hit
2. hospital accid hit
3 Afghs call it in
4 US SOF call it in

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/06/doctors-without-borders-airstrike-afghanistan-us-account-changes-again

WASHINGTON — Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah admits he is not the best candidate to become speaker of the House. He fully expects to lose when his Republican colleagues pick their nominee on Thursday. But opportunity for Mr. Chaffetz is like the scent of an airport Cinnabon, and he has a habit of racing to its smell.

lol what

hahahahahaha

that is awesome

look, he travels a lot okay, don't judge

i can almost hear the hunger pangs of the NYT reporter writing that

http://jpupdates.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ap_jason_chaffetz_jef_150116_16x9_992-400x324.jpg

http://images2.dallasobserver.com/imager/u/original/7044482/cinnabon.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDxuaOgtaUA

http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.2085378.1421780860!/img/httpImage/animation-48.gif

loving Eric Cantor's expression: "Alright, asshole, whatcha got?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8NI1pcIeYI

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/matt-drudge-interview-obama-isis-issa

Matt Drudge, founder of the Drudge Report, joined radio host Alex Jones for a rare interview on Tuesday during which he spoke about his latest conspiracy theory.

He said that the Obama administration began referring to the Islamic State as "ISIS" so that the group would be confused with Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the former chairman of the House Oversight Committee.

"We never heard of ISIS until recently," Drudge told Jones. "Do you know it was designed to be confused with Darrell Issa?"

According to Drudge, President Obama decided to do that "because Darrell Issa was the enemy at the time of this administration." He noted that Obama could have been impeached over the IRS scandal, which Issa investigated as chairman.

"They came up with the name ISIS to be confused with Darrell Issa. I’m really being honest with you," Drudge said.

Drudge did not appear in the video of Jones' interview with him, and Jones said that Drudge stood in the dark in the studio with a handheld microphone.

whoa dude

tinfoil is in aisle six

http://i.imgur.com/l9F1XNE.gifhttp://i.imgur.com/S41vAv2.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/l9F1XNE.gif

interesting how obama still calls them 'ISIL'

wait, you don't know why he does that, do you?

let's just say i hope you don't any stock in Lysol

he's tired of being ISILated by Congress

surprised that drudge didn't arrive at that conclusion via a detour through egyptian mythology

https://talesfromahungrylife.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/isis-show.jpg

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/08/world/middleeast/russia-syria-conflict.html

At certain points in Wednesday’s fighting, rebels fired advanced TOW antitank missiles, supplied covertly by the C.I.A., at Syria’s Russian-made tanks, leaving the impression of a proxy war between Russia and the United States. Videos posted by rebel groups, including the American-backed Division 17 and Suqour al-Ghab, showed the guided missiles sailing toward approaching tanks and destroying them.

probably the wrong thread for that but idk shit seems crazy

We are this close to that scene in Iron Man where Tony Stark sees a bomb about to blow up and it has his name on it.

, leaving the impression of a proxy war between Russia and the United States.

"the impression"

is there no thread on Syria? besides MENA? russia is supporting assad, who the U.S. opposes. russia is bombing some but not all of the rebel groups. U.S. is supporting some but not all of those rebel groups. everyone hates ISIS. things are getting even more messed up, somehow.

oh btw happy birthday Putin. what a marvelous gift to yourself

back in american politics, it looks like the freedom caucus (god i hate typing that) isn't going to vote for mccarthy:

...Just as I was getting ready to push publish on this post, we got word that the 'Freedom Caucus' has chosen to vote for Daniel Webster, a far right member of the House who among other things is closely tied to the now-disgraced, cult leader beloved and followed by the Duggar family.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/if-only-they-had-boehner

looool

While it's unlikely that the 40-or-so member caucus will be enough to thwart McCarthy's selection in the closed-door GOP conference Thursday, their refusal to support him spells trouble for when the issue comes to the full House, where 218 votes will be required to elect the next speaker.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) suggested Tuesday that Democrats will vote for Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), meaning if enough Republicans continue to resist McCarthy as speaker, it could set the stage for a protracted floor fight.

well this should be fun

these idiots can't seem to accomplish anything without it becoming a fucking fiasco

Don't the parties always vote for their own anyway?

I mean, I've mentioned this before, but in our state assembly a few years ago, the Democratic minority sided with a a minority of Republicans to elevate a moderate GOP candidate to Speaker over the more extreme GOP candidate the majority of Republicans favored.

Now, that's not how it works on the federal level - each party nominates a candidate and then they take a vote. So who gives a fuck what Steny Hoyer has to say?

Pelosi's been saying that for years.

they are inspired in their ability to continue to distract everyone from their refusal to do anything but what needs to be done -- raise taxes on ultra rich assholes

or something like that