In a Sept. 18, 2010 file photo, the Development Driller III, which drilled the relief well and pumped the cement to seal the Macondo well, the source of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and oil spill, is seen in the Gulf Of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana, on the day well was declared dead.
Day: December 18, 2016
GOP again eyes sanctuary cities ban due to political tide
Texas Republicans are gearing up for a new fight to ban so-called sanctuary cities in the 2017 legislative session. Gov. Greg Abbott has pushed the issue to the front of his unofficial agenda with pledges to sanction cities and local government seen as protecting people in the U.S. illegally.
Podesta Refuses To Say Election Was ‘Free And Fair’ [VIDEO]
Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta refused two separate times on Sunday to acknowledge that last month’s election was “free and fair.” “Do you believe this was a free and fair election?” NBC “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd asked Podesta, whose hacked emails were published online during the campaign.
Donna Brazile Contradicts Obama’s Claim That Hacking Stopped After His Warning To Putin [VIDEO]
Donna Brazile, the interim head of the Democratic National Committee, disputed President Obama’s recent claim that the Russian government stopped hacking Democrats’ emails after he warned Russian president Vladimir Putin of consequences for the attacks several months ago. “President Obama also said that the cyber attacks stopped after he warned Putin is that right that they stopped?” ABC News’ Martha Raddatz asked Brazile during an interview on Sunday morning.
Trump Cabinet excites his voters: ‘We have to trust him’
As each Cabinet announcement draws fresh criticism of the wealth, connections or opinions of Donald Trump’s latest appointees, many Americans who voted for him say the president-elect is doing what he promised to do: draining the swamp. To them, the idea of a defence secretary nicknamed “Mad Dog” is bliss.
Kellyanne Conway: CIA Should Go and Testify and Stop Leaking to the Media
Kellyanne reminded Howard Kurtz that the CIA leaked information to the press but refused to testify in Congress this past week on their allegations. Kellyanne Conway: Hillary Clinton is telling donors at her party or wake or whatever you want to call it that Russian hacking affected the election results.
The Trump Cabinet: Bonfire of the agencies
Democrats spent the first two decades of the post-Cold War era rather relaxed about Russian provocations and revanchism. President Barack Obama famously mocked Mitt Romney in 2012 for suggesting that Russia was our principal geopolitical adversary.
Saturday Night Live smashes ‘Love Actually’ comedy spoof with Hillary …
Everyone remembers that scene in Love Actually, when Andrew Lincoln turns up at Keira Knightley’s door with a hi-fi, chunky jumper and messages of almost creepy love written on white card. Everyone remembers that scene in Love Actually, when Andrew Lincoln turns up at Keira Knightley’s door with a hi-fi, chunky jumper and messages of almost creepy love written on white card.
China says it will give drone back, but Trump says a keep ita
In this undated photo released by the U.S. Navy Visual News Service, the USNS Bowditch, a T-AGS 60 Class Oceanographic Survey Ship, sails in open water. The USNS Bowditch, a civilian U.S. Navy oceanographic survey ship, was recovering two drones on Thursday when a Chinese navy ship approached and sent out a small boat that took one of the drones, said Navy Capt.
Trump Cabinet excites his voters: a We have to trust hima
As each Cabinet announcement draws fresh criticism of the wealth, connections or opinions of Donald Trump’s latest appointees, many Americans who voted for him say the president-elect is doing what he promised to do: draining the swamp. To them, the idea of a defence secretary nicknamed “Mad Dog” is bliss.
Kill Metro, Kill DC
Sure the DC region will long boom due to The Company, but the city itself will be pretty screwed if Metro is allowed to rot . While slightly less true in DC than in other places, generally the powers that be don’t use public transit and don’t understand its importance.
‘I’m asking you a simple question’: Fox News host confronts RNC chair …
‘I’m asking you a simple question’: Fox News host confronts RNC chair over Trump’s denial of Russia hacks Fox News anchor Chris Wallace on Sunday pushed President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming chief of staff to answer whether Trump believes US intelligence reports that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election through strategically hacked and leaked private emails from the Democratic Party organizations and officials. In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Wallace interjected when Reince Priebus argued first that Trump would accept US intelligence findings if they were made public.
POLL: A majority of Republicans think Trump won the popular vote
A survey conducted by the research company Qualtrics showed that 52% of Republican voters think that Donald Trump won the popular vote in November’s general election, despite nationwide totals giving Hillary Clinton almost a 3 million -vote edge. The survey, published Sunday and first reported on by the Washington Post , found that in total, 29% of people surveyed thought Trump won the popular vote.
‘The Big Short’ author Michael Lewis tells us about his…
Lewis, the author of ” The Big Short ” and ” Moneyball ,” didn’t go the typical romance route, though. His new book, ” The Undoing Project ,” tells the story of Daniel “Danny” Kahneman and Amos Tversky, two best friends who revolutionized cognitive psychology.
US Secretary of State discusses Yemen war on Saudi trip
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Saudi King Salman and others Sunday to discuss the war in Yemen, a visit to the kingdom that likely will be his last as America’s top diplomat. Kerry’s trip, ahead of the inauguration of Republican President-elect Donald Trump, comes as diplomatic ties between the two longtime allies have been strained by the Iran nuclear deal championed by Democratic President Barack Obama and other issues.
3 groups of Cubans totalling 51 migrants land in Florida Keys
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said the groups landed Sunday between 5:30 a.m. and 7:40 a.m. The first group of 11 migrants landed in the upper Keys in Tavernier. The second group of 22 migrants landed just north of Key West.
Trump action on health care could cost Planned Parenthood
One of President-elect Donald Trump’s first, and defining, acts next year could come on Republican legislation to cut off taxpayer money from Planned Parenthood. Trump sent mixed signals during the campaign about the 100-year-old organization which provides birth control, abortions and various women’s health services.
The New York Times And Me
I gave up reading The New York Times after getting fed up with its biased reporting and the blatant editorializing in its news pages circa the late eighties and early nineties when the Times did everything it could to bring down the Reagan presidency and demolish the presidency of the elder Bush. Yet in the run-up to this most recent presidential election I found myself reading the Times again, partly because a Facebook correspondent called me out on disparaging the Times’s recent coverage when I was no longer a regular reader and partly because a neighbor asked me to take her paper in while she was away.
Former congressman to lie in repose on capitol grounds
Hechler died Dec. 10 at his home in Romney. He was 102. The Register-Herald reports Hechler’s body will be available for public viewing on Monday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Culture Center at the West Virginia Capitol Complex.
Today in History
On Dec. 18, 1916, during World War I, the 10-month Battle of Verdun ended with French troops succeeding in repulsing a major German offensive. In 1863, in a speech to the Prussian Parliament, Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck declared, “Politics is not an exact science.”
Trump takes on First Lady’s ‘no hope’ comment
President-elect Donald Trump said first lady Michelle Obama “must have been talking about the past” when she said there’s no sense of hope after his election. Trump, speaking Saturday at the final rally of his post election “thank you” tour, then resisted escalating the spat further, suggesting “she made that statement not meaning it the way it came out.”
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The Pentagon on Saturday said that Beijing had agreed to return an underwater drone seized by China in international waters, an indication that the two countries were moving to resolve an unusual incident that risked sharpening tensions in the run-up to the inauguration of President-elect Donald J. Trump. “Through direct engagement with Chinese authorities, we have secured an understanding that the Chinese will return the U.U.V. to the United States,” said Peter Cook, the Pentagon press secretary, using initials to refer to the Navy’s unmanned underwater vehicle.
Why such a conservative cabinet
It seems clear that Donald Trump will end up with the most conservative Cabinet of any president in my lifetime. And yes, that includes Ronald Reagan .
Biden, mourners pay tribute to John Glenn, American hero
The nation’s vice president and a retired Marine Corps general were among the dignitaries, family members and other mourners who choked up Saturday during a memorial tribute to the late space hero John Glenn. Roughly 2,500 people gathered at Mershon Auditorium on the Ohio State University campus for “a celebration of life” for the former fighter pilot, history-making astronaut and longtime Democratic U.S. senator from small-town Ohio.
What the electors say about efforts to derail Donald Trump
Elector Rex Teter, 59, a teacher and preacher in Pasadena, Texas, received 35,000 e-mails and 200 letters urging him not to support Donald Trump. He won’t change his vote.
Trump says US should let China keep the drone
President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday on Twitter the United States should let China keep the U.S. Navy’s unmanned underwater glider that it seized in the South China Sea. “We should tell China that we don’t want the drone they stole back.- let them keep it!” Trump tweeted a few hours after the U.S. military announced it had reached an understanding with China for the return of the underwater glider.
Trump Mocks at China
US President-elect Donald Trump got plenty of attention — but not the kind he was looking for — after a tweet today calling out China for its seizure of an unmanned US naval probe. “China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters — rips it out of water and takes it to China in unpresidented act,” the real estate magnate wrote on his favorite platform.
Paul Choiniere
To continue reading up to 10 premium articles, you must register , or sign up and take advantage of this exclusive offer: While many focus on holiday preparations, it is that time of year for a crusty old political writer such as myself to take stock of the political scene and where things may be headed. Not to be a complete pre-recovery Scrooge, however, I tuned the radio to some Christmas tunes while writing.
Op-ed: Red flags over Trump Towers
There is a really good reason to support Senate confirmation of Rex Tillerson to be President-elect Donald Trump’s secretary of state: Tony Perkins opposes him. Perkins is the president of the Family Research Council, otherwise known as the Bedroom Busybodies.
Op-ed: Faking the news
Mainstream media are suddenly concerned about “fake news.” It used to be that phony stories were easy to spot.
Is giving an invocation an individual right?
In the Town of Greece, New York v. Galloway, the U.S. Supreme Court found the tradition of legislative bodies inviting local clergy to open meeting with an invocation to be constitutional, provided that minority faiths are not excluded.
Trump says Michelle Obama’s ‘no hope’ comment about the past
President-elect Donald Trump said first lady Michelle Obama “must have been talking about the past” when she said there’s no sense of hope after his election. Trump, speaking Saturday at the final rally of his postelection “thank you” tour, then resisted escalating the spat further, suggesting “she made that statement not meaning it the way it came out.”
Guest column/John Glenn never stopped dreaming, serving
We recently lost an American hero and the longest-serving United States senator in Ohio history.
Japan overtakes China as largest US debt holder
Japan surpassed China in October as the largest foreign owner of United States Treasury securities, the first time the countries have swapped places in nearly two years. Total foreign holdings fell for a fourth month.
Action needed to guide US regional priorities
In this April 2009 photo, President of the United States Barack Obama speaks with then Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper , and then Prime Minister of Jamaica, Bruce Golding , at the Summmit of the Americas in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. The US has passed a new law in December 2016 that will form the basis for its foreign policy with the Caribbean.
As Electoral College vote nears, GOP electors are deluged with pleas to bolt from Donald Trump
His work computer holds 70,000 recent emails from across the country. Hundreds of written letters clog his mailbox.
Rowe a candidate for Sessions’ Senate seat
A state lawmaker from Walker County has suddenly become a candidate to replace U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions in Congress should he be confirmed as attorney general. A state lawmaker from Walker County has suddenly become a candidate to replace U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions in Congress should he be confirmed as attorney general.
The Latest: Obama tees off vacation with round of golf
The latest on President Barack Obama’s annual two-week vacation in Hawaii : President Barack Obama enjoyed the first day of his annual holiday vacation in Hawaii playing over four hours of golf under mostly sunny skies at the marine base on the island of Oahu, where he was born. Before leaving the base, the president passed by a giant Christmas tree decorated with colorful ornaments, a tradition on base.
Biden, other mourners choke up in tribute to John Glenn
The nation’s vice president and a retired Marine Corps general were among the dignitaries, family members and other mourners who choked up Saturday during a memorial tribute to the late space hero John Glenn. for the former fighter pilot, history-making astronaut and longtime Democratic U.S. senator from small-town Ohio.