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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (134741)	7/17/2013 6:03:39 PM
From: John Vosilla	Respond to of 149317

Carrying changes people. Zimmerman was, well, a wimp. Martin would have kicked his ass, without the gun. Great point. Also Trayvon could sense Zimmerman was a flabby short weak fellow that he thought he would easily overpower him in unarmed combat. It was no win in the end with very poor judgment all around, neither should be heroes used as political football and no one should have died over something so trivial. I just wish Jackson and Sharpton concentrate on other things like state by state repeal of conceal and carry laws plus bringing back jobs and training in the poor inner cities instead of wasting political capital going for the civll rights action against Zimmerman

To: Road Walker who wrote (134741)	7/18/2013 11:18:55 AM
From: tejek	1 Recommendation Recommended By Road Walker Respond to of 149317

Mitch McConnell's control starts to slip By Steve Benen - Thu Jul 18, 2013 10:36 AM EDT When senators got together this week to strike a deal on filibusters, the nuclear option, and confirmation votes, there was one senator who was noticeably absent from the negotiating table: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Ordinarily, since the Kentucky Republican leads the GOP caucus, McConnell would be helping lead the talks, but this week, that role fell to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). By last night, the Minority Leader went so far as to chide his party's negotiators -- a move that was not well received. A meeting of Senate Republicans on Wednesday grew tense as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told his members he could have gotten a better deal on nominations than the one negotiated by rank-and-file Republicans. McConnell's tone, according to multiple sources, implied that he had been kept in the dark about the talks between some in his own ranks and Democrats. However, those same Republicans say they kept McConnell updated throughout their negotiating process. *Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., got so frustrated with McConnell's presentation of events, that he called "bullst" loud enough for the room to hear, nearly a half-dozen sources said.*** As a rule, when senators are shouting "bullpucky" -- or perhaps a related word with a similar prefix -- at their own party's leader, it's not a good sign. But taking a step back, there are two larger points. The first is that there seems to be a contingent within the Senate GOP -- a group that clearly includes McCain, at least for now -- that's not altogether satisfied with McConnell's style. This contingent appears to be getting impatient over the Senate's breakdowns and dysfunction, and this week, they were even willing to go around him and negotiate with Democratic leaders directly. That's really not a good sign for McConnell. When rank-and-file members decide their leader isn't getting the job done so they circumvent him to strike their own deal, it suggests McConnell's control is slipping badly. Indeed, the Louisville Courier-Journal published a hard-hitting editorial this morning, noting that some of McConnell's "more rational Republican colleagues in the U.S. Senate pushed him aside," leaving the leader "sidelined." The piece added, "It is a stunning fall from power for Mr. McConnell, famous for marching his members in lock-step party discipline, and could leave him considerably weakened as he seeks a sixth Senate term, touting his power and influence." McConnell's re-election platform is largely based on touting his leadership role on the Hill. The claim is looking increasingly shaky. The second larger point to keep in mind is that the Republican Party's fissures are getting increasingly difficult to ignore. The House GOP caucus is split in a variety of ways, and Mitch McConnell's control over his Senate caucus is crumbling. Meanwhile, some ugly Republican primary fights are likely to take shape in the coming months, and Rand Paul is battling Liz Cheney in a proxy fight over neo-conservatism. It's against this backdrop that the GOP is looking at polls showing an unpopular party pushing an unpopular agenda. After the Republicans' electoral setbacks in 2012, party leaders immediately got to work on a "rebranding" effort that was discarded within a couple of months. That time probably would have been better spent elsewhere.

To: Road Walker who wrote (134741)	7/19/2013 2:59:35 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 149317

I am glad he's making this statement. I didn't think he would given all the flack he's gotten for saying he could have had a son that looks like Trayvon. Trayvon 'could have been me' By Justin Sink - 07/19/13 01:54 PM ET President Obama on Friday offered stark comments about race in his first on-camera remarks since a Florida jury found George Zimmerman not guilty of killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. In a surprise appearance at the White House press briefing, Obama said he’d been a victim of racial profiling and empathized with black Americans outraged by Zimmerman’s acquittal. “There are very few African-American men who haven't had the experience of being followed in a department store,” he said. “That includes me.” After Martin was killed, Obama said the teenager would look like his son if he had one. On Friday, he compared himself to Martin, and said the death of the Florida teen should be put into the context of the history of American race relations. “I said this could have been my son, another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago, and when you think about why, in the African-American community at least, there’s a lot of pain around what happened here, I think it's important to recognize that the African-American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that doesn't go away,” Obama said. Obama also called for a review of so-called “stand your ground” laws, asking if they were “contributing to the kind of peace and order we would have like to see.” “It'd be useful for us to examine some state and local laws to see if they are designed in such a way that they may encourage the kind of altercations and confrontations and tragedies we saw in the Florida case,” Obama said. The president said he also hoped to find other ways to “learn some lessons from this and move in a positive direction.” He suggested it would be “productive” for the Justice Department to work with state and local law enforcement officials to “reduce the mistrust” with the African-American community. And he said he would encourage churches, families and workspaces to more critically examine their racial attitudes. “Those of us in authority should be doing everything in our power to encourage the better angels of our nature,” Obama said. But the president’s remarks — which appeared unscripted — also touched on the complexities of American race relations, and the difficult questions that had arisen in the aftermath of the Martin shooting. He said that it was important to interpret the frustration of the African-American community “in a historical context.” “I don’t wand to exaggerate this, but those sets of experiences inform how the African-American community interprets what happened one night in Florida,” Obama said. “It’s inescapable for people to bring those experience to bear.” The president noted “a history of racial disparity in the application of our criminal laws,” and suggested things would have been different were Martin white. “Folks understand the challenges that exist for African-American boys, but they get frustrated if they feel there is no context for it and that context is being denied,” Obama said. “And that all contributes, I think, to a sense that if a white male teen was involved in the same kind of scenario, that from both top to bottom both the outcome and the aftermath might be different.” But the president also emphasized that the trial had been conducted fairly and properly. “They rendered a verdict, and once the jury has spoken, that's how our system works,” Obama said. The president said those in the African-American community were not “naïve about the fact that African-American men are disproportionately ... both perpetrators and victims of violence.” “Statistically someone like Trayvon Martin was statistically more likely to be shot by a peer than he was someone else,” Obama said. Read more: thehill.com