Fallout Seen Worldwide From Republicans' Letter to Iran

Fallout Seen Worldwide From Republicans' Letter to Iran

The fallout from the open letter sent by 47 Republican senators to Iran’s leaders reverberated worldwide Wednesday from Washington to Tehran.

What's the difference between Republicans and Iranian hardliners? Beards. - Kona Lowell

The World Is A Safer Place Without Saddam

• Bulgaria, United States to start military drills amid Ukraine crisis
• FBI chief warns of Islamic State recruits, lone wolf attacks
• Russian state TV shows Putin for first time in days
• EU unlikely to agree next week to prolong Russia sanctions
• Obama administration to start new group to advise on veterans issues

Letting Republicans run things is like giving a flamethrower to a toddler. Horrifying, and not going to end well.- Jeff Tiedrich tweet




Mr. Maduro Is Coming To Washington?
Ridiculing the U.S. qualification of Venezuela as a security threat, President Nicolas Maduro said on Thursday he may travel to Washington to challenge American counterpart Barack Obama.

Ferguson Is Calm After Police Shot
Protesters called for calm but vowed to keep pushing for change in Ferguson a day after the shooting of two officers in front of the city's police department heightened tensions in the St. Louis suburb.

Republican Shenanigans

• Rudy Giuliani commends Darren Wilson, blames Obama for Ferguson officer shootings
• Missouri GOPer Caught On Fox News Open Mic: ‘That Is Terrible TV’
• SAE’s Oklahoma chapter -- angry at being ‘tarred and feathered' -- plans to sue university and president Boren
• Iowa House passes bill requiring ultrasound before abortion

Quinnipiac poll: 23% trust FOX News.  59% trust other sources.  Ergo, trolls tell me FOX is our most trusted news source.- John Fugelsang

Crazed Christians Want Another Crusade
The Rev. Franklin Graham on Wednesday hypothesized that President Obama's hesitancy to fight the Islamic State terror group was because Obama's mother "must have been a Muslim."

Lowest approval rating
GW Bush 22%
Nixon 24
Carter 28
HW Bush 29
Reagan 35
Clinton 38
Obama 41



I mean Jeb's brother lost the election but somehow the state Jeb was governor of swung the presidency to W. Not like that's any big deal.- LOLGOP

Rock The Voter News

• Obama: 'No excuse' for violence against Ferguson police
• Obama disappointed by latest Secret Service incident

Jeb Bush release *all* his emails? It's not like he was involved in a voter purge and a legal battle that gave his brother the presidency?- LOLGOP

Texas Wants No Cop Filmed
A bill introduced to the Texas House of Representatives would make it illegal for private citizens to record police within 25 feet.

President Obama's trying to work out a nuclear deal with Iran, and the Republicans are steamed. They got together and sent Iran a letter about the nuclear deal. They said if this doesn't work, by God, they're going to send Seth Rogen and James Franco. - David Letterman




Business/Tech News

• Oil slips toward $56 as IEA predicts growing glut
• Oil CEOs Press Obama Administration to Lift Export Ban
• North Dakota's job landscape shifting (for now) away from Big Oil
• Oil field blast kills one worker, injures another in New Mexico

GOP Footshooting Injuries Increase
Evidence that ongoing negotiations with Iran to limit its development of fissile nuclear material were damaged by the decision by 47 Republican Senators to sign on to a letter drafted by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) continued to mount Thursday. Key leaders in Germany and the United Kingdom said the letter, warning the leaders of Iran that Congressional Republicans would not recognize the validity of the deal after President Obama leaves office, had made negotiations more difficult. 




Of course #GOPWantsWar. If defense contractors were lining your pockets, you'd want war, too.- Jeff Tiedrich tweet

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Odd News

• German employers get creative to skirt new minimum wage
• Pope not expecting many anniversaries at the Vatican
• Man serves 900 days in jail, though he didn't commit a crime
• Arctic eclipse alert: hotels full, it's cold, polar bears prowl
• Blind dog helps musher make his way along Iditarod route

Time To Deflate Photo

Aerial illusion of an underwater waterfall at Mauritius Island.

Peace.

Ferguson: 2 police officers shot after chief resigns

Ferguson: 2 police officers shot after chief resigns
The overnight shootings of two police officers in Ferguson was an "ambush," St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar told reporters Thursday morning, saying the gunshots were directed at the police.




I hope authorities in Ferguson prosecute the shooter to the full extent of the law. It would be a nice change of pace.- Frank Coniff Tweet

The World Is A Safer Place Without Saddam

• Khamenei condemns Republican letter on Iran, bemoans U.S. 'tricks'
• 14 million children pay price for Syria, Iraq conflicts: UNICEF
• Colonial Williamsburg may help guard Iraq relics imperiled by ISIS
• U.S. Army: $500 million spent on empty buildings as troops cut
• 'Search and rescue' mission still underway for missing U.S. Black Hawk crew

OMG they just found an unauthorized letter on Hillary's hard drive to the Islamist dictators of Iran - oh wait, that wasn't Hillary.- John Fugelsang

The Secret Service Or Keystone Kops?
 President Barack Obama has been briefed on an incident in which two Secret Service officers are alleged to have driven a government-issued car into White House barricades last week after a party, a White House official said on Thursday.











"Jeb Bush is getting his presidential campaign in gear. Last week he said he supports a path to citizenship for immigrants. He said, 'I believe in an America where hard work and dedication can lead to any job that your brother and dad once had.'" –Conan O'Brien

Republican Shenanigans

• Ted Cruz: Same-Sex Marriage Rulings Are 'A Real Danger To Our Liberty'
• Maine GOPer: ISIS is Obama’s ‘family reunion,’ but ‘I’m as far from being a racist as you can get’
• Jon Stewart destroys ‘Morning Joe’ for blaming racist Oklahoma fraternity on ‘the hippity-hoppity’
• Rush Limbaugh: If Kanye West sang the SAE ‘n****r’ chant, it would be a hit record

Asking why the first black president why he hasn't fixed racism is like asking Jackie Robinson why he didn't invent baseball. - LOLGOP

Cruz Contradicts Himself On Death Penalty
Cruz the Politician Champions the Death Penalty. Cruz the Private Lawyer Did Something Else.
In the case of a man wrongfully sentenced to death, Ted Cruz once argued the criminal-justice system couldn't be trusted regarding capital punishment.

"Hillary Clinton used a private email account to conduct official state business. Experts say that if this violates any federal rules, then she . . . will still be president." –Jimmy Fallon




Rock The Voter News

• Obama's 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' visit: Road closures, streets to avoid
• Elizabeth Warren challenges Obama (and Clinton) on trade

Black people to blame for white people's racism, say white people.- LOLGOP




I'd Love To See These Guys Doing The Perp Walk
A petition on whitehouse.gov calling for charges to be filed against the 47 senators who sent an open letter to the leaders of Iran, possibly in violation of the Logan Act, has collected more than 165,000 signatures in less than two days.

Democrats stuck with most vetted candidate in American history who leads every Republican frontrunner, laments press.- LOLGOP

Business/Tech News

• WTI Crude Falls for Third Day as U.S. Inventory Glut Expands
• Applications for US Unemployment Benefits Fall Sharply
• Average US rate on 30-year mortgage rises to 3.86 percent
• German, Dutch central bankers take aim at France over deficit

Any deal on Iran depends on sanctions, which depend on allies, which depend on us negotiating in good faith, which the GOP says we aren't.- LOLGOP

You'll never win the lottery, but you could enjoy a lucrative career as an oil industry-funded climate science skeptic!- John Fugelsang

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I Hope You Had A Good Time Today!

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Odd News

• Inmate admits sending Obama letter threat to wrong address
• Boy hunting pigeons on roof shuts down part of Idaho city
• Dieting dachshund in Ohio goes from obese to svelte
• Ireland rushes through new law after inadvertently legalizing ecstasy
• Shoe Store Robber Spends 15 Years In Prison, Gets Out And Robs Same Shoe Store

Time To Deflate Photo

Mt. Fuji, Japan. Photo/NASA

Peace.

Republican unity shatters after backlash to Iran letter

Republican unity shatters after backlash to Iran letter
The unity that Republicans briefly enjoyed by sending an open letter to Iran in an attempt to disrupt a nuclear deal has cracked, as several conservative congressmen and media outlets described the letter as a folly.





Republicans finally providing some excellent evidence that they're terrible at foreign policy. Besides, of course, that 2001-2008 thing.- LOLGOP

The World Is A Safer Place Without Saddam

• Saudi Arabia recalls ambassador from Sweden as rift widens
• Iraqi forces enter IS-held Tikrit after 10-day push
• Kerry calls for US war powers to strike IS
• IS claims execution of Arab Israeli accused of spying: video
• Exclusive: U.S. asks Vietnam to stop helping Russian bomber flights
• Bomb-sniffing elephants? Not so nutty, US Army says

Today would have been the birthday of Osama bin Laden. It makes me remember when Seal Team 6 threw him a surprise party.- David Letterman




The AP Wants ALL Of Hillary's Email & STUFF
The Associated Press filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the State Department to force the release of email correspondence and government documents from Hillary Rodham Clinton's tenure as secretary of state.

Republican Shenanigans

• FLASHBACK: When Millions Of Lost Bush White House Emails (From Private Accounts) Triggered A Media Shrug
• ‘Morning Joe’ panelists blame Oklahoma fraternity racism on black culture and rap music
• Baton Rouge transit CEO: ‘I would love’ fewer black drivers because they ‘don’t match’ white skin
• Tom Cotton told uninsured voter not to use Obamacare because ‘Russian mobsters’ would steal her identity

Republicans aren't any better at coming up with real Clinton scandals than they are at Obamacare replacements.- LOLGOP

Texas Public School Reads Bible Verses Whether You Like It Or Not!
The superintendent of a Texas school district recently criticized by “Friendly Atheist” Hemant Mehta and the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) for allowing a principal to recite Bible verses under the guise of a “Thought for the Day” announcement struck back on Tuesday with a blog post in which he declared that he would do nothing to stop the practice.

Only 1 person seems to be actively trying to get Elizabeth Warren to run for president, and it's Hillary Clinton.- John Fugelsang

Rock The Voter News

• Senators grill Obama officials on Iran 

Weird. Reporters don't like a a frontrunner who has completely cleared the field on the strength of her biography and experiences.- LOLGOP

Business/Tech News

• US oil price drop on record-high stockpiles 
• Wall St bonuses rise to $28.5 bln; jobs up for first time since 2011
• Fed rate hike fears weigh on stocks as Greece dogs euro
• Russian auto market collapsing, but luxury cars still a must

The guys who went to the Supreme Court because they didn't want to tell us which big oil guys Cheney met with now want ALL the emails.- LOLGOP

Congressional Immunity From Prosecution?
Forty-seven Senate Republicans may have broken the law this week. But no one's losing any sleep over it.
Pundits and legal scholars are raising questions over whether Sen. Tom Cotton and the 46 Senate Republicans violated the Logan Act when they penned a letter to Iran's leaders on Monday, undercutting President Barack Obama's efforts to negotiate a nuclear agreement with those same leaders. The law, passed in 1799, forbids any U.S. citizen -- acting without official U.S. authority -- from influencing "disputes or controversies" involving the U.S. and a foreign government.

Tim Tebow is coming back to the NFL. I'm telling you, this guy has been on the bench more than Judge Judy.
Tim Tebow, you know, originally was thrown out of the NFL for using his personal email account.- David Letterman

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Odd News

• Court: Judge shouldn't have scolded jurors for wrong verdict
• South Africa crime in focus after television reporter mugged on camera
• Passing cars pick up some pot bales tossed from fleeing SUV
• Imprint of license plate in snow leads to burglary suspects
• Girl Scouts aim to boost cookie sales with a drive-thru

Time To Deflate Photo

Lofoten is the name given to a chain of granite mountain-islands, off the coast of Northern Norway, well inside the Arctic Circle, formed during the last ice age into a group of jagged ridges and wild coastlines.

Peace.