February 26, 2016

Rubio: FBI Not Asking Apple For Backdoor To Encryption

During last night’s Republican debate on CNN, Marco Rubio said, “They [FBI] are not asking for Apple to create a backdoor to encryption.” On a very specific parsing of that statement, Rubio might be correct, but what the FBI is asking Apple to do is create code that would be equal to a backdoor, because it would allow the FBI (and anyone else who gets their hands on this code) the ability to try unlimited passcodes using high-speed computers. virtually guaranteeing access to the phone’s data. So sure, on a technicality Rubio might be correct, but make no mistake, Apple is being asked to create code that would make it possible to render the iPhone’s encryption meaningless.

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February 23, 2016

Sanders: Nobody Has Asked For My Birth Certificate

During tonight’s Democratic town hall on CNN, Bernie Sanders connected Republican obstructionism during Obama’s seven years in office to the birther movement led by Donald Trump. “What you are seeing today in this Supreme Court situation, is nothing more than the continuous and unprecedented obstructionism that President Obama has gone through,” said Sanders. “And this is on top of this birther issue — which we heard from Donald Trump and others — a racist effort to try to delegitimize the President of the United States.”

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February 20, 2016

Trump Has Broken All The Rules Of Politics

Jon Ralston said tonight on MSNBC that “Trump has broken all the rules of politics.” Not only that, but Donald Trump has broken the Republican Party. Or maybe more specifically, Trump has confirmed the acerbic, antagonistic, caustic and vindictive conservative voter is in large abundance. Yes, we knew they existed, we just didn’t know how often they occurred in the wild. Trump owned almost every county in the South Carolina primary. And yes, primary voter turnout is typically lower than the general election, but one thing is clear, Trump has enough support within the GOP base to take this the distance. The only question now, does Trump have a ceiling?

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February 17, 2016

9/11: Trump’s Truth, What Republicans Don’t Speak Of

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says whatever is on his mind without much concern for the truth. Stephen Colbert once joked about politicians who speak from the gut on things they “feel” are right, calling it “truthiness.” But, I can think of a lot of other words to describe Donald Trump. Feckless, wretchedness, aggressiveness, righteousness, bitterness, craziness, carelessness, ruthless, reckless.

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February 15, 2016

Sep. 17, 1986: Justice Antonin Scalia’s Supreme Court Confirmation

On September 17, 1986, Antonin Scalia, facing virtually no opposition, was confirmed 98–0 by the Senate. President Reagan’s uber-conservative nominee was confirmed with lightning speed. Now, you may be wondering what the political party makeup was at that time. In the 99th United States Congress, Republicans had 53 members and Democrats had 47 members. So yes, Republicans did indeed control the Senate, but that ultimately didn’t matter, as Democrats went along with Scalia’s confirmation.

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February 15, 2016

The Hillary Clinton Pragmatic-Electability Premise

There are two intertwined premises looming large when one argues in favor of supporting Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. The first premise is that Hillary is the more electable candidate. The second premise is that Hillary will have the most success working with a (presumably) Republican-controlled congress. But, should we accept these premises?

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