Protecting Banks: Today's News for October 25th

Axios:

Senate votes to nullify rule allowing class action suits against banks

The Senate has voted to nullify a rule allowing consumers join together to sue banks or credit card companies, with Vice President Pence breaking the tie. GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham and John Kennedy joined all 48 Democrats in voting no. The rule banned companies from using forced settlements in consumer disputes.

As the AP notes, the rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau "exposed banks to large class-action lawsuits. Supporters say that possibility would help ensure banks, credit card companies and other lenders treat consumers appropriately. The vote comes months after House action and reflects the effort of the Trump administration and congressional Republicans to undo regulations that the GOP argues harm the free market."

Allowing lawsuits harms the free market? Somebody needs to re-educate Republicans on what a free market is.

In other news...

New York Daily News:

Heather Lind accuses ex-Prez George H.W. Bush of sexual assault

An AMC actress claims that former President George H.W. Bush groped her from his wheelchair during a screening.

Heather Lind, who starred in “Turn: Washington’s Spies,” detailed her accusations in a lengthy Instagram post Tuesday, when she said she was “disturbed” after seeing a photo of President Obama with the 41st president.

“I found it disturbing because I recognize the respect ex-presidents are given for having served. And I feel pride and reverence toward many of the men in the photo. But when I got the chance to meet George H. W. Bush four years ago to promote a historical television show I was working on, he sexually assaulted me while I was posing for a similar photo,” Lind, 34, wrote.

“He didn’t shake my hand. He touched me from behind from his wheelchair with his wife Barbara Bush by his side. He told me a dirty joke. And then, all the while being photographed, touched me again. Barbara rolled her eyes as if to say ‘not again.’ His security guard told me I shouldn’t have stood next to him for the photo.”

...In a statement to the Daily News, the former President did not deny the allegations.

"President Bush would never — under any circumstance — intentionally cause anyone distress, and he most sincerely apologizes if his attempt at humor offended Ms. Lind," his spokesman said.

Really? He is going to use the "just kidding" excuse?

Didn't he use that excuse to justify new taxes?

Seriously, in other political news...

CNN:

Clinton campaign, DNC helped fund dossier research

Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee helped fund research that led to the now-infamous dossier of allegations about President Donald Trump and Russia, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

The source said the law firm Perkins Coie, as part of its representation of the Clinton campaign and the DNC, retained the intelligence firm Fusion GPS and entered "into an engagement for research services that began in April 2016 and concluded before the election in early November."

The Washington Post was first to report the news Tuesday.

The newspaper, citing people familiar with the matter, said a lawyer representing the Clinton campaign and the DNC hired Fusion GPS, which in turn hired former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, whose research makes up the document. The Post said Perkins Coie lawyer Marc Elias retained the research firm in April 2016 as the GOP primary was winding down and Trump was increasingly likely to clinch his party's nomination.

CNN previously reported Fusion GPS's anti-Trump research was initially funded by anti-Trump Republicans during the GOP primaries, and Democrats began paying the research firm later on, after Trump became the presumptive nominee. The Washington Post reports that Fusion GPS hired Steele after the Democratic funding began and the general election picture grew clearer.

So let's get this straight: This false report wasn't generated by the U.S. government's intelligence community. It wasn't started or paid for by Republican opposition during the primaries. It WAS paid for by the DNC and the Clinton campaign JOINTLY.

It is crap like this that makes Trump look far better than he deserves. The Democrats have nobody but themselves to blame for the mess of the last election.

Doing Something about the Weather: Today's News for October 24th

"Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it."--Charles Dudley Warner

Fortunately, government to the rescue...

CNN:

Government report calls on Trump to act on climate change

A government report released Monday is sounding an alarm over the threat of climate change, and the government's response.

The US government has spent more than $350 billion over the past decade in response to extreme weather and fire events, and the Government Accountability Office report estimated the US would incur far higher costs as the years progress if global emission rates don't go down.

Note that last statement is based on the infamously unproven theory of anthropogenic climate change. This theory ignores the sun's impact on climate change, and assumes atmospheric processes (such as plant life converting CO2 to O2) are incapable of absorbing the CO2 which mankind creates. But why let scientific facts get in the way of the Left's political crusade? Just keep repeating the mantra often enough, and it will be true. There is no place like home, there is no place like home... 

In other news that at least has the virtue of facts to support it...

Fox Business:

Clinton Uranium One deal: 

FBI informant blocked by Obama-era AG can unlock key info, attorney says

An informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is under a gag order that prevents him from testifying before the United States Congress that Russian nuclear officials were involved in fraudulent dealings in 2009 before the Uranium One deal was approved.

Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch blocked the informant from testifying last year and threatened criminal action against him if he were to do so.

In an interview with FOX Business’ Loud Dobbs, Victoria Toensing, the attorney representing the FBI informant, said she has never heard of a criminal penalty for breaching a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).

“If it does and it is unconstitutional and it’s invalid, if it prohibits my client from giving information to the legislature, the executive cannot say to people, ‘Hey, you can’t give information to another body of the government,’” Toensing said.

This story was nicely ignored by the media during the election, even though the New York Times reported on it back in 2015. For more details about it, here is the previous TRUTH story on it. 

But now it appears the Obama administration was also working to cover it up. Once we get past this era of Leftist media, history will not be so kind to Obama and his cronies.

Finally, in some sad news...

BBC:

Raqqa: US coalition 'wiped city off Earth', Russia says

Russia has accused the US-led coalition of bombing the Syrian city of Raqqa "off the face of the earth" during the fight against so-called Islamic State.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, took Raqqa last week.

Pictures suggest much of Raqqa is in ruins, and Moscow compared it to the Allied destruction of the German city of Dresden in World War Two.

Raqqa (hat tip to Al Jazeera for the pic)

The US-led coalition says it tried to minimise risks to civilians.

Russia has itself been accused of committing war crimes for its bombardment of Aleppo last year.

UN war crimes investigators in June that there had been a "staggering loss of civilian life" in Raqqa.

Syrian activists say between 1,130 and 1,873 civilians were killed and that many of the civilian casualties were the result of the intense US-led air strikes that helped the SDF, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, advance.

Over a thousand civilians dead, and nobody is talking about this? While there has been news coverage, it has taken a back seat to the GAO report and stories about tax reform and North Korea.

Jimmy Carter, North Korea, and Duct Tape: Today's News for October 23rd

Daily Wire:

Jimmy Carter Unleashed: 

Russians Didn't Alter Election, Obama Didn't Deliver, We Didn't Vote For Hillary

At 93, Jimmy Carter is cutting loose.

The former president sat down with The New York Times recently and chatted about all kinds of subjects. The Times decided to play up the fact that Carter — one of the worst presidents in U.S. history — would love to go over to North Korea as an envoy.

But the Times is steadily proving how out of touch it is, and how it no longer seems to actually "get" what real news is.

So what does Carter think?

Carter was asked "Did the Russians purloin the election from Hillary?"

"I don’t think there’s any evidence that what the Russians did changed enough votes — or any votes," Carter said.

At least Carter isn't as loony as some Leftists, like his wife:

Carter and his wife, Roselyn, disagreed on the Russia question. In the interview, she "looked over archly [and said] 'They obviously did'" purloin the election.

“Rosie and I have a difference of opinion on that,” Carter said.

But that is where Jimmy's sanity ended:

Which prompted Carter to note that during the primary, they didn't vote for Hillary Clinton. "We voted for Sanders.” 

However, Carter has managed some connection with reality:

A recent Harvard study showed that 93% of new coverage about President Trump is negative.

But here's another shocker: Carter defended Trump.

"I think the media have been harder on Trump than any other president certainly that I've known about," Carter said. "I think they feel free to claim that Trump is mentally deranged and everything else without hesitation." 

Where Carter truly shines is in his solution to the whole controversy about NFL players kneeling:

Carter, who joined the other four living ex-presidents on Saturday for a hurricane fundraiser, put his hand on his heart when the national anthem played — and he has a strong opinion about what NFL players should do, too.

"I think they ought to find a different way to object, to demonstrate," he said. " I would rather see all the players stand during the American anthem." 

Sadly, the New York Times is correct in pointing to Carter's potential conflict of interest in his desire to negotiate with the North Koreans on behalf of the Trump administration. But knowing Carter, his motives are likely altruistic. He may have been an awful president, and his politics show it, but he has never shown himself to be a glory hound.

Speaking of North Korea, the big story on most media outlets today is:

Defense One:

EXCLUSIVE: US Preparing to Put Nuclear Bombers Back on 24-Hour Alert

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. —  The U.S. Air Force is preparing to put nuclear-armed bombers back on 24-hour ready alert, a status not seen since the Cold War ended in 1991.

That means the long-dormant concrete pads at the ends of this base’s 11,000-foot runway — dubbed the “Christmas tree” for their angular markings — could once again find several B-52s parked on them, laden with nuclear weapons and set to take off at a moment’s notice.

“This is yet one more step in ensuring that we’re prepared,” Gen. David Goldfein, Air Force chief of staff, said in an interview during his six-day tour of Barksdale and other U.S. Air Force bases that support the nuclear mission. “I look at it more as not planning for any specific event, but more for the reality of the global situation we find ourselves in and how we ensure we’re prepared going forward.”

Goldfein and other senior defense officials stressed that the alert order had not been given, but that preparations were under way in anticipation that it might come. That decision would be made by Gen. John Hyten, the commander of U.S. Strategic Command, or Gen. Lori Robinson, the head of U.S. Northern Command. STRATCOM is in charge of the military’s nuclear forces and NORTHCOM is in charge of defending North America.

Notice they haven't actually initiated the alert status. They are just preparing for it.

Surprisingly, CNN's uber-Leftist analyst Stephen Collinson actually makes the unintentional case for this being a whole nothing burger:

There are no immediate signs that the administration is preparing for military action, for instance through evacuations of US military families in South Korea, or with a buildup of troops or materiel.

This is all just so much talk to scare the North Koreans. Move along, nothing to see here...

New York Daily News:

Substitute teacher duct tapes students’ mouths at Texas elementary school

A substitute teacher was barred from a Texas elementary school after students reported that the educator put duct tape over their mouths.

Carmello Brooks, a fifth grader at Maxdale Elementary School, told his mother he ripped the first strip of duct tape off his face, only to have the substitute return and put another over his mouth, the Killeen Daily Herald reported.

He said he and 12 other students sat with their mouths covered for at least 15 minutes.

During class Thursday at the Killeen school, the substitute — whose name was not released — allegedly duct taped the mouths of 10 students and ordered three others to do it themselves, according to a news release from the Killeen Independent School District.

A teacher across the hallway heard the commotion coming from the classroom and went to check in on the children.
 
All of the students involved were taken to the nurse's office as soon as school officials learned of the incident. They were uninjured and able to return to class the same day, school district spokesmen Terry Abott told KWTX.

Of course they were uninjured. This may be the most incredible solution to talking in class that has ever been created.

Instead of running this teacher out of the school, they should promote her to full time, and give her an award for advancing education in this country (I am thinking the Presidential Medal of Freedom is appropriate).

Then they should hand out rolls of duct tape to all their teachers.

Weekly Finale: Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama"

For this week's musical finale, we honor the 40th anniversary of the plane crash which killed two of the band's members. From Fox News:

Friday marks the 40th anniversary of one of classic rock music’s greatest tragedies – the crash of the plane carrying the Southern band Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Killed in the crash on Oct. 20, 1977, were founder and lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and his sister, singer Cassie Gaines, plus members of the plane crew.

Other members of the band survived with various injuries – and eventually reformed the band, with Van Zant’s younger brother, Johnny, as lead singer...

The Jacksonville, Fla., band – known primarily for the songs “Freebird” and “Sweet Home Alabama” -- still tours today under the Skynyrd name.

The name was inspired by Leonard Skinner, who was a high school teacher of several band members.

But guitarist Gary Rossington is the only remaining member from the band’s classic lineup. Past members Allen Collins, Billy Powell and Leon Wilkeson have died, and drummer Artimus Pyle is estranged from his former bandmates.

I could spend all day talking about Lynyrd Skynyrd's music. Nearly all of it is worthy of covers, or even just a pleasant day listening. If there was ever a band which epitomized the Southern Rock genre, it was Lynyrd Skynyrd.

If I had to pick one song which sums up the musical greatness of Lynyrd Skynyrd, I would have to pick "Sweet Home Alabama":



The beauty of "Sweet Home Alabama" is that it captures a unique quality that only certain southerners possess, and that is the ability to be laid back and furious at the same time. The song was written as a protest of Neil Young's songs "Southern Man" and "Alabama". Personally, I have never been a big Neil Young fan, as his music tends to be too preachy and not very musically appealing. Or, as "Sweet Home Alabama" so eloquently puts it:

Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
A Southern man don't need him around anyhow

Never let it be said that I don't give you folks covers, and "Sweet Home Alabama" has been covered by one of the most unusual cover bands I have ever seen, Leningrad Cowboys:


That is all for me this week. I will return Monday with more blogging. Whether you are in Alabama, Leningrad, or somewhere else, enjoy your weekend.

Politicians Behaving Badly: Today's News for October 20th

CNN:

Bush, Obama blasts will be water off Trump's back

The Presidents club is turning on its newest member.

Breaking the code of silence that retired commanders in chief normally maintain about their successors, both George W. Bush and Barack Obama delivered clear jabs at the current occupant of the Oval Office on Thursday.

...In New York, Bush delivered a strong indictment of Trump's populist nationalism, condemning trade protectionism and bemoaning how politics had fallen prey to "conspiracy theories" and "outright fabrication." He also warned of the impact of "bullying and prejudice" in public life. It was not hard to work out who he was talking about in one of his most vehement interventions in politics since he left office in January 2009.

Because it wasn't like Bush himself didn't face any bullying from the Left. Frankly, brutal political discourse is nothing new, and Bush faced more than his fair share of it. So there is no irony that he would come out against it. By the way, is Bush talking ONLY about Trump? Only a Leftist tool like CNN's Stephen Collinson (writer of this editorial) could ignore the broader implications of Bush's attack.

As for Obama:

Obama, at the first campaign appearances of his post-presidency, warned about the tone and content of Trump-style politics -- after spending several weeks watching Trump undermine his proudest achievements including the Iran nuclear deal and the Affordable Care Act.

Apparently referring to the President's handling of racial violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, and sluggish condemnation of white supremacists, Obama lamented the "same old politics of division" while campaigning for New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Murphy.

"Some of the politics we see now, we thought we had put that to bed," Obama said. "That's folks looking 50 years back. It's the 21st Century, not the 19th Century."

In a second campaign stop in Virginia, Obama took aim at the methods Trump used to win the election.

"We've got folks who are deliberately trying to make folks angry -- to demonize people who have different ideas; to get the base all riled up because it provides a short-term tactical advantage," Obama said, again without specifically naming the President.

Pot, meet kettle. Obama has spent an entire career demonizing Republicans, aka those "people who have different ideas". His signature achievement was done without Republican support.

By the way, even if you assume that Bush and Obama are attacking Trump, exactly what credibility do these two failures have? Bush started the never ending war on Islam, and Obama continued it. Note they are only complaining about how Trump talks, and not what he does, which is continuing their failed foreign policies. As for their economic policies, Bush tanked the economy, and Obama's economic malaise is still with us. Neither of these presidents has a record of success on which to support credibility.

Speaking of politicians who need to go away...

Politico:

Frail and disoriented, Cochran says he's not retiring

Mississippi GOP Sen. Thad Cochran insists that he is not retiring from Congress, despite widespread speculation about the veteran lawmaker’s health and political future.

The 79-year-old Cochran appeared frail and at times disoriented during a brief hallway interview on Wednesday. He was unable to answer whether he would remain chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and at one point, needed a staffer to remind him where the Senate chamber is located.

“Don’t believe everything you hear,” Cochran said in a low voice when asked whether he plans to retire after 44 years in office.

However, when queried about whether he would stay on as Appropriations chairman, Cochran seemed confused and just repeated the question. “As chairman of the Appropriations Committee?” Cochran asked.

Cochran had to be guided by staffers around a security checkpoint inside the Capitol. He started to walk into a first-floor room — though the Senate chamber is on the second floor. He was then ushered by an aide up to the Senate.

When another reporter asked whether leadership had pressured Cochran to return for a vote on the budget resolution — a key moment in the tax reform debate — Cochran smiled and responded, “It’s a beautiful day outside.”

Cochran sat quietly in his seat during Wednesday's lengthy vote session. He smiled and responded when a fellow senator stopped by to offer greetings, but generally did not speak to anyone else.

On one amendment, Cochran voted “yes” despite being told by an aide to vote “no.” The staffer tried to get the senator to switch his vote, but Cochran kept flashing the “thumbs up” sign, even walking over to the clerk tallying the vote and doing so. GOP floor staffers repeatedly told him the leadership wanted a "no" vote. Several more moments passed before Cochran realized he was voting the wrong way and then changed his vote.

If you need the definition of "too old to hold political office", it is Thad Cochran. He deserves the bear today:

The Catalan Revolution Begins: Today's News for October 19th

(Carles Puigdemont, President of Catalonia)
Bloomberg:

Spanish Government to Proceed With Suspending Catalan Autonomy

Spain will move forward with the process of suspending the powers of the Catalan government after Regional President Carles Puigdemont refused to drop his claim to independence, Bloomberg News reports.

“The government will continue with the procedures set out in Article 155 of the Constitution to restore the legality of self-rule in Catalonia,” the government said in a statement.

In other words, "to restore the legality of self-rule in Catalonia", the Spanish government will deny Catalonia's self-rule.

George Orwell is spinning in his grave.

This is what we get when government takes actions presumably in our "best interests", but in reality it is in THEIR best interests.

Case in point:

The New Yorker:

Why Are Prosecutors Putting Innocent Witnesses in Jail?

Across America, some prosecutors—arguably with the authority of state and federal laws—are jailing innocent crime victims and witnesses, in hopes of insuring their testimony in court. In Washington State, a sexual-assault victim was arrested and jailed to secure her testimony against the alleged perpetrator. (He was found guilty of kidnapping, attempted rape, and assault with sexual motivation.) In Hillsboro, Oregon, a Mexican immigrant was jailed for more than two years—nine hundred and five days—to obtain his testimony in a murder case. (The case was being brought against his son.) And in Harris County, Texas, a rape survivor suffered a mental breakdown in court while testifying against her assailant. Afraid that the woman would disappear before finishing her testimony, the court jailed her for a month. She has since filed a federal lawsuit against the county and several individuals involved, alleging that she was “abused, neglected, and mentally tortured” while in detention.

The use of imprisonment to compel a witness to testify is the use of force against someone who may or may not be innocent. On the surface, this appears to be a crime in itself.

But consider the history:

The right to jail these so-called material witnesses has deep roots in America. (A material witness is an individual considered vital to a case, often because he or she saw a crime unfold or was its victim.) As early as 1789, the Judiciary Act codified the duty of witnesses to appear before the court and testify. From a public-safety perspective, the statute has a clear purpose: the perpetrator of a crime should not escape punishment because of a witness’s reluctance to testify. “The duty to disclose knowledge of crime rests upon all citizens,” a 1953 U.S. Supreme Court opinion, in the case Stein v. New York, reads. “It is so vital that one known to be innocent may be detained, in the absence of bail, as a material witness.” In 1984, Congress reaffirmed the right to jail material witnesses, but also noted that their testimony should be secured by deposition, rather than imprisonment, “whenever possible.” Jailing crime survivors and innocent witnesses, in other words, was legal but undesirable.

After the attacks of September 11, 2001, Attorney General John Ashcroft identified the material-witness statute as a convenient weapon for the war on terror. Federal agents could use it to detain individuals of interest, even without sufficient evidence to arrest them as criminal defendants, by deeming them “witnesses” to terrorism-related crimes. In late 2001, the Department of Justice used material-witness laws to target Muslims, often arresting them at gunpoint and later placing some in solitary confinement. According to Human Rights Watch, the U.S. government eventually apologized to at least thirteen people for wrongful detention as material witnesses, and released dozens more without charges. “Holding as ‘witnesses’ people who are in fact suspects sets a disturbing precedent for future use of this extraordinary government power to deprive citizens and others of their liberty,” Human Rights Watch argued. In the face of lawsuits and public scrutiny, the practice slowed.

Recently, however, controversy over the use of material-witness statutes has resurfaced—this time at the state and local level. In parts of the country, prosecutors are using these orders to put crime victims—especially poor victims, and, in cities like New Orleans, victims of color—in jail in order to get swift victories in court, sometimes, puzzlingly, in minor cases.

While most would agree it is our civic duty to testify when we have witnessed a crime, the enforcement of civic duties with threat of criminal offense is comparable to pointing a gun to someone's head and forcing them to vote. The worst part of this is there is no limit to how long you can hold someone in jail for not testifying, clearly violating the Constitution's 8th Amendment.

In other news...

The Globe and Mail:

Quebec bans face covering in public services, raising worries among Muslims

Quebec has adopted a law that will force people to show their faces when taking the bus or borrowing a book from the library, pushing ahead with legislation that is being criticized for targeting Muslim Canadian women.

Bill 62, which the Justice Minister described as a North American first, requires one's face to be uncovered when giving or receiving public services. The law marks the outcome of a contentious, decade-long debate about the place of religious minorities in Quebec.

Finally, there is recognition of the fact these facial coverings are nothing more than Islam's inherent sexism. "This is part of their culture" is no excuse for misogyny. It is ok to reject parts of another culture which are based on archaic practices, especially when those practices deny human rights.

Speaking of finally, our last news today...

Think Progress:

Gubernatorial candidate omits black running mate from campaign fliers

With less than three weeks to go before Virginia voters elect a new governor, Democratic nominee Ralph Northam sent out a campaign flier this week promoting the top of the party’s ticket that omitted the name and picture of Justin Fairfax, his black running mate.

The decision to remove Fairfax, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, came at the request of officials at Laborers’ International Union of North America, or LiUNA, who decided against endorsing Fairfax because of his refusal to support pet projects backed by the union, including two natural gas pipelines that are proposed to cross Virginia.

While this story was covered by the Washington Post, where is the rest of the mainstream media? The Post has to cover it,because it is a local story to them.

If this were the Republican Party doing this, you would hear this screamed nationwide, with the New York Times and CNN harping on it for days. But since it involves the Democrats, not a peep.

There comes a point where loyalty to a group for ideological reasons loses its meaning when the group does something against those reasons. The media needs to hold the Democrats as accountable as they do the Republicans, or else their ideology becomes nothing more than political cheerleading.

Your Papers Please? Today's News for October 18th

Daily Mail:

Why residents in some American states may soon need a passport for domestic air travel

They were previously allowed to use mere driving licenses.

But residents of some US states will soon require additional ID, such as passports, if they wish to embark on air travel - even if just domestically.

That's the new procedure on the horizon for people from states that have not yet introduced the standards required by the 2005 Real ID Act, which demands stricter regulations for state-issued IDs.

The states that haven't yet fallen into line each now have a grace period of three months to meet the revised criteria.

This deadline expires on 22 January 2018.

Travellers from states that miss the deadline will risk being detained at airport security and prevented from boarding flights if they don't have a passport or other TSA-approved form of identification, such as a green card, border crossing card or military ID.

This includes both international and domestic journeys.

Have you noticed how the U.S. has become ID obsessed?

Remember the old movies which showed some Soviet soldier demanding papers from civilians? Welcome to the USSA.

Regardless, January should be fun.

In other news...

The Hill:

Obama's DOJ slow-walked probe despite national security concerns

In their recent article in The Hill, John Solomon and Alison Spann reported on the Obama Justice Department's slow-walk investigation of Moscow's bribery, kickbacks, extortion and money laundering "designed to grow Vladimir Putin's atomic energy business inside the United States."

Obama administration figures involved in the 2009-15 investigation include Robert Mueller, James Comey, Rod Rosenstein and Andrew McCabe - all of whom are involved in some fashion in the current investigation of President Donald Trump's alleged collusion with Russia.

Despite extensive information as early as 2009 that Moscow had compromised an American uranium trucking firm and that Russian nuclear officials had routed millions of dollars to benefit former President Bill Clinton's charitable foundation, Hillary Clinton's State Department and other government agencies on the Committee on Foreign Investment (including Attorney General Eric Holder) unanimously approved the partial sale of the Canadian mining company, Uranium One, to the Russian nuclear giant Rosatom in October 2010.

Multiple current and former government officials told The Hill they did not know whether the FBI or DOJ ever alerted committee members to the apparent Russian criminal activity. Likewise, major congressional figures were also kept in the dark.

The New York Times reported the Clinton Foundation bribe from the Russians in April 2015, and yet there was no outrage over it. If the media treated the Obama administration like they do Trump, Obama would have been run out of office or Clinton would have been in jail before she could have even run for office. Instead, the media ignored the story after the initial report.

Finally, in local Georgia news...

CNN:

Georgia GOP gubernatorial hopeful to hold bump fire stock giveaway

Georgia Republican gubernatorial candidate Michael Williams says he will give away a bump fire stock to show "solidarity with gun owners across the nation."

The devices, which are also known as bump stocks and allow semi-automatic weapons to fire at a rapid pace, became the focus of a public debate on gun violence in the wake of the Las Vegas massacre, which left 58 people dead. The shooter used bump stocks to increase the carnage, authorities have said.

"The tragedy in Las Vegas broke my heart, but any talk of banning or regulating bump stocks is merely cheap political lip service from career politicians. In reality, the bump stock is the new, shiny object politicians are using to deceive voters into believing they are taking action against gun violence," Williams, a Georgia state senator, said in a statement. "Many firearms experts determined the Las Vegas shooter's use of a bump stock actually prevented more casualties and injuries due to its inconsistency, inaccuracy, and lack of control."

Disclaimer: I am against gun control in any form.

That said, I find this political stunt rather distasteful. Then again, creating legislation during a period of intense emotions is inherently dangerous.