Republicans 2016

[Michael Scally MD]

Republicans Begin Hashing Out Details of Convention Platform
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/12/us/politics/republican-convention-issues.html

CLEVELAND — The Republican Party on Monday began debating what will become its 2016 platform. The draft that delegates will revise over the next two days will touch on a wide range of contentious issues — immigration, marriage, family values, criminal justice reform and policing. Some spots echoed the blunt, tough-talking style of the presumptive nominee, Donald J. Trump. Other spots seemed intended to serve as a softer, more welcoming alternative.

Some of the excerpts that were obtained by The New York Times:

…

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Draft Republican platform calls for auditing the Fed, bathroom bills, and action on EMPs
Draft Republican platform calls for auditing the Fed, bathroom bills, and action on EMPs

The platform also includes a lot of more or less wacky notions that highlight the continued influence of talk radio — rather than, say, the US Chamber of Commerce — over the practical day-to-day concerns of most Republican Party activists:

• The platform continues to oppose the Supreme Court’s ruling that discrimination in marriage rights on the basis of sexual orientation is unconstitutional, but no longer calls for a new constitutional amendment to that effect.
• The platform calls for teaching the Bible as part of “American history.”
• It warns that “an EMP is no longer a theoretical concern” and urges both the federal and state governments to take action against the threat of electromagnetic pulse weapons. (Qualified scientists say this is dumb.)
• It rejects the move to assign the presidency to the winner of the popular voterather than the winner of the Electoral College.
• It “congratulates” states that have declined to implement Common Corecurriculum standards.
• It opposes the Obama administration’s alleged “distortion of Title IX to micromanage” how colleges and universities handle sexual assault investigations.
• The GOP regards the Iran nuclear deal as “non-binding” on the next president.
• It endorses Ron Paul’s call to “audit” the Federal Reserve, though the legislation that goes under this name isn’t really about auditing, which already happens.
• It calls for legislation limiting bathroom access to the gender a person was assigned at birth.

 

[Big_paul]

Chris Christie Was Born to Run

He needs to lose some lbs first. As it is, it will seem like a small earthquake. It could be confused with North Korean underground nuclear weapons testing, and might start WW3. There will be one hell of a traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge.

 

[flenser]