Republican Leaders: “Republicans aren’t stupid enough to nominate Donald Trump.”
Republicans: “Yes we are!”
Republican Leaders: “Plan B! We need a Plan B!”
Author: Michael A. Ventrella
Editorial cartoon: Elephant Abuse
Criminal defense attorneys support crime!
There’s a new meme out there against Hillary Clinton which is full of lies, false quotes, and misleading information but that’s nothing new. (You can read about it on Snopes if you wish). The part that bothers me is this:
It criticizes her for representing a criminal when she was a young defense attorney and calls her an “advocate for rapists.”
This is the kind of attack we’ve seen before, usually from conservatives. It’s sad that I am seeing my liberal friends post this crap.
Conservatives who say things like that are hypocrites who say they love America while hating one of the very reasons the Founding Fathers fought the revolution: To rebel against a government that ignored basic rights. They put those rights in the first Ten Amendments: The right to counsel, the right to remain silent, the right to not be searched without a warrant and probable cause, the right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment — more than half of the Bill of Rights are about criminal rights.
And what’s to prevent the government from abusing these rights? Why, it’s defense attorneys.
But when we hold police responsible for illegal searches or argue that our clients’ rights are being abused, what do people say? “Oh, he got off on a technicality.” Yes, a technicality called the United States Constitution — the very foundation of our nation.
This is like the people who demand that freedom of speech be denied to speech they disagree with while defending that same right for themselves. Our freedoms are meaningless if they don’t apply to everyone, even people we hate.
Look, most of the people I represent are guilty of something. 95% of all cases end up with a plea. My job is to make sure that the innocent are defended and the guilty don’t have their rights denied or otherwise get screwed by the system.
This is patriotic. This is exactly what the Founding Fathers intended. This is what makes America great — that we, the people, can stand up to a powerful government that does wrong and can win without resorting to violence.
To imply that a defense attorney performing his or her job “supports crime” is an insult not just to attorneys, but to all Americans.
Editorial cartoon: Just a flesh wound
Bernie supporters once again show their ignorance of election laws
Look, I support Bernie, I really do, but some of his supporters really embarrass me. It’s bad enough that they don’t understand how primaries or superdelegates work and constantly complain about it, but then they go sharing videos like this:
“PROBLEMS INSIDE PA POLLING STATION 4/26/16 Philadelphia Democratic Primary. This is illegal!! Were these advertisement ballots handed out to confuse voters near (or perhaps inside) the polling place with broken machine? Bernie Sanders is not on these Ballots. People are supposed to use Paper ballots there and they’re being mislead!
Ignoring the spelling errors, let’s discuss why this obnoxious person has no idea what he’s talking about.
First of all, this is a typical campaign flyer handed out on election day. It lists the candidates that the local party has endorsed. This is done all the time. There is nothing wrong with it.
It only shows who the local party wants you to vote for. You can throw it away and ignore it.
Yes it doesn’t list Bernie. It doesn’t have to. He wasn’t endorsed by the local party that printed this flyer. The flyer also doesn’t list all of the Senate candidates and all of the Attorney General candidates and all the other candidates that were not endorsed.
Bernie could have done a similar flyer had his campaign wanted to.
The guy in the video who whines that this is illegal because it doesn’t list Bernie is absolutely wrong.
He’s also absolutely wrong when he complains that the people handing out the flyer are supposed to be 150 feet away from the polling place. 150 feet? Are you crazy? That’s like so far away that you couldn’t even say hi to people going into the building to vote. Pennsylvania law requires you to be 10 feet away, not 150 feet.
Pennsylvania law, by the way, also prohibits recording someone against their knowledge. Just sayin’.
And the comment that accompanied the video claiming that Philadelphia uses paper ballots is an absolute lie.
Further, the video does not make it clear where the actual polling place is. If he’s still 10 feet away from the entrance to the room where they vote, then there is nothing illegal going on here.
Look. I was actually elected as a Judge of Elections here in Pennsylvania. And I’m a lawyer. I had to know all this stuff and had to enforce it on election day.
This is a flyer. People are allowed to take notes and flyers into the booths. This is not the same thing as carrying in a sign or wearing a button.
Seriously, BernieBots. You’re making us look bad. Please find out what the law is before you go claiming it’s been broken, and please don’t lie about paper ballots and other things. You can’t take the high road while being dishonest and misleading. Let’s win by having the best candidate and the best issues.
Editorial cartoon: Game of Groans
What “Make America Great Again” really means
Whenever I hear conservative politicians say things like “Make America great again” I have to wonder. The economy is booming. Unemployment is at its lowest rate in ten years. The deficit has been reduced by 2/3rds. The stock market is at its highest ever and gas prices are at their lowest in years. Foreign policy-wise, ISIS leaders have been killed, Qadaffi was removed, bin Laden is dead, and we have less troops overseas than we did eight years ago.
These are all things that, if a Republican were in office, conservatives would be citing to say how wonderful their President is.
So what do they mean when they say “Make America great again”?
It’s clear that they’re not talking about the standard of living, foreign policy, or the economy. What they want is to go back to the old ways. You know — an America where
- Minorities know their place and aren’t all uppity and saying “Black lives matter”
- Gays hide in the closet and don’t demand rights
- Transgender people are treated like they have mental problems and are shunned from society
- Women let men decide their personal health issues, especially concerning abortion
- Non-Christians let Christians force their religious views into the laws
- Immigrants are kept out so that we can keep a white majority
- No one questions the rich and powerful or demands that they pay their fair share
- Health care and other needed necessities are only available to those who can afford it
That’s the America they want back — where rich, white, Christian men run things and everyone else sucks it up.
It’s a definition of “great” that only applies to a small minority of Americans who have managed to convince the simple-minded and gullible that America is not about equality, opportunity, and freedom but instead about allowing those in power to force their views onto the rest of us.
Editorial cartoon: Trumped
Clay Bennett
Why I voted for Bernie today
Today is primary day and the big state with the most delegates is Pennsylvania, where I am. And I voted for Bernie.
Do I expect him to win? No, although it’s still possible (though unlikely).
But this is a primary and not a final election. Voting for who I really want in a primary is much different than the November election where you often have to choose the lesser of two evils. And since this is not a “winner take all” election, even if he only gets 40% of the delegates, that gives him more power at the convention to get his issues brought forward and make sure the Democratic platform talks about them.
I don’t think Bernie ever expected to do as well as he is doing. He originally said he wanted to run to emphasize his issues, and he certainly has accomplished that.
But most importantly, voting for him sends a signal to politicians: You don’t have to suck up to the big money interests to run a good campaign. You don’t have to shy away from socialist ideas. You don’t have to move to the right to get votes.
And Hillary supporters who say I’m naive and idealistic have to explain why Bernie does better against any Republican than she does.
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