US Politics Mega-thread - Page 2489

On November 08 2015 02:07 Gorsameth wrote:

Wouldn't be the first person to crack under the public scrutiny.
Was he a public figure at all prior to running?

The Pentagon’s plan outlining the long-stalled effort to close the Guantánamo Bay detention center, expected to be released in the coming week, includes details suggesting that the Centennial correctional facility in Colorado is one suitable site to send detainees whom officials believe should never be released, administration officials said.

The plan represents a last-gasp effort by the Obama administration to convince staunch opponents in Congress that dangerous detainees who cannot be transferred safely to other countries should be housed in a US-based prison.

According to administration officials, the plan makes no recommendations on which of seven US sites is preferred and provides no rankings. But it lists the prison sites in Colorado, South Carolina and Kansas that a Pentagon assessment team reviewed in recent months and mentions advantages and disadvantages for the facilities. Those elements can include the facilities’ locations, costs for renovations and construction, the ability to house troops and hold military commission hearings, and health care facilities.

The Centennial facility has advantages that could outweigh the disadvantages there, according to officials, but no details were available and no conclusions have been reached. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Any decision to select a US facility would require congressional approval – something lawmakers say is unlikely. At the same time, dangerous prisoners are not new to Colorado. The Supermax in Florence, Colorado, which has been dubbed “Alcatraz of the Rockies”, already holds convicted terrorists, including Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and Zacarias Moussaoui, one of the conspirators of the 11 September 2001 attacks.

The Pentagon plan also lays out the broader effort to reduce the detainee population at Guantánamo, through transfers to other countries. The center now holds 112 detainees, and 53 are eligible for transfer. The rest are either facing trial by military commission or the government has determined that they are too dangerous to release but are not facing charges.

On November 08 2015 01:48 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:
Wow Ben Carson seems to be losing it. He is snapping at the Press for questioning what he wrote in his book etc.

On November 08 2015 03:09 Introvert wrote:
This whole West Point line of attack fell apart.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Customs and Border Protection staff concluded after an internal review that agents and officers shouldn't be required to wear body cameras, positioning the nation's largest law enforcement agency as a counterweight to a growing number of police forces that use the devices to promote public trust and accountability.

The yearlong review cited cost and a host of other reasons to hold off, according to two people familiar with the findings who spoke on condition of anonymity because the findings have not been made public. It found operating cameras may distract agents while they're performing their jobs, may hurt employee morale, and may be unsuited to the hot, dusty conditions in which Border Patrol agents often work.

The findings, in an August draft report, are subject to approval by Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske, who last year announced plans to test cameras at the agency that employs roughly 60,000 people.

The staff report doesn't rule out body cameras but questions their effectiveness and calls for more analysis before they are widely distributed.

Customs and Border Protection said Friday that it has been transparent about its body camera effort from the start, providing regular public updates.

"The draft report referenced is a dated version that does not reflect the agency's deliberations over the past months or conclusions of CBP leadership," it said in a statement.

From the start, Kerlikowske was noncommittal on whether to introduce body cameras to roughly 21,000 BorderPatrol agents who watch thousands of miles of borders with Mexico and Canada, and to roughly 24,000 Customs and Border Protection officers who manage official ports of entry.

"Putting these in place, as you know, is not only complicated, it's also expensive," the former Seattle police chief said at a news conference last year. "We want to make sure we do this right."

The use of police body cameras is still in its infancy, with no count for how many of the 18,000 state and local departments have turned to them. But dozens of agencies across the country are testing the cameras after unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, unleashed criticism of police tactics, and many departments have plans to roll them out more broadly.

President Barack Obama supports using police body cameras, and his administration has pledged millions of dollars to local departments.

On November 08 2015 04:00 kwizach wrote:

So Ben Carsons lied repeatedly about being offered full scholarship to West Point, and someone the "line of attack fell apart"? Are you disputing that he claimed being offered "full scholarship" to an academy which does not even feature "full scholarships" per se, since all costs are covered for accepted students?

On November 08 2015 04:00 kwizach wrote:

So Ben Carsons lied repeatedly about being offered full scholarship to West Point, and someone the "line of attack fell apart"? Are you disputing that he claimed being offered "full scholarship" to an academy which does not even feature "full scholarships" per se, since all costs are covered for accepted students?

A coalition of protest groups planned to rally against Donald Trump outside Rockefeller Center on Saturday night, denouncing Saturday Night Live for featuring the presidential candidate and offering a “bounty” to anyone who would disrupt the taping live from New York.

“We’re hoping that somebody in the audience stands up and calls him a racist,” organizer Luke Montgomery told the Guardian.

Protest groups banded together after the comedy show booked Trump as host, protesting at a Trump tower and at NBC headquarters.

The billionaire, reality television personality and Republican White House hopeful provoked outrage with a June speech that accused Mexican immigrants of “bringing crime, they’re rapists”. He has nevertheless dominated the polls for months, exasperating GOP leaders and Hispanic Americans alike with his plan to deport 11 million people.

Several networks, including SNL’s parent, NBC Universal, severed ties with billionaire over the remarks. Pro-immigration activists with America’s Voice brought a petition to NBC’s studios on Wednesday, presenting the network with more than 500,000 signatures petitioning it to disinvite Trump.

Earlier this week, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus also sent a letter to the show, asking producers to disinvite the billionaire and saying his “demonizing Latinos and immigrants has created fear within these communities around the country”.

The organizations plan to protest again on Saturday night, and a Pac called DeportRacism.com offered $5,000 in cash to anyone on set or in the audience who disrupted the program by denouncing Trump.

“If he were to call black Americans rapists, murderers and drug dealers, that woud not fly,” Montgomery said. “So why is it OK that he would say that about Latinos?Saturday Night Live is really disgusting for having him on.”

Saturday Night Live had increased security measures, according to Montgomery, who said he remained hopeful that someone would manage to heckle the billionaire at least in earshot of microphones. The Hollywood Reporter noted that audience members have to pass through higher levels of security when presidential candidates appear on the show, but that six protesters did manage to disturb a broadcast in 1992.

On November 08 2015 04:22 Introvert wrote:


From what I've seen, at the time ads from West Point used the word "scholarship." But beyond that, Carson doesn't claim to have formally applied in the first place. He says he met someone who offered him a spot, and full paid. He said he had 10 dollars to apply somewhere, and he applied to Yale- only. Combine that with the fact he's remembering something from how many decades before? It becomes more and more of a non-story.

Again, I'm not a Carson fan so I don't want to spend time defending him, but it's clear that the Politico article was, at the very least, dishonest. And that's why they had to fix it. When I first read the article, I thought it was pretty damning- I had the same reaction as everyone here. But that was clearly incorrect.

In Carson’s 1990 best-selling autobiography, “Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story,” the neurosurgeon tells of being offered a scholarship to West Point as a high school senior sometime after having dinner with the U.S. Army’s chief of staff, Gen. William Westmoreland, on Memorial Day 1969.

But Westmoreland’s personal schedule shows the general was not in Detroit on Memorial Day or during the days preceding and following the holiday. His schedule says he was in and around Washington, D.C., that weekend, according to Army archives The Detroit News reviewed Friday.

On November 08 2015 05:01 TheTenthDoc wrote:
There's no point arguing about dishonesty anymore, Democrats and Republicans are in completely different realities at this point. It's pretty much a game of "Whose Line is it Anyway" on the campaign trail, except all that matters is the points and not whether or not they're true.

On November 08 2015 05:08 GreenHorizons wrote:


Yeah, the General also disappeared from his version of history.



Source

But like I said, not going to hurt him much if at all. The spin room already has people like Intro defending his habitual misleading by pointing at the "liberal" media. Which is all but completely ignoring Sanders, so they can't be the communist loving far left liberals the right likes to paint them as.



"War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength;"

On November 08 2015 05:25 Introvert wrote:


Nah, if you read the excerpts from what he wrote, ( I had not before this story) it becomes pretty obvious this was a bad article. Point is, from his understanding, he could have gone to West Point, but didn't. It seems impossible to prove otherwise, and it doesn't seem all that unlikely, either. But totally, I just want to defend Carson, cause I'm so known for that.

Talk of reality and spin. I'll just say this, if you think Sanders is being unfairly ignored, does that not prove media bias (in favor of the Clinton's?) of course. So then it's not a far fetch to imagine they aren't pro Republican (and considering the voting patterns of most journalists, this seems likely). Your common complaints about Sanders being ignored is proof enough that the media have their favorites.

On November 08 2015 05:31 GreenHorizons wrote:


I was saying if people on the right who don't even call themselves supporters are defending him (notice you ignored that he claimed someone was there who obviously wasn't) it's not going to hurt him. It wasn't about you personally.

As for Sanders, he doesn't have a Fox News or Talk radio support network like the right, and the "leftist" media isn't much better, save a couple exceptions.

But I don't disagree that the media plays favorites. Carson obviously lied, that he didn't actually "admit to lying" or that Politico focused on the wrong aspect,s may be less than stellar reporting, but it doesn't change that he obviously lied.

On November 08 2015 05:38 Introvert wrote:


Actually, I didn't ignore anything.

And "less than stellar" lol. It was wrong. It said Carson or his campaign said things neither said. That's why they corrected it (kind of). They didn't even get a statement from Carson before publication. It was a crappy article. Like I said, when I first read it it thought it was pretty damning for Carson, but I don't have a natural inclination against him, so I could see when things were explained that the piece was just bad.

I'm not going to say any more, as even people in places like The Washington Post have pointed out how bad the story was. It's just hilarious.

On November 08 2015 05:43 GreenHorizons wrote:


Sure seems like your not addressing it. Do you think Carson told the truth when he claimed the General was there?