BLACK WOMEN REGAIN HONOR & RESPECT AT THE POLLS (NO RACIST DRAMA)

BLACK WOMEN REGAIN HONOR & RESPECT AT THE POLLS (POWER OF BLACK VOTE):

DEMOCRATS WON ALABAMA WITH THE BLACK VOTE, MAINLY BLACK WOMEN VOTERS.

BLACK WOMEN ARE NO LONGER BEING RIDICULED OR STEREOTYPED AS DRAMA QUEENS OR WELFARE QUEENS DUE TO INSTITUTIONAL RACISM.

OBAMA WON 97% OF THE BLACK VOTE IN 2008.

BILL CLINTON WON ABOUT 90% OF THE BLACK VOTE IN 1992.

WILL DEMOCRATS TRADE BLACK VOTERS FOR LATINO VOTERS AGAIN AND LOSE AGAIN AS THEY DID IN 2016??

DEMOCRATS GAVE LATINO VOTERS EVERYTHING THEY ASKED FOR IN 2016 YET LATINO VOTERS DID NOT TURN OUT FOR DEMS AT POLLS.

WILL DEMOCRATS TRADE BLACK VOTERS FOR LATINO VOTERS AGAIN?

STAY TUNED.


Sources: The Week, Scholar Works UMB, Washington Post, Youtube


******* BLACK WOMEN ARE EAGERLY USING THE VOTES THEY FOUGHT FOR


On December 12, 2017, Black women voted overwhelmingly for Democrat Doug Jones in his Alabama Senate race against Republican candidate Roy Moore.

Black women made up 17 percent of voters compared to white women, who made up 31 percent.

While 63 percent of white women voted for Moore—a man accused of sexual abuse and harassment by numerous women during their teenage years—98 percent of black women voted for Jones, helping him to win by a slim but decisive 1.5 percent margin.

Without the support of black voters, Jones would have lost the election, and Roy Moore would have been elected to the United States Senate. This would have had a detrimental effect on the lives of black Alabamians.

In September, Moore declared that his support of Trump’s promise to “Make America Great Again” would involve a return to a time when slavery was legal and women had yet to win the franchise. Black women stopped him from winning the Senate race.

The voting power and progressive political thought of black women is an old tradition. In the United States, their history of participation in the passing of the nineteenth amendment has been lost in debates about whether the amendment helped them or was largely a victory for white women.

What these debates often leave out is the history of black participation in the suffrage movement. From the days of its inception, black women decided they would not be left out.

The historical record indicates that it was not an allegiance to white suffragists that determined whether black women participated, nor was it Republican Party loyalty.

These assertions negate the intellectual work black women did to make political choices.

Black suffragists spoke for themselves to win the vote for themselves. This was done to win freedom from racism, classism and sexism.

Black women have always pushed the country to live up to that ideal. Their standing at the intersection of the most marginalized communities in the country ensures that, as they rise economically, politically, and socially, other marginalized communities will rise as well.

In her 1998 book, African American Women in the Struggle for the Vote, 1850-1920 , historian Rosalyn Terborg-Penn points out that black women began their struggle for voting rights while enslaved as abolitionists and after Emancipation as active participants in the women’s suffrage movement.

Debates about the voting power of black women began before the nineteenth amendment, and black women in Colorado, Illinois, and California voted in local elections.

In the 1920 presidential campaign, Warren G. Harding sought the support of black women. Lethia C. Fleming, Mary B. Talbert, and Mary Church Terrell were some of the black women involved in that campaign.

Black women were also running for political office as early as 1920. In Seattle, Washington, Mrs. W. L. Presto was a candidate for the Washington state senate.

Terborg-Penn makes a crucial point about the political thought of black women in the 1920s. Black women were already “reflecting the growing socialist movement among intellectuals and professionals of the times.” Black women were fighting for voting rights as women, black people, and progressives.

Once we understand their political strategies today, we can get closer to supporting them in their intentions to improve conditions for themselves and other women, the black community, and economically marginalized people nationally.

Black women continued to make a space for themselves in the political arena. The life and work of Fannie Lou Hamer decades after the suffrage movement demonstrates that by the mid twentieth century black women in the South were still struggling for the right to vote unharmed and unhampered.

Her speech at the 1964 Democratic National Convention shows that black women in the South were also struggling for representation in the Democratic Party.

Her brave declarations and the larger Civil Rights Movement, made up significantly of black women across the nation, pushed President Lyndon B. Johnson to sign the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

This protective legislation led to more black women voting, and in places where black people made up the majority, black women were elected to office. Hamer was a member of the first policy council of the National Women’s Political Caucus along with another black woman who was especially committed to exercising her right to run for political office: Shirley Chisholm.

Shirley Chisholm won office in New York State as an Assemblywoman in 1964. Four years later, she became the first black congresswoman in 1968 where she served for seven terms. In 1972, Chisholm became the first black woman to run for the office of President of the United States.

Historian Anastasia Curwood describes the political thought of Chisholm in her 2015 article, “Black Feminism on Capitol Hill: Shirley Chisholm and Movement Politics, 1968-1984.”

Curwood notes that Chisholm understood the unique position black women held as black, female, and for a large part of the community, working class. Chisholm referred to this position as “twin jeopardy,” a term influenced by Frances Beal.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s black women were political thinkers and actors.

Recent elections have shown that the political activity of black women is strong. What has changed since the rebellion against the Trump Administration is a deeper understanding of how dependent the Democratic Party is on black women’s votes.

One organization, Higher Heights, is pushing the Democratic Party to recognize the strength of black women’s votes. Higher Heights is an organization that advocates for the political participation and election of black women.

In an open letter to the Democratic National Committee chair, Tom Perez, published in May 2017, Higher Heights petitioned Perez to take black women’s political contributions seriously by meeting with them to discuss their concerns.

They argued that since black women overwhelmingly support the party’s candidates, their support and representation should be increased within the party.

A day after the election of Doug Jones, Perez would declare on Twitter, “Black women are the backbone of the Democratic Party, and we can’t take that for granted. Period.”

People of color, poor people, and women account for the majority of people in this country. As black women vote and advocate for the candidates with their interests in mind, and as people trust their choices, the country will be pushed further to the political left.

So, it isn’t so much that black women “turn out” to vote. It is who they choose, their political agenda, the political party that shares their agenda, and the savvy way with which they cast their votes. It isn’t just that black women vote, it is that they choose freedom.

They choose freedom for themselves and for anyone affected by race, class, and gender in this country.

Organizations like Higher Heights are aware and calling for others to go beyond being excited to directly supporting black women.

Black women must be recognized beyond the times they turn out to vote. That recognition must extend to change.

JARED KUSHNER HELPED TRUMP WIN 2016 RACE (DEMS IMPEACHMENT TRIAL)

JARED KUSHNER HELPED TRUMP WIN 2016 RACE:

DEMOCRATS WANT TRUMP IMPEACHED.

IT'S NOT ABOUT RUSSIA.

KUSHNER IS NOW BEING TARGETED & PUNISHED BY DEMOCRATS.


Sources: BBC News, The Hill, Forbes, YouTube


**** Assange: 'Kushner correct to create channels with everyone'


WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange on Sunday said he thinks President Trump's adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner was "correct" if he attempted to set up backchannel communication with Russian leadership.

"Kushner correct to create channels with everyone," Assange tweeted Sunday, following reports that Kushner sought to set up a line of communication between the Trump transition team and Moscow.

"CIA has no authority over leadership and is financially motivated to increase conflict."

Washington Post reported last week that Kushner in December sought to establish a backchannel line of communication between the Trump transition team and Moscow.

The move came during a meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

The FBI is looking at meetings that Kushner fielded with Kislyak and Russian banking executive Sergey Gorkov in December as part of the law enforcement investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow.

SUSAN RICE'S MATA HARI SPYING ON TRUMP TEAM DETAILED & POLITICAL

SUSAN RICE'S SPYING ON TRUMP TEAM WAS EXTREMELY DETAILED & POLITICAL: (MATA HARI)

SPYING ON TRUMP IN 2016 HAD NOTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH RUSSIA.

GOOGLE IS TRYING TO HIDE THIS STORY.

MANY AMERICANS & US SOLDIERS WERE SPIED ON UNDER OBAMA WHILE ISIL OPERATIVES HAD FREE REIGN.

IS CONGRESS AFRAID TO INVESTIGATE RICE BECAUSE SHE IS A BLACK WOMAN??

LET THE CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS BEGIN.


Sources: Fox News, The Federalist, Alex Jones, PBS, YouTube


****** Reports in unmasking controversy were detailed, had info about 'everyday lives'



The intelligence reports at the center of the Susan Rice unmasking controversy were detailed, and almost resembled a private investigator’s file, according to a Republican congressman familiar with the documents.


This is information about their everyday lives," Rep. Peter King of New York, a member of the House Intelligence committee said. "Sort of like in a divorce case where lawyers are hired, investigators are hired just to find out what the other person is doing from morning until night and then you try to piece it together later on.”

On the House Intelligence Committee, only the Republican chairman, Devin Nunes of California, and the ranking Democrat Adam Schiff, also of California, have personally reviewed the intelligence reports. Some members were given broad outlines.

Nunes has consistently stated that the files caused him deep concern because the unmasking went beyond the former national security adviser Mike Flynn, and the information was not related to Moscow.

Schiff said in a statement, “I cannot comment on the content of these materials or any other classified documents, and nothing should be inferred from the fact that I am treating classified materials the way they should be treated - by refusing to comment on them. Only the Administration has the power to declassify the information and make it available to the public."

Former National Security Adviser Rice is under scrutiny after allegations she sought to unmask the identities of Trump associates caught up in surveillance - such as phone calls between foreign intelligence targets. Rice denies ever having sought such information for political purposes and has defended her requests as routine.

But the most recent government data shows that unmasking or identifying Americans happens in a limited number of cases. The Office for the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees the 17 intelligence agencies, said "...in 2015, NSA disseminated 4,290 FAA Section 702 intelligence reports that included U.S. person information. Of those 4,290 reports, the U.S. person information was masked in 3,168 reports and unmasked in 1,122 reports."

The report said "NSA is allowed to unmask the identity for the specific requesting recipient only under certain conditions and where specific additional controls are in place" and those conditions were met for "654 U.S. person identities" in 2015.

That means Americans were identified in 26 percent of the cases, or roughly one in four intelligence reports.

During his March 20 testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, NSA director Admiral Mike Rogers said only 20 individuals within the agency are authorized to approve those requests.

“They receive specific training, there are specific controls put in place in terms of our ability to disseminate information out of the databases associated with U.S. persons,” Rogers said at the time. What it appears to suggest is that the NSA itself agreed that the instances in which Rice requested unmasking warranted that action.

FBI Director James Comey was less direct. "I don't know for sure. As I sit here, surely more, given the nature of the FBI's work," he testified.

"It would be nice to know the universe of people who have the power to unmask a U.S. citizen's name," South Carolina Republican congressman Trey Gowdy pressed. "Because that might provide something of a roadmap to investigate who might've actually disseminated a masked U.S. citizen's name."

Rice told NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell that the reports were requested by the Obama administration, which announced a probe into the Russian election hacking in early December. Two months earlier in October, before the election, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Homeland Security Department put out a joint statement about Moscow's interference.

Rice told Mitchell, "Fulfilling the president's request for such a report, they went back and scrubbed more reports. They began to provide more such reports to American officials, including myself."

Given the late fall timeline, it is not clear the intelligence reports Rice discussed during the NBC interview, are the same files reviewed by Nunes and Schiff.

Speaking to Fox News Wednesday, President Trump said he believed the former national security adviser may have committed a crime when she sought the identities of the Trump team members. The allegation was first reported by the New York Times.

While not commenting on the individual case, a former senior intelligence official explained the request must be approved by the NSA. Rice would have understood that there is an extensive government paper trail, that can be audited within the NSA, that shows who requested the unmasking, on what basis, and whether it was granted. This raises more questions about Rice, her motivation and whether it was authorized higher up, offering cover.

If approved, the former senior intelligence official said, only the requester, in this case Rice, would receive the information. Based on Fox News’ reporting, the information was shared beyond Rice, but it is not clear if those who received it had a “need to know.”

A spokeswoman for Rice, Erin Pelton, said in an email to the New York Times on Wednesday, “I’m not going to dignify the president’s ludicrous charge with a comment.” Pelton works for Mercury LLC, a crisis management firm.

At the height of the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack fallout, and questions about whether Rice and a former senior intelligence official had misled Congress about the role of an internet video in the deaths of four Americans, Mercury LLC was also tasked with handling the Fox News media inquiries.

CARRIE FISHER - ANOTHER GREAT CELEB DIES IN 2016

CARRIE FISHER - ANOTHER GREAT CELEB DIES IN 2016:


Sources: CBS News, The Guardian, Alex Jones, YouTube


***** Princess Leia: can Star Wars makers keep Carrie Fisher's beloved character going?

Actor had completed filming of Episode VIII, due for release in 2017 by Disney, and iconic character was thought to be included in future instalments.


Carrie Fisher’s unexpected death has not just left Star Wars fans heartbroken – it may thrust the Disney film studio into a dilemma over the fate of her iconic character Princess Leia as it moves forward with the film franchise.

Fisher, 60, enjoyed a new round of fame when Princess Leia, Harrison Ford’s Han Solo and Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker were reunited on screen for 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which sold more than $2bn in tickets at the global box office.

Fisher had finished filming for the 2017 release of Star Wars: Episode VIII, Disney said. Plot details have remained a closely guarded secret.

Fisher was also expected to play a key role in the ninth instalment of the sci-fi saga, due for release in 2019.

A Disney spokeswoman on Tuesday declined to comment on whether Leia would appear in films beyond Episode VIII.

Star Wars director Colin Trevorrow had said in a January 2016 interview that he was excited “to find new places that we can take” the characters of Princess Leia and her on-screen twin brother Luke Skywalker.

“They are icons but they’re also people that have suffered tremendous loss and challenge over the course of all these films,” Trevorrow told celebrity news outlet Entertainment Tonight.

Amid grieving over Fisher’s death, Star Wars fans have speculated on how the battle between good and evil in the Galactic Empire could continue without Fisher playing Leia, a fearless Rebel Alliance fighter who in The Force Awakens had become a general.

Leia appears briefly in the standalone movie now in theatres, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, as a digital recreation of the young princess. The late British actor Peter Cushing, who died in 1994, is also brought back to life as Death Star commander Grand Moff Tarkin for Rogue One using computer generated imagery (CGI).

Under a 1985 California law filmmakers must get permission from the estate of a celebrity to use his or her image for up to 70 years after death.

Other possibilities include redrafting the plot of Episode IX, reshooting scenes from Episode VIII, or casting someone else, as the makers of Harry Potter did when Richard Harris, who played headmaster Albus Dumbledore, died after filming the first two movies.

Some fans have suggested that singer Stevie Nickscould play Leia in future movies. But others said the character should be given a glorious screen death.

“I swear they better find a way to write Princess Leia out of the movies, cause if they try and recast there will be hell to pay,” a fan identified as Kaitlin tweeted.

KANYE WEST PROOF OF LIFE AFTER RECENT MELTDOWN? (SACRAMENTO RANT)

KANYE WEST PROOF OF LIFE AFTER RECENT MELTDOWN? (SACRAMENTO RANT):

NO MORE MAINSTREAM MEDIA PROPAGANDA.

IS KANYE DEAD OR ALIVE?

WHERE IS HE?


Sources: XXL Magazine, Perez Hilton, Youtube


Is it unreasonable to ask for proof that Kanye West is still alive after he ranted ILLUMINATI Secrets while performing at a recent concert in Sacramento, California??

After being yanked off stage (while ranting about the ILLUMINATI) and hospitalized, he was released seven days later.

Immediately upon his "release" the Mainstream Media claimed Kanye would need to receive closely supervised Mental Health treatment for a very long time.

The remainder of Kanye's "St Pablo" tour was also cancelled.

Then the MSM claimed Kanye and his wife Kim KHARDASHIAN are separated and Kim is preparing to divorce him.

Now the MSM is claiming that Kanye is in a studio working on a new album.

How can he be working on a new album so soon if he is "Bat Crazy"?

Enough is enough of this MSM propaganda about Kanye West!

Will the REAL Kanye West please hold a Media Press Conference to prove that he still ALIVE and SANE?

Will the REAL Kanye West please release information about where he is currently located?

I'm just saying.

TRUMP IS TIME'S 2016 DISSED PERSON OF THE YEAR ("DIVIDED STATES OF AMERICA")

TRUMP IS TIME'S 2016 DISSED PERSON OF THE YEAR ("DIVIDED STATES OF AMERICA"):

TRUMP DIDN'T DIVIDE AMERICA, OBAMA DID.


Sources: TIME, YouTube


******* TIME Person of the Year 2016: The Choice - TRUMP


This is the 90th time we have named the person who had the greatest influence, for better or worse, on the events of the year.

So which is it this year: Better or worse?

The challenge for Donald Trump is how profoundly the country disagrees about the answer.

It’s hard to measure the scale of his disruption.

This real estate baron and casino owner turned reality-TV star and provocateur—never a day spent in public office, never a debt owed to any interest besides his own—now surveys the smoking ruin of a vast political edifice that once housed parties, pundits, donors, pollsters, all those who did not see him coming or take him seriously.

Out of this reckoning, Trump is poised to preside, for better or worse.

For those who believe this is all for the better, Trump’s victory represents a long-overdue rebuke to an entrenched and arrogant governing class; for those who see it as for the worse, the destruction extends to cherished norms of civility and discourse, a politics poisoned by vile streams of racism, sexism, nativism.

To his believers, he delivers change—broad, deep, historic change, not modest measures doled out in Dixie cups; to his detractors, he inspires fear both for what he may do and what may be done in his name.

The revolution he stirred feels fully American, with its echoes of populists past, of Andrew Jackson and Huey Long and, at its most sinister, Joe McCarthy and Charles Coughlin. Trump’s assault on truth and logic, far from hurting him, made him stronger.

His appeal—part hope, part snarl—dissolved party lines and dispatched the two reigning dynasties of U.S. politics. Yet his victory mirrors the ascent of nationalists across the world, from Britain to the Philippines, and taps forces far more powerful than one man’s message.

We can scarcely grasp what our generation has wrought by putting a supercomputer into all of our hands, all of the time.

If you are reading this, whether on a page or a screen, there is a very good chance that you are caught up in a revolution that may have started with enticing gadgets but has now reshaped everything about how we live, love, work, play, shop, share—how our very hearts and minds encounter the world around us.

Why would we have imagined that our national conversation would simply go on as before, same people, same promises, same patterns? Perhaps the President-elect will stop tweeting—but only because he will have found some other means to tell the story he wants to tell directly to the audience that wants to hear it.

It turned out to be a failing strategy when Hillary Clinton, who loves policy solutions and believes in them, tried to make this race a character test, a referendum on Trump.

But it was certainly understandable. He presented so many challenges, so many choices about what America values.

Her popular-vote victory, while legally irrelevant, affirmed the prospect of a female Commander in Chief. In fact, she crushed Trump among voters who cared most about experience and judgment and temperament, qualities that have typically mattered when choosing the leader of the free world.

Even at his moment of victory, 6 in 10 voters had an unfavorable view of Trump and didn’t think he was qualified to be President.

But by almost 2 to 1, voters cared most about who could deliver change, and in that category he beat her by 69 points.

This is his next test. The year 2016 was the year of his rise; 2017 will be the year of his rule, and like all newly elected leaders, he has a chance to fulfill promises and defy expectations.

His supporters and his critics will discover together how much of what he said he actually believes. In the days after the election, everything was negotiable:

the wall became a fence, “Crooked Hillary” is “good people,” and maybe climate change is worth thinking about. Far from draining the swamp, he fed plums to some of its biggest gators. Were his followers alarmed?

The critics were hardly reassured: nearly half of Americans expect race relations to worsen, and many women fear that his ascent comes directly at their expense. Trump prefers to talk about the alienated workers who flocked to his rallies and believed a billionaire could be their tribune—“I love them and they love me”—and avers that his every action will be on their behalf.

But can he devise a New Deal for workers in the age of automation, renegotiate trade deals and reopen factories while simultaneously elevating many of the same people who profit from the trends he denounced?

For reminding America that demagoguery feeds on despair and that truth is only as powerful as the trust in those who speak it, for empowering a hidden electorate by mainstreaming its furies and live-streaming its fears, and for framing tomorrow’s political culture by demolishing yesterday’s, Donald Trump is TIME’s 2016 Person of the Year.

DONALD TRUMP'S SPEECH ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS DEPT REFORM (JULY 2016)

Sources: Right Side Broadcasting, Youtube

VETERANS DAY 2016 - FREEDOM ISN'T FREE

GOD BLESS ALL ACTIVE DUTY AND RETIRED VETERANS EVERYWHERE.

GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES OF FALLEN SOLDIERS.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.

GOD BLESS AMERICA.

FREEDOM ISN'T FREE.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY 2016 (TROOPS & DONALD TRUMP)

@memorialday2016

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY 2016:

GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS.

GOD BLESS DONALD TRUMP.

God Bless All U.S. Military Troops & Vets And Their Families Everywhere. Thank You For Your Selfless Service.

God Bless America!

God Bless 2016 Presumptive GOP Presidential Nominee Donald J. Trump Who Respects And Honors All Troops & Vets Everywhere.

CHAKA FATTAH OUSTED OUT OF PUBLIC OFFICE LIKE PATRICK CANNON

CHAKA FATTAH OUSTED OUT OF PUBLIC OFFICE LIKE PATRICK CANNON

YES THERE IS A WAR ON POLITICIANS WHO DARE TO UPLIFT BLACK COMMUNITIES.

Sources: AP,  CBS, Charlotte Observer,  Youtube

In April 2016 Democrat Congress Chaka Fattah 59 was defeated during a Primary by a 36 yr old challenger by the name of Dwight Evans.

Fattah an 11-term Black member of Congress, is currently facing an Indictment for Corruption charges which stem all the way from 2007.

Ironically 2007 is the same year Pres Obama launched his first term bid for US President.

I've never heard anything bad about Congressman Fattah until now.

Nevertheless Congressman Fattah now faces the same fate as Incarcerated Black 

former Charlotte mayor Patrick

Cannon, also a Democrat.

In 2014 Patrick Cannon was imprisoned on Corruption charges for accepting Bribes.

***** Indicted Rep. Fattah loses Pennsylvania Democratic primary

Indicted Pennsylvania congressman Chaka Fattah, facing his first primary fight in two decades, has lost the Democratic primary just before the start of his federal corruption trial.

Fattah, an 11-term U.S. representative, had been outspent in the race as he struggled to raise funds for both the campaign and his defense lawyers. He was ousted on Tuesday by a 36-year state lawmaker, Rep. Dwight Evans, in his first primary fight in two decades.

"There were forces arrayed against us tonight of very powerful and influential people," Fattah said in conceding before supporters at a union hall in Philadelphia.

Fattah has represented the Philadelphia region in Washington for two decades and served on the powerful Appropriations Committee.

He's accused of accepting bribes and misusing campaign funds and charitable grants to enrich his family and friends. He has called the seven-year FBI probe that's ensnared his son and close aides a political witch hunt. He says he has done nothing wrong.

Jury selection in his trial starts next week. Opening statements are set for May 16.

The 2015 indictment describes four schemes, two involving efforts to erase $1 million in debts from Fattah's failed 2007 bid for Philadelphia mayor. The indictment also charges four associates, including former staff members, with crimes and accuses Fattah's wife of being linked to an $18,000 sham sale of a luxury car.

Fattah had three opponents in his heavily Democratic Philadelphia-area district.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney and Gov. Tom Wolf backed Evans.

But Fattah had the support of other key players, including black ward leaders and other local officials.

Fattah, who's 59, had won the office at 37 and soon became a fixture as the state's only black congressman, representing the only predominantly black district in the state. He flew on Air Force One with President Barack Obama and brought home millions of dollars in federal funds for housing, scholarships, transportation and crime prevention.

However, the White House on Tuesday distanced itself from a robocall that used archival audio of Obama's voice to urge voters to support Fattah and said it didn't approve. In the clip, Obama was acknowledging Fattah at an event for his work on neuroscience research.

White House spokeswoman Jennifer Friedman said Obama hadn't endorsed a candidate in the race. A Fattah campaign representative said she was seeking more information about the issue.

Fattah and his wife, former TV news anchor Renee Chenault Fattah, had long been a power couple on the Philadelphia scene.

But she left her job after the indictment, when prosecutors painted her as a participant in the sham sale of her Porsche to a lobbyist. She, like her husband, has said she did nothing wrong.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY 2016

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL MOTHERS & MOTHER FIGURES EVERYWHERE

THANK YOU & GOD BLESS YOU

“Making the decision to have a child — it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body.”― Elizabeth Stone

“Our mothers always remain the strangest, craziest people we've ever met.” ― Marguerite Duras

"Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother." — Oprah Winfrey

“My mother... she is beautiful, softened at the edges and tempered with a spine of steel. I want to grow old and be like her.” ― Jodi Picoult

“All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” ― Abraham Lincoln

ISIL SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS 29 IN IRAQ FOOTBALL STADIUM (WHERE'S MH-370?)

ISIL SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS 29 IN IRAQ FOOTBALL STADIUM:

IT'S TIME FOR U.S. MILITARY TO STOP ISIL ONCE & FOR ALL.

WILL AMERICA LEAD BEFORE ISIL STRIKES UNITED STATES FOR 2016 POLITICS?

Sources: AP, Anonymous, Infowars, Fox News, NY Times, Youtube

**** Suicide Bomber Hits Stadium in Iraqi City, Killing 29

A suicide bomber blew himself up in a soccer stadium south of the Iraqi capital on Friday, killing 29 people and wounding 60, security officials said.

The bombing took place during a match in the small stadium in the city of Iskanderiyah, 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Baghdad, the officials said. Medical officials confirmed the death toll. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Islamic State group has been waging a campaign of suicide bombings in and around the capital as Iraqi forces and their allies battle the militants in the north and west of the country.

The bombing came as Iraqi military spokesman Yahya Rusoul announced that Iraqi troops and Sunni tribal fighters recaptured the western town of Kubeisa from the Islamic State group. The assault was part of operations aimed at rolling back the militants in Iraq's Sunni-majority Anbar province after government forces retook the provincial capital of Ramadi in February.

OBAMA WELCOMES BATTLE TO REPLACE SCALIA DURING HIS 2nd TERM: (LEGACY)

OBAMA WELCOMES BATTLE TO REPLACE SCALIA DURING HIS 2nd TERM:  (LEGACY)

ANNOUNCES HE WILL NOMINATE SCALIA'S REPLACEMENT.

APPOINTMENT OF SCALIA'S REPLACEMENT WILL FULFILL OBAMA'S LEGACY.

**** Obama Says He’ll Nominate A Replacement For Scalia

President Obama declared Saturday that he intends to nominate a replacement for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a move aimed at deepening his imprint on the nation’s highest court.

“I plan to fulfill my constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor in due time,” Obama said, adding that there’s “plenty of time” for the Senate “to give that person a fair hearing and a timely vote. 

These are responsibilities that I take seriously, as should everyone. 

They’re bigger than any one party — they’re about a democracy.”

But the president faces a fierce and protracted battle with Republicans who have already signaled that they have no intention of allowing Obama to choose a nominee to succeed Scalia.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Judiciary Committee Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said that Scalia should not be replaced until the next president has taken office. “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice,” McConnell said in a statement.

Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) rejected that position. “It would be unprecedented in recent history for the Supreme Court to go a year with a vacant seat,” he said in a statement. “Failing to fill this vacancy would be a shameful abdication of one of the Senate’s most essential Constitutional responsibilities.”

Obama has nominated two justices to the court in the past, and he has expressed the desire for jurists with empathy. 

He did not discuss his thinking about that on Saturday night. Instead, he used the moment to pay tribute to Scalia, whom he described as an “extraordinary judicial thinker.”

In selecting Supreme Court nominees, Obama has relied heavily on the advice of Vice President Biden, a former Senate Judiciary chairman. 

Biden has demonstrated again and again a strong working relationship with McConnell, having previously negotiated several tax and budget deals. 

The court nomination may hinge on Biden’s ability to reach a deal with McConnell again.

But the fate of the nomination would clearly be in Republican hands. While Democrats were able to change the rules in 2013 to make it easier to approve lower court judges with a simple majority, Supreme Court nominations still require 60 votes to advance past an opposition filibuster. 

To derail or delay the nomination, McConnell could simply not schedule a vote, but even if he allows Senate consideration of the nomination, Democrats do not have the numbers to overcome a GOP filibuster.

Although the Republican-controlled Congress could easily thwart an Obama nominee, such a decision could reverberate across the presidential campaign and into in the November elections, in which several GOP senators face tough, competitive races.

The most immediate outcome of the Scalia vacancy is that it offers Obama the chance to draw sharper battle lines with Republicans during an increasingly acrimonious presidential election.

The administration now faces a chaotic political and legal environment in which the president must prepare for a bitter confirmation fight or embrace the prospect of a deadlocked Supreme Court divided evenly between liberals and conservatives.

Scalia’s death also throws into doubt the outcome of some of the most controversial issues facing the nation in cases before the court this term: abortion, affirmative action, the rights of religious objectors to the contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act, and the president’s powers on immigration and deportation.

A deadlocked court could leave appellate decisions in place without setting a precedent.

 That would please the administration on a case involving union membership, for instance, but would keep Obama’s executive action on deportation from being implemented.

White House officials would not comment Saturday evening on their deliberations about a potential nominee, but the administration has an extensive list of possible candidates to choose from, including some who would change the face of the court by virtue of their race or sexual orientation.

“Blocking a strong person of color, a woman or an historic LGBT candidate for the Supreme Court might cause conservatives more trouble than they think they’re preventing,” said Robert Raben, a Democratic consultant and lobbyist who served as a senior Justice Department official under President Clinton. “The perception of unfairness or bias at the height of a national election could seriously backfire.”

One former senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, said the president was likely to look to someone young enough to make a mark on the court over several decades. Obama has appointed several such jurists to U.S. appellate courts, the person noted, providing him with a relatively deep bench to from which to choose.

Among the leading candidates would be Sri Srinivasan, a judge on U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, who was confirmed to seat in a 97-to-0 Senate vote in May 2013. Srinivasan would be the first South Asian American on the court. 

He worked in the U.S. Solicitor General’s office under both Obama and President George W. Bush, and clerked for former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Other contenders from that same court include its chief judge, Merrick Garland, who is well liked by conservatives and was a finalist for such a nomination when Obama selected Justice Elena Kagan in 2010. 

Patricia Ann Millett, who won confirmation to the D.C. Circuit in December 2013, may also be considered.

Obama could also look to current or former administration officials, said those familiar with the president’s thinking, or even to the Senate. 

Among those officials are Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr., Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Eric Holder, the former attorney general.

Other potential choices could include Deval Patrick (D), the former governor of Massachusetts, or Paul Smith, who chairs the appellate and Supreme Court practice at Jenner & Block and, if confirmed, would be the first openly gay justice.

Beyond the D.C. Circuit, there are many other appellate judges the president could look to in selecting a nominee. Those include Paul Watford and Mary H. Murguia of the 9th Circuit; Albert Diaz of the 4th Circuit and Ojetta Rogeriee Thompson of the 1st Circuit.

Regardless of whom Obama selects, the combination of the timing of the opening, the stark division on the court and deeply partisan passion being evoked in both presidential primaries would make this confirmation battle unlike any of the past 40 years.

The last confirmation in the eighth year of a presidency was Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, whose 97-to-0 vote in February 1988 came after two failed nomination efforts by President Reagan in the face of a Democratic-controlled Senate in late 1987. 

Kennedy is seen as a traitor among conservative activists, who view his rulings on abortion and gay rights with the liberal bloc as an example of GOP leaders choosing political expediency over ideological rigidity.

The only other attempt to fill a vacancy during a presidential election year came in 1968, when President Lyndon Johnson tried to elevate Abe Fortas to be chief justice. 

The Senate blocked Fortas. 

Subsequently, the other nomination to fill Fortas’s spot as associate justice was withdrawn during the final months of Johnson’s presidency.

Under normal circumstances, the nomination of a justice takes about 75 to 90 days, the first 60 or so involving a thorough vetting process by the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

Typically, the panel does not consider judicial nominees after mid-May, under a tradition established by the late Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.). While chairing the Judiciary Committee, Thurmond declared that he would not take up new judicial nominations within a few months of a presidential election.

Filling the post of Scalia, however, will be anything but normal. 

He was the outspoken champion for the court’s conservative wing and had many admirers in the Senate, including McConnell. Obama’s first two appointments to the court were relatively easy because Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Kagan were replacing liberal-leaning justices.

Senate conservatives, already predisposed to not approve of Obama’s choice, might be loath to allow him to replace their judicial hero with a liberal jurist who would tip the court in a left-leaning direction. 

As of now, Sotomayor and Kagan often sided with Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer in the most ideologically driven cases, with Kennedy and sometimes Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. providing the tie-breaking votes.

If Republicans leave the Scalia seat vacant for any lengthy time, that sets up the chance of a series of 4-to-4 votes in which the ruling of the lower federal court would stand as the law of that particular region of the country.

That political math in the Senate means Obama will need the support of all 46 members of the Democratic caucus and at least 14 Republicans to end a filibuster and successfully appoint Scalia’s successor. 

In the president’s previous Supreme Court nominations, just nine and then four Republicans voted to confirm Sotomayor and Kagan, respectively.

Sources: CNN, Washington Post, Youtube

FIRST BLIZZARD OF 2016 PUMMELS EAST COAST - CHARLOTTE TOO

@Blizzard2016

FIRST BLIZZARD OF 2016 PUMMELS EAST COAST - CHARLOTTE TOO:

STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED.

MORE SNOW, ICY ROADS & POWER OUTAGES

PLEASE STAY HOME.


~ More Sleet, Snow Expected For Charlotte Region

The first winter storm of the season left icy roads across the Charlotte region Friday, and forecasters said several more rounds of snow and sleet are expected before the precipitation comes to an end Saturday.

If there was a bright spot to the storm, which is expected to turn into a raging blizzard farther up the East Coast, it was that Charlotte appeared to escape the heavy freezing rain that meteorologists had feared.

Instead, the heaviest freezing rain as of Friday afternoon fell in the South Carolina Upstate and to the east in the North Carolina Sandhills.

Duke Energy, which had recruited more than 1,000 out-of-state utility workers for possible line repairs, reported at mid-afternoon that there were about 30,000 power outages in the Carolinas.

Nearly half those – about 13,000 – were in Greenville County, S.C.

Instead, Charlotte-area residents dealt with heavy sleet and, farther to the northwest, several inches of snow.

The National Weather Service says the winter storm warning for Charlotte will extend until 7 p.m. Saturday. Sleet and some freezing rain are expected to continue in the region Friday afternoon and evening, but the precipitation is forecast to change to snow in the early-morning hours Saturday.

The Weather Service’s computer guidance indicated a band of heavy snow could form early Saturday in the Piedmont and Foothills, perhaps bringing 2 or 3 inches to parts of the Charlotte area.

Clearing is forecast Saturday evening, and the weather is expected to be clear and cold Sunday for the Panthers-Cardinals NFC Championship Game in Charlotte.

Meteorologists had warned that a half-inch of ice could accumulate in Charlotte – enough to cause major problems with downed tree limbs and power lines. Instead, it was mostly sleet that fell from the bands of precipitation that moved across the region during the day.

Sleet does not create power outage problems but is a major headache for road crews.

Local and state officials urged area residents to remain on guard, despite the several hours of precipitation-free conditions that developed late Friday morning.

“The big message here is it continues to be a fluid situation,” Charlotte City Manager Ron Carlee said. “We’re in a lull. As it’s been suggested, we’re in halftime. But the second half could be worse, and it could go into overtime.”

Gov. Pat McCrory said in a news conference in Raleigh, “Now is not the time to let down your guard.”

The precipitation began, as expected, shortly before midnight Thursday evening as rain. It changed to sleet a few hours later in Charlotte, coating the streets with a layer of congealed ice pellets.

To the north and northwest, the precipitation fell as snow. The National Weather Service said it received several reports of 8 inches or more in and around Asheville, and there were widespread reports of 4-7 inches along the Interstate 40 corridor.

Col. William Grey, head of the N.C. Highway Patrol, said troopers helped 100 motorists get their stranded vehicles off roads Friday morning. The Highway Patrol responded to 571 collisions through Friday morning and 800 calls for service.

Hickory police were investigating a fatal crash that might have been weather-related. Police said one person was killed when a car went off a roadway in the early-morning hours. Snow was falling at the time.

“We strongly encourage everyone not to travel unless absolutely necessary,” Grey said.

Charlotte Department of Transportation director Danny Pleasant said 72 crew members, divvied among 36 trucks, were working 12-hour shifts to cover area roads with salt and brine.

Duke Energy had called in 2,800 crew members from Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Michigan, Indiana, Oklahoma and Texas to help manage outages in the Carolinas, said district manager Tim Gause. “The full impact of the storm system is unknown at this time, but I want you to be prepared,” he said.

American Airlines canceled all flights in and out of Charlotte Douglas International Airport on Friday.

The airline operates more than 90 percent of the daily flights in Charlotte, so air travel to and from the city was largely stopped until Saturday morning, when American plans to resume air service from the city.

Flights were also canceled Friday for Delta, United, Southwest, Lufthansa, Air Canada, ViaAir and JetBlue.

Schools across the region canceled classes, and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools announced that SAT testing scheduled for Saturday would not take place.

The NASCAR Hall of Fame’s induction dinner and ceremony scheduled for Friday evening was postponed until 1 p.m. Saturday, said executive director Winston Kelley.

Charlotte area postal officials suspended mail collection from the family blue collection boxes Friday.

Mail delivery was suspended Friday for customers in ZIP codes beginning with 280, 281, 282, 287, 288 and 297.
Retail services also were suspended.


Sources: NBC News, Charlotte Observer, National Weather Service

NIKKI HALEY'S SOTU RESPONSE PROVES SHE WOULD MAKE A GREAT VP - REAL SUBSTANCE (VIDEO)

NIKKI HALEY'S SOTU RESPONSE PROVES SHE WOULD MAKE A GREAT VP:

HER RESPONSE HAD REAL SUBSTANCE, HIT ALL POINTS.

~ What Nikki Haley Said In The Republican Response To The State Of The Union

With the end of President Obama’s final State of the Union address, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley sought in her Republican Party response to turn the page on his presidency and look towards the future -– one she said would be brighter under a Republican president.

“Soon, the Obama presidency will end, and America will have the chance to turn in a new direction. That direction is what I want to talk about tonight,” she said, speaking from the capital city of Columbia.

Haley said she understood that voters are frustrated with government, but added that Republicans must take some responsibility for that frustration as well as Democrats –- and channel it into meaningful action.

With the end of President Obama’s final State of the Union address, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley sought in her Republican Party response to turn the page on his presidency and look towards the future -– one she said would be brighter under a Republican president.

“Soon, the Obama presidency will end, and America will have the chance to turn in a new direction. That direction is what I want to talk about tonight,” she said, speaking from the capital city of Columbia.

Haley said she understood that voters are frustrated with government, but added that Republicans must take some responsibility for that frustration as well as Democrats –- and channel it into meaningful action.

Sources: ABC News, NBC News, PBS, Youtube

OBAMA'S FINAL SOTU SPEECH - HE LOOKS OLDER, STILL HAS POLITICAL SWAG (VIDEO)

OBAMA'S FINAL SOTU SPEECH - HE LOOKS OLDER, STILL HAS POLITICAL SWAG: 

PAUL RYAN'S FIRST SOTU AS HOUSE SPEAKER.

~ 8 Key Quotes From Obama's 2016 State Of The Union

In his final State of the Union Address, President Obama largely avoided requests for Congress to approve specific programs, instead focusing on broad themes about America's future.

Here are eight key passages from his speech:

1. On bipartisanship

"Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the constructive approach you and the other leaders took at the end of last year to pass a budget and make tax cuts permanent for working families. So I hope we can work together this year on bipartisan priorities like criminal justice reform, and helping people who are battling prescription drug abuse. We just might surprise the cynics again."

2. On the economy

"Anyone claiming that America’s economy is in decline is peddling fiction. What is true — and the reason that a lot of Americans feel anxious — is that the economy has been changing in profound ways, changes that started long before the Great Recession hit and haven’t let up."

3. On combating cancer

"Last year, Vice President Biden said that with a new moonshot, America can cure cancer. Last month, he worked with this Congress to give scientists at the National Institutes of Health the strongest resources they’ve had in over a decade. Tonight, I’m announcing a new national effort to get it done. And because he’s gone to the mat for all of us, on so many issues over the past forty years, I’m putting Joe in charge of Mission Control."

4. On climate change

"We’ve got to accelerate the transition away from dirty energy. Rather than subsidize the past, we should invest in the future — especially in communities that rely on fossil fuels. That’s why I’m going to push to change the way we manage our oil and coal resources, so that they better reflect the costs they impose on taxpayers and our planet."

5. On U.S. strength

The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth. Period. It’s not even close. We spend more on our military than the next eight nations combined. Our troops are the finest fighting force in the history of the world ... when it comes to every important international issue, people of the world do not look to Beijing or Moscow to lead — they call us.

6. On the Islamic State

"As we focus on destroying ISIL, over-the-top claims that this is World War III just play into their hands. Masses of fighters on the back of pickup trucks and twisted souls plotting in apartments or garages pose an enormous danger to civilians and must be stopped. But they do not threaten our national existence. That’s the story ISIL wants to tell; that’s the kind of propaganda they use to recruit. ... We just need to call them what they are — killers and fanatics who have to be rooted out, hunted down, and destroyed."

7. On diversity

"We need to reject any politics that targets people because of race or religion. This isn’t a matter of political correctness. It’s a matter of understanding what makes us strong. The world respects us not just for our arsenal; it respects us for our diversity and our openness and the way we respect every faith."

8. On politics

"The future we want — opportunity and security for our families; a rising standard of living and a sustainable, peaceful planet for our kids — all that is within our reach. But it will only happen if we work together. It will only happen if we can have rational, constructive debates.It will only happen if we fix our politics."

Sources: PBS, USA Today, Youtube

OBAMA TO DELIVER FINAL SOTU ADDRESS; TUESDAY, JAN 12, 9PM ET (HIS LEGACY & HILLARY'S CAMPAIGN)

View More: Politics News|Live News|More News Videos

OBAMA DELIVERS FINAL SOTU ADDRESS; TUESDAY, JAN 12, 9PM ET:

SPEECH WILL HIGHLIGHT HIS LEGACY & HELP HILLARY

*** OBAMA'S PRESIDENTIAL LEGACY (GOOD & BAD):

ELECTED IN NOV 2008 (FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT)

RE-ELECTED IN NOV 2012

ORDERED DEATH OF OSAMA BIN LADEN

PULLED TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ

REAL COMPENSATION FOR FAMILIES WHOSE LOVED ONES ARE MURDERED BY POLICE

BAILED OUT WALL STREET

BAILED OUT AUTO INDUSTRY

STIMULUS PACKAGE

REPEALED "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL"

DODD-FRANK

FORECLOSURE PREVENTION

CONSUMER PROTECTION

APPOINTED NEW MEMBERS TO FEDERAL LABOR BOARD

OBAMACARE

CLIMATE CHANGE

LEGALIZED MARIJUANA

POLICE BLUE-LIGHT POLICE PROTECTION ACT

NEW GUN CONTROL LAWS

REPEALED "NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND"

HELPED GOV NIKKI HALEY IN REMOVING CONFEDERATE FLAG AFTER CHARLESTON MASSACRE.

~ How To Watch President Obama's Final State Of The Union

President Obama will deliver his final State of the Union address Tuesday at 9 p.m. and is expected to focus on the future, with the 2016 presidential election at stake later this year.

The president previewed the address in a video last week and said he wants his speech to highlight not only the progress the U.S. has made and what he wants to accomplish in his final year, but "what we all need to do together in the years to come."

The White House has invited a number of people to sit in the box with First Lady Michelle Obama during the address, and one seat has been reserved and will be left vacant to represent "victims of gun violence who no longer have a voice."

Mr. Obama spent all of last week highlighting his new set of executive actions on gun violence.

Other White House guests include Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy (D); the CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella; Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court same-sex marriage case; 

Spencer Stone, one of the three Americans who thwarted a potential terrorist attack on a Paris-bound train in August; one of the partners of a San Bernardino terrorist attack victim; and a Syrian refugee who moved to the U.S. with his children in December.

The speech, which will be the first with Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, as speaker, will come just weeks before the 2016 primary season kicks off in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Mr. Obama wants to ensure that a Democrat succeeds him, but he also is focused on plans he'd like to fulfill in his final year in office.

The president, for example, is intent on delivering a plan to Congress that would permanently close the Guantanamo Bay prison.

He has challenged Congress to consider a new war authorization against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Criminal justice reform and getting approval for the Trans-Pacific Partnership are also among Mr. Obama's final priorities.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) is scheduled to deliver the Republican response after the address.

** What: President Obama's final State of the Union address
Time: 9 p.m. ET

Where to watch/listen:

On TV: CBS television affiliates or on CBSN streaming on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Xbox One
Mobile: CBSN streaming on the CBS News apps CBS News for Android and CBS News for iOS
Online: CBSNews.com
On radio: CBS Radio News affiliates

** Who attends: Vice President Joe Biden will sit behind the president, next to Speaker Ryan. Members of the House and Senate will file into the House chamber for the speech.

Some of the 2016 GOP presidential candidates will be there. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rand Paul will attend, but Ted Cruz is skipping it in favor of his own campaign event in New Hampshire.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will be delivering his state of the state address on Tuesday.

A number of Supreme Court justices usually show up, as well as members of the president's cabinet.

There's always a "designated survivor," who is a member of the cabinet designated to be at an undisclosed location when he delivers the speech, in case something happens to the president, vice president and speaker.

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx was the designated survivor last year.

Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis who spent five days in jail defying a court order to license same-sex marriages will be in the chamber, although no one has revealed which lawmaker invited her.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, on Tuesday said he won't be there, and further, he has reserved an empty seat in the House chamber's gallery during the State of the Union to represent "the lives of more than 55 million aborted babies."

Sources: CBS News, NBC News