Following the arrest and detention of ten U.S. military sailors in the Persian Gulf, Iran releases a propaganda video showing our soldiers humiliated and on their knees.  The video is being broadcast through out Iran and the larger Middle-East with the message of how the Iranian Revolutionary Guard made the U.S. military cower. 

Hillary Clinton and President Obama have both (falsely) stated that ISIS uses video of republican candidates to generate recruitment efforts for radical jihad.  What exactly do you think the Islamic recruitment value is for footage of U.S. military cowering?

(two videos follow BBC outline)  The US has apologised to Iran after 10 American sailors were arrested for entering Iranian waters, the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards naval forces has said.

General Ali Fadavi accused those detained of “unprofessional” acts.  But he suggested the group, who are being held by the guards, could be released soon. (more…)

Republican Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, and Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, personally selected South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to deliver the State of The Union rebuttal/attack on GOP frontrunner Donald Trump.   Ryan and McConnell also personally approved the script.

Donald Trump is the leading GOP presidential candidate, and has been in the lead for over six months; he is supported by the majority of the party base.   Ryan, McConnell and Haley are attacking their own electorate. Exceptionally typical of aloof Establishment Republicans. – The Stupid Party Gets Even Stupider –

#ColdAnger

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “2016 Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Presidential Race and/or any of the candidates therein.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

Forget the nonsense from President Obama’s State of The Union diatribe of same/same left-wing nonsense cloaked in claims of incivility from his opposition.  Forget that nonsense, it was predictable. Most of the electorate were more interested in whether the DC Republicans had received the message within a six-month-leading Donald Trump candidacy.

And…. the answer is a resounding NO !

There is only one party in DC and that is the UniParty run by Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.  There’s not a hairs difference between them, and Nikki Haley just affirmed the GOPe commitment in that regard.

[…]  “We need to be honest with each other, and with ourselves: while Democrats in Washington bear much responsibility for the problems facing America today, they do not bear it alone. There is more than enough blame to go around.

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Candidate Donald Trump is holding another rally in Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, at the University of Northern Iowa West Gym. The rally begins at 6:00pm Central, 7:00pm Eastern

Live stream Link #1 – Live stream Link #2 – Live stream Link #3

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BREAKING:  So Much for Obama’s appeasement approach toward Iran.  Two small U.S. naval vessels containing 10 U.S. Military service members were traveling from Kuwait to Bahrain in the Persian Gulf.

The U.S. Navy lost contact with the vessels after the Iranian Navy intercepted the two boats and detained the sailors.

Early reports are the U.S. Navy members are in good health and negotiations are underway to secure their release.  The incident took place near Farsi Island. Secretary of State John Kerry called his Iranian counterpart to try to resolve the matter.  The Iranian government has initially refused to release our soldiers – they will not be released tonight.

Here’s an image of what type of vessels the U.S. military were using.  Riverine Boats:

AP Has Outline – […]   Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told The Associated Press that the riverine boats were moving between Kuwait and Bahrain when the U.S. lost contact with them. (more…)

The Maryland Appeals Court has stepped in to halt the trial against Officer Caesar Goodson on the day jury selection was scheduled to begin.   In an earlier appellate court ruling the forced testimony of accused police officer William Porter was blocked.  The State’s cases are falling apart due to inept legal application and ideological motives to prosecute.

Baltimore State Attorney Marilyn Mosby is now claiming without Porter’s testimony her cases against both Caesar Goodson and Alicia White will not stand:

[…] not being able to call Porter as a witness would “result in irreparable harm to the People of Maryland by effectively gutting their government’s prosecution” of two of the officers. (link)

On its face this is an absolutely absurd position.  (more…)

…”When Cruz was my constitutional law student at Harvard, he aced the course after making a big point of opposing my views in class — arguing stridently for sticking with the “original meaning” against the idea of a more elastic “living Constitution” whenever such ideas came up. I enjoyed jousting with him, but Ted never convinced me — nor did I convince him.

At least he was consistent in those days. Now, he seems to be a fair weather originalist, abandoning that method’s narrow constraints when it suits his ambition”…  ~ Laurence H Tribe (Harvard)

Ted Cruz is a Naturalized Citizen, not “Natural Born”

(Via Free Republic) The question of who qualifies as a “natural born citizen” may be close in some cases, but the case of Ted Cruz is easy. Constitutionally speaking, Cruz is a naturalized citizen, not “natural born.”

Regarding citizenship, the Constitution grants Congress power over a uniform rule of naturalization, not over citizenship generally. Any citizen whose citizenship is derived from an act of Congress is thus a naturalized citizen, constitutionally speaking, and thus not “natural born.”

(more…)

In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “2016 Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Presidential Race and/or any of the candidates therein.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.