Inside Bernie-world's war on Beto O'Rourke

WASHINGTON — Forces loyal to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders are waging an increasingly public war against Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke, the new darling of Democratic activists, as the two men weigh whether to seek the party's presidential nomination in 2020.

The main line of attack against O'Rourke is that he isn't progressive enough — that he's been too close to Republicans in Congress, too close to corporate donors and not willing enough to use his star power to help fellow Democrats — and it is being pushed almost exclusively by Sanders supporters online and in print.

It's been the first flashpoint in what promises to be a politically bloody primary — one that has drawn responses from foot soldiers in the Obama and Clinton wings of the party — as Democrats begin to focus on who has the best chance to deny President Donald Trump a second term in the Oval Office.

Nomiki Konst, a progressive activist and 2016 Sanders supporter who is now running for public advocate in New York City, said liberal activists mostly kept quiet about their concerns over O'Rourke's record, including the backing he got from the centrist Blue Dog Democrats, before he lost a Texas Senate race to Republican Ted Cruz in November.

"They sucked it up while he was running" because they wanted him to win, Konst said. "But now it’s a different story."


https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/inside-bernie-world-s-war-beto-o-rourke-n951016

Nancy tells Trump to see her in January

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Shutdown to stretch on until at least Thursday

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced Saturday afternoon that the Senate would shutter for legislative business until Thursday, leaving many federal agencies closed until later next week at the earliest.

“Listen, anything can happen,” McConnell said. “We’re pulling for an agreement that can get 60 votes in the Senate and a majority in the House.”

The decision came after President Trump had a lunch with conservative Republicans and dispatched Vice President Pence to the Capitol to make the latest offer to Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). That meeting ended after 30 minutes with no resolution.

“Still talking,” Pence told reporters as he and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney left Schumer’s office; the senator had said he would “remind” the vice president that Democrats would not sign off on funding for a border wall.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/shutdown-day-1-trump-warns-it-could-be-a-long-stay-amid-impasse-over-border-wall/2018/12/22/006ff10c-060b-11e9-9122-82e98f91ee6f_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6a26ec57f424

Russians Boosted Jill Stein to Help Trump Win

“Two days before the 2016 presidential election, an Instagram account called @woke_blacks posted a message in support of long-shot Green Party candidate Jill Stein,” NBC News reports.

Said the post: “The excuse that a lost Black vote for Hillary is a Trump win is bs. It could be late, but y’all might want to support Jill Stein instead.”

“According to a report commissioned by the Senate, the account was a fake, part of the Russian campaign to sway the 2016 presidential election in favor of Donald Trump. The report was one of two that leaked this week saying the Russian effort to disrupt the election specifically targeted black voters and harnessed America’s top social media platforms. But the reports contained another finding that was largely overlooked — the Russians also focused on boosting Stein’s candidacy through social media posts like the one from @woke_blacks.”


https://politicalwire.com/2018/12/22/russians-boosted-jill-stein-to-help-trump-win/

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WHITE HOUSE STAFFER DEVISED PLAN TO 'HIDE OUT' FOR 6 MONTHS WHILE STILL GETTING PAID: REPORT

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Zachary Fuentes reportedly told colleagues that he would “hide out” in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, above, in Washington, D.C., for six months until he could retire early.

One White House aid reportedly tried to “hide out” in Washington, D.C., for six months until he could qualify for a Coast Guard early retirement program. But then the program was pulled from Congress and canceled.

Zachary Fuentes, the White House deputy chief of staff, told colleagues that after his boss and mentor John Kelly left the Trump administration at the end of 2018, he planned to retreat from his role and wait until he could qualify for an early retirement program, all while remaining on the payroll, according to a report by The New York Times.

Fuentes, an active-duty officer in the Coast Guard, would only need to “hide out” until July in order to complete 15 years of service in the military and qualify for early retirement. The 36-year-old White House staffer told co-workers that he would find refuge in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building located near the White House.


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newsweek.com/white-house-staffer-tried-hide-out-six-months-1268313%3famp=1

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Random political predictions for 2019

1. Virginia Democrats will take over the state legislature.
2. Roger Stone, Donald Trump, Jr. and Jared Kushner will be indicted.
3. Robert Barr will be conformed Attorney General.
4. Ayanna Presley will steal the spotlight from AOC among the progressive freshmen.
5. Republicans will lose at least one special House election.
6. More Republican state legislators will leave the party.
7. Sen. Pat Roberts and more House Republicans will announce retirements.
8. Blevin will be re-elected Gov of Kentucky
9. Mueller will name Donald Trump an unindicted co-conspirator on Obstruction and various financial crimes but not on election rigging.
10. Beto will announce he is not running for POTUS and will run against Cronyn.
11. Either Booker or Harris will drop out before the end of 2019.
12. McConnell will find himself getting pushed out by pro-Trump colleagues and announce his retirement ahead of 2020.
13. Wisconsin Republicans will face recall elections.

That's it, I am endorsing Joe Biden for President

With all the shit that went down today, it’s clear that we need an adult in the White House who can spend one term restoring order to the federal government, oversee the prosecution of the Trump crime syndicate and reconnecting with our allies abroad. After that, we can look for “inspiration”.