LaVoy Finicum's Death in Oregon Occupation Prompts Memorials Across the Country

At the Portland Oregonian:

Robert "LaVoy" Finicum was shot to death by the side of a remote Oregon road. Few were there to see him die, but hundreds of people around the country have indicated they will attend rallies and vigils in his memory this weekend.

Finicum was a prominent figure in the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. He was fatally shot by Oregon State Police on the 25th day of the occupation during a traffic stop that ended with the arrest of key leaders of the occupation.

The funeral is Friday, Feb. 5, in Kanab, Utah, Finicum's family said. More than 30 memorials, candlelight vigils and rallies in at least 17 states are planned for Feb. 5, Feb. 6 and Feb. 7.

Though the FBI said Finicum was reaching for a gun before he was shot, some rally organizers said he should not have died.

"If he was breaking laws, they should have arrested him. He didn't have that chance," said Krista Etter, who has scheduled a rally in front of the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach, Florida. "He didn't get to be heard to prove he was guilty of anything."

One Facebook event scheduled for Sunday is called "Rally Protest Of The MURDER of LaVoy Finicum."

Keep reading.

Shawna Cox Begs to Attend LaVoy Finicum Funeral

She's being denied.

The funeral's today, in Kanab, Utah.

At the Portland Oregonian, "Accused Oregon refuge occupier begs to attend LaVoy Finicum funeral."

Accused Oregon refuge occupier begs to attend LaVoy Finicum funeral #OregonStandoff https://t.co/J8Uv4cE9hI pic.twitter.com/xFCpSbWTk7

— The Oregonian (@Oregonian) February 5, 2016

Jackie Johnson's Friday Forecast

Hey, great weather. Who can complain?

Via CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

#DemDebate: Will the Real Progressive Please Stand Up? (VIDEO)

Following-up from earlier, "Will the Real Progressive Please Stand Up?"

And just now, from the MSNBC debate.

It's amazing that the modern Democrat Party has jettisoned the old-fashioned "liberal" label worn so proudly by folks like Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy. It's no longer your father's Democrat Party.

Watch:

'Once again the world is laughing at Iowa...'

Chuck Todd just mentioned the Des Moines Register's editorial this morning, "Something smells in the Democratic Party":

Once again the world is laughing at Iowa. Late-night comedians and social media mavens are having a field day with jokes about missing caucusgoers and coin flips.

That’s fine. We can take ribbing over our quirky process. But what we can’t stomach is even the whiff of impropriety or error.

What happened Monday night at the Democratic caucuses was a debacle, period. Democracy, particularly at the local party level, can be slow, messy and obscure. But the refusal to undergo scrutiny or allow for an appeal reeks of autocracy.

The Iowa Democratic Party must act quickly to assure the accuracy of the caucus results, beyond a shadow of a doubt.

First of all, the results were too close not to do a complete audit of results. Two-tenths of 1 percent separated Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. A caucus should not be confused with an election, but it’s worth noting that much larger margins trigger automatic recounts in other states.

Second, too many questions have been raised. Too many accounts have arisen of inconsistent counts, untrained and overwhelmed volunteers, confused voters, cramped precinct locations, a lack of voter registration forms and other problems. Too many of us, including members of the Register editorial board who were observing caucuses, saw opportunities for error amid Monday night’s chaos.

The Sanders campaign is rechecking results on its own, going precinct by precinct, and is already finding inconsistencies, said Rania Batrice, a Sanders spokeswoman. The campaign seeks the math sheets or other paperwork that precinct chairs filled out and were supposed to return to the state party. They want to compare those documents to the results entered into a Microsoft app and sent to the party.

“Let’s compare notes. Let’s see if they match,” Batrice said Wednesday.

Dr. Andy McGuire, chairwoman of the Iowa Democratic Party, dug in her heels and said no. She said the three campaigns had representatives in a room in the hours after the caucuses and went over the discrepancies.

McGuire knows what’s at stake. Her actions only confirm the suspicions, wild as they might be, of Sanders supporters. Their candidate, after all, is opposed by the party establishment — and wasn’t even a Democrat a few months ago.

So her path forward is clear: Work with all the campaigns to audit results...

More.

Bernie Sanders: 'The economy is rigged...' #DemDebate (VIDEO)

They're going at it like gremlins tonight!

Via MSNBC:

Ted Cruz Campaign Sent Voicemails to Iowa Voters Spreading Ben Carson 'Suspension' Rumors (AUDIO)

The story's at Big Government, "EXCLUSIVE–Voicemails: ‘Ben Carson Suspending Campaigning’; Cruz: ‘Accurate Report’."

Here's #1:

[inaudible]…from the Ted Cruz campaign, calling to get to a precinct captain, and it has just been announced that Ben Carson is taking a leave of absence from the campaign trail, so it is very important that you tell any Ben Carson voters that for tonight, uh, that they not waste a vote on Ben Carson, and vote for Ted Cruz. He is taking a leave of absence from his campaign. All right? Thank you. Bye.

Here's #2:

Hello, this is the Cruz campaign with breaking news: Dr. Ben Carson will be [garbled] suspending campaigning following tonight’s caucuses. Please inform any Carson caucus goers of this news and urge them to caucus for Ted instead. Thank you. Good night.

More at TPM, via Memeorandum, "Cruz Camp Left Iowa Voters Voice Mails Repeating Carson ‘Suspending’ Rumors."

Bernie Sanders Maintains Big Lead in New Hampshire

Here's the results from the latest WSJ/NBC News/Marist poll out of New Hampshire, at NBC News, "Poll: Sanders leads Clinton by 20 points in New Hampshire":

PORTSMOUTH, New Hampshire – Bernie Sanders maintains a significant double-digit lead over Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, according to an NBC News/Wall Street/Marist poll conducted after Clinton’s narrow apparent win in Monday’s Iowa caucuses.

Sanders gets the support of 58 percent of likely Democratic primary voters, while Clinton gets 38 percent – essentially unchanged from a last week’s NBC/WSJ/Marist poll, which showed Sanders ahead by a 57 percent-to-38 percent margin in the Granite State...

Keep reading.

Donald Trump Now Holds 21-Point Lead in New Hampshire Tracking Poll; Marco Rubio Scores Post-Iowa Bounce

Following-up from Tuesday, "Latest New Hampshire Republican Poll Shows Donald Trump with 24-Point Lead Over Ted Cruz."

Trump still holds a commanding lead, Ted Cruz is flat, and Marco Rubio's enjoying a post-Iowa bump.

On Twitter:

Rubio gains in @UML_CPO @7News #NHPrimary tracking poll b/c of gains w/ women, age 65+ and registered Republicans https://t.co/8rcR1o7YS8

— UML Public Opinion (@UML_CPO) February 4, 2016

Rubio w/ post-#IACaucus bounce, but trails Trump by 21; Trump stable @ 38, 38, 38 & 36 (today) in 4 days of tracking https://t.co/8rcR1o7YS8

— UML Public Opinion (@UML_CPO) February 4, 2016

Re: Umass NH poll, see page 6 at link. Note trend post Iowa. Trump slightly down, Cruz flat, Rubio daily uptick.https://t.co/NA6JStJjYM

— Brit Hume (@brithume) February 4, 2016

Malheur Holdouts David Fry, Sean Anderson, Sandy Anderson, and Jeff Banta Included in Federal Indictment

Flashback to last Saturday, "'It feels like a zombie apocalypse' — Last Malheur Holdouts Hope Against Hope (VIDEO)."

Well, I guess the feds aren't going to agree to the demands of the last holdouts.

Here's the story, at the Portland Oregonian, "Federal grand jury indicts 16 in refuge takeover":

BREAKING: 4 remaining occupiers indicted for federal conspiracy: David Fry, Sean Anderson, Sandy Anderson and Jeff Banta.

— Les Zaitz (@LesZaitz) February 4, 2016

Indictments accuse 16 of threatening violence against anyone who tried to remove them from refuge #oregonstandoff https://t.co/5n1DULrg42

— Maxine Bernstein (@maxoregonian) February 4, 2016

Read federal indictment against Bundys and alleged co-conspirators here: #oregonstandoffhttps://t.co/5n1DULrg42

— Maxine Bernstein (@maxoregonian) February 4, 2016

Ammon Bundy and 15 others accused in the armed takeover of a federal wildlife refuge -- including four people who remain at the bird sanctuary -- have been indicted on charges of conspiracy to impede federal officers through intimidation, threats or force.

A federal grand jury returned the indictments Wednesday and they were unsealed Thursday morning.

It accuses Ammon Bundy, the leader of the monthlong armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge outside Burns, and the other key players of conspiring to prevent employees of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service from working at the refuge, taking over the property armed with firearms and intimidating the people of Harney County.

The alleged offenses began Oct. 5, when two of the defendants met with the Harney County sheriff to warn of "extreme civil unrest'' if their demands were unmet, according to the indictments.

The accused co-conspirators are charged with occupying the federal property "while using and carrying firearms,'' threatening violence against anybody who attempted to remove them from the refuge and using social media and other means of communication to recruit and encourage others to join them.

The indictments also alleged the group carried firearms on the federal property and refused repeated federal orders to leave. It contends the conspiracy lasted through the date of the indictments.

Keep reading.

Young Democrats Reject Hillary Clinton's 'Slick Willy' Reprise, Flock to Bernie Sanders

Hillary's slick, just like her husband, "Slick Willy" --- and the Democrat youth demographic's not going for it.

At NYT, "Young Democrats Flock to Bernie Sanders, Spurning Hillary Clinton’s Polish and Poise":

Is youth in rebellion against Hillary Clinton? @Yamiche and I report: https://t.co/7VR5Bdywor

— Amy Chozick (@amychozick) February 4, 2016

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Bernie Sanders is 74. He grew up playing stickball in the streets of Brooklyn and watching a black-and-white television.

Yet this child of the 1940s, who says Franklin D. Roosevelt is his favorite president, has inspired a potent political movement among young people today. College students wear shaggy white “Bernie” wigs on campus, carry iPhones with his image as their screen saver, and flock to his events by the thousands.

And armies of young voters are turning what seemed like a long-shot presidential candidacy into a surprisingly competitive campaign.

“He may seem like some old geezer who doesn’t care about stuff,” said Caroline Buddin, 24, a sales associate in Charleston, S.C. “But if you actually give him the time of day, and listen to what he has to say, he has a lot of good ideas.”

In interviews, young supporters of the Vermont senator’s presidential bid almost all offer some version of the same response when asked why they like him: He seems sincere.

For the generation that researchers say has been the most bombarded with marketing slogans and advertising pitches, Mr. Sanders, the former mayor of Burlington, Vt., has a certain unpolished appeal.

The first group of students working to elect Bernie Sanders president sprang up at Middlebury College in Vermont. There are now similar chapters at over 220 campuses across the country, with the biggest one at the University of California at Berkeley.

The movement, at least initially, was not so much the result of an organized effort by the Sanders campaign, but more of a visceral response to the candidate.

“It seems like he is at the point in his life when he is really saying what he is thinking,” said Olivia Sauer, 18, a college freshman who returned to her hometown, Ames, Iowa, to caucus for Mr. Sanders.

Young voters’ support for Mr. Sanders has created a quandary in Hillary Clinton’s campaign headquarters in Brooklyn, where millennial staff members have tried to persuade their peers to back the former first lady, using social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram. On Monday in Iowa, Mr. Sanders defeated Mrs. Clinton among voters ages 17 to 29 by 70 percentage points, greater than the 43-percentage-point margin Barack Obama won in the same age group in Iowa in 2008.

That is true among both men and women, and even Mrs. Clinton called the gap “amazing” during an appearance on CNN on Wednesday...

Look, eight years with a stealth socialist candidate who's been stymied in realizing the revolution, youth voters want to complete it with a candidate who loudly proclaims his collective agenda, and tries to sugar coat it by calling it " democratic socialism."

Heh, Bernie honeymooned in Soviet Russia. We're in for one snooker of ride.

Keep reading.

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2016 Cover Model to Be Revealed in Television Special

I still think it's going to be Nina Agdal, but we'll see. We'll see.

Here, "SI Swimsuit 2016 Revealed : Celebrate the issue with our live show during NBA All-Star Weekend on TNT."

Preview here, "Best body-painted swimsuit of all time?"

Be sure to tune in next week to see the #SISwim 2016 cover reveal and so much more! https://t.co/GahkujUOo9 pic.twitter.com/JHNAg05yQa

— SI Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) February 3, 2016

A Stronger Congress, a Healthier Republic

From Elizabeth Price Foley, at Instapundit, "MORE OF THIS, PLEASE: Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) have an oped in NRO, “A Stronger Congress, a Healthier Republic”:

"The federal government is broken. And while there is plenty of blame to go around, only Congress can fix it.

We don’t mean this as an indictment of any one leader or party, because the dysfunction in Washington today has accreted over decades, under Houses, Senates, and presidents of every partisan combination, as well as the many different justices of the Supreme Court. . . .

The stability and moral legitimacy of America’s governing institutions depend on a representative, transparent, and accountable Congress to make its laws. For years, however, Congress has delegated too much of its legislative authority to the executive branch, skirting the thankless work and ruthless accountability that Article 1 demands and taking up a new position as backseat drivers of the republic.

So today, Americans’ laws are increasingly written by people other than their representatives in the House and Senate, and via processes specifically designed to exclude public scrutiny and input. This arrangement benefits well-connected insiders who thrive in less-accountable modes of policymaking, but it does so at the expense of the American people — for whose freedom our system of separated powers was devised in the first place.

In short, we have moved from a nation governed by the rule of law to one governed by the rule of rulers and unelected, unaccountable regulators. Congress’s abdication, unsurprisingly, has led to a proliferation of bad policy and to the erosion of public trust in the institutions of government. Distrust, also unsurprisingly, is now the defining theme of American politics. . .

Keep reading.

The Great GOP Realignment

Following-up from Sunday, "The Realignment of 2016."

From Joshua Green, at Bloomberg (via Memeorandum):

Ted Cruz and Donald Trump may herald an historic working-class Republican revolt against the party establishment.

A few days before the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses, Brad Martsching was barreling down a Pennsylvania highway, hoping to unload his eighteen-wheeler in time to get back home to Indianola, south of Des Moines, and participate for the very first time in the opening ritual of the presidential primary process. Martsching, 46, had settled on Ted Cruz over Donald Trump, but was mostly nursing his disgust at Republican leaders. “I’m a conservative. I want the Constitution to be our law, not political correctness,” he said. “I want a smaller government with less control of our personal lives and more control of our border, our finances, and our safety as a nation.” Republican lawmakers kept frustrating him by ignoring their campaign promises. “We get people that run as conservative and even get Tea Party support—they wear that lapel pin proudly,” he said. “But when they leave for Washington, they leave it on their dresser at home.”

Martsching was fed up. A lot of other Iowans were, too. So they handed a victory to Cruz, who infuriated Republican leaders by engineering the 2013 government shutdown. And they made Trump, who’s equally unpopular in Washington, a close second. Add Cruz’s 28 percent to Trump’s 24 percent, and more than half of caucusgoers supported an outsider openly despised by the GOP establishment. Voters had heeded party elders for decades by nominating establishment figures such as Bob Dole, George W. Bush, John McCain, and Mitt Romney. The Iowa result was nothing less than a revolt, and the message to Republican leaders unmistakable: Drop dead!

It’s easy to view this year’s Republican primary as a cult of personality and no more—the rise and fall of a colorful billionaire who stars in the greatest reality show on television. But what’s happening is much broader than Trump and Cruz. It’s an extension of a shift in Republican politics that’s been under way for several years. Although the media is portraying the outcome in Iowa as a repudiation of Trump, it’s better understood as a repudiation of the party establishment—just the latest in a series of uprisings dating to the 2010 election. At the congressional level, the GOP has already realigned itself to reflect this anger. Almost 60 percent of House Republicans were elected in 2010 or after. They’ve radicalized their party in Congress and driven out its establishment-minded speaker, John Boehner...

Keep reading.

Brown University Changes Name of Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day

This country's becoming increasingly Balkanized, and there's no guarantee that our historic national unity will persevere.

At USA Today, "Brown University changes name of Fall Weekend to Indigenous People's Day."

An All-Caps Explosion of Stupid Gender Identity Politics

Seriously, I'm getting old, but hilariously, not nearly as old as Hillary Clinton, but for this woman, Courtney Enlow, Grandma's the be-all-end-all of her FUCKING EXISTENCE ON THIS GREAT GREEN FUCKING EARTH!

At Pajiba, "An All-Caps Explosion of Feelings Regarding the Liberal Backlash Against Hillary Clinton."

Jackie Johnson's More Warm Weather Forecast

It's going to be perfect for the Super Bowl.

Via CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Donald Trump Accuses Ted Cruz of Stealing the Iowa Caucuses (VIDEO)

Today was vintage Trump.

At Politico, "Trump accuses Cruz of 'fraud,' calls for new Iowa election":

Donald Trump’s moment of humility didn’t last long. The billionaire businessman, still licking his wounds after a decisive loss in Iowa on Monday, is now crying foul, accusing Ted Cruz of stealing the election and calling for a do-over.

After congratulating Cruz during his concession speech on Monday night, Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday morning to make the case for why his loss was a crock.

"Ted Cruz didn't win Iowa, he illegally stole it. That is why all of the polls were so wrong any [sic] why he got more votes than anticipated. Bad!" Trump tweeted Wednesday morning. The tweet disappeared within minutes of posting and was replaced by another that no longer included the word “illegally.”

He followed up with an ultimatum: “Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa Caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified,” he tweeted. Trump said later Wednesday that he'll likely sue. "I probably will; what he did is unthinkable," he said during an interview with Boston Herald Radio.

Trump, the master of reinvention, is trying to flip the script from loser to wronged winner, after the outcome of Iowa pierced the bubble of invincibility around the real estate mogul. Trump had sailed through the first eight months of his presidential run, defying critics who predicted that his incendiary statements would surely sink him. He went into Iowa with a roughly 5-point lead but failed to close the deal, losing to Cruz, 24 percent to 28 percent.

Temporarily bowed, a somber Trump accepted the defeat Monday night and vowed to win New Hampshire. "We finished second, and I want to tell you something, I'm just honored. I'm really honored. And I want to congratulate Ted, and I want to congratulate all of the incredible candidates,” Trump said during his concession speech, flanked by his wife, Melania...

Keep reading.

PREVIOUSLY: "Sarah Palin Slams the 'Lies of Ted Cruz's Campaign'."

Reverend Franklin Graham: 'This is the most important election in my lifetime...' (VIDEO)

Stuart Varney has the interview, at Fox Business, "Franklin Graham: This is the most important election in my lifetime."

Secularism and communism go hand in hand, and America's at a fork in the road.

Will the Real Progressive Please Stand Up?

I couldn't watch this stupid town hall forum. I went out to Nordstrom's to buy a couple of button-down shirts for work next week.

But see the Los Angeles Times, "Who's a real progressive? Sanders and Clinton make their cases at New Hampshire town hall."

And watch, if you're interested, via CNN, "Bernie Sanders said that Hillary Clinton can't be 'moderate' and 'progressive' in response to the criticism he has taken for questioning her 'progressive record'."

And Grandma responded during her segment, "'I'm a progressive who likes to get things done' - During the New Hampshire Democratic town hall, Hillary Clinton defended her progressive credentials against criticism from the Bernie Sanders campaign."

Keep in mind, there's a debate scheduled for tomorrow night as well, which I'll probably watch. And then the Republicans have a debate on Saturday night, which should be a riot.

Probably the coolest thing is that we've got the Super Bowl on Sunday to take our minds off all of the campaigning, heh.