The Official World Politics Thread - All Breaking News here.

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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-baghdadi-idUSKBN1A20JD

Exclusive: Islamic State leader Baghdadi almost certainly alive - Kurdish security official

Sulaimania, IRAQ (Reuters) - A top Kurdish counter-terrorism official said on Monday he was 99 percent sure that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was alive and located south of the Syrian city of Raqqa, after reports that he had been killed.

"Baghdadi is definitely alive. He is not dead. We have information that he is alive. We believe 99 percent he is alive," Lahur Talabany told Reuters in an interview.

"Don't forget his roots go back to al Qaeda days in Iraq. He was hiding from security services. He knows what he is doing."

Iraqi security forces have ended three years of Islamic State rule in the Iraqi city of Mosul, and the group is under growing pressure in Raqqa - both strongholds in the militants' crumbling self-proclaimed caliphate.

Still, Talabany said Islamic State was shifting tactics despite low morale and it would take three or four years to eliminate the group.

After defeat, Islamic State would wage an insurgency and resemble al-Qaeda on "steroids", he said.

The future leaders of Islamic State were expected to be intelligence officers who served under former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, the men credited with devising the group's strategy.

 

[fortyacres]

 

[1CK1S]

 

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/kobach-emails-nvra-amendments

Kobach Pitched Rolling Back Voting Rights Law Day After Trump’s Election

An email chain released as part of litigation around Kansas’ proof-of-citizenship voter registration requirement confirmed what many suspected to be Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s (R) long-term goal in partnering with President Trump’s administration.

The email chain, first published Saturday by the Huffington Post, reveals that Kobach emailed Trump’s transition team the day after Trump’s surprise victory informing transition member Gene Hamilton that he was working on draft “amendments to the [National Voter Registration Act] to make clear that proof of citizenship requirements are permitted” to submit as legislation to Congress.

The NVRA is also known as the “Motor Voter Law,” and it sought to streamline the process by which eligible voters can register at DMVs and other government agencies. It has been an obstacle in Kobach’s attempts to implement a proof-of-citizenship requirement in his state and courts have ruled against him multiple times.

The email chain was released to the ACLU on Friday as part of its legal challenge against Kansas’ proof-of-citizenship requirement.

Non-citizen voting has been found to be extremely rare, and civil rights groups like the ACLU argue that such requirements place a disproportionate burden on poor, minority and older voters, who are less likely to have handy the necessary documents.

Not long after the email was sent in November, Kobach was photographed alongside then-President Elect Trump holding an outline that appeared to be proposing an amendment to the NVRA:

The revelation comes as Kobach is also vice chairing Trump’s shady “elections integrity” commission. Voting rights experts worry that the commission, which is scheduled to meet for the first time this week, will seek to justify Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that millions voted illegally in 2016 and, in turn, use those claims as a pretext to push laws that roll back voting rights.

“I think the email is wholly unsurprising,” Justin Levitt, an elections expert at Loyola Law School who previously served in President Obama’s Justice Department, told the Washington Post.”I won’t be shocked as more proof emerges that the cake is already baked.”

 

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/london-mayor-sadiq-khan-uk-trump-visit-red-carpet

London Mayor: I’m Not Sure UK Should ‘Roll Out The Red Carpet’ For Trump

London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Monday said he isn’t sure the United Kingdom should “roll out the red carpet” for President Donald Trump when he makes his first state visit in 2018.

“State visits are different from a normal visit,” Khan told CNN. “At a time when the President of the USA has policies that many in our country disagree with, I am not sure it is appropriate for our government to roll out the red carpet.”

Trump met with British Prime Minister Theresa May earlier in July at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, and announced his plans to travel to London despite protests and debate in the British Parliament about the appropriateness of inviting Trump amid backlash over his travel ban.

“We’ll work that out. We’ll be going to London,” Trump said after meeting with May.

The White House later announced without explanation that Trump’s visit will be delayed until next year.

The Sun, a British supermarket tabloid analogous to the New York Post, reported on Saturday that Trump told May in a private conversation that he will not visit until he is sure of a warm reception.

Citing a transcript of their conversation available to senior diplomats, the Sun reported that Trump asked May to “fix it” and said he was in “no rush” to make the state visit.

“It would make things a lot easier,” he said, according to the Sun. “When I know I’m going to get a better reception, I’ll come and not before.”

Trump harshly criticized Khan in June in the wake of an attack in London that killed seven people and wounded dozens more.

“At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is ‘no reason to be alarmed!’” he tweeted.

A spokesperson for Khan fired back: “He has more important things to do than respond to Donald Trump’s ill-informed tweet that deliberately takes out of context his remarks.”

Khan, who is the first Muslim mayor of London, did not rule out meeting with Trump himself at some point.

“If you somehow think it is not possible to be a Muslim and a proud westerner I am happy to disabuse you of that idea, whether you are a reporter for CNN or Donald Trump,” he said. “If someone has views that I think can be changed I am ready to play my role.”

 

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-allies-flake-primary-challengers

Report: White House Has Met With Potential Flake Primary Challengers

While Senate Republican leaders work to whip enough votes for their Obamacare repeal bill, the White House and its allies have been meeting with potential primary challengers to one of the GOP caucus’ most vulnerable senators, Jeff Flake of Arizona, according to a Monday report in Politico.

Trump himself has spoken to Jeff DeWit, the Arizona state treasurer and former Trump campaign aide, who is considering a Senate bid, two sources told Politico. White House officials have also talked to former state Sen. Kelli Ward, who challenged Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in his primary last year and has already announced a primary challenge to Flake, and met with potential primary challenger and former Arizona Republican Party Chairman Robert Graham, according to the report.

David Bossie, a former Trump campaign aide who runs Citizens United, told Graham that conservatives were likely to back either him or DeWit in a primary with Flake, three unnamed sources told Politico.

Flake has aired criticism of Trump before, calling on him to drop out of the presidential race after the notorious “Access Hollywood” tape and questioning his decision to fire James Comey as FBI director.

 

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/reports-break-in-dean-heller-las-vegas-office

Police: Threatening Note Discovered Near GOP Sen. Heller’s Las Vegas Office

A threatening note was “discovered near the door” of Sen. Dean Heller’s (R-NV) Las Vegas office on Sunday.

In a statement to TPM, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said an alarm company representative called the police just past 9 a.m. on Sunday, reporting a potential burglary. Though police did not find evidence of a burglary of Heller’s office, nor the building in which it is located, the statement said: “[A] threatening note addressed to Senator Heller was discovered near the door to his office.”

“Officers took a report for Threatening or Obscene Letters or Writing (NRS 207.180),” the statement continued. “The LVMPD has an on-going investigation into this incident.”

Citing the investigation’s open status, LVMPD did not disclose the note’s content.

The Nevada Independent’s Jon Ralston, citing an unnamed law enforcement source, reported that the note “was from someone asserting that he would lose his health care if the key senator voted for the repeal bill and that he would die if that happened and would take Heller with him.”

Widely seen as a potential dissenting voice on Senate Republicans’ Obamacare repeal bill, Heller has faced constituent pressure in recent weeks to block the bill from receiving a vote in the Senate.

 

[1CK1S]

 

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-complains-about-fact-checkers-then-lies

Trump Complains About Getting Fact-Checked, Lies Minutes Later

President Donald Trump said Monday that he doesn’t like “Pinocchios,” referring to the Washington Post’s metric for pointing out politicians’ lies in fact-checking columns. Minutes later, he delivered a whopper of an untruth.

“We’ve signed more bills — and I’m talking about through the legislature — than any President ever,” Trump said at an event the White House called the “Made in America product showcase.” “For a while Harry Truman had us, and now I think we have everybody, Mike. I better say ‘think,’ otherwise they’ll give me a Pinocchio, and I don’t like Pinocchios.”

Glenn Kessler, the Washington Post’s Fact Checker columnist, implied there was an easy fix for Trump’s aversion to fact-checkers (tell the truth).
https://twitter.com/GlennKesslerWP/status/887039375795736576

Yet, several minutes later, Trump cited a number close to one that was repeatedly knocked down by multiple fact checks, including from the Washington Post.

“In Pennsylvania, two weeks ago, they opened a mine, the first mine that was opened in decades,” he said. “Opened a mine. And you know all the people that were saying the mining jobs? Well we picked up 45,000 mining jobs in a very short period of time, and everybody was saying, well, you won’t get any mining jobs. We picked up 45,000 mining jobs.”

The White House did not respond to TPM’s request for comment on the source for Trump’s claim. But it closely resembled a similar claim by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt in three separate interviews on June 4: Some variation of, “ince the fourth quarter of last year until most recently, we’ve added almost 50,000 jobs in the coal sector. In the month of May alone, almost 7,000 jobs.”

In reality, depending somewhat on how you count it, the coal industry added around 1,000 jobs during the Trump administration, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Kessler linked to the Post’s knockdown of Pruitt’s claim (it received Four Pinocchios, the worst assessment):
https://twitter.com/GlennKesslerWP/status/887044670848724992

The Post’s analysis noted that, even judging by the most generous interpretation of Pruitt’s remarks, only 33,000 mining and logging jobs — not just coal mining — have been added since January. Accounting for increases in June, according to preliminary BLS data, there have been 42,000 jobs added across the mining and logging sectors. From January through preliminary data for May, 21,000 mining and logging jobs added were “support activities for oil and gas operations.”

 

[stringer bell]

Damn.. Ali went all the way in using all facts and none of them were alternatives...

 

[JJ_Evans]

https://twitter.com/samaple/status/887126766799790082
https://twitter.com/SenSchumer/status/887114965886304256
https://twitter.com/timkaine/status/887126629608194048
https://twitter.com/AGSchneiderman/status/887117359936413697
https://twitter.com/RepYvetteClarke/status/887119989622419457

 

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http://www.mediaite.com/online/rnc-...g-john-mccain-should-just-fcking-die-already/

RNC Committeewoman Says ‘Amen’ to Tweet Stating John McCain Should ‘Just F*cking Die Already’

Nevada Republican national committeewoman Diana Orrock sent out the following tweet in response to a piece about John McCain titled “Please Just Fucking Die Already.”

Orrock’s tweet has been deleted, but The Washington Examiner preserved it in the screenshot above.

On Friday, McCain underwent surgery to remove a blood cot “above his left eye.” Indications suggest that his condition is more serious than previously thought, and it could further delay the vote on the Senate’s bill to repeal Obamacare.

The current health care bill is in peril since it no longer has the GOP support it needs to pass in a vote.

CNN reached out to Orrock, who told them her response of “amen” was not meant to suggest that she wants McCain to die. Orrock says it was meant to state she agrees with the article in the tweet, and that McCain should no longer serve on the U.S. Senate.

CNN notes that article writer quite clearly wants McCain to die, as evidenced by this passage:

“If you’re waiting for the part where I say I’m just kidding and would never wish death on anybody, please allow me to make myself clear: I sincerely, genuinely hope that Arizona Senator John McCain’s heart stops beating, and that he is subsequently declared dead by qualified medical professionals very soon.”

RNC spokesman Ryan Mahoney condemned Orrock’s tweet, calling it “extremely inappropriate” as he extended well wishes to McCain during his recovery.

 

[fortyacres]

These niggaz need to humble themselves and just fix the problematic parts of Obamacare , i know it hurts their hearts that Obama was ever president but at some point you gatta let this vindictive shit go.

 

[Mr.LV]

These niggaz need to humble themselves and just fix the problematic parts of Obamacare , i know it hurts their hearts that Obama was ever president but at some point you gatta let this vindictive shit go.

No that would never happen,white people are too petty for that.

 

[marc123]

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/07/18/politics/trump-tweets-healthcare/index.html

this nigga

 

[Mr.LV]

Trump is going through the early stages of dementia...I'm dead serious.

 

[1CK1S]

https://twitter.com/samaple/status/887126766799790082
https://twitter.com/SenSchumer/status/887114965886304256
https://twitter.com/timkaine/status/887126629608194048
https://twitter.com/AGSchneiderman/status/887117359936413697
https://twitter.com/RepYvetteClarke/status/887119989622419457

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/887134287350439936

 

[1CK1S]

https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/887123822733914112

 

[1CK1S]

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/887142646619262976

 

[playmaker88]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy6kajemhpQ

fuckin idiots..this is a microcosm of america..

white people ... well people in general do not understand that you just cant shrug of "politics" as this other thing that has no connection to anything but candidates....smh