January 7 and 8, 2018


News and Views


THESE VIDEOS INCLUDE DOUG JONES VICTORY SPEECH AND 14 OTHERS. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WANT TO GET TO KNOW JONES BETTER, GO TO THIS VIDEO WEBSITE. HIS SUPPORTERS ARE AS ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT HIM AS THOSE OF BERNIE SANDERS ARE, WHO DID ENDORSE HIM FOR US SENATOR. I THINK THAT, EITHER THERE ARE MORE PROGRESSIVES IN THIS COUNTRY THAN I KNEW, OR THE PHILOSOPHICAL TIDE IS TURNING IN A DECISIVE WAY. WHAT WE HAVE CHOSEN TO CALL “CONSERVATIVE,” NOW LOOKS LIKE NEO-NAZISM. THOUGH I HAVEN’T LOOKED AT AN OPINION POLL TO VERIFY THIS, I THINK THE NEO-NAZI TORCHLIGHT EVENT IN CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA, IS NOT WORKING FOR THEM, BUT AGAINST THEM.

FOR THOSE WHO ARE OLD ENOUGH, BORN DURING OR RIGHT AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR, THE TIKI TORCHES AND 1939 HITLER ERA CHANTS GAVE MANY OF US A COLD CHILL, AND GALVANIZED THE LIBERAL/PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT. TRUMP’S FOLLOWERS APPEARING ON NEWS FOOTAGE AT LEAST TWICE GIVING HITLER STYLE SALUTES, AND IN ONE CASE TRUMP WAS RETURNING THE SALUTES, HAD ALREADY DONE THE TRICK FOR ME. NO, THAT ISN’T A “FAKE NEWS” RUMOR. I SAW IT BOTH TIMES. WE HAVE TO START CARING ABOUT BASICS AGAIN IN THIS COUNTRY. WE EITHER ARE A RIGHTEOUS PEOPLE, OR WE AREN’T, AND I GO FOR THE LATTER.

IF BERNIE HADN’T ASKED HIS FOLLOWERS TO BACK JONES, HE MAY HAVE BEEN AN UNKNOWN AND AS A RESULT, NOT THE WINNER. THE NEWS COMMENTATOR QUOTED ROY MOORE AS HAVING SAID SEVERAL REALLY DETESTABLE COMMENTS ON THE MAINE RADIO SHOW, INCLUDING THREE WELL-KNOWN CONSPIRACY THEORIES. THE WORST, THOUGH, IS THAT HE THINKS THAT THE US WOULD HAVE “FEWER PROBLEMS” WITHOUT OUR CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS AFTER THE 10TH.

I THINK, AND NOT FOR THE FIRST TIME DURING THESE LAST TWO YEARS OR SO, THAT WE NEED SPECIFIC AND STRICT QUALIFICATIONS FOR ANYONE WHO IS ALLOWED TO RUN FOR OFFICE IN THE FEDERAL OR STATE LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE BRANCHES, INCLUDING THAT THEY MUST ADVOCATE NO ANTI-DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL VIEWS OR CHANGING OUR NATION INTO A THEOCRACY, CORPORATOCRACY, AUTOCRACY, ETC., EITHER OVERTLY OR BY IMPLICATION. I KNOW A BUNCH OF YOU WILL JUMP ON ME WITH BOTH FEET FOR SAYING THAT, BUT PEOPLE LIKE HIM TAINT FAIR GOVERNMENT BY THEIR VERY PRESENCE. SEE THE CNN PRINT ARTICLE BELOW ON THAT COMMENT.

HTTP://WWW.CNN.COM/2017/12/10/POLITICS/KFILE-ROY-MOORE-AROOSTOOK-WATCHMEN/INDEX.HTML
Roy Moore in 2011: Getting rid of amendments after 10th would 'eliminate many problems'
By Andrew Kaczynski, CNN
Updated 6:21 AM ET, Mon December 11, 2017


>[NOTE: ON THE SUBJECT OF THE AROOSTOOK WATCHMEN RADIO PROGRAM, SEE http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=52956, WHICH FEATURES: Discussions on Constitutional gov't, Local (Maine) gov't., and Keeping Globalism Out of America. This program is live on the air on WXME am-780, Monticello, ME]

Audio -- CNN KFILE

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Roy Moore appeared on a conspiracy-driven radio show twice in 2011.
Moore's controversial views on a variety of subjects -- including homosexuality, Islam, and evolution -- have come into sharper focus in the final days of the campaign.

(CNN)Alabama Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore appeared on a conspiracy-driven radio show twice in 2011, where he told the hosts in an interview that getting rid of constitutional amendments after the Tenth Amendment would 'eliminate many problems' in the way the US government is structured.

Alabama's special election for Senate, in which Moore is facing Democrat Doug Jones, will be held Tuesday. Moore's controversial views on a variety of subjects -- including homosexuality, Islam, and evolution -- have come into sharper focus in the final days of the campaign, even as Moore has had to deal with multiple accusations from women who say that he sexually assaulted or pursued relationships with them as teenagers when he was in his 30s. Moore has denied all allegations.

Moore also faced criticism for comments he made in September at a campaign rally. According to the Los Angeles Times, when asked by a black member of the audience when he thought the last time America was great, Moore answered, "I think it was great at the time when families were united — even though we had slavery — they cared for one another. Our families were strong, our country had a direction."

Moore made his comments about constitutional amendments in a June 2011 appearance on the "Aroostook Watchmen" show, which is hosted by Maine residents Jack McCarthy and Steve Martin. The hosts have argued that the US government is illegitimate and who have said that the September 11, 2001, attacks, the mass shooting at Sandy Hook, the Boston bombing, and other mass shootings and terrorist attacks are false flag attacks committed by the government. (False flag attacks refer to acts that are designed by perpetrators to be made to look like they were carried out by other individuals or groups.)

The hosts have also spread conspiracy theories about the raid that led to the death of Osama Bin Laden and have pushed the false claim that former President Barack Obama was not born in the US.

CNN's KFile obtained audio from Moore's two appearances on the show. In the same June episode, Moore invoked Adolf Hitler in a discussion about Obama's birth certificate.* In a May 2011 episode, Moore told the two radio hosts, who have repeatedly rejected the official explanation for the 9/11 attacks, that he would be open to hearings looking into "what really happened" on that day.


*ROY MOORE INVOKED ADOLF HITLER IN RELATION TO PRESIDENT OBAMA:
“WHAT A GREAT GROUP OF PEOPLE WE'VE HANDED THIS COUNTRY OVER TO.”

HTTP://WWW.ESQUIRE.COM/NEWS-POLITICS/A14405156/ROY-MOORE-SLAVERY-COMMENTS/
How Roy Moore Brought America to the Edge of the Abyss
The accused child predator also has some interesting thoughts on slavery and suffrage.
BY JACK HOLMES
DEC 11, 2017

We are nearing Judgement Day in the saga of Roy Moore, the Senate candidate in Alabama who has been accused by nine women of sexual misconduct. One woman says she was 14 years old when a 32-year-old Moore lured her to his home, undressed her, and tried to get her to touch his genitals through his tighty-whities. Moore was banned from the local mall for, among other things, creeping on a Santa's helper. A local cop was instructed to keep him away from the cheerleaders at high school football games. Moore readily admits he first saw his wife, Kayla, whom he married when she was 23, "eight years" before at a teen dance recital—making her 15 when he was ogling her from the crowd. She was in the same high school class as Beverly Young Nelson, who accuses Moore of sexually assaulting her when she was 16.

There's a wealth of evidence Alabama voters should not support Moore in the special election Tuesday beyond the accusations he is a child predator. We got a few more reasons this past weekend. According to CNN's KFile, Moore has a shocking backlog of talk-radio interviews. In one instance, Moore made the extraordinary claim that tearing up all constitutional amendments after the tenth would "eliminate many problems." That includes the 14th, passed after the Civil War to grant equal rights to black Americans, the 15th, which grants all citizens the right to vote regardless of race or background, and the 19th, which grants women the right to vote. Moore essentially backed shredding the 14th on the basis it violated states' rights, a point of view that might be shared by, say, George Wallace.

10 Dec

andrew kaczynski🤔
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@KFILE
NEW: In 2011 radio interviews, Roy Moore said...

Removing every amendment after 10th would eliminate many problems

Told 9/11 truthers he supports more hearings into what really happened on 9/11.

Questioned Obama's birth certificate.http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/10/politics/kfile-roy-moore-aroostook-watchmen/index.html … pic.twitter.com/uDVGnDrdu7


andrew kaczynski🤔
✔
@KFILE
Moore said removing all the amendments after the 10th would "eliminate many problems." Then said 14th Amendment -- passed during Reconstruction to give equal protection to blacks, was restricted on the states. http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/10/politics/kfile-roy-moore-aroostook-watchmen/index.html … pic.twitter.com/XbTiXABmAc

6:20 PM - Dec 10, 2017
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It's almost like this guy believes only white men should have a voice in how our society is run. His campaign spokesman now says Moore does not believe all amendments after the tenth should be canned. But when asked by an African-American man at a rally in September when America was last "great," here's what The Los Angeles Times reports ol' Roy had to say:

In response to a question from one of the only African Americans in the audience — who asked when Moore thought America was last “great” -- Moore acknowledged the nation’s history of racial divisions, but said: “I think it was great at the time when families were united — even though we had slavery — they cared for one another…. Our families were strong, our country had a direction.”

At the same event, Moore referred to Native Americans and Asian Americans as “reds and yellows,” and earlier this year he suggested the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were divine punishment.

When asked about President Obama's birth certificate—and the larger racist "birther" conspiracy alleging the first black president was not an American citizen—Moore seemed to jump at the opportunity, via CNN:

Moore invoked Adolf Hitler in a discussion about Obama's birth certificate. Moore has in the past repeatedly questioned Obama's citizenship. "Now let me ask you a question. You think that Barry Soetoro -- oh I'm sorry, Barack Obama -- you think you could get the security clearance that you got," a host asked.

"Well, I don't know about that. I don't know. I haven't, I haven't explored that. But my personal opinion. My personal opinion --," Moore responded.

"I think his dog could get a security clearance easier, the dog's got papers," the host interjected.

"I know what you mean Jack," Moore said.

The host then said that when he was in the military, Obama's documentation would not suffice to get him on a submarine.

Moore responded, "Well that's, that's a problem. You know Hitler once said, 'you tell a big enough lie long enough, people to believe it.' And that's that's the problem. We've got to look at simple facts of the case, and we need to recognize we need a new administration in Washington. And it just doesn't, based upon party, we need like people that uphold the Constitution not undermine it."

Ah, yes, a birther accusation that also compares Obama to Hitler. It's like the right-wing talk-radio singularity. Moore also agreed with 9/11 conspiracy theorist radio hosts, who claim the terrorist attack was a "false flag," that we need more hearings to get to the truth. Moore also spoke out against evolution, linking it to crime and displaying amazing ignorance of what the theory of evolution actually is in the process:


Christopher Massie
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@chrismassie
Wanted to share a video of Roy Moore in 1997 arguing that kids commit drive-by shooting because they are taught evolution in school: "They're acting like animals because we've taught them they come from animals."

1:12 PM - Dec 7, 2017
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(Just to clarify, humans are animals, and the theory of evolution holds that we share common ancestors with other species, such as chimpanzees.)

This is just the new stuff. From the jump, we've had a full view of just how extreme Moore's behavior as a public official could be. To start with, he was defenestrated from the Alabama state supreme court twice for disregarding the rulings of higher courts. The first time, a superior court ruled the two-ton Ten Commandment statue Moore placed on the courthouse grounds without warning was in breach of the First Amendment. Moore refused to remove it and was removed from the court. Later, he instructed lower courts in Alabama to disregard the Supreme Court's ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. This got him yanked out of office again, but it was just part of a pattern: In 2005, Moore argued homosexuality should be illegal. That way, U.S. policy could match Saudi Arabia or Iran.

In both instances, Moore indicated that he believes Christian law is at least on par with or factors into American civil law, which is in total breach of the First Amendment's prescription regarding the non-establishment of religion. But Moore still failed to see the irony when he started making wild claims about how Sharia law was being enforced in Illinois, despite there being no reality-based evidence for that. Suddenly, religious law outranking U.S. civil law was a problem. To top that off, Moore proudly said that Keith Ellison, a Muslim American citizen elected by his constituents to represent them in the House of Representatives, should not be seated in that body because he is Muslim. Oh, and just to drive home the white-men-only shtick, he co-authored a course on government that included a lecturer who said women should not hold public office.

Generally speaking, Republican officials have refused to put a stop to any of this. Initially, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he "believes the women," and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and some others said Moore should step aside. Senator Jeff Flake, a performative Never Trumper, wrote a check with the memo "country over party" to Moore's opponent, Doug Jones. Senator Richard Shelby, the senior senator from Alabama, made the actual brave move Monday of declaring he would not vote for the man who could soon be his Senate Republican colleague—and who has the support of his base of Alabama Republicans. The RNC briefly backed away from Moore, but in recent weeks it has funneled approximately $170,000 toward its Alabama chapter in support of Moore.

Most importantly, Moore has the full-throated support of the President of the United States, who implored the accused child predator: "Go get 'em, Roy!" Now there's a perfect choice of words from a man who himself has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than a dozen women, including four Miss Teen USA contestants who said Trump walked into their changing room while they were naked. One remembers him saying, "Don't worry, ladies, I've seen it all before." The White House said Trump would not campaign for Moore, but then he held a rally miles from the Alabama border in an overlapping media market, and Moore supporters were encouraged to attend. He will also record a robocall for Moore.

Moore also enjoys the support of Steve Bannon:

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Joshua Green
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@JoshuaGreen
To revive Moore's campaign, Bannon emulated the Nazi + Soviet progagandist filmmakers he admires, building a counter-narrative to evoke paranoia + anger (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-11/how-steve-bannon-rescued-roy-moore-s-campaign-against-all-odds …)

8:43 AM - Dec 11, 2017
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What a great group of people we've handed this country over to. On the other side, though, both former President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are making robocalls encouraging people to vote for Moore's opponent, Doug Jones, a career prosecutor with a sterling record that includes convicting the last two Ku Klux Klan members who killed four little girls in the Birmingham church bombing during the Civil Rights Era. Jones is a solid supporter of abortion rights, but is in nearly every way a mainstream, normal candidate. Plus, he's not an accused child molester. If Moore triumphs, we surely are circling the drain.



LISTEN TO SEVERAL INTERESTING SPEECHES BY DEMOCRATIC SENATOR DOUG JONES FROM CNN.COM.

http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/12/13/doug-jones-alabama-senate-full-speech-sot.cnn
Doug Jones declares victory in AL (full speech)
Democrat Doug Jones addresses his supporters after defeating Republican Roy Moore to win the Senate seat in Alabama. Source: CNN



FIRST, IT’S FAKE NEWS, AND NOW FAKE BOOKS. WHAT ABOUT FAKE PRESIDENTS?? ON THE MORE SERIOUS SIDE, BOTH OF THESE BOOKS SHOW A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS MAN, AND THE 2016 REVIEW BY 27 PSYCHIATRISTS AND OTHER HEALTH PROFESSIONALS DOES NOT CHEER ME UP ANY. I HOPE SOMETHING HELPFUL IN THIS NATIONAL CRISIS HAPPENS SOON. YOU MAY SAY IT’S NOT A CRISIS, BUT WHAT DO WE DO? WAIT UNTIL HE NUKES SOMEBODY? YEAH, THAT WOULD BE A CRISIS.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-defends-mental-fitness-in-wake-of-questions-raised-by-book/
CBS NEWS January 8, 2018, 6:34 PM
Trump defends mental fitness in wake of questions raised in new book

WASHINGTON -- The talk of a 2020 challenge from Oprah Winfrey comes as President Trump is defending his mental fitness for office. Author Michael Wolff, whose bestselling book portrays Mr. Trump as lacking the mental capacity for the presidency, maintains that even among those in the White House, there are questions.

"The people in the White House are just like everybody else in the country," Wolff said in an appearance Monday on "CBS This Morning." "What's going to happen here? We don't know from day to day."

Wolff said there are times when members of the president's inner circle are so alarmed by his unpredictability and temper that they wonder if they should take extraordinary measures.

"They don't say, 'The Cabinet is going to remove the president,'" Wolff said. "But they do say things like, 'Well, this is a little 25th Amendment-y here.'"

Under the 25th Amendment, if a majority of a president's Cabinet and the vice president agree that the president is mentally unfit, a president can be removed from office. However, the the [sic] president objects, two-thirds of the House and Senate must support removal.

White House insiders flatly deny Wolff's report that they talk about Mr. Trump's mental fitness. Over the weekend, Mr. Trump described himself as a "very stable genius" and trumpeted his own mental acuity.

"I was a very excellent student, came out, made billions and billions of dollars, became one of the top business people, went to television and for 10 years was a tremendous success, which you've probably heard," he said at a press conference with Republican leaders at Camp David Saturday. "Ran for president one time and won."

Wolff's book "Fire and Fury" was an immediate bestseller, and after explosive excerpts were released last week, it was released days early -- on Friday. Wolff is not the first to raise questions about Mr. Trump's mental health. In the 2016 book, "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump,"* numerous psychologists and therapists argue they have an ethical obligation to describe Mr. Trump as unfit for office.

"Delusional levels of grandiosity, impulsivity, and the compulsions of mental impairment, when combined with an authoritarian cult of personality and contempt for the rule of law, are a toxic mix," the authors wrote.

Those psychologists and therapists admit they diagnosed from a distance, doing so, they said, out of an ethical obligation to warn the country.

Mr. Trump will receive his first physical as commander-in-chief Friday. A psychological evaluation will not be part of the process.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


THE DANGEROUS CASE OF DONALD TRUMP * THE HIGHLY QUALIFIED BANDY X LEE, M.D. IS A FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIST. SHE’S CHINESE, HENCE THE NAME. I WONDER WHAT THIS WOULD COST IN PAPERBACK OR USED.

“I take a beard* ....” – NOT ONLY HAVE I NEVER SEEN THIS USAGE IN MY LIFE, BUT NEITHER HAS GOOGLE. THERE IS A REFERENCE TO A “BEARD COMPANION” USUALLY MEANING THE VISIBLY MALE “DATE” TO KEEP A WOMAN FROM APPEARING TO BE A LESBIAN, WHICH SHE IS. IT COMES FROM THE DAYS – NOT LONG AGO – WHEN BEING ANYTHING OTHER THAN AVIDLY HETERO WAS NOT ONLY UNACCEPTABLE. IT WAS DANGEROUS. HOWEVER, THAT USE OF BEARD DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE TO ME. SO MAYBE IT WAS A SIMPLE TYPO – “TAKE A BREAK,” PERHAPS.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2149988152
The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President
by Bandy X. Lee
5996593
Cynthia's review Oct 11, 2017
it was amazing
bookshelves: currently-reading

I am more than half way through this book...riveting! I take a beard*, and then I stop and say. 'well, I get the idea, time to switch over to another book'...but then I go back. I feel vindicated reading this, fascinated by the thoroughness, and impressed by credentials of the authors. I'm not a professional, but have studied psychology ever since I majored in that subject and fell in love with it. My daughter majored in it as well, and is a mental health worker. Mental health was a big topic in my world growing up as, like most families I know, had a serious issue right at home.
Donald Trump is severely affected by several critical disorders. He is dangerous. He is not stable, He should not be president, politics aside. I hope that this book is read by people across the political spectrum, but alas, I fear this is just another case of "preaching to the choir'. What 'Trumper' or even Republican will read this? It should be on every college reading list... and quickly.

This is the book that would have been written 'after' it was too late... how do we get this out there and widely read, "before" it is too late?


STEPHEN MILLER’S UNCOMFORTABLE INTERVIEW

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jake-tapper-cnn-donald-trump-advisor-stephen-miller-escorted-out-by-security/
CBS/AP January 8, 2018, 4:10 AM
Top Trump adviser Stephen Miller "escorted" off set, CNN says
Last Updated Jan 8, 2018 10:44 AM EST

President Donald Trump's senior policy adviser Stephen Miller was "escorted" off a CNN TV set in Washington on Sunday by the network's security officers following a contentious interview with Jake Tapper, CNN has said. A CNN source told CBS News that Miller was escorted out "after refusing to leave voluntarily."

Miller appeared on Tapper's "State of the Union" program Sunday morning to defend the president from charges leveled in the new book by journalist Michael Wolff, "Fire and Fury," about the purported dysfunction in the White House. The interview became so contentious that Tapper cut the interview short and said Miller was wasting his viewers' time.


CNN
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@CNN
"There's only one viewer you care about," CNN's Jake Tapper tells Trump aide Stephen Miller during fiery interview #CNNSOTU http://cnn.it/2EhJhAI

11:51 AM - Jan 7, 2018
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"The segment was over and Mr. Miller was politely asked to leave the set multiple times. After refusing to leave, he was escorted out by security," the CNN source told CBS News.

During an impromptu gaggle aboard Air Force One on Monday, White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley disputed those reports, saying Miller was not escorted out of CNN and instead left of his own will.

President Trump praised Miller, tweeting shortly after the appearance which at times devolved into an on-air shouting match, that his aide had "destroyed" Tapper. He urged his followers to "watch the hatred and unfairness of this CNN flunky!"


Donald J. Trump
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@realDonaldTrump
Jake Tapper of Fake News CNN just got destroyed in his interview with Stephen Miller of the Trump Administration. Watch the hatred and unfairness of this CNN flunky!

10:15 AM - Jan 7, 2018
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Before the interview was ended by Tapper, Miller told CNN's "State of the Union" that the "Fire and Fury" book is, in his words, "nothing but a pile of trash through and through."

Miller said it was "tragic and unfortunate" that former Trump strategist Steve Bannon, who's quoted at length in the book, would make what Miller called "grotesque comments" that are out of step with reality.

ftn-miller.jpg
Senior policy adviser Stephen Miller speaks to "Face the Nation" on February 12, 2017.

Mr. Trump returned home to the White House on Sunday morning following a retreat to Camp David with GOP congressional leaders. Earlier, he hailed the series of meetings as a success, but he still panned "Fire and Fury" as a "Fake Book."

He compared questions of his mental fitness, raised by Wolff's book, to that of President Ronald Reagan, who had suffered from Alzheimer's disease toward the end of his presidency. Mr. Trump wrote that Reagan "had the same problem and handled it well. So will I!"

On NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Wolff defended his book, explaining how he got access to key administration players inside the Trump White House.

"I literally kind of knocked on the door and said, 'Can I come in?' and they said 'Okay.' I came in. I sat on the couch, and that's the point of view I wrote this book from; the point of this book is to have readers sit on the couch and watch what's happening in the West Wing," said Wolff.

He added, "I came in to this with no agenda. I have no politics when it comes to Trump. This is about human nature."

The president defended his mental stability in a series of tweets during his time at Camp David, insisting he was, "like, really smart," and "a very stable genius."

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



THIS IS THE KIND OF THING THAT IS DIFFICULT TO CONVINCE REPUBLICANS TO SPEND MONEY ON – UNTIL IT’S THEIR CHILD, PERHAPS. IT WAS ALSO THE HISTORIC PRESERVATIONISTS IN THIS CASE FIGHTING IT. THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE IS COMPARED TO THE MONA LISA AS BEING UNTOUCHABLE. THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT NOBODY WILL JUMP FROM THE MONA LISA, SO THERE IS NO HUMANITARIAN NEED INVOLVED. AS THE ARTICLE SAYS, IT’S BEEN YEARS IN COMING, BUT FINALLY THE LAST STRAW HAS BEEN PLACED ON THE CAMEL’S BACK. A CEREMONY AT THE BRIDGE WAS HELD RECENTLY FOR THE ADDITION OF A NET. THE ARTIST’S RENDITION SHOWS A PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE IMAGE. IT DOESN’T “RUIN” THE BRIDGE.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-golden-gate-bridge-to-get-a-suicide-net/
CBS NEWS January 7, 2018, 10:20 AM
The Golden Gate Bridge to get a suicide net

VIDEO – CBS NEWS REPORT; ARTISTS’ RENDERING OF THE NET TO BE BUILT.

A "friend for life" has been campaigning for years, along with others, to make a California landmark safer. John Blackstone has her story:

On a stage in Nashville, songwriter Sarah Lockwood Barr performs songs she's written that she loves to sing ... and one that breaks her heart.

"This is for Casey Brooks, who would have turned 27 this past May," she announced, before playing "Starting Over":

All the world's gone to sleep tonight.
But you won't wake.
All the world cries for you tonight.
But you can't see.

She and Casey grew up, she says, in a comfortable California town just north of San Francisco. "We learned to ride bikes together," Lockwood Barr said.

golden-gate-bridge-suicides-casey-brooks-promo.jpg
Casey Brooks. FAMILY PHOTO

Senior year of high school was almost over, and they were ready to go off to college. But shortly before graduating, in January 2008, "Casey jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge and ended her life," Lockwood Barr said.

"And you had no idea?" Blackstone asked.

"Nobody did. She was already accepted into college. She was a really talented writer. She had a good crew of friends. There was no reason, as far as we could tell.

"And it was really easy for her. There's a parking lot right at the base of the bridge. The guardrail's only four feet high. So you can just kind of pretend you're walking across the bridge and hop over. And it's a 220-foot fall. And that's it."

Casey's father, John Brooks, told Blackstone, "Every time we drive over the bridge, every time we look at the people laughing and smiling and taking selfies of themselves and enjoying this, that's what we used to do. And then, you know, Casey jumped, and it all changed."

The beautiful landmark at the entrance to San Francisco Bay has an ugly side. Casey Brooks is one of nearly 1,700 suicides on the bridge since its opening in 1938. Last year, 39 people jumped from the bridge.

golden-gate-bridge-suicides-b-620.jpg
Nearly 1,700 people have taken their lives on the iconic San Francisco Bay span, but a new addition to the bridge may both prevent deaths and send a signal about the preciousness of life. CBS NEWS

But that toll may be coming to an end.

For years Brooks' parents, John and Erika, and Sarah Lockwood Barr have been striving with others who lost love ones on the bridge to convince the bridge board to erect a net -- a suicide barrier.

"So I really hope that the board puts safety ahead of inconvenience," John said at one meeting.

Blackstone said, "A barrier on there, you say, would tell people someone cares."

golden-gate-bridge-suicides-john-and-erika-brooks-244.jpg
John and Erika Brooks, with correspondent John Blackstone. CBS NEWS

"Exactly," said Erika. "We care enough about you so that when you're not looking out for yourself we're letting you know we care."

"That is certainly not the only place, by any means, that people can end their lives. How would a net change things?"

John replied, "What we've learned about suicide is that in a lot of cases, it can be very impulsive. Yet, if you are prevented from acting on that impulse, the chances are very, very good that you won't have a recurrence."

Kevin Hines is one of the few who jumped and survived. ("I walked back toward the traffic railing, I ran forward and I catapulted myself over the rail," he recalled.) He's also a strong advocate for a net to prevent others from making the same bad decision.

Blackstone asked, "When did you realize it was a mistake?"

"The millisecond my hands left the rail and I was in freefall, which I thought was too late," Hines replied.

kevin-hines-promo.jpg
Kevin Hines, who survived a suicide attempt, has advocated for a net on the Golden Gate Bridge. CBS NEWS

A study in 1978 of 515 people who attempted suicide on the Golden Gate Bridge but were stopped found that 90 percent did not die from suicide later. But for years that wasn't enough to convince officials the bridge should get a net.

John Brooks said, "There were people who believed that this bridge cannot be touched. It's an iconic structure. It's sort of like the Mona Lisa -- you can't touch the Mona Lisa. So there was an aesthetic issue."

When asked about the argument that millions of dollars would be spent on a net that would "ruin" an icon, Lockwood Barr responded, "How much money would you pay for your child? What's the price tag on your husband or wife?"

In the nearly ten years since she joined the campaign to build the net, Lockwood Barr has gone through times of hope and disappointment. "We had all these sort of fake-outs," she said. "Something would pass, and then a budget would come about. And then it would get pulled because there was a new estimate on cost. And then someone else would come in with an appeal.

golden-gate-bridge-suicides-sarah-lockwood-barr-promo.jpg
Sarah Lockwood Barr has written a song in tribute to a friend who took her own life. CBS NEWS
"And you know, I kind of lost hope at a point. Like, it just started feeling like a slap in the face every time, you know, we'd get really excited something was happening."

This spring, their determined persistence finally paid off. The long struggle for a net ended with a ceremony at the bridge marking approval of plans for a $200 million suicide barrier, due for completion in 2021.

golden-gate-bridge-suicides-artist-rendition-of-net-620.jpg
An artist's rendition of the suicide prevention net to be added to the Golden Gate Bridge. CBS NEWS

"It'll be so healing," Lockwood Barr said. "Because it also sends a statement to the community and to the world that life is valuable and life matters. This is us saying, 'We value your life and your struggle.'"

(If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please call a trained counselor at National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK [8255].)


For more info:

Bridge Rail Foundation
Golden Gate Bridge Board of Directors
Sarah Lockwood Barr (Official site)
The Listening Room Café, Nashville
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


MORE REPUBLICAN HOOEY

http://www.newsweek.com/why-fbi-increasing-investigation-jane-sanders-bernie-sanders-wife-634508
BY AIDAN QUIGLEY ON 7/10/17 AT 2:25 PM

Photograph -- Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and his wife, Jane, wave to the audience during a rally in Vallejo, California, on May 18, 2016. Jane Sanders is under federal investigation.
REUTERS/STEPHEN LAM

The federal investigation into a land deal led by Jane Sanders, the wife of former presidential candidate and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, has picked up speed in recent months, The Washington Post reported Monday. The FBI and federal prosecutors have contacted at least a half-dozen people, seized boxes of records from the college Jane Sanders used to run and called on a state official to testify before a grand jury.

In 2010, Burlington College purchased 32 acres on Lake Champlain for a new campus, with Jane Sanders, the college's president, telling trustees and lenders that the college had set commitments for millions needed to repay the loan. But many of the donors had not agreed to the amounts or timing of the donations Jane Sanders provided to a bank and a state agency, the Post reported.

Jane Sanders resigned in 2011 as pressure from trustees mounted, and the college closed in 2016. The Sanders spokesman Jeff Weaver told the Post that she had hired a D.C. law firm because she and her husband were worried the Justice Department would use the investigation to stymie a potential campaign by Bernie Sanders in 2020.

As the president of Burlington College, Jane Sanders aimed to raise the college’s profile by moving it to a waterfront property for $10 million. The board decided to purchase the land after Jane Sanders said the college had $2.6 million in “confirmed” donations.

With the help of the Vermont Educational and Health Buildings Financing Agency, the college received a $6.7 million loan from People’s United Bank. The college promised to pay the Diocese of Burlington, which owned the land, $3.65 million over 10 years to cover the whole $10 million purchase. But shortly after the purchase closed, trustees discovered the money Jane Sanders had said was pledged was not coming.

The investigation started after a lawyer who was the state chairman for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign wrote to federal bank regulators and the U.S. attorney to allege potential bank fraud. Bernie Sanders denied that his office had encouraged the bank to speed up the loan.

“Five years, five years after my wife left Burlington College—and she left it in better shape than it had even been in—five years after, guess what happened?” he told CNN. “Right in the middle of my presidential campaign—and I know this will shock the viewers—the vice chairman of the Vermont Republican Party, who happened to be Donald Trump's campaign manager, raised this issue and initiated this investigation."


TO HURT SANDERS, THEY HURT HIS WIFE. TYPICAL.

http://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-republicans-jane-sanders-774606
BERNIE SANDERS'S WIFE SHOWN IN JAIL IN MOCKED-UP PHOTO FROM RNC EMAIL
BY SAM SCHWARZ ON 1/8/18 AT 3:51 PM

The Republican National Committee sent out an email Monday depicting Jane Sanders, the wife of 2016 presidential candidate and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, in jail.

The email's subject line reads "jane in jail??" and features an image of Sanders behind bars alongside a logo with the phrase "Bernie 2020" on it, alluding to a possible 2020 presidential run for the Vermont senator.

View image on Twitter
View image on Twitter

Jake Tapper
✔
@jaketapper
RNC sends out email about Burlington College case with graphic putting @janeosanders, wife of @BernieSanders, behind bars.

2:08 PM - Jan 8, 2018
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Related: Federal investigation into Jane Sanders, Bernie Sanders’s wife, is getting more serious

The email also features an update on an ongoing Department of Justice investigation into Jane Sanders's time as president of Burlington College, a Vermont institution that folded in 2016.

"CONFIRMED: A grand jury has begun to hear sworn witness testimony in the case involving Bernie Sanders' wife and top political adviser, Jane Sanders," reads the RNC email.

The missive then goes on to explain the case's origins and the scope of the investigation.

"To recap: The Obama Justice Department launched a federal probe into allegations that Jane committed bank fraud while she was president of the now-defunct Burlington College, and that Bernie used his official office to grease the wheels on a loan," it adds.

The RNC email also features a link to a Vermont blog titled VTDigger, which reported in 2015 that Sanders "overstated donation amounts in a bank application for a $6.7 million loan that was used by the college to purchase a prime 33-acre property on Lake Champlain in 2010." Sanders reportedly told a bank that the college had received more than $2.5 million in pledged donations and $5 million in "likely" pledges, but records showed that the college had only received $676,000 in actual donations.

Burlington College folded in 2016, though Sanders no longer worked there. Following the school's collapse, former college president Dr. Carol Moore ripped into Sanders without naming her, blaming Sanders for problems the school faced and which led to its demise.

"BC’s fate was set when its former board members hired an inexperienced president and, six years later, approved the imprudent purchase of a $10 million piece of property for campus expansion," Dr. Moore wrote in a letter to the editor in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The investigation was ramped up in 2017, as The Washington Post reported that federal prosecutors had collected "more than a dozen boxes of records from the Vermont college" and had called "a state official to provide evidence for a grand jury."

Bernie Sanders is considered by many the odds-on favorite to win the Democratic nomination for president to face Donald Trump in the 2020 general election.

Both the senator and his wife have denied all of the charges against them, and Bernie Sanders called the investigation "pathetic" and said, about Jane Sanders, "my wife is about the most honest person I know."