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Anyonewho supportsthese missile strikes has to account for what comes next.

CNN host Fareed Zakaria speaks about President Donald Trumps missile strikes on Syria during an Anderson Cooper 360 segment. (Screengrab / CNN)

It shouldnt be surprising, but it is to me nonetheless: Plenty of liberals whove long criticized Donald Trump as unfit to be president are praising his strike on Syrian airfields.

On CNNs New Day Thursday, global analystFareed Zakariadeclared, I think Donald Trump became president of the United States last night. To his credit, Zakaria has previously called Trump a bullshit artist and said, He has gotten the presidency by bullshitting. But Zakaria apparently thinks firing missiles make one presidential. On MSNBC, Nicholas Kristof, an aggressive Trump critic, said he did the right thing by bombing Syria. Anchor Brian Williams, whose 11thHour has regularly been critical of Trump, repeatedly called the missiles beautiful, to a noisy backlash on Twitter.

While TheNew York Times posted several skeptical, even critical stories, it gave us this piece of propaganda: an article initially titled On Syria attack, Trumps heart came first, buying the presidents line that his opposition to anti-Assad military action was reversed by seeing the heartrending photos of children struggling to breathe after a chemical attack.

Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack, Trumpdeclared. No child of God should ever suffer such horror. (No word how he felt about ugly babies.) The piece also failed to even mention that Trump is keeping refugees from the Syrian war, even children, out of the United States. Victims of chemical weapons are beautiful babies; children trying to flee such violence require extreme vetting and an indefinite refugee ban. After a public outcry, the Times changed the headline.

Even some Obama administration veterans praised Trumps action. President Donald J. Trump was right to strike at the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for using a weapon of mass destruction, the nerve agent sarin, against its own people, Antony Blinken, a deputy secretary of state under Obama,wrote in The New York Times. Blinken went on to say, correctly in theory, that what must come next is smart diplomacy. But he knows that Trump has shown himself incapable of doing anything smart, especially diplomacy.

Remember just last week, phantom Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in Turkey: I think thelonger-term status of President Assad will be decided by the Syrian people. The Kremlin-funded Russia Today described that as a U-turn from Washingtons long-held policy that Assad must go. Six days later, Tillerson was telling reporters,There is no doubt in our minds, and the information we have supports, that the Syrian regime under the leadership of Bashar al-Assad are responsible for this attack. It is very important that the Russian government consider carefully their support for Bashar al-Assad,because steps are underway to muster international support for a strike. Russia Today seemed disappointed that the United States believes Assad is behind the gassing of his people, arguing that the source is the international rescue group White Helmets, which RT shockingly calls al-Qaida affiliated.

Any liberal who praises these missile strikes has to account for what comes next. Obviously, Trump cares little about diplomacy, leaving Tillerson out of key meetings and slashing the State Departments budget. On Wednesday night, the White House released a photo of his team receiving a briefing on the Syria attack. At the table were Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross; Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin; Goldman Sachs alum Dina Powell, deputy national-security adviser; along with Jared Kushner; Steve Bannon; and Bannons sidekick Steven Miller. Why are the Commerce and Treasury secretaries there? What explains why Tillerson, who was in Palm Beach with the president, was not?

The noisiest outrage against the Syrian attack isnt coming from the left, but the rightparticularly the alt-right. Trumps noninterventionism and his friendliness to Bashar Assad and Vladimir Putin were big selling points to white nationalists. Now that he seems to be challenging both men, his former acolytes are enraged. On Twitter, alt-right white supremacist Richard Spencer called it a total betrayal; the white nationalists at VDARE blamed it on the boomercucks in the administration. Ann Coulter went apoplectic:

It was disappointing to see Hillary Clinton say Wednesday afternoon that she thought air strikes on Syrian airfields were an appropriate response to the chemical-weapon attack. She was always more hawkish than I wished, and that shows it. But its wrong to insist shed have done the same thing as Trump. Clintons secretary of state wouldnt likely have told Assad we were no longer concerned about removing him; if she did fire missiles at Syrian airfields, she would have done so with a clearer notion of what comes next. Trump appears to be clueless.

THE STAKES ARE HIGHER NOW THAN EVER. GET THE NATION IN YOUR INBOX.

Senator Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, didnt quite oppose the Syrian strike, calling Assad a war criminal and lamenting his murder of civilians with chemical weapons. But noting that its that its easier to get into a war than get out of one, Sanders demanded that Trump must explain to the American people exactly what this military escalation in Syria is intended to achieve, and how it fits into the broader goal of a political solution, which is the only way Syrias devastating civil war ends.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand sounded closer to Sanders than Clinton on the airstrikes, decrying Trumps unilateral military action by the US in a Middle East conflict as well as the absence of any long-term plan or strategy to address any consequences from such unilateral action. Like Sanders, she demanded that Trump seek authorization of military force from Congress. By contrast, her New York colleague Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Trumps move the right thing to do. Schumer may find that many constituents think it was the wrong thing.

There remains the possibility that some of this is theater. It should be said: Some observers, besides RT, say its unproven that the chemical weapons attack came from Assad; rebels could be behind it. Theres also the possibility of a kabuki performance from Trump, Putin, and Assad. We already know the United States warned Putin of the coming missiles, and that Putin warned Assad, whose military moved airplanes and other military equipment away from the intended target. Trump, plummeting in the polls, his domestic health-care and tax plans on the rocks, the investigation into Russian election meddling closing in on his team, really needed a boost; maybe they gave it to him. Trumps sudden about-face on Syria makes it hard to judge.

However, according to Syrian state media, nine civilians, including four children, were killed in the air strikes. That is not kabuki. Trump has said nothing about those beautiful babies, nor will he. Liberals have to sober up and stop being besotted by beautiful missiles and presidential cruelty. Trump is the same Trump he was Tuesday, and that should scare all of us.

Read this article:
Too Many of Trump's Liberal Critics Are Praising His Strike on Syria - The Nation.

During the presidential campaign, many Hillary Clinton voters in Atlantas suburbs thought they were alone. That was an easy conclusion to draw because few felt comfortable putting Clinton signs on their front lawns or expressing their political preference at parties. Their neighbors seemed overwhelmingly Republican.

It took the presidency of Donald Trump to shock them out of their quietude. They emerged from the bunkers, blinking and surprised to find they had so much company. Many are now harnessing their distress to their newly discovered numbers and going activist. They are thus giving a 30-year-old novice named Jon Ossoff a fighting chance to win the congressional seat recently vacated by Tom Price, Trumps secretary of health.

This wouldnt be happening without Trump. Todays scenes of environmental degradation and Russian infiltration under the tweeting fingers of a possibly mad emperor would wake the political dead. They have electrified a left prone to battling itself over deviations in liberal scripture but also a center wanting nothing more than a day of normal news.

In other times, #resistance might come off as a bit melodramatic. Trump world has made it feel downright mainstream.

Trump has thus transformed the liberal ranks from stray cats to packs of dogs. Dogs act bolder when traveling in numbers. Dogs want community.

Participants in the womens marches in January recall the events not so much for stoking anger but for providing comfort. The throngs of peaceful marchers overwhelmed the few radicals ready to rumble. Their sense of well-being came from communing with so many ordinary women and men who felt as they did.

Like the tea party right, liberals are flocking to their own media campfires for warmth, talking points and calls to action. On MSNBC, Rachel Maddow is now edging out the troubled king of right-wing palaver, Bill OReilly, in total audience. (She has long dominated him in the coveted 25- to 54-year-old demographic.)

On CBS, Stephen Colbert has become the go-to guy for smart and witty late-night commentary from a liberal perspective. As such, he is bringing younger audiences back to network TV.

And in a shoutout to CBS Evening News, let us praise anchor Scott Pelley. His willingness to tell whats really happening with minimal dramatics and apparently little concern about being attacked by the right is refreshing.

The surprise hit podcast of 2017 Pod Save America stars three luminaries from the Obama administration. It offers lively and interesting political chat but nothing that would have seemed earth-shattering before Nov. 8. Now its vacuuming up audiences and advertising.

Speaking of which, it was interesting to see how quickly major advertisers deserted OReillys show after reports of the hosts penchant for serial sexual harassment. In doing so, they must have considered the perils of displeasing his avid fan base. On the other hand, how many millions of women were marching?

The tea partys membership was never huge in numbers, but the movement knew how to turn communal passions into political clout. Members jeered politicians and joined enthusiastic protests. But their real power came from marching as a group to party primaries and other elections that less engaged voters ignored.

Democrats hope to use that strategy in the special election in Georgias 6th Congressional District. Ossoff is running against several Republicans. Should he get more than 50 percent of the vote, hed take a storied seat once inhabited by former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Political revolutions dont happen on Twitter. They happen when like-minded citizens join to vote.

As jazz poet Gil Scott-Heron famously vocalized, The revolution will not be televised. The revolution will be live.

Froma Harrop is a columnist for Creators Syndicate.

Published April 8, 2017, midnight in: Bill O'Reilly, community, congressional seat, Donald Trump, Jon Ossoff, liberals. Georgia, Rachel Maddow

Continued here:
Froma Harrop: Trump shocks liberals into action | The Spokesman ... - The Spokesman-Review

8 Apr 2017, 11:41 p.m.

The Liberal party narrowly retained two key pieces of its heartland in Sydney's north after voters delivered thumping swings away from the party in three byelections on Saturday.

The Liberal Party narrowly claimed victory in two key pieces of its heartland in Sydney's north after voters delivered thumping swings away from the party in three byelections on Saturday.

The state government prevailed on the unmarked preferences of minor party voters after a nail-biting contest for the blue-ribbon Liberal seat of North Shore and was expected to survive an even larger voter backlash in Manly.

Labor comfortably retained and extended its lead on the Central Coast.

"Our scrutineers tell us we can reclaim the seat of North Shore," Premier Gladys Berejiklian told a small band of supporters in Cammeray on Saturday night.

"I always said North Shore would come down to the wire.

"[Voters] put their faith in me, they put their faith in [candidate Felicity Wilson] and we won't let them down."

With more than half the votes counted, the swing against the Liberal Party on first preferences reached more than 17 per cent in North Shore.

But the collusion of independent and minor party candidates to preference the Liberal Party last had less impact than predicted.

Marking preferences is optional in NSW elections and the rate at which minor party voters marked, or did not mark, second and third preferences gave the Liberals confidence to declare victory.

The Premier had claimed victory in Manly earlier on Saturday. In former premier Mike Baird's seat Liberal candidate James Griffin was projected to win despite being down by almost 25 per cent on first preference votes and the findings of a liquidator a company he ran may have traded while insolvent.

"Let me assure the men and women of [Manly] you will have in James an outstanding local member," Ms Berejiklian said.

Liberals chalked up the major denting of their vote in party heartland to scandals involving their candidates and anger at council amalgamation among the party's most loyal voters, especially in Mosman, the suburb which was home to the first ever branch of the Liberal Party, set up by Robert Menzies.

Locals in North Shore and in Manly have been vocal in their opposition to the state government's plan to forcibly merge the council with its neighbours, which had resulted in legal action against the state government by Mosman, Lane Cove and North Sydney Councils.

Ms Berejiklian cancelled planned mergers of several rural councils that had brought action against the government soon after taking power and negotiating with a new leader of her Coalition partner the Nationals. But she declined to do the same for councils in urban areas, potentially inviting political backlash.

Volunteers from the Save Our Councils coalition flooded polling booths in North Shore and Manly from all around NSW.

"I'm going to be a strong local voice," said government relations and media adviser Felicity Wilson, who prevailed despite revelations she had signed an incorrect statutory declaration that told party preselectors she had lived in the electorate for 10 years.

The average loss of first preferences by a sitting government in NSW byelections since 1988 is about 9 per cent, with the National Party's thrashing in the seat of Orange last year setting the high benchmark at 34 per cent.

Labor, which is not contesting either seat in Sydney's north, was set to retain and extend its lead in a third seat, Gosford on the NSW Central Coast.

The ALP candidate, Liesl Tesch, a Paralympian wheelchair basketball gold medallist, attracted a swing of about 10 per cent on first preferences.

Labor MP Kathy Smith claimed the seat back from the Liberals by about 200 votes last election. She has retired from Parliament following a cancer diagnosis.

Two Liberal veterans, Mr Baird and former health minister Jillian Skinner, represented Manly and North Shore and caused byelections following their retirement from politics.

The story Liberals scrape home in Sydney byelections first appeared on The Sydney Morning Herald.

Read more from the original source:
Liberals scrape home in Sydney byelections - Illawarra Mercury

With long-awaited marijuana legislation set to be announced next week, the federal government is having second thoughts about legalizing cannabis on Canada Day.

The Trudeau government still plans to go ahead with its plan to make weed legal for recreational use. But a senior government source says the initial target of July 1, 2018 as the implementation date will be changed to "on or before July 1, 2018."

The change reflects some internal concerns over legalizing a recreational drug on the country's birthday. Bill Blair, theLiberal government'spoint man on pot, told the Canadian Press he wanted the focus of Canada Day to be Canada not cannabis.

"I'm probably out on a limb on this one but ... I don't believe July 1 should be an implementation date for anything; it is a day of celebration for the anniversary and founding of our country," Blair told CP.

"I don't think that's an appropriate date. That's my opinion."

But what isn't changing is the federal government's desire to fully deliver on its marijuana legalization promise by next summer despite suggestions that the timeline may be too ambitious.

The federal government believes its timeline to have a nation-wide system for the distribution and sale of marijuana is achievable even though much of the heavy lifting will have to be done by the provinces.

"We campaigned on this," said the senior government official. "We told them it was going to happen."

Bill Blair, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Justice, told the Canadian Press he doesn't think Canada Day 2018 is an appropriate date for legalising marijuana. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

It appears that Ottawa is counting on the potential profits from marijuana sales to speed things along at the provincial level. Colorado legalized marijuana in 2014 and, with a population smaller than Quebec and Ontario, that state is doing more than $1 billion US in legal sales a year.

The hope is that at least a few of the provinces will move quickly to finalize their system for retail sales and that will have a pace-car effect for the slower moving jurisdictions.

The marijuana legislation is set to be unveiled next week. But CBC News reported many of the details last month. It will broadly follow the recommendation of a federally appointed task force that was chaired by former liberal Justice Minister Anne McLellan.

The federal government will be in charge of making sure the country's marijuana supply is safe and secure and Ottawa will license producers.

But the provinces will have the right to decide how the marijuana is distributed and sold. Provincial governments will also have the right to set the price.

While Ottawa will set a minimum age of 18 to buy marijuana, the provinces will have the option of setting a higher age limit if they wish.

As for Canadians who want to grow their own marijuana, they will be limited to four plants per household.

Legalizing marijuana was one of the more controversial promises Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made as he campaigned to become prime minister.

In their platform the Liberals said it was necessary to "legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana" in order to keep drugs "out of the hands of children, and the profits out of the hands of criminals."

The Liberals had promised to introduce legislation by the Spring of 2017. Announcing the legislation next week will allow the party to hit that deadline.

More here:
Liberals want to move up pot legalization to avoid Canada Day celebrations - CBC.ca

Conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer, reacting to Senate Republicans killing the filibuster option for Supreme Court nominees, said Democrats may not see the court tilt in their favor now for decades.

In an op-ed published Thursday night, Krauthammer said the GOP is set to confirm Neil Gorsuch and likely more justices that will erode liberals' grasp on the judicial branch.

"The Gorsuch nomination is a bitter setback to the liberal project of using the courts to ratchet leftward the law and society. However, Gorsuch's appointment simply preserves the court's ideological balance of power. Wait for the next nomination. Having gratuitously forfeited the filibuster, Democrats will be facing the loss of the court for a generation."

The GOP-controlled Senate voted Thursday to allow Supreme Court confirmations with a simple majority vote, eliminating Democrats' ability to block Gorsuch and future nominees by filibuster.

The power of the filibuster was first limited by Democrats in 2013, when the party was in the majority and voted to allow confirmation of presidential Cabinet appointees and lower federal court appointees by a simple majority.

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Krauthammer: Democrats may have cost liberals the Supreme Court 'for a generation' - Washington Examiner