monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

Does your human nature not include thinking the rights that you enjoy should be enjoyed by every human?

It's basic human nature to care for and nurture others. Did you miss that part in your upbringing?

The US military has suffered the first crash in its hugely expensive F-35 fighter jet programme.

A F-35B jet came down in South Carolina, the Marine Corps said. The pilot managed to safely eject and there were no injuries.

The Marines said in a statement that an investigation into the cause of the crash is underway.

The F-35 is the largest and most expensive weapons programme of its type in the world.

Global sales are projected at more that 3,000 aircraft, and the programme is likely to last for some 30 to 40 years.

But the programme has been criticised both for cost and combat effectiveness.

The jet involved in the incident is believed to have cost around $100m (£77m), although a new Pentagon contract announced on Friday for a record 141 F-35 jets has brought the cost down to around $89.2m per aircraft, according to Reuters.

The model is one of three varieties of the F-35 series in operation.

On Thursday, the US carried out its first operation using the F-35B against Taliban targets in Afghanistan, four months after the Israeli military announced it had used the F-35A to carry out two separate strikes.

US President Trump has repeatedly praised the F-35, saying that the enemy "cannot see" it. While the jet is not invisible, its primary contractor Lockheed Martin has said its "advanced stealth" enables it to avoid radar.

And our constitution indeed doesn't include what we should think.

The US has said it will close its consulate in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, blaming increasing threats from Iran and Iranian-backed forces.

In a statement, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said all but emergency staff would be relocated to Baghdad.

He repeated earlier warnings that the US would hold Iran responsible for any harm to its citizens or facilities.

Basra is home to more than two million people and has witnessed violent protests in recent weeks.

Mr Pompeo, who accused Iran of failing to prevent recent rocket attacks he said were directed at the consulate, said there were "increasing and specific" threats against Americans and US facilities in Iraq.

The US decision comes amid growing tensions with Iran, after President Donald Trump re-instated economic sanctions on Tehran following the US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal.

Jerry Falwell
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@JerryFalwellJr
Conservatives & Christians need to stop electing “nice guys”. They might make great Christian leaders but the US needs street fighters like @realDonaldTrump at every level of government b/c the liberal fascists Dems are playing for keeps & many Repub leaders are a bunch of wimps!
6:50 PM - 28 Sep 2018

David Gura
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@davidgura
Sen. John Cornyn is now suggesting Mark Judge not be subpoenaed because he is a recovering alcoholic. "That is cruel. That is reckless. That is indecent." #KavanaughHearings
8:08 AM - 28 Sep 2018

Ann Coulter
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@AnnCoulter
Full senate should vote right away. Otherwise every GOP senator will need armed guards and a bulletproof vest tonight.
7:21 AM - 28 Sep 2018

McCarthy hearings

First, for the first time in years, workers are telling us it is time for them to get their fair share of the economic growth they are helping to produce.

magine a woman accused of a crime shows up for a Senate hearing and mostly cries and shouts about how persecuted she feels. Imagine she loses her temper several times during her opening statement, and refuses to answer yes or no questions. Imagine she evades follow-up questions by talking about how often she went to her friends’ houses and how good her grades were in high school and college. Now, imagine that a black man is accused of a crime, but when he’s asked if he’d like there to be a further investigation to clear his name, he stammers, “I’m innocent!” and “They sprung it on me!” Imagine this man repeatedly states that he liked beer when he was younger, and he still likes beer. “Do you like beer?” he interrupts one senator’s question to ask. Imagine he admits to drinking to excess, but claims to have had a clear memory of every single thing he did while he was drinking.

A woman who conducted herself in that manner couldn’t get an assistant-manager job at Forever21, let alone on the Supreme Court. A black man who behaved that way would be dragged out of the room, or worse — much, much worse. The real insult of Thursday’s Kavanaugh hearings was the contrast between Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s calm, respectful, endlessly helpful testimony and Kavanaugh’s absolute master class in white-male privilege.

That’s what’s so disturbing. This man barely even had to try. He was sweaty and flushed and overwhelmed and pissed off, the way no woman gets to be ever. He was defensive and evasive and arrogant and chippy, the way no person of color gets to be. And he’s still headed for a plum lifetime position, thanks to a weaponized troop of grandstanding cretins in the GOP with no memory of Merrick Garland and no concern whatsoever for anyone outside of their tight little demographic of chuckling good old boys.

They must be right. God really must be an old white man. What else explains this catastrophe? How else did we land here?

Senator Gillibrand Makes A Fool Of Herself In Just 10 Seconds

Appearing on CNN's "The Situation Room" with Jim Acosta, Gillibrand said that she believes Kavanaugh's accuser, Christine Blasey Ford.

"And so I believe her," Gillibrand said. "I stand with her."

Less than ten seconds later, Gillibrand was complaining that her Republican counterparts had "already made up their minds" about whether they believed Kavanaugh's accuser "without the benefit of an FBI investigation" — which is the same exact thing Gillibrand did.