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Across the aisle, uproar over Preet Bharara's firing

Condemnation over President Trump's decision to fire U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara came fast and furious on Saturday, from both sides of the aisle.

Bharara refused the administration's request to resign along with 45 other U.S. attorneys across the nation and was summarily fired, sending shockwaves across New York, where the prosecutor was known to crusade against corruption in state and local governments.

"I did not resign," Bharara tweeted Saturday. "Moments ago I was fired. Being the US Attorney in SDNY (Southern District of New York) will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life."

The firing reversed a promise from Trump, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Friday, stating the president had initiated a call to him in November "and assured me he wanted Mr. Bharara to continue to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District."

Schumer also noted that by asking for the immediate resignations of the remaining US attorneys before their replacements have been confirmed, "the President is interrupting ongoing cases and investigations and hindering the administration of justice."

When the decision came down on Saturday, Schumer commended Bharara, saying his "relentless drive to root out public corruption, lock up terrorists, take on Wall Street, and stand up for what is right should serve as a model for all U.S. attorneys across the country. He will be sorely missed."

The senator's criticisms were echoed more harshly by other politicians.

"So much for wanting to drain the swamp. (Bharara) served with distinction and didn't care about party ... what a shame," wrote Democratic N.Y. state Sen. Todd Kaminsky.

"Trump just fired prosecutor renowned for public corruption cases. So much for the rule of law. Sad!" tweeted Rep. Hakeen Jeffries, D-N.Y

Republicans, too, released statements condemning the respected prosecutor's firing.

"Definitely not a wise move at all if (Bharara) was asked to resign. This should immediately be reconsidered by AG Sessions. Big mistake," wrote NY Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin on Twitter Friday. He had also issued a direct plea to Sessions to spare the prosecutor. "We need him here in NY to #Draintheswamp," McLaughlin wrote.

GOP New York State Assembly leader Brian Kolb also threw support to Bharara for refusing to step down, prior to his firing. "Good for Preet, he is doing the job he was appointed to do!" Kolb tweeted early Saturday.

Bahara "is a hero. His firing was no ordinary turnover," tweeted Harvard constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe. "It was a cowardly about-face by #conmantrump fearing Bharara's investigations."

"You have been a great and fearless public servant and those are in very short supply. You will be called upon again," wrote former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean.

But why would, why should it even be news that US presidents are liars.

camlok: But why would, why should it even be news that US presidents are liars.

thack45: Because the only means for defending the trump is to point fingers elsewhere

Preetinder Singh "Preet" Bharara was born in 1968 in Ferozepur, Punjab, India, to a Sikh father and Hindu mother.

Bharara served as the chief counsel to Senator Chuck Schumer and played a leading role in the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary investigation into the firings of United States attorneys. Bharara is a registered Democrat.

His real first name (Preetender) is quite appropos, sho nuff.

Our defense department has now been given (for the first time) the mandate to defeat and destroy ISIS

Trump toady Devin Nunes (R-CA), who currently serves as the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, says America should be thanking disgraced former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn for his secret conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak during the 2016 campaign and the presidential transition.

Said Nunes: “From everything that I can see, his conversations with the Russian ambassador, he was doing this country a favor, and he should be thanked for it."

Nunes, who is nominally charged with investigating Russian contacts with the Trump campaign earlier drew controversy for agreeing to act as a press surrogate to dispute reports of Russian contacts with the Trump campaign.

...A Repurposed Term

Though Mr. Trump has not publicly used the phrase, allies and sympathetic news media outlets have repurposed “deep state” from its formal meaning — a network of civilian and military officials who control or undermine democratically elected governments — to a pejorative meant to accuse civil servants of illegitimacy and political animus.

It is akin to Mr. Trump’s appropriation of “fake news,” a term that originally described rumor mills but one that he has used against any outlet that reports real news unfavorable to his administration.

Much as his use of “fake news” miscasts reporting as lying, “deep state” presents apolitical civil servants as partisan agents. And it mischaracterizes those officials, who seek to defend their place within the system, by presenting them as acting against that system.

Both phrases have become tools that Mr. Trump or his allies use to deflect perceived criticism by attacking the legitimacy of the critic.

The effect is to twist basic functions of democratic governance into partisan disputes. This might serve Mr. Trump in the short term, but in the long run it carries risks.

Behind the Quiet State-by-State Fight Over Electric Vehicles

...In Colorado, a bill that would end income tax credits for owners of electric and
alternative-fuel vehicles is working its way through the legislature. In Utah, lawmakers voted this month against extending the state’s tax credit for electric cars.

The measure in Colorado has been backed publicly by Americans for Prosperity, an advocacy group founded by the conservative billionaire brothers David H. and Charles G. Koch, whose wealth is founded on their petrochemicals empire.

A handful of other states, including Illinois, Pennsylvania and Tennessee, have already let their incentives expire. That has brought down to 16 the number of states that offer financial support for buyers of electric vehicles. That number once approached 25.

President Obama himself said he was going to stay in Washington until his daughter graduated. I think we ought to pitch in to let him go someplace else, because he is only there for one purpose and one purpose only, and that is to run a shadow government that is going to totally upset the new agenda. It just doesn’t make sense. And people sit back and they say to me, 'My gosh, why can’t you guys get this done?' I say, 'We've got a new CEO, we've got some new heads in the different departments, but the same people are there, and they don't believe that the new owners or the new managers should be running the ship.'

Reached by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Kelly's office insisted the comments were supposed to be private and that he was merely reflecting Republicans' frustration with the deep state.

Kelly's office then clarified to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he doesn't really think Obama is running a “shadow government” — or, at least, that Obama is “personally operating” it.

“Rep. Kelly does not believe that President Obama is personally operating a shadow government,” a spokesman said. “He does believe it would be helpful to the new administration if the former president would personally call for an end to all leaks and obstruction by personnel from his administration who currently serve in the executive branch.”

Quote:

Our defense department has now been given (for the first time) the mandate to defeat and destroy ISIS

They have? By whom? What differences from previously? How do you know? What magical recipe has been formulated? By whom? In how many countries? What's the projected cost in billions? What cost in US lives? What cost in other lives? What other nations are on board? What role has State been given? What increases in covert monitoring of US citizens' communications? Court approval from where? "Remote detachment" is a right wing talking point.

On January 28th, obviously, the President, as you mentioned, directed Secretary of Defense Mattis to work with interagency partners to develop that preliminary plan, and the State Department was involved in that process and the drafting of the plan, and it was delivered to the White House on February 27th for consideration and for broader discussion. Now, the details of that plan are still classified.