Sunday, March 29, 2015

Indiana Doesn't Want You ~ State Faces Business Backlash to Bigotry Law

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Previous Related Post:
Indiana Gov. Pence Signs Law Permitting Gay Discrimination

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Governor Pence of Indiana continues to muddle along inside his Bigoted Bubble, defending the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA, which he signed into law last week. And the mockery continues on Twitter and really everywhere, with Saturday Night Live mentioning the state during Weekend Update, and another group creating a faux Tourism video promising that Bigots are always welcome in Indiana.













After promising to "clarify" the law in order to stop a nationwide boycott, Pence immediately rolled that back on a Sunday talk show.



From ABC News
Pence described the media coverage and opposition to the law as "shameless rhetoric," saying it strengthens the foundation of First Amendment rights rather than discriminates.
“We're not going to change the law," he said, "but if the general assembly in Indiana sends me a bill that adds a section that reiterates and amplifies and clarifies what the law really is and what it has been for the last 20 years, than I'm open to that."
When ABC's George Stephanopoulos asked Pence if the law allowed businesses like florists to refuse to work with gay or lesbian weddings, as critics have said, the governor said the situation has more to do with whether the government is involved.

Actually, during the interview Stephanopoulos asked Pence at least 6 times to answer yes or no if the law allowed discrimination against the LGBT community by business owners, and the governor either didn't answer or waffled, avoiding the fact that the Indiana law provides no protection for gay citizens. See transcript further down the page here.

The mumbling answers amused members of the Indiana press who cover the statehouse there.











From the ABC Transcript:


STEPHANOPOULOS: But I think one of the problems that people have pointed out is that in Indiana, your civil rights laws don't include sexual orientation as a protected class. And even some of the supporters of the bill who were -- who appeared with you when you signed the bill, Eric Miller of Advanced America wrote that, "It will protect those who oppose gay marriage."

He put up this example. He said, "Christian bakers, florists and photographers should not be punished for refusing to participate in a homosexual marriage."

(1) So this is a yes or no question.

Is Advance America right when they say a florist in Indiana can now refuse to serve a gay couple without fear of punishment?

 PENCE: Well, let -- let me explain to you, the purpose of this bill is to empower and has been for more than 20 years, George. This is not speculative. The purpose of this legislation, which is the law in all 50 states in our federal courts and it's the law by either statute or court decisions in some 30 other states, is very simply to empower individual when they believe that actions of government impinge on their constitutional First Amendment freedom of religion.

And, frankly, George, there's a lot of people across this country who -- you're looking at ObamaCare and the Hobby Lobby decision, looking at other cases, who feel that their religious liberty is being infringed upon and -- and The Religious Freedom Restoration Act at the federal level and all the states now, including Indiana, who have it, are simply about addressing that.

This is not about discrimination, this is about...

STEPHANOPOULOS: But...

STEPHANOPOULOS: ...
(2) And so yes or no, if a florist in Indiana refuses to serve a gay couple at their wedding, is that legal now in Indiana?

PENCE: George, this is -- this is where this debate has gone, with -- with misinformation and frankly...

 STEPHANOPOULOS: It's just a question, sir. Question, sir.

 (3) Yes or no?

PENCE: Well -- well, this -- there's been shameless rhetoric about my state and about this law and about its intention all over the Internet. People are trying to make it about one particular issue. And now you're doing that, as well.

The issue here -- The Religious Freedom Restoration Act has been on the books for more than 20 years. It does not apply, George, to disputes between individuals unless government action is involved. And in point of fact, in more than two decades, The Religious Freedom Restoration Act has never been used to undermine anti-discrimination laws in this country.


STEPHANOPOULOS: . . . (4) Is that true or not?

 PENCE: George, look, the issue here is, you know, is tolerance a two way street or not?

I mean, you know, there's a lot of talk about tolerance in this country today having to do with people on the left. And a -- but here Indiana steps forward to protect the constitutional rights and privileges of freedom of religion for people of faith and families of faith in our state and this avalanche of intolerance that's been poured on our state is just outrageous.
You've been to Indiana a bunch of times. You know it. There are no kinder, more generous, more welcoming, more hospitable people in America than in the 92 counties of Indiana.

And yet because we simply stepped forward for the purpose of recognizing the religious liberty rights of all the people of Indiana, of every faith, we at -- we have suffered under this avalanche for the last several days of condemnation and it's completely baseless.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Governor -- Governor, I...

PENCE: It's not based in any...

STEPHANOPOULOS: -- I completely...

PENCE: -- fact whatsoever.

STEPHANOPOULOS: -- I completely agree with you about the good people...

PENCE: And I think people...

STEPHANOPOULOS: -- (INAUDIBLE).

PENCE: -- are getting tired of it, George. I really do.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Perhaps...

PENCE: Tolerance is a two way street.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So when you say tolerance is a two way street, does that mean that Christians who want to refuse service or people of any other faith who want to refuse service to gays and lesbians, that it's now legal in the state of Indiana?

(5) That's the simple yes or no question.

 PENCE: George, the -- the question here is if the -- if there is a government action or a law that an individual believes impinges on their religious liberty, they have the opportunity to go to court, just as The Religious Freedom Restoration Act that Bill Clinton signed allowed them, go to court and the court would evaluate the circumstance under the standards articulated in this Act.

STEPHANOPOULOS: I'm trying to get that same clarity. And it sounds to me like what you're saying is that someone could use their religious faith as a defense against any kind of a suit brought there.

But let's try to get to that clarification you're talking about.

(6) One fix that people have talked about is simply adding sexual orientation as a protected class under the state's civil rights laws.
Will you push for that?

 PENCE: I will not push for that. That's a -- that's not on my agenda and that's not been the -- that's not been an objective of the people of the state of Indiana. And it doesn't have anything to do with this law.











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Friday, March 27, 2015

Indiana Gov. Pence Signs Law Permitting Gay Discrimination

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Governor Pence, R-Indiana, has signed RFRA, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a bill into law that allows so-called "religious" business owners to discriminate against gay people in the name of Free-Dumb. This is causing an uproar, with widespread calls on Twitter to #BoycottIndiana. And how can this be legal anyway? Let the lawsuits begin!

From the Indy Star
"This bill is not about discrimination," Pence said, "and if I thought it legalized discrimination I would have vetoed it."
Senate Bill 101 prohibits state or local governments from substantially burdening a person's ability to exercise their religion — unless the government can show that it has a compelling interest and that the action is the least-restrictive means of achieving it. It takes effect July 1.
Although the bill does not mention sexual orientation, opponents fear it could allow business owners to deny services to gays and lesbians for religious reasons.
Pence signed the bill during a private ceremony in his Statehouse office just before 10 a.m. Thursday. He was joined by supportive lawmakers, Franciscan monks and nuns, orthodox Jews, and some of the state's most powerful lobbyists on conservative social issues.
The event was closed to the public and the press.

Many celebrities and politicians immediately slammed the law:

From George Takei on Facebook
I am outraged that Gov. Pence would sign such a divisive measure into law. He has made it clear that LGBT couples, like Brad and me, are now unwelcome in his state. The notion that this bill was not driven by animus against our community is belied by the record and frankly insulting. I will join many in demanding that socially responsible companies withdraw their business, conferences and support from his state and that LGBTs and our friends and supporters refuse to visit or do business with Indiana. It is a sad day for the Hoosier state, and indeed for the many good people of Indiana, for whom this law now stands as a terrible blight upon that state's reputation.



















Business and Sports owners are also considering a boycott of Indiana:

From the CEO of Apple:



From Fortune Magazine
Mark Benioff, CEO of cloud computing company Salesforce, told Re/code that his company is reconsidering the investments it’s made in Indiana.
“We’re a major source of income and revenue to the state of Indiana, but we simply cannot support this kind of legislation,” said Benioff. He added that Salesforce has already canceled all programs requiring customers or employees to travel to Indiana.


From Think Progress
. . . the NCAA took a strong stance against the law in a statement from president Mark Emmert.
With the men’s college basketball Final Four coming to Indianapolis next weekend, Emmert said he was “especially concerned” about the impact the law might have.
“The NCAA national office and our members are deeply committed to providing an inclusive environment for all our events,” NCAA president Mark Emmert said in the statement. “We are especially concerned about how this legislation could affect our student-athletes and employees. We will work diligently to assure student-athletes competing in, and visitors attending, next week’s Men’s Final Four in Indianapolis are not impacted negatively by this bill.”
The NCAA, based in Indianapolis, had already faced calls from organizations like Freedom To Marry to condemn the law. Jason Collins, the NBA’s first openly gay player, had already tweeted at Pence earlier this week about the law. An openly gay college rowing coach wrote at OutSports that it should immediately move the men’s Final Four somewhere else.

ESPN's Keith Olbermann urged all sports teams to boycott the state:







Charles Barkley:



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Monday, March 23, 2015

Ted Cruz Runs for President 2016

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Previous Related Posts:
Ted Cruz is Scaring Small Children Now
Ted Cruz Surprised by Canadian Citizenship
Clueless Ted Cruz Helps President Obama With Confirmations
Ted Cruz Attempts to Filibuster Obamacare

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Ted Cruz chose Jerry Falwell's far-right uber-religious Liberty University as the venue for announcing his 2016 bid for the White House! From his speech it seems he is running against Obamacare and Common Core in schools - bugbears for the Tea Party. Will he ever win? No way in hell!











































































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Saturday, March 21, 2015

Dumkopf Steve King Slams American Jews

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Dumkopf Steve King of Iowa is an expert on Jews now. Like criminal cowman Cliven Bundy, who wanted to "tell us something about The Negro," King wants to "Tell us something about The Jew in 'Merica." Because he's such an expert on that, right? I guess his pal Michele Bachmann 'splained it all to him because she is a Biblical scholar. Not.

From Talking Points Memo
King's initial comments came after Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu delivered a speech to members of Congress, which many Democrats skipped. King says skipping the speech showed they're "knee-jerk" supporters of Obama.
"It says this, they're knee-jerk supporters of the President's policy," King said. "The President's policies throughout the Middle East have been a disaster. I would say to them, 'Name a country with which we have better relations today than we had when Barack Obama took office.' And I gave that in speeches for about six weeks until some lag stood up and said, 'I can name you two, they are Cuba and Iran.'"

From Washington Post
“Here is what I don’t understand, I don’t understand how Jews in America can be Democrats first and Jewish second and support Israel along the line of just following their president,” he said. That analysis came during a conversation about the more than 50 congressional Democrats who skipped Benjamin Netanyahu’s Capitol Hill speech in early March.

Rep. Steve Israel of New York didn't care for King's appraisal of American Jews:



From Crooks and Liars
Rep. Israel then took that same complaint to CNN's State of the Union, where he ripped King for those comments. After first noting that he escorted Bibi Netanyahu in and out of the Congressional chamber when Netanyahu addressed Congress, he let King have it.
"I really do not need lessons from people like Steve King on what it is to be Jewish, or a Democrat." Israel continued, "You know, Steve King, who said America is a Christian nation, should not be lecturing Jews on how we should be Jewish."
Israel also went on to point out that King lecturing Jews on how to be Jewish is chutzpah.



King then slammed Steve Israel on Twitter:




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Friday, March 20, 2015

Ted Cruz Is Scaring Small Children Now

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Ted Cruz visited New Hampshire as part of his early campaigning for President, and decided to go all Apocalypse Now and scare a little girl by telling her "The World is On Fire."

What type of man does this? Oh yeah, a sociopath. Her GOP parents, however, explained to her that Cruz was a "fireman" and a "hero," so it didn't bother her after that. Yes, lying to children is the new family values.

From ABC News
. . . a little girl, who the Concord Monitor identified as three-year-old Julie Trant, interrupted the senator’s speech with a voice full of astonishment.

“The world’s on fire?” Trant said.

Her interjection drew laughter from the crowd, and Cruz repeated his claim -- but offered assurances to the young girl that her mother and others are working to make the world safe.

“The world’s on fire. Yes. Your world’s on fire,” he said to more laughter. “But you know what your mommy’s here and everyone’s here to make sure that the world you grow up in is even better."

But apparently the thought of the world engulfed in flames didn't bother the little girl. In a radio interview with WRKO Monday, Trant’s mother, Michelle, described her daughter’s reaction, saying she wasn’t scared by Cruz’s claim and instead views the senator as a “firefighter."




Seth Myers had Cruz on the show and asked why he wanted to scare a child about the "world on fire," while tweaking Cruz for his disbelief in global warming.

From ThinkProgress
“First, I got excited, because I thought maybe you were coming around on global warming, but that’s not the case, right?” Meyers said. “Because I think the world’s on fire, literally — hottest year on record — but you’re not there, right?”
Meyers was right — Cruz isn’t there yet. The senator talked about the cold weather he experienced while in New Hampshire this weekend, and said that the climate hasn’t warmed in over a decade — a claim he’s relied on in the past.
“It’s interesting that you say that, as I just came back from New Hampshire, where there’s snow and ice everywhere,” Cruz said. “My view actually is simple. Debates on this should follow science, and should follow data. And many of the alarmists on global warming, they’ve got a problem because the science doesn’t back them up.”



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Scott Walker Strategist Speaks Truth About Iowa - Gets Fired

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Presidential hopeful Scott Walker has fired strategist Liz Mair for being much, much too honest and outspoken about Iowa. Apparently she doesn't like the place, the politicians, or Iowa's historical role as one of the earliest primaries. She doesn't like the fact that while in Iowa groveling for the Presidency, you have to kiss the butt of Rep. Steve King.

From Huffington Post
Liz Mair, a veteran Republican strategist, announced on Tuesday her resignation from Walker's nascent campaign after a conservative furor over a series of tweets in which she criticized Iowa's caucus system -- and its ethanol politics -- for having undue influence over the nominating process. The backlash snowballed Tuesday night, when Iowa GOP Chair Jeff Kaufmann called for Mair's firing over the "naive" and "juvenile" comments.

Her downfall took about 24 hours - Hired on Monday, Forced to Resign on Tuesday

On Tuesday, shortly before 5 p.m., the New York Times ran a story quoting Iowa state Republican Chairman Jeff Kauffman, who said Mair “doesn’t have a clue what Iowa’s all about” and that Walker should fire her. That same story also quoted the co-chairman of a county Republican Party and the co-chairman of the state party saying similar things.
At 12:03 a.m. Wednesday, the AP reported that Mair was no longer a member of Walker’s campaign.
“The tone of some of my tweets concerning Iowa was at odds with that which Gov. Walker has always encouraged in political discourse,” she said in a statement. “I wish Gov. Walker and his team all the best.”

Of course many of us in the rest of America totally agree with her. But in today's GOP which is based on "purity" of thought and tweet, you just can't be this honest and practical. There's no room in the Grand Old Party for new ideas or reformation. It's sad but true.

Of course, she is still a Republican, and even while ranting about her situation - caused by conservatives - she blamed the Democrats for "digging up her tweets."



Of course it's the Right Wing Nut Jobs in Iowa who are attacking her - not the Dems!







That's a plus for the GOP, but . . .



Sorry, now they have to hate you! Because God!

A few conservative pundits have come to Mair's defense - strange bedfellows, if you ask me! And why is pundit Erick Erickson of Red State telling his own party members to "DIAF" or "Die in a Fire"? I guess because he is more of a Libertarian these days - so to hell with everyone else, right?

From Erickson of Red State
UPDATE: I see from the Associated Press that Liz Mair has resigned from Governor Walker’s campaign. Given Liz’s work history, I will put it to you this way — Team Walker has botched this. There’s just no way Liz Mair resigned with it being her idea. I haven’t talked to her yet, but there’s just no way. So instead of Walker owning this, he’s passed the ball and made a staffer off herself. That’s unfortunate and plays into the “not ready for prime time” theme already developing around Team Walker. At least it is early.
But the voices who decided to stir this pot need to DIAF as far as I’m concerned.



But Erickson is a Sinner with a Dirty Mind:


Jonah Goldberg on National Review
Walker talks a big game about standing up to labor unions and the left — and rightly so. His record as governor is nothing short of heroic. He even suggested that his record of standing up to the left at home suggests the kind of leadership he’d show in the fight against ISIS. He phrased it poorly, but the point he was trying to make was that he can’t be intimidated. Well, maybe. I don’t know Mair very well. But if Erickson is right, and I’d bet he is, then Mair was asked to fall on her sword. Even if she wasn’t asked but volunteered, the point remains that Walker accepted her resignation because a bunch of party apparatchiks in Iowa are terrified of any dissent over their gravy train.


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Liz Mair's Original Problem Tweets
That Drove Iowa Crazy:







Post-Firing Tweets:

























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Thursday, March 19, 2015

Trump Announces Another Failed Presidential Run

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Yes, the title is correct. Donald Trump will never be the GOP Nominee for President, and certainly not the actual President. But that never keeps him from running again.

From the New Hampsire Union Leader
A senior adviser tells the New Hampshire Union Leader that Trump will not be renewing his contract with NBC for the reality television “Apprentice” series.
Combined with staff hires, Trump’s announcement that he will form an exploratory committee for the first time is a sign the billionaire is seriously considering running for the Republican nomination.

In his Full Statement, Trump makes this claim:

I am the only one who can make America truly great again!"

Let the mockery begin!!! :)




















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The Resignation of Aaron Schock

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Congressman Aaron Schock R-Illinois has resigned from the House of Representatives. This comes just a few weeks after Washington Post writer Ben Terris wrote a story about Schock's Congressional Office, which was lavishly decorated to resemble the sitting room on the show Downton Abbey. Terris showed up and was given a tour by the designer herself, and that should have been the end of it. But Rep. Schock himself refused to talk about the decor, and that raised red flags, then his communications director got all huffy about the tour. Terris wrote the story anyway and it went viral.

From Ben Terris, Washington Post
A blond woman popped out of an inner office. “Want to see the rest?” she asked.

She introduced herself as Annie Brahler, the interior decorator whose company is called Euro Trash. She guided me to Schock’s private office, revealing another dramatic red room. This one with a drippy crystal chandelier, a table propped up by two eagles, a bust of Abraham Lincoln and massive arrangements of pheasant feathers.

Then, my phone rang.

It was Schock’s communications director, Benjamin Cole.

“Are you taking pictures of the office?” he asked. “Who told you you could do that? . . . Okay, stay where you are. You’ve created a bit of a crisis in the office.”

A staff member then came and asked me to please delete the photos from my phone. So started a day of back-and-forths with a congressman’s office about interior design.



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After the story was picked up by all the national media, reporters began to find anomalies in his other expenditures, including reported mileage reimbursements on his cars, and asking about his political donors. Schock couldn't stand the heat in Downton Abbey's (I mean Washingon's) below-stairs kitchen, so he quickly got out.

From Politico
llinois Rep. Aaron Schock resigned Tuesday, less than 12 hours after POLITICO raised questions about tens of thousands of dollars in mileage reimbursements he received for his personal vehicle.
Schock billed the federal government and his campaign for logging roughly 170,000 miles on his personal car from January 2010 through July 2014. But when he sold that Chevrolet Tahoe in July 2014, it had roughly 80,000 miles on the odometer, according to public records obtained by POLITICO under Illinois open records laws. The documents, in other words, indicate he was reimbursed for 90,000 miles more than his car was driven.
. . . Schock’s resignation marks a swift downfall of one of the GOP’s most promising young stars and prolific fundraisers. The former state legislator was elected to Congress in 2008 and shot through the ranks of the House GOP, at one point gracing the cover of Men’s Health magazine. He was a fresh face in a party eager to update its image.
But as his prominence grew, Schock adopted an expensive lifestyle — staying in luxury hotels, dining at pricey restaurants, flying on private jets. Mounting questions about how he paid for it eventually caught up with him.



From Yahoo
. . .In a statement confirming his resignation, Schock said that “the constant questions over the last six weeks have proven a great distraction that has made it too difficult for me to serve the people of the 18th District with the high standards that they deserve and which I have set for myself. I have always sought to do what’s best for my constituents and I thank them for the opportunity to serve.”
Those “constant questions” all started with a February story on the Washington Post’s website that, at first, seemed like little more than a quirky anecdote. But upon closer inspection, the story raised eyebrows and, as Schock mentioned, real questions. Lots of them.
Washington Post reporter Ben Terris went to interview Schock at his office last month and found himself surrounded by deep-red walls, gold wall sconces, and pheasant feathers. The room's ornate decor had been based on that of the set of the popular PBS period drama, “Downton Abbey,” a woman who turned out to be Schock’s decorator told Terris.

Washington Post: "The self-destructive mania of Rep. Aaron Schock"
. . . Schock’s choice of that vibrant color underscored his lifelong determination to go big and brash. According to a review of newspaper clippings going back to when he was a teenager in Peoria, Ill., Schock always pushed for more, more, more — and to be the youngest to ever have it.
It’s a characteristic that propelled Schock to be the youngest school board member, the youngest Illinois state legislator, one of the youngest members of Congress. It pushed him to work out so hard it looked painful, to clog his Instagram profile with action-star theatrics, to get into business hot and early because that’s what Aaron Schock does. He wins. He takes risks. He’s bold, like his bright-red office.
. . . But looking back at Schock’s history, his preternatural drive is unsettling, even for a politician. Schock didn’t want two phone lines. He wanted six. He didn’t want one credit card in middle school. He wanted 13. He wasn’t satisfied graduating high school in four years. He didn’t want to just sit on the school board — he wanted to be its president. He wanted to be the youngest everything. Health wasn’t enough. He needed a six-pack. He didn’t want his office to be beige. He wanted it red.










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Tuesday, March 17, 2015

GOP Crazies Try to Help Netanyahu on Election Day ~ UPDATE: He Won!

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Previous Related Posts:
Netanyahu Comes to Congress, Tries to Take Over
Bibi's Bomb
Romney Shambles Day 4: Bomb Bomb Iran
Romney Shambles Day 3: On to Israel
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Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has been struggling at the last minute to win election in his country. The way our Rightwing Nutjobs have been supporting him, you would think he was running for President of the U.S. Some might say our Congress is to blame for his last-minute dip in the election polls - after all, John Boehner and the Tea Party encouraged his warmongering Speech in the House of Representatives, and right after that we had "Tehran" Tom Cotton's Letter to Iran by 47 Senators (hashtag #47Traitors).

And now Israel's Election Day is here, and a few GOP crazies have come out of the woodwork to support their friend Bibi, who after all, will be in charge of Armageddon someday, which is why the Republican Right supports Israel in the first place. Just ignore the Biblical Prophecy that it is Israel that will fail so Jesus can return. Or something like that. Anyway, until the Onward Christian Soldiers crowd takes over Israel after the apocalypse, they are fine with a nice warmonger like Bibi running the place.



UPDATE: Netanyahu has WON the election, but it was a close call. However, Bibi wasted no time in declaring himself a clear winner, just as our GOP calls it a "mandate" when someone squeaks by.

And Israel still has to figure out how to create a governing body in the aftermath with their various parties and complicated Knesset. So good luck with that.

From CNN
Netanyahu's Likud party has at least 29 seats in the 120 seat Knesset, Haaretz reported. It said main rival Zionist Union has 24 seats.
Millions of Israelis cast ballots to determine their party's next leader and the make up of parliament.
The incumbent claimed victory ahead of a final count.
"Against all odds, we achieved this huge victory," Netanyahu told cheering supporters. "Now we should form a strong and stable government that will be able to take care of the security, safety and welfare of each and every citizen of Israel."
The Zionist Union hit back, accusing the Likud party of misleading.
"The rightist bloc has shrunk. Everything is possible until the real results are in, when we can know which parties passed the electoral threshold and which government we can form," it said in a statement. "All the spins and statements are premature."
Official results are not expected until next week, and the process of building coalitions could take much longer.

And now Bibi is talking Unity! Hooray!













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Pre-Election Stories and Comments Below:

When Netanyahu started sinking in the polls last week, first he freaked out, then he started blaming everybody in the world. Yeah, because we all vote in the Israeli elections, right? Was anyone you know polled about their vote in Israel's elections? But still - it's a Left Wing Plot!

Via Global Post
As election day on March 17 draws near the term “Bibi fatigue” is increasingly appearing in the media.
Critics accuse him of being power hungry, lacking vision and failing to address the economic concerns of young Israelis who have long been critical of his tunnel vision focusing on security that has led to thousands being spent on wars while they find themselves unable to find jobs or buy houses.
On March 7, around 40,000 demonstrators gathered to protest Netanyahu.
Netanyahu himself has publicly blamed a global leftist conspiracy.
"There is a huge international effort, with major money, that is partnering up with leftist organizations here and also with media figures in order to bring down the Likud government that I head," Netanyahu said on Channel 2 television on Saturday.





Then on election eve, Bibi vowed that he would never recognize the Palestinian State! It's so good to appeal to the worst haters in your country to get them to vote. Our Republicans do that all the time. Nice dog whistle there, Mr. Bibi.



Ultra-conservative actor Jon Voight thinks it will help Netanyahu to say that President Obama hates Israel and just wants to control it. Gee, I wish the President could control his own Congress before taking on Israel, too. But never mind - don't expect this stuff to make sense! Blame Obama!





Then another actor, Chuck Norris, Mr. Tough Guy himself, made a heartfelt plea - with a plug for one of his movies made in Israel! Never miss an opportunity to kick some self-promotional ass, Mr. Norris!







Wow, that's desperation
Has Bibi always been this paranoid?
And who is Bibi of Washington to complain about foreign leaders interfering in another country's affairs?
~ Jack Rabbit on Democratic Underground

all his key words are similar to a rove-republican campaign
~ Sunlei on Democratic Underground

Now that (Jon Voight's) face has gotten all puffy and he has no career anymore, I guess there's nothing for him but to be a troll.
~ Krusher on Talking Points Memo

Oh Yeah?
I heard that Jeb Bush doesn't love Liechtenstein, Rand Paul has no use for Haiti and Scott Walker hates a lot of Cheeseheads and is secretly a Bears fan.
~ Blue_Grit on Talking Points Memo

Riiiiiiight. Netanyahu makes a side deal with the Rs, comes here and makes a complete fool of himself--oh, and just like every wingnut head-of-state on the planet in living memory, effs up his country's economy right down to the ground . . . and it's President Obama's fault.
~ MollyNYC on Talking Points Memo

The only thing missing is Clint Eastwood talking to a matzoh ball.
~ Tasherbean on Salon

Christian conservatives have gone from being plucky weirdos about Israel to full-blown creepy obsessives. They'd sooner put Israel's interests ahead of American interests, which is absolutely breathtaking...and rather offensive.
~ indyotto on Salon

I liked Chuck Norris in the early and mid-1990s. He was into Zen Buddhism and dated cool women like Beverly Johnson.
Then Chuck married a fanatical Christian and he jumped onto HER bandwagon. Suddenly, Chuck and his new wife were on TV, preaching that the Bible should be taught in public schools, along with prayer. More recently, he and the wife did a video pathetically claiming we would have "2000 years of darkness" if Obama was re-elected President.
Really, Chuck-----you were cool once (long ago) but now you're just another Huckabee-loving nut job.
There's nothing more obnoxious than a "reformed sinner."
I wonder what Chuck's first wife---and grown children---think of his bizarre "Godliness" and hypocrisy.
~ Los Angeles girl on Salon

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