Politics

Jim DeMint's Heritage Foundation is busy at work figuring out how to make sure Republicans are completely marginalized in 2014. As their faux scandals fall apart as rapidly as they're concocted, DeMint's minions are instructing Eric Cantor and John Boehner to please, please just keep attacking the president and forget about governing altogether. Joy Reid at The Grio: In a letter to members of Congress, which was obtained by NBC News, Heritage Action for America, the lobbying arm of the Heritage Foundation (which recently found itself in hot water over the racial IQ theories of the co-author of their widely panned immigration reform study, Jason Richwine, who resigned from the think tank last Friday), urged Republicans on Capitol Hill not to govern, and instead, to focus on the would-be “scandals” plaguing the Obama administration. The letter, which is addressed to House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, trumpets the negative media buzz surrounding the White House, saying that, “for the first time, the activities of the Obama administration are receiving a sustained public vetting. Americans’ outrage over Benghazi is amplified by the Internal Revenue Service’s intimidation of conservative grassroots organizations and a cascade of negative headlines. There is the real sense the Obama administration has been less than forthright with the American people, the press and lawmakers.” In light of the white hot media spotlight on the administration, and to deflect attention from the many policy areas where Republicans don’t quite get along, the letter urges: “it is incumbent upon the House of Representatives to conduct oversight hearings on those actions, but it would be imprudent to do anything that shifts the focus from the Obama administration to the ideological differences within the House Republican Conference.” “To that end, we urge you to avoid bringing any legislation to the House Floor that could expose or highlight major schisms within the conference. Legislation such as the Internet sales tax or the FARRM Act which contains nearly $800 billion in food stamp spending, would give the press a reason to shift their attention away from the failures of the Obama administration to write another ‘circular firing squad’ article.” Shorter Heritage Foundation: We know we've got all sorts of internal problems, so for the sake of the cause, please just keep flogging dead horses and whatever you do, please do NOT actually govern. Did he really have to give these instructions? It seems as though they've been falling into lockstep on the scandalmongering piece quite well without any help from the KochHeads.

Joe Stringer of ACCE, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment talks about why he is going to Washington, DC to risk arrest at the Department of Justice. Stringer,in Los Angeles talks about how the foreclosure crisis has decimated his neighborhood in Watts. It's time for bankers to go to jail! This may be President Obama's last chance to get justice for the millions of homeowners, taxpayers, and retirees whose homes, savings, pensions and livelihoods were stolen by Wall Street bankers. Tell President Obama: 1. Prosecute Wall Street bankers for stealing our homes, savings and livelihoods. 2. Keep people in their homes by resetting their mortgages. 3. Make Wall Street pay us back. Sign the petition here.

MEXICO (AP) — Raúl Jiménez anotó un gol de penal y luego le dio una gran asistencia al ecuatoriano Christian Benítez para el otro tanto en el segundo tiempo y el América superó el sábado por 2-1 a Monterrey para convertirse en el primer finalista del torneo Clausura mexicano.El segundo finalista se conocerá el domingo por la noche cuando se realice el duelo de vuelta de la otra semifinal, en la que Cruz Azul aventaja 3-0 a Santos.More...

BOSTON -- Gallup, the company that has faced intense criticism after its polling consistently understated President Barack Obama's support during the 2012 campaign, shared details of its ongoing review of its election polling methods on Saturday.Over a four-week period before the November 2012 election, Gallup's daily tracking poll showed Republican opponent Mitt Romney leading by margins ranging from 1 to 7 percentage points, including a 4-point Romney lead just 10 days before the election. Obama defeated Romney by a 51 to 47 percent margin.More...

Interrogation rooms with wooden boards used to immobilize detainees, are among the evidence of torture Human Rights Watch says it has uncovered in Syria. Proof of torture -- that's what Human Rights Watch says they've uncovered in Syria. Researcher Lama Fakih says they've found everything from written accounts of abuse to actual torture devices, in the rebel held city of Raqqa. Human Rights Watch researcher, Lama Fakih: "We were able to see, for example, documentary evidence of the types of cases that the intelligence forces were following. We were able to see the solitary confinement cells where the detainees were held. We were also able to see interrogation rooms and torture rooms." Most of the material was found inside former security and military intelligence facilities. "In one case," Fakih continues, "in the State Security branch, we were able to see a basat el-reeh torture device. This device is a wooden board that is in the shape of a cross that a detainee is bound to. It folds in half and enables the guards and interrogators to bind to detainee in a very uncomfortable position so they can beat him while he is defenceless." Interviews with locals, according to Human Rights Watch, also confirmed reports of torture and arbitrary detainment. The New York based activist group is urging local oppositon leaders to safeguard documents and other material that might be used as evidence that war crimes were committed. Much more on the findings in Syria from Human Rights Watch.

By Katharine Houreld ISLAMABAD, May 19 (Reuters) - Gunmen killed a senior female politician from a reformist party in Pakistan on Saturday night, the latest violent incident in a bloody election campaign and one that set off a war of words between two major opposition parties. Around 150 people were killed in the run-up to national elections held last week, which handed a landslide victory to opposition leader Nawaz Sharif and his PML-N party. It marked the first time an elected government replaced another one in a nation that has been run by military leaders for more than half its history. Results from a handful of constituencies are still awaited amid accusations of vote-rigging. The shooting came hours ahead of repolling in a key area beset by allegations of voting fraud. It was not immediately clear who killed Zara Shahid Hussain, a senior member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. The PTI has promised to reduce endemic corruption in the nuclear-armed nation of 180 million people. The PTI's leader, former international cricket star Imran Khan, immediately blamed the killing on the Muttahida Quami Movement. The MQM has a stranglehold on politics in Pakistan's biggest city, Karachi. "Her death has sent shockwaves across the rank and file of the party," Khan said in a statement. Police said that two gunmen shot Hussain dead outside her home in an upscale neighborhood of Karachi, he said. "I hold (MQM leader) Altaf Hussain directly responsible for the murder as he openly threatened PTI workers and leaders through public broadcasts," he added in a tweet. "I also hold the British government responsible as I had warned them about British citizen Altaf Hussain after his open threats." MQM leader Hussain is wanted on murder charges in Pakistan and leads his party remotely from exile in England. His party is designated a terrorist organization by Canada, a charge it strongly denies. In recent days he gave a speech which many Pakistanis felt was an incitement to attack political rivals. The British police have been flooded with complaints demanding an investigation. The MQM leader insisted his words were taken out of context. MQM leaders held a press conference within hours of Hussain's death to disclaim responsibility and demand a retraction from Khan. Khan's election campaign electrified many Pakistanis, pushing the PTI from a marginal party with no seats in the legislature to become Pakistan's third largest party. National polls held a week ago gave the MQM 18 out of 19 national assembly seats in its power base in Karachi. Repolling is due to be held Sunday in the final constituency, thought to be a stronghold of PTI, after many polling stations failed to open on election day. The steamy port city of Karachi is Pakistan's financial heart and home to 18 million people. It typically sees about a dozen murders a day, a deadly combination of political killings, attacks by Taliban and sectarian militant groups, and street crime. (Editing by Eric Walsh)More...

By Marlene Cimons, Climate Nexus:Marlene Cimons of Climate Nexus contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.More...

We're consistently impressed by the variety of biodiversity out there, but these sea butterflies are really something else.The creatures, also known as pteropods, were photographed by Karen Osborn, a research zoologist with the Smithsonian Institution. They're related to snails and use a muscular foot to swim through the ocean.More...

Drake started from the bottom and now he's in "Anchorman 2." The Canadian rap star was spotted on the set of "Anchorman: The Legend Continues" on Saturday afternoon in New York.Drake, who famously appeared on "Degrassi: The Next Generation," joins fellow hip-hop icon Kanye West in the cameo-heavy "Anchorman" sequel. West was photographed on the film's Atlanta set on May 10. Similar photographic evidence of Drake on the set of "Anchorman 2" below:More...

Ordinarily I wouldn't give this kind of a story attention, but the radio host who said that disgusting thing has somehow gotten enough traction in radio-land to attract the likes of Larry Pratt and Ted Nugent. Plus, I've had my own personal encounter with him. Back in 2008 I did a daily online radio show called NewsGang Live with some techies, some political types, and others. At the time, there was no BlogTalkRadio but Steve and Tina Gillmor managed to figure out how to do it with uStream and a call-in conference number . Peter Santilli would call into the show often, presenting himself as an independent voter who wasn't sure how he would vote in 2008. He was disruptive and annoying but he wasn't crazy and he wasn't especially much of an independent either, but more of a straight-up conservative and conspiracy nut. Now he's a crazy conservative. Via Right Wing Watch: I want to shoot [Clinton] right in the vagina and I don't want her to die right away; I want her to feel the pain and I want to look her in the eyes and I want to say 'on behalf of all Americans that you've killed, on behalf of the Navy SEALS,' ... the families of Navy SEAL Team Six who were involved in the fake hunt down of this Obama bin Laden thing, that whole fake scenario - because these Navy SEALS know the truth, they killed them all - on behalf of all of those people, I'm supporting our troops by saying we need to try, convict, and shoot Hillary Clinton in the vagina. Santilli is a classic case of how the right wing leverages borderline paranoiacs and sends them over the edge. Santilli presented himself as a guy who sold reverse mortgages, but in fact he has been profiting from the housing crisis for the past few years via "fix and flip" foreclosure schemes. You too, can join the ranks of Santillians simply by purchasing his e-book, but he won't give up his banking contacts who pass the tips to him on his foreclosure purchases. In my opinion, his hate-filled rant against Hillary Clinton should land him in jail. This goes far beyond free speech right into direct threats and should be actionable. However, even though Santilli is certainly to blame for his own rants, he didn't get there by himself. His insanity was fully aided and abetted by the continual bombardment of Benghazi bullshit via right wing radio, Fox News, and Congressman Darrell Issa, who is likely Santilli's representative. Like Issa, no one really knows how Santilli came into possession of enough money to actually run the business he claims he runs, but evidently it's lucrative enough to keep his hate speech on the air and the likes of Ted Nugent cheering him on. Santilli is a spawn of the right-wing hate parade, which marches nonstop thanks to the so-called 'leaders' who manufacture scandal for political gain. So they take a few paranoiacs into the hell of mental illness? What do they care when they serve a greater cause?