Random Politics & Religion #00

Hollywood aside, there aren't that many moments in life when the little guy gets to see his powerful nemesis stumble and fall. There are some apocryphal examples of comeuppances, but for the most part, the powerful stay powerful and the little guy stays little.

It was with unconstrained glee, then, that Tom Bjorklund wrote to the Federal Election Commission. Bjorklund is the treasurer for the "Stop Chris Christie PAC" -- or rather, he was -- back when the PAC was necessary.

Bjorklund's note was in response to a question from the FEC about the PAC's name, since PACs cannot include the name of a candidate in their title. (Remember CARLY for America?)

But that actually doesn't matter any more, because the PAC no longer has a function. He wrote:

A burn, to be sure. But a not-entirely-inaccurate one.

In Real Clear Politics' polling average over the last two years, the trend for Christie has been clear. First, there was that bridge thing, which hit when Christie was actually leading in polling. Then, in February, more candidates made clear their intention to run, splitting the field -- and pulling support away from the New Jersey governor.



This is perhaps a little premature, we'll note. As the field starts to narrow again, Christie could see an increase in support again. The governor is wounded, but he's not out. Little-guy-triumphs stories might not be common in real life, but overconfident-guy-blows-a-sure-thing stories sure are.

Anyway, the "Stop Chris Christie PAC" -- or whatever it might subsequently have been called -- didn't exist for no reason. Here we are, talking about how poorly Chris Christie's campaign is going. Lucky for him, he still has a super PAC of his own.

Wishful thinking here, but I would pay good money to see the look on Hillary's face upon learning that they endorsed Bernie Sanders.

The main suspect in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers residence at a U.S. military base in Saudi Arabia has been captured after nearly 20 years on the run, a Saudi-owned newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Asharq al-Awsat said Ahmed al-Mughassil, leader of the Hezbollah al-Hejaz who had been indicted by a U.S. court for the attack that killed 19 U.S. service personnel and wounded almost 500 people, had been captured in the Lebanese capital Beirut and transferred to Riyadh.

Saudi authorities said they were looking into the report but did not provide further information.

A Lebanese security source said that Mughassil, a Saudi national, had been detained in Lebanon and transferred to Saudi Arabia around two weeks ago and that he was considered by Riyadh as the top suspect in the case.

The militant group Hezbollah Al-Hejaz confirmed Mughassil was stopped by security officials at Beirut airport on August 7 and blamed the Saudi government and the Lebanese political party led by Saad Hariri, son of the assassinated former prime minister of Lebanon, Rafic Hariri.

"We hold the Saudi regime and (Hariri's) Future bloc responsibility for this treacherous action and we assert the inevitability of the safety of the leader, the group said in a statement received by Reuters.

Saudi Arabia and the United States have accused Iran of orchestrating the truck-bomb attack. Iran has denied any responsibility for the attack.

Asharq al-Awsat quoted official Saudi sources as saying Saudi security personnel had received information about the presence of 48-year-old Mughassil in Beirut.

"The discovery of Mughassil and his arrest in Lebanon and his subsequent transfer to Saudi Arabia is a qualitative achievement, for the man had been in disguise in a way that made it hard to identify him," Asharq al-Awsat said, without elaborating on when he was captured and who captured him.

In 2006, a U.S. federal judge ordered Iran to pay $254 million to the families of 17 U.S. service personnel killed in the attack in a judgment entered against the Iranian government, its security ministry, and the Revolutionary Guards after they failed to respond to a lawsuit initiated more than four years earlier.

The 209-page ruling had found that the truck bomb involved in the attack was assembled at a base in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley operated by Hezbollah and the Revolutionary Guards, and the attack was approved by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Gunman jailed for life for killing 12 people during Batman screening

The man who unleashed a murderous attack on a packed Colorado movie theater was ordered Wednesday to serve life in prison without parole plus 3,318 years - the maximum allowed by law - before the judge told deputies, "Get the defendant out of my courtroom, please.

"The gallery applauded the remark by Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. as he gaveled the hearing to a close, ending a grueling three-year wait to see the gunman brought to justice. Survivors, relatives and a handful of jurors who were in the courtroom cheered and then hugged prosecutors and law enforcement officers. Some wiped away tears.

Samour ordered 28-year-old James Holmes to serve 12 consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, one for each of the people he killed in the July 20, 2012, attack on a crowded movie theater.

He then added another 3,312 years for 70 convictions of attempted murder, and six years for an explosives charge.

"The defendant does not deserve any sympathy," the judge said. "And for that reason, the court imposes the maximum sentence it can impose under the law."

Samour handed down the sentences after a withering condemnation of Holmes as an angry quitter who gave up on life and turned his hatred into murder and mayhem against innocent victims and hundreds of their family members.

Samour was scrupulously respectful toward Holmes throughout the long trial and months of pretrial hearings. But on the final day in court, he made no attempt to hide his contempt.
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"It is almost impossible to comprehend how a human being is capable of such acts," Samour said.

Samour had no option but to give Holmes life without parole, rather than the death penalty, after a split jury decided the term earlier this month. Prosecutors have said 11 jurors favored death and one voted for life without parole.

Under Colorado law, jurors must be unanimous to impose the death penalty.

Samour contrasted Holmes' bloody assault with the compassion of the lone juror who voted for a life sentence. He also noted the trial was fair, even if some victims were disappointed that Holmes wasn't sentenced to die.

"I believe in the system," Samour said.

"I said that before, and I'll say it again. I believe in the system."

The judge said prison is harsh and restrictive, and he disputed some victims' suggestion that Holmes would have an easy life behind bars. He also dismissed complaints that the trial was a waste of time, noting it gave family members and survivors an opportunity to tell the world about their ordeal.

More than 100 victims and survivors testified this week about their searing physical and emotional scars. They talked of flashbacks and nightmares, of relentless survivor's guilt and enduring physical pain.

Holmes' mother, Arlene, was the final witness to take the lectern Tuesday. She said her son feels remorse for his deadly attack on a Colorado movie theater.

She said his mental illness and medications make it hard for him to express it.

"We know that is very, very hard for people to see," Arlene Holmes testified.

"We cannot feel the depths of your pain. We can only listen to everything you have expressed, and we pray for you. ... We are very sorry this tragedy happened, and sorry everyone has suffered so much."

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OH SNAP!
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I find it hilarious how hypocritical and bias public opinion is when it comes to which flags should be banned and which should not. A certain flag recently gets banned because it makes people into hateful violent oppressors, but now public opinions that banned said flag suddenly say that people do these things and flags are not responsible. Haha WOW!

I find it hilarious how hypocritical and bias public opinion is when it comes to which flags should be banned and which should not. A certain flag recently gets banned because it makes people into hateful violent oppressors, but now public opinions that banned said flag suddenly say that people do these things and flags are not responsible. Haha WOW!

Well, Bill Sanderson was looking for a particular response there, and G. A. Hicks gave him exactly what he was looking for. Word for word that response could have formed an argument against taking down the Confederate flag.

It would have been a bad argument. Besides, the pride flag was never a battle flag and doesn't symbolize any of the things the confederate flag has throughout history and isn't flying at any statehouses I'm aware of.

The quest for equality is most certainly a battle. Many have fought and died in the name of freedom from oppression.

Leave out that the gay pride flag was created exclusively as a symbol of equality, the shooter's motivations had nothing to do with his orientation. It's just another excuse to drag the discussion away from the real problems facing America.

I missed the part where the LGBT community declared war on the United States and flew that flag while firing cannons and the Army.

Battle can have different meanings, sure, but we're not talking about the same thing.

In his suicide note he said he was driven by being bullied at work for being a gay, black man.

I'm pretty sure it was the north that declared war on the south to prevent the southern states from seceding from the union.

So he was tortured daily for existing, let's just throw him in the same basket with affluent racists who shoot up churches to "take their country back".

the LGBT equality fight and flag are not parallel with the secation of the South.

I agree.

It's public opinion/mob mentality that I'm talking about.

Eh, he says he was bullied, but he could have just been a paranoid man with a victim complex. Let's not jump to conclusions just yet.

So he was tortured daily for existing, let's just throw him in the same basket with affluent racists who shoot up churches to "take their country back".


They didn't have the right to secede, declaring secation was an act of war. But, it's irrelevant, the LGBT equality fight and flag are not parallel with the secation of the South.

Everyone is bullied these days, and I don't just mean they think they are. We as a society have become incredibly terrible to each other.

His motive is his motive. You can't just supply your own.

He was a vile racist as well.

His motive is his motive. You can't just supply your own.

He was a vile racist as well.