Now targeting Susan Rice for comments on Benghazi attack.

U.S. Sen. John McCain (L) (R-AZ) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) (R-SC) hold a news conference on the Benghazi terrorist attack at the U.S. Capitol November 14, 2012 in Washington, DC

Image by Win McNamee / Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC — Before Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham went after Susan Rice for claiming that the attack in Benghazi was the result of an anti-Islamic video, the pair defended then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from charges that she was a "liar" over her testimony claiming there were WMDs in Iraq.

"I am dead set on making sure we don’t promote anybody who was a player in the Benghazi debacle," Graham said on Wednesday in reference to Rice's appearances on the five Sunday shows in which she blamed the Benghazi attack on a anti-Islamic video.

The Obama administration has said Rice was relying on CIA assessments pointing to the video, one of which has leaked.

"She is so disconnected from reality that I don’t trust her,” the South Carolina Republican added.

But in 2005, Graham was fiercely protective of Rice as she faced confirmation to take over the State Department, chaffing at terms used by Democratic lawmakers to describe her testimony.

"The words like ‘misleading’ and ‘disingenuous,’ I think, were very unfair," Graham said on Fox News.

Asked if then-Sen. Mark Dayton's use of the word "liar" was justified, Graham pounced.

"Yes, that's even more unfair. Because it was all in terms of weapons of mass destruction and misleading us about the war and what was in Iraq. Well, every intelligence agency in the world was misled. And to connect those two to say that she's a liar is very unfair, over the line."

Before the vote, McCain noted from the Senate floor that the chamber had enough votes to confirm Rice to the job, questioning why Democrats wanted to debate her nomination.

"So I wonder why we are starting this new Congress with a protracted debate about a foregone conclusion," he said, adding that Rice is qualified for the job. "I can only conclude that we are doing this for no other reason than because of lingering bitterness over the outcome of the election."

“They’ve got a problem with me.”

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WASHINGTON, DC — President Barack Obama defended U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice from Republican criticism Wednesday, saying attacks on her credibility because of her statements on the Benghazi attacks are "outrageous."

"She gave the best understanding of the intelligence that had been provided to her," Obama said of Rice's statements on the five Sunday morning shows following the deaths of four Americans in Libya in which she blamed the attack on an anti-Islamic video.

Naming Sen. John McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham, who held a press conference today to call for an independent investigation into the attack, Obama said the buck stops with him.

“If Sen. McCain and Sen. Graham want to go after somebody, they should go after me," Obama said in his first press conference since winning reelection last week.

“When they go after the U.N. ambassador because they think she’s an easy target, then they’ve got a problem with me," he added.

Asked whether he would be deterred from nominating Rice because of the Republican senators' pledges to do everything in their power to oppose her, Obama said he would not.

Saying that if he determined that Rice is the best person to lead the State Department, Obama emphatically stated, "Then I will nominate her.”

UPDATE: Sen. Lindsey Graham responded to President Barack Obama's attack on their criticism of UN Ambassador Susan Rice over her comments on the Benghazi attack with a harshly-worded statement of his own.

“Mr. President, don’t think for one minute I don’t hold you ultimately responsible for Benghazi," Graham said in a statement distributed to reporters as Obama concluded his first press conference since he was elected. "I think you failed as Commander in Chief before, during, and after the attack.

“We owe it to the American people and the victims of this attack to have full, fair hearings and accountability be assigned where appropriate," Graham continued. "Given what I know now, I have no intention of promoting anyone who is up to their eyeballs in the Benghazi debacle.”

“It would be a horrible precedent for me to answer your question just because you yelled it out.”

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The President declined to attribute to Hurricane Sandy to climate change, while reaffirming his belief in man-made climate change. The President, however, did not lay out a vision for tackling climate change and made clear the issue was behind tax reform and helping with the economy.

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“You don't have to be a member of the body to be speaker,” Rep. Gohmert says. Hijinks in the closed-door leadership election.

Image by Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call / Getty Images

WASHINGTON — Texas conservative Rep. Louie Gohmert submitted an unlikely nomination for House speaker during the Republican leadership elections Wednesday: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

"You don't have to be a member of the body to be speaker," Gohmert, of Texas, told the caucus during the closed-door meeting, according to a source inside the room.

His motion was not seconded by any other members, and House Speaker John Boehner was reelected by a voice vote, followed by a standing ovation.

As he delivered his acceptance speech, Boehner responded to his colleague's unexpected nomination.

"Louie, I love you too," Boehner said.

It's about customer choice and not politics, CEO Terry Lundgren tells petition organizer. “Trump's brand has become toxic and contemptible, it represents mean spirited bullying and chicanery,” Angelo Carusone replied.

Donald Trump, who called for a revolution on election night, has made some enemies.

Image by Slaven Vlasic / Getty Images

The CEO of Macy's defended his company's partnership with Donald Trump Wednesday in an e-mail to the man leading the petition drive to stop it.

"Macy's marketing and merchandising offerings are not representative of any political position," Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren told Angelo Carusone, who has gathered more than 570,000 signatures in a petition drive to convince the company to part ways with the controversial television personality, who called for a "revolution" after Barack Obama's reelection and suggested that the Obama is not actually eligible to be president.

"Donald Trump engages in especially unpleasant, nasty and despicable behavior," Carusone's petition on SignOn.org declares, calling Trump out for his birther-backing, alleged sexism, and more.

Carusone rebuffed to Lundgren's attempt to mollify him with talk of free speech and of Macy's nonpartisan holiday marketing.

"I have a letter signed by you and addressed to Trump in which you promise to further develop Trump's brand. Trump's brand has become toxic and contemptible, it represents mean spirited bullying and chicanery; it does not seem consistent with the public's perception and experience with Macy's brand," Carusone wrote.

Carusone, who provided the e-mail exchange to BuzzFeed, said he has not yet heard a response to that from Lundgren.

Carusone could prove a dangerous foe for Macy's. Though he now works for the progressive group Media Matters for America, he previously, beginning while a law student, engaged in a multiyear effort to "Stop Beck" — tweeting then as @StopBeck — which ended when Glenn Beck ended his show on Fox News.

He then ramped up a similar effort that cost Rush Limbaugh some advertisers following Limbaugh's remarks about then-Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke's congressional testimony about access to birth control.

Now, tweeting as @GoAngelo, he has picked a new target — and the attention is coming much more quickly now.

Here is Lundgren's e-mail to Carusone:

Dear Mr. Carusone:

Thank you for your email. I appreciate the clear and reasonable way that you have expressed yourself. And, of course we respect your opinion and those who have signed the petition.

Please understand and appreciate that Macy's marketing and merchandising offerings are not representative of any political position. Ours is a free society compromised of a wide range of viewpoints. Many of the individuals associated with products sold at Macy's - or at any retailer, for that matter - express personal opinions that are not related to the merchandise we sell or to the philosophies of our company. That is the nature of a free society. In our merchandise assortment, we strive to meet our customers' expectations for unique and interesting products across a broad array of styles, categories and brands. This allows our customers to choose what they prefer.

A longtime focus of Macy's holiday advertising has been to celebrate the season's spirit of generosity and goodwill through our ongoing "Believe" campaign, and that is the sole message of our holiday television commercials. We believe that is a very important mission that is worthy of our collective support.

Thank you for soliciting and understanding our point of view.

Sincerely,

Terry

And, Carusone's response:

Thanks for your reply. Much appreciated.

I'm not sure what you've been told, but this effort has little to do with Macy's advertising campaign.

The petition pre-dates the ad; it was launched on October 24. It picked up considerable steam after attention was drawn to it following Mr. Trump's repeated calls for revolution and Macy's launching the ad campaign right around the same time.

Additionally, the underlying substance isn't really about mere political disagreements; it's about Trump's continued abominable conduct and Macy's customers being disappointed to discover his partnership with the company. I think people are reacting to this so strongly more because of the way they feel about Macy's and less about Trump. Keep in mind, many people's relationship with Macy's begin before they are even consumers: visits with Santa as a child, marveling at the fireworks, enjoying the parade, etc...

The fact is: Macy's doesn't just sell Trump's products. The relationship goes much deeper than that. I have a letter signed by you and addressed to Trump in which you promise to further develop Trump's brand. Trump's brand has become toxic and contemptible, it represents mean spirited bullying and chicanery; it does not seem consistent with the public's perception and experience with Macy's brand.

This is about Macy's' commitment to and partnership with Donald Trump. That's what is at issue here. Not politics, not outrage.

I hope this helps clarify what's at issue.

I'm still going to hold off on sending the update email for a while in order to give you an opportunity to consider some of what I've laid out here. I feel as though you have been misinformed about what's been going on.

I'm happy to discuss this further if that would be helpful. But, I won't delay all day. I want to be constructive in my interactions with Macy's, but I also don't want to disappoint the people that are participating in this effort either. If I do send the email as is, please recognize that I will reiterate the case for why action is appropriate and I will include a copy of your signed letter to Mr. Trump in which you promise to further develop his brand. The number of signers and disappointed customers will continue to grow.

Best,
Angelo

The Arizona Senator responded to a statement from President Obama at his press conference today where he said attacks by Senator McCain and Lindsay Graham of South Carolina on Ambassador Susan Rice were “outrageous.” McCain said the President needed to be held responsible, and reiterated his call for a special committee to investigate the terrorist attack at Benghazi and the Obama Administration's response.

Source: youtube.com

The Israel Defense Forces live tweet their assault on Hamas . This is something new.

Israel basically declared war on Hamas through Twitter earlier today

Source: @IDFSpokesperson

Source: @IDFSpokesperson

And has been documenting its assault in real time

Source: @IDFSpokesperson

Source: @IDFSpokesperson

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A triumph for the moderate arm of the House Republican Caucus.

Image by Win McNamee / Getty Images

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers on Wednesday prevailed in a competitive race against Rep. Tom Price for Republican conference chair, the fourth-highest leadership position in the House.

When the result was announced after ballots had been counted, McMorris Rodgers received a standing ovation from her colleagues, according to a source present during the closed-door election process.

The race was viewed among some House Republicans as a proxy for the balance of power between the party's conservative and moderate contingents in the new Congress, with Price perceived as a champion of the former arm and McMorris Rodgers as a representative of the latter.

As she has waged her campaign, McMorris Rodgers, the early favorite to win the position, touted support from 15 committee chairmen, and she was boosted behind the scenes by Speaker John Boehner.

But the two committee chairmen supporting Price were powerful ones: Rep. Dave Camp, the chairman of the important Ways and Means Committee, and Rep. Paul Ryan, who heads the Budget Committee. Ryan nominated Price during the leadership election, with Camp seconding his motion.

McMorris Rodgers, meanwhile, was nominated by Rep. Tim Scott, of South Carolina.

The conventional wisdom on the Hill had held that McMorris Rodgers, boosted by the support of her party's leadership, would be a frontrunner in the race for conference chair, if not a shoe-in.

But Price launched an unexpectedly vigorous bid for the slot, refusing an offer by Boehner of another, less prestigious position.

In recent days, as Price gained momentum and her bid was thrown into flux, McMorris Rodgers appealed to members of the Republican caucus as a woman, arguing that an all-male leadership would look particularly unbecoming after an election that saw Republicans struggling to appeal to women and minority voters.

In general, lawmakers try to avoid competitive contests for leadership positions in Congress by effectively resolving the election before any ballots are cast. Better to sort out the party's leaders behind closed doors, the thinking goes, and prevent a messy, protracted, public scuffle for power.

On the Senate side of the Capitol on Wednesday, leadership elections were carried out just in that way: With little drama or suspense. Senate Democrats reelected their leadership slate, while Republicans chose Sen. John Cornyn as their new minority whip.

Sen. Jerry Moran, of Kansas, will succeed Cornyn as the head of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee after a weeks-long campaign for the slot. He will be joined by Sen.-elect Ted Cruz and Sen. Rob Portman, who will serve as NRSC vice-chairs; Portman will bring important fundraising clout to the position.

The Paul era is officially over.

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Ron Paul reserved unusually strong language, even for him, for his farewell speech on the House of Representatives floor today. The speech marked the end of Paul's last term in Congress, though his more dramatic farewell came at the end of his presidential campaign.

Paul spoke for nearly 45 minutes, slamming the political establishment, the TSA, the federal government, Internet regulations, police searches, and, of course, the Federal Reserve. The speech seemed at times to be one long complaint about the dearth of libertarian ideas in Congress.

"Our liberties have been eroded, our wealth has been consumed," Paul said.

He blasted "psychopathic authoritarians" who "endorse government-initiated force to change the world."

"Even when the goals are well-intentioned or especially when they're well-intentioned, the results are dismal," Paul said.

"Sadly we have become accustomed to living the with the illegitimate use of force by government," Paul said.

Paul's son, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, tweeted earlier that he was in the room with his father and said, "We're about to hijack the house!"

"If you find this to be a worthwhile message, spread it throughout the land," Paul concluded, to brief applause.

Obama said Judge William Thomas and other nominees “represent my continued commitment to ensure that the judiciary resembles the nation it serves.” Thomas would be the first gay black man on the federal judiciary.

Judge William Thomas

Via: washjeff.edu

The White House announced on Wednesday that President Obama has nominated Judge William Thomas, an out gay man, to serve on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Thomas would be the first out LGBT black man to serve as a lifetime-tenured federal judge.

In a statement, Obama noted the diversity of Thomas and six other nominees, saying, "They ... represent my continued commitment to ensure that the judiciary resembles the nation it serves."

He added, "These individuals have demonstrated the talent, expertise, and fair-mindedness Americans expect and deserve from their judicial system. I am grateful for their willingness to serve and confident that they will apply the law with the utmost impartiality and integrity. Too many of our courtrooms stand empty. I hope the Senate will promptly consider all of my nominees and ensure justice for everyday Americans."

Thomas is the first out LGBT black judge to be nominated by Obama, but, if approved by the Senate, he would be the second out LGBT black judge. The first, Judge Deborah Batts, also was the first out LGBT federal judge. She was nominated by President Clinton and sat on the Southern District of New York bench. She took "senior status," a near retirement, earlier this year.

It is unlikely, due to the time nominations take to proceed in the current Congress, that Thomas, currently a state-court judge in Florida, would see a vote on his nomination in this Congress.

Thomas joins Pamela Ki Mai Chen, an out lesbian nominated this summer to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and Judge Michael McShane, an out judge nominated in September to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, in the line of judicial nominees waiting for Judiciary Committee action on their nomination and the subsequent Senate votes.

Obama has now nominated seven out lawyers for lifetime-tenured federal judgeships, three of whom already have been approved by the Senate. Judges J. Paul Oetken and Alison Nathan both now sit on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, which is in Manhattan. Judge Michael Fitzgerald sits on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

The final out LGBT Obama judicial nominee, Edward DuMont, eventually had his nomination withdrawn after there was no movement on it over the course of two sessions of Congress. He was nominated for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in the 111th and 112th congresses, but the nomination was later withdrawn. Democrats cited Republican opposition, but Republicans noted that Democrats could have moved forward regardless of the Republicans' views.

Denis Dison of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund told BuzzFeed that Thomas was recommended for a judgeship by the Presidential Appointments Project, which the Victory Fund coordinates.

When a shirtless FBI agent called, Cantor answered. “I thought that the best thing at the time was not to politicize it and to put national security first,” the House majority leader says.

Image by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

WASHINGTON, D.C. — House Majority Leader Eric Cantor told reporters Wednesday that he kept silent about his knowledge of Gen. David Petraeus' extramarital affair because he did not want to "politicize" the investigation.

Cantor's office was contacted in late October by the FBI agent who knew Jill Kelley and informed of the ongoing investigation into Petraeus. According to news reports, the agent had become frustrated by the progress of the investigation, although he had been blocked by the FBI from working on the case.

"I had no way of corroborating the story I was told, and I thought that the best thing at the time was not to politicize it and to put national security first," Cantor explained to reporters in a press conference with House Republican leadership.

Consistent with previous reports, Cantor said he had contacted the FBI because he was "confident" that they would address the case appropriately.

“I was born with a glass half full,” the House speaker tells reporters. A rosy outlook in advance of talks at the White House on Friday.

Image by Susan Walsh, File / AP

WASHINGTON, D.C. — House Speaker John Boehner Wednesday said he remains hopeful fiscal cliff negotiations will ultimately bare fruit, despite lingering differences between Democrats and Republicans about how to address the looming austerity crisis.

"I do think that the spirit of cooperation that you've seen over the past week has created an atmosphere where I think—I remain optimistic," Boehner told reporters at a press conference with House Republican leaders. "I was born with a glass half full. If I wasn't, I wouldn't be here."

Boehner and other congressional leaders are set to head down Pennsylvania Ave. to the White House Friday for the formal start of negotiations.

But the two sides will need to span a broad ravine between their respective proposals to address the looming spending cuts and tax-code changes. In particular, the parties have tangled over the best way to balance spending cuts with new revenue.

"There are ways to put revenue on the table without increasing tax rates," Boehner said, echoing statements he has made before. "There's all kinds of information and data out there."

But Boehner declined to provide specific ideas for raising revenue, he said, because it "would not be conducive to coming to an agreement with the White House."

Republican lawmakers in Congress, Boehner among them, have insisted that sufficient revenue could be attained through a mix of reforms to entitlement programs, such as Medicare, and by closing tax loopholes.

Congressional Democrats and the president, meanwhile, have contended that tax cuts on income exceeding $250,000 must be allowed to expire.

In a press conference at the White House earlier Wednesday, Obama said an extension of those tax cuts would not even be up for debate.

"What I am not going to do is extend the tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent, which we cannot afford," he said.

Petraeus, Allen, Ward scandals lead to “review how to better foster a culture of stewardship among our most senior military officers.”

Image by Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

WASHINGTON — In the wake of the most recent scandal to ensnare current and former top military officers, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta ordered the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to begin a review of ethics rules, the Pentagon announced Thursday.

"Over the past several months, the Secretary has spoken with the service secretaries, service chiefs, and combatant commanders about those instances when senior officers have not lived up to the standards expected of them," Pentagon press secretary George Little said in a statement.

"This week, the Secretary directed General Dempsey to work with the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to review how to better foster a culture of stewardship among our most senior military officers," he added.

Retired Gen. David Petraeus' affair while serving in Afghanistan, and the emails sent by current Afghanistan commander Gen. John Allen are only the latest in a series of embarrassments for the military.

Just this week former Gen. William “Kip” Ward was demoted and ordered to repay $82,000 for improper use of government resources while running U.S. Africa Command.

From El Paso to Alderan.

Let El Paso secede from Texas and become part of New Mexico.

Via: petitions.whitehouse.gov

Let Canada secede from the United States.

Via: petitions.whitehouse.gov

Let Alderan secede from the Galatic Republic.

Via: petitions.whitehouse.gov

Have the President attend a Fark.com party.

Via: petitions.whitehouse.gov

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“That view of the American people, of the electorate, and of the election is at odds with the truth of what happened last week.”

Image by Alex Wong / Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC — White House Press Secretary Jay Carney rejected Mitt Romney's comments on a conference call with donors that President Barack Obama only won the election because of "gifts" to minority groups.

"That view of the American people of the electorate and of the election is at odds with the truth of what happened last week," Carney told reporters on Air Force One, according to the pool report, joining the bipartisan chorus repudiating the remark.

“No, I think that’s absolutely wrong,” Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said Wednesday at a meeting of the Republican Governors Association. “Two points on that: One, we have got to stop dividing the American voters. We need to go after 100% of the votes, not 53%. We need to go after every single vote.”

More from Carney:

As we talked about a lot and the president talked about a lot, making it easier for Americans to go to college – that’s good for America. It’s good for all Americans. It’s good for the economy. Making health care available to young people who can stay on their parents’ plans. That’s good for those families it’s good for those young people so they aren’t bankrupted in their 20s by an illness. And it’s good for the economy and it’s good for all of us.

The president pursues policies that have at their core a desire to build the middle class, strengthen the middle class, make the middle class more secure, because that’s what makes America more secure. So it’s just not the view we take about the decision the American people made last week."

A courageous act of civil disobedience.

Source: i.imgur.com

It's a an now-iconic photo of civil disobedience: A German man standing at a rally in 1936 Hamburg refuses to give the Nazi salute.

The photo lay unnoticed for nearly 55 years, resurfacing in 1991, when one of the children of August Landmesser identified the disobedient man as her father when the photo appeared in a German newspaper.

The picture went viral last year, according to The Washington Post, when it resurfaced on a blog that was launched to help with relief efforts of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. The picture has resurfaced again recently on websites like Cracked, Reddit, and this author's Twitter account, where it garnered over 900 retweets.

Landmesser joined the Nazi Party in 1931 in hopes of gaining employment and was a member until 1935, when he was expelled for marrying a Jewish woman named Irma Eckler. Landmesser had two daughters with Eckler and it cost him jail time for Rassenschande (dishonoring the race).

Landmesser is believed to have served prison time from 1938–1941, after which he was discharged to serve in the military. Landmesser, however, quickly went missing and was presumed dead.

His wife, Irma, suffered a similar fate. She was jailed by the Gestapo and died during the war. The children of Irma and Landmesser were separated.

Sometimes Congressional hearings are enlightening exercises in which lawmakers get to the bottom of difficult issues. Thursday’s Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the Benghazi terrorist attack was not one of those hearings.

Michael Courts, Acting Director of International Affairs and Trade at the GAO found himself on the hot seat. Unfortunately for him — and members of the committee — GAO isn’t in much of a position to actually answer any questions about the attack or what went wrong, as his testimony painfully demonstrated.

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The campaign Twitter account for the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, tweeted, then quickly deleted a statement thanking President Obama for his support. “Wouldn't give it any significance,” a spokesman responds.

Via: @erikmal

Update A spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in Washington emails "I know he thanked him publicly more than once in the last 48 hours. Wouldn't give it any significance."

Presses for a compromise “without further delay.” Hopes lawmakers will agree on a framework at the White House tomorrow.

Image by Mary Calvert / Reuters

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In advance of talks at the White House on Friday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she hoped leaders from both parties would use those discussions to agree on targets for spending cuts and new revenue to avert a "fiscal cliff" of mandated tax hikes and spending cuts.

"What we should do when we go in tomorrow – let us stipulate a set of numbers, what the goal is," Pelosi told reporters. "Let's at least have some markers that we agree on, so the target or the goalposts are not moved."

"But I'm not here to say today what that is, because when you go to the table, maybe that framework will be determined tomorrow," she said.

Although Pelosi would not address what specific top marginal tax rate would be acceptable to Democrats, she noted that allowing the tax cut on income exceeding $250,000 to expire would be "where a good deal of leverage is in these negotiations."

President Barack Obama has said that he would prefer allowing the top rate to rise to 39.6 percent, but might accept something slightly lower, between 37 and 38 percent.

But Democrats have insisted that tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans must be allowed to expire as part of a solution that balances spending cuts with new revenue.

Republicans, meanwhile, have said that the government could draw sufficient revenue from closing tax loopholes and reforming entitlement programs, such as Medicare.

Pelosi, when asked whether "structural changes" to Medicare might be on the table, as Republicans have proposed, did not say she would reject such an idea wholesale.

"What do they mean by structural changes?" Pelosi said of Republicans. "And why are we relating revenue to Medicare and Medicaid? Those issues — Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid — they should be in their own realm."