The LuLac Edition #4,224, February 14th, 2020

SENATE VOTES TO LIMIT WAR WITH IRAN

Looks like President Trump is now on notice that his dalliance with war in Iran will not stand with the Senate. On Thursday, eight Republicans joined all Democrats and Independents in voting to advance a resolution from Sen. Tim Kaine that would end “hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran or any part of its government or military” unless explicitly authorized. It required only a simple majority to clear the chamber.
“While the President does and must always have the ability to defend the United States from imminent attack, the executive power to initiate war stops there. An offensive war requires a congressional debate and vote. This should not be a controversial proposition,” Kaine, a top proponent of reasserting Congress’ role in the war-making process, said in a floor speech ahead of the vote.
While Trump is almost certain to veto the measure, Kaine argued that it could still send a message to the president and potentially influence future decisions on such actions that might bring the country to the brink of war.
Trump’s decision to order a drone strike against top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani at Iraq’s Baghdad airport last month ratcheted up tensions in the region and threatened to pull the U.S. into another bloody war in the Middle East. Iran initially responded with missile strikes on military bases that house U.S. troops in Iraq, but has since held off on further retaliation, at least for now. But questions have arisen about the administration’s initial rationale for the attack, which warned of a vague “imminent” attack on U.S. troops in the region. (AOL News, LuLac)

PELOSI CALLS OUT BARR FOR THE LAP DOG ASS KISSER HE IS WITH OLD DIAPER DON

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, rebuked Attorney General William Barr on Thursday for his role in reducing the proposed sentence of Trump associate Roger Stone earlier this week.
“A.G. Barr has deeply damaged the rule of law by withdrawing the DOJ’s sentencing recommendation, the act of interference in Trump’s retribution against [the] lead attorney in the Stone case,” Pelosi told reporters at her weekly press conference.
Pelosi called Barr a “sad disappointment to our country” and said that he has “stooped to such levels.” She was referring to the Justice Department's decision to overrule career prosecutors and propose a reduction in the sentence for Stone. The reversal, announced Tuesday, prompted all four prosecutors to withdraw from the criminal case.
“The American people deserve better,” Pelosi said. “This is not what America is about. It is so wrong.”
She also blasted President Donald Trump on Thursday for demonstrating “once again, that he has no respect for the rule of law” by “engaging in political interference” in the sentencing of Stone.

BIPARTISAN GROUP OF SENATORS INTRODUCE BILL TO NAME U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION HEADQUARTERS AFTER ITS FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN SECRETARY

Senator Bob Casey (Photo: LuLac archives)

Earlier this week, U.S. Senator Bob Casey and a bipartisan group of Senators introduced the William T. Coleman Jr. Department of Transportation Headquarters Act. This legislation would name the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) headquarters after William T. Coleman, Jr., the fourth United States Secretary of Transportation and first African American to serve in the position.
“As we prepare to celebrate the start of Black History Month, I am proud to cosponsor this bill to rename the U.S. Department of Transportation headquarters after the late William Thaddeus Coleman Jr., a Philadelphia native who was the first African-American to serve as Secretary of Transportation,” said Senator Casey. “From arguing 19 cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and coauthoring the legal brief in Brown v. Board of Education, to his time at the helm of the Department of Transportation, Secretary Coleman exemplified the virtues of public service and I look forward to honoring his legacy.”
William T. Coleman, Jr. was the first African American to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court clerk. He was recruited to serve on the NAACP by Thurgood Marshall and helped argue McLaughlin v. Florida in 1964 to strike down laws preventing interracial marriage. Coleman was appointed Secretary of Transportation by President Gerald Ford in 1975 and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton in 1995. Secretary Coleman died in 2017.
Senator Casey was joined in introducing this legislation by the Chairman and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), as well as Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), Tom Carper (D-DE), Tim Scott (R-SC), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Pat Toomey (R-PA).

TODD EACHUS COMING BACK

Your blog editor with Todd Eachus at signing party.

Ten years after he was defeated by State Rep. Tarah Toohil, former House Majority Leader Todd Eachus is getting back in the game.
Eachus, 58 of Drums, announced Tuesday that he is seeking the Democratic nomination in the 116th Legislative District and, if successful, he will again square off against Toohil, R-Butler Township.
“I’ve been gone a long time,” Eachus said. “So the first thing I’m going to do is start knocking on doors.”Eachus owns Pure Plant Health, a company that distributes USDA-certified hemp.
Eachus has been making the rounds of all Democratic gatherings recently getting his petitions signed and having his presence felt. The race in Hazleton this fall will be one to watch. (Times Leader, LuLac)

MEDIA MATTERS

WALN TV

BOLD GOLD COMMUNITY FORUM

Tune in Sunday morning at 6 on 94.3 The Talker; 6:30 on 1400-The Game, NEPA's Fox .Sports Radio and 106.7 fm; and at 7:30 on 105 The River.

ECTV PREVIEW

Final planning is underway right now for several of our area's popular Saint Patrick's Parades. The first of those marches takes place in Pittston City and Mayor Michael Lombardo joins PREVIEW host David DeCosmo the week of February 17th to outline plans for the event!
PREVIEW is seen 3 times daily on Comcast channel 19 and on the electric city television YouTube page.

BUDDY RUMCHEK

Want to hear some great parodies on the news? Tune in to WILK Radio at 6:20 and 8:20 AM on Mondays. As Ralph Cramden used to say, “It’s a laugh riot!”

BOBBY V’S DOO WOP SOCK HOP

SUNDAY NIGHTS!

1980

Our 1980 logo.

A total solar eclipse is seen in North Africa and West Asia. It was the 50th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 130.
AC/DC frontman Bon Scott dies after a night of heavy drinking in London…..

The United States Olympic Hockey Team defeats the Soviet Union in the semifinals of the Winter Olympics, in the Miracle on Ice and forty years ago this week the number one song in LuLac land and America was “ Crazy Little Thing Called Love” by Queen.