Clinton's Poverty.

Poor Mrs. Clinton. 

When Hillary Clinton opens her mouth , it seems trouble follows . I compare  the case with Sarah Palin who spoke many outrageous words during her run for the Vice- Presidency , and afterword . Seems both women share the same fate. Usually for me I would never cast my vote for Mrs. Clinton , and we are damn lucky that she never became President , so we ended up with the alternative of the two evils  : Barack Obama.While many have viewed former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton‘s recent flubs in TV and radio interviews as a black mark on her chances of becoming the first female president,  Mrs. Clinton has a rather long history of flubs, many of which were during the Presidency of her husband Bill . I recollect when Mr. Clinton put her in charge of the Health Care issue she gave many unconvincing speeches that lead to her healthcare defeat , her mishandling of the whole thing for the latter part of Bill Clinton's presidency she became rather a silent first lady . When it’s something said in passing, it’s hard to tell if the person just misspoke, or if it’s really a case where an eminent public figure genuinely has no idea what they’re talking about. I've seen it in many press conferences when a public figure makes an ass out of his/her self . The recent flub on (2) . Clinton's wealth issue in reality is no big deal , but are we to hearken to the lefts attack on Mitt Romney ? Remember that Romney who is ultra rich was pretty much as being out of touch with reality.  The Clinton's are as FAR as we know  they are no poor fellow's friend,the wealth factor is vary problematic for me. There ARE NOT any  ELECTED officials  whom came to office with out a chuck barrel full of money . The vary rich in America are the ones who can run and hold any office in the United States . Most of them are outta touch with us ,  example all the rich Congress men/ women  we elect . ( Both Parties) is astonishing ! (1) . Bill and Hillary Clinton weren't 'dead broke' for very long at all after leaving the White House, it was revealed Thursday.The Washington power couple has made more than $155 million since 2001, according to financial disclosure statements, making them richest, living first family in America. In an interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer that aired on Monday night, Hillary Clinton said that she and her husband were charging $200,000 on average for speeches because they were seeped in debt when they came out of the White House. HOWEVER Mrs. Clinton could not keep her mouth shut she keep revealing how rich she really is , (3) . Mrs. Clinton tried to walk it back earlier this week during an interview with PBS's Gwen Ifill. "My in artful use of those few words doesn't change who I am, what I've stood for my entire life, what I stand for today," she said. But that same day, her husband may have accidentally worsened the damage while praising $500 "Shinola" wrist watches made in Detroit. "I bought 14 of them..." he told an interviewer. "...in two different runs I bought five at Christmas and nine when I was there, and I just give them away and hope that I'll make you more customers.

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

(1). Mrs. Clinton said in the interview: 'We came out of the White House not only dead broke, but in debt,' Clinton said. 'We had no money when we got there, and we struggled to, you know, piece together the resources for mortgages, for houses, for Chelsea's education.' 'You know, it was not easy.'  (2) .Hillary Clinton has made roughly $5 million in speeches since leaving the State Department last year, and she had made more than $16 million in advances for her two memoirs, In Living History, 2003, and Hard Choices, 2014.She also earned approximately $2 million during her second career, first as United States Senator and later Secretary of State.Bill has also accrued $2.6 million of his White House pension.Together, the couple has a net worth of $100 million or more. (3). I wish I could make the same deal as a writer as Mrs. Clinton did , here is a total sum of her book deal . Not much poverty here:  Hillary Clinton has redistributed $14 million dollars from Simon & Schuster to herself.  That’s how much they paid her in advance for her book deal. The publisher shipped one million copies of the book to retailers in advance of the publication date but have only sold 60,000copies ( 24,000 ebooks).

The Muslim Genocide.

A Muslim mother laments the death of her son,
 killed in Baghdad after a suicide bombing.

I have reached a point after looking at the carnage in the middle-east . (1). Iraq  Syria ,and Pakistan  . I hate what Muslims are doing in their (2) . 'jihads' . They are killing their brothers , fellow Muslims by the thousands , the death toll can't be counted in the last decade, but I am assuming Islam has sunk into the lowest pits of hell. "And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell to abide therein; and the Wrath and the Curse of Allaah are upon him, and a great punishment is prepared for him" (4:93 THE QURAN ) If it continues Islam will be extinct , perhaps lingering in Iran.  The Quran prohibits Muslims from killing Muslims , yes much like the bible . I have been noticing that in the last decade from 2001 ( 9-11 ) onward that there have been  ***more deaths in the Muslim middle east than the so called  Christian west . I guess I am catching something here , there appears to be some crazed fascination,  to get to pick the brains of all those Imans and their beards . Islam is killing Muslims , and it's not the so called " crusaders" from America . It's becoming vary hard to apologize for Islam . I have yet to hear one of the Iranian Ayatollah's condemn the violence even form a Shiite standpoint . Like any hard boiled religious sect,it is OK  as long as they can pray and bow to Mecca is all right . Sure Allah had had enough of the slaughter? I picture that some where their must be some kind of shameful hypocrisy that no fellow Muslim won't admit to his brother that the Christian west had stupefied Islam as a bunch of barbarians , the western media sees the blood flowing , the starving children , the bombs going off in Kenya . The real western view is the Islamic path has gone the way of the Aztec religion which was gathering up human sacrifices to some demonic idol at top a stepped pyramid . The demon is dancing all the way the  crescent of Mesopotamia. 

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

*** A leading al-Qaida ideologue for the terror network, Abu Yahya al-Libi, has developed his own theologically-based theory of collateral damage that allows militants to kill Muslims when it is unavoidable. “Some 11,000,000 Muslims have been violently killed since 1948, of which 35,000, or 0.3 percent, died during the sixty years of fighting Israel, or just 1 out of every 315 Muslim fatalities. In contrast, over 90 percent of the 11 million who perished were killed by fellow Muslims.” (1) . Don’t feel bad if you can’t tell a Sunni Muslim from a Shiite Muslim. It has been a source of confusion for many people outside the world of Islam. If Bret Stephens, a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for The Wall Street Journal is right, we are witnessing “The Muslim Civil War.” (2) . Jihad. Jihad (English pronunciation: /dʒɪˈhɑːd/; Arabic: جهاد‎ ǧihād [dʒiˈhæːd]), an Islamic term, is a religious duty ofMuslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". The word jihad appears in 23 Quranic verses.^[1] Within the context of the classical Islam, particularly the Shiahs beliefs, it refers to struggle against those who do not believe in the Abrahamic God (Allah).^[2] However, the word has even wider implications. Jihad means "to struggle in the way of Allah". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God (al-jihad fi sabil Allah)".^[3][4][5] A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is mujahideen. Jihad is an important religious duty for Muslims. A minority among the Sunni scholars sometimes refer to this duty as the sixth pillar of Islam, though it occupies no such official status.^[6] In Twelver Shi'a Islam, however, Jihad is one of the 10 Practices of the Religion. Ahmadi Muslims consider only defensive jihad to be permissible while rejecting offensive jihad.

The "Jury" is out.

Come on now Jury Duty is fun.

One of these days your going to get something in the mail that is going to drive you crazy , but can't do anything about it . AND ITS THE LAW.  Many of you have served on a Jury summons before , and many of you understand that it is part of your civic duty to serve . Take may advise I am not trying to encourage you do break the law and be a jury dodger . I have to say that There's something deeply disturbing about jury duty. What I am about tell you is that if you every get a notice , there is no escaping it. I was called to serve on a on call jury , my group number was 104 . I was on the call ( phone stand by ) In the past, one legitimate beef was the way jury duty was run: calling in for days at a time over the course of a month, never knowing if you could make plans or if you'd get called in, and spend the  week hoping that my group number would not be called . The real thing that pissed me off about the American Jury system is that it's vary deceptive . When You get your jury summons notice in the mail , and on it CLEARLY says that its a ONE DAY TRIAL if you get picked . Truthfully deceptive , there are NO such things as one day trials, if it is the Superior Court office they are making you feel comfortable before they slam you in a trial that is mostly criminal rather than civil . Getting there right on time and then waiting for three hours. Uncomfortable chairs. Having to fill out forms that ask personal questions. Outdated reading material. Other people being called while you sit… and sit… and sit.  I saw that the Jury system is one big bureaucracy , it resembles the DMV , or the  Department of Veterans Affairs . People of all ages and sexes are hauled into a room like cattle , and pregnant women too ! Plus the hours are inflexible, which might cause problems that your regular *** job doesn't. Or maybe you don't work at all, and jury duty means needing to scrounge up daycare that you don't normally need. Or maybe your job is one where the work will pile up and have to get done when you get back, which means facing a gigantic in-basket once the trial is over. With jury duty, the problem is that you are there and you want to be somewhere else. At least, this seemed to be the case with all of myfellow jury duty selectees this morning, and it certainly was with me. Notwithstanding the annoyingly cheery video that we were shown about the patriotic nature of jury duty, how our presence was assuring that the Republic Would Stand, blah, blah, blah, the mood in the jury assembly room for those three hours was seriously sullen.

Dodging Jury Duty.

I hate to write this but , like I said jury duty for me is a civil liberty issue , since you have to give up your personal freedom to serve as a juror . HOWEVER  I suggest to postpone your jury summons , or work something out with the jury commissioner's office.  The penalties for missing jury duty vary by jurisdiction. In come cases, potential jurors who fail to meet their obligations may be required to appear before a judge to explain themselves and may face fines or even jail time for refusing to serve. Most jurisdictions make provisions for potential jurors for whom serving would be a hardship, but in order to avoid penalties, these potential jurors must communicate their situation to the appropriate court officials.

(Take a hint from this cartoon on the left , that would be the only way out of Jury duty.)

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

*** If you work for a public /state department you have what they call "Jury duty Pay". It's good , but you have to prove to your employer that you where on jury duty . Jury duty in California pays 14 dollars a day , and 039 cent mileage which is based on your zip code. In other words, you get 1-2 hours of pay in return for missing an entire day of work. While many employers do make up the difference between the per diem and your normal pay, they are not required to do so. Naturally, the ones that don't are frequently the ones whose employees can least afford the loss of pay.  I also found the Wikipedia entry on juries to be interesting. Americans should realize that other democratic countries have chosen different means of rendering legal decisions. Germany, for example, doesn't use juries at all. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JuryThis economist's recommendation to hire jurors also is worth pondering. I agree with some of what he says. Why not find the most competent people for this job? And why should jurors be forced into involuntary servitude when they haven't done anything wrong?http://mises.org/freemarket_detail.aspx?control=14

The "Fall" of Iraq , gas prices soar.

Oh well we warned you it was going
to happen . Alas!

History is going to repeat it's self vary soon , the city of Baghdad is going to fall into the hands of the so called rebels mistakenly called ISIL . The United States is going to sit idle on this one with no objectives thanks to the policy of not working with Iran .President Barack Obama said Thursday he was sending up to ***300 military advisers to Iraq to help the embattled government hold off a lightning advance from the north by Sunni militants.  With no troops on the ground , no possible air-strikes , America is slowly going to let the government of  (1). al-Maliki for worsening Iraq's deep sectarian divide by failing to include Sunni and Kurdish interests in his policies , Obama also made clear that he blamed al-Maliki. What's REALLY going on is most of the Iraqi military has been defecting to the side of ISIL. Mr. Obama, speaking at a White House news conference after meeting for several hours with his national security team, has been grappling with a U.S. response to advances by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIL, in Iraq. Amazing that with 5,000  American crack troops al-Baghdadi has shown how the use of military intervention in US foreign policy is a rather ineffective blunt instrument. And let's not even talk about all the blood and treasure sacrificed by our nation. MEANWHILE When things go down in the Middle East, oil prices go up. ,Americans are getting hit in the wallet with more pain at the pump. As Iraqi government forces battle Sunni rebels for control of the country's biggest refinery, gasoline prices have hit their highest for this time of the year since 2008. June is typically when prices ease up. So what gives? Oil and Iraq. Brent crude hit a nine-month high near $115 a barrel on concerns heavy fighting in Iraq could limit oil supply from OPEC's second-biggest producer. Gasoline averaged $3.69 a gallon on Wednesday, the highest for the day in six years. Prices were at $3.68 a gallon Thursday. If that's not enough, two senators have unveiled a bipartisan plan to raise federal gasoline and diesel taxes for the first time in more than two decades, pitching the proposal as a solution to Congress' struggle to pay for highway and transit programs. Traders are bracing for more volatility in markets asfighting in Iraq intensifies, with the recent rise in crude oil prices posing risks to the strong rally in U.S. stocks. Any case the blame of the Mess lies with the United States , and now worse And, according to current and former U.S. officials, the administration of President Barack Obama indirectly facilitated the mayhem. "Top State Department officials long argued that the civil war in Syria was the root cause of ISIS's rise because it gave them a haven in which to operate and recruit," Adam Entous and Julian Barnes of The Wall Street Journal report. All appears lost in Iraq, as a Muslim army descends on Baghdad, decapitating both police and soldiers.  Drudge reports that the roads are strewn with decapitated bodies.  For all our efforts in Iraq, training and equipping their army, helping them organize democratic elections, we come down to a big fat zero in the end.  The extremists are taking over, enforcing barbaric Sharia law, and doing so rather easily, it seems.  The Iraqi military is falling like a house of cards in a strong wind.  Iraq is just another falling brick in the collapse of the Obama presidency.

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

 *** George Washington warned Congress in his farewell speech to not get involved in foreign entanglements for this very reason. We owe Iraq nothing , were not even getting a drop of oil either. (1).Saddam was keeping the Sunni v Shiite cluster in check pretty well. We undid Saddam. Which unleashed the cluster bomb. Some regions need tyrants. Not democracy brought to you by Rumsfeld, Condi Rice, et al. (2) .Iraq produced 1.2 million barrels of oil/day under Saddam. Last month, thanks to American technology from companies like Halliburton, Iraq was producing 3 million BOPD. Without American know how Iraq will be lucky to hold Saddam's 1.2 million BOPD. The successful large scale suppression of domestic oil development and pipelines has been in all the newspapers for 5 decades: ANWR (40 miles east of Prudhoe Bay, America's largest oil field, on same artic plain): 1-3 million BOPD.Need to be allowed to drill a few test wells. Other North Slope out of bounds areas could contribute moreRocky Mountain thrust belt from border to border - Huge area, significant reserves were being developed in the '70's. As ANWR most of it now off limits. Offshore East Coast: Canadian offshore development has come down to almost the border. Need seis & test wells. Offshore West Coast: Tremendous undeveloped potential Shale Oil's 2.5 million BOPD The list is longer, but you get my drift.

California Courtship , and big budget deal.

Brown passed a budget on time ,
with the largest spending
in history.

California succeeded in passing a whooping 108 billion dollar budget , it so huge as far as pending it sound more like a "debt" than a budget . The state Legislature on Sunday night approved a record $108 billion budget that has some new spending aimed at helping California's most vulnerable but also reflects Gov. Jerry Brown's insistence on fiscal prudence. The spending plan — which includes a $108-billion general fund, $7.3 billion larger than last year's — now goes to Brown, who has until the end of the month to sign it. He can still veto items he dislikes. One legislator remarked “The budget regrettably sets the state up for significant future spending obligations, such as the proposal to increase welfare grants by 5 percent,” said Assemblyman Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, in a prepared statement. Worst part of Gov. Brown's budget does not go to any education funding but shift a portion of it for his Funding for the state’s proposed high-speed bullet train also came in for criticism. “The budget takes $250 million from Cap and Trade to fund high-speed rail. It also makes it an ongoing appropriation, taking away the Legislature’s right to appropriate and conduct oversight,” Wilk said. The way that I have read the information the cap of 6% on the districts only takes place if the rainy day fund is in place. There is no need for two rainy day funds and the money sent to the districts is for the kids that are there not the ones that might be there in the future. State funding for schools has been volatile in the past and the rainy day fund should make sure that it is steady. No school district needs to have surpluses that are in the 20% to 30% range if the state can make sure that the state funding is steady. Lets spend the money sent to us each year on the kids that are in the classroom that year. But Wilk said Brown “did not fulfill his promise to use Proposition 30 to fund public education, which California voters approved.”“In addition to the Prop. 30 letdown, the budget rejects a bipartisan request to increase funding for the California State University by $95 million,” Wilk said. Unquestionably  that the big winner in Brown's budget is  the $68 billion high-speed rail project this week by persuading fellow Democrats to dedicate a steady future funding source for it in the state budget. When the construction  bid for the high speed rail begins hopefully Gov. Brown will be out of office .  That's not likely if he is defeated by a Republican , or otherwise we have to deal with massive spending and taxation just to keep this project going. Last week Republican Congressman Jeff Denham from the Central Valley got the House to cut off further federal spending on California’s bullet trains.“Why should the federal government be putting more money in a project that is non-existent today?” Denham asked.Four California Democrats joined Denham in voting to shut down high-speed rail.

Gov. Rick Perry courting California .

Selling Texas in California .

Any effort to turn California around from liberalism is doomed to fail. Texas Gov. Rick Perry is trying to woo dollars into Texas , yes he came over to California to sell Texas as a ideal area for business . I have to write that I have not seen Gov. Jerry Brown going to Utah and trying to woo businesses to "come" to Califroania . But a New York Times Magazine story released Tuesday says Perry’s so enamored with California that he could move there when his term ends.“Perry told me that he loves California, vacations in San Diego annually, visits the state about six times a year and might even move here in January when he’s done with his 14-year stint running Texas,” writer Mark Leibovich says in the article, which was based on comments the governor made while visiting Los Angeles.Perry isn’t seeking re-election in November but hasn’t ruled out a second presidential run after his 2012 White House campaign flamed out in a series of public gaffes. In April, he scored a major political victory when Toyota announced it was moving its U.S. headquarters from California to Texas. Perry persuading top employers around the country to move to Texas a centerpiece of his administration, even leading a series of job-poaching missions in Democratically controlled states. And California has been a prime target, with Perry bashing what he calls the Golden State’s high-tax, over-regulated ways. In ways I don't blame Perry. Our state is over taxed , and the high speed rail is an example of ambitious spending with no rewarding value to it's citizens . Texas Gov. Rick Perry slams California's business climate in a new radio ad airing this week across the state.He says in the ad that building a business in California is "next to impossible." And the solution he has for California businesses is clear: "come check out Texas."Perry says businesses should flee the supposedly not-so-Golden State for the Lone Star State, where there are "low taxes, sensible regulations and [a] fair legal system" (including roadblocks to suing a business when someone is injured or killed). Listen to the ad here.

Obama's greatest challenge .

 Pres. Obama Can't fix the Mess Bush made in
Iraq.

Iraq is going to be Pres. Obama's great challenge .  Islamist armies are literally carving up Iraq , and now Obama weighs on military action --- sorry it's way to late . Two years ago the Obama administration had enough intelligence on the situation in Iraq was deteriorating , like Benghazi Libya the call to arms was long on the waiting call. The third Iraq war has just begun in earnest. And it's created what may be the most devilish foreign policy problem of Barack Obama's presidency, pitting two pillars of his administration's foreign policy against each other: his strategy of using drones to counter violent extremism versus his ironclad commitment to ending Bush's war in Iraq.So which way is Obama leaning? As of now, it looks like he's trying to keep America out of this fight. Emboldened militants, backed by Sunni tribal leaders, pushed toward Baghdad on Friday as increasingly nervous U.S. officials mulled their limited options to help slow the militants' advance.---- *** the President will not send troops , most likely airstrikes . The mess in Iraq certainly is our American problem & our politicians created a vary serious  situation . Let me get this straight, the U.S. arms and trains al Qaeda in Syria and now we are to believe they are an enemy in Iraq? Iran has deployed its Al Qods Brigades chief Gen. Qassem Soleimani to Baghdad to teach Iraq how to fight al Qaeda the proper way! Iran and the U.S. can become allies in this fight in Iraq, how sweet things turn around these days.. Obamas foreign policy seems to be a mess right now; Why do they spend billions building up the Iraqi army, while at the same time funding and arming these jihadists across the border in Syria, who these Iraqi soldiers are battling? Hypocrisy at its height among the western media and leadership. The good thing is that fewer Americans are getting brainwashed with the advent of alternative media and the establishment loosing much control over the media. First, his Friday speech on Iraq set a very high threshold for US military involvement in Iraq. Obama blamed Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shia sectarian government for the rise of Sunni extremist group (1). ISIS. His core argument, repeated throughout the speech, is that the crisis can't be solved without Iraqi political reform. Obama genuinely does not appear to believe that a few American bombs would help that much in this case, even though he left the possibility open.

The Reality : Let's get out of Iraq.  Why are we in Iraq any how , bottom line our nation invaded Iraq , and Afghanistan in the wake of  9-11 , we overthrew "governments" hostile to us , replaced their rulers with "puppets" .The Iraqi invasion is the last geo-political action of the industrial age. It is not a sign of American strength, but the final last-gasp of the American empire. President Obama said Thursday he won't "rule out" any options to stem the growing violence in Iraq that has left an al Qaeda splinter group in control of two major cities and on a march to Baghdad. Sure enough Iraq had become a costly problem to the United States.

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

*** Throwing away victory: Obama refused to treat Iraq like Korea or Germany. He declined to leave any American troops or American bases in Iraq. And so he is throwing away the victory that Bush left to him. Mar 2013 update: "American military forces are long gone, and Iraqi officials say Washington's political influence in Baghdad is now virtually nonexistent. ... Overall, Iraqi officials and analysts say, Washington has pursued a policy of near-total disengagement, with policy decisions largely relegated to the embassy in Baghdad. Some tribal leaders complain that the Americans have not contacted them since U.S. troops left in late 2011. ... "The Americans have no role. Nobody listens to them. They lost their power in this country," said Deputy Prime Minister Saleh Mutlaq, a Sunni, commenting on the disappearance of the Americans as a broker for most of Iraq's disputes. The vacuum has been filled in large part by Iran and by Iraq's Sunni neighbors". (1). ISIS , The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (alternatively translated as Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) (Arabic: الدولة الاسلامية في العراق والشام‎ ad-Dawlat al-Islāmiyya fī’l-‘Irāq wa’sh-Shām), abbreviated as ISIL or ISIS, is an unrecognized state and active Jihadist militant group in Iraq and Syria influenced by the Wahhabi movement.^[27][28] In its unrecognized self-proclaimed status as an independent state, it claims the territory ofIraq and Syria, with implied future claims intended over more of the Levant—for example, Lebanon.

Tea Party , Eric Cantor.

Is this a domino effect? Cantor out ,
who is next?

It was bound to happen , the ole' Tea Party was going sneak up on the vary Republican's who once shared their values . The Tea Party won a stunning and unexpected victory over the Republican establishment on Tuesday when a little-knownconservative economics professor unseated the party's second most senior leader in Congress.In one of the greatest upsets in recent US political history, Eric Cantor, the deputy Republican leader in Congress, was defeated by a little-known conservative academic. *** Cantor, who has represented the Richmond suburbs since 2001, lost by 11 percentage points to Dave Brat, an economist at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va. It was an operatic fall from power, swift and deep and utterly surprising. As late as Tuesday morning, Cantor had felt so confident of victory that he spent the morning at a Starbucks on Capitol Hill, holding a fundraising meeting with lobbyists while his constituents went to the polls.Something that everybody is missing in all the talk of immigration reform and other important national issues.  One of the big reasons for the vote against Mr. Cantor is that a lot of his constituents were tired of not having a local representative for the past six years, at least.  Eric Cantor was a prime example of a politician who felt he could rise to national prominence because his re-election was assured.  He didn't have to meet with the local voters, or put up with their pedestrian concerns.This anger at the 'absentee congressman' has been rising.  One of David Brat's campaign promises (that nobody has bothered to report) is that he will have regularly scheduled times when his constituents can meet with him, not just be fobbed off on some functionary. You all have to remember it was no Democrat that defeated Cantor , but one of his own who elected Cantor a few years back .Brat, who admits that he has supported several Cantor candidacies over the years, says he mounted his improbable primary campaign because the House GOP’s No. 2 leader has lost touch with his constituents, “veering from the Republican creed.”“Years ago he had a good conservative track record, but now he’s veered off,” Brat told ABC News during an interview on Capitol Hill in May. “If you go to Heritage and look at their score, I think he’s at about a 53 right now. I mean, that’s an F-minus.” And the landscape has radically shifted, both for the Republican Party, and for the 2014 election. Here are the biggest ramifications of Cantor’s defeat. Boehner Is Likely Done. The writing has been on the wall for Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) ever since a failed House insurgency in the aftermath of a coup attempt against his speakership in January 2013. Boehner had been under fire ever since his sequestration deal with President Obama in 2011; his “fiscal cliff” deal with President Obama at the end of 2012 only drove further pressure. Boehner’s repeated attempts to covertly push amnesty legislation have lost him his base. And the departure of many of his top allies in Congress leaves him vulnerable this year. Cantor’s ties to Boehner may signal that a successful insurgency is on the way. Aides are telling the National Journal, “We’re absolutely stunned. Honestly, we really can’t believe it.”

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

*** With 99% of precincts reporting, the Tea Party just proved– It’s not dead! Tea Party backed David Brat leads House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R) 56% to 44%. The race has been called for Brat.