Daily Archives: January 26, 2020

Trump was impeached in December for pressuring the Ukrainian government to investigate his political rivals and withholding aid to the country.

Monday will mark the second day for Trumps lawyers to make their opening arguments. They are not expected to use the full 24 hours theyve been given. After those arguments, senators will proceed to a 16-hour question-and-answer period before taking a contentious vote this week on whether to bring in additional witnesses.

Democrats will need at least four Senate Republicans to join them in order to achieve their demands. While GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska are among the senators who could be open to calling witnesses, Democrats appear less optimistic that they will get the votes they need.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) declined on Sunday on CBS Face the Nation to forecast whether four Republicans would call for more witnesses, but made clear where he stood.

Im not going to vote to approve witnesses, because the House Democrats have had lots of witnesses, we heard from them over and over and over again this week, Cotton said. We dont need to prolong whats already taken five months of the American peoples time.

One of the House impeachment managers, Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), also declined on Sunday to predict whether the Senate would have enough votes to bring in additional witnesses.

Im just not going to give up on the Senate and Im not going to draw any conclusions, although I know theres a lot of speculation about what they may do or may not do, Demings said on ABCs This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Im not going to draw any other conclusions.

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Senate Republicans push back on calls for more impeachment witnesses - POLITICO

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- The Senate trial of President Donald Trump is proving less Soviet than expected. Representative Adam Schiff of California, the House impeachment manager, last week presented a coherent, damning and often eloquent narrative of Trumps guilt, backed by text messages, emails, letters and sworn witness testimony previously delivered to the House.

As my colleague Jonathan Bernstein points out, the weight of such facts can alter political gravity. Even Republicans who have made up their minds to acquit which almost certainly describes the entire GOP caucus have had to sit through the avalanche of evidence. Surely it weighs on at least a few consciences. Meanwhile, writes New York magazines Jonathan Chait, ignoring the facts carries risks of its own: The impeachment trial is an exercise in displaying the Republican Partys institutional culpability in Trumps contempt for the rule of law. At some point, they will have to decide to damn the president or to damn themselves.

Its a foregone conclusion: Republican senators will damn themselves to infinity and beyond. The question isnt what Republican senators will decide next week, but where the Republican Party will go after Trumps acquittal. That answer, too, is alarmingly clear: further downward. From 1994 to 2015, give or take, the party was tumbling down a slippery slope. Since 2016, Republicans have been falling at 32 feet per second squared.

Acquitting Trump is not the same as shrugging at the presidents venality and vindictiveness, or mumbling and walking away when a reporter asks whether you believe its OK to solicit foreign sabotage of a U.S. election. Acquitting Trump is a bold, affirmative act.

The acquittal will mark the senators as political made men. It will be their induction into Trumps gangster ethos, using constitutional powers to enable corruption. For those who have hovered on the periphery of Trumps political gangland, there is no route back to innocence.

Many long ago crossed that Rubicon, proclaiming their fealty to the the chosen one. But acquittal will transform even the most reticent Republicans into conspirators against democracy and rule of law.

It will not be long before they are called upon to defend the indefensible again. And they will do it, acquiescing to the next figurative or literal crime just as they did to Trumps videotaped boast of sexual assaults, his horrifying sellouts to Russian President Vladimir Putin, his personal use of charitable contributions intended for veterans, his brutality toward children, or hisquotidian blitzes against decency and democracy.

Schiffs repeated use of the word cheat to describe Trumps posture toward U.S. elections was less an accounting of past performance than a guarantee of future results. No one is really making the argument, Donald Trump would never do such a thing, because of course we know that he would, and of course we know that he did, Schiff told the Senate last week. Hell do it now. Hes done it before. Hell do it for the next several months. Hell do it in the election if hes allowed to.

Whether the game is golf or politics or business, Trump cheats. On trial for seeking foreign interference in the 2020 election, after having been the beneficiary of foreign interference in the 2016 election, Trump will find many willing accomplices before November. His presidency is a strategic boon to multiple U.S. adversaries, most prominently Putin. Another modest investment in Trumps presidency could yield an even larger return destroying, for a generation or more, American democracy not only as a vehicle of ethical government but also as a protector (aspirationallyif not always actually) of human dignity.

This is not cynicism. Its the reality of U.S. politics in 2020. Acquitting Trump will destroy whats left of the Republican Partys claims to ethical legitimacy and pave the way for the further erosion of democracy. The only question that remains is how much more corruption the non-MAGA majority of Americans is willing to take.

To contact the author of this story: Francis Wilkinson at fwilkinson1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Newman at mnewman43@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Francis Wilkinson writes editorials on politics and U.S. domestic policy for Bloomberg Opinion. He was executive editor of the Week. He was previously a writer for Rolling Stone, a communications consultant and a political media strategist.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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After Trumps Acquittal, It Will Only Get Worse for Republicans - Yahoo News

Todd Kent, 59, of Bryan, brings a deep insight into the transition of the Republican Party from the influence of Ronald Reagan to one fiercely loyal to President Trump. Son of Texas A&M tennis coach and former Brazos County Republican Party chairman David Kent, he has also distinguished himself in higher education. In 2006, he and his family moved to Qatar to support the new Texas A&M campus in the region. There he served as assistant dean for academic affairs and a member of the political science faculty for nine years. More recently he served as top administrator at the University of Utahs Asia campus in Korea. He also has extensive experience as a political consultant. Given Kents recent years in international hot spots, the Trib editorial board spent time focusing on foreign policy. Our broader conversation revealed a pleasant Republican congressional candidate insightful about challenges facing our nation, less so in offering solutions. We did like his immigration assessment from a recent forum in College Station: We need to reform our legal immigration system. The No. 1 criteria ought to be that somebody coming in wants to be an American. Assimilation should be the No. 1 criteria.

QWhy is Todd Kent running for Congress?

AThe big reason Im running is I care about the future were going to leave for our children and grandchildren. I think weve made a lot of progress in the last few years on certain issues, but theres a lot of work to be done. Im a Republican and in 2018 we lost 41 seats [in Congress]. I want to be part of reclaiming the House and helping the Republicans. We need to broaden our base. We need to attract new people. If you look at congressional generic ballot surveys, the only demographic where Republicans beat Democrats is 65-plus. The second reason is we have some big issues, big challenges coming up in the future the national debt, health care, Social Security. We have an aging population. I want to be about helping to solve those problems.

QDonald Trump has been a transformative figure not only for the Republican Party but for the nation. How has he made the Republican Party better if indeed he has?

AThe support youre seeing for Donald Trump right now is tied to the fact that he says and does some things that Republicans have wanted for a long time. He stood up to China for one. Weve talked about it for a long time: We need to stand up to China. And he actually has done that. I think hes taken a slightly different approach to North Korea. The pendulum swings back and forth on North Korea and usually presidents give in, but hes been tougher. I think hes approached the courts in a way that most Republicans like. That is, to appoint conservative judges, meaning they like the Constitution as written. Probably his greatest legacy will be the courts.

QYouve mentioned a couple of things on the diplomatic front. Explain the logic of pulling out of an international pact that everyone, right and left, agrees froze Irans nuclear program at a time when we already had our hands full with North Korea. Now we face two countries pursuing nuclear ambitions. I mean, by the Trump administrations very own acknowledgement, Irans nuclear ambitions had been detained or shelved under the 2015 pact.

APresident Trump said yesterday or the day before that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.

QSo why tear up the pact? The 2015 pact that Iran was abiding by?

AI think the president believed that, one, it was a bad deal for us and that Iran was continuing to wreak havoc across the world. I think they believe that they continue their efforts in the nuclear realm.

QBut according to the Trump administration, they were not.

AWell, I dont know how to answer that, but I think if you listen to what the president says, he says that, as he encouraged other countries to pull out also, this was a bad deal for the U.S. It hamstrung us. I dont believe that the president believes that Iran would not seek a nuclear weapon. I lived in Korea for four years. Theres similarities and differences between Kim Jong-un and the leaders of Iran, but then again, what they say and what they do are two different things.

QWell, our allies disagree [about Iran over the now broken 2015 nuclear freeze pact], the ones we negotiated with. Now the United States is being touted as breaking its word on an international agreement that we signed.

AWell, I think Trump would say that this was largely just an executive order agreement, that the terms came through Obama. The Senate didnt approve of that. We had a Republican Senate at the time. I think Trump felt like this was his opportunity to right a wrong. I dont have a problem with it. Having lived in the Middle East, I watched the relationships between countries in the Middle East. Since 1979 the Iranians have been at some type of conflict with the United States and a lot of the world. I dont think they can be trusted. I think we need to be in a situation where, like Reagan said, We can trust but verify, and we havent had that opportunity.

QYou spent part of your tenure at a Texas A&M campus in Qatar. Have you gained any insights about the Middle East that would help those of us bewildered by all that is going on, including the struggle between Shia and Sunni sects?

AThats a very good question. I lived there nine years. I interacted with Qataris on the highest level and we had students from all over. They have very long memories. They dont forget anything. Thats why conflicts have been going on for 1,500 or more years. Very tribal. In fact, when I was there and talking to some of the State Department officials, they said, You know, the Qataris want to have local elections but they dont know how to have them where they wont just vote for their tribe. I said, Well, were good at gerrymandering in the U.S. We could work that out for you!

QAnd were getting more tribal [in the United States] all the time.

ASo you see this sense of history there. Some of the [boundary] lines drawn by the British, we see that in Syria and Iraq they dont meet the cultural history, so theres problems. I think with Sunnis and Shias Ill tell you, I worked for George W. Bush, but that was a mistake we made. [This is a reference to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.] We went in there. We got rid of [Sunni strongman] Saddam Hussein. I dont think anybody realized that 60% of the people [in Iraq] were Shia, so immediately the country leaned towards Iran and were still paying the price for that. I think we as Americans would do better if we understood that this region is not a monolith like other countries. I mean, its very different. Most countries you go into, theres so many tribes, theres an extensive history. Even Iraq, youve got the Sunni, the Shia and the Kurdish people and they all have different ways of looking at things.

QHave we effectively screwed the Kurds again?

AI hope not. Theyve been a very good partner for us and theyve been loyal to us. I hope that the end gain will be no. I think to go to the Kurdish area right now in Iraq, theres good things happening. Theres economic development and that kind of stuff. But its always tricky there because its contingent on other factors, so I worry about them. I worry about Turkey messing with the Kurds not only in their own country but spilling over into [Kurdish areas in] Iraq.

QShould Turkey be in NATO anymore?

ANATO, this mutual defense pact that NATO talks about that will come to the rescue of everything, it seems to me theres some possible contradictions with Turkey in the mix. They have different goals. Weve seen that in Iraq. Weve seen that in Syria. Probably things wouldve been different in Iraq if Turkey wouldve let us use their bases, but they didnt. My wife works with Syrian refugees in Lebanon and a lot of them fled because Turkey and the proxies from those countries made it very difficult for them to live there.

QYou also spent time in South Korea. I believe on the phone you mentioned to me that you were just 30 miles from the North Korean border.

You mentioned that people are pretty unworried in that area about the North. Give me insights as to why they seem confident things will work out.

AI think its because in their history its always been that way. Thats what the students would tell me. Even the adults would say, Its always been this way. It ebbs and flows so we dont see anything different. As a leader of a university over there, what I would do is watch the U.S. army base. If they went on alert, then we would get nervous. But even though the rhetoric was loud, you didnt see a real change. You know whats interesting, its the same thing in the Middle East.

QYouve also taught political science. You mentioned a problem that Republicans dont seem to be growing beyond older, white people. Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen last year rather infamously noted that President Trump was losing Republican support in the Texas suburbs because of his impulsive ways and things he says at rallies and in tweets. Given there is this fidelity to the president in party ranks, what is the Republican Party to do? Thats not a long-term prescription for [a viable political party].

ANo, its not, especially losing females. I think sometimes the presidents strong rhetoric turns off female voters. But I think its even bigger than that. I think were the party of individual liberty, limited government, growth, business. I think that we have got to do a better job of expanding those ideas into the next generation.

QNo one questions that, but Republicans are so busy playing to their [far-right] base that they cant appeal to the suburbs. I mean, what issues do Republicans need to take a second look at?

AIn College Station, I talk to students all the time and I ask them what are the big issues? They say, Debt. I say, The national debt? And they say, Well, student debt. But I think in a lot of ways students care about the same things that we do I mean, older people. I think in this state demographics are showing more and more Hispanic voters. Youve seen the valley and then you have the suburbs and the rural areas and then cities. Theres three distinct voting blocs now in the Statehouse. I want to be part of the effort to reach out and do a better job, that we replace these 65-plus voters with some younger people.

QLet me put it this way. I grew up in the Republican Party. I was in the Republican Party longer than anybody in this room and I dont recognize this party anymore. What issues does the Republican Party need to take a look at? I ask because I know your father was a well-known Republican Party chairman.

AThe problem with Central Texas is we tend to be a little bit in a bubble. Were a fairly homogeneous population. Everything is fine here. Everybody is a Republican. Thats kind of the idea, especially Brazos County. Lets take Hispanic voters. They tend to be hard-working, pro-family. I would say a majority are pro-life. A lot of them are Catholic and tend to be pro-life. Well, these are typical Republican issues. We just havent done a good job of going and meeting them where theyre at. And I think one reason is we talk about border security and sometimes they see that as an affront to them.

QWell, look at President Trumps remark about a [Hispanic] federal judge he labeled as Mexican and thus unable to judge Trump fairly on an issue of importance to Trump.

AWe have to look at our language. We have to look at our efforts. And you know, weve been talking about this in the Republican Party for years, but the problem with politics is you tend to go from cycle to cycle. By the time we finish this cycle, well start another one. Whos going to do the outreach effort? You know what I mean? But I think, as a Republican in this country today, we have to get better or were going to lose out.

QDo you equate getting better with changing?

AThe Republican Party, in my lifetime, we used to be all Democrats. And now weve been Republicans for the last, what, 30 years. The issues were fiscal conservatism and conservative social issues. Pro-life, pro-family type issues, and that was important. And I think what youre seeing is some splintering.

QLike a trillion-dollar deficit?

ATrillion-dollar deficit? Yeah, where theres equal blame to go around .

QBut the Republican Party is supposed to be better about fiscal issues. Republicans ran the White House, House of Representatives, Senate, and the primary accomplishment during that two-year period was the 2017 Tax Cut & Jobs Act. It cut the revenue growth we anticipated and we increased spending. Make sense of this.

AIf you look at the 2018 budget, we took in $3.5 trillion. We ought to be able to run a country on $3.5 trillion dollars. Thats my opinion. We spent $4.1 trillion. Now, part of that is just wasteful spending. But a big component is in health care. Medicare and Medicaid together are about 28 percent. These increases are built in, meaning they are entitlements. If youre over 65, youre eligible for Medicare. And so more 65-year-olds, more money is going to go out. The problem is, we havent said, OK, these are entitlements, but we need to get our administrative costs under wraps. You talk to health-care experts, they say at least 50% of our administrative costs are excess. Theres too much money going out. The New York Times reported the average angioplasty in the United States is $32,000. Across the world its $6,400. Were not able to keep our costs under control. Defense budget is 50 percent of our discretionary spending. Now, I support the defense, but theres wasteful money. We need to have a handle on it. We lose $100 billion, dont know where it went! As a government, we really need to get our hands around these things. We have to make some hard decisions. Weve made promises to people and we have to figure out how to honor that, yet make things work. And I think in this last Congress, nothing got done. There may have been an impeachment, but hardly any policy work is getting done. Nobody wants to talk about these things. Theres not a Democrat or a Republican who wants to talk about reducing entitlements.

Interview conducted by Trib editor Steve Boggs and opinion editor Bill Whitaker. It has been condensed for space and edited for clarity.

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Managing an unruly world far and near: Q&A with Republican congressional candidate Todd Kent - Waco Tribune-Herald

Letters

With the opening of the Senate impeachment trial, the Republican Party has one last chance to redeem itself. Odds are slim this will happen.

Never has a Party been so thoroughly brow-beaten and cowed by a president. Its members are individually and collectively terrified of crossing a vindictive, vicious leader who has shown no hesitance to turn on anyone who opposes him. The trip from hero to hindquarter is a short one in this administration. So the party of small government finds itself bending over backward to grease the skids for the ascent of a president with dictatorial aspirations. How ironic.

In their blind lust to save their partys political dominance or their individual scurvy political careers, they have betrayed literally everything they claim to hold dear: the Constitution, the rule of law, limited government, family values, fiscal conservatism, respect for the institutions of government: all negotiable, all abandoned in defense of a president who has no commitment to any of those things.

The formerly Grand Old Party rolls over like beaten dog. Republican voters should take note: The heel-clicking and mouth-shutting being demonstrated by your senators and representatives today, will be demanded of you tomorrow. He who locks up other peoples children today will lock yours up tomorrow. He who would bomb other peoples religious monuments today, will attack yours tomorrow.

I sincerely hope 53 Republican senators are miraculously cured of their electile dysfunction and finally stand up for America. But Im not betting on it.

Ken Dammand

Tulalip

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Senate Republicans have final chance to stand for country - The Daily Herald

Democrats, including House impeachment managers, immediately seized on the report, arguing it underscores the need for Bolton and other administration officials to testify.

"Amb. Bolton reportedly heard directly from Trump that aid for Ukraine was tied to political investigations. The refusal of the Senate to call for him, other relevant witnesses, and documents is now even more indefensible," Pelosi tweeted.

"There is no defensible reason to wait until his book is published, when the information he has to offer is critical to the most important decision Senators must now make whether to convict the President of impeachable offenses," they continued.

The Times report comes asa curveball in the middle of Trump's impeachment trial, which could wrap as soon as this week.

Trump's legal team began presenting its defense on Saturday, includingarguing that the president's decision to hold up Ukraine aid was tied to concerns about corruption or a beliefthat Europe wasn't doing enough to support Ukraine.

The push for Bolton's testimony comes as the Senate could vote as soon as midweek on whether to allow new witnesses or documents. In addition to Bolton, Democrats want to hear from acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Mulvaney's adviser Robert Blair and Michael Duffey, an Office of Management and Budget staffer.

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Democrats step up pressure over witnesses after Bolton bombshell | TheHill - The Hill

Nathan Sproul, opinion contributor Published 6:00 a.m. MT Jan. 26, 2020 | Updated 3:09 p.m. MT Jan. 26, 2020

Opinion: Arizona is becoming increasingly Democratic because it successfully wooed companies - and their workers - from more liberal states.

Downtown Gilbert isn't the sleepy place it used to be. Most cities have transformed as more people have moved to Arizona.(Photo: Michael Schennum/The Republic)

During the 2000 election, when I was the executive director of the Arizona Republican Party, the Bush presidential campaign launched a massive effort to woo the Hispanic vote throughout the Southwest.

They were convinced that the Southwest could be a problem for Bush unless he got Hispanic voters. He garnered 35% of the national Hispanic vote in 2000 and in 2004,garnered 44%. Their approach worked.

Arizona has been a reliablyRepublican state for decades. The Legislature movedfrom Democratic to Republican controlin 1966 and has flipped back only a handful of times since. A handful of Democrats have won statewide office over the past 50 years, but theyve been the exception, not the rule.

Most pundits have assumed that if Arizona were to revert to its Democratic roots of the '40s and '50s, it would be from the growing Hispanic vote tipping the scale. Within this paradigm of thought, its clear to see why Bush and many other Republican campaigns have focused their efforts on promoting policies that were viewed favorably by Hispanic voters.

Fast forward to 2018. Many political pundits were surprised to see how well Democrat candidates faired up and down the ballot in Arizona. Democrats won a U.S. Senate seat andstatewide offices like secretary of state. Theymaintained a 5-4 congressional majority and nearly won the majority of seats in both chambers of the Legislature.

In reality, this shouldnt have been a surprise. The signs have been coming into focus a few years now.

Even though 2018 was the midterm election, which historically goes against the party in the White House, I dont think the Republican president was the only reason for the 2018 Democratic victories.

It wasnt just a political correction or swing.I think its the likely trend.

In fact, we have been seeing for a couple of years now the underlying currents of Arizona going purple, and our swing-state statuswas finally realized in 2018.

The most important early warning sign for Republicans was likely the vote for the Legislature in 2016.

Take Senate District 18, for example. In 2012, Republican John McComish won by almost 6,000 votes. This is a district that, with the exception of Harry Mitchell (Tempe's iconic mayor), elected Republicans and not by a small amount.

After voting for McComish by historically normal numbers, it then flipped in 2016 and elected a Democrat by a little more than3,000 votes. By 2018, the same Democrat, Sean Bowie, gained much more momentum and won by almost 14,000 votes.

Voting precincts throughout Maricopa County that were reliablyRepublican precincts began to buckle in 2016 and then completely collapse in 2018. Its undeniable that precincts throughout Ahwatukee, Chandler, Peoria, north Phoenix and Scottsdale started seeing a Democrat edge to them that never existed before.

The important aspect of this data is that the increase in votes for Democrats didnt just happen in historically Hispanic areas. It happened in white, Republican suburbs.

That is significant.

Ten years ago, I lived in Gilbert. To say that it was a sleepy suburb of suburbs is an understatement. Three weeks ago, I went back for a Sunday lunch with my family. Downtown Gilbert is booming. It is no longer a town of families with lots of kids. It has become a town of 30-something young adults.

Gilbert isnt the exception to the new migratory patterns for Arizona. Im pretty sure this is the new normal. From Peoria to Surprise to Scottsdale to Chandler to Casa Grande to Marana and even Prescott, white urban professionals are moving here from places like California by the tens of thousands.

Why are they moving here? Arizona has successfully matured and diversified its economy.

In Gov. DougDuceys newest video, The Arizona Way, as accompanied online with his State of the State address last week, he showcased the business-friendly environment that cuts red tape, slashes regulation and invites innovation.

The result? A state of millions of citizens with a daily influx of 300 people. Thank you, Governor Ducey. Youredoing yourjob. But it cant help but change our states demographics.

When I was a kid growing up in the '70s and well into the 2000s, Arizona relied on tourism, retirement and construction. Since then, weve courted and successfully brought major corporations to Arizona. With them comes their employees.

News flash they arent all Republicans.

Over the past decade, weve seen states like Colorado and Virginia go from being reliablyRepublican to purple to Democrat. Why? They diversified their economies and their historic Republican identity changed. This is the same trajectory Arizona faces.

Ironically, everyone assumes that because we are a southwestern state, our shift from Republican to Democrat would be because of Hispanic voters.

While I do believe that the growth among Hispanic voters is part of the shift to purple status, the increase of the Democratic vote in historically Republican areas is because of the influx of white voters from other, more liberal states. This has been the factor that has tipped the scales more than any other and will increasingly continue to favor Democratic candidates.

What can Republicans do to turn the tide? Focus on lifestyle issues that incoming voters care about and away from divisive issues that brand Arizona as fringe.

The bottom line is simply this: Arizona is changing and its changing quickly. Republicans will either recognize this objective fact and adapt, or they will be the minority party soon.

Nathan Sproul is managing director of Lincoln Strategy Group and former executive directorof the Arizona Republican Party. Twitter:@NathanSproul.

Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2020/01/26/arizona-purple-state-because-republicans-grew-economy/4539410002/

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Republicans grew our economy - and in the process, turned Arizona purple - AZCentral

Reaction from the basketball world and beyond on the death of retired NBA superstar Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash on Sunday at age 41:

Kobe was not only an icon in the sports arena, he was a man of the world and touched so many lives and communities in the most positive ways. His star was continuing to rise every day and he knew no limits because of his many intellectual and creative talents and desire to give back to others his passion for the game, for his family and for others was apparent in everything he accomplished. NBA Hall of Famer Larry Bird

Jeannine & I are absolutely shocked to hear of the loss of one of my favorite people & one of the best basketball minds in the history of the game! Our hearts and prayers to Vanessa & his girls. @kobebryant you were my biggest fan, but I was yours. #RIPMAMBA NBA Hall of Famer Bill Russell via Twitter

Just devastated to hear about #KobeBryant. An extraordinary athlete, and a genuinely kind, wonderful man. Sending love, prayers & compassion to his family. To his entire @NBA family as well. actress Reese Witherspoon via Twitter

As I tweet through my tears, I am so hurt. I cannot stop crying. Kobe was instrumental to so many people. There is a hole in the basketball world and there will be for a long time. Rest in heavenly peace. the Rev. Jesse Jackson via Twitter

Today we at @WaltDisneyCo mourn the tragic loss of @kobebryanta giant in sports and a person so full of life. Terrible news and so hard to process. Robert Iger, chairman and CEO of Disney, via Twitter

A true gladiator in our life time. You will be forever in our memories, our childrens memories, and generations to come. rapper Wyclef Jean via Twitter

Im at a loss for words. @kobebryant was a long-time friend, an inspiration and we shared our first ever commercial @espn together as professionals. I love you forever. #RIPMAMBA Retired NFL player Keyshawn Johnson

Shocked by the death of @kobebryant, an exemplary athlete both on and off the basketball court. Our most heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones. Rest in peace. FC Barcelona football club via Twitter

Kobe Bryant Rest in Peace. Unbelievable, unbelievably sad NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas via Twitter

Kobe Bryant was a giant who inspired, amazed and thrilled people everywhere with his incomparable skill on the court and awed us with his intellect and humility as a father, husband, creative genius, and ambassador for the game he loved. Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles mayor, via Twitter

Kobe career highlights

Here are some of the many highlights of Kobe Bryants career. The former Los Angeles Lakers star was killed in a helicopter crash in California on Sunday morning:

Related

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Kobe Bryant: Reaction to his tragic death; career highlights - Waterbury Republican American

The five Republicans running for the chance to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin all call for stronger efforts to thwart illegal immigration -- but they disagree about whether a wall across the Mexican border is the best solution.

During a joint endorsement interview Friday at the Daily Herald offices in Arlington Heights, three of the GOP hopefuls enthusiastically supported President Donald Trump's plan to build that border wall, sections of which have been erected. Two said they prefer other options, such as airborne drones.

The candidates in the March 17 primary are: retired information technology professional Casey Chlebek of Glenview; former Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran of Libertyville; former police officer Peggy Hubbard of Belleville; Dr. Robert Marshall, a physician from Burr Ridge; and Dr. Tom Tarter, a urological oncologist from Springfield.

The winner will face Durbin, a four-tern incumbent from Springfield, in November.

Tarter said walls have reduced illegal immigration where they've been built along the border. He wants the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to get enough funding to complete 450 miles of wall.

"Walls work," he said. "This is why Democrats don't want them -- at least the open-border Democrats."

Tarter said the government should implement technology that will help detect the attempted importation of illegal drugs and track migrants.

Additionally, Tarter said immigration applications should use a merit-based system that awards points for work history, education, speaking English, community service and "evidence of assimilation."

Marshall said he's "100% in favor" of completing the border wall. He called for tighter immigration policies and said he opposes comprehensive immigration reform, calling it "a code word for amnesty."

Marshall said immigrants should have to meet three criteria to live in the U.S.: they should be able to support themselves; they should be able to speak English "to a minimal degree" or be willing to learn; and they "should love us and not want to blow us up."

Hubbard said she supports Trump's efforts to secure U.S. borders. Like Tarter, she said walls work -- but she also advocated using technology and putting "more boots on the ground" at the border.

Hubbard lauded the president for sending military troops to the border in 2018 as a caravan of migrants from Central America approached the U.S.

Hubbard supported shifting to a merit-based immigration system, too.

Curran was an outspoken advocate of immigration reform during the last eight years of his 12-year tenure as sheriff, which concluded in 2018.

In 2011, Curran said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement should "quit wasting time breaking up families, because it makes America a lesser country." The following year, he backed a proposal that would allow people living here illegally to get driver's licenses so they could get to work.

On Friday, Curran said a wall across the southern border makes a statement about American sovereignty -- "but it's going to be very expensive."

Curran said drones and other high-tech security equipment could more effectively stop border incursions.

"We've seen all the videos of people going underneath the walls, and creating these tunnels," he said.

Curran also voiced concerns about radical Islamists getting into the U.S. "The wall alone is not going to keep America safe," he said.

Chlebek wants a different approach to protecting U.S. borders, too. Walls can be breached, he said, and the project is too costly.

Technology should make a border wall "irrelevant," Chlebek said.

"People are ready for it and expect it," he said.

If high-tech programs aren't implemented, however, Chlebek said he'd support completing the wall.

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Republican senate candidates disagree about whether a border wall is the solution to illegal immigration - Chicago Daily Herald

The House of Representatives passed the Equality Act with 236 votes for and 173 against.Eight Republicans voted in favor of the bill and no Democrats opposed it. Equality should not bea partisan issue.

The Equality Act would amend the Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of thesex, sexual orientation, or gender identity. A student of my advocacy class at Kean Universitywrote a compelling letter to the New Jersey Congressional delegation urging unanimous supportfor equality for the LGBT community, unfortunately it fell on Congressman Chris Smiths deaf ears. Michael wrote about a very close friend who was a member of the LGBTQ community who lives in the South and was outed by a coworker outed is the term used when someone reveals the sexuality or gender identity of another person without their consent. As a result, his friend was fired from his job with no warning. This occurred because Texas, where his friend lives, as well as 20 other states do not have discrimination protections for the LGBTQ community. As a result of this, he is currently unemployed and having a difficult time finding work.

In this day and age when Marriage Equality is the law of the land and assaulting someonebecause of how they identify is a hate crime, why is it that hard working Americans can still befired just because their identity doesnt conform to the norm that currently runs this country?asked Michael.

Good question. The Equality Act has been sitting dormant in the Senate Judiciary Committeesince May 20, 2019. The bill is sponsored in the Senate by 43 Democrats, 2 Independents, and1 Republican. 1 Republican! Susan Collins of Maine.

Dr King said, The Arc of Moral Justice Is Long But It Bends Towards Justice. When SenatorWeinberg and I called for a vote on same sex marriage in 2009, it only received 14 votes, oneRepublican and only 13 of 24 Democrats. It took the US Supreme Court years later, notlegislation, to make Marriage Equality the law of the land I proudly hosted New Jerseys first same sex marriage in my home in Elizabeth.

Can you imagine your son or daughter, nephew or niece, cousin or friend being fired from their job or denied renting an apartment because they are gay? Well, in 28 states they can. And only one Republican supports the Equality Act in the United States Senate and the only Republican member of the New Jersey House of Representatives delegation, Chris Smith, doesnt support it.

I dont mean this message to be partisan, although it is coming out that way, but thats just because the Republican Party is turning its back on the LGBTQ community in America. Equality belongs to all Americans. I ask the Republican leadership in New Jersey, Senator Tom Kean, Assemblyman Jon Bramnick and Republican State Chair Doug Steinhardt to publicly state their support for the Equality Act.

Equality is not a partisan issue.

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Equality Should Not Be A Partisan Issue: Where Do Key Republicans Stand On It? - InsiderNJ