Trump Calls His Own Intelligence Community "Naive" Suggesting They Should "Go Back To School"

Donald Trump

Donald Trump pushed back against recent assessments by his own intelligence have come to conclusions regarding Iran and North Korea that don't align with what he wants to hear.

From the New York Times:

A new American intelligence assessment of global threats has concluded that North Korea is unlikely to give up its nuclear stockpiles and that Iran is not, for now, taking steps necessary to make a bomb, directly contradicting the rationale of two of President Trump’s foreign policy initiatives.

Those conclusions are part of an annual “Worldwide Threat Assessment” released on Tuesday that also stressed the growing cyberthreat from Russia and China, which it said were now “more aligned than at any point since the mid-1950s.”

Trump's answer was to attack the U.S. Intelligence community today using language like "passive" and "naive," and then closing with, "Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!"

Note the wrong use of 'There economy' in his tweet as he says others should go back to school.

The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran. They are wrong! When I became President Iran was making trouble all over the Middle East, and beyond. Since ending the terrible Iran Nuclear Deal, they are MUCH different, but....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2019

....a source of potential danger and conflict. They are testing Rockets (last week) and more, and are coming very close to the edge. There economy is now crashing, which is the only thing holding them back. Be careful of Iran. Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2019

Let's check in with the Twitterverse, shall we? Starting with former CIA Director John Brennan:

Your refusal to accept the unanimous assessment of U.S. Intelligence on Iran, No. Korea, ISIS, Russia, & so much more shows the extent of your intellectual bankruptcy. All Americans, especially members of Congress, need to understand the danger you pose to our national security. https://t.co/9iV3BTKiEv

— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) January 30, 2019

It is a credit to our intelligence agencies that they continue to provide rigorous and realistic analyses of the threats we face.

It’s deeply dangerous that the White House isn’t listening. https://t.co/rCKywL0ETK

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) January 30, 2019

The man who praises Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un calls our intelligence professionals “naive.” https://t.co/crhuwtxqtF

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) January 30, 2019

After US intelligence chiefs disagreed w/ @realDonaldTrump on national security issues, he tweeted today perhaps they “should go back to school.” In 2015, he said: “I know more about ISIS than the generals. Believe me.” He's also said: “I know more about technology than anybody.”

— Wolf Blitzer (@wolfblitzer) January 30, 2019

North Korea:"No Way" We Will Disarm Nuclear Weapons First

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho

North Korea's Foreign Minister announced today at the United Nations that it will not disarm itself of nuclear weapons while sanctions remain in place on his country.

From NBC News:

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told the United Nations on Saturday that continued sanctions on Pyongyang were deepening its mistrust in the United States.

"Without any trust in the U.S. there will be no confidence in our national security and under such circumstances there is no way we will unilaterally disarm ourselves first," Ri told the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations.

The comments come as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo prepares to travel to Pyongyang next month for his fourth trip to North Korea, his third as secretary of state. Discussions of a second summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are already underway.

China and Russia have said the U.N. Security Council should reward Pyongyang for steps taken after U.S. Trump and Kim met in June and Kim pledged to work toward denuclearization.

"The perception that sanctions can bring us on our knees is a pipe-dream of the people who are ignorant about us. But the problem is that the continued sanctions are deepening our mistrust," Ri said.

U.S. Officials Say North Korea Continues To Build Up Nuclear Production

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump

According to five U.S. officials, North Korea has been stepping up its production of enriched uranium for nuclear weapons, even though the country's leader, Kim Jong Un told Donald Trump at the recent summit he would "work toward" denuclearization.

Taking Kim at his word, Trump cancelled the U.S. military training exercises on the Korean peninsula.

From NBC News:

U.S. intelligence agencies believe that North Korea has increased its production of fuel for nuclear weapons at multiple secret sites in recent months — and that Kim Jong Un may try to hide those facilities as he seeks more concessions in nuclear talks with the Trump administration, U.S. officials told NBC News.

The intelligence assessment, which has not previously been reported, seems to counter the sentiments expressed by President Donald Trump, who tweeted after his historic June 12 summit with Kim that "there was no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea."

Analysts at the CIA and other intelligence agencies don't see it that way, according to more than a dozen American officials who are familiar with their assessments and spoke on the condition of anonymity. They see a regime positioning itself to extract every concession it can from the Trump administration — while clinging to nuclear weapons it believes are essential to survival.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

There's also evidence that North Korea has made substantial improvements to its nuclear research facilities.

But, remember, Trump says he trusts Kim Jong Un and the nuclear threat is "no longer."

Before taking office people were assuming that we were going to War with North Korea. President Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and most dangerous problem. No longer - sleep well tonight!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2018

I never fall for scams. I am the only person who immediately walked out of my ‘Ali G’ interview

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 30, 2012

This can’t be true!!! President Trump told us “North Korea is no longer a nuclear threat”. He said he took care of it. https://t.co/DiKOx4p2Oc

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 30, 2018

trump weeks ago: There is no further nuclear threat from North Korea.

North Korea: Continues nuclear production at secret sites.

MAGA.

— Ricky Davila (@TheRickyDavila) June 30, 2018

Donald Trump Accepts North Korea's Invitation To Discuss Denuclearization

Breaking news: In a stunning announcement, South Korea’s national security adviser just announced that President Trump has accepted Kim Jung Un’s invitation to meet by May and discuss denuclearization.

Kim Jong Un talked about denuclearization with the South Korean Representatives, not just a freeze. Also, no missile testing by North Korea during this period of time. Great progress being made but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached. Meeting being planned!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2018

Back in October of 2017, Trump tweeted he thought negotiating with North Korea was a waste of time:

I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017

Will be interesting to watch the same people who criticized President Obama for his willingness to meet with North Korea and for signing a deal to eliminate Iran's nuclear weapons suddenly praise Trump for willing to meet with Kim Jong Un over North Korean nuclear weapons.

— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) March 9, 2018

Senior admin official telling reporters that the Kim Jong Un offer to Trump was actually an oral offer.. not a letter.

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) March 9, 2018

Stormy Daniels made the same offer https://t.co/F7NfTc0OHY

— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) March 9, 2018

Twitter War: Trump Informs North Korea His Nuclear Button Is "Much Bigger" Than Theirs

Donald Trump

NBC News reports:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un used his New Year’s Day address to warn the U.S. not to test him while striking a softer tone with South Korea, including the possibility of sending a delegation to next month's Winter Olympics.

"The entire United States is within range of our nuclear weapons, a nuclear button is always on my desk. This is reality, not a threat," Kim said in the annual address. "This year, we should focus on mass-producing nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles for operational deployment. These weapons will be used only if our society is threatened."

So, of course, Donald Trump had to whip out his Twitter account and slap back tweeting:

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018

And the crowd goes wild:

“A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. The only value in our two nations possessing nuclear weapons is to make sure they will never be used. But then would it not be better to do away with them entirely?”

Ronald Reagan, 1984 State of the Union

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 3, 2018

Trump just tweeted that he has a bigger nuclear weapon button than North Korea. We might just be doomed. He’s tweeting about nuclear war like it’s a PlayStation Game.

— deray (@deray) January 3, 2018

pic.twitter.com/wfgkyWlwZ0

— 💙ANGEL💙 (@Kismetangel1) January 3, 2018

At least we now know when Trump tries to launch nukes he'll push the button and it won't work and he'll say "this never happens"

— Josh Barro (@jbarro) January 3, 2018

It only looks bigger because of your small hands, Donnie.

— Brian Indolfi (@BrianIndolfi) January 3, 2018

Seriously, @realDonaldTrump, just whip your dick out already. I'm sick of this shit. Let's get it over with.
Hey, I don't want to see that withered bastard any more than you do, but if we're going to measure dicks, let's just fucking do it.

— Noah Antwiler (@TheSpoonyOne) January 3, 2018

Hello 2014,

Sammy here, from the future.

In this timeline Donald Trump (from The Apprentice) is president of the United States.

This is a tweet (they're 280 characters now) he sent about how his nuclear button is bigger than North Korea's.

Please step on some butterflies. https://t.co/8QPkIRqE89

— Sammy Paul (@ICOEPR) January 3, 2018

Donald Trump To United Nations: "We Will Totally Destroy North Korea"

During his first address to the United Nations General Assembly this morning, Donald Trump warned Kim Jong Un of North Korea (who Trump has now nicknamed "Rocket Man") that the United States will "totally destroy North Korea" should the rogue nation continues to threaten the U.S.

From the Washington Post:

The president warned of growing threats from North Korea and Iran, and he said, “The scourge of our planet is a group of rogue regimes.”

He praised the U.N. for enacting economic sanctions on Pyongyang over its nuclear and ballistic missile tests. But he emphasized that if Kim Jong Un's regime continued to threaten the United States and to destabilize East Asia, his administration would be prepared to defend the country and its allies.

“We will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea,” Trump said, before calling Kim by a nickname he gave the dictator on Twitter over the weekend. “Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself.”

Please note that this is the president of the United States using a childish nickname to discuss avoiding a nuclear war with world leaders.

Trump also called the UN-backed Iran nuclear deal “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”

RT NBCNightlyNews: BREAKING: Pres. Trump: US "will have no choice but to totally destroy" NKorea if forced to defe… https://t.co/An2llesVRj

— Amanda Clark (@Amanda_Clark84) September 19, 2017

USA's most embarrassing day in history of the UN.

— Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) September 19, 2017

Reminder: threatening to kill 25 million North Koreans because you don't like their leader is threatening to commit genocide.

— Carlos Maza (@gaywonk) September 19, 2017

No one is flying the planehttps://t.co/iB5Mzf3gDv

— Sam Thielman (@samthielman) September 19, 2017

No one is flying the planehttps://t.co/iB5Mzf3gDv

— Sam Thielman (@samthielman) September 19, 2017

That speech was what Trump voters wanted. Someone not afraid to say what needed to be said. Someone who projects strength without nuance. 1/

— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) September 19, 2017

2/ someone willing to horrify the establishment.

— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) September 19, 2017

Trump Claims U.S. Nuclear Weapons Have Been "Renovated" And "Modernized" In Six Months

Donald Trump began his day sending more saber-rattling and bluster directed at North Korea as he tweeted to the world that his "first order as President was to renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal. It is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before..."

The problem is that every executive order given by the president is made public.

Not only has Trump not taken any action on the U.S. nuclear arsenal, but it's actually President Obama who began the years-long process of updating our nuclear weaponry.

You can't "renovate and modernize" nuclear weapons in 6 months.

And we all know it.

Well, all but one of us.

Trump's empty boasts come in the aftermath of news reports saying North Korea had developed technology sufficient to arm a miniturized nuclear device on an intercontinental ballistic missile.

In a knee-jerk reaction, Trump told the world he was ready to unleash “fire and fury” on North Korea should they continue their current path.

This blind, boastful approach may work in a board room, but it's an amateur approach to world diplomacy.

My first order as President was to renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal. It is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 9, 2017

...Hopefully we will never have to use this power, but there will never be a time that we are not the most powerful nation in the world!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 9, 2017

The Twitterverse was quick to fact-check the president:

If you think the entire US strategic arsenal has been renovated in 8 months, you might be a Trump supporter.

— Angry WH Staffer (@AngrierWHStaff) August 9, 2017

His first order, actually, was "aimed at reversing the Affordable Care Act." https://t.co/cry0OdbaGW https://t.co/6dfWbWsXwr

— David Gura (@davidgura) August 9, 2017

During his first 100 days, President Trump took no executive action(s) on the U.S. nuclear arsenal: https://t.co/GMkyhmZS8J. https://t.co/L9IuRG5v6x

— David Gura (@davidgura) August 9, 2017

On a more serious note, Trump did not modernize our nuclear arsenal. Obama authorized that process to begin, and it takes decades.

— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) August 9, 2017

You don't modernize a nuclear arsenal in a matter of months. It was Obama who began this work. https://t.co/eUg6xtrKRP https://t.co/rOZ7GqzRTQ

— Josh Greenman (@joshgreenman) August 9, 2017

Sen. John McCain Takes Exception With Trump's "Fire & Fury" Comments To North Korea

Sen. John McCain

Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona said he "takes exception" to President Trump's "fire and fury" remarks made after the news reported that North Korea has apparently produced a nuclear warhead small enough to launch on an intercontinental missile.

Via The Hill:

"I don't know what he's saying and I've long ago given up trying to interpret what he says," McCain said of Trump during an interview with a local Arizona radio station first reported by NBC.

"That kind of rhetoric, I'm not sure how it helps."

McCain said the U.S. risks getting into a serious confrontation with North Korea, and invoked former President Teddy Roosevelt's famous "big stick" policy.

"In other words, the old walk softly but carry a big stick, Teddy Roosevelt's saying, which I think is something that should've applied because all it's going to do is bring us closer to a serious confrontation," McCain warned. "I think this is very, very, very serious."

Trump warned North Korea not to make any threats to the United States on Tuesday after The Washington Post reported that North Korea has produced a nuclear warhead small enough to place on a missile.

"North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States," Trump told reporters Tuesday.

"He has been very threatening beyond a normal state, and as I said they will be met with fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before."

McCain said he "takes exception" to Trump's remarks.

"I take exception to the president's words because you got to be sure you can do what you say you're going to do," said McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

It goes without saying McCain (served in Air Force, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee) has a vastly more educated depth of understanding than Trump (five deferments for Vietnam for "bone spurs") when it comes to military action.

A new CBS News poll shows 61% of Americans feel "uneasy" about Trump's ability to handle a North Korean nuclear situation.

The Cover Of This Week's "The Economist"

North Korea Now Has Missile-Ready Nuclear Weapons, Trump Threatens "Fire & Fury"

(image via Flickr)

According to the Washington Post, North Korea now has missile-ready nuclear weapons.

This is very, very bad.

North Korea has successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles, crossing a key threshold on the path to becoming a full-fledged nuclear power, U.S. intelligence officials have concluded in a confidential assessment.

The new analysis completed last month by the Defense Intelligence Agency comes on the heels of another intelligence assessment that sharply raises the official estimate for the total number of bombs in the communist country’s atomic arsenal. The U.S. calculated last month that up to 60 nuclear weapons are now controlled by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Some independent experts believe the number of bombs is much smaller.

UPDATE - Trump just issued this statement promising "fire and fury" should North Korea make any more threats to the United States.

"North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with the fire and fury like the world has never seen.

"He has been very threatening beyond a normal state, and as I said they will be met with the fire and fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.

"Thank you."

Threats of "fire and fury" shouldn't just roll off the tongue so casually in public. It's terrifying. pic.twitter.com/dexoEchK1O

— Greg Hogben (@MyDaughtersArmy) August 8, 2017

Pentagon Prepares As North Korea Threatens Possible Nuclear Test

The above tweet from President Trump four years ago seems practically precognitive.

Of course, President Babyhands was talking about Obama at the time, but his past tweets have become his own prologue.

As word comes that North Korea could launch yet another nuclear test this weekend, the U.S. has moved several major military assets into the region.

NBC News reports:

The intelligence officials told NBC News that the U.S. has positioned two destroyers capable of shooting Tomahawk cruise missiles in the region, one just 300 miles from the North Korean nuclear test site.

American heavy bombers are also positioned in Guam to attack North Korea should it be necessary, and earlier this week, the Pentagon announced that the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group was being diverted to the area.

According to reports, the U.S. could launch a preemptive strike if intelligence and military leaders believe the unpredictable North Korea might attempt the nuclear test.

How North Korea might respond is anyone's guess.

Trump On Nuclear Proliferation: "Let It Be An Arms Race"

President-elect Donald Trump

The world is completely abuzz about President-elect Donald Trump's comments and tweets telling the world that 40 years of work to reduce nuclear weapons in the world is about to go out the window.

From Politico:

President-elect Donald Trump on Friday morning escalated his calls for a stronger U.S. nuclear arsenal, saying he was fine with an “arms race” if it puts the U.S. in a stronger position against foreign adversaries.

“Let it be an arms race … we will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all,” Trump told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” during an off-air conversation on Friday.

The attempt at a clarification came after Trump alarmed some with a vague tweet on Thursday that said, “The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.”

The tweet, which threatened to upend longstanding U.S. nonproliferation policy, followed comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who called on his country to “strengthen” its nuclear forces.

“We need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with missile complexes that can reliably penetrate any existing and prospective missile defense systems,” he said, according to multiple news reports.

The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 22, 2016

CNBC adds:

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said in several television interviews on Friday that there would not be an arms race because the president-elect would ensure that other countries trying to step up their nuclear capabilities, such as Russia and China, would decide not to do so.

“He’s going to ensure that other countries get the message that he’s not going to sit back and allow that,” Spicer told NBC. “And what’s going to happen is they will come to their senses, and we will all be just fine.”

Asked about the tweet, Trump spokesman Jason Miller later said Trump was “referring to the threat of nuclear proliferation and the critical need to prevent it — particularly to and among terrorist organizations and unstable and rogue regimes.”

If Trump and Putin both want to expand nuclear weapons, that would effectively end arms control efforts underway since the Nixon administration, said Joe Cirincione, president of Ploughshares Fund, a foundation that works to prevent the spread and use of nuclear weapons.

“This is how arms races begin — with a battle of words,” Cirincione said, urging Trump, a real estate mogul, to “make the biggest deal of his life” and negotiate cuts to the nuclear arsenal with Russia.

LBJ's "Daisy" Girl Is Back 52 Years Later Warning Of A Trump Presidency

Monique Corzilius Luiz, who appeared in the infamous LBJ "Daisy" nuclear campaign ad 52 years ago, is back in a new Hillary Clinton spot highlighting Donald Trump's tempestuous temperament and the dangers of a Trump presidency.

From the Washington Post:

Hillary Clinton opened the last full week of campaigning Monday with a television advertisement revisiting the famous 1964 “Daisy” ad about nuclear weapons, an attempt to shift the presidential election back to a comparison with Donald Trump after a renewed FBI inquiry roiled her campaign.

The new ad features the same woman who, as a small girl, plucked petals from a flower in the original one, which was aimed at Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater. The new one returns to a frequent Clinton theme this year - the claim that Trump is reckless and unfit to be commander in chief. The national security comparison has been one of Clinton’s strongest advantages over the Republican businessman in an election she remains favored to win.

The original “Daisy” ad, officially titled “Peace, Little Girl,” famously only aired once, on NBC, on Sept. 7, 1964.

Here's the original 1964 spot:

Donald Trump: If We Have Nuclear Weapons, Why Can't We Use Them?

On MSNBC's "Morning Joe," host Joe Scarborough reported that during a foreign policy briefing months ago, Donald Trump repeatedly asked experts "Why can't we use nuclear weapons?"

From the video below:

“Several months ago, a foreign policy expert on an international level went to advise Donald Trump and three times he [Trump] asked about the use of nuclear weapons. Three times he asked, ‘If we have them, why can’t we use them?’ That’s one of the reasons why he just doesn’t have foreign policy experts around him. Three times in an hour briefing, ‘Why can’t we use nuclear weapons?”

Watch: What are some major concerns about Trump's handling of national security? Hayden and #morningjoe weigh in. https://t.co/FyFoSmJlJI

— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) August 3, 2016

(h/t JMG)

Video: Vice-President Dick Cheney "Wrong Then, Wrong Now"

As former Vice-President Cheney continues the rounds of interviews opposing the Iran Nuclear agreement (which gained it's 42nd vote of support in the Senate yesterday assuring it's passage), the White House shares this trip on the way-back machine to remind us of how exactly Iran came to even approach being a nuclear threat.

Here's a hint: Before the Bush/Cheney years, Iran had zero centrifuges. As Bush/Cheney left office, Iran had 5,000.

From the White House YouTube channel:

Vice President Dick Cheney opposes the Iran nuclear deal. If his reasoning sounds familiar, it's because we've heard it from him before on the Iraq war.

Colin Powell Announces Support For Iran Nuclear Agreement

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell told NBC's Chuck Todd of "Meet the Press" that he supports President Obama's Nuclear deal for Iran currently being debated in Congress.

Powell said the opponents of the proposal were ignoring the rapid development of Iran's nuclear program dating back to the Bush years.

"They have been on a superhighway for the last 10 years to create a nuclear weapon or a nuclear weapons program, with no speed limit. And in the last 10 years they have gone from 136 centrifuges up to something like 19,000 centrifuges. This agreement will bring them down to 5,000 centrifuges, all of them under [International Atomic Energy Agency] supervision. And I think this is a good outcome."

Maryland Sen. Mikulski Becomes 34th Vote For President Obama's Iran/Nuclear Agreement

With the announcement by Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, who says she will be the 34th U.S. Senator to vote for President Obama's Iran/Nuclear deal, Obama gets his foreign policy legacy.

From Huffington Post:

Under the deal, Iran would be subjected to comprehensive inspections on its nuclear program and forced to reduce current uranium stockpiles and the number of its centrifuges. In exchange, it will be granted sanctions relief estimated to be anywhere between $50 billion and $150 billion. But the deal phases out between years 10 and 15, albeit with Iran still forced to provide some access for inspections for another 10 years thereafter. And even for supporters of the initiative, concerns remain about the possibilities of a quick military breakout once restrictions ease.

Faced with this pushback, the administration has implored lawmakers to consider the alternative, in which no restrictions are placed on Iran and the world community is unwilling to rework the accord. A briefing between ambassadors and officials from the other countries party to the deal -- in which they articulated their reluctance to head back to the negotiating table -- was highly persuasive to several Democratic senators.

Almost every current GOP candidate for president has said they would kill the agreement upon being sworn into office.

Whether such statements can become a reality as so simply stated are another matter. Reneging on an international agreement involving several nations could be more politically complex than tossing out a stump speech.

Democratic leaders say they are still working towards 40 votes in favor of the deal to help keep a resolution of disapproval from getting a vote.

Mike Huckabee's Holocaust Comments Leave Jon Stewart Speechless

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President Obama Slaps Back At Mike Huckabee Over Iran/Israel Comments

Speaking at a press conference in Ethiopia, President Obama slapped back at current GOP presidential hopefuls who have taken to making "ridiculous" claims about his policies, and "outrageous attacks" that were unbecoming to presidential politics.

The president was asked about Mike Huckabee's assertion yesterday that the nuclear deal currently under consideration with Iran would “take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven.”

via Mike Huckabee Twitter

Addressing the question, Obama tied Huckabee's comments to other Republican 2016 nominees:

“The particular comments of Mr. Huckabee are just part of a general pattern we’ve seen that would be considered ridiculous if it weren’t so sad. We’ve had a sitting senator call John Kerry Pontius Pilate. We’ve had a sitting senator, who also happens to be running for president, suggest that I’m the leading state sponsor of terrorism. These are leaders in the Republican Party.”

Obama later said the comments by Huckabee might be an attempt at getting some attention for his languishing presidential campaign: “Maybe this is just an effort to push Mr. Trump out of the headlines."

The president summed up the current political environment like this:

“The Republican Party is shocked, and yet that arises out of a culture where those kinds of outrageous attacks have become far too commonplace and get circulated nonstop through the Internet and talk radio and news outlets. And I recognize that when outrageous statements are made about me, a lot of the same people who were outraged when it’s made about Mr. McCain were pretty quiet.”

“The American people deserve better. Certainly presidential debates deserve better. In 18 months, I’m turning over the keys. I want to make sure I’m turning over the keys to somebody who’s serious about the serious problems the country faces and the world faces.”

(source)

ThinkProgress Explains The Iran Nuclear Deal Via Legos

Igor Volsky of ThinkProgress explains the 109 page Iran nuclear deal in 60 seconds using legos.

Under the proposal, the Persian nation must limit its stockpiles of uranium and plutonium in order to secure sanction relief from the west.

IGOR VOLSKY: This wall of legos represents the sanctions that separate Iran from the Western world.

The West has long suspected that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons. Now, Iran denies this, but it continues to acquire the nuclear materials necessary for a bomb. As a result, the West continues the sanctions.

This has isolated Iran and pushed it to the negotiation table.

Under the agreed-upon terms, Iran must dramatically reduce its nuclear materials, making it much more difficult to acquire a bomb. It will also have to allow international inspectors in to ensure that it’s keeping its word. Then, the sanction wall will begin to crumble.

If Iran violates the agreement, the inspectors will alert the west and they will build the sanction wall right back up.

Now, critics argue that an empowered Iran could destabilize the Middle East and fund terror groups. The world, including the United States, will certainly have to come up with a policy to counteract any nefarious activities, but at least those threats won’t carry nuclear weapons.