Life for Theater Shooter, Trump Uninvited

Life: A Colorado jury chose life in prison over death for convicted movie theater shooter James Holmes. The jury had previously decided that Holmes’s mental illness was not a mitigating factor in his killing of 12 people in an Aurora. Colo. theater, signaling that they might send him to his death. But in the end the jury was split, unable to reach the mandatory unanimous decision for the death penalty.

Many of the survivors, the wounded, and their families had called for Holmes to be put to death for the 2012 mass killing. Some cried when they heard the decision and one man stormed out.

Nukedeal: New York Sen. Chuck Schumer’s announcement that he will oppose the Iran nuclear deal is a major defection for the Democrats, but probably not enough to actually sink the negotiated agreement. Even with Schumer on their side, Senate Republicans are unlikely to get the 60 votes they need, and if they do, President Obama will veto.

The Third Man: After 25 years without solving the biggest art heist in history at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the FBI has released a security video they hope will help them crack the case. The tape shows a rookie night watchman, 23-year-old Richard Abath, buzzing in and speaking briefly to an unidentified man, contrary to regulations. The next night Abath admitted two men dressed as Boston cops who bound and gagged him and another guard, then carried away $500 million worth of art, including a Rembrandt and a Vermeer.

An FBI statement says they are trying to identify the late night visitor, but they don’t say why Abath let him in the museum. Now a teacher’s aide in Brattleboro, Vt., Abath has always been described as a cooperating witness. The two men who were suspected to be the thieves dressed as cops are dead now and the art has never been found or returned. But the man admitted to the museum the night before the heist might still be out there.

The Obit Page: Frances Oldham Kelsey, an FDA bureaucrat whose persistence blocked distribution of the morning sickness drug thalidomide, saving thousands of babies from being born with terrible birth defects, has died at age 101. In 1960 the drug had already been widely sold in Europe but Kelsey was suspicious of what she saw in the research. While thousands of babies born in Europe, Britain, Canada and the Middle East were born with stunted and flipper-like arms and legs, Kelsey refused to approve the drug and its manufacturer ultimately withdrew it from the market.

The Postgame Show: Donald Trump has been uninvited from the RedState Republican gathering after attacking Fox News host Megyn Kelly, calling her a lightweight and suggesting her tough questions in Thursday night’s Republican debate were the result of hormones. “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”

Meanwhile the fact checkers were sweeping up the debris yesterday after Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate.

>Despite his denial, Sen. Marco Rubio once advocated an abortion exception for rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.

>Jeb Bush said he could grow the economy by 4 percent, which economists say is highly unlikely given current conditions and shrinkage of the work force that will come with the retirement of the Baby Boom generation.

>Donald Trump decried the flood of illegal immigrants, particularly from Mexico, but illegal immigration has dropped sharply since 2000.

Trump stole the show with promises to kill the Iran nuclear deal and beating China in trade negotiations. His opponents played catch up with condemnations of Obamacare and Planned Parenthood.

Paul Krugman writes in the NY Times that, “For while it’s true that Mr. Trump is, fundamentally, an absurd figure, so are his rivals. If you pay attention to what any one of them is actually saying, as opposed to how he says it, you discover incoherence and extremism every bit as bad as anything Mr. Trump has to offer.”

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It's Been Said

"Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won't have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what, it will be fixed, it will be fine, you won't have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you Christians. I'm a Christian. I love you, get out, you gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don't have to vote again, we'll have it fixed so good you're not going to have to vote."

  • Donald Trump courting the vote of the Christian right

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