In the United States government, executive privilege is the power claimed by the President of the United States and other members of the executive branch to resist certain subpoenas and other interventions by the legislative and judicial branches of government to access information and personnel relating to the executive branch. The concept of executive privilege is not mentioned explicitly in the United States Constitution, but the Supreme Court of the United States ruled it to be an element of the separation of powers doctrine and derived from the supremacy of the executive branch in its own area of Constitutional activity.^[1]

The Supreme Court confirmed the legitimacy of this doctrine in United States v. Nixon, but only to the extent of confirming that there is a qualified privilege. Once invoked, a presumption of privilege is established, requiring the Prosecutor to make a “sufficient showing” that the “Presidential material” is “essential to the justice of the case” (418 U.S. at 713–14). Chief Justice Warren Burger further stated that executive privilege would most effectively apply when the oversight of the executive would impair that branch’s national security concerns.

Historically, the uses of executive privilege underscore the untested nature of the doctrine, since Presidents have generally sidestepped open confrontations with the United States Congress and the courts over the issue by first asserting the privilege, then producing some of the documents requested on an assertedly voluntary basis.

Early precedents

Executive privilege is a specific instance of the more general common-law principle of deliberative process privilege and is believed to trace its roots to the English crown privilege (now known as public-interest immunity).^[2]

In the context of privilege assertions by US presidents, “In 1796, President George Washington refused to comply with a request by the House of Representatives for documents related to the negotiation of the then-recently adopted Jay Treaty with the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Senate alone plays a role in the ratification of treaties, Washington reasoned, and therefore the House had no legitimate claim to the material. Therefore, Washington provided the documents to the Senate but not the House.”^[3]

President Thomas Jefferson continued the precedent for this in the trial of Aaron Burr for treason in 1809. Burr asked the court to issue a subpoena duces tecum to compel Jefferson to testify or provide his private letters concerning Burr. Chief Justice John Marshall, a strong proponent of the powers of the federal government but also a political opponent of Jefferson, ruled that the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution, which allows for these sorts of court orders for criminal defendants, did not provide any exception for the president. As for Jefferson’s claim that disclosure of the document would imperil public safety, Marshall held that the court, not the president, would be the judge of that. Jefferson refused to personally testify but provided selected letters.

In 1833, President Andrew Jackson cited executive privilege when Senator Henry Clay demanded he produce documents concerning statements the president made to his cabinet about the removal of federal deposits from the Second Bank of the United States during the Bank War.^[4]

Cold War era

During the period of 1947–49, several major security cases became known to Congress. There followed a series of investigations, culminating in the famous Hiss–Chambers case of 1948. At that point, the Truman Administration issued a sweeping secrecy order blocking congressional efforts from FBI and other executive data on security problems.^{[citation needed]} Security files were moved to the White House and Administration officials were banned from testifying before Congress on security related matters. Investigation of the State Department and other cases was stymied and the matter left unresolved.

During the Army–McCarthy hearings in 1954, Eisenhower used the claim of executive privilege to forbid the “provision of any data about internal conversations, meetings, or written communication among staffers, with no exception to topics or people.” Department of Defense employees were also instructed not to testify on any such conversations or produce any such documents or reproductions.^[5] This was done to refuse the McCarthy Committee subpoenas of transcripts of monitored telephone calls from Army officials, as well as information on meetings between Eisenhower officials relating to the hearings. This was done in the form of a letter from Eisenhower to the Department of Defense and an accompanying memo from Eisenhower Justice. The reasoning behind the order was that there was a need for “candid” exchanges among executive employees in giving “advice” to one another. In the end, Eisenhower would invoke the claim 44 times between 1955 and 1960.

United States v. Nixon

The Supreme Court addressed “executive privilege” in United States v. Nixon, the 1974 case involving the demand by Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox that President Richard Nixonproduce the audiotapes of conversations he and his colleagues had in the Oval Office of the White House in connection with criminal charges being brought against members of the Nixon Administration. Nixon invoked the privilege and refused to produce any records.

The Supreme Court did not reject the claim of privilege out of hand; it noted, in fact, “the valid need for protection of communications between high Government officials and those who advise and assist them in the performance of their manifold duties” and that “[h]uman experience teaches that those who expect public dissemination of their remarks may well temper candor with a concern for appearances and for their own interests to the detriment of the decisionmaking process.” This is very similar to the logic that the Court had used in establishing an “executive immunity” defense for high office-holders charged with violating citizens’ constitutional rights in the course of performing their duties. The Supreme Court stated: “To read the Article II powers of the President as providing an absolute privilege as against a subpoena essential to enforcement of criminal statutes on no more than a generalized claim of the public interest in confidentiality of nonmilitary and nondiplomatic discussions would upset the constitutional balance of ‘a workable government’ and gravely impair the role of the courts under Article III.” Because Nixon had asserted only a generalized need for confidentiality, the Court held that the larger public interest in obtaining the truth in the context of a criminal prosecution took precedence.

“Once executive privilege is asserted, coequal branches of the Government are set on a collision course. The Judiciary is forced into the difficult task of balancing the need for information in a judicial proceeding and the Executive’s Article II prerogatives. This inquiry places courts in the awkward position of evaluating the Executive’s claims of confidentiality and autonomy, and pushes to the fore difficult questions of separation of powers and checks and balances. These ‘occasion[s] for constitutional confrontation between the two branches’ are likely to be avoided whenever possible. United States v. Nixon, supra, at 692.”^[6]

Post-Watergate era

Clinton administration

The Clinton administration invoked executive privilege on fourteen occasions.

In 1998, President Bill Clinton became the first president since Nixon to assert executive privilege and lose in court, when a federal judge ruled that Clinton aides could be called to testify in the Lewinsky scandal.^[7]

Later, Clinton exercised a form of negotiated executive privilege when he agreed to testify before the grand jury called by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr only after negotiating the terms under which he would appear. Declaring that “absolutely no one is above the law”, Starr said such a privilege “must give way” and evidence “must be turned over” to prosecutors if it is relevant to an investigation.

George W. Bush administration

The Bush administration invoked executive privilege on six occasions.

President George W. Bush first asserted executive privilege to deny disclosure of sought details regarding former Attorney General Janet Reno,^[8] the scandal involving Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) misuse of organized-crime informants James J. Bulger and Stephen Flemmi in Boston, and Justice Department deliberations about President Bill Clinton’s fundraising tactics, in December 2001.^[9]

Bush invoked executive privilege “in substance” in refusing to disclose the details of Vice President Dick Cheney‘s meetings with energy executives, which was not appealed by the GAO. In a separate Supreme Court decision in 2004, however, Justice Anthony Kennedy noted “Executive privilege is an extraordinary assertion of power ‘not to be lightly invoked.’ United States v. Reynolds, 345 U.S. 1, 7 (1953).

Further, on June 28, 2007, Bush invoked executive privilege in response to congressional subpoenas requesting documents from former presidential counsel Harriet Miers and former political director Sara Taylor,^[10] citing that:

The reason for these distinctions rests upon a bedrock presidential prerogative: for the President to perform his constitutional duties, it is imperative that he receive candid and unfettered advice and that free and open discussions and deliberations occur among his advisors and between those advisors and others within and outside the Executive Branch.

On July 9, 2007, Bush again invoked executive privilege to block a congressional subpoena requiring the testimonies of Taylor and Miers. Furthermore, White House Counsel Fred F. Fielding refused to comply with a deadline set by the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee to explain its privilege claim, prove that the president personally invoked it, and provide logs of which documents were being withheld. On July 25, 2007, the House Judiciary Committee voted to cite Miers and White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten for contempt of Congress.^[11]^[12]

On July 13, less than a week after claiming executive privilege for Miers and Taylor, Counsel Fielding effectively claimed the privilege once again, this time in relation to documents related to the 2004 death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman. In a letter to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Fielding claimed certain papers relating to discussion of the friendly-fire shooting “implicate Executive Branch confidentiality interests” and would therefore not be turned over to the committee.^[13]

On August 1, 2007, Bush invoked the privilege for the fourth time in little over a month, this time rejecting a subpoena for Karl Rove. The subpoena would have required the President’s Senior Advisor to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in a probe over fired federal prosecutors. In a letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, Fielding claimed that “Mr. Rove, as an immediate presidential advisor, is immune from compelled congressional testimony about matters that arose during his tenure and that relate to his official duties in that capacity….”^[14]

Leahy claimed that President Bush was not involved with the employment terminations of U.S. attorneys. Furthermore, he asserted that the president’s executive privilege claims protecting Josh Bolten, and Karl Rove are illegal. The Senator demanded that Bolten, Rove, Sara Taylor, and J. Scott Jennings comply “immediately” with their subpoenas, presumably to await a further review of these matters. This development paved the way for a Senate panel vote on whether to advance the citations to the full Senate. “It is obvious that the reasons given for these firings were contrived as part of a cover-up and that the stonewalling by the White House is part and parcel of that same effort”, Leahy concluded about these incidents.^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18]

As of July 17, 2008, Rove still claimed executive privilege to avoid a congressional subpoena. Rove’s lawyer wrote that his client is “constitutionally immune from compelled congressional testimony.”^[19]

House Investigation of the SEC

Leaders of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission testified on February 4, 2009 before the United States House Committee on Financial Services subcommittee including Linda Chatman Thomsen S.E.C. enforcement director, acting General Counsel Andy Vollmer, Andrew Donohue, Erik Sirri, and Lori Richards and Stephen Luparello of FINRA. The subject of the hearings were on why the SEC had failed to act when Harry Markopolos, a private fraud investigator from Boston alerted the Securities and Exchange Commission; detailing his persistent and unsuccessful efforts to get the SEC to investigate Bernard Madoff, beginning in 1999.^[20] Vollmer claimed executive privilege in declining to answer some questions.^[21]^[22] Subcommittee chairmanPaul E. Kanjorski asked Mr. Vollmer if he had obtained executive privilege from the U.S. Attorney General.^[21] “No … this is the position of the agency,” said Vollmer.^[21] “Did the SEC instruct him not to respond to questions?” Mr. Kanjorski asked.^[21] Vollmer replied that it was the position of the Commission and that “the answer is no.”^[21] The SEC announced Vollmer would “leave the Commission and return to the private sector,” just 14 days after making the claim.^[23]

Obama Administration

On June 20, 2012, President Barack Obama asserted executive privilege, his first, to withhold certain Department of Justice documents related to the ongoing Operation Fast and Furious controversy ahead of a United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in Contempt of Congress for refusing to produce the documents.^[24]^[25]

Later the same day, the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform voted 23–17 along party lines to hold Attorney General Holder in contempt of Congress over not releasing documents regarding Fast and Furious.^[26]

Executive privilege was also used in a lawsuit stemming from the 2012 implementation of the “Net Worth Sweep” against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Obama administration did not disclose roughly 11,000 documents from the plaintiffs in the discovery process as they related to the reasoning behind the 2012 actions.^{[citation needed]}

Trump Administration

While investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, the Senate Intelligence Committee subpoenaed former FBI Director James Comey to testify. Comey was fired several weeks before being subpoenaed but had appeared before the committee once before in March while still serving as director. Less than a week before the scheduled hearing, it was reported that President Trump was considering invoking executive privilege to prevent Comey’s testimony. ^[27]^[28] According to attorney Page Pate, it seems unlikely that executive privilege will be applicable here, as Trump has publicly spoken about the encounters in question multiple times.^[29]

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a White house spokesman, released a statement on June 5th stating: “The president’s power to assert executive privilege is very well-established. However, in order to facilitate a swift and thorough examination of the facts sought by the Senate Intelligence Committee, President Trump will not assert executive privilege regarding James Comey’s scheduled testimony.”^[30]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_privilege

Sideshow

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Elly del Sarto, a sideshow performer, in c. 1910

In America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair or other such attraction.

Types

See also: Sideshow attractions section on list of Circus skills page.

There are four main types of classic sideshow attractions:

The “Ten-in-One” offers a program of ten sequential acts under one tent for a single admission price. The ten-in-one might be partly a freak show exhibiting “human oddities” (including “born freaks” such as midgets, giants or persons with other deformities, or “made freaks” like tattooed people, fat people or “human skeletons”- extremely thin men often “married” to the fat lady, like Isaac W. Sprague). However, for variety’s sake, the acts in a ten-in-one would also include “working acts” who would perform magic tricks or daredevil stunts. In addition, the freak show performers might also perform acts or stunts, and would often sell souvenirs like “giant’s rings” or “pitch cards” with their photos and life stories. The ten-in-one would often end in a “blowoff” or “ding,” an extra act not advertised on the outside, which could be viewed for an additional fee. The blowoff act would be described provocatively, often as something deemed too strong for women and children, such as pickled punks.

A sideshow at the Erie County Fair Hamburg, New York

The “Single-O” is a single attraction, for example a single curiosity like the “Bonnie and Clyde Death Car” or Hitler’s staff car,^[1]^[2] a “Giant Rat” (actually usually a nutria) or other unusual animal, a “What Is It?” (often a convincing but artificial monstrosity like the Fiji Mermaid) or a geek show often billed as “See the Victim of Drug Abuse.”
A “Museum Show” which might be deceptively billed as “World’s Greatest Freaks Past and Present,” is a sideshow in which the exhibits are usually not alive. It might include tanks of piranhas or cages with unusual animals, stuffed freak animals or other exotic items like the weapons or cars allegedly used by famous murderers. Some of the exhibits might even be dummies or photographs of the billed attractions. It could still be truthfully billed with the claim “$1,000 reward if not absolutely real — please do not touch or feed the animals on exhibit”. The Single-O and the Museum Show are usually operated as “grind shows,” meaning that patrons may enter at any time, viewing the various exhibits at their leisure.

Decaying sideshow advertisement, Florida, 1966

* A “Girl Show” was sometimes offered in which women were the primary attraction. These could range from the revue (such as a “Broadway Revue”) with fully clothed performers to the racier “kootch” or “hootchie-kootchie” show (a strip show) which might play either partly clothed or “strong” (nude).^[3]

Acts

“Working acts” often exhibited a number of stunts that could be counted on to draw crowds. These stunts used little-known methods and offered the elements of danger and excitement. Although the mainstream media often explained fanciful methods of performing these acts, the real secret was usually that there is no secret, you just do it. Such acts included fire eating, sword swallowing, knife throwing, body piercing, lying on a bed of nails, walking up a ladder of sharp swords, and more. The renewed attention to these feats has prompted a new round of oversimplified or inaccurate explanations, leading some inexperienced people to attempt them without adequate training often resulting in injury and sometimes even death.

Decline and revival

Painting on sideshow truck, firebreather, Florida, 1966

Interest in sideshows declined as television made it easy (and free) to see the world’s most exotic attractions. Moreover, viewing “human oddities” became distasteful as the public conscience changed, and many localities passed laws forbidding the exhibition of freaks.^{[citation needed]} The performers often protested (to no avail) that they had no objection to the sideshow, especially since it provided not only a good income for them, but in many cases it provided their only possible job. The sideshow seemed destined for oblivion, until only a few exemplars of the ten-in-one remained. A greater number of “Single O” attractions still tour carnivals.

In the early 1990s, Jim Rose developed a modern sideshow called “the Jim Rose Circus“, reinventing the sideshow with two types of acts that would attract modern audiences and stay within legal bounds. The show featured acts reviving traditional sideshow stunts and carrying some of them to extremes, and “fringe” artists (often exhibiting extreme body modification) performing bizarre or masochistic acts like eating insects, lifting weights by means of hooks inserted in their body piercings, or stapling currency to their forehead. The show drew audiences at venues unknown to old-time sideshows, like rock clubs and the 1992 Lollapalooza festival. The Jim Rose Circus held its last known performance in 2013 at The London Burlesque Festival. The impact of the Jim Rose Circus on pop culture inspired a new wave of performers. There are now more sideshow performers than at any other time in the genre’s history. At the same time in Canada, Scott McClelland, grandson of itinerant showman N.P. Lewchuk, formed Carnival Diablo, a show that performs frequently to this day. The success of these shows sparked a growing number of performers to revive the traditional sideshow arts, taught by sideshow veterans, and many now perform in spot engagements from rock clubs and comedy clubs to corporate events. “Sideshows by the Seashore“, sponsored by Coney Island USA in Brooklyn, NY has performed since 1983, and tours under the name “Coney Island Circus Sideshow“. Circus historian and collector Ken Harck ran the Brothers Grim Sideshow, which toured with the OzzFest music festival in the summer of 2006 and 2007. Sideshow celebrity and multiple world record breaker Chayne Hultgren ‘The Space Cowboy’ owns Australia’s largest traveling oddity museum ‘The Mutant Barnyard’ and along with his partner Zoe Ellis ‘AKA: Zoe L’amore’ they run ‘Sideshow Wonderland’, one of the world’s most successful sideshows described as a modern high energy human oddity exhibit or freakshow cabaret.

World records

The longest metal coil passed through the nose and mouth is a 3.63M long (11-ft 10.91-in) coil of metal. This record is held by Andrew Stanton (USA). Stanton performs Mr Screwface on the Las Vegas SwingShift sideshow. This record was set in Lo Show dei Record in Rome, Italy.^[4]

References

Jump up^

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sideshow

Story 2: Two-Party Tyranny Ignores The Real Concerns of American People — The Economy and Jobs, National Security and Terrorism, Federal Deficit Spending and Taxes, Immigration, Education and Health Care Costs — Videos

How Did The U.S. End Up With A Two-Party System?

How the Republican Party went from Lincoln to Trump

Why Doesn’t the U.S. Have a Multi-Party Political System? | Sean Wilentz

How Political Parties Rig Elections

Can A Third-Party Candidate Ever Become President?

‘Two-party tyranny specializes at getting corporate cash & excluding competition’ – Ralph Nader

What Is Libertarianism?

Huge Drop In People Who

[1] Jump up^

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Types

Acts

Decline and revival

World records

References

The growing myth of the ‘independent’ voter

Raymond T. Pronk

Blog Subscription

RSS Links

Pages

Categories

Search

Search

Blog Stats

Calendar

Archives

Pages

Categories

Blogroll

Word Press

Blog Subscription

Search

Blogroll

Word Press

	Republicans	Independents	Democrats
	%	%	%
2017 May 3-7	29	40	28
2017 Apr 5-9	25	44	28
2017 Mar 1-5	26	42	30
2017 Feb 1-5	31	37	31
2017 Jan 4-8	28	44	25
2016 Dec 7-11	28	39	29
2016 Nov 9-13	27	40	30
2016 Nov 1-6	27	36	31
2016 Oct 5-9	27	36	32
2016 Sep 14-18	27	40	32
2016 Sep 7-11	29	38	31
2016 Aug 3-7	27	38	31
2016 Jul 13-17	28	42	28
2016 Jun 14-23	28	39	31
2016 Jun 1-5	27	41	30
2016 May 18-22	27	45	28
2016 May 4-8	31	37	30
2016 Apr 6-10	25	44	31
2016 Mar 2-6	26	38	32
2016 Feb 3-7	30	37	30
2016 Jan 21-25	29	39	31
2016 Jan 6-10	26	44	29
2015 Dec 2-6	27	40	30
2015 Nov 4-8	28	39	30
2015 Oct 7-11	25	42	29
2015 Sep 9-13	27	43	27
2015 Aug 5-9	27	41	31
2015 Jul 8-12	23	46	28
2015 Jun 2-7	25	41	31
2015 May 6-10	26	41	30
2015 Apr 9-12	24	42	31
2015 Mar 6-9	27	44	28
2015 Feb 8-11	25	43	29
2015 Jan 5-8	29	42	28
2014 Dec 8-11	27	40	31
2014 Nov 6-9	28	41	28
2014 Oct 29-Nov 2	26	39	32
2014 Oct 12-15	33	35	29
2014 Sep 25-30	26	42	30
2014 Sep 4-7	25	47	26
2014 Aug 7-10	26	40	31
2014 Jul 7-10	23	45	29
2014 Jun 5-8	24	46	28
2014 May 8-11	24	43	31
2014 Apr 24-30	23	43	32
2014 Apr 3-6	25	42	29
2014 Mar 6-9	25	42	30
2014 Feb 6-9	23	45	30
2014 Jan 5-8	24	45	29
2013 Dec 5-8	24	44	30
2013 Nov 7-10	23	46	28
2013 Oct 3-6	20	47	30
2013 Sep 5-8	22	45	31
2013 Aug 7-11	24	43	31
2013 Jul 10-14	25	42	31
2013 Jun 20-24	26	41	31
2013 Jun 1-4	26	41	31
2013 May 2-7	28	39	32
2013 Apr 4-14	26	40	33
2013 Mar 7-10	27	36	35
2013 Feb 7-10	28	38	32
2013 Jan 7-10	27	38	33
2012 Dec 27-30	27	36	34
2012 Dec 19-22	25	35	38
2012 Dec 14-17	25	39	34
2012 Nov 26-29	29	37	31
2012 Nov 15-18	27	38	32
2012 Nov 9-12	28	38	33
2012 Nov 1-4	30	33	35
2012 Sep 24-27	28	38	32
2012 Sep 6-9	27	36	35
2012 Aug 20-22	28	41	31
2012 Aug 9-12	26	42	29
2012 Jul 19-22	28	41	30
2012 Jul 9-12	27	41	30
2012 Jun 7-10	30	39	30
2012 May 10-13	27	44	29
2012 May 3-5	28	38	32
2012 Apr 9-12	29	41	29
2012 Mar 8-11	27	42	30
2012 Feb 16-19	27	43	29
2012 Feb 2-5	27	43	29
2012 Jan 5-8	27	42	30
2011 Dec 15-18	30	42	27
2011 Nov 28-Dec 1	25	45	28
2011 Nov 3-6	27	35	36
2011 Oct 6-9	26	41	31
2011 Sep 15-18	21	46	32
2011 Sep 8-11	25	44	30
2011 Aug 11-14	28	44	26
2011 Aug 4-7	24	42	34
2011 Jul 12-15	25	42	30
2011 Jul 7-10	29	39	30
2011 Jun 9-12	30	38	29
2011 May 5-8	29	37	32
2011 Apr 20-23	31	36	32
2011 Apr 7-11	26	42	30
2011 Mar 25-27	25	40	32
2011 Mar 3-6	29	39	29
2011 Feb 2-5	28	40	31
2011 Jan 14-16	28	42	28
2011 Jan 7-9	29	37	31
2010 Dec 10-12	33	34	32
2010 Nov 19-21	29	40	29
2010 Nov 4-7	26	41	31
2010 Oct 28-31	29	36	32
2010 Oct 21-24	29	34	33
2010 Oct 14-17	30	36	30
2010 Oct 7-10	30	34	33
2010 Sep 30-Oct 3	29	37	30
2010 Sep 23-26	30	34	32
2010 Sep 13-16	30	41	28
2010 Aug 27-30	28	41	30
2010 Aug 5-8	29	40	30
2010 Jul 27-Aug 1	30	37	31
2010 Jul 8-11	26	40	30
2010 Jun 11-13	28	33	36
2010 May 24-25	28	40	30
2010 May 3-6	30	36	32
2010 Apr 8-11	26	42	29
2010 Mar 26-28	28	40	31
2010 Mar 4-7	29	39	30
2010 Feb 1-3	27	40	33
2010 Jan 8-10	28	36	34
2009 Dec 11-13	29	36	33
2009 Oct 16-19	25	41	32
2009 Oct 1-4	27	38	33
2009 Sep 11-13	26	40	33
2009 Aug 31-Sep 2	28	36	35
2009 Aug 6-9	28	35	35
2009 Jul 17-19	26	39	33
2009 Jul 10-12	29	33	37
2009 Jun 14-17	29	37	32
2009 May 29-31	26	37	35
2009 May 7-10	32	34	32
2009 Apr 20-21	27	36	36
2009 Apr 6-9	24	40	35
2009 Mar 27-29	28	35	35
2009 Mar 5-8	25	35	38
2009 Feb 20-22	27	36	34
2009 Feb 9-12	29	36	33
2009 Jan 30-Feb 1	27	35	36
2009 Jan 9-11	30	33	36
2008 Dec 12-14	26	35	37
2008 Dec 4-7	27	33	37
2008 Nov 13-16	26	35	39
2008 Nov 7-9	28	37	33
2008 Oct 23-26	33	32	34
2008 Oct 10-12	30	33	35
2008 Oct 3-5	27	38	33
2008 Sep 26-27	28	35	35
2008 Sep 8-11	32	31	35
2008 Sep 5-7	30	34	35
2008 Aug 21-23	27	37	36
2008 Aug 7-10	31	32	35
2008 Jul 25-27	29	33	36
2008 Jul 10-13	27	35	35
2008 Jun 15-19	30	35	34
2008 Jun 9-12	29	36	33
2008 May 30-Jun1	26	36	37
2008 May 8-11	27	35	37
2008 May 1-3	27	37	36
2008 Apr 18-20	25	38	36
2008 Apr 6-9	26	35	37
2008 Mar 14-16	29	33	38
2008 Mar 6-9	28	37	34
2008 Feb 21-24	29	34	36
2008 Feb 11-14	26	34	40
2008 Feb 8-10	28	34	37
2008 Jan 30-Feb 2	29	36	35
2008 Jan 10-13	28	38	34
2008 Jan 4-6	30	35	34
2007 Dec 14-16	27	39	33
2007 Dec 6-9	30	36	32
2007 Nov 30-Dec 2	28	41	31
2007 Nov 11-14	27	38	33
2007 Nov 2-4	25	41	34
2007 Oct 12-14	24	43	31
2007 Oct 4-7	28	38	32
2007 Sep 14-16	28	38	33
2007 Sep 7-8	26	41	32
2007 Aug 13-16	28	40	30
2007 Aug 3-5	27	43	30
2007 Jul 12-15	29	37	32
2007 Jul 6-8	25	43	31
2007 Jun 11-14	27	38	34
2007 Jun 1-3	31	36	31
2007 May 10-13	27	38	34
2007 May 4-6	27	40	33
2007 Apr 13-15	29	36	34
2007 Apr 2-5	30	36	34
2007 Mar 23-25	29	36	33
2007 Mar 11-14	31	35	32
2007 Mar 2-4	27	37	35
2007 Feb 9-11	26	41	32
2007 Feb 1-4	26	37	35
2007 Jan 15-18	30	32	36
2007 Jan 12-14	28	40	32
2007 Jan 5-7	27	42	31
2006 Dec 11-14	30	34	35
2006 Dec 8-10	29	36	34
2006 Nov 9-12	24	40	35
2006 Nov 2-5	31	32	34
2006 Oct 20-22	29	34	35
2006 Oct 9-12	28	35	34
2006 Oct 6-8	29	31	38
2006 Sep 15-17	31	34	34
2006 Sep 7-10	30	33	35
2006 Aug 18-20	33	32	34
2006 Aug 7-10	31	31	36
2006 Jul 28-30	32	29	38
2006 Jul 21-23	29	37	33
2006 Jul 6-9	31	33	34
2006 Jun 23-26	26	36	37
2006 Jun 9-11	35	27	37
2006 Jun 1-4	30	35	34
2006 May 12-13	30	36	34
2006 May 8-11	29	35	34
2006 May 5-7	29	37	32
2006 Apr 28-30	30	35	34
2006 Apr 10-13	31	33	35
2006 Apr 7-9	31	33	35
2006 Mar 13-16	28	36	33
2006 Mar 10-12	32	33	34
2006 Feb 28-Mar 1	32	31	35
2006 Feb 9-12	30	39	31
2006 Feb 6-9	33	34	30
2006 Jan 20-22	32	32	34
2006 Jan 9-12	34	34	31
2006 Jan 6-8	34	33	32
2005 Dec 19-22	29	36	32
2005 Dec 16-18	31	36	32
2005 Dec 9-11	30	38	31
2005 Dec 5-8	36	31	31
2005 Nov 17-20	33	30	34
2005 Nov 11-13	31	34	34
2005 Nov 7-10	32	33	33
2005 Oct 28-30	32	37	30
2005 Oct 24-26	33	30	35
2005 Oct 21-23	34	33	33
2005 Oct 13-16	30	33	36
2005 Sep 26-28	32	34	33
2005 Sep 16-18	30	33	36
2005 Sep 12-15	30	37	31
2005 Sep 8-11	33	34	32
2005 Aug 28-30	32	32	35
2005 Aug 22-25	29	34	35
2005 Aug 8-11	33	30	35
2005 Aug 5-7	33	35	31
2005 Jul 25-28	28	37	33
2005 Jul 22-24	32	31	36
2005 Jul 7-10	30	33	35
2005 Jun 29-30	29	31	38
2005 Jun 24-26	33	32	34
2005 Jun 16-19	33	31	34
2005 Jun 6-8	33	34	31
2005 May 23-26	33	34	31
2005 May 20-22	29	33	36
2005 May 2-5	35	30	34
2005 Apr 29-May 1	34	34	31
2005 Apr 18-21	35	29	35
2005 Apr 1-2	35	33	31
2005 Mar 21-23	32	29	37
2005 Mar 18-20	35	31	32
2005 Mar 7-10	35	31	32
2005 Feb 25-27	38	27	34
2005 Feb 21-24	37	31	29
2005 Feb 7-10	34	30	35
2005 Feb 4-6	37	35	28
2005 Jan 14-16	33	36	30
2005 Jan 7-9	35	29	36
2005 Jan 3-5	37	27	35
2004 Dec 17-19	33	30	35
2004 Dec 5-8	37	29	32
2004 Nov 19-21	38	31	30
2004 Nov 7-10	38	27	35
2004 Oct 29-31	34	27	37
2004 Oct 22-24	35	29	36
2004 Oct 14-16	38	29	33
2004 Oct 11-14	33	32	35
2004 Oct 9-10	35	30	34
2004 Oct 1-3	36	27	37
2004 Sep 24-26	39	28	31
2004 Sep 13-15	37	29	33
2004 Sep 3-5	37	29	34
2004 Aug 23-25	35	32	32
2004 Aug 9-11	36	29	34
2004 Jul 30-Aug 1	35	28	36
2004 Jul 19-21	37	28	34
2004 Jul 8-11	35	27	36
2004 Jun 21-23	32	33	34
2004 Jun 3-6	33	31	35
2004 May 21-23	33	31	34
2004 May 7-9	32	32	33
2004 May 2-4	32	31	36
2004 Apr 16-18	32	32	34
2004 Apr 5-8	34	30	34
2004 Mar 26-28	36	30	32
2004 Mar 8-11	31	35	33
2004 Mar 5-7	33	31	35
2004 Feb 16-17	30	39	31
2004 Feb 9-12	32	35	32
2004 Feb 6-8	33	36	30
2004 Jan 29-Feb 1	31	35	33
2004 Jan 12-15	32	33	34
2004 Jan 9-11	33	35	31
2004 Jan 2-5	32	40	28
GALLUP

	Republicans + Republican leaners	Democrats + Democratic leaners
	%	%
2017 May 3-7	45	44
2017 Apr 5-9	41	48
2017 Mar 9-29	38	47
2017 Mar 1-5	41	49
2017 Feb 1-5	43	48
2017 Jan 4-8	44	43
2016 Dec 7-11	41	42
2016 Nov 9-13	43	48
2016 Nov 1-6	43	46
2016 Oct 5-9	40	44
2016 Sep 14-18	44	49
2016 Sep 7-11	44	45
2016 Aug 3-7	41	48
2016 Jul 13-17	43	43
2016 Jun 14-23	42	48
2016 Jun 1-5	41	48
2016 May 18-22	47	46
2016 May 4-8	43	47
2016 Apr 6-10	41	49
2016 Mar 2-6	40	48
2016 Feb 3-7	43	46
2016 Jan 21-25	42	48
2016 Jan 6-10	44	45
2015 Dec 2-6	41	46
2015 Nov 4-8	42	44
2015 Oct 7-11	43	44
2015 Sep 9-13	45	44
2015 Aug 5-9	43	45
2015 Jul 8-12	41	47
2015 Jun 2-7	43	45
2015 May 6-10	42	45
2015 Apr 9-12	38	47
2015 Mar 6-9	44	42
2015 Feb 8-11	43	44
2015 Jan 5-8	44	43
2014 Dec 8-11	41	45
2014 Nov 6-9	47	41
2014 Oct 29-Nov 2	41	46
2014 Oct 12-15	47	41
2014 Sep 25-30	44	48
2014 Sep 4-7	47	42
2014 Aug 7-10	42	46
2014 Jul 7-10	40	42
2014 Jun 5-8	44	44
2014 May 8-11	40	47
2014 Apr 24-30	41	48
2014 Apr 3-6	41	43
2014 Mar 6-9	42	47
2014 Feb 6-9	40	47
2014 Jan 5-8	40	45
2013 Dec 5-8	42	44
2013 Nov 7-10	39	45
2013 Oct 3-6	38	48
2013 Sep 5-8	41	47
2013 Aug 7-11	41	44
2013 Jul 10-14	40	46
2013 Jun 20-24	43	46
2013 Jun 1-4	43	46
2013 May 2-7	41	48
2013 Apr 4-14	40	49
2013 Mar 7-10	41	48
2013 Feb 7-10	42	48
2013 Jan 7-10	40	49
2012 Dec 27-30	39	47
2012 Dec 19-22	36	53
2012 Dec 14-17	41	49
2012 Nov 26-29	44	46
2012 Nov 15-18	39	50
2012 Nov 9-12	40	50
2012 Nov 1-4	42	50
2012 Sep 24-27	43	50
2012 Sep 6-9	42	51
2012 Aug 20-22	46	49
2012 Aug 9-12	41	44
2012 Jul 19-22	47	45
2012 Jul 9-12	41	46
2012 Jun 7-10	42	44
2012 May 10-13	45	46
2012 May 3-5	41	47
2012 Apr 9-12	43	47
2012 Mar 8-11	41	46
2012 Feb 16-19	45	45
2012 Feb 2-5	44	45
2012 Jan 5-8	44	47
2011 Dec 15-18	45	45
2011 Nov 28-Dec 1	43	43
2011 Nov 3-6	41	50
2011 Oct 6-9	45	43
2011 Sep 15-18	40	49
2011 Sep 8-11	48	44
2011 Aug 11-14	47	40
2011 Aug 4-7	44	50
2011 Jul 12-15	42	47
2011 Jul 7-10	47	44
2011 Jun 9-12	47	42
2011 May 5-8	43	46
2011 Apr 20-23	46	46
2011 Apr 7-11	46	43
2011 Mar 25-27	42	46
2011 Mar 3-6	45	43
2011 Feb 2-5	44	49
2011 Jan 14-16	47	43
2011 Jan 7-9	45	44
2010 Dec 10-12	48	44
2010 Nov 19-21	49	42
2010 Nov 4-7	44	47
2010 Oct 28-31	43	44
2010 Oct 21-24	43	45
2010 Oct 14-17	45	43
2010 Oct 7-10	43	44
2010 Sep 30-Oct 3	43	44
2010 Sep 23-26	44	43
2010 Sep 13-16	48	42
2010 Aug 27-30	47	45
2010 Aug 5-8	43	44
2010 Jul 27-Aug 1	44	42
2010 Jul 8-11	41	46
2010 Jun 11-13	42	47
2010 May 24-25	43	48
2010 May 3-6	45	44
2010 Apr 8-11	42	46
2010 Mar 26-28	46	46
2010 Mar 4-7	44	45
2010 Feb 1-3	45	46
2010 Jan 8-10	43	48
2009 Dec 11-13	43	49
2009 Oct 16-19	41	47
2009 Oct 1-4	43	46
2009 Sep 11-13	43	47
2009 Aug 31-Sep 2	43	49
2009 Aug 6-9	43	47
2009 Jul 17-19	41	48
2009 Jul 10-12	42	50
2009 Jun 14-17	41	48
2009 May 29-31	39	48
2009 May 7-10	45	45
2009 Apr 20-21	39	50
2009 Apr 6-9	34	53
2009 Mar 27-29	40	51
2009 Mar 5-8	35	53
2009 Feb 20-22	39	51
2009 Feb 9-12	39	51
2009 Jan 30-Feb 1	38	53
2009 Jan 9-11	41	51
2008 Dec 12-14	35	52
2008 Dec 4-7	39	51
2008 Nov 13-16	37	55
2008 Nov 7-9	40	51
2008 Oct 23-26	45	48
2008 Oct 10-12	41	52
2008 Oct 3-5	40	50
2008 Sep 26-27	40	50
2008 Sep 8-11	43	50
2008 Sep 5-7	47	48
2008 Aug 21-23	40	53
2008 Aug 7-10	40	50
2008 Jul 25-27	41	48
2008 Jul 10-13	37	47
2008 Jun 15-19	40	51
2008 Jun 9-12	41	49
2008 May 30-Jun1	39	53
2008 May 8-11	40	52
2008 May 1-3	42	53
2008 Apr 18-20	39	56
2008 Apr 6-9	36	55
2008 Mar 14-16	41	53
2008 Mar 6-9	38	53
2008 Feb 21-24	38	53
2008 Feb 11-14	38	54
2008 Feb 8-10	39	54
2008 Jan 30-Feb 2	40	51
2008 Jan 10-13	39	52
2008 Jan 4-6	39	51
2007 Dec 14-16	38	52
2007 Dec 6-9	41	44
2007 Nov 30-Dec 2	42	48
2007 Nov 11-14	35	49
2007 Nov 2-4	38	54
2007 Oct 12-14	39	52
2007 Oct 4-7	40	48
2007 Sep 14-16	39	54
2007 Sep 7-8	38	52
2007 Aug 13-16	41	47
2007 Aug 3-5	40	48
2007 Jul 12-15	40	49
2007 Jul 6-8	37	53
2007 Jun 11-14	37	53
2007 Jun 1-3	42	48
2007 May 10-13	39	52
2007 May 4-6	41	49
2007 Apr 13-15	42	52
2007 Apr 2-5	42	49
2007 Mar 23-25	41	51
2007 Mar 11-14	41	48
2007 Mar 2-4	39	52
2007 Feb 9-11	40	52
2007 Feb 1-4	37	54
2007 Jan 15-18	38	52
2007 Jan 12-14	41	53
2007 Jan 5-7	40	53
2006 Dec 11-14	40	53
2006 Dec 8-10	40	50
2006 Nov 9-12	34	56
2006 Nov 2-5	39	49
2006 Oct 20-22	39	54
2006 Oct 9-12	38	48
2006 Oct 6-8	37	56
2006 Sep 15-17	42	50
2006 Sep 7-10	40	51
2006 Aug 18-20	43	48
2006 Aug 7-10	39	51
2006 Jul 28-30	40	52
2006 Jul 21-23	39	49
2006 Jul 6-9	40	49
2006 Jun 23-26	38	55
2006 Jun 9-11	42	50
2006 Jun 1-4	43	50
2006 May 12-13	39	48
2006 May 8-11	40	48
2006 May 5-7	38	49
2006 Apr 28-30	40	54
2006 Apr 10-13	39	50
2006 Apr 7-9	41	53
2006 Mar 13-16	38	48
2006 Mar 10-12	41	52
2006 Feb 28-Mar 1	41	50
2006 Feb 9-12	42	49
2006 Feb 6-9	44	45
2006 Jan 20-22	42	51
2006 Jan 9-12	44	46
2006 Jan 6-8	45	48
2005 Dec 19-22	39	47
2005 Dec 16-18	43	48
2005 Dec 9-11	43	48
2005 Dec 5-8	44	46
2005 Nov 17-20	41	48
2005 Nov 11-13	41	52
2005 Nov 7-10	44	46
2005 Oct 28-30	42	47
2005 Oct 24-26	41	50
2005 Oct 21-23	45	49
2005 Oct 13-16	39	52
2005 Sep 26-28	43	47
2005 Sep 16-18	38	53
2005 Sep 12-15	44	48
2005 Sep 8-11	44	47
2005 Aug 28-30	42	50
2005 Aug 22-25	38	50
2005 Aug 8-11	44	45
2005 Aug 5-7	44	46
2005 Jul 25-28	39	51
2005 Jul 22-24	43	49
2005 Jul 7-10	41	50
2005 Jun 29-30	37	51
2005 Jun 24-26	42	49
2005 Jun 16-19	43	47
2005 Jun 6-8	45	45
2005 May 23-26	43	43
2005 May 20-22	40	51
2005 May 2-5	45	48
2005 Apr 29-May 1	44	47
2005 Apr 18-21	43	49
2005 Apr 1-2	46	46
2005 Mar 21-23	42	50
2005 Mar 18-20	48	43
2005 Mar 7-10	46	46
2005 Feb 25-27	48	45
2005 Feb 21-24	46	43
2005 Feb 7-10	44	50
2005 Feb 4-6	52	41
2005 Jan 14-16	45	46
2005 Jan 7-9	43	49
2005 Jan 3-5	45	48
2004 Dec 17-19	45	48
2004 Dec 5-8	48	45
2004 Nov 19-21	50	43
2004 Nov 7-10	48	48
2004 Oct 29-31	44	49
2004 Oct 22-24	46	49
2004 Oct 14-16	50	46
2004 Oct 11-14	46	48
2004 Oct 9-10	46	48
2004 Oct 1-3	45	49
2004 Sep 24-26	50	44
2004 Sep 13-15	47	47
2004 Sep 3-5	49	46
2004 Aug 23-25	46	46
2004 Aug 9-11	47	47
2004 Jul 30-Aug 1	46	49
2004 Jul 19-21	46	47
2004 Jul 8-11	43	49
2004 Jun 21-23	43	50
2004 Jun 3-6	43	49
2004 May 21-23	42	49
2004 May 7-9	42	50
2004 May 2-4	44	50
2004 Apr 16-18	44	48
2004 Apr 5-8	44	48
2004 Mar 26-28	46	45
2004 Mar 8-11	42	49
2004 Mar 5-7	44	50
2004 Feb 16-17	43	50
2004 Feb 9-12	45	48
2004 Feb 6-8	46	47
2004 Jan 29-Feb 1	44	51
2004 Jan 12-15	43	49
2004 Jan 9-11	45	46
2004 Jan 2-5	48	46
GALLUP

Story 1: Attorney General Sessions Testifies Before Senate Intelligence Committee — Theater of The Absurd — A Sideshow of A Sideshow — Videos —

Jeff Sessions Testifies To Senate Intelligence Committee- Full Hearing

WATCH Jeff Sessions Absolutely Destroys Democrats And Republicans Who Doubt The Trump Administration

Jeff Sessions’s heated testimony, in 3 minutes

Jeff Sessions Opening Statement Senate Intelligence Committee!

Sessions refutes allegations of additional Russian meetings in opening statement

Sen. Warner: ‘Not acceptable’ for Trump administration to come to Congress without answers

Jeff Sessions begins testimony on Comey firing, meeting with Russian ambassador

AG Jeff Sessions – Highlights – Senate Intelligence Committee

FULL. AG Jeff Sessions testifies on Russia at Senate. June 13, 2017. M. Flynn. Dir Comey

Sessions’ testimony frustrates Democrats

Jeff Sessions Testifies To Senate Intelligence Committee- Full Hearing

Feinstein grills Sessions on Comey firing

Leftist Kamala Harris Scolded for Not Allowing Jeff Sessions to Answer Questions

Sessions protects right to ‘executive privilege’

Tom Cotton Decimates Democrats for Providing No Evidence of Russia Collusion

‘Do You Like Spy Fiction James Bond Movies?’ Things Get Weird Between Sen. Cotton and Sessions

Sen Blunt and Sen King Question Jeff Sessions

Sen Collins and Sen Heinrich Question Jeff Sessions

Sen Lankford and Sen Manchin Question Jeff Sessions

Marco Rubio and Ron Weyden Question Jeff Sessions. Some Sparks!

Sen Cornyn Questions Jeff Sessions. Also Quite Good.

WATCH: Attorney General Jeff Sessions On Why FBI Director James Comey Was Fired

JEFF SESSIONS HEARING: President Trump calls Russia threat WITCHHUNT and FAKE NEWS! NEED THE TRUTH!

JEFF SESSIONS HEARING: “Senator Franken asked me A RAMBLING QUESTION!”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions Grilled About Meetings With The Russian Ambassador

‘I Am Not Stonewalling!’ Sessions, Wyden Go Off on Each Other in Explosive Back-and-Forth

HEATED EXCHANGE: Sen. Kamala Harris vs. AG Jeff Sessions – Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing

INTENSE: Sen. Heinrich ACCUSES Jeff Sessions of OBSTRUCTION at Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing

Britt Hume Gives Analysis on AG Sessions Testimony

Judge Napolitano Does Not Think It’s a Good idea For Sessions to Testify Before the Senate

Krauthammer: Going After Sessions is the Democrats’ Third Attempt to Take Down the President

Krauthammer Says Sessions Did a Good Job Fending Off Charges

Theatre of the Absurd and Beckett

SIDESHOW – BLUE MAGIC – (1974)

Executive privilege

Early precedents

Cold War era

United States v. Nixon

Post-Watergate era

Clinton administration

George W. Bush administration

House Investigation of the SEC

Obama Administration

Trump Administration

Sideshow

Types

Acts

Decline and revival

World records

References

Story 2: Two-Party Tyranny Ignores The Real Concerns of American People — The Economy and Jobs, National Security and Terrorism, Federal Deficit Spending and Taxes, Immigration, Education and Health Care Costs — Videos

How Did The U.S. End Up With A Two-Party System?

How the Republican Party went from Lincoln to Trump

Why Doesn’t the U.S. Have a Multi-Party Political System? | Sean Wilentz

How Political Parties Rig Elections

Can A Third-Party Candidate Ever Become President?

‘Two-party tyranny specializes at getting corporate cash & excluding competition’ – Ralph Nader

What Is Libertarianism?

Huge Drop In People Who

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

5 facts about America’s political independents

BY SAMANTHA SMITH2 COMMENTS

The growing myth of the ‘independent’ voter

By Philip Bump January 11, 2016

The Pronk Pops Show Podcasts Portfolio

Listen To Pronk Pops Podcast or Download Shows 906-910

Listen To Pronk Pops Podcast or Download Shows 897-905

Listen To Pronk Pops Podcast or Download Shows 889-896

Listen To Pronk Pops Podcast or Download Shows 884-888

Listen To Pronk Pops Podcast or Download Shows 878-883

Listen To Pronk Pops Podcast or Download Shows 870-877

Listen To Pronk Pops Podcast or Download Shows 864-869

Listen To Pronk Pops Podcast or Download Shows 857-863

Listen To Pronk Pops Podcast or Download Shows 850-856