#here in michigan the Supreme Court has only been helpful because we elected a young black woman | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

letterstomycountry · 5 years ago

Text

Manufacturing Liberal Consent

Image via TPM

Noam Chomsky wrote a book with Edward S. Herman in 1988 called Manufacturing Consent. It is about how media outlets are controlled and manipulated by people in positions of power to influence public opinion.

I couldn’t help but think back to Chomsky’s message in Manufacturing Consent as I took stock of the media coverage of this year’s Democratic primaries, which has been uniformly awful.

Take, for instance, the popular narrative that after Joe Biden won Michigan that the Bernie Sanders campaign is all but over. Headlines include:

Sanders not dropping out but where does he go from here?

Bernie Sanders will stay in primary race despite losses in key states

Campaign Says Bernie Sanders Will Not Drop Out Immediately Despite Michigan Loss

Defiant Bernie Sanders vows to soldier on in US campaign

The bleak picture painted by these headlines suggest that the Sanders Campaign’s chances of victory is slim. But that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Right now, Joe Biden has 864 delegates. Bernie Sanders has 710. So Bernie is roughly 150 delegates behind. And there are still over *2000* delegates that haven't been awarded yet.

So why are so many pundits saying Bernie Sanders' campaign is basically over and has failed to “win key states” when the Obama campaign was even further behind in 2008? Why the slanted media coverage?

The answer seems pretty clear:

You can see that strikingly today where there is huge debate about Sanders being a socialist. “How can we have a socialist president?” In fact, Sanders is what would be called a moderate social democrat in most other societies. In other societies, the word “socialist” is not a curse word — people call themselves socialists and even communists. In the United States, there’s a stigma attached to it by massive propaganda going way back to 1917. Such huge propaganda efforts to demonize the concepts of socialism and communism (saying it means the “gulag” or whatever) is again pretty much unique to the United States. It’s a barrier to introducing even mild New Deal–style social-democratic reforms.

This stigma is largely a type of manufactured consent, however. When you ask people if they agree with the policies Bernie Sanders is proposing, polls consistently show that the majority of people approve of his policies.

Polls also consistently show that the Bernie Sanders campaign is the best suited to defeat Donald Trump in the general election.

So why do we continue to hear how dangerous it is to nominate Bernie Sanders as the Democratic presidential candidate from media outlets? Why are people like Chris Matthews freaking out on national television? Why are moderate democrats calling for the primary to be “shut down” when there’s still a relatively small gap between the candidates?

This is how the rich and powerful manufacture consent. They use their influence over media outlets to ensure that a certain narrative is reinforced. And frankly, I have to say that this year’s coverage of the Democratic primary has been uniquely demonstrative of that fact. Never before has it been more plain that people in charge of powerful institutions are using their large bank accounts and ability to influence media programming decisions behind the scenes to try to sway public opinion in a specific direction by making certain narratives about politics appear to be "common sense" among the intellectual class.

How else can we explain the fact that we have been bombarded with opinion pieces over the past year telling us how Bernie Sanders isn’t electable, despite poll after poll showing that Bernie Sanders does better against Trump than any other candidate? How else can we explain the fact that nearly all the other moderates in the Democratic primary dropped out in near-perfect synchronicity just before Super Tuesday in an effort to shore up support for a single moderate candidate?

The DNC has made it publicly apparent that they want to stop Bernie Sanders from getting the nomination. Some reports suggest that Barack Obama made several calls telling the other candidates it was time to drop out and get behind Joe Biden. Whether that specific factoid is true or not, who knows. But given the DNC’s very publicly announced bias towards Sanders, it seems probable that there was an organized effort to get the moderate candidates to coalesce around a single moderate.

And so the DNC has now forced Joe Biden upon us. A man who--not unlike our current President--apparently has trouble not touching women without their consent. A man who is showing signs of deteriorating cognitive ability. A man who is so gaffe prone that his own surrogates are trying to limit the number of public appearances he makes to avoid more media gaffes. A man who, despite signaling support for the #metoo movement and women’s rights, once said this about Roe v. Wade:

“I don’t like the Supreme Court decision on abortion. I think it went too far. I don’t think that a woman has the sole right to say what should happen to her body.”

And even if you ignore all this, imagine how Donald Trump--a master of verbal misdirection and appealing to the electorate’s baser instincts on the bully pulpit--will manhandle a Democratic presidential candidate who recently tried to quote a well known phrase from the Declaration of Independence and forgot it halfway. This is to say nothing of the ammunition Trump will have during the general election given that the Republican led Senate is now proceeding with an official corruption probe into Joe and Hunter Biden’s private dealings.

Despite all this, establishment Dems are doing their best to manufacture consent for Joe Biden. And by every indication they are doing a hell of a job. Before Super Tuesday, Biden’s performance was abysmal. But once he became the only moderate left in the race, and suddenly received a storm of endorsements from other establishment politicians, he was suddenly electorally competitive. Add to this a little bit of voter suppression designed to discourage young voters from participating, along with the emotional resilience of the “problematic Bernie Bro” mythology that has been empirically demonstrated to be false, you have an excellent full court press designed to manufacture consent for Joe Biden as the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Keep this in mind as the primary campaign continues. And keep it in mind this Sunday when Joe Biden debates Bernie Sanders. Better yet, think about all of this if Joe Biden gets the nomination, because if he does, he will almost certainly lose to Donald Trump in November. Not just because he is a weak candidate, but because nominating Joe Biden is the end of the Democratic party as we know it.

Progressives have made it clear that they are sick of being lied to and used to support Democratic candidates who then flip the script once they are in office. They are tired of being black-mailed into supporting candidates like Joe Biden, who told a room of wealthy donors last year that “nothing will fundamentally change” if he is elected President.

The media has done a fantastic job of making Joe Biden seem like an electable moderate. But “our needs our not moderate.” As we speak, New York City can’t close schools to prevent the Corona Virus from spreading because over 100,000 kids in the NYC school system are homeless and depend on meals from school to get enough food for the day. But since nothing will fundamentally change if Biden is elected, it sounds like he will not show half as much determination to solve this problem as he showed in opposing federal busing to end segregation in the 1970′s.

Remember that Al Gore lost in 2000. John Kerry lost in 2004. Hillary Clinton lost in 2016. And recall that Obama won in 2008 by appealing to young voters, who are much more supportive of progressive policies than older voters. Despite this, the Democratic party has once again--just like in 2000, 2004, and 2016--made it abundantly clear that it would rather run a weak establishment moderate and lose, than run a progressive change candidate and win. Why? Well, at least that way, wealthy democratic donors get to keep their yacht money.

#politics #joe biden #democrats #2020election #primary #2020primary #bernie sanders

73 notes · View notes

lamaestramendez · 4 years ago

Text

en route to fascism

Ok, class.

I am angry. I am words I cannot use on this blog out of the very remote possibility my actual students google me.

Our 45th president (henceforth known as 45 because I refuse to give him the name recognition that he wants) is a fascist pig. Let me teach you about this terminology so that you understand my full meaning.

Let’s begin with “pig” as it’s a more commonly known term than “fascist.”

Pigs, also known in English as hogs, swine, etc. Let’s look at my favorite the Oxford English Dictionary for a literal definition.

Notice that the 1st definition in the noun section is a literal definition, “an omnivorous domesticated hoofed mammal with sparse bristly hair and a flat snout for rooting in the soil, kept for its meat.” I’ve been told that pigs are delightful creatures with higher intelligence than many other small mammals. That is NOT my meaning. In defense of the pig, I share share some pictures of its beauty for you, class, to enjoy.

Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/skeeze-272447/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1507208">skeeze</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1507208">Pixabay</a>

Look how clean they are! Want some more cuteness before we get metaphorical? Check out this pig swimming with a bird!

Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/larsen9236-47917/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=171908">Lisa Larsen</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=171908">Pixabay</a>

Okay, now to all pig-loving friends, I beg your forgiveness. I cannot come up with better word choice. Pigs are not despicable creatures. I’m even somewhat fond of them. However, the only other terms that convey my full meaning when I say “fascist pig”, are inappropriate for my real life students to be reading when they inadvertently google me and stumble upon this post. I love them too much to expose them to that kind of English.

So when I say “fascist pig,” I am not referring to the many, many good qualities of the wild boar’s descendent. I am referring to those characteristics which humans find repugnant because we are wired differently than pigs are.

Yucky traits I am referring to with the term “fascist pig.” (Feel free to skip this section if you have a delicate stomach).:

Pigs, for instance, do not sweat, so they cool off by covering themselves in mud. Clever idea, right? Modern humans from my culture wouldn’t do that because the mud would dry out and stick to your hair; there could be something nasty in it; and dry mud under your nails is unpleasant. We also sweat, so mud as a cooling technique is rendered unnecessary.

Pigs are not picky eaters. My dad is the son of a large animal vet. When I was a kid, he told me about how farmers have pigs go into a cornfield after the cows have finished the post-harvest leftovers because the pigs will eat whatever unprocessed corn is left from the cow’s droppings. Needless to say, the image stuck what me.

Due to the rooting through excrement habit, pigs stink.

Now on to the word, fascist. Following is a screenshot of the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition for the term “fascism.”

The screenshot demonstrates that the definition of fascism is, “an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.” The next line explains a way the term is used generally to mean “extreme authoritarian, oppressive, or intolerant views or practices.”

Examples of 45′s fascist behaviors:

Children separated from their families in concentration camps. I have second-hand knowledge of this. The Gestapo Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) locked up a friend of mine for 45 days. He was taken from his uncle. He was 5 years old. Here’s his story: https://youtu.be/Xa6NYkQWF4I . It’s also been documented by many reputable news sources. https://apnews.com/9794de32d39d4c6f89fbefaea3780769

Children and adults placed in hieleras (ice boxes/coolers). I know people from multiple Central American countries who have suffered this at the hands of ICE. What happens is , the family turns themselves into ICE to apply for asylum. ICE locks them up and turns the temperature down to just above freezing. ICE lets them go within 3 days. There is no benefit to these families making up this story. Being from different countries, they did not know one another before telling me the exact same story. Here’s a similar story that happened to another family from a reputable news source: https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-family-separation-policy-never-really-ended-why-ncna1025376

Flint, Michigan still does not have clean water. Yes that’s more in the hands of state government officials but I don’t see 45 using any political clout to help mitigate the situation. https://detroit.cbslocal.com/2020/07/30/michigan-supreme-court-rules-flint-class-action-can-proceed-over-lead-in-water/

45 is violating court orders in regards to DACA. ***Side note: Just like Andrew Jackson. Can we please take him off the $20 bill and replace him with Harriet Tubman already???*** https://www.npr.org/2020/07/28/896334928/trump-administration-will-reject-new-daca-applications-administration-official-s

Journalists are arrested and manhandled by law enforcement when covering protests which is a clear violation of the 1st amendment. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/29/arts/television/cnn-arrest.html

He’s attacking his own citizens. https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/07/27/895713277/tear-gas-fired-on-protesters-again-during-overnight-protests-in-portland

He thinks Kim Jong Un is awesome. https://www.npr.org/2017/05/02/526520042/6-strongmen-trumps-praised-and-the-conflicts-it-presents

He’s trying to lengthen our border wall - again, shades of North Korea. https://www.npr.org/2020/05/25/861837314/trumps-border-wall-would-go-through-laredos-historic-downtown

140,000 deaths from COVID keep getting minimized. Steps to mitigate the pandemic keep getting minimized. https://www.npr.org/2020/07/19/892787298/some-young-people-have-the-sniffles-trump-downplays-the-coronavirus-severity

I’m starting to work myself up into a state with this list. In order to preserve my sanity, I’m skipping the rest of the reasons and going to the most salient one.

45 is advocating for a delay of the 2020 presidential election. See this screenshot from twitter?

Delay the election?????????? A delay would inevitably extend the length of 45′s current term, no matter the election’s outcome. That’s not how a republic works. It’s how a fascist who is trying to make it look like he’s operating in the people’s best interests, steals absolute power for himself.

Post-Nazi Germany, Germans often said, “We didn’t see it coming.” I say that is a bunch of baloney. I say, Hitler’s contemporaries did not WANT to see what was happening, so they lied to themselves to make their own reality more comfortable.

You should not be comfortable right now. You should be sick with worry.

Get the word out about the evil that is happening in America. Our own citizens are victims of 45′s fearmongering. Do not let them be comfortable with his actions. If you are silent, you are complicit. Do not be complicit. A true American pulls all the stops to make this country that we LOVE a better place. Staying silent in the face of fascism has the opposite effect.

Oh, and in case you forget, today’s learning objective is to understand why I am correct when I describe 45 as a fascist pig.

#black lives matter #speak up #america #usa #the united states #patriotism #patriotism not nationalism #love your country #fascism #abolish ice #melt ice #daca #no ban no wall #families belong together

2 notes · View notes

leftpress · 8 years ago

Text

Two days of revolt in the United States

On the streets - angry but determined (Pic: Socialist Worker)

Sadie Robinson | Sun 22 Jan 2017

Donald Trump has a fight on his hands. The racist, sexist billionaire was sworn in as US president on Friday. But he couldn't do so without provoking hundreds of thousands of people in the US—and millions across the globe—to take to the streets to oppose him.

On Saturday an enormous Women's March filled the streets of Washington DC. It was impossible to move.

From early on Metro stations were overrun with a sea of placards and pink "pussy hats". Protesters were taking issue with Trump's comment that his celebrity status made it easier to grab women "by the pussy".

Hundreds of thousands protested in states across the US at the same time—and on the Friday to mark Inauguration Day.

Get your Latest News From The Leftist Front on LeftPress.tk → Help Us Gather News (Click for Details) ←

Trump's sickening sexism has infuriated people, but it was far from the only reason people protested. When asked why they were there, most people had to wait a minute before responding because there were so many possible answers.

Fears about the impact of Trump on education, reproductive rights, climate change, the Supreme Court, health care, nuclear power and racism came up again and again.

Many complained about Trump's refusal so far to release his tax returns and his family's refusal to live in the White House, costing millions in extra security.

Tara Pistar from the Washington County Teachers' Union said it was about "democracy". "He may be elected but he needs to know that a large majority of people don't support him," she told Socialist Worker.

Like many others Tara was furious at Trump's apparent plans for education. "I think it's disgraceful that he has nominated Betsy DeVos for education secretary. This is someone who knows nothing about public schools or has no understanding of children with needs.

"The education system is going down the toilet already and she has no idea what we deal with every day."

Alexandria: 'I am most worried about education' (Pic: Socialist Worker)

Alexandria Medellin came to the Women's March with 150 students from Hamilton College in New York. "I'm most worried about education," she told Socialist Worker. "I have a 12 year old sister and I want her to have the same opportunities in public school that I had.

"But I think a Trump administration will want to cut back on funding and some classes, such as arts, will be cut."

Carly was among many first-time marchers. "His cabinet appointments have been very worrying," she told Socialist Worker. "He's going to try and reverse the gains we have made over the past 50 years.

"I hope they get the message from today that people won't take this standing down. People say millennials won't put up with things but it's not just millennials. It's everybody."

Maya flew in from California to protest in DC. "I think Trump will introduce a lot of corruption," she told Socialist Worker. "It will be very hard to reverse that.

"I think he should know that there are many more people who will fight him rather than support him."

Mary was concerned about Trump repealing Obamacare, which, despite its serious flaws, has given millions of Americans access to health care for the first time. "My cousin had no insurance and the hip replacement he got with Obamacare changed his life," she said.

youtube

For protesters, Trump's claims that he will help workers and create more jobs in America was a joke. Government worker Kim said, "Trump has had all these luxury hotels and businesses. Several went bankrupt and he didn't pay people.

"He doesn't care about people. What does he know about trying to find a job?"

Many marchers feared Trump would turn back the clock on hard-won rights. One chant summed this up, "Donald Trump, go away—racist, sexist, anti-gay."

Dani and Lauren felt they could become a target under a Trump administration. "We want to have a child," explained Dani. "How can we have a mixed race child as a same-sex couple in Trump's America?"

Jan, a retired administrator for a women's rights organisation from Michigan, said Trump "represents the total reversal of everything I have worked my whole life for".

"I grew up in during the civil rights movement, the anti-Vietnam war movement and the movement for women's rights," she told Socialist Worker. "I think our whole government has become too focused on elections and has forgotten about real people."

Kim said Trump's administration "looks like fascism to me". "The whole tone of this election was so ugly," she added.

Liza Knapp from Massachusetts agreed. "I'm a Christian pastor," she told Socialist Worker. "I couldn't be true to my calling if I didn't speak out.

"The language used during the election stirred up xenophobia, racism and sexism. We are trying to show that this is not the true face of America."

Medina: 'Immigrants will be deported even though they make such a contribution' (Pic: Socialist Worker)

Medina Haeri flew in from Geneva, Switzerland, to be on the Women's March. She had lived in the US for over 30 years. "My family emigrated to the US when I was a small child," she told Socialist Worker.

"I feel I owe the US a lot as it gave my family a lot of opportunities. But the America reflected in the election didn't ring true to me. It's really sad. Immigrants will be deported even though they make such a contribution."

For Ashley Bunn, who drove eight hours from Toledo, Ohio, to demonstrate, Trump is "a manifestation of everything my people have fought against".

"I need to be on the right side of history," she told Socialist Worker. "Some people were discouraging, saying protests don't achieving anything. But our country is founded on protest.

“As a person of colour I wouldn't be able to be here if it wasn't for protests."

Many people were gleeful that the Women's March dwarfed the number of Trump supporters who turned out on Inauguration Day. Kim said she had never seen anything like it. And demonstrators were buoyed by the fact that others across the world were marching in solidarity, excitedly sharing news of global protests.

The demo was a real mix of people—young and old, black and white, seasoned activists and first-time marchers.

youtube

The vast majority of the placards were homemade. Many celebrated being a "nasty woman" - in response to Trump's infamous denunciation of Hillary Clinton. People had badges declaring, "I am a nasty woman".

Protesters mocked Trump with chants including, "We want a leader—not a creepy Tweeter," and "Hands too small to build a wall".

There were angry boos as the protest passed the Trump International Hotel. And the anger wasn't confined to those demonstrating in the streets.

Pat from Michigan brought a homemade sign reading, "Hear our voices" signed by relatives, friends and co-workers who couldn't be on the march.

Everywhere, conversations were taking place between demonstrators and others about Trump. It was clear that many feel he doesn't speak for them.

Kenny was working giving tours in DC on the day of Trump's inauguration but said he would have joined the protests otherwise. He told Socialist Worker, "I believe Trump should be protested about. A lot of things he's said do not fit the script for an American president.

"As a person of colour, I believe Trump is an overt racist. He's not for the people, he's for the rich."

Lots of protesters would have preferred Clinton to win the presidency rather than endure the horror of Trump. But there was also a sense that her supporters weren't entirely comfortable with her and the Democrats.

Sanders

Bernie Sanders, a self-proclaimed socialist who Clinton defeated to become the Democratic presidential candidate, was very popular among marchers.

Barb from the Westport Unitarian Church said, "I'm very disappointed in the Democrats. I am a Bernie Sanders Supporter—I am in no way a Hillary supporter.

"As far as I'm concerned, she is not a supporter of women. And she's a warmonger, while I'm for peace."

Carmen Hulbert helped to set up Latinos for Bernie from NYC. She told Socialist Worker, "I was a Bernie person at the Democratic convention. I voted for the Green candidate Jill Stein in the end. That was the only option, you had to stay with your conscience.

Carmen (left): 'Sanders could have won'. Mike: 'We definitely need an alternative party' (Pic: Socialist Worker)

"Bernie Sanders was the candidate this country needed. I think he could've won."

Mike McCabe, also from New York City, agreed. "If Bernie had stood, we're confident he would've won. This presidential race put Trump in the White House. We definitely need an alternative party."

Carmen added, "The day after Clinton lost, she said it was because she was a woman. Then it was FBI director James Comey, then Wikileaks. Then it was Russia. It's rubbish—she was just a very poor candidate.

Some felt a failure of the political system had helped Trump win. Constance said, "A lot of Trump supporters have been left behind by the Democrats."

First-time marcher Usha told Socialist Worker, "Both Sanders and Trump picked up on a real problem —that middle and working class Americans don't think politics is working for them.

"I think the Democrats should work on that."

Struggling

Joseph came from California to protest in DC. "I don't fault the working class men and women who voted for Trump," he told Socialist Worker. "People are working ten-hour days or two jobs and still struggling to pay the bills.

"Trump stood in front of them and said, I will help you."

The protests were defiant. On the Women's March from the stage, speakers asked if demonstrators were afraid of Donald Trump. This sparked a resounding, "No!" from the crowd.

Liz Ibarra, who has campaigned against oil pipelines, told Socialist Worker, "Trump is never going to be my president." The sentiment was echoed on thousands of placards on protests across the US.

youtube

Individual trade unionists and small groups did join the protests last weekend, but they didn't have a big enough organised presence. And, understandably on such huge demonstrations, there were wildly differing views on what should happen next.

Some people said getting more Democrats elected is the way to limit Trump's attacks. They said the next focus would be on elections in two years' time. Others stressed that ordinary people must stay organised and keep fighting.

Many did feel that this could happen and that opposition to Trump can grow as he breaks promises he made during his election campaign.

There is a sense that more and more people across America have decided enough is enough and that they need to take a stand.

Whether Trump gets away with his assaults will depend on whether ordinary people resist. The protests prove the potential for that.

Related Stories on LeftPress:

► THE NEW REALITY

► WHY WE SHOULD TEACH ABOUT THE FBI’S WAR ON THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

► MASSIVE CROWD CONVERGES IN DC OUTSIDE OF ALT-RIGHT ‘DEPLORABALL’

16 notes · View notes

supertrendingnewsarticles · 5 years ago

Link

Now that Bernie Sanders has dropped out of the 2020 presidential race, the heat is on Joe Biden to select his running mate soon, so that he can generate some much needed media attention and fundraising in the middle of this global pandemic. In my opinion, as a black woman, Biden’s choice, without question, should be a black woman. Here is why: When Barack Obama secured the nomination for president of the United States of America in 2008, he chose the older, wiser, gray-haired, white male senior senator from Delaware, Joe Biden. Although Biden was not the exciting choice, he was the right choice for the young, black nominee. Obama was going to be the nation’s first black executive. He needed to reassure those nervous about history’s choice, that he would have someone “safe” and known to the public by his side. Now, Biden needs to send the opposite signal: that it is time for America to trust a woman who represents the backbone of the Democratic Party with the vice presidency, one who is ready on day one, if need be, to serve as president.What Obama Saw in BidenThe entire history of America starts with white men of power owning everything, including slaves, running the government, owning the wealth, and calling all the shots.Then once that power was finally shared in the late 1860s after slavery, it was shared first with black men. Followed by white women, then finally, black women and women of color. It started with the 15th Amendment, approved by Congress on Feb. 26, 1869, and ratified Feb. 3, 1870, granting black men the right to vote. Not black women. And not white women. The first blacks elected to Congress, during Reconstruction, were all men, of course. It was not until 1920 that white women got the right to vote, with the first white woman elected to the House of Representatives in 1916 and to the U.S. Senate in 1922. It was not until Shirley Chisholm’s election to the House in 1968 that a black woman served in Congress.Chisholm’s historic win came one year after the first non-white Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall, joined the highest court in 1967. It wasn't until Sandra Day O’Connor reached the Supreme Court in 1981 that a woman served on the world’s most elite bench. Sonia Sotomayor became the first Latina justice in 2009. It is 2020 and no black woman has been nominated to the high court. It was Bill Clinton who appointed the first women to serve as secretary of state and attorney general. It took George W. Bush, a Republican, to appoint the first black secretary of state, Colin Powell, followed by Condoleezza Rice, a black woman. Biden Commits to Selecting Female VPJoe Biden now has a chance to buck history’s tide. Two white women have been nominated for vice president, Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Sarah Palin in 2008. If I were advising Biden strictly along electoral guidelines, I would tell him the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, or Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin would make great choices. They both would likely bring key electoral states that Trump carried in 2016 into his column on Election Day.But Sen. Kamala Harris, who wouldn’t get him anything electorally, would deliver something Biden must have in 2020: the intense and energized black vote that eluded Hillary Clinton in 2016. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. (which is also my sorority and we have a powerful army of more than 300,000 members worldwide to help her raise money and be foot soldiers on the ground). Another strong choice electorally and along color lines is Florida Rep. Val Demings, who served as a House impeachment manager during the Trump impeachment. She too could produce that excitement, and help Biden compete for Florida, a state that Trump can’t afford to lose. Some may ask why I don’t include Stacey Abrams here. One big reason: She has not been vetted nationally by a nosy, aggressive and often rough national press corps. Harris, Demings, and other possible candidates mentioned are federal office holders. They have been vetted. Biden has made clear he wants no hiccups or surprises. And a 43-year-old woman of color, who currently holds no public office and lost her only statewide race, would be a big leap for the country to accept as someone ready for the presidency on day one. In 2016, Hillary Clinton was ahead in the national polls, and yet she did not turn out the Obama coalition in sufficient numbers in part because black turnout in key states like Michigan and Pennsylvania wasn’t strong enough. Biden, who has pledged to nominate a woman as his running mate and a black woman as a justice, knows there is no path to the White House for a Democrat without strong black turnout. He needs a black woman as his running mate. Why? Because black women are the core of the Democratic base, the party’s most loyal voters. And as Harris made clear in her final debate performance this year, the Democratic Party must stop taking black women voters for granted. Whether it’s Harris or Demings, Biden needs a smart, strong, loyal, and tough sister by his side. It is the Obama 2008 ticket in reverse. Only this time Biden will be at the top, and he has a chance to change history’s trajectory by putting a tested and trusted black woman in his No. 2 slot—thus setting her up for the best shot a woman has ever had of becoming president in either 2024 if Biden does not run again or in 2028 after two terms. Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3edAbYw

#Blogger #World News

0 notes

careyourself · 4 years ago

Text

I Kinda Don't Care Humor T Shirt

But this is new business and you don’t know what you agree to when you what you’re actually giving is where you’re agreeing with you that none of these kids are reading and that you realize and occasionally you sign a I Kinda Don't Care Humor T Shirt contract and you didn’t read it you hold up in court that you didn’t know what I’m saying is that these are predatory practices and we have to educate people on how bad it actually is because people are just you say okay click my friend does it all do it I don’t care if you are so are I still yeah okay him the episode Blake a few years ago that the human centipede so were stopped about whether you agreed to it you interested a few servers are read to the brine joke is that they keep taking these signing contracts without reading them and ask them to all kinds of firstborn child kind of stuff a dream to become part of the human centipede so when I have the next world war based around tick tock right all yeah but I also think maybe PlayStation and Xbox might do a World War II. So Wiseman is point Scalia is word of her death sent shockwaves around the handle that well resident was speaking at a campaign rally in Minnesota touting the importance of judicial nominations is quicker on his feet and Biden that’s one thing I’ll give him he’s quicker on his feet wet with software and Biden’s are of Ginsberg’s passing even as a supporter shouted the new the next president will get 1 to 3 or four Supreme Court justices I do want to bring up that when school Leah died it was right before Obama was about to leave office right before the election the trunk got elected in and they were Republicans were like a Obama leave that appointment up to the next parade it was over six months before right and this is left to us before and Mitch McConnell was in charge and to use 237 or something to 47 was a well over 200 days prior to Obama leaving and Mitch McConnell wouldn’t even hold a hearing for Obama and now Mitch McConnell’s like when you try to cram someone that were less than halfway last night. And is hereand I clothingand present also present very well before the emails that she is on practicaland wonderful people you entertain United Nations I do indeed yes I have trained back to my previous statement I do recall it comes to continental title to send you a call the conversation again I do yes verified other can read it back to me please now actually give them okay Tuesday January the rarest rock she had a different perspective than the restand I think that we found a sadand thinking that we perhaps would wanted to see me for anywhere so we all get a grant which was like aand wonder what we know I cannot purpose for lying aboutand it is strange that that’s less than like it is a little once again nominated that putting Ferdinandand boss lady in their ruling of the bus a particular with the bus baby is a genius exploration of the evils of late capitalism as told through a baby in a coma Verizon how monies dreaming all that it’s a really trippy psychedelic blades like Smith has been seen since what you areas are the outand writing right here at work her job to rewatch minivan forced us to watchand and in light of that they clearly do you look at meand a lot of people think even stronger one human being so which is really funny great foundand had Legoand Batmanand that’s literally the reason lightingand the word Lego man then there like now it’s dumb that he did not shameand are literally just look at the time because those are two of the better animated movies exiting the government was but they are my favorite Batman movies really think I 2012and the screeners for dark night right I was shocked because I looked backand forth read the entire synopsis they managed to write up a whole synopsis without once mentioning the word nowhere to be found on the beach I think I’lland the cover was Bruce Wayne climbing like the wall is no those of a no it’s just Christian mailand in the rain heard like down from like the bar idea that it was just like the colostomy bag Academy voter anymore the impression that there really is then again looking at Wolverine on the Lorraine in combating now should wonder woman need help from for me personally I the superhero film how you compare superhero film to the drama what account if you can’t be beautiful to selectionand even

Source: I Kinda Don't Care Humor T Shirt

I Kinda Don't Care Humor T Shirt, Hoodie, Sweater, Longsleeve T-Shirt For Men and Women

I Kinda Don't Care Humor T Shirt

See more: Dance Dad Of Ballet Daughter I Don't Dance I Finance T-Shirt

Premium Trending This Summer Season will Presents Who Love:

THIS WEEK WAS DEATHLY KAMALI HARRIS CLOSELY TAKING THE I Kinda Don't Care Humor T Shirt POSITION OF VP FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND THEN THE FIRST ARTICLE IS WIKILEAKS POST UTTERED IN 37 DOCUMENTS ON KAMALI HARRIS HOURS AFTER SHE WAS NAMED JOE BIDEN’S RUNNING MATE THEN WE HAVE THIS IS REALLY BIG DOWN THE LEGAL. Tupac is amazing is very good I just didn’t like the Snoop Dogg character I thought that was sad I didn’t look or feel like Snoop Dogg certain things get the feeling off but I it was I a good movie it’s good to check it out I think it’s impossible to contact his whole life two hours so that poor young saluteand Gigi Mayo did a good job may not did a good joband off course Grady did a good job rabies my guy as he did a great job he played a perfectly but yeah man I go’s latest hours yeah I was a great topic know how would now like you might not like it tell you right back has they would wanted to go to he would probably wanted to go deeper into his life but I think I think you should go see the movie event because I cannot get support things like this in the culture anyways okay so in the end this is good I’m not telling you anything bad it wasn’t a bad movie is a good movie I would tell you it was trash out was actually I was satisfied when I leftand you know you don’t see that movie at this as I was satisfied I got paid my money saw that movie actually bought three tickets are a why why didn’t know what I wanted to go side by three different ticket so I ended up spending 21 see the movie way it’s good I got to go see it that way in Michigan in early dealing I went at 10 AM yet definitely also lucky organized you can be happy sought that because it’s two hours of gray filmmaking okay there might be a few characters that didn’t play detect the characters we know in real life like Snoop Dogg that’s okay your stoveand enjoy the movie hundred percent pay they show every a showing of illness too much they just don’t going total depth of the do you go in the just theater now I didn’t I went to ANSI I know Johnson had here in Atlanta check that out there’s also a Cindy bistro but I went to ANSI the reclining seats not taking part wouldn’t go see JGI now I mean you know I think there needs to be another Tupac I think there needs to be a longer Tupac moving his his life he can’t I still can’t believe he was only 25and did all the things he didn’t like this guy like let’s bring up the staff to say it I how many movies is Tupacand I think he was in seven movies he was an 11 movies 11 movies how many how did the any reported 12345677 now moansand then 7 pounds while he was aliveand then after his death wine 234 5678 910 like her 11 hours after his death I think even more than maybe 12 that’s crazy because think about it most people can’t do that their whole life he didn’t like years that’s crazy as first argument 119 91 Tupac Now that’s crazy man so he he was really like active active like six years that’s it six years man that’s crazy man in a day show everything him even wanting to kinda get off death row that the way he died way that a problem with some crib members right before he died think they can show everything generally leads to much outmanned so as for everyone to play now appreciate you broke appreciationand salute Yogi Banks was good to Tupac was pretty amazing brought me to do all that in such a short amount of time that’s crazy we that’s think about that Mandy that no one is ever to be like pot hate it when people compare themselves to talk like even Wyattand Lucci dropped something today saying something pot did know you near Pac Man you can’t be out for two yearsand compare yourself to talk I’m sorry man I’m sorry if you a betting thugand attend movies if you been an 11 moviesand you haven’t done seven now moans within five years get I hearand also had deftly watch the movie the least two hours two hoursand 20 minutes is pretty long but doesn’t feel that long cuts like you going through that timeline talks deftly the greatest just product the jaded JPEGand said her character was a bunch of lies they put in what the movie guys okay there was they had to establish that jaded taking Tupac had a special relationship that was deeper than just being friends it was a soul sold their souls matched rightand I was the only way they can kinda show that in a short amount of time so they had to show interaction with him in jail that was really deep in the content they had to embellish a little bit go totally crazy with itand show jaded Tupac in effect seen Ernie think that she even said their relationship was deeper than sex they never had sex it was deeper than sex because they it was a mental bondand you know she said you only get one of those friendships your whole life nowand I you know that they did for the movie I don’t think a hand biotics aren’t always exactly on a percent okay but you know annulment JT never was going to leave death row JT yes he was actually Wendy day who was friends with talk he was leaving death row he just couldn’t get off because they worry that he would have to get lawyers everything to he was in the process of doing honestly the last three months he was trying to get his paperwork right to get off the death row but you don’t just tell himand walk away like Dr Dre did it savage life but he had moneyand he started a labeland Dr Dre produced his own shared everything so he didn’t need anybody Tupac had to doand difficult awake is the way he he was on pal from death row it they were buying a house everything he was too tightand it was it would take him a few months to on ravel from death row on my arm to come out soon is joking to Jordan for retro shop tomorrow okay cool I think the movie was asked it was just it was good Okay I’m not I’ll think so afraid of the movie was okay it wasn’t trash it was good I think it was good I thinkand encourage everybody to go see it it wasn’t the best bioticand fiber seen think the strata Compton was fucking go feeling to it is that it was missing that feeling but still get why is your character she played a big role in cycles of yet they missed out a few people but in the mist at the scene where he spent on the infamous stingray spent on the the I reportersand 40 guy I heard about 40 got was pop today are I hope he pulls through nine John Singleton has a real spooky shit going onand I I think it would be good if he he was turning it too deep with it was it better than the movie the movie was more cinematic than this was I can’t say it was better though they were about equal now peace mode staffand how they betray the relationship between pocketand his mother that was dealt those were the two strongest characters meand I’m right just talk about the movieand I will talk about tomorrow to if you guys but I it ways that those were the two strongest characters man they showed how strong the bond was between his mother how his mother was there form after she got cleanand he had some successand got her cleanand everythingand she was more clearheadedand help was there for Pokand warned him about certain things going on in that your target on his back as he was a black leader evaluate it was definitely was it’s definitely were seeing Jason was definitely worsening is get Richard tried die trying a better movie better yes it is because think about it. You know interaction ever had because you couldn’t speak at all thank you everybody else took offense to everyone who came as something they would take a look at say anything back so they would just say everything is going to say my face would just tell also’s argument was that your Film I get out there that think they are right baseball garden I did bring you it is betterand has been so interested is a friend of my body get out there the antibody is in a hospital make their case advantage of them in any way you possibly can move on to our first story here todayand is according to the high reporter scares me that actually deadline high reporter broke a story about a lot of yesterday deadline is not about the new villainand wonder woman to is none other than Sheena played by Kristen Wade apparently paycheckand has had her eye on wake for a while now to play this roleand it looks to be confirmed so that she is going to be going up against wonder woman in the sequel to this massive wonder woman they came out last year the new movie comes on November 1 2000 19th J Washington in any way on the panel knows a little something about Sheena is get a VU what does this mean for wonder woman to you no more you know what for first was one of one woman’s biggest adversaries which is cool use granted they didn’t do in the first movie you burned her out from World War Iand had going forward for two Christian week is interesting casting choice as we been seeing a lot lately with comedic actorsand actresses black I said this on twitter if we can get great Elizabeth Banks is repulsing granted the movie the powerand the heart of the story the cake they did on Rita was nice the way she looked at the different look the vision of a Christian week plan is now will she be as serious or comedic is the question you know now also the story of cheetah is a British archaeologist who goes in Africa they had an opportunity to make this potentially a black British woman there’s a lot of things you do great don’t have to change the cultureand the nationality of the character but you done about bunch of things Christian week is a good choice I believe black will have to see you know when you quit yesterday about the rhetoric also compares it was an interesting one at a very early going on to policy your readerand are in the phase where you will reader processing the I actually like our industry in a limitedand I know the old school reader pulseand everybody was hoping to see in Greenwich have to change things sometimes so using the way they get Elizabeth with this one the Krispy Kreme things a little too much I limit like the look is what I was talking about we can expect her to look as bad as she didand who is a Christian we can look like an incredibly soft terrifyingand look like everything that nightmares are because I know that person that scale afterand I had decided not to go sleep that night like this character sheet in general it is likely because of the complaint getting a lot of Power Rangersand about Elizabeth is reader repulsive she was doing her job if your job was to be in the 90s show Power Rangers seem to fit in with the time when the new movie was trying to do so how’s the character like cheetah who from the fanart for whatever is you are looking to come up with seems a little more outlandish than what we got in wonder woman the first movie I was I get a job with the town because this is the first outlandish character to get that’s a human who transformsand something else with justice league you halfstep more that’s in our worldly creature is in itself with complementingand get everything that’s naturally in Atlanta so we understand that this is gonna be something new to see the DCU you know that to be the interest of our behind again we dealt with psychological sale a question when dating Ghostbustersand other films but this has to be something different will have a comedic element potentially Casio serious will see Harry immediately relocatedand seeing like comedians turn into the deep illness rolesand I rooted for everyone in the marketing point of vampire only those crazy if I were to do a rather like the movie didn’t work as well rises to be in one hour photo resigning like this could work out I think it did think Connex can test it to a darker side of their personality getting Kristen Wade is going to be able to do you I have made during especially the just need your initial impression is lie regarding the morning moreand more I read the other where twins are rolling over she’s going to be a good work can know that she is a good idea if Peterson is really talking on the show where it’s like you feel about one wayand in the next week you feel the same exact way did you get this newsand then have an initial reactionand has that changed all sense you heard about this yesterday plates at the words were not including the reference got into because I first heard the confidenceand Christian way to be able to take her time fender from the community of economic theory generally by tradition works much better than tomato doctors trying to go however my question really affect the talent of what wonder woman he was going to be because if they are bringing Christian right are they planning to make it more the sort of lighthearted comedic type of film compared to the first one where there very negligible humor so much of the few moments of levity but it’s not going the route of life like they do in the NICU movie maxed out when they are trying to may be asking rather than actually having Kristen be super hard core cannot write most of the last few got from wonder woman were were very genuine think the reason for that is because she was allegedly try to find her way in the man’s world so to speak because she went out of her boss Dennis Garethand her interactions the chemistry Chris finds where we got most of the yacht if you will get a movie like Ghostbusters obviously that’s more spoof the then I think you get to see if you wanted so here’s the big question you are left to get over to the panel as a fan person wayand that they can be won over to her performance the one I wanted is under just a little bit of pressure yet again because the first time a woman came outand had to rescue us from this dark gray toneand it succeededand then you have justice leagueand now very divisive movie again so whatever man does with my CAN have a more serious darker tone seems once again is directing it what do we need wonder woman to have in order to make Kristen Wade fit into this balance because as we saw with justice league trying to shift the entire town of DC name from Zach Siders darker version to Joss Wheaton’s line or humorous version the China ship Nike seven Apple man James one says dark black James wants a what you expect I think it’s the balance you’re gonna have a humorist element with one woman like you said in the first you have those humorous moments when you tap into that a little more Diana plays around that we seem that she jokes moreand now she’s more accurate to the world again if this present day is his will to but it doesn’t matter I think I will have a lot more humorand Patty Jenkins also ceased exercising more than anything else so that’s what I would single phase it is Kathy Parsley I can send out the rest of the DCU yelled at everyone with your director changes with your your hiringsand firings of executives with your cash comingand going like the movie I want to make I guess Kristen Wade is a cheetah going to do it I can do I want right now how skinny my confidenceand she sort of envisioned Christian right brain itselfand the one she essentially is writing the role for Christianand the only present quite depressing right was Christianand I think that will be sort of tailored to Christian relaxing make this work a lot more holisticallyand cohesively been made in micro barring a comedic actress integral where really wasn’t for you See Other related products: Anti Racism No Black White Yellow Red Only Human T-Shirt Hoodie Sweatshirt

#Trending #I #Kinda #Don't #Care #Humor #T #Shirt

0 notes

newslegendry · 5 years ago

Quote

http://newslegendry.blogspot.com/2020/04/why-joe-biden-should-pick-one-of-these.html

#news #newspaper #googlenews #breakignnews #newstody #foxnews #sportsnews

0 notes

patriotsnet · 4 years ago

Text

How Many Seats Do Republicans Have In The Senate

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-many-seats-do-republicans-have-in-the-senate/

How Many Seats Do Republicans Have In The Senate

Republicans Senate Wins Will Help President Trump His Judicial And Cabinet Nominees And Gop Chances In 2020

WASHINGTON – Republicans held on strongly Tuesday to their second-most important bastion of power: the United States Senate.

That means President Donald Trump, who holds the most important power center, can continue getting conservative federal judges confirmed – something he has done in record numbers already. And he is in a strong position should another vacancy materialize on the Supreme Court.

It means Trump’s anticipated shakeup of his administration should go relatively smoothly: Senate Republicans will be able to rubber-stamp new Cabinet nominees for posts ranging from attorney general to, possibly, defense secretary.

It means that no matter what the new Democratic House of Representatives does in terms of investigating Trump, the Senate is poised to beat back impeachment, as it did for President Bill Clinton in 1998.

And by gaining rather than losing Senate seats, it means Republicans have a vastly improved chance of keeping control through 2020, when they will be defending 22 of 34 seats up for grabs. That represents a table-turning from this year’s election, when Democrats had to defend 26 of 35 seats.

Even Sen. Mitch McConnell, the normally stone-faced GOP leader of the Senate, showed a glimpse of glee Wednesday.

“I had one of the cable networks on this morning, and they said, “This is probably a rare opportunity to see McConnell smile,’” the Kentucky Republican told reporters.

Republicans Are Expected To Gain Seats In Redrawn 2022 Congressional Maps But Democrats Could Be Worse Off

U.S. Census data released Monday will shift political power in Congress, reapportioning two House seats to Texas and one each to Florida, North Carolina, Oregon, Colorado, and Montana — and stripping a seat from California , New York , Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and West Virginia. Florida, Texas, and Arizona — each controlled entirely by Republicans — had been expecting to pick up an additional seat.

“On balance, I think this reapportionment offers a small boost for Republicans, but the bigger boost is likely to come from how Republicans draw these seats in Florida, Texas, North Carolina, and Georgia,” the Cook Political Report‘s Dave Wasserman tells Axios. “Reapportionment itself means little compared to the redistricting fights to come.” It won’t exactly be a level playing field.

“Republicans control the redistricting process in far more states than do Democrats, because of GOP dominance in down-ballot elections,”The New York Times reports. “Democrats, meanwhile, have shifted redistricting decisions in states where they have controlled the government — such as California, Colorado, and Virginia — to independent commissions intended to create fair maps.”

House seats broken down by final redistricting authority :

– Republican: 187

— Dave Wasserman April 26, 2021

Read more here.

How Maine And Nebraska’s Split Electoral Votes Could Affect The Election

As the race drags into Wednesday, it appears two congressional districts in Maine and Nebraska could prove pivotal in deciding the outcome of the election.

Maine and Nebraska are the only states in the nation that split their electoral votes. Maine awards two of its four electoral votes to the statewide winner, but also allocates an electoral vote to the popular vote winner in each of its two congressional districts. Nebraska gives two of its five electoral votes to the statewide winner, with the remaining three going to the popular vote winner in each of its three congressional districts.

0 notes

tendance-news · 5 years ago

Link

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3edAbYw

#IFTTT #Blogger

0 notes

orendrasingh · 5 years ago

Link

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3edAbYw

#OS #Blogger

0 notes

newseveryhourly · 5 years ago

Link

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3edAbYw

#Blogger

0 notes

lodelss · 4 years ago

Text

ACLU: A Conversation with Chase Strangio, One of the TIME100 Most Influential People of 2020

A Conversation with Chase Strangio, One of the TIME100 Most Influential People of 2020

For millions of students, this school year will be like none other — not only because of the pandemic. States and the federal government are pushing a spate of anti-trans legislation and policies aimed to ban trans students from participating in sports like their peers and to undermine their abilities to fully participate in school and public life. The Department of Education is backing these efforts by threatening to withhold funding from any schools that refuse to enact anti-trans policies. These attacks come after a Supreme Court victory in June, which upheld the rights of LGBTQ people in the workplace by ruling that you can’t be fired or otherwise discriminated against simply because you are LGBTQ. One of the lawyers behind those cases is Chase Strangio, Deputy Director for Transgender Justice for the ACLU’s LGBT and HIV Project, recently named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people of the year.

Why is the government going out of its way to attack trans rights?

To understand what’s going on, we have to go back a few years to the marriage equality victories at the Supreme Court in 2015 in Obergefell v. Hodges. There was an immediate backlash from anti-LGBTQ groups, who then zeroed in on expelling trans people from public spaces like restrooms and locker rooms. Now the conversation has shifted to trans participation in sports. Our opponents are pushing a narrative that trans girls in particular are a threat to the survival of women’s sports, which is predicated on the view that they and the government should and do have the authority to say who is a woman. They’re also implementing and pushing policies that would subject any participant in girls’ or women’s sports to sex verification procedures where they have to prove that they’re “really a girl.” These groups don’t care about sports or women’s rights. They’re opportunistically looking for ways to attack trans people, and in the process, hurting all women and girls.

How did the conversation shift from restrooms to sports?

Well importantly, through organizing and advocacy we were largely successful in defeating our opponents in their efforts to ban trans people from restrooms and locker rooms. But in the restroom conversation we spent a lot of time talking about how no one had to worry about seeing anyone naked, suggesting that trans people are so ashamed of our bodies that we would hide them. This strategy, though successful, pushed off the conversation to another day about contexts where we have to directly contend with our bodies. In sports, the body is more salient, so there’s more work to do to overcome deeply entrenched thinking about sex being binary and the view that you can easily divide people into categories based on physiological characteristics.

Our opponents are incredibly good at distorting the conversation and spreading misinformation despite not having scientific evidence to back up these claims. Trans athletes have been able to participate in the Olympics, the NCAA, and other elite sports for many years, yet we’ve literally never had a trans person qualify for the Olympics and there are no examples of trans dominance in any elite sport anywhere in the world. So we’re obviously not responding to a practical reality. We’re responding to fear and misinformation, which is often true when it comes to trans people and policy in the United States and around the world.

What is the Department of Education doing about the attacks against trans students?

The DOE is taking the position that you must discriminate against trans students in order to receive absolutely essential services. At the same time, they have done absolutely nothing to assist schools in opening safely, or supporting families and children. Schools are in crisis right now, completely underfunded while needing to staff up to deal with the demands of remote learning and everything else we’re expecting educators to come up with in the midst of the pandemic. It’s so egregious on so many levels, and it’s sending an absolutely horrible message to trans students that the federal government will not protect you. We need to build structures of safety and inclusion for our students, not structures of punishment and exclusion.

How do you reconcile increasing trans representation in the media with what’s going on in the government?

It can be incredibly affirming to see people who look like you or look like a possibility of what you might want your life to be. I don’t want to take away the power of that, especially for trans kids, who can feel alienated from the world and from their own bodies. But the media can distort the realities of trans people’s lives, particularly for people who’ve never knowingly met a trans person and whose only reference is what they see on TV — which portrays glamorized, highly curated narratives that can undermine the urgency of what’s going on in the government and in the material reality of trans lives. If we don’t also do the work to support trans lives on the ground, then it could end up placing precariously situated trans people in the path of more violence.

Many of the clients in the ACLU’s trans rights cases are high school students. How does it feel to see youth leading the fight for trans rights?

The most incredible part of our work is working with our clients, who are so fierce in their advocacy for themselves before they even reach us. Our clients are putting themselves out there in this deeply personal way while the government is attacking their existences. And yet they find the ability to sustain their sense of joy and push forward. If people find a place where they feel connected to their body, the idea that the federal government will come and try to squander that is just that is just beyond illegal. It’s unthinkable.

How does that affect you as a parent?

Young people have an incredible amount of insight and we take that away from them if we impose overly structured categories that don’t have to be there. The binaries that we utilize make no sense for the human experience in a lot of ways, and the more we give people the space to experience possibilities without preordained structures of how things have to be, the more we’re going to see people create new and more expansive structures to exist within and beyond. It’s just inevitable. And I know that really scares people, which is why we’re seeing this backlash. But ultimately, we have always been here creating what is possible, and our lives and our magic are unstoppable.

The 2020 election is approaching, along with what could be a challenging legislative session. What can people do on the ground to support trans rights?

Look at the candidates and their records for presidential and senate candidates. In some places, our opponents are strategically using ads to try to get people to vote for anti-trans candidates. Michigan’s Senate race is a prime example. We need to create a counter narrative and support candidates that support trans people. There are ways to help in our individual lives, too. Part of why some anti-trans policies succeed is because of misinformation and fear of trans people. We can try to reorient the people in our lives toward understanding trans existence in a way that neutralizes the weaponized narrative of trans people as a threat. We can also materially support and uplift individual trans people to ensure that our trans communities are surviving, thriving, and leading our movements with the tools we have developed over generations.

Published September 23, 2020 at 03:08PM via ACLU https://ift.tt/3025kZL from Blogger https://ift.tt/3iVbyly via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Blogger

0 notes

gta-5-cheats · 7 years ago

Text

Transcript of Trump’s remarks at fundraiser in Missouri on March 14

New Post has been published on http://secondcovers.com/transcript-of-trumps-remarks-at-fundraiser-in-missouri-on-march-14/

Transcript of Trump’s remarks at fundraiser in Missouri on March 14

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();

]

What follows is a transcript of his remarks.

President Trump: What a, what a family and your sister, where is your sister? Your sister was in uniform before, where is she? See? We’re very proud of you. [Applause]

So, you know we have a lot of friends in this area, and I just stopped at a little place called Boeing. [Unintelligible.] Dennis is doing a good job. But we were just looking at some of the new planes without pilots, now. I mean, you know, look at them. I’m saying, “What about that one?” It has no cockpit.

Dennis, tell me, what’s going on?

He said, “Well, this plane doesn’t have a pilot.” This is where we’re going, I guess. But, what a job they’re doing. I want to thank a great friend of mine Congressman Jason Smith. He’s here someplace, where is Jason?

First off we have a situation so important here. That’s why I’m here. I’m here for this [unintelligible] big success, from what I understand. A [unintelligible] success. That’s a big success, isn’t it? [Applause.]

Really. It’s a testament to a wonderful guy who’s running who knows what it’s all about. He’s somebody that can win. He’s leading the polls, just about every poll I’ve seen. But there was one that was a little bit down. And that’s the one you have to run on because you always have to run a little bit scared, right, a little bit scared. But then I saw fortunately the following week it kicked back up, I got a little nervous. [Laughter.] But you’re doing good, and I tell ya, every one of them. And, you’re the one that can do it. And the whole the whole world is watching, really, we have to change things. And we need, we need those votes. We need the votes. You’ll work on the filibuster once you get in there, right? I know that. Does anybody know what that means? Wouldn’t it be nice if we had 51 instead of 60? Wouldn’t that be nice?

Some day somebody’s going to explain that do me. What’s going on here?

But that’s it. Some of the senators have been there, really, for a long time are just dead set on that. But we’re gonna get — we have a chance to win a number of seats. And I think we have a really good chance to win a large number of seats, so we’ll see what happens. Mr. Ashcroft, where is Mr. Ashcroft? I didn’t see him. I met your son, by the way. [Unintelligible.] [Applause.] I met John’s son.

I said, “Hey, where’s your father?” He said, “He’s up speaking,” I said, “Oh, okay. So, maybe I’ll see him outside.” You’re a terrific man, terrific family.

But we have a chance to do something that’s going to be very important and it starts right here, it starts right here. And you know, last night, I don’t know I guess the final results aren’t quite in, we had an interesting time because we lifted seven points up that’s a lot. And I was up 22 points, and we lifted seven and seven normally would be enough, but we’ll see. We’ll see how it all comes out. It’s like virtually a tie.

Where’s our great Ronna, is she here?

Ronna McDaniel, who ran Michigan for me. And we won the state of Michigan, first time since Reagan. [Unintelligible.] [Applause] Two hundred and some odd thousand votes and it was a difference of four hundred and something, right? Four hundred and something votes. And I don’t know what’s going to happen but I know he came up a lot in the last few days. We went there, we read his speech, the place was packed, and we’ll see what happens. It’s actually interesting because it’s only a congressman for about five months. I don’t know about that one, Josh, it’s a lot of work for five months. They changed the district, they’re redistricting.

But we’ll see what happens. But I told Josh just a little while ago, I’m coming back here just before the race and we’ll get, get a bigger [unintelligible] and get a big something, and we’ll do a job. [Unintelligible.] [Applause.]

The country is watching. This is one of the most important races because this is one that we can win because of Josh, we had to get Josh to do it. Once that was it just we haven’t ingested. Once that was [unintelligible], that was a big thing. Because you do need the right candidate, and we have a few of them, we have a few pretty good ones. You know about what’s happening. A couple of other guys joined and they are going to have great success. So we look forward to — One of the things that we, that Josh actually mentioned that I think is probably underscored understated but very important is judges. We are going to be appointing 145, came in 140 — you know, my whole life I’ve helped a few people become a federal judge. Not gotten it for them, but I helped and they never forget. It’s a big deal. A federal judge.

So I come and there’s this whole pile of papers on my desk — these are federal judges, these are applications. I said, “How many do we appoint?” “145.” “145!” Because for two years, two and a half years, almost none were appointed by President Obama. So I say thank you, President Obama. [Applause]

Well, we have 17 court of appeals judges. We had one Supreme Court judge who’s done a fantastic job, Justice Gorsuch. And we’ll see what happens on that score, but we have 145 judges and 17 court of appeals judges and we’ve appointed — I guess we’ve had almost 30 approved already. And what difference that’s making. That’ll be almost half of the judiciary will be appointed by us. [Unintelligible.] [Applause.]

I mentioned before, we have to run on the tax cuts because that has become the most popular thing. Everybody’s happy, the companies kicked in like crazy you know. The companies — we didn’t expect, when we did the tax cuts and you know they called it tax reform. I said, “Do me a favor, don’t call it tax reform, hasn’t worked in 45 years, right?” Tax reform! People saying, “Are you going to raise my taxes? They’re reforming taxes!” I said that means taxes to go up, and they said well, no, but it’s always called tax reform, I said, let’s call it tax cuts. In fact, I said, they said what would you like to call it? Call it the tax cut cut cut plan. [Applause.] They thought it sounded a little hokey, so we called it the tax cut and jobs plan.

I liked the first one better.

We had no Democrat votes. Claire McCaskill was against it because she’s party line. It’s not that she’s was against it. She’s party line. She’s going to go with the party line. It’s like the young man last night that ran, he said, oh, I’m like Trump. He said, I, I, you know, Second Amendment, all, everything. I love the tax cuts. Everything. You wouldn’t have known. It’s a pretty smart race, actually. But he ran and he ran on that basis. But the bottom line is when he votes, he’s going to vote with Nancy Pelosi. He’s going to vote with Pelosi, he’s going to vote with Schumer, and that’s what’s going to happen. And there’s nothing he can do about it, he’s not going to vote with the Republicans. So it doesn’t matter, what he feels doesn’t matter. Claire McCaskill has voted against everything that we want. Voted against everything that you stand for, and voted against these massive tax cuts that are bringing wealth back into families and bringing wealth into the state of Missouri and every other state. And she voted against, because this wasn’t principle. This was the fact that she was told to vote that way, and she has to vote that way. And if she didn’t vote that way, the party would drop her very easily and wouldn’t be around and wouldn’t be spending lots of money on her and that’s the way it is. So she voted against tax cuts and I believe that anybody that voted against that bill, I think it would be very hard to win an election. So I think when you campaign when you’re out there Josh, you should just keep bringing it up, she voted against. And I read an article and I thought it was very nice, actually. She said she said she’s not going to say bad things about President Trump, I said, boy, I must be very popular in that state. And last night, the young man also, he ran on a campaign, he said very nice things about me. I kept saying, is he a Republican? He sounded like a Republican to me. But I guess when you’re popular in a certain area, that’s probably a good tactic. But we’re not going to get her vote. So you have to defeat her. You have to defeat her. And if you don’t, it’s just going to be Trump. I mean, they could actually take away the tax cuts, they could take away your Second Amendment. Very importantly, judges, they’ll start putting the judges that we’ve been having poured onto the court over the last eight years. You can’t take it. I mean you just can’t have it. You see some of the decisions. How about the Ninth Circuit? Anytime you go. They always file in the Ninth Circuit, which says something — look that’s not right. No matter where they’re sued, they file in the Ninth Circuit. And they win, win, win and then they lose, usually the Supreme Court, hopefully they will. But it’s you know it’s a very unfair thing, it shows you how important it is to have fair people put on the bench.

So the judges are so important, I mean just so important. We’re doing a lot of things. Companies are moving back into our country. Chrysler that’s coming back from Mexico, you [unintelligible] hear that one? It’s always they’re leaving from Mexico, someone’s leaving from Mexico, they’re always leaving for Mexico. And now, you have many, many companies coming back in, you have steel mills opening up, which hasn’t happened in 30 years. And the tariffs are just a form of, like, you just can’t keep doing this to the outside world. And some of our worst abusers in terms of what they do on trade our so-called friends. You look in some of these countries that are our friends and you look at the trade deficits we have and it’s, it’s staggering. So that’s just Phase One, but that’s a little phase, but we have to get back the respect. You know we built ourselves as a great power, a great manufacturing power. And then you look how so many jobs was taken. I mean NAFTA has been a disaster for this country. And I know it affected your [unintelligible], but you go up to New England, and they’re still paying the price of losing all of those jobs. And those are real jobs. Those are real, incredible, powerful, important jobs — even for defense. We have to be able to make steel. We have to be able to have aluminum. We were at a point where we were going to lose all our steel factories, our steel mills, our plants, and we can’t let that happen. People said you know it’s sort of — oh, we’ll get our steel from China. Oh good. Let’s see if we can, we have a national emergency. We’re gonna get our steel from China. It’s incredible.

I’ve been using the expression, if you don’t have steel you don’t have a country. There’s a lot to it. This is like we’re making pencils. This is big stuff.

So since I announced this we’ve had numerous openings of plants and you have some that are going to open up or expand right here, and we’ve had a lot of, I mean, people are [unintelligible] to see a little bit differently. But we have to do what’s called reciprocal tax, because we have countries that charge us 25 percent to get a car and they don’t take the car anyway. Just so you know.

They have nondollar barriers. okay, they’re nondollar. You know what the barrier says? You can’t sell in our country. That’s worse than heavy taxes. So we have countries and groups of countries, which is even worse.

European Union is very tough. You know, we had the European Union — a lot of you came from Europe, right? Guess what. They’re pretty smart. And they formed a group, and they make it very difficult, they’re very difficult traders. They have these barriers where you can’t get your product in. No matter what you do, if you do get your product in, you pay dearly. China would be the biggest abuser. There’s no question about it.

So last year with China, we lost 500 billion dollars, would you say that? Not million, 500 million, that’s a lot.

500 billion dollars. And it’s been that way for years, from 200 to 504 billion dollars, every year. We rebuilt China, we actually did. You take that money away from China.

I mean we rebuilt it, and it all started with the World Trade Organization. If you look at China, it’s like this for many, many centuries.

World trade, it’s like a rocket ship, and much of it came right out of this country, got to stop it. And I’m very friendly with the president, he’s a great guy. We have a great chemistry, a great relationship. But he’s for China and I’m for the good old USA. [Applause.]

As an example, they send a car to us, we charge them a 2 percent tax. We send a car to them, and they charge us a 25 percent tax.

Somehow that doesn’t work too well.

That’s not a great formula. But not only is it 25, 25, but most of the time you can’t even get the car. Even Japan. Look, the prime minister’s a great guy, Abe. He’s a warrior. Tough, strong, smart. But I said trade isn’t so good with Japan. It’s so one-sided. They don’t take our product and we take their cars, I mean the cars and 90 percent of the cars, they just come. They need Mario Andretti to drive those cars off the boats. They come off the boats like 60 miles an hour. We send a car to Japan, they analyze it for four weeks before they decide to send it back because it’s not environmentally friendly. [Unintelligible.] They actually, one of the car companies actually had a car made and it was the most environmentally perfect car, cost them a fortune. They spent a fortune. And they had everything, the highest quality that you can have. Everything was far better than any car they ever sent to us. They spent three or four hundred thousand dollars for a car that would sell for like 35,000, right? Not a good deal. But they wanted to see if they could get it in. And it, they were going crazy. Four days went by. Then five days. And they were ready to approve it and they said, no no, we have to do one more test. It’s called the bowling ball test, do you know what that is? That’s where they take a bowling ball from 20 feet up in the air and they drop it on the hood of the car. And if the hood dents, then the car doesn’t qualify. Well, guess what, the roof dented a little bit, and they said, nope, this car doesn’t qualify. It’s horrible, the way we’re treated. It’s horrible.

And then you hear about the free traders, because I’m a free trader, but I’m like, I want to be a smart trader, I want to be a fair trader. It’s so unfair what’s happened to our country, and I don’t know, the politicians have lost their way. In some cases like South Korea you know they’re making a fortune. Well we backed them many years ago.

But we never trade — you know when they became rich we never changed the deal. So we were backing, backing, backing. And no politician ever changed the deal.

Now we have a very big trade deficit with them, and we protect them. So we lose money on trade, and we lose money on the military. We have right now 32,000 soldiers on the border between North and South Korea.

Let’s see what happens. Think I’ve done a good job with that one. That’s sort of interesting.

People are saying, “oh, his rhetoric is terrible. He’s going to go” — well, the rhetoric from last 30 years hasn’t been so good. It was called appeasement.

Shop On SecondCovers

Please don’t do anything. Obama, let’s not talk about that. In the meantime, he’s making nuclear weapons. He had a test, they had a test of a nuclear weapon about a year ago, and it registered as an 8.6. Now, you heard of that, on the Richter scale, right? So they said, “man, there was an earthquake.” Eight point six someplace in Asia. Where was it? Oh it was in North Korea. It wasn’t — it was a nuclear test, and it shifted a mountain — it was a real mountain. This isn’t like a little, you know, 10-foot deal. It’s not a hill. And it actually shifted. That’s the power. So they’re all saying, his rhetoric is terrible and so tough. Little Rocket Man, you know all this stuff. It’s so terrible. He’s going to get us into a war. Well, you know what’s going to get us into a war is weakness. [Applause.] [Unintelligible.] Massive sanctions on North Korea.

Massive, like nobody’s ever been sanctioned. And in all fairness, China has really helped at the border. They could help more, but they’ve done more for us than they’ve done for any president, that I can tell you.

So here’s a funny subject — everybody’s saying, oh, he’s going to get us in trouble, in trouble. Then three weeks ago, you hear, we’d love to go to the Olympics and participate.

Everybody’s like, what? Where did that come from? So they participate in the Olympics, that’s nice. Then the delegation comes over from South Korea and they just left North Korea, and they said Mr. President, Kim Jong Un would love to meet with you. And he will not do any testing and he will not do missile launches and he would love to meet with you. I said really? Well. That’s good. I said how did that happen. And he said well, you’re having an impact. They go out to the press, and the press is there, they were — you never saw so many reporters. Because they heard there was a big announcement on North Korea. So the worst, like CNN, you know, fake news?

Erin Burnett said this could make him a great president. [Applause.] Right? She said it. She’ll probably lose her job.

But she actually said that — this could make him a great president. Even the worst — for two hours, three hours they couldn’t believe. They said, did you hear what ha — they’re looking at each other. Can you believe? Where did this come from, after 25, 30 years, where did this come from?

You believe what just come from after 25, 30 years from. And then it happened. A day later, “Obama could have done that, too.” Obama could not have done it. [“No way,” crowd replies.]

It’s really, you know, it’s really sad. Now, it was almost, you had to smile, because it’s so out of control. But what I heard — and I woke up the next morning and said, finally I’m getting some great stuff — because got things, the taxes, the this, they were — a lot of stuff.

Our military’s stronger now, and we just got 700 billion dollars. We have to build it because it’s totally depleted. We don’t have our military, we’re not going to be here. We’ll be walking into the doors. [Unintelligible.] [Applause.] It’s jobs.

We make the greatest equipment in the world right down the street with Boeing and other places. And it’s jobs. But we have no choice. But when I heard that, I said, I wake up and I just heard the greatest statements from MSNBC, from CNN, from all the haters. I hear these — they couldn’t believe it.

Reporters. Professionals. The ones you see hating all the time. I say, this is the most incredible thing, we’ve never seen anything like it.

But by the time you woke up the next morning, they had a new line: Anybody could’ve done it. Obama could have met. Bush could have met. I don’t know how many Bush fans are in here. But Bush could have — [Laughter.] But they couldn’t have met. Because nobody would’ve done what I did to set the table.

And this suffering, I don’t want them to suffer. But they’re suffering. Lack of food, lack of everything. Nobody would’ve done that.

So you see the narrative change, because now they’re saying it will take at least two months to be able to negotiate. And so these are the people who say you will take two months to be able to negotiate. He shouldn’t go there. And the greatest line is, President Trump has agreed to meet — these are people who say I can’t believe it. Unbelievable. This is great news. This is the biggest thing that’s happened in 40 years. The next day: President Trump has conceded a meeting with Kim Jong Un. Because he has met, he has already given them a victory because he’s agreed to meet. I mean [unintelligible] media, right? [Applause.] The greatest is when, you know, you’re watching them, and these are the people who were so afraid it was going to be — and then they say, and they say it was incredible and then they get back and their bosses tell them what to say. But they say maybe he’s not the one to negotiate.

He’s got, he’s got very little knowledge of the Korean Peninsula, and maybe he’s not the one. Maybe we should send in the people that have been playing games and didn’t know what the hell they’ve been doing for 25 years. [Applause.] [Unintelligible.] What we’re finding there, and I don’t know if you are now, is, it’s a beautiful young, beautiful couple that everybody thinks is a star, and he is a star, and I don’t know how the press treats you. [Unintelligible.] [Laughter.] Enjoy it while you can.

The better you do, the worse they’ll [unintelligible.] And I tell this Korea story because it was, it was somewhat of a miracle. It’s actually far ahead of schedule. And you know, you hear that we’re making a major concession by agreeing to the meeting, you know, it’s the craziest thing. But go back a couple of weeks earlier and listen to what — they were petrified. [Unintelligible.] They were afraid of being blown up. Then all of a sudden they say let’s not meet.

So we are always a little bit of a disadvantage because of the media, and you have it here, I know you have it here too. But the advantage we have is the people are really smart. When I did the tariffs — and basically what I’m really saying, it’s not so much tariffs, it’s really saying we can’t be taking advantage of anymore by these people that come in and dump everything into our country and destroy our mills and destroy our workers and destroy everything. So when I did the tariffs, most people understand what I’m doing is fighting for them, I’m fighting for these companies that are being abandoned and the jobs that are being abandoned.

And that’s why we have a lot of companies moving back in.

I mean seriously, when you see what’s happening you look — we’re renegotiating NAFTA right now. I don’t know that we can make it good.

I tell people openly, because the best deal is to terminate it and then make a new deal. But I don’t know that we can make a deal because Mexico is so spoiled with this horrible deal that they’ve lived with, from our standpoint horrible.

So think of it, Mexico makes more than a hundred billion dollars a year on the United States. Now, how stupid is this.

But sometimes something is so good that you can’t — how do you? The best way? Terminate, let’s start all over again. Let’s start all over again. But some of the politicians are afraid to terminate, oh, we don’t want to terminate NAFTA. Take a look at these empty mills all over the place, that they turn into nursing homes, you know. Nice solid walls on the outside. But, it’s — it just can’t be.

I really think we’re making the point a lot of people are digging it. I will tell you, the people that really count, which is you, the workers, everybody, they’re really understanding what’s going on. Nobody’s done what I’m doing. I mean it’s sort of really virgin territory.

It’s absolutely virgin territory. It’s territory that our country for 50 or 60 or 70 years has not wanted to go there. They just haven’t for whatever reason.

And our wealth has been taken, our jobs have been taken, our companies have moved, and now they’re starting to move back. So it’s, it’s a formula that is, it’s just absolute — there’s disruption, there’s anger. And just remember, our friends that everybody says — our allies, our allies are wonderful — I love our allies. Our allies care about themselves, they don’t care about us. You look at our trade deficit with these countries are our allies. It’s unbelievable. And they understand it. I don’t blame them.

I told Japan — so we lose 100 billion dollars a year with Japan — 100 billion. So why aren’t we taxing their cars when they come in. Then we’d lose nothing. We might even make something. And you know what they’re going to do, they’re going to say we don’t want to pay that tax, so let’s build plants in the United States. They already have some. But they’ll expand them and they’ll build new plants. Because they don’t want to pay the tax — I want them to build new plants in the United States. Let them make United States here — like China makes them do, we have a company, they want to build planes over there, hate to say it, Boeing is being forced to build plants. I don’t like that, I don’t like it, so I’m not saying China’s wrong. I was with President Xi, I was with a big group of people, and I was saying how China is ripping off the United States. And he’s like “woo, this is uncomfortable.” [Laughter.] 700 press. I’m saying China is ripping off our — but I don’t blame you. I say, it’s great that you were able to do it for yourselves. I blame the people that represented our country, because they were not doing their job — they were delinquent in allowing this to happen to us. So we owe 21 trillion dollars. We lose 800 billion a year.

Josh will say, I don’t think I’m going to ruin [unintelligible.] Think of it, Josh. We lose 800 billion a year on trade. Who made these deals? Who made these deals?

Then you have certain people that think it’s okay to lose 800. You know, these worldly people. You know why they’re worldly people, because they have stuff on the other side. [Laughter.] That’s what it is. Can’t be any other reason. But we lose 800 billion dollars a year on trade. We lose our jobs, we lose everything. And it’s not happening anymore, because it’s starting to come back. But over the next few months, you’re going to find it even more interesting. Because things are really — you know, we have, statutorily you have to do this, this, this, wait 90 days, wait six months, you can’t do it, you’re not allowed to legally. We have agreements that are so bad.

We have one agreement with a trade. I said when does that agreement terminate, it’s terrible. Sir, there is no termination. I said, what do you mean? We don’t have the right to term — I said, well, okay, after 10 years, 20 years. No sir, there is no right of term — I said what the hell kind of — So you know what I did, I just terminated. [Applause.]

Which would mean that’s, we’ll call it unconstitutional. There’s no end date. There’s no nothing. I’ll give you another example, Mexico, so they have this great deal. The day it was signed, it was a bad deal, because they have a 16 percent VAT tax, and we don’t. So they were already up 16 percent before the deal. And nobody saw that. And by the time they realized it, the deal was gone. But instead of adjusting the deal — what was that, 30 years ago when it was first signed — instead of adjusting the deal, we lived with it. What the hell difference does it make?

So they had a 16 percent step up advantage on us, and they have for many years. And Mexico and Canada — and, by the way, Canada, they negotiate tougher than Mexico. Trudeau came to see me, he’s a good guy, Justin. He said, no, no, we have no trade deficit with you, we have none. Donald, please. Nice guy, good-looking, comes in — Donald, we have no trade deficit — he was very proud, because everybody else you know were getting killed with our, so he’s [unintelligible]. I said wrong, Justin, you do. I didn’t even know. Josh, I had no idea. I just said, you’re wrong. You know why? Because we’re so stupid. [Unintelligible, laughter] And I thought they were smart.

I said you’re wrong, Justin. He said, Nope, we have no trade deficit. I said, Well, in that case, I feel differently, I said, but I don’t believe it. I sent one of our guys out, his guy, my guy, they went out, I said, Check, because I can’t believe it.

Well sir you’re actually right. We have no deficit, but that doesn’t include energy and timber. But when you do we lose 17 billion dollars a year. It’s incredible. So you’re in good hands. And I need Josh to help [unintelligible]. [Applause.]

Claire McCaskill is a guaranteed negative vote on every single thing that you people stand for, and frankly that a vast majority of the people of Missouri stand for. It is a negative vote for our country. And you have to defeat Claire McCaskill. Last time she get very lucky. She got lucky — she was going to lose. That was a done deal. And then, something happened. I was watching, I said, oh! What happened. That was big! The next day I said, oh yeah, I was right, I watched that.

So you got to get her out. Bad for Missouri, bad for the country. And this is going to be a great United States senator. Thank you very much. [Applause.]

0 notes

chicojimj · 7 years ago

Text

State of the Union 2018 Trump

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, the First Lady of the United States, and my fellow Americans:

Less than 1 year has passed since I first stood at this podium, in this majestic chamber, to speak on behalf of the American People -- and to address their concerns, their hopes, and their dreams. That night, our new Administration had already taken swift action. A new tide of optimism was already sweeping across our land.

Each day since, we have gone forward with a clear vision and a righteous mission -- to make America great again for all Americans.

Over the last year, we have made incredible progress and achieved extraordinary success. We have faced challenges we expected, and others we could never have imagined. We have shared in the heights of victory and the pains of hardship. We endured floods and fires and storms. But through it all, we have seen the beauty of America's soul, and the steel in America's spine.

Each test has forged new American heroes to remind us who we are, and show us what we can be.

We saw the volunteers of the "Cajun Navy," racing to the rescue with their fishing boats to save people in the aftermath of a devastating hurricane.

We saw strangers shielding strangers from a hail of gunfire on the Las Vegas strip.

We heard tales of Americans like Coast Guard Petty Officer Ashlee Leppert, who is here tonight in the gallery with Melania. Ashlee was aboard one of the first helicopters on the scene in Houston during Hurricane Harvey. Through 18 hours of wind and rain, Ashlee braved live power lines and deep water, to help save more than 40 lives. Thank you, Ashlee.

We heard about Americans like firefighter David Dahlberg. He is here with us too. David faced down walls of flame to rescue almost 60 children trapped at a California summer camp threatened by wildfires.

To everyone still recovering in Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, California, and everywhere else -- we are with you, we love you, and we will pull through together.

Some trials over the past year touched this chamber very personally. With us tonight is one of the toughest people ever to serve in this House -- a guy who took a bullet, almost died, and was back to work three and a half months later: the legend from Louisiana, Congressman Steve Scalise.

We are incredibly grateful for the heroic efforts of the Capitol Police Officers, the Alexandria Police, and the doctors, nurses, and paramedics who saved his life, and the lives of many others in this room.

In the aftermath of that terrible shooting, we came together, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as representatives of the people. But it is not enough to come together only in times of tragedy. Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people we were elected to serve.

Over the last year, the world has seen what we always knew: that no people on Earth are so fearless, or daring, or determined as Americans. If there is a mountain, we climb it. If there is a frontier, we cross it. If there is a challenge, we tame it. If there is an opportunity, we seize it.

So let us begin tonight by recognizing that the state of our Union is strong because our people are strong.

And together, we are building a safe, strong, and proud America.

Since the election, we have created 2.4 million new jobs, including 200,000 new jobs in manufacturing alone. After years of wage stagnation, we are finally seeing rising wages.

Unemployment claims have hit a 45-year low. African-American unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded, and Hispanic American unemployment has also reached the lowest levels in history.

Small business confidence is at an all-time high. The stock market has smashed one record after another, gaining $8 trillion in value. That is great news for Americans' 401k, retirement, pension, and college savings accounts.

And just as I promised the American people from this podium 11 months ago, we enacted the biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history.

Our massive tax cuts provide tremendous relief for the middle class and small businesses.

To lower tax rates for hardworking Americans, we nearly doubled the standard deduction for everyone. Now, the first $24,000 earned by a married couple is completely tax-free. We also doubled the child tax credit.

A typical family of four making $75,000 will see their tax bill reduced by $2,000 -- slashing their tax bill in half.

This April will be the last time you ever file under the old broken system -- and millions of Americans will have more take-home pay starting next month.

We eliminated an especially cruel tax that fell mostly on Americans making less than $50,000 a year -- forcing them to pay tremendous penalties simply because they could not afford government-ordered health plans. We repealed the core of disastrous Obamacare -- the individual mandate is now gone.

We slashed the business tax rate from 35 percent all the way down to 21 percent, so American companies can compete and win against anyone in the world. These changes alone are estimated to increase average family income by more than $4,000.

Small businesses have also received a massive tax cut, and can now deduct 20 percent of their business income.

Here tonight are Steve Staub and Sandy Keplinger of Staub Manufacturing -- a small business in Ohio. They have just finished the best year in their 20-year history. Because of tax reform, they are handing out raises, hiring an additional 14 people, and expanding into the building next door.

One of Staub's employees, Corey Adams, is also with us tonight. Corey is an all-American worker. He supported himself through high school, lost his job during the 2008 recession, and was later hired by Staub, where he trained to become a welder. Like many hardworking Americans, Corey plans to invest his tax‑cut raise into his new home and his two daughters' education. Please join me in congratulating Corey.

Since we passed tax cuts, roughly 3 million workers have already gotten tax cut bonuses -- many of them thousands of dollars per worker. Apple has just announced it plans to invest a total of $350 billion in America, and hire another 20,000 workers.

This is our new American moment. There has never been a better time to start living the American Dream.

So to every citizen watching at home tonight -- no matter where you have been, or where you come from, this is your time. If you work hard, if you believe in yourself, if you believe in America, then you can dream anything, you can be anything, and together, we can achieve anything.

Tonight, I want to talk about what kind of future we are going to have, and what kind of Nation we are going to be. All of us, together, as one team, one people, and one American family.

We all share the same home, the same heart, the same destiny, and the same great American flag.

Together, we are rediscovering the American way.

In America, we know that faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, are the center of the American life. Our motto is "in God we trust."

And we celebrate our police, our military, and our amazing veterans as heroes who deserve our total and unwavering support.

Here tonight is Preston Sharp, a 12-year-old boy from Redding, California, who noticed that veterans' graves were not marked with flags on Veterans Day. He decided to change that, and started a movement that has now placed 40,000 flags at the graves of our great heroes. Preston: a job well done.

Young patriots like Preston teach all of us about our civic duty as Americans. Preston's reverence for those who have served our Nation reminds us why we salute our flag, why we put our hands on our hearts for the pledge of allegiance, and why we proudly stand for the national anthem.

Americans love their country. And they deserve a Government that shows them the same love and loyalty in return.

For the last year we have sought to restore the bonds of trust between our citizens and their Government.

Working with the Senate, we are appointing judges who will interpret the Constitution as written, including a great new Supreme Court Justice, and more circuit court judges than any new administration in the history of our country.

We are defending our Second Amendment, and have taken historic actions to protect religious liberty.

And we are serving our brave veterans, including giving our veterans choice in their healthcare decisions. Last year, the Congress passed, and I signed, the landmark VA Accountability Act. Since its passage, my Administration has already removed more than 1,500 VA employees who failed to give our veterans the care they deserve -- and we are hiring talented people who love our vets as much as we do.

I will not stop until our veterans are properly taken care of, which has been my promise to them from the very beginning of this great journey.

All Americans deserve accountability and respect -- and that is what we are giving them. So tonight, I call on the Congress to empower every Cabinet Secretary with the authority to reward good workers -- and to remove Federal employees who undermine the public trust or fail the American people.

In our drive to make Washington accountable, we have eliminated more regulations in our first year than any administration in history.

We have ended the war on American Energy -- and we have ended the war on clean coal. We are now an exporter of energy to the world.

In Detroit, I halted Government mandates that crippled America's autoworkers -- so we can get the Motor City revving its engines once again.

Many car companies are now building and expanding plants in the United States -- something we have not seen for decades. Chrysler is moving a major plant from Mexico to Michigan; Toyota and Mazda are opening up a plant in Alabama. Soon, plants will be opening up all over the country. This is all news Americans are unaccustomed to hearing -- for many years, companies and jobs were only leaving us. But now they are coming back.

0 notes

fraggie-doodles19 · 7 years ago

Link

WASHINGTON — In the weeks before Donald J. Trump took office, lawyers joining his administration gathered at a law firm near the Capitol, where Donald F. McGahn II, the soon-to-be White House counsel, filled a white board with a secret battle plan to fill the federal appeals courts with young and deeply conservative judges.

Mr. McGahn, instructed by Mr. Trump to maximize the opportunity to reshape the judiciary, mapped out potential nominees and a strategy, according to two people familiar with the effort: Start by filling vacancies on appeals courts with multiple openings and where Democratic senators up for re-election next year in states won by Mr. Trump — like Indiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania — could be pressured not to block his nominees. And to speed them through confirmation, avoid clogging the Senate with too many nominees for the district courts, where legal philosophy is less crucial.

Nearly a year later, that plan is coming to fruition. Mr. Trump has already appointed eight appellate judges, the most this early in a presidency since Richard M. Nixon, and on Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to send a ninth appellate nominee — Mr. Trump’s deputy White House counsel, Gregory Katsas — to the floor.

Republicans are systematically filling appellate seats they held open during President Barack Obama’s final two years in office with a particularly conservative group of judges with life tenure. Democrats — who in late 2013 abolished the ability of 41 lawmakers to block such nominees with a filibuster, then quickly lost control of the Senate — have scant power to stop them.

Most have strong academic credentials and clerked for well-known conservative judges, like Justice Antonin Scalia. Confirmation votes for five of the eight new judges fell short of the former 60-vote threshold to clear filibusters, including John K. Bush, a chapter president of the Federalist Society, the conservative legal network, who wrote politically charged blog posts, such as comparing abortion to slavery; and Stephanos Bibas, a University of Pennsylvania law professor who once proposed using electric shocks to punish people convicted of certain crimes, although he later disavowed the idea. Of Mr. Trump’s 18 appellate nominees so far, 14 are men and 16 are white.

While the two parties have been engaged in a tit-for-tat escalation of hardball politics over judicial nominations since the Reagan years, the Trump administration is completing a fundamental transformation of the enterprise. And the consequences may go beyond his chance to leave an outsize stamp on the judiciary. When Democrats regain power, if they follow the same playbook and systematically appoint outspoken liberal judges, the appeals courts will end up as ideologically split as Congress is today.

“It’s such a depressing idea, that we don’t get appointments unless we have unified government, and that the appointments we ultimately get are as polarized as the rest of the country,” said Lee Epstein, a law professor and political scientist at Washington University in St. Louis. “What does that mean for the legitimacy of the courts in the United States? It’s not a pretty world.”

For now, conservatives are reveling in their success. During the campaign, Mr. Trump shored up the support of skeptical right-wing voters by promising to select Supreme Court justices from a list Mr. McGahn put together with help from the Federalist Society and the conservative Heritage Foundation. Exit polls showed that court-focused voters helped deliver the president’s narrow victory. Now, he is rewarding them.

“We will set records in terms of the number of judges,” Mr. Trump said at the White House recently, adding that many more nominees were in the pipeline. Standing beside the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, he continued, “There has never been anything like what we’ve been able to do together with judges.”

Appellate judges draw less attention than Supreme Court justices like Neil M. Gorsuch, whom Mr. Trump installed in the seat that Justice Scalia’s death left vacant and that Republicans, led by Mr. McConnell, refused to let Mr. Obama fill. But the 12 regional appeals courts wield profound influence over Americans’ lives, getting the final word on about 60,000 cases a year that are not among the roughly 80 the Supreme Court hears.

Nan Aron, of the liberal Alliance for Justice, said that her group considered many of Mr. Trump’s nominees to be “extremists” — hostile to the rights of women, minority groups and workers, and unduly favorable to the wealthy. But conservatives, who have rallied around Mr. Trump’s nominees as a rare bright spot of unity for the fractious Republican Party, see them as legal rock stars who will interpret the Constitution according to its text and original meaning.

And they see tremendous opportunity in the fact that Mr. Trump is the first Republican president whose nominees can be confirmed by simple-majority votes, especially since he is likely to fill an unusually large number of vacancies. Mr. Trump started with 21 open appellate seats because after Republicans gained control of the Senate in 2015, they essentially shut down the confirmation process. Six additional appellate judgeships have opened since his inauguration, and nearly half of the 150 active appeals court judges are eligible to take senior status — semi-retirement that permits a successor’s appointment — or will soon reach that age, according to Russell Wheeler, a Brookings Institution scholar.

As a result, Mr. Trump is poised to bring the conservative legal movement, which took shape in the 1980s in reaction to decades of liberal rulings on issues like the rights of criminal suspects and of women who want abortions, to a new peak of influence over American law and society.

“What makes this a unique opportunity in modern history is the sheer number of vacancies, the number of potential vacancies because of the aging bench, and the existence of a president who really cares about this issue in his gut,” said Leonard A. Leo, an informal adviser to Mr. Trump on courts who is the executive vice president of the Federalist Society.

Liberals have accused Mr. Trump of outsourcing his nominations process to the Federalist Society. But two administration officials argued that this claim misunderstands how the conservative legal movement has matured as the generation of Republican lawyers shaped by reading the originalist dissents of Justice Scalia and by the bitter 1987 fight over Judge Robert H. Bork’s failed Supreme Court nomination has come of age. Mr. McGahn and nearly all the lawyers working for him at the White House are longtime society participants, so relationships built on the network of like-minded conservatives saturate discussions of potential nominees from the inside, they said.

Mr. Trump has also had help from the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, in lowering impediments and keeping the confirmation assembly line moving.

For example, confirmation hearings have usually featured just one appellate hopeful at a time (along with several district judge nominees). But Mr. Grassley has scheduled three hearings this year with two appellate nominees — as many as took place during all eight years of the Obama administration, according to congressional aides.

The independent guardrail role of the American Bar Association, which has vetted potential judges since the Eisenhower administration — conducting confidential interviews with people who worked with them and rating their experience, integrity and temperament — is also weakening. Picks by presidents of both parties have sometimes run into trouble, but Republicans have accused the group of bias against conservatives.

Traditionally, the group’s volunteers vet potential judges before the White House decides whether to send their names to the Senate, but Mr. Trump — like President George W. Bush — exiled it from that role, leaving it scrambling to evaluate nominees afterward. Already this year, Mr. Grassley has held hearings for four district judge nominees before the group finished its work — which happened with only seven during the eight Bush years.

The bar group later deemed two of them unqualified to be trial judges, saying they lacked sufficient trial experience. On Thursday, the Judiciary Committee nevertheless advanced both to the Senate floor. One, Holly Teeter, a 38-year-old federal prosecutor who fell just shy of the bar group’s minimum standard of 12 years of experience, gained bipartisan approval. But the other, Brett Talley, a 36-year-old with virtually no trial experience and who wrote politically charged blog posts on topics like gun rights, had a party-line vote.

Republicans may go further in ousting the group from its semiofficial gatekeeping role after it rated L. Steven Grasz, Mr. Trump’s nominee for the appeals court in St. Louis, as “not qualified” to be a judge, portraying him as “gratuitously rude” and unlikely “to separate his role as an advocate from that of a judge” on matters like abortion. The White House is weighing telling future nominees not to sign confidentiality waivers that give A.B.A. evaluators access to disciplinary action records and not to interview with the bar group, an official said.

Conservatives are also pressuring Mr. Grassley to reduce one of the few remaining constraints on letting a president with an allied Senate majority appoint whomever he wants to a life-tenured judgeship: the Judiciary Committee’s “blue slip” practice, named for the color of the paper that senators use to sign off on nominees for judgeships in their states.

While it has been handled differently in different eras, throughout the Obama years, Mr. Grassley and his Democratic predecessor, Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, refused to let the confirmation process proceed for nominees without two positive blue slips. That approach forces presidents to consult with senators and, when they are from opposite parties, incentivizes the compromise selection of relative moderates.

Senator Al Franken, Democrat of Minnesota, has announced he will not return a blue slip for David R. Stras, an appeals court nominee who is a Minnesota Supreme Court justice and is on Mr. Trump’s short list for the United States Supreme Court, saying he was not meaningfully consulted and objected to him. (An administration official said the White House had primarily negotiated with Minnesota’s senior senator, Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat who did turn in a blue slip.) Conservatives want Mr. Grassley to hold a hearing anyway.

Democratic senators in Oregon and Wisconsin have also not turned in blue slips for pending appellate nominees, but the question of how much control senators will retain over judicial appointments in their states is not limited to partisan politics.

Senator John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, has not returned a blue slip for Kyle Duncan, an appeals court nominee who represented conservative clients in several culture-war cases, including whether corporations may refuse to provide contraception coverage to employees based on owners’ religious beliefs, and whether transgender students may be barred from using the school bathrooms of their gender identities.

The Judicial Crisis Network, an opaquely funded group that runs ads pressuring Democratic senators not to block Trump nominees, has begun airing ads in Louisiana supporting Mr. Duncan. Mr. Franken warned that if the blue-slip constraint eroded, Republican senators would lose, too — and not just when Democrats regained power.

But many conservatives want to take full advantage of their window of opportunity. Mr. Leo, of the Federalist Society, said Mr. Trump had instructed his transition team to prioritize appointing conservative judges who would be “strong” and could resist “tremendous political and social pressure.”

Mr. Trump “understood that the American people cared about judges, and he for his own purposes cared very deeply about it and recognized that he could be a president who could help restore the judiciary to its proper role,” he said.

#mcgahn #donald f ii #trump #republicans #conservatives #judges #american legal system #american court system #this is soooooooo bad you don't understand #all of trump's appointments are right-wing conservatives who hate women #they hate lgbtq and everyone who's non-white #these asshole have lifetime appointments too!!!!!#they are going to fuck up a lot of shit #this is so bad #this is horrible #this is how democracy gets ruined #they're going to take this country back to the 50s #this is a sad time for america and for freedom

0 notes

takebackthedream · 8 years ago

Text

Three Reasons John Lewis is Right That Trump Is Illegitimate by Miles Mogulescu

All praises go to John Lewis for becoming the first nationally recognized political figure to question the legitimacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency. He will hopefully not be the last. Lewis dared to say out loud what millions of Americans have been thinking.

Lewis—who studied at the American Baptist Theological Seminary; led the first Freedom Rides; registered poor southern African Americans to vote; was almost killed when Alabama State Troopers beat his head in while leading the historic Selma Civil Rights March; chaired the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee; and spoke at the historic March on Washington with Martin Luther King, before running for elective office—is the closest living figure America has to a Nelson Mandela or a Dalai Lama.

As Bill Moyers–a man of old-fashioned grace not normally taken to insults and, like Lewis, a graduate of a Baptist Theological Seminary–wrote after Trump Tweeted attacks on Lewis over Martin Luther King’s Birthday weekend, “Trump isn’t fit to be a carbuncle on John Lewis’s posterior”.

In a manner that only a man of John Lewis’s moral stature could articulate, he clothed his critique of Trump’s legitimacy in the language not only of politics but of spiritual prophecy. In Lewis’s usual soft-spoken, but morally firm, manner, he told Meet The Press’s Chuck Todd,

” I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be very difficult. I don’t see this president-elect as a legitimate president…

“[W]hen you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation to do something. You cannot afford to be quiet or to be silent. We have to continue to work, continue to speak up and speak out”.

Lewis critique of Trump’s legitimacy was both moral and political. Morally and spiritually, Lewis seemed to be saying that a man of Trump’s narcissism, ignorance, bigotry, misogyny, and xenophobia could never have the moral authority to be the leader of the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Politically, Lewis focused his critique on Russian efforts to interfere in the American election to aid Trump.

“I think there was a conspiracy on the part of the Russians and others that helped him get elected. That’s not right. That’s not fair. That’s not the open, democratic process.”

If anything, in focusing on Russian interference in American democracy, Lewis didn’t go far enough in articulating the reasons why Trump’s election is illegitimate. Here are two more big reasons:

First and foremost, there’s voter suppression, something John Lewis, who spent much of his life fighting for voting rights, knows something about.

The NYU’s Brennan Center for Justice reports that since 2010, 20 states have enacted new restrictions on voting. Since 2010, 10 states have enacted more restrictive voter ID laws (and six states have strict photo ID requirements), seven have laws making it harder for citizens to register, six cut back on early voting days and hours, and three made it harder to restore voting rights for people with past criminal convictions.

These restrictions are intended to, and/or have the effect of, disproportionately disenfranchising groups like African Americans, Latinos, and young people who tend to vote Democratic. For example, 25% of African Americans lack a government issued photo ID while only 8% of whites don’t have one.

The man The Guardian has described as the “most important investigative reporter of our time—up there with Woodward and Bernstein,” Rolling Stone investigative reporter Greg Palast, has done exhaustive research which offers up the proof that voter suppression swung the election to Trump. Palast writes,

Before a single vote was cast, the election was fixed by GOP and Trump operatives.

Starting in 2013—just as the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act—a coterie of Trump operatives, under the direction of Kris Kobach, Kansas Secretary of State [and a key member of the Trump transition team] created a system to purge 1.1 million Americans of color from the voter rolls of GOP-controlled states.

Kobach’s list is called “Crosscheck” and contains the names of 7.2 million people with the same first and last names who are registered to vote in more than one state. For example, if you have a common name like James Brown, or Jose Hernandez, and that name appears on the voter rolls in both Michigan and Wisconsin, your named could be purged from the voter rolls in both states.

US Census data shows that minorities are overrepresented in 85% of common last names. According to Palast, “If your last name is Washington, there’s an 89% chance you’re African American. If your last name is Hernandez, there’s a 94% chance you’re Hispanic.”

According to Palast’s statistical analysis, 1.1 million voters were purged from the rolls, overwhelmingly voters of color and the poor.

It was enough to swing the Electoral Votes in a number of states from Clinton to Trump. Here are a few examples:

Trump victory margin in Michigan: 13,107

Michigan Crosscheck purge list: 449,922

Trump Victory margin in Arizona: 85,257

Arizona Crosscheck purge list: 270,824

Trump victory margin in North Carolina: 177,008

North Carolina Crosscheck purge list: 589,393

Michigan has 16 Electoral Votes, Arizona has 16, and North Carolina has 15 for a total of 42 Electoral Votes. Trump officially won the Electoral Vote by 306-232. Switch 42 electoral votes from Trump’s column to Clinton’s and Clinton would have won the Electoral Vote by 274-264 and we’d be preparing for Clinton’s inauguration on Friday.

And that doesn’t even take into account that Trump officially won Wisconsin’s 10 Electoral Votes by 22,748 popular votes and Pennsylvania’s 20 Electoral Votes by 44,292 popular votes.

Without bothering to account for other voter suppression measures, Palast concludes that by using Crosscheck to wrongfully purge voter rolls of minority voters, Trump stole the election.

How’s that for illegitimacy?

And then there was FBI Director Comey’s letter, only 10 days before the election, announcing, in violation of longstanding FBI rules, that the FBI was reopening the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails because emails from her aide Huma Abedin to Clinton were found on a laptop belonging to Abedin’s disgraced ex-husband, Anthony Weiner.

You can call Comey many things, but stupid isn’t one of them. He surely knew that headlines with the words “Clinton,” “emails,” and “Weiner” could impact the election. Of course the day before the election, after the impact of his announcement was baked into the results, Comey announced that his new investigation had found nothing.

Polling guru Nate Silver concluded that the Comey letter swung the election from Clinton to Trump, tweeting:

Clinton would almost certainly be President-elect if the election had been held on Oct. 27 (day before Comey letter).

And finally, as John Lewis alluded to, multiple US intelligence agencies concluded that Vladimir Putin personally “ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election,” and turned from seeking to “denigrate” Hillary Clinton to developing “a clear preference for President-elect Trump.” Putin “aspired to help President-elect Trump’s election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him.”

So there you have it, three reasons why Donald Trump is not only morally an illegitimate President, but actually an illegitimate President who would not have won, but for (1) voter suppression, (2) Comey’s letter, and (3) Russian intervention aimed at swinging the election to Trump.

There’s little question that Trump’s victory was ill gotten and illegitimate.

The only remaining question is whether the Trump campaign communicated with the Russians about their efforts to influence the elections—which would be a crime—and whether Russian intelligence has compromising dirt on President-elect Trump. It remains to be seen if there will be an honest investigation to answer these questions.

There’s nothing that can be done now to prevent Trump from being sworn-in on Friday. But for multiple reasons, John Lewis is right to call Trump’s election illegitimate.

And there’s every reason for millions of patriotic Americans to declare that Trump is “Not my President.”

#Blog

0 notes