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newsfundastuff · 5 years ago

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Democrats voting in the Iowa caucuses grapple with the question of not only which candidate would best govern but also who is most likely to beat TrumpThe candidates have put in thousands of miles crisscrossing rural Iowa to show their faces to voters in living rooms, diners and community halls. They’ve fielded questions, sparred with critics and tweaked policies along the way. All the while their campaigns have flooded the state’s television stations with homespun stories of the candidates’ lives and their catapulting visions for a better America, crammed into a few seconds of political advertising.Now it all comes down to Monday evening when Democrats will huddle in schools, libraries and churches across Iowa to hold the country’s first vote to decide who will challenge Donald Trump for the White House in November.On 3 February, voters in the midwestern state of Iowa will kick off the long process that will eventually choose the Democratic party’s presidential nominee, who will take on Donald Trump in November's US election.The primaries and caucuses are a series of contests, in all 50 US states plus Washington DC and outlying territories, by which each party selects its presidential nominee.Iowa is extremely influential in US elections because, since 1972, it has voted first. After months of campaigning, this will be the first chance to see what support each of the presidential candidates actually have among voters.Winning Iowa matters because it can give candidates a huge boost in momentum and name recognition before the other states cast their votes. Underdogs can triumph, and frontrunners can fall. Since 2000, every Democratic winner of the Iowa caucuses has gone on to win the party’s nomination.However, Iowa only has a population of around three million people, who are 90% white, which has prompted criticism that its influence in US elections is outsized.It’s a responsibility Iowans take seriously every four years, often regarding themselves as the eyes and ears of America as their state’s caucuses decide who will be first out of the gate, and into primary races across the rest of the nation, with the huge advantage of a win under their belt. It was Iowa in 2008 that teed up Barack Obama for the presidency. Those who fall too far behind at this first hurdle rarely make it much further down the course.This year Iowa Democrats feel an added weight as they grapple with the challenging question of not only which candidate would best govern America but, also, who is most likely to lever the man many regard as the worst president in living memory out of the White House. Four years ago, Trump was a joke to Democrats as the party’s primary came down to “radical” Bernie Sanders v “corporate” Hillary Clinton, without much thought as to which of them would best beat the reality television star emerging as the Republican frontrunner.But in 2020, Trump is taken very seriously and for many Iowa Democrats their choice has crystallised around whether the White House will be won by rousing calls for reform from Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, or the “safe pair of hands” in former vice-president Joe Biden, former Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar. The big divide: ideology v electabilityAshly Moore, a 32-year-old occupational therapist, was grappling with exactly that question before she arrived at a Sanders rally in Des Moines.“Ask my family. They’re like, I don’t care who I’m going to vote for as long as we can win,” she said. “That’s a concern but I really am kind of torn because I think it takes more than just wanting to beat Trump.”There are other issues at play, too. Age, gender and race all figure for some voters. But the big divide is over ideology v electability. It’s on the minds of the candidates, too.“There is a lot of discussion about electability,” Bernie Sanders told the Des Moines rally. “Trump will be a very tough opponent. The only way that Trump is going to be defeated is if we have by far the largest voter turnout in American history.”That, said Sanders, requires mobilising large numbers of people who don’t always vote, particularly the young and the working class. To make that happen, they have to be motivated with policies that are going to change their lives and their country.“Young people today are the most progressive generation in the history of the United States of America. Historically, however, the simple truth is young people have not voted in the kind of way that they should have. Which campaign is capable of bringing millions of young people into the political process?” asked Sanders.To Biden, that is all wrong. The way to get Trump out of the White House, he tells his supporters, is to win back those voters who turned away from the Democrats, albeit after they were in power for eight years when Biden was vice-president. He dismisses the notion that there is an untapped well of voters thirsting for radical policies. ‘They have to focus on voter turnout’At the heart of the difference, voters are being asked to choose whether America is merely badly governed or in need of fundamental restructuring. If Biden regards the ship as having strayed off course, Sanders sees a vessel seized by pirates and requiring more than a change of captain.Opinion polls do not offer a clear roadmap. They have Sanders and Biden close in Iowa, with Buttigieg and Warren trailing them. But Biden currently leads nationally in the Democratic race. Perhaps more importantly, the polls do not show any of the candidates as a standout favourite to beat Trump in November.At the rally in Des Moines, Moore said she had long favoured Biden in part because she couldn’t see how Sanders could have broad enough appeal to beat Trump. But now she had seen Sanders speak, she understood what he would do for her and she was sold, not least because of his promise to erase university tuition debt.“I have a lovely career as an occupational therapist but the amount of student loan debt I have is crippling,” she said.The huge cost of university education is an issue for a lot of young people, and Moore said it opened her eyes to why Sanders might be right about how he can put together a winning coalition of voters.“He has a great point that, in order for him to win, they have to focus on voter turnout for people who historically have not voted because they felt like their vote didn’t matter,” she said. “I didn’t really know how could Bernie win and I think he’s exactly right.”But Moore still has nagging fears about Biden’s claim that Sanders’ radicalism will drive middle-of-the-road voters away.“I am concerned about that. I think it’s a valid concern. But I also think Biden supporters like to fall on that and say it’s all about beating Trump,” she said. ‘Biden’s the only person that can beat Trump’If it were down to energy, Sanders would be home free. His rallies have the feel of an evangelical revivalist meeting. Biden’s on the other hand sometimes resemble a church fete.“Biden’s the only person that can beat Donald Trump,” said Shirley Crippen, a 66-year-old former flight attendant and Biden supporter. “That was the deciding factor for me. I was already leaning toward Joe but knowing that he is the one that can beat Trump was a huge, huge factor for me.”The Biden camp, and a good part of the Democratic establishment, fear the Trump campaign will hammer at Sanders as disloyal to America for a past that includes taking his honeymoon in the Soviet Union and allying with the Sandinista government in Nicaragua in the 1980s.Crippen is more worried about Sanders and Warren’s policies driving away voters. She brushes aside their claims that it is those policies that will get young people out to vote in the presidential election.“The win is totally dependent upon people that are independents, that are maybe Republicans that lean a little left. It’s the people that are undecided. Maybe some of the people that voted for Donald Trump only because they thought as a businessman he would be different and now they know that he was is definitely different but in a terrible way,” she said. ‘We need big ideas and we need to be willing to fight for them’Front and center in this is healthcare. Sanders wants the government to provide health coverage through taxation and scrap private insurance. Crippen, like other cautious Democrats, doesn’t think it’s necessarily a bad policy, only that they will unnerve too many voters.What’s radical for America – public healthcare, subsidised university education, reining in corporate power – may not seem that way in other parts of the world. But in a country steeped in half a century of politics blaming the government for people’s problems, there is hesitation and even fear at the idea of the state taking control of healthcare.Warren has hit back at the caution of Biden and Buttigieg by warning against the Democratic establishment’s tendency to retreat into what it regards as safe territory out of fear of losing voters.“We need big ideas and we need to be willing to fight for them. It’s easy to back off from big ideas and make yourself sound so sophisticated and so smart,” she told Iowa voters. “They think that running a vague campaign that nibbles around the edges of these big problems is somehow a safe strategy.”Still, Warren did retreat on her commitment to comprehensive public health insurance after Biden said it would drive up taxes. That may have cost her support just as she looked to be outpacing Sanders after his heart attack in October, because it touched on fears about Democratic leaders being too willing to abandon principled positions.Dylan Baker, who has campaigned for Warren and came to see her speak in Des Moines, thinks she probably had little choice.“I’ve been out knocking on doors and lot’s of people say, I really like Elizabeth Warren but I just don’t know if [public health insurance] is going to work. Even if they support it, they say they don’t know if enough independents will vote for it or if other Democrats will go for it. They’re too scared of it or say it costs too much,” he said.Still, Baker is torn about the strategy. In the end he thinks Sanders is right, that radical policies are required to get voters out.“I personally think energizing the youth is the answer,” he said. ‘You’re asking for drastic change and most liberals deal with incremental change’At another Warren rally, Negus Imhotep, a 59-year-old African American man who works with young people to combat gang violence in Des Moines, said he likes both Warren and Sanders.“I think that they’re the only beacon of hope because if you look at the other candidates, especially Joe Biden, he’s asking for the same thing that you already have,” he said.But Imhotep doubts Sanders or Warren will be able to overcome powerful entrenched forces and so isn’t even sure he’ll vote.“I don’t think the system was created for somebody to destroy it. You’re asking for drastic change and most liberals deal with incremental changes,” he said.Part of Imhotep’s frustration lies in his disillusionment with the Obama years, when the 2008 economic crash cost him his job delivering concrete. He couldn’t pay his mortgage and the bank took his house.“Obama turned around and gave money back to the bankers, thinking that they’re gonna do the trickle-down effect, which hasn’t happened,” he said. ‘They say the African American vote is important but it seems to be only important during elections’Polling suggests that Sanders, Warren and Buttigieg struggle to win support among black voters. Biden does better, perhaps in no small part because of his years as Obama’s vice-president, although as a senator he voted in favour of laws that contributed to the mass incarceration of black men. But the bigger issue among some African American voters is to find a candidate they believe is really listening to them.There’s also a nagging concern among some minority voters that candidates only talk about race to black people when it’s a message they should be pushing out much more forcefully to the country as a whole.“It’s kind of insulting how candidates do that,” said Rachelle Long at a forum for candidates to address minority voters in Des Moines. “They say the African American vote is important but it seems to be only important during elections. After that it starts to get real vague. Before it’s, ‘I’m going to do it’. And then when they get in it’s, ‘We’ll try’.”Dava James, a retired teacher, went to see Biden speak at a local hotel. She’ll vote for him and regards him as having served Obama well. But she lives in an Iowa district represented by Congressman Steve King, a Republican who once said white Americans did not have to worry about being a minority because blacks and Hispanics “would be fighting each other before that happens”.James thinks King gets re-elected because most people in 85% white Iowa don’t understand what it is to be black, and she wanted to know from Biden how he would change that.“I wanted to have him help me to publicize the fact that Iowans don’t always see what they have in common with a minority, even if they’re right there,” she said. “I’m not a white woman so I already know what I get in a salary is at the bottom of the list of what you do for a living.” ‘There’s just no way that we can risk another four years’Alison McCarthy, an immigration lawyer, was a Sanders supporter back in 2016 and boycotted Clinton at the general election.“He’s an inspiring person. I’ve brought my kids here to the rally today so that they could feel the energy and take part of this excitement,” she said.But even she has niggling doubts and thinks he may have to adjust his message on policies such as healthcare if he goes into the general election.McCarthy said that if Sanders is the candidate, it would be essential that the broader Democratic party get behind him, even though she acknowledges she failed to back Clinton. With hindsight, she said she will back whoever the Democratic candidate is this year.But then she hesitates.“I hate voting in that strategic way instead of in a more principled way. But I feel that there’s just no way that we can risk another four years of Donald Trump at this point,” she said.

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rights-and-power-blog · 5 years ago

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White People Dont care About YOU

Last night on Tuesday August 20, in less than 24 hours 4 shootings in the black community all 4 dead, 2 in Coney Island, 1 In Browsville and another in Queens, You stand with white people calling for Gun laws, but your problem is bigger than that, the only reason why you havent realize it is because you are the weakest and the most retarded community in America. There are no gun shops in your community, the guns that are on the streets are purchased from white dealers, from white gun shops, you dont need gun laws because NY already have the most and strict gun laws, what you need are laws for illegal guns trafficking, but you will not get that because its big business and every one around you are involved, start with your head politicians. You voted for De Blasio he says all the time the city is safe crimes are down, the Governor of NY says the same thing, but every time we turn its another mother on TV crying because she loss her kid to gun violence or someone burrying their love ones from gun violence, is it possible just maybe the Mayor and the Governor are not talking about the Black community.

How about you ask them who exactly are they talking about since you voted for them, are they talking about the Jewish community or white community? Your Negro politicians have no say, in fact they are all running for president knowing damn well they will not get far, all those candidates running for president are a set up for the black community, the democrats have used the community for so long since many people are finally coming out the slave mentality and realize whats being done they are slowly stepping away from the democratic party, they are desperate and trying to get as many black voters as they can for 2020 because they know they will not win this election without black voters. For the democrats its already too late this is an election they already lost, they have no message for the black community except talking about Trump the only thing that sounds good to black people since they like to be condition by white folks, lately some of the candidates start to address slavery, the plan is for the Negro Candidates to gather as many black voters they possibily can, I dont know any one who will vote for Cory Booker for president so why is he running, but if you are not stupid enough you will realise they will promote their star candidate and than every one will throw their hats behind him and rally every supporters to vote for that one person.

On saturday in Bedstuy they were having a family celebration at marcy projet the cops came and terrorize the people, they were beating any one who were recording the incident on their Cell phone calling them animals and treated them just like animals, I will tell you over and over those cops are not there to protect you they are there to make their over time, you dont mean nothing to them, you are just a number, or you can ask your self how come they dont act like that in the Jewish community? For the idiots who keep saying there are good cops, how about you tell us where they are and what make them so good? police are no friends of the black community, black or white, before they come to the community they are told to kill you, they are told you are criminals and your lives never meant anything. When a cop look at you they look at you with anger, they talk to you without respect, and treat you less than human just like they used to do in the 1800s. As long as you keep on following white people and stand with white people to fight their agendas your community will remain a dump, thats why they dont live in your community, they are calling for gun reforms for their community and do not care about yours, until you stand up and fight for illegal gun trafficking which is easy to get done, this should be the easiest law and easiest investigation for the FBI and the ATF, if you know any one who says it cant be done, put that person on a stage on live tv give me 5 minutes and ill prove that person wrong and show you how stupid you have been for feeding to those lies for so long.

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theconservativebrief · 6 years ago

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Bari Weiss and Eve Peyser thought they would hate each other and are now friends. I’m glad they’re happy, but I’m not sure what the rest of us are supposed to learn from their experience.

Weiss is a staff editor/writer at the New York Times opinion section, where she’s developed a reputation for making arguments that maximally annoy the online left (example headlines: “We’re All Fascists Now”; “Three Cheers for Cultural Appropriation”; “Aziz Ansari Is Guilty. Of Not Being a Mind Reader.”). Charitably, she’s a provocateur; less charitably, she’s a troll with a huge platform.

Peyser, on the other hand, is a reliably left-of-center writer at Vice. Weiss describes her as “like the caricature of the person I know hates me on the internet: Gawker Media alum, probable Democratic Socialists of America member, many tattoos.”

So, naturally, they met up. Weiss insisted on going swimming so that Peyser wouldn’t wear a wire, a very normal precaution. And — surprise, surprise — they got along. Swimmingly, one might even add!

The piece, published in the New York Times and structured as a conversation, is ultimately about the deleterious consequences of Twitter on interpersonal relationships — how it can create enmity and contempt where none would exist in person. So the authors would probably view the hostile response the article has received in some corners of Twitter as evidence for their thesis.

The piece’s critics make some good substantive points: Journalists are supposed to be able to build productive relationships with a wide range of people; Peyser and Weiss are actually quite similar to each other and even agree on most of the topics they discussed; the piece treats disagreements on issues that matter as peripheral to whether you’re a good person or not.

But I want to make a much simpler point: You do not have to do this. You do not have some kind of civic duty to reach out to and actively befriend people you disagree with, and doing so is a very high-cost and ineffective way to address political polarization.

The undercurrent driving the Weiss/Peyser team-up is that what they’re doing is, in some way, a model for how we all should be behaving. Their piece ends with an ask from the Times: “Maybe you have a political nemesis whom you subtweet.… If so, we’ve got a challenge for you: Invite that person to have a beer or coffee, or join you in a FaceTime chat. Tell us how it went.”

That goes quite beyond what even Weiss and Peyser themselves are arguing. If they want to be friends, fine, do your thing. But the Times op-ed page as a whole appears to believe this is something you — not journalists but you, the reader, average person — should be doing, part and parcel of good citizenship.

This notion has spread widely since Trump’s election: that Americans just don’t talk to each other enough, that we need to build friendships that reach across our personal info bubbles if America is ever going to heal. You see this in Mark Duplass’s abortive attempt to build bridges with right-wing polemicist Ben Shapiro. You see it in the group Better Angels, which aims to “reduce political polarization in the United States by bringing liberals and conservatives together.” The group holds workshops that function as scaled-up versions of the Peyser/Weiss meeting, and it’s gotten copious press coverage for its efforts, including a whole David Brooks column.

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For journalists, understanding what other people are thinking and why is part of the job. For average citizens and voters, it’s another burden to add to the list after work, schlepping the kids to and from school, taking care of elderly family members, and attending PTA and church/synagogue/mosque meetings, etc.

What the call for cross-partisan friendships asks people to do, essentially, is to make an altruistic sacrifice of time, perhaps money, and definitely emotional energy, in an attempt to heal our politics.

But if we’re going to make that ask, we should be pretty confident that good things will come of it, because the cost is not trivial. And there is no good evidence, to the best of my knowledge, that these efforts are effective at scale.

It would be one thing if this attempt at depolarization were an attempt to persuade participants of certain specific, socially beneficial beliefs. Insofar as individual beliefs are deforming our politics, the beliefs that do so the worst involve bigotry — especially, in the American case, racist sentiment. There’s a role for small-scale persuasion in trying to reduce prejudice, as well as large-scale structural changes.

But the “can’t we all get along” gambit of Better Angels and the NYT op-ed page isn’t that. This is a small-scale attempt to make people nicer to each other, with a hope that this will somehow improve political outcomes in the United States.

And that can be a big ask. Asking a Muslim mother to sit and listen patiently as a white Trump voter explained why the “Muslim ban” appealed to him — that’s not a trivial request.

It’s not clear to me what exactly that conversation is accomplishing. The Muslim mom knows there are people who hate her and her family. She doesn’t need to be reminded face to face. She isn’t learning anything. And when the goal of the conversation is “depolarization,” not prejudice reduction, it’s far from clear that her white interlocutor will emerge with less socially deleterious views either. There’s some evidence that contact with people from a vulnerable group can reduce prejudice against that group — but notably, a recent meta-analysis concluded that the effects are weakest for racial prejudice, and the evidence sparsest when it comes to adults.

There’s also some reason to think that interventions like this, in certain circumstances, could do harm. In a wonderful paper, evocatively titled “When Going Along Gets You Nowhere and the Upside of Conflict Behaviors,” the psychologists Mina Cikara and Elizabeth Levy Paluck argued that promoting cooperation and avoiding social conflict can backfire — and promoting conflict between groups can, on occasion, bring positive change. The authors write, citing this study:

For example, an intervention, in which low-power groups (i.e., Mexican immigrants, Palestinians) were able to voice their grievances to the high-power group (i.e., White Americans, Israelis), and in which the high-power group had to take their low-power perspective, resulted in more positive regard between the groups compared to when grievances were not voiced or heard.

It seems plausible to me that Twitter could serve a purpose like that. From its very inception in the late 2000s, Twitter was massively appealing to journalists and had a disproportionately large and influential black community. This happened, probably not coincidentally, after a large “white flight” of wealthier white users from MySpace to Facebook. And it pushed white journalists into contact with black voices in a way that they (we) hadn’t been before. It was a more even playing field, where a group with less power had the same claim to a voice as a group with more power. If we should expect that forcing high-power groups to hear the perspectives of low-power groups promotes tolerance, on net, then maybe we should expect that on Twitter too.

That’s not to say Twitter is perfect; using it makes me wildly unhappy much of the time. But it does make me wonder if the Weiss/Peyser hypothesis, that Twitter prevents us from listening to each other and we should really just try to get along as people outside it, is right. And if we’re not sure that hypothesis is right, then asking that people bear significant personal costs to reach out and befriend their political enemies starts to make less sense. That goes not just for takesters but for politicians like Barack Obama, who often emphasize the value of civil discussion and collaboration ahead of heated disagreement and confrontation. We need both.

We have a tendency, as a culture, to equate morality with bearing a heavy burden. Actually running and operating an orphanage and taking care of orphans day to day looks more saintly than funding 15 orphanages while living in a mansion does. And this kind of reasoning makes for effective, click-friendly articles. “Befriend people you disagree with” seems like the kind of thing you should do but is something you probably resist doing for one reason or another (it’s hard, it’s unpleasant, etc.). That tension, between duty and revulsion, has the makings of good content.

But I don’t think it makes for good moral reasoning. If you want to heal America, donate to and vote for candidates you think can do that. Give cash to poor people in the US, or people working to reduce prejudice. Do what you feel you can. But don’t let anyone guilt you into befriending people you don’t actually want to befriend. Don’t force yourself to listen to people spouting hate against you and your family in the name of civil comity. Life is too short, and the costs are real.

Sign up for the Future Perfect newsletter. Twice a week, you’ll get a roundup of ideas and solutions for tackling our biggest challenges: improving public health, decreasing human and animal suffering, easing catastrophic risks, and — to put it simply — getting better at doing good.

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gta-5-cheats · 7 years ago

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Live stream: NRA-ILA Leadership Forum

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Live stream: NRA-ILA Leadership Forum

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The NRA sign promoting the organizaton’s annual meeting for 2018 in Dallas. (Photo: Daniel Terrill/Guns.com)

The National Rifle Association’s 2018 Leadership Forum kicked off in Dallas, Texas on Friday with anticipated speeches from President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and more.

Guns.com will keep you informed with a live stream of all the speeches. Check back for updates soon.

Chris Cox, NRA’s chief lobbyist, opened the forum with a rallying cry for the association’s five million members. “They cant beat us on the facts, but if they can shame us out of the fight, they will win,” he said of the fervent gun control movement gaining steam after the Parkland massacre. “In the face of their bitter hatred, there’s never been a more critical time for us to stand tall and, by God, to stand proud.”

Cox then handed the stage over to Stephen Willeford, the NRA member credited with interrupting a shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas last year.

Some 26 parishioners died and another 20 were injured when a former Airman opened fire with an AR-15 during a late morning service. Willeford, a nearby resident, heard the gunfire and rushed across the street to intervene.

“He had an AR-15, but so did I,” he told the crowd gathered at Friday’s forum. “I’m not the bravest man in the world or anything, but I was there and I could do something. And I had to do something.”

The gunman fled the scene and Willeford pursued, eventually leading police to the suspect about 10 minutes down the road from the church.

NRA leadership presented him with a lifetime membership Friday, saying Willeford embodies the association’s “force of good” in the world.

“He is no anomaly. He is not one in a million,” Cox said. “He is one of five million. He’s one of us.”

Vice President Mike Pence

Vice President Mike Pence took the stage first, describing himself as a card-carrying NRA member and dedicated conservative.

“I’m here to tell you you have two friends in the White House,” he said. “The right of the people to keep and bear arms will not be infringed.”

Pence touted the president’s policy victories since taking office last year — boosting defense spending, funding the beginning of a border wall, protecting the balance of the Supreme Court and appointing Constitution-friendly federal judges across the nation — before promising a solution to mass shootings mindful of the Second Amendment.

‘These and too many others acts of violence shatter our families and leave our nation searching for answers,” he said. “We will continue to bring American solutions to this crisis. We will end this evil and protect our civil liberties at the same time. That’s the American way.”

He capped off his speech encouraging Cox’s rally cry, saying “Stay in the fight. Exercise all of your fundamental rights. Live out your citizenship in all the ways that make NRA one of the potent forces of good in America.”

President Donald Trump

President Trump said he was “doing the right thing” by appearing at the National Rifle Association’s annual convention in Dallas on Friday to rally the organization’s members to vote Republican in the midterm elections.

Trump’s speech waded through issues he built his campaign on — such as immigration, jobs and tax reform — but he touched on key gun issues on and off throughout the speech.

Minutes into his speech, Trump abruptly transitioned to talk about gun rights, saying “let’s talk about guns, shall we?” and argued that the consequences for cities like London, Paris and Chicago for having tough gun laws has been violence.

“It seems like if we’re going to outlaw guns like so many people want to do — Democrats … and (then) we are going to have outlaw all vans and trucks, which are the new form of terror for maniacs,” he said and added, “Let’s ban all vans, trucks cars, — let’s not sell any more cars.”

Although Republicans have control of both chambers of Congress and the White House, Trump argued they still need more. “They say we have a majority — what a majority of just one person?” he asked. “We gotta do great in 2018.”

With more Republicans, they could fill the more than 100 judge seats vacated in federal court system and other positions, such as ambassador roles. He blamed Democrats for slowing or disrupting the process.

He touched on his administration’s efforts to improve school security, an issue sparked by the killings in Parkland, Florida that left 17 people dead and 15 others injured. The incident spurred massive demonstration by students and victims that largely challenged the NRA’s influence. Initially, Trump made statements that contradicted solutions promoted by the NRA, but he abruptly abandoned those ideas after meeting with NRA officials.

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Heading toward a close, Trump made reference to the battle of the Alamo, using the historic event to describe Texans’ feelings toward gun rights. “Like those early Texans, we will never surrender,” he said, adding “We will live and we will die free.”

Patrons waiting to see President Trump speak at the NRA leadership forum during the organization’s annual convention in Dallas on May 4, 2018. (Photo: Daniel Terrill/Guns.com)

NRA Chief Executive Officer Wayne LaPierre

Wayne LaPierre serves as arguably the most visible member of NRA’s leadership team and is largely credited with advancing right-to-carry laws in more than 40 states.

He told members Friday he’s seen many attempts over the last four decades to squash the NRA, but promised the organization remains “stronger than ever” in 2018 — despite the left’s tactic of “gaslighting tragedy and exploiting victims.”

“They’re so eager to dance on NRA’s grave that they can’t recognize the undeniable truth right before their eyes,” he said. “They can’t see you — millions of good-hearted people.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said mass shootings stem not from guns, but from the culture itself.

“The problem is hearts without God. Homes without discipline. Communities without values,” he said. “In this country, we have a core value that our nation is founded on and that core value is our United States Constitution.”

Abbott said Willeford’s NRA training saved lives at Sutherland Springs — just as it does for Texans who face MS-13 gang members or home intruders.

“Even in the fog of this horrific tragedy, people in Sutherland Springs looked me in the eye and demanded I would not allow this tragedy to take their guns,” he said.

Sen. John Cornyn

Sen. John Cornyn said he wanted to reshape the conversation about the Second Amendment by making it synonymous with public safety.

“Support for the Second Amendment and support for public safety are one in the same,” he told the crowd of NRA members filling the auditorium during the organization’s annual meeting in Dallas.

Like many other speakers, he praised Steven Willeford for stopping the gunman who murdered 26 people and 20 others at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas in November. Cornyn challenged the narrative that such defensive gun uses are rare.

Recently, an unpublished paper by the Centers for Disease Control surfaced that addressed a study from the 1990s showing between 500,000 to 3 million DGUs a year. However, researchers have dismissed the results due to the ways in which the data was collected.

Sen. Ted Cruz

Five years ago, Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Chuck Grassley co-sponsored a bill alerting the Department of Justice every time a fugitive or a felon tried to buy a gun.

The Grassley-Cruz amendment, as it became, would have strengthened the federal background check system and addressed mental health concerns in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, Cruz told NRA members Friday. It received a majority vote in a Democratic-held Senate, but fell apart over a filibuster.

Fast forward to Nov. 5, 2017 when a former Airman opened fire in a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas with an AR-15 his assault convictions barred him from owning.

“Had that law passed …. he would have been in federal prison instead of in that church murdering those innocent men, women and children,” Cruz said.

During an animated 30-minute speech, Cruz retold the heroics of Stephen Willeford, who interrupted the church massacre that fateful morning armed with his own AR-15. He chased the shooter in a high-speed pursuit, ultimately leading law enforcement to the suspect’s crashed car.

In the end, Cruz blamed Democrats for targeting the wrong menace and “selling lies.”

“It’s not about hunting. Its not about target shooting. The Second Amendment is about the God given right to defend our lives, to defend our homes, to defend our families,” he said. “When the Second Amendment says shall not be infringed, it means exactly that — shall not be infringed.”

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viralhottopics · 8 years ago

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Dear White, Christian Trump Supporters: We Need To Talk

Plenty of pundits keep telling us progressives that we didnt listen to them in the heartland to you of the white working class, to you of conservative Christianity.

Actually, I grew up as one of you. Ive listened to you my whole life, but I dont think I know how to understand you at all.

I suppose now youd consider me part of the so-called liberal elite. Im a west coast university professor with a Ph.D. and almost 30 years of teaching experience. But Im the daughter of a Southern Baptist, working-class pipe fitter at a paper mill in a small, conservative town in northwest Georgia.

My parents did not go to college (my father finally earned a degree after hed retired from the paper mill). Only one of my four grandparents finished high school. I studied hard, got a scholarship, kept studying, kept working, and I moved into the white collar middle class.

My white conservative Christian upbringing had told me that was the American Dream to work hard and succeed. I did, and I feel youre holding it against me now that I no longer share your views. I think you must imagine the liberal elite as East Coast, Ivy League-educated, trust fund babies completely out of touch with how most people live.

Sure, some faculty members grew up with money. Some went to Ivy League schools. But a lot of us professors were you working class kids who did whatever it took to get a college education. Along the way, a lot of us developed progressive ideas, not out of our privilege, but out of our own experiences of discrimination, struggle, and oppression.

We read and argued and wrote and rewrote. We got peer-reviewed, over and over and over. Our ideas are held to incredibly high, rigorous standards, and so, when we speak we do so carefully, thoughtfully, with nuance, and with openness because sometimes we are also wrong. But because weve studied hard and held ourselves up to professional standards, we really do know a lot about what were talking about, and we have something to offer in a real conversation across our differences (including the East Coast Ivy Leaguers who arent as out of touch as you may think). But I dont think you want to hear us or me.

You tell me I need to get over Trumps election and stop being a sore loser. But politics is not a sport. We dont choose teams and simply cheer ours on to victory. My beloved Atlanta Falcons lost the Super Bowl, and, painful though that was, I will get over it. It hurts, but I wont protest, march, write letters, or otherwise resist the outcome, even if we discover New Englands balls were deflated. Its a game, but its not life or death.

This election, however, is exactly that. Perhaps you can tell me to get over it because you do not have to worry that Trump will appoint a Supreme Court justice that could play a role in invalidating your marriage. If Congress passes and Trump signs the First Amendment Defense Act, you probably wont have to worry that a bakery, restaurant, or hotel might legally deny you service. You dont have to worry about being stranded at an airport and refused admission to the U.S. because of the country youre from or the religion you practice. You dont have to worry about having your family divided across the world with a simple signature on an executive order.

You say you are aggrieved because you have not achieved what you think you deserve or you think some less deserving other has taken it. Despite having moved into the middle class, I have spent my career teaching about and advocating for labor unions, a living wage, affordable childcare, social security, affordable healthcare, accessible higher education. Progressives are actually the ones who support the economic programs and policies that could make a difference for the working class.

You have a right to be aggrieved, but I fear you are targeting the wrong people. Low paying jobs, job insecurity, companies moving work overseas, low benefits, little vacation these are the results of decades of policies that benefit the truly wealthy those whose wealth depends not on the labor of their hands but on their ability to exploit the production of poorly paid laborers. The problem is not that immigrants have taken your jobs or drained money from the safety net. The problem is that the system of wealth sets workers against one another so they do not target the real economic power that limits their work and financial security.

You say you want progressives to listen to you. Then prioritize truth. This election was filled with fake news, shared widely on Facebook, and this administration already has begun to create a language of alternative facts to misinform and mislead. If you want to talk, offer evidence, real evidence based on verifiable data and reliable sources, not wishful imaginings or fabricated Breitbart stories. An internet meme is not an informed and legitimate point of argument that facilitates dialogue. Weve reached a point where youd rather believe an overt lie if it supports a belief you already hold than pursue the truth if it might challenge your currently held belief.

The Bible tells us God is a God of truth and the truth will set us free. Yet you chose someone who lies with impunity. I want to understand how you choose to ignore the evidence that is right in front of your eyes photos of the crowds at two different inaugurations, for example. How do you accept what is proven to be a lie? How do you support someone who, rather than correct the record, doubles down on his lies?

Especially, how do you do this in the name of the God of truth? Before the election I saw one of you whod written as an evangelical Christian in support of Trump that God can use anyone. So help me understand why you thought God could use a man whod said hed never asked God for forgiveness, who serially committed adultery, who said he could grab women by the genitals, who cheated contractors and workers, but you didnt think God could use a woman who is a Christian, a lifelong Methodist and who, from the heart, quotes the Bible and John Wesley (when Trump didnt even know how to say Second Corinthians, which he called Two Corinthians, and when asked for his favorite Bible verse struggled to name one until he landed on an eye for an eye. And you know what Jesus said about that one).

I know youve been offended that progressives have called you racist for voting for Trump. I understand that. You dont see yourself as racist. But you did knowingly vote for someone who insulted Latinos, Blacks, Muslims, and Jews. And women. And LGBTQ people. And people with disabilities. Help me understand how that squares with the notion of Gods love for all people.

Can you really imagine Jesus using the words Trump did about these groups of people? How would you characterize voting for someone who is overtly racist? Help me understand how you align your Christian perspective with his racism, misogyny, homophobia, Islamophobia, and antisemitism.

Im afraid that what you want is a nation that conforms to your interpretation of the Bible. Thats where we really run into trouble because that would require you to force your particular conservative Christian beliefs on everyone else. I dont understand how people who want to claim religious liberty for themselves are so unwilling to give it to everyone, which is actually the premise of true religious liberty.

You say you want a Christian nation, but our founders were clear that was never their goal. In fact, the Constitution goes to great lengths to protect the government from religion and religion from government. I also get the sense that you think people are not Christians if they arent Christian in the same way as you. But cant we find some common ground? Cant we agree that all people should be free to practice their religion or practice no religion and should be safe from coercion based on religion? Cant we agree that we share values of love, kindness, respect, and community and then try to live those with each other? Do you really think a Christian, especially a biblical literalist, can want a wall built?

The Bible is clear about how we are to treat foreigners among us no matter how they got here. What if the Egyptians had built a wall before Mary and Joseph fled from King Herod? Our Christian story starts with a refugee family. Can we not practice our shared Christian values with immigrants and refugees coming to our country?

Cant we find common ground on issues like, say, abortion? I think we could have a common goal of lowering abortion rates. After all, you will never end abortions. Maybe you can end the safe, legal ones, but, one way or another, women will still have abortions. They will just be more likely to die from them.

And heres where I think dealing with facts is crucial to find common ground. We know that abortion rates are lower worldwide when there is no global gag order. We also know that what is most successful in lowering abortion rates is access to contraception, accurate sex education, and personal and economic empowerment for women.

To cling to overturning Roe v. Wade as the only way to end abortions is a fantasy based on ideology rather than medical science and social science, and it flies in the face of the evidence for what is successful. So the real question is are you more interested in actual effectiveness in lowering abortion rates or ideological purity? We can lower abortion rates together but not by denying women choices over their own bodies. We can be effective together by listening to the data and working together to ensure all women have access to contraception, education, and social and economic resources. Are you willing to have that conversation?

Ive heard some of you say that well just have to agree to disagree, but thats a problem. You see, were not talking about ideas here. Were talking about actual human lives. If we were talking about predestination or modes of baptism or premillennialism, Id say, sure, lets agree to disagree. The stakes are pretty low. But if were talking about the rights of people to access housing, clean water and air, and healthy food or the possibility of a nuclear arms race or discrimination written into law or women losing basic life-saving health screenings, or young black men being incarcerated disproportionately, or Native peoples having their sacred sites desecrated and their water poisoned, or Muslim people being targeted for their faith, then the stakes are much higher, and I cannot simply agree to disagree.

Thats why Im writing you now. We need to talk, and I dont know how to talk to you anymore. I need to know, is it more important to you to win than to do good? Or can we build coalitions? Listen to science? Rely on real evidence? Be effective? Put the needs and rights of all others above ideologies? Can we live the love of God we claim? You want me to hear and understand you. I get that. I also want you to hear and understand the rest of the world that is not you or your kind. Because they too are Gods people and therefore are in the circle of those whom we must love. You taught me that when I was a child. If we can agree on that now, we have a place to start.

Read more: http://huff.to/2lF3xqK

from Dear White, Christian Trump Supporters: We Need To Talk

#Dear White #Christian Trump Supporters: We Need To Talk

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rights-and-power-blog · 8 years ago

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Letter to my black people in Honor of Black History Month

Back in the 60s we stood together, we marched and fight together, we made demands and got answers, today all we do is follow others, we have no concern about our situation. I am talking to the smart, the dumb and the retards you have to pick which one you are, we have are following those who are protesting but dont realize we are hurting the worst, when those celebrities are out there protesting against the president they have special interests and none of them are your concerns, Madonna is protesting, Cher is protesting among many even your Steve and Al Sharpton against Trump but none of them live in your community or dodging bullets, when the last time you see any of them in your community Steve Harvey brag how he has police body guarding his home, Al sharpton lives in the heels of T-Neck when the last time you see or any of those people in your community? not one time and none of you can serve as witness they have no idea what goes on in the black community other than what they see on the news or may someone who runs with them still lives in the community.

while those folks are against the president they are hurting the community if the president sign a policy that will help the community because those people are so against him those of us who needs help suppose to suffer just because a number of Americans refuse to accept the reality. I have heard many says they are so against Trump they would not talk to him and would not work with him, well let me understand the intelligent mind, how are we suppose to get help for our community if we wont talk to the president who constantly writing policies before his 100 days, how are we suppose to raise awareness and make demands? if Donald trump call a black person a nigger he was not talking about me because before him i knew who i was and know who i am, when he was talking the stuff he was talking he was not talking about me, when he was grabbing women the way he did he was not grabbing my daughter either Trump or any man who degrades my daughter would not still be alive, i raised my daughter like a young lady she is now a teenager i am a father and will continue to be a father and teach her how she should be treated, therefore Donald Trump is not my concern because i am raising my kids like a father should.

Donald Trump was the only politician to look at black people in the face and tell them the truth, every politicians especially the democratic candidates have been sugar coating you, why dont you tell me how have that been working for you? he told you that your community is filled with crimes, well let see people are moving out of the community everyday including me, and those who cant are afraid to walk these streets, he said your school system is poor and need help, how many graduates do we have going to college and what is the number of the drop outs, he said unemployment is on the rise and there is no family values in the black community, well how many black folks we know with degrees but cant find jobs, many of black women are struggling to raise kids on their own, fathers are gone and they losing control of the kids, can somebody who lives in the black community tell me which part of all that is a lie? because i am still one who is from the community and still walks the community when ever i please, any one who says they would not work with the president is a damn fool, to any one of the people you know who will not sit down and talk to Donald Trump please ask them what better solution they have to help the black community, when will they start the process and give us the numbers, names and websites of the groups who will start helping because as of right now we are in a crisis.

If i could meet President Trump today i would explain to him why i did not vote for him, i would tell him why i am still hurting for the reason that i could not vote for him and if he could repair that damage i promise i would stand with him the next election around should he decides to run again. I would also plead to the president about the help the community desperately need and if he can at least help with 25% of the problem i truly believe we can start to get back on our feet to a better tomorrow. Many brag about the former president Obama, yes he did a lot of good things, but who exactly did they benefit? when Obama set aside funds for the holocaust victims, he never even acknowledge the slave victims even your black president treated you like you never existed, for 6 years under president Obama my health plan went from $120 biweekly to $451 now that the new president signed the executive order my health provider not only refund me for the month of January, but they also make the adjustment of the new premium at $249.51 because they are keeping some stuff in the affordable care policy, while you are out there protesting because things dont work your way, think about what if some of us were out there protesting against everything we did not agree with Obama, why dont you do the math of the difference i was being charged on my health care every two weeks and see how much money i could of save and invest toward my kids future, thanks to your great president Obama many of us had to suffer yet we never raise hell.

while Obama was president he had many opportunity to set policies to protect every American citizens from police brutality especially people of color in this country just like he did with Obama care a simple general policy, instead he done nothing but making fancy speeches, some people came to his defense and says well he went to some of the funerals in Chicago if that is such of big deal do you know how many funerals i have been through with victims from gun violence do you know how many funerals i have assist with financially and support with rallys? believe me your former president did not please so many of us, but we were not out there protesting. Black people need to wake up and look around, who really standing with you? when the 49 people got shot at the gay club the country stood up to band guns and change the gun laws, but when we are shot even though they say they know where the guns are coming from, they still wont tell you who are bringing those guns in the black community, because they know from the local officials and top politicians are involve so the black community become the black market for those with greed. Because so many people are against Trump they even attack his kids where they have a campaign against Ivanka Trump called "GrabYourWallet" in order to pull her products off the shelf, well guess what majority of those big chain store outlets continue to stop selling her products. Now are you retarded black people, are you paying attention? white America can watch a black man shot dead like a dog left to bleed to death, or a college kid by the name or Mike Brown shot dead by cops, a grand father by the name of Eric Garner choked to death by a bunch of Cops where he repeatedly crying he cant breathe they did not care but took his life, those are innocent black people we watched on video as they took their last breath not one time white America stood with you, not one time white America cry with you, but like a bunch of fools with no concern trying to fit in are out there protesting, but can you tell me what exactly you expect to get out of all that? until you love your self no one will value anything you have until they can use you.

For Years democratic candidates lied to us, they disrespect us, they give hand outs to those who refuse to grow in order to keep their silence because of that the rest of us are out numbered, The former president you called the first black president "Bill Clinton" signed the crime bill in 1994 that same crime bill put away fathers, brothers, and sons in prison and you still worship him and his wife like a God, Bill clinton collect about 9 Billion dollars from the international community for the earth quake victims in Haiti, today Haiti remains the poorest country full of diseases but no one question the Clinton Foundation to find out the role of that money, yet you reward him by supporting his wife to become president, should he was a black man with all that money would you treat him the same? John Lewis took a seat for Gun laws when the 49 shooting took place at the gay night club, where is John Lewis when innocent black people are dying by gun violence in the black community, where is John Lewis when the racist cops are killing innocent black people, where have John Lewis been? all those years he has been in congress, what have John Lewis do to help the black community, how is the black community in John Lewis district are growing?

When John Lewis had his little feud with Donald Trump you people called him a hero just because he marched during the civil rights movement, well he is not my hero, John Lewis said he never met Bernie Sanders during the civil rights movement, he made it seem that Bernie sanders contribution did not mean anything, but he said he did meet the Clinton, if John Lewis is a hero for marching in the civil rights movement what about the young kids, the men and women who lost their lives during those marches, did they die in vain, are they not our Heros? John Lewis have the opportunity to tell his story, he has the opportunity to make changes, but what have he done ever since, if John Lewis is so against the president for what he stands for, but not for what he can do to help the black community, does John Lewis have a solution, if he does how come we have not heard about it? may he can make a press conference and tell us about his plan that can help the black community, how and when will he start working on such plan. The world knows you hate your self which is why our community refuse to grow, outside of the black community every one else are rising up everyday, sit down take a look at your self, trace your step back, evaluate your actions and decisions, and just may be we might be able to grow together, but without love and unity you will continue to fall as you will find your self back to modern day slavery.

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viralhottopics · 8 years ago

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Homeland recap: season six, episode two The Man in the Basement

Week two, and classic Homeland is back. Everyone has something to hide as Sekou explains the cash under his mattress, Saad reveals his criminal past and Carrie flatly denies her friends in high places

Spoiler alert: this blog is published after Homeland airs in the US. Only read on if youve watched series six episode two.

No wonder Carrie took offence at Ottos small potatoes dig about her new legal venture. She must have been biting her tongue hard, trying not to reveal that she was essentially dictating Americas future foreign policy in the Middle East all this time. This means shell be butting heads with Dar Adal again soon, which can only be good for the show. However solid the intel on Iranian nukes turns out to be, it felt like the old Homeland was back this week.

Because if you feel it this calling to be an independent American the time to rise up is now. Now!

Theres a strange smell in the basement and an even stranger man. Quinn gazes vacantly at the ceiling, living off tinned food while listening to conspiracy channels. Carrie has to handle his vast list of prescription meds. When she tries to get him to take his anti-seizure medication, a coffee mug is launched at her in response. No good deed goes unpunished.

She calls Max in to babysit, but theres only so much he can do. When Quinn heads out to load up on booze at the local bodega he has a grand mal seizure. Against medical advice, he returns to Carries house without being checked out in hospital. Hes lost a great deal, but his stubbornness remains intact.

It might get you votes, but God forbid it makes you think you know what youre doing.

Dar Adal takes President-elect Elizabeth Keanes Chief-of-staff Rob Hemmis to lunch at a location thick with symbolism. Its the restaurant he was in when the Twin Towers came down they pulled in choking New Yorkers through their doors that day. Its a great story. Not one word of it is true but Dar delivers it like a seasoned Broadway ham.

It is his gentle way of reminding Hemmis why they do what they do. Less gently, he calls the President-elects credentials into question. A mother with a son killed in action thats her CV. Unkind? Absolutely, but we live in dangerous times. He tells Hemmis theres intel that the Iranians are cheating on the nuclear deal, running a parallel program with North Korea outside the country with the help of financier Farhad Nafisi. Mossad will be picking him up at a conference in Abu Dhabi next week. How should the agency proceed? Dar asks him, fully aware of the grenade hes just dropped in his lap.

That new paradigm we talked about? This is it.

Saul pops in to see Carrie at her law firm. Its great to hear her voice again. Funnily enough he heard it quite recently, coming out of the President-elects mouth when she was discussing the Middle East. What a coincidence!

A vulgar man might point out that Elizabeth Keane is friendly with Otto Dring who is friendly with Carrie and draw the conclusion that Carrie is advising the soon-to-be commander-in-chief. And thats exactly what Saul does. Were it discovered to be true, he tells her, it would be embarrassing for everyone.

Carrie has never been so insulted and shes been insulted a lot. This type of baseless allegation is exactly why she left the CIA, she tells him. Chastened and believing her denials, he leaves.

It is only later that we see Carries self-righteous rage was bogus and that Saul was bang on the money. As she briefs the President-elect on the Iranian issue, it is with the practiced confidence of the trusted source.

Elizabeth Keanes dovish tendencies notwithstanding, the allegations are too serious to ignore. Carrie suggests someone absolutely trustworthy should represent US interests on the ground. Someone with unimpeachable integrity who wants to make the nuclear treaty with Iran work. If it happens to be someone with a soft spot for Carrie, even better. As it happens, she knows a guy Saul The Bear Berenson will be our man in Abu Dhabi.

If I cant say anything and hes lying how am I supposed to get out of here?

Max is called in to babysit Quinn. Photograph: 20th Century Fox/JoJo Whilden/SHOWTIME

Reda Hashem tells Sekou Bah to level with him about the smoking gun in the FBIs case against him for material support of terrorism the $5,000 under his mattress. Sekou explains it was just a loan from his filmmaking partner Saad Massoud to help pay for his familys visit to Nigeria.

Good work from Max throws up that Saad Massoud is in fact a man named Tyrone Banks Jr. Back in Pittsburgh, Tyrone ran with a rowdy crew who called themselves the Steel City Gang. Special Agent Ray Conlin recruited Tyrone in his prison cell; he promised to make a five-year prison sentence disappear if Tyrone came and worked for him and the FBI in New York.

This is a game-changer and they go before a judge to request their right to confront Massoud at trial. Ray Conlin is at the hearing and has it out with Carrie. You go anywhere near Saad Massoud, I will have you arrested, he tells her. The judge agrees; Saad is off limits. The prosecution make an offer if Sekou pleads guilty, he will get seven years. If he goes to trial and loses, hell do double that. Reda, well versed in legal realpolitik, advises him to take it but Carrie is a junkyard dog no way is she backing down.

Armed with the knowledge that Saad was secretly dating Sekous sister Simone, Carrie shows up at a clandestine meeting between the pair. The man formerly known as Tyrone Banks isnt too concerned about Sekous plight. Nonetheless, he lets Carrie know that he told Conlin that Sekou was not a terrorist but Conlin would not listen.

It started with someone throwing a coffee mug at me went downhill from there.

Its been a long day and they have a complex history but Carrie and Quinn have a quiet moment as they piece together his recent past. With his memory compromised he needs the gaps filling in. She explains what happened to him in Berlin. She cant believe he hasnt seen the video of his exposure to sarin gas. He watches it with her for the first time. You saved me, he says. Why? I was just wondering the same thing.

Notes and observations

Heres a guide to Quinns anti-seizure medication primidone. I have a feeling this may be useful in later episodes.

The extensive Claire Danes cry-face canon welcomes another entry this week from her emotional talk with Quinn.

Now we know Saad Massoud was working with the FBI, Im slightly confused about the guy he wanted Sekou Bah to meet before his trip to Nigeria. Was it just a way of testing his intentions?

Conlin assures Carrie the airline tickets were bought two months before Saad loaned Sekou the $5,000. If he is telling the truth, what was the loan for?

Simone being underage might offer Carrie some leverage against Saad even if it currently looks like national security trumps all.

Who do you trust on Homeland so far? Is Carrie having the President-elects ear on the Middle East a good thing? Exactly how real is the Iranian nuclear program? And what will become of poor Quinn? Please give your thoughts below.