Thursday Reads
Posted: July 7, 2016 Filed under: just because 20 Comments
Self portrait, Elaine de Kooning, 1946
Good Morning!!
I don’t know if you saw this, but Bernie Sanders was booed by Democrats at a Capital Hill meeting yesterday. Politico:
Sanders…stunned some of the Democrats in attendance when he told them that winning elections isn’t the only thing they should focus on. While they wanted to hear about how to beat Donald Trump — and how Sanders might help them win the House back — he was talking about remaking the country.
“The goal isn’t to win elections, the goal is to transform America,” Sanders said at one point, according to multiple lawmakers and aides in the room.
Some Democrats booed Sanders for that line, which plays better on the campaign trail than in front of a roomful of elected officials.
It’s about time Bernie faced some serious pushback.
Rank-and-file House Democrats want the Vermont independent to officially drop out of the race and throw his support behind the presumptive nominee, and they can’t understand why he hasn’t.
“It was frustrating because he’s squandering the movement he built with a self-obsession that was totally on display,” said a senior Democrat, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
After Sanders delivered his opening remarks — which touched on his favorite issues, including campaign finance, Wall Street reform and trade — lawmakers pressed him during a tense question-and-answer session on whether he would ultimately endorse Clinton and help foster party unity.
Sanders complained about the superdelegate process used during the primaries. “One person is starting with 900 delegates before anyone even votes,” Sanders said. The Vermont socialist and his supporters have been upset about the issue for months.
But House Democrats didn’t seem very impressed with the unapologetic Sanders, who didn’t yield an inch despite the rough handling he received.
What a pain in the ass Sanders is! Naturally, number 1 fan Chris Hayes invited Bernie onto his show last night to discuss the situation. Hayes did everything he could to get Sanders to finally admit he will endorse Hillary, and finally Bernie grudgingly admitted that it *might* happen next week.
As I’ve said repeatedly, I wish he wouldn’t endorse her. Democrats should just ignore his antics and leave him hanging out on that limb until it finally breaks and he crashes to earth. But apparently the two campaigns are in talks about a joint appearance in New Hampshire at some point. From NY Magazine:
On Wednesday evening, multiple outlets reported that the Clinton and Sanders campaigns were finalizing the terms of the Vermont senator’s endorsement, and discussing the possibility of holding a joint rally next week in New Hampshire. Later that night, Sanders confirmed those reports.
“I think at the end of the day, there is going to be a coming together,” Sanders told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes. “And we’re going to go forward together and not only defeat Trump, but defeat him badly.”
“So, you’re not denying the report that there are talks about a possible endorsement?” Hayes asked.
“That’s correct,” Sanders replied.
In his interview with MSNBC Wednesday night, Sanders suggested that he was hoping to extract a few more compromise proposals on health care and climate change before falling in line, promising, “I am going to use all the leverage I have.”
What a fucking asshole!
There’s been another police shooting of a black man, following close on the heels of the one in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Slate: Video Captures Aftermath of Police Shooting in Minnesota That Left Another Black Man Dead.
An emotional day of mourning for one victim of police violence, Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, ended with gut-wrenching news of another on Wednesday night, as word spread on social media that a black man in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, had been shot by an officer during a traffic stop.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune identified the victim as 32-year-old Philando Castile, a cafeteria supervisor at a Montessori school in St. Paul. According to the paper, Castile died a few minutes after being brought to a hospital.
You can watch the “graphic and disturbing” video at the Slate link above.
In the video, which was greeted with sickened disbelief all over the country on Wednesday night as news of the shooting spread, a woman who was with Castile at the time of the incident could be heard explaining that her boyfriend had been shot after informing the officer he was legally carrying a firearm.
“We got pulled over for a busted taillight in the back,” the woman said, speaking into her camera in a deliberate and steady voice as her young daughter sat watching from the backseat. “And the police just… they killed my boyfriend. He’s licensed to carry. He was trying to get his ID and his wallet out of his pocket, and he let the officer know he had a firearm and was reaching for his wallet. And the officer just shot him in his arm.”
The officer next to the car could be heard screaming, “I told him not to reach for it! I told him to get his hand up!”
The woman replied, “You told him to get his ID, sir, his driver’s license. Oh my God, please don’t tell me he’s dead.”
CNN has some follow-up on the Baton Rouge shooting: Piecing together what happened before the videos.
The 911 call that brought police to a Baton Rouge convenience store Tuesday came from a homeless man, according to a senior law enforcement official. The homeless man had approached Alton Sterling, repeatedly asking him for money, the official said. Sterling showed his gun and the homeless man called police, according to the official. Sterling was later shot by police at the scene.
Federal authorities have taken charge of the investigation into the Tuesday killing of Sterling, a 37-year-old black man who sold CDs and DVDs outside the Triple S Food Mart in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.Sterling was shot outside the store after an encounter with two police officers. The officers could be seen in video on top of him before the shots were fired.Protests began Tuesday afternoon in Baton Rouge and were largely peaceful. Vigils and memorials have spread across the country.
This morning Donald Trump met with Congressional Republicans. NYT:
The face time comes as Mr. Trump continues to raise anxiety among Republicans about his temperament less than two weeks before the party holds its national convention in Cleveland. As with the convention, some leading Republicans including Senator Marco Rubio, a former primary opponent, decided to pass on the meeting with the presumptive Republican nominee.
Mr. Trump met House members at the Capitol Hill Club, where Larry Kudlow, the conservative commentator, introduced him. According to two members in attendance, the conversation was fairly subdued and focused on border security, the need to protect the Second Amendment and the high costs associated with the Affordable Care Act, the health law that Mr. Trump wants to repeal and replace.
As he did in a speech on Wednesday night, Mr. Trump complained about the tough media coverage he has faced, particularly the portrayal of him as someone who admires Saddam Hussein, and he bragged of his impressive performance in the primary elections.
Despite the recent protectionist tenor of his campaign, Mr. Trump insisted that he is a devoted free trader and that he wants to renegotiate deals with other countries so that they favor America.
Although the members did not confront Mr. Trump about his policies, one did ask him how he could help the party maintain control of the Senate and the House, suggesting some concern about Republican losses in the House in the November elections.
Trump is still trying to justify his use of the star of David juxtaposed on a pile of money to attack Hillary Clinton. His latest defense is truly bizarre. NBC News: Trump Uses Disney Coloring Book to Defend Star Use.
Shortly after Donald Trump lamented publicly that his social media teamreplaced a tweet originally featuring a symbol resembling the Star of David, the presumptive GOP nominee posted a photo Wednesday of a ‘Frozen’ sticker book with a similar symbol. “Where is the outrage?” he asked, calling out the “dishonest media” the same way he did when defending it as a sheriff’s star – “or plain star!” – over the Fourth of July weekend.
Many on social media suggested Trump “let it go!” – echoing the well-sang advice of Elsa, the older sister of ‘Frozen.’ Clinton dug a bit deeper into the film’s songbook for her response.
Of course there’s no money in the Disney graphic. Tweets below.
This morning, House Republicans called FBI Director James Comey to testify about why he failed to recommend an indictment of Hillary Clinton over her State Department emails. ABC News: FBI Director James Comey Grilled About ‘Dangerous’ Precedent in Clinton Investigation.
FBI Director James Comey faced skeptical and angry congressional Republicans this morning in a hastily called hearing on Capitol Hill to question his findings in the probe into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.
In his opening statement, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, accused Comey of setting “a dangerous” precedent that will allow officials to “sloppily” handle classified information with “no consequence.”
Chaffetz said Comey’s determination that charges weren’t warranted in the case sent a message that, “If your name isn’t Clinton or you aren’t part of the powerful elite … lady justice will act differently” toward you.
The criminal case against Clinton and her aides is now closed, but almost immediately after Comey announced his findings earlier this week, Republicans wanted to know why she was not prosecuted for mishandling classified information while using a private email server as Secretary of State.
“We’re mystified,” Chaffetz insisted today. “It seems that there are two standards, and there’s no consequence for these types of activities and dealing in a careless way with classified information.”
Here we go again. Now House Republicans will probably drag EGhazi on for months, and Hillary will again come out on top. The Washington Post asks: Will House Republicans overplay their hand on Hillary Clinton? Well of course they will. It’s what they do.
What stories are you following today?
peej
Carissa
ecocatwoman
grayslady
mablue2
NW Luna
peggysue22
quixote
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
My computer is still acting up, but at least I got this posted. I’ll check in as soon as a do some more repair work. Have a great Thursday Sky Dancers!!
Can anybody say snowflake?
If the anti Hillary graphic had not come from racist dot com Trump could obfuscate but he is busted.
His smearing of Anna and Elsa is a fail.
House Republicans are of course playing to the TV audience, nothing else. The case is closed, They just wanted a live forum to be able to vent all their arguments, in the form of questions. It is another disgraceful chapter in the Tea Party House, which buries all meaningful legislation, and concentrates on phony hearings only designed to make political and personal attacks against Hillary Clinton. If the media were not so abysmally inept and biased, they couldn’t possibly get away with it. The media are their stooges in this shows that they put on.
I am just so irritated with Chris Hayes and his sycophantic adoration of Sanders. Sanders’ fifteen minutes are up; move on Chris.
I just really wish MSNBC would dump him and put Joy Reid on in his slot. Then he can take job doing infomercials selling ginsu knives.
Whut, Hillary is being called into FBI for jaywalking?
http://theintellectualist.co/house-to-ask-fbi-to-investigate-whether-clinton-lied-to-congress/
Take heart the congress is threatening to pursue charges against John Lewis and the other that staged the sit-in! the rule of law prevails!
Forgive me my friends, I am angry and on a bit of a rant. On the day when the GOP takes it’s umpteenth bite at the bullshit email apple we have to televised cop murders in two days.
You know I was thinking that if the four cops had gone to the gas chamber in 1999 when Amadou Diallo was murdered on his own porch, for reaching for his wallet (41 shots) we might not be facing a fresh police killing every few days. The cops settled with the family for 3 million dollars and everyone walked.
That is the SOP still today. Cops act with impunity and then pick the pocket of the tax payer to pay reparations. Don’t be fooled. It is not JUST about race. They kill innocent white people with impunity as well.
Everyone involved in Freddie Gray’s killing is walking free.
No punishment for the killers of John Crawford (carrying toy gun in Wal-Mart) and Tamir Rice (12 year old playing with a toy). No punishment for the killing of Malissa Williams and Timothy Russell (137 shots because the car allegedly back fired and frightened the cops), these four are from my home state of Ohio. I am still resentful that Black Lives Matter gave Hillary holy hell every chance they got but I never once saw them disrupt a John Kasich event.
As long as the cops are allowed to kill with impunity and be bailed out with other peoples money this will continue.
Sensitivity training is not the deterrent. The GOP in high dudgeon about the so-called double standard when it come to the Clintons. How about the double standard that exists when the police murder people and face no consequences?
Ron~ I am a small town mayor. I have fired two police chiefs to get the right culture in my PD. We have never had a shooting but we did have unnecessary force and corruption.There are multiple problems involved but in my opinion their initial training in the PD academies is a big problem. They come out scared to death and convinced that any traffic stop could end in their death. The money available to most towns in our low tax era is another problem. These guys are basically blue collar workers who are poorly educated. They are not the people who graduated top of their HS class. Another problem is the personality type that wants to do police work, some have authority problems, some are risk takers.
If I were in charge of the world a degree in sociology would be the criteria to be accepted into police training.
All that being said, we do have a great group of men who are involved in our community but it takes the right leader(chief) and civilian oversight. Interestingly, in my town it took a woman mayor and women on the Board of aldermen to see that here was even a problem.
I agree that white people get shot too but in my mostly white rural county I can only think of one police shooting in the last 15 years by a deputy sheriff.
the word corruption was supposed to be after….and unnecessary force???
I am sickened by these evil events. A trained officer should be expected to overcome a suspect without killing him/her. The use of deadly force threatens all of us whatever color when these overzealous actions go unpunished.
Instead the congressional right holds “witch hunts” in place of commonsense governance. People are being murdered by law enforcement which should frighten all of us not just those of color since the breakdown of law and order effects us all.
Instead they stand by the incoherent ravings of their insane candidate rather then address,the issues,of a society on the verge of eruption due to the lack of judgment.
Sickening.
What would we do without Elijah Cummings? I would hate to think.
Hey Pat. I’ve been very sick with the flu, the worst I have ever had. Haven’t said much, but finally had to get to the doctor, and so I’ve been mostly in bed, and watching tv. Can’t really read because of the headaches. I slept pretty good for the first time in 5 days last night, but woke up early and turned on tv. The day before when I watched the family in Baton Rouge, I ended crying for the family. This morning I woke to the same thing Elijah’s wife woke up too, I started crying, and getting real pissed off that this hearing was going on about Hillary Clinton’s emails, and very little about the shootings by police officers. As a matter fact, the republicans interviewed this morning, said they hadn’t seen the video’s. It really got to me when the comedian D.L. Hughley was on CNN, and talked about why this has been going on for so long, then I started crying again. I got up, fixed coffee, and went to his page and told him I cried with him, and refused to watch the Republican bullshit. I found myself angry at the least little thing that I didn’t agree with. Well, damn, I have family that are black and brown, and this is about our country, our communities, and lots of people seem to be in a state of denial, and accepting this as normal behavior. I don’t think the republicans want to learn of the problem, or they would admit to it, talk about how we might deal with it, how in depth it has become. All I see is how they lack leadership in solving the real problems we are facing. So when I sat down to watch this on CNN, my husband said the same thing Elijah did! “I woke up to my wife crying too”. As I watched things unravel today, I became more frustrated because the media is not showing any of the policies, or the events that Hillary Clinton has had with Mothers of black victims of police and gun violence in this country. You know me Pat, I’m emotional, and things like this set me off. I don’t know what we would do with Elijah Cummings…….he gets down to the wire! You are right, we have become one sick nation.
I listened and watched yesterday as that 15 yr old boy broke down and mourned his dead father. Today I watched and listened to a young woman cry her heart out over the murder of her brother. How much can these communities withstand?
This is murder, plain and simple. My heart grieves for those left behind who must deal with this wanton destruction of life and must continually ask why.
It is horrific.
One last link of Rep Ted Lieu of California:
Bloomberg: Sanders Says He’ll Do Everything Possible to Help Elect Clinton
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-07-07/sanders-says-he-ll-do-everything-possible-to-help-elect-clinton-iqckw7a5
Sanders’ Influence Fades Ahead of Clinton Endorsement
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-07-07/bernie-sanders-businessweek
Boo-hoo-hoo.
There’s no point in electing a President who can’t get things done. He’s pouted himself out of any legacy to leave. Still, it’s good that he’s finally going to act appropriately. He’d better deliver a hell of an endorsement speech.
The country is a mess and the Republicans are focused on Hillary’s emails. They disgust me. All of them.
Woke up to the news from Dallas.
I am shocked, saddened, sickening, disgusted, disappointed, demoralized.
With equal sadness and outrage to what i felt yesterday about the Sterling and Castille murders, I feel gut punched by the murder of these police officers.
When will we wake and understand, it isn’t really black against white, police against citizens, rich against poor, liberal against conservative, or any of that superficial bullshit.
It is decent people of goodwill against the monsters of ill-will.
We have to stop tearing each other apart and focus on rooting out the actual bad guys.
So much time has been spent inventing straw man enemies and scapegoats.
We have real enemies who like nothing better than to see us at each others throats.
Imprints of violence, all over my mind, all in my heart. The oldest problem in the world, racism, and hate, and we still haven’t learned how to deal with it.