Friday Reads
Posted: August 12, 2016 Filed under: Afternoon Reads | Tags: #XanaxTrump, Donald Trump, flooding, Hillary Clinton, Micheal Phelps, Simone Biles, Simone Manuel, The 2016 Summer Olympics 25 CommentsGood Afternoon!
It’s been raining like crazy here this week. That’s great for the electric bill since it keeps the house cool inside but wow, we’re just about convinced there is no sun down here and the flooding is getting bad. I’m actually just relieved it’s not a hurricane. I don’t think I could take the stress of one this year. The Governor has declared a state of emergency. Here’s a local’s take on watching the Olympics and living in Southeast Louisiana right now.
There’s been a few amazing Olympic feats this year that I wanted to share with you before getting to some polls and talking more about the Trump meltdown. First, Simone Biles is more than amazing as she sweeps Women’s Gymnastics. She defies the laws of Physics.
Watching U.S. gymnast Simone Biles land her gravity-defying signature move leaves you feeling disoriented. On what planet is it physically possible for a tiny young woman, not even five feet tall, to cap a series of rapid-fire somersaults with a single leap so high in the air it allows her to complete not one but two full revolutions, only to land solidly on her feet? The unprecedented move, named after its 19-year-old creator, has even physicists mystified.
Oregon State University physicist Faye Barras, Ph.D., was floored after first seeing footage of the move. “It’s incredible,” she told Inverse, mystified after roughly calculating the insanely high amounts of force involved in landing the jump. Here, she explains the physics behind the mystifying double half-layout with a half twist and a blind landing, which the world now knows as the Biles.
She’s one amazing athlete! But then, there are more of them!! Simone Manuel has become the first African American Woman to medal in swimming! She’s overcome a history of racism in the sport to shine like Olympic Gold!
As Vox’s Victoria Massie wrote in June, swimming pools have always been spaces where social inequalities have played out. And as University of Montana history professor Jeff Wiltse wrote for the Washington Post last year, the nation’s swimming pool history is intimately tied to racism.
When the first public pools were established in America’s Northern cities at the turn of the 20th century, class prejudices fueled decisions of where municipal pools were built to keep out poor and working-class people, regardless of race. In the 1920s and ’30s, when pools were larger and men and women began swimming together, some major Northern cities used racial segregation tactics to prevent interactions between black men and white women.
“Southern cities typically shut down their public pools rather than allow mixed-race swimming,” Wiltse said. “In the North, whites generally abandoned pools that became accessible to blacks and retreated to ones located in thoroughly white neighborhoods or established private club pools, where racial discrimination was still legal.”
Physical violence and criminal charges were also common practices to keep segregation in place. In April 1950 in Pittsburgh, Nathan Albert — the secretary for the local communist club — was convicted of “inciting a riot” for allegedly trying to bring a mixed-race group to the local swimming pool two years prior.
In the 1950s, legal battles ensued. Between 1950 and 1955, the NAACP was involved inmultiple anti-discrimination lawsuits for swimming pools after black patrons were denied access to swim at pools and beaches, including Isaacs v. Baltimore.
After three black children drowned in a local natural water swimming area, the NAACP brought the case and two others to the US District Court of Appeals. In light of Brown v. Board of Education, the court ruled in 1955 that segregated but equal facilities no longer sufficed. When the Supreme Court refused to hear the case, the district court’s ruling remained unchallenged, setting a new legal precedent against racist swimming pool practices.
Michael Phelps has just blown through the big record of most medals won at an age where most swimmers have hung it up. The Guardian explains how it’s now possible to maintain training in the USA anyway.
Age 31 isn’t over the hill in most endeavors. Baseball players routinely play into their 40s, Phillip Dutton just won an equestrian medal at age 52, and writers often peak in their 50s or 60s (we hope).
But what Michael Phelps has done in the pool is unusual. The list of individual medalists (excluding relays) in swimming who’ve passed their 30th birthday is a short one – SportsReference.com counts 15 (add relays, and the list expands to 23). Of that group, only Dara Torres was older than Phelps today when she won multiple individual medals in one Olympics, taking three bronzes in 2000.
Individual gold medalists age 31 and up? None. Not until Phelps did it Tuesday night in the 200m butterfly. That was his 12th gold medal in an individual event, sending historians back to Greek antiquity for a comparable antecedent.
How is Phelps able to do what swimmers of the past have not?
Sheer persistence helps. Mark Spitz won two medals as a teen phenom in 1968 and seven golds in his standard-setting streak in 1972. Then he retired, apart from a short-lived comeback effort years later.
One reason Phelps has chosen a different career path is simple: the life of an Olympic star is no longer one of monastic poverty, thanks to a series of changes internationally and domestically through the 1970s. We’re no longer talking about Jim Thorpe being stripped of his 1912 medals because he accepted a pittance for playing a totally different sport. Today, Thorpe would win cash just qualifying for the US team.
And swimmers such as Phelps get paid, with prize money at the World Aquatic Championships now up over $5m and a steady stream of sponsorship money available. Even swimmers who aren’t anywhere close to Phelps’ level can earn a healthy $3,000 monthly stipend.
A brand new set of swing state polls should have Republicans worried as they go to their version of a situation room to prepare to possibly dump financial support
of Trump today. Clinton basically runs the table of key swing states in these new polls.
Democrat Hillary Clinton leads Republican Donald Trump in some of the most diverse battleground states – including by double digits in two of them – according to four brand-new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls.
In the key battleground of Florida, which President Obama won in 2008 and 2012, Clinton is ahead of Trump by five points among registered voters, 44 percent to 39 percent, with the rest saying neither, other or they’re undecided. (In the same poll before the conventions last month, it was Clinton 44 percent, Trump 37 percent.)
In North Carolina, which Obama won in 2008 but lost in 2012, the former secretary of state has a nine-point advantage over Trump, 48 percent to 39 percent. (A month ago, Clinton was up by six points, 44 percent to 38 percent.)
In Virginia, Clinton’s lead is 13 points, 46 percent to 33 percent. (It was Clinton 44 percent, Trump 35 percent in July’s poll.)
And in Colorado, the Democrat is ahead by a whopping 14 points, 46 percent to 32 percent. (It was an eight-point Clinton lead before the conventions, 43 percent to 35 percent.) Obama won both Colorado and Virginia in the previous two presidential elections.
Wow Meanwhile, Trump continues to have a meltdown after calling the President and former Secretary of State co-founders and MVPs of ISIS. He’s walking that back now as “sarcasm”.
How many angry white males does this dude think are left standing around the country? Here’s an op ed from The Observer arguing the self-destruction of the Orange Man is no longer funny.
There is no middle ground here. This is where you look into the abyss, into the Day of the Locust, into this Helter Skelter, into this proposed mayhem and make a choice and say no.
Today’s comments are not banter. They are not theories. This is real. There is no turning back. He is saying there will be blood. I’m horrified.
No longer can any worthwhile American say, “But the candidates are the same.” No. It’s not a lesser of two evils. There is one evil. And it is Trump. There is no cover. You can no longer and say, “He’s a business guy.” Or, “I’m bothered by Hillary’s emails.” Or, “They’re all the same.” Or, “He doesn’t mean it.” Or, “He’s an entertainer.”
He means it. He made that crystal clear today. He is calling for internecine war. He is calling for all-out Armageddon. He is calling for battle—beyond this election. This cannot be ignored.
I don’t want to hear that this is a breath of fresh air, he’s not politically correct, or let’s let Donald be Donald. Donald is antithetical to our character. He’s dangerous to our safety. We must stop Donald being Donald at all costs.
It’s black and white. It’s alpha omega. It’s a stark choice.
Exactly.
Trump announced last night they he didn’t think he really needed to GOTV. Jaws dropped in Republican circles all over the world. I love the Trump Cover labelled MeltDown this week on Time. Click here and read about the creation process and its designer Illustrator Edel Rodriguez
Donald Trump trumpeted a confident assessment of his campaign on Thursday night, saying there was no need for him to encourage voters to head to the polls on election day.
Asked by Fox News’ Eric Bolling about the open letter by 70 Republicans asking the Republican National Committee to redirect funding from the presidential race to down-ballot campaigns, Trump said he didn’t need their assistance.
“One of the big things about the RNC is they have this whole infrastructure of data and information and contacts and email lists and mailing lists and phone numbers. That is something that is important to your campaign,” Bolling said. “That’s not at risk. Is that in jeopardy at all?”
“I don’t know. I will let you know on the ninth, on November 9th,” Trump replied.
“We are gonna have tremendous turnout from the evangelicals, from the miners, from the people that make our steel, from people that are getting killed by trade deals, from people that have been just decimated, from the military who are with Trump 100 percent,” he went on. “From our vets because I’m going to take care of the vets.”
“I don’t know that we need to get out the vote,” the Republican nominee concluded. “I think people that really want to vote, they’re gonna just get up and vote for Trump. And we’re going to make America great again.”
The Trump campaign has yet to develop on-the-ground support in critical battleground states as election day draws nearer and Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers in those states rise. Trump has only one field office in all of Florida, as Politico reported, and lacks the basics of a campaign in Hamilton County, a key county in the swing state of Ohio.
Any bets on when Reince Preibus’ hair goes completely gray?
Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Abingdon, Virginia August 10, 2016. REUTERS/Eric Thayer – RTSMH25 I’d prefer to call it a which Devils do we back meeting?
And about that big meeting … I’d prefer to call it a ‘Which Devils do we back?’ meeting.
Donald Trump’s campaign and top Republican Party officials plan what one person called a “come to Jesus” meeting on Friday in Orlando to discuss the Republican nominee’s struggling campaign, according to multiple sources familiar with the scheduled sit-down.
Though a campaign source dismissed it as a “typical” gathering, others described it as a more serious meeting, with one calling it an “emergency meeting.” It comes at a time of mounting tension between the campaign and the Republican National Committee, which is facing pressure to pull the plug on Trump’s campaign and redirect party funds down ballot to protect congressional majorities endangered by Trump’s candidacy.
The request for the Orlando Ritz Carlton meeting originated with Trump’s campaign, according to a source familiar with the broad details, and is being viewed by RNC officials as a sign that the campaign has come to grips with the difficulty it is having in maintaining a message and running a ground game.
“They want to patch up a rift that just keeps unfolding,” one source said. “They finally realize they need the RNC for their campaign because, let’s face it, there is no campaign.”
Another person familiar with the meeting, a Republican operative who works with the campaign, said the planned gathering was “a come-to-Jesus meeting.” That source said that many Trump campaign staffers share the party officials’ frustrations with Trump’s penchant for self-sabotaging rhetoric. “What’s bothering people on the campaign is that they feel like they’re doing all the right things, but they’re losing every news cycle to Hillary and there’s nothing they can do about it
The Republican Party and the coalition of crazies has broken the political process this year. Not that I mind a Clinton win, but really, how is the government to be run when one party is this big of a mess in a two party state? It seems like the Donald is looking a little shellshocked these days because he’s losing yugely and folks are rushing to dump him. Check out #XanaxTrump on Twitter for a few laughs about this.
What’s on your reading and blogging list today?
Monday Reads
Posted: August 8, 2016 Filed under: Afternoon Reads | Tags: Donald Trump, Hilary Clinton, Latest Polls 21 CommentsGood Afternoon!
I’m slogging through so much paperwork at the moment that I don’t think I will come up for air. Let me just say that in my current state of affairs I am very fond of Dodd Frank. It seems, however, that the Donald wants a moratorium on financial regulation. I wonder how well that will go over with any one who supports him that’s not a member of StormFront and in it for the Hate-a-thon.
Donald Trump will propose a temporary moratorium on new financial regulations in an economic speech Monday in Detroit in an effort to draw a stark contrast with the domestic policies of Hillary Clinton, who he says “punishes” the American economy.
The Republican presidential nominee’s speech will focus on providing regulatory relief for small businesses, according to senior campaign aides familiar with its contents. More broadly, Trump will say he will not propose any new financial regulations until the economy shows “significant growth,” the aides said. Trump has previously said he would repeal and replace the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.
Trump will also propose a repeal of the estate tax, sometimes called the “death tax.” Under current law, the 40 percent tax applies only to estates larger than $5.45 million for individuals and $10.9 million for couples.
For U.S. businesses, Trump will propose a tax rate of 15 percent and suggest strengthening intellectual-property protections. He’s expected to call for three income-tax brackets, down from the current seven. He’ll call for the elimination of special tax treatment for carried-interest income at private-equity firms and other investment firms—the latter of which is a proposal his Democratic rival also supports.
Carried interest, which is a portion of investment gains paid to certain investment managers, is currently taxed like capital gains—at rates that can be as low as 23.8 percent. Trump proposes to tax them as ordinary income, but for members of partnerships, that could actually mean a rate cut to 15 percent.
This is definitely not a left or right wing populist position and is probably geared to getting to small business owners and other business interests. Donald Trump’s support continues to weaken and continues to concentrate itself in a few demographics; mostly white. Polls show that the Trump convention was a disaster. This is some analysis from Philip Bump on a new Post-ABC poll.
The Washington Post-ABC News poll released Sunday includes data that gives a bit more insight into just how Trump managed to make his position worse.
Before the conventions, the plurality of support each candidate received was thanks to people who wanted to vote against the alternative. In other words, most people who said they were backing Hillary Clinton were backing her because they wanted to see Trump lose, and vice versa.
After the conventions, though, that changed: A slight plurality of Clinton supporters now back her because they want her to be the president. Trump’s position improved slightly — but the percentage of support he gets from people who are doing so out of enthusiasm for his candidacy is still lower than the percent who said that about Clinton before the conventions began. Before the conventions, 57 percent of those who backed Trump did so because they opposed Clinton; after the conventions, that figure was 56 percent.
A new Monmouth University poll continues to show that Clinton retains and even widens her post convention bump. This can only be due to the disastrous few weeks the Donald has had attacking Gold Star Parents and mom of a baby. What a schmuck!!!
Hillary Clinton has taken a double digit lead over Donald Trump according to the latest Monmouth University Poll . This compares to the slim two point lead she held among likely voters just before the two major parties held their conventions. Both candidates remain unpopular, but the Democrat has a growing advantage on being seen as more temperamentally suited for the presidency. Still, Clinton’s email use remains a problem for her, while voters are divided on the impact of Trump’s attitude toward Russia. The poll also found that voters are less optimistic and enthusiastic about the 2016 election than they were one year ago.
Currently, 46% of registered voters support Clinton and 34% back Trump, with 7% supporting Libertarian Gary Johnson, and 2% backing Jill Stein of the Green Party. Support among likely voters stands at 50% Clinton, 37% Trump, 7% Johnson, and 2% Stein. In a poll taken days before the Republican convention in mid-July, Clinton held a narrow 43% to 40% lead among registered voters and a 45% to 43% lead among likely voters.
Clinton has solidified support among her partisan base since the conventions while Trump struggles to lock in his. More than 9-in-10 Democrats (92%) say they will vote for Clinton, up from 88% in July and 85% in June. Just 79% of Republicans are backing Trump, which is virtually unchanged from prior polls (81% in July and 79% in June).
Independents are divided between Trump (32%) and Clinton (30%). In the Monmouth poll taken before the two parties’ conventions Trump held a 40% to 31% lead among this group. Johnson the Libertarian has picked up independent voter support in the past month, now at 16% (up from 9%) with this group, while the Green Party’s Stein has remained stable at 4% (compared to 3% last month).
Importantly, Clinton continues to maintain a lead in the swing states – ten states that were decided by less than seven points in the 2012 election. She holds a 42% to 34% edge over Trump in these states, which is similar to her 46% to 39% swing state lead last month.
“The dust is starting to settle on the tag-team conventions, with the net advantage going to Clinton,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.
These polls should give a big raspberry to the press that are trying to tear her down. But they don’t give a bit of pause as BB indicated on 
Saturday. I’m getting weary too of the constant harping on her lack of personal characteristics that appear more often in right wing rags than in polls outside die hard Republicans.
Here’s a really interesting read on the differences in the Clinton message of hope and the Trump message of fear. Is this tagline really the source of it all? “Behind the 2016 race’s weirdness is a skyrocketing violent death rate among older white Americans, even as everyone else gets safer.”
In 2015 – in stark contrast to 1990 – teen gun-related deaths totaled 57, while teen murder arrests numbered 65. Overall in California, the crime rate among teenagers has dropped by 80 percent since 1980 – at the same time immigration has fueled a growing, more racially diverse young population, now 72 percent of color. The school dropout rate has also nosedived, as have births by teen and young-adult mothers. College enrollment and graduation rates have soared. These trends, moreover, are not unique to California. They’re happening nationally.
The flip side of young Americans’ astonishing behavioral turnaround is an equivalently dramatic decline among older Whites. In California, for example, the number of arrests among people over 40 in 2015 was nearly double the number of arrests among Black and Hispanic teens. Nationally, in a shocking reversal of past patterns, a middle-aged White is at greater risk today of violent death (by suicide, accident, or murder, and especially from guns or illicit drugs) than an African American teenager or young adult.
These stunning reversals of fortune among the generations could help explain one of the central mysteries of this year’s election cycle: why two such starkly divergent views of America – Republican Donald Trump’s grim vision of an apocalyptically degenerated America and Democrat Hillary Clinton’s sunny affirmation of a diversifying country’s bright future – are finding equal resonance. The short answer is that both portraits reflect equally valid truths about Americans’ experience today – depending on who and how old you are. While Democrats’ younger, more diverse constituencies are experiencing dramatic improvements in their personal security and behavioral well-being, Trump’s older White demographic is suffering rising drug abuse, crime, incarceration, suicide, gun fatality, and disarray.
These divergent realities, however, have also led to an extraordinary level of mutual incomprehension, as even sophisticated insiders in both parties and in the media seem largely ignorant of the underlying statistical facts. Hence, progressives dismiss the rage of Trump’s supporters as artifacts of mere racial prejudice and bigotry, without seeing that the anger is rooted in the very real personal insecurity middle-aged Whites are living with. And conservatives mistakenly impute to darker-skinned young people the growing chaos they may be feeling without understanding that a huge, multi-ethnic generation of young voters has perfectly sound reasons for feeling confident and optimistic.
I’m not sure it’s an intergenerational disconnect on this particular factor but let me hear what you think. I’m still think it’s mostly an old white male thing–with a few women that benefited from that–at the center and that it’s mostly cultural and economic.
So, this is a short thread but it should be enough to get us started on a discussion!
What’s on your reading and blogging list today?
Friday Reads: Nearly Every one Loves Hillary these Days
Posted: August 5, 2016 Filed under: 2016 elections, morning reads 41 CommentsGood Morning!
Things keep getting stranger and stranger on the U.S. Political front. I guess that’s what you get when one of the candidates likely has a severe personality disorder.
Dubya’s CIA Director is the latest foreign policy guru to dump on Trump. Michael Morrell just endorsed Clinton on the op Ed page of NYT. This is the guy that was in charge of the agency during 9/11. He was also the Director under Obama during the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011. He’s technically a registered independent and stays out of politics.
On Nov. 8, I will vote for Hillary Clinton. Between now and then, I will do everything I can to ensure that she is elected as our 45th president.
Two strongly held beliefs have brought me to this decision. First, Mrs. Clinton is highly qualified to be commander in chief. I trust she will deliver on the most important duty of a president — keeping our nation safe. Second, Donald J. Trump is not only unqualified for the job, but he may well pose a threat to our national security.
I spent four years working with Mrs. Clinton when she was secretary of state, most often in the White House Situation Room. In these critically important meetings, I found her to be prepared, detail-oriented, thoughtful, inquisitive and willing to change her mind if presented with a compelling argument.
I also saw the secretary’s commitment to our nation’s security; her belief that America is an exceptional nation that must lead in the world for the country to remain secure and prosperous; her understanding that diplomacy can be effective only if the country is perceived as willing and able to use force if necessary; and, most important, her capacity to make the most difficult decision of all — whether to put young American women and men in harm’s way.
Mrs. Clinton was an early advocate of the raid that brought Bin Laden to justice, in opposition to some of her most important colleagues on the National Security Council. During the early debates about how we should respond to the Syrian civil war, she was a strong proponent of a more aggressive approach, one that might have prevented the Islamic State from gaining a foothold in Syria.
I never saw her bring politics into the Situation Room. In fact, I saw the opposite. When some wanted to delay the Bin Laden raid by one day because the White House Correspondents Dinner might be disrupted, she said, “Screw the White House Correspondents Dinner.”
In sharp contrast to Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Trump has no experience on national security. Even more important, the character traits he has exhibited during the primary season suggest he would be a poor, even dangerous, commander in chief.
You can go read the latest complete evisceration of Trump’s unsuitability for the Presidency. Crazy Charles Krauthammer also spends a lot of ink in WAPO doing a Trump Take down but only strongly suggests he mends his evil
Of course we all try to protect our own dignity and command respect. But Trump’s hypersensitivity and unedited, untempered Pavlovian responses are, shall we say, unusual in both ferocity and predictability.
This is beyond narcissism. I used to think Trump was an 11-year-old, an undeveloped schoolyard bully. I was off by about 10 years. His needs are more primitive, an infantile hunger for approval and praise, a craving that can never be satisfied. He lives in a cocoon of solipsism where the world outside himself has value — indeed exists — only insofar as it sustains and inflates him.
Most politicians seek approval. But Trump lives for the adoration. He doesn’t even try to hide it, boasting incessantly about his crowds, his standing ovations, his TV ratings, his poll numbers, his primary victories. The latter are most prized because they offer empirical evidence of how loved and admired he is.
Prized also because, in our politics, success is self-validating. A candidacy that started out as a joke, as a self-aggrandizing exercise in xenophobia, struck a chord in a certain constituency and took off. The joke was on those who believed that he was not a serious man and therefore would not be taken seriously. They — myself emphatically included — were wrong.
As Boston Boomer posted yesterday, the polls continue to show a tremendous post convention bounce. States are at play that would normally not elect a Democrat.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has surged to a 15-point lead over reeling, gaffe-plagued Republican Donald Trump, according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll.
Clinton made strong gains with two constituencies crucial to a Republican victory – whites and men – while scoring important gains among fellow Democrats, the poll found.
Clinton not only went up, but Trump also went down. Clinton now has a 48-33 percent lead, a huge turnaround from her narrow 42-39 advantage last month.
The findings are particularly significant because the poll was taken after both political conventions ended and as Trump engaged in a war of words with the parents of Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who was killed in an explosion in Iraq 12 years ago while trying to rescue other soldiers.
An NBC/WJS poll shows the Clinton/Kaine ticket leading by 9 points.
In this latest poll, Clinton enjoys a significant advantage among women (51 percent to Trump’s 35 percent), African Americans (91 percent to 1 percent), all non-white voters (69 percent to 17 percent), young voters (46 percent to 34 percent), and white voters with a college degree (47 percent to 40 percent).
Trump leads among white voters (45 percent to Clinton’s 40 percent), seniors (46 percent to 43 percent), independents (36 percent to 32 percent) and white voters without a college degree (49 percent to 36 percent).
The two candidates are running nearly even among men, at 43 percent for Clinton and 42 percent for Trump.
As Charles Blow put it yesterday, the one demographic she seems to lose are fragile white men and mostly those without college educations. How fragile are these guys anyway?
These are the voters keeping Trump’s candidacy alive.
He appeals to a regressive, patriarchal American whiteness in which white men prospered, in part because racial and ethnic minorities, to say nothing of women as a whole, were undervalued and underpaid, if not excluded altogether.
White men reigned supreme in the idealized history, and all was good with the world. (It is curious that Trump never specifies a period when America was great in his view. Did it overlap with the women’s rights, civil rights or gay rights movements? For whom was it great?)
Trump’s wall is not practical, but it is metaphor. Trump’s Muslim ban is not feasible, but it is metaphor. Trump’s huge deportation plan isn’t workable, but it is metaphor.
There is a portion of the population that feels threatened by unrelenting change — immigration, globalization, terrorism, multiculturalism — and those people want someone to, metaphorically at least, build a wall around their cultural heritage, which they conflate in equal measure with American heritage.
In their minds, whether explicitly or implicitly, America is white, Christian, straight and male-dominated. If you support Trump, you are on some level supporting his bigotry and racism. You don’t get to have a puppy and not pick up the poop.
And acceptance of racism is an act of racism. You are convicted by your complicity.
The white male agita has become worse this week and I’ve seen and heard angst about Clinton from that same demographic since the focus has been high on the historic nature of the nomination.
We’ve been having conversations about if white men really have that many mommy issues here. See Samantha B and Amanda Marcotte for that too. It’s more like one group having a national temper tantrum more than anything else. The complaints are openly delusional and patently false. It’s a weird siege mentality.
Here’s a few things you may want to check out:
First, this is how a real man handles a crying baby.
A neuroscientist explains what may be wrong with Trump supporters’ brains.
Some believe that many of those who support Donald Trump do so because of ignorance — basically they are under-informed or misinformed about the issues at hand. When Trump tells them that crime is skyrocketing in the United States, or that the economy is the worst it’s ever been, they simply take his word for it.
The seemingly obvious solution would be to try to reach those people through political ads, expert opinions, and logical arguments that educate with facts. Except none of those things seem to be swaying any Trump supporters from his side, despite great efforts to deliver this information to them directly.
The Dunning-Kruger effect explains that the problem isn’t just that they are misinformed; it’s that they are completely unaware that they are misinformed. This creates a double burden.
A Purple Heart Recipient takes it to Trump. J.R. Martinez to Donald Trump: Stop Disrespecting Military Veterans and Fallen Soldiers
My hope is that your actions and words do not continue to erode our civil discourse. I pray that good people in this country continue to be shocked by your rhetoric because that means they agree that your words and actions have no place in society, much less in the Oval Office.
You have stated that all press is good press. It’s an interesting strategy that has thus far worked for you. But this, the memory of our fallen soldiers, their families, former POWs, and the proud recipients of the Purple Heart honor. This is not the position from which you should be getting your press. This is off-limits.
Please remember that the people you are speaking about, our brave men and women of the armed forces make up less than 1% of the population. However, if you become commander in chief, they will be the people who are going to fight for you regardless of personal politics. These are the people who will defend you. These are their families you are talking about. These are not the people you want to continue to carry out your petty grievances and personal attacks with.
I respectfully suggest you get a primer on the word sacrifice, as well as a lesson in human decency.
You may have noticed I’m a little absent here recently. I’m going through some enormous challenges in my life right now. The University where I have worked for the last five years has changed some rules and created a situation where I cannot teach. The result has been an enormous strain on my finances and right now, I’m fighting to keep my home. I’m also finding out how challenging it is for a 60 year old woman to be taken seriously as a job candidate any where. My life has pretty much gone into a free fall over the last six months with freak things happening to my car and house and this. The anxiety is really causing me severe health problems and of course, I’ve lost my health insurance too. Anyway, be good to each other and appreciate all that you have today. Every thing is so fragile and impermanent.
What’s on your reading and blogging list today?
Friday Reads: Amazing People for Hillary
Posted: July 29, 2016 Filed under: morning reads | Tags: Anastasia Somozo, DNC Philadelphia 2016, Hillary Clinton, Khizr Khan, Lauren Manning, mothers of the movement, Ryan Moore 48 CommentsGood Morning!
There were many memorable moments this week as history was made with the nomination of Hillary Clinton by the Democratic Party for President of the United States. For me, the most amazing thing was hearing the stories of the many people whose lives were touched by Hillary Clinton at one point. Then, once touched, she stayed in touch and followed up and through for them. Last night, the stand out story was from grieving but determined father Khizr Khan whose Anti-Trump Speech was so amazing that Fox News ignored it and provided what can only be called an outright propaganda campaign with the images.
Fox News ignored a speech by the father of U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan, who was killed in 2004 in the Iraq war, instead opting to air commercials during the speech. Fox later went live to a song by pop singer Katy Perry after the speech.
During the final night of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, PA, Khizr Khan spoke about the honor he felt to be present at the convention with his wife, “as patriotic American Muslims with undivided loyalty to our country.” Khan’s speech was preceded by a video that showed Hillary Clinton calling Captain Khan “the best of America” and explaining the circumstances of his death, for which he was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
This actually is a tribute to the massive effectiveness of the speech and it’s also telling. Why hide a true story that represents a slice of America?
While CNN and MSNBC aired the video and Khan’s speech in full, Fox News’ The Kelly File instead continued with its regular commentary featuring Brit Hume, then went to commercial as the speech began, showing slightly more than two minutes of the speech in a small window as commercials — including a Benghazi attack ad — overplayed it.
I watched the full speech on CSPAN without the distraction provided by what has to be the most horrid collection of talking heads possible. The father of the dead Muslim soldier’s testimony and rebuke of Trumpism was a powerful testament to the strengths that our immigrant population bring to us. Every new American is an American that wants to be here and takes nothing for granted. It was a strong juxtaposition to a comment that Bill Clinton made to Muslim Americans on Tuesday. His suggestion they stay if they “love America and hate terrorism” was patronizing at best. Who gives a speech suggesting any group of Americans would abandon their country or love attacks on it? The specific quote is this “”If you’re a Muslim and you love America and freedom and you hate terror, stay here and help us win and make a future together. We want you.” Muslim Americans are a part of “we” as Khizr Khan demonstrated so eloquently last night. I hope every one heard his message. Insha’Allah.
But the worst moment of the speech came near its end, when Clinton began to riff about the different kinds of people who should join Hillary’s effort. “If you love this country, you’re working hard, you’re paying taxes, you’re obeying the law and you’d like to become a citizen, you should choose immigration reform over someone that wants to send you back,” he said. Fair enough. Under any conceivable immigration overhaul, only those undocumented immigrants who have obeyed the law once in the United States—which includes paying taxes—will qualify for citizenship. Two sentences later, Clinton said that, “If you’re a young African Americ#an disillusioned and afraid … help us build a future where no one’s afraid to walk outside, including the people that wear blue to protect our future.” No problem there. Of course African Americans should be safe from abusive police, and of course, police should be safe from the murderers who threaten them.
But in between, Clinton said something dreadful: “If you’re a Muslim and you love America and freedom and you hate terror, stay here and help us win and make a future together, we want you.” The problem is in the assumption. American Muslims should be viewed exactly the same way other Americans are. If they commit crimes, then they should be prosecuted, just like other Americans. But they should not have to prove that they “love America and freedom” and “hate terror” to “stay here.” Their value as Americans is inherent, not instrumental. Their role as Americans is not to “help us win” the “war on terror.”
Whether Clinton meant to or not, he lapsed into Trumpism: the implication that Muslims are a class apart, deserving of special scrutiny and surveillance, guilty of terrorist sympathies until proven innocent. I think I understand where the formulation came from. In the 1990s, one of Clinton’s key New Democratic innovations was his insistence that with rights, come responsibilities: To receive government assistance, welfare recipients must work. If people commit crimes, the government will punish them harshly.
The problem with transferring that formulation to Muslims today is that Muslims aren’t asking for benefits from the welfare state. They’re simply asking not to be discriminated against. Clinton’s formulation was like saying, in 1964, that as long as African Americans eschew violence and love America, they deserve the right to vote.
Hear are a few comments I read from a friend’s discussion on Facebook. I refer to him only as the initials NT.
FR: “There’s no need to read into it to see how he’s advocating two-tiered citizenship. It is quite clear.”
NT: “That’s premised on the concept that leaving’s an option, because they’re after all somehow all immigrants, who choose to stay. Like FR pointed out, it’s clear and unadulterated advocacy for two-tiered citizenship. And considering that both parties voted overwhelmingly to restrict visa-free travel for Europeans of dual citizenry with Iran, Iraq, Syria, and some other countries, this is on small point.”
NT: “Some folks I know of were prevented from traveling to the US since the November legal change, which practically nobody noticed. This problem is real, and his quote is tangible.”
I also would like to rebuke the people that were criticizing Ghazala Khan for standing quietly next to her husband on the stage wearing her hajib. Who are we to infer her motives for either? American values respect religious practice. American values also respect a grieving mother. But, back to the content of this amazing speech which was both a tribute to their son and a take down of Trumpism.
In 2005, The Washington Post interviewed Khizr Khan. “They did not call him Captain Khan,” he said of the men his son led. “They called him ‘our captain.’ ”
“We are honored to stand here as the parents of Captain Humayun Khan,” the elder Khan said at the Democratic convention, “and as patriotic American Muslims with undivided loyalty to our country.” He spoke of his son’s dreams of becoming a military lawyer and how Hillary Clinton had referred to his son as “the best of America.”
Then he focused his attention on Trump.
“If it was up to Donald Trump, [Humayun] never would have been in America,” Khan said. “Donald Trump consistently smears the character of Muslims. He disrespects other minorities, women, judges, even his own party leadership. He vows to build walls and ban us from this country.
“Donald Trump,” he said, “you are asking Americans to trust you with our future. Let me ask you: Have you even read the U.S. Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy.” He pulled a copy of the Constitution from his pocket. “In this document, look for the words ‘liberty’ and ‘equal protection of law.’ ” Earlier this month, Trump promised congressional Republicans that he would defend “Article XII” of the Constitution, which doesn’t exist.
“Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery?” Khan asked. “Go look at the graves of the brave patriots who died defending America — you will see all faiths, genders, and ethnicities.
“You have sacrificed nothing. And no one.”
If there ever was a statement that could be characterized as a mic drop, those words on sacrifice from Khan represented a loud and resounding mic drop. Wonkette’s take was great.
Khizr Khan, we’d submit to you, is a far better patriot than any of the morons who think a patriot’s job is to take over wildlife refuges or keep an eye on scary Muslims as they attend their mosques. And what you really need to keep this country free is equal protection under law and the First Amendment, not an AR-15.
Khan’s speech blew up on social media, although not everyone was a fan. Spite-fueled rageparrot Ann Coulter, for instance, didn’t think much of a guy whose son merely saved the lives of a bunch of The Troops, and she had excellent reasons…
Additionally, I loved the speech given by Anastasia Somozo, a disabled rights advocate and long time friend of Hillary Clinton.
She was beautiful. She was magnificent. And in four riveting, I’m-not-playin’ minutes, she schooled the world that disabled people don’t want the able-bodied to speak for them.
They want the able-bodied to listen to them and respect their equal right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
If you missed Anastasia Somoza’s speech at the Democratic National Convention, Google it and grab the Kleenex. You’ll be moved by the dignity and ferocity of Somoza, 32, a disability-rights advocate who was born with cerebral palsy and spastic quadriplegia.
The tiny Somoza owned the Wells Fargo Center from the instant she rolled onstage in her motorized wheelchair to declare her belief in Hillary Clinton and to reject Donald Trump’s limited views of people who are different.
“I fear the day we elect a president who defines being American in the narrowest possible terms, who shouts, bullies and profits off of vulnerable Americans,” she said. “Donald Trump has shown us who he really is, and I honestly feel bad for anyone with that much hate in their heart.”
Then came the line that brought cheers so loud, they must’ve busted windows.
Then, there was the equally amazing story of survival during and after 9/11 of Lauren Manning.
Lauren Manning, a former executive and partner atCantor Fitzgerald who was wounded in the World Trade Center attack, spoke about how her life “changed forever” after the terrorist attack and lauded Clinton for having stood with her “through that fight” to recovery.
Manning is one of the few Cantor Fitzgerald to survive. The company lost 658 people in the attack.
She survived despite burns covering more than 80 percent of her body.
Here are Manning’s remarks to the DNC:
“When I arrived at the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11th, 2001, I was a partner at Cantor Fitzgerald.
A moment later, my life changed forever. I was burned over 82 percent of my body, my chances of survival next to zero.
I battled for months, to live, and for years, to recover.
I fought in tribute to the friends and colleagues I lost, and all 2,996 people who were killed that day. I fought to honor our troops, who were fighting on frontlines around the world.
I fought to return to my young son. I fought as hard as I could so the terrorists wouldn’t get one more.
Hillary Clinton stood with me through that fight.
In the darkest of days and the hardest of times, the people who show up mean everything.
Hillary showed up.
She walked into my hospital room and took my bandaged hand in her own. Our connection wasn’t between a senator and her constituent. Our connection was person to person.
She visited, called, and checked in for years, because she cared.
When I needed her, she was there. When our first responders needed her, she was there.
Now our country needs her.
I trusted her when my life was on the line, and she came through. Not for the cameras, not because anyone was watching, but because that’s who she is. Kind. Caring. Loyal.
This is the Hillary Clinton I want you to know. She was there for me. That’s why I’m with Her.”
Some how, I cannot imagine a huge number of ordinary people with extraordinary lives showing up and giving similar testimony to Bernie Sanders or very many other pols in this country. This native son of Nebraska was also a favorite of mine. I remember hearing his story back in the day. To see that young boy grow up into such a young man was just inspiring!
Ryan Moore from South Sioux City, Nebraska was selected as one of the “everyday Americans” who will address the 2016 Democratic National Convention this week. Moore is one of twenty individuals from across the nation to share their stories as an America that is stronger together. Moore was selected to speak by the Democratic National Convention Committee and Hillary for America. According to the DNCC, “Ryan has known Hillary Clinton since 1994 when his family came to Washington, DC for an event to advocate for health care reform. Ryan has stayed in contact with Hillary ever since.”
Moore is set to speak Tuesday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center, and will talk about growing up with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia dwarfism and the difficulties his family faced when his father lost his job because his employer did not want to have to cover Ryan’s health care and treatment costs. When asked about being selected to speak 2016 DNC Moore stated, “I was completely shocked when I found out I was being asked to speak at the DNC. It’s such an honor and privilege to take part in this historic event! I’m so glad to be able to represent the state of Nebraska in this speech, and hope and pray that I make my home state proud.”
Anyway, there were so many awesome Americans testifying for Hillary Clinton all week that I may never tire of going back and reading their stories some where, of how Hillary became a meaningful part of their lives, and the things Clinton did because she is Hillary Clinton; no less or more.
The most tearful moment for me came during the testimony of the “Mothers of the Movement.” Again, the strength of a parent’s grief turned into determination is something that just blew me away. Each and every one of these women lives each day making sure that no other woman experiences what they did and they do so while supporting Hillary Clinton. No one should underestimate the abiding and strong power of women together.
Nine black women whose sons and daughters died in racially-charged incidents took the stage at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday as party delegates shouted “Black Lives Matter.” They urged voters to elect Hillary Clinton, arguing that she cares deeply about racial injustice and will try to reduce tensions between police and communities of color.
The decision of Clinton’s campaign to have these women on stage at the convention was the latest illustration of the growing influence of the Black Lives Matter movement. This anti-racism campaign, which did not even exist at the time of the DNC in 2012, has successfully pushed Clinton, President Obama and the broader Democratic Party to focus more on issues of policing and racial disparities.
Clinton has repeatedly used the phrase “Black Lives Matter” during her campaign and has called for a number of police reforms, such as creating a national standard for when officers can use force and increasing implicit bias training for law enforcement personnel.
“This isn’t about being politically correct. This is about saving our children,” said Sybrina Fulton, whose 17-year-old son Trayvon Martin was killed in Florida in 2012 in a controversial incident that drew so much national attention that President Obama eventually said that “Travyon Martin could have been me.”
She added, “In memory our children, we are imploring all of you to vote this Election Day.”
Lucia McBath, the mother of Jordan Davis, said “Hillary Clinton isn’t afraid to say that black lives matter.”
So, I’m closing the post today with a bit of Bill Clinton and balloon fun from last night that I lifted from Ralph’s Facebook. Thank’s for the early morning smile Ralph!!! Buzzfeed says that Bill Clinton really likes Balloons.
What’s on your reading and blogging list today?
Easter EGG!! Bonus Content!!!
All of this reminded me of how much I want for my daughters. Thought I’d share this with you. My fellow NOW members gave this album to me during a baby shower in 1983. It became one of Jean’s favorites and we would sing and dance to it all the time when she was little.
Here’s free to be you and me after 40 years.
Thursday Night: It’s Time for Hillary
Posted: July 28, 2016 Filed under: 2016 elections | Tags: DNC COnvention Philadelphia 2016 95 CommentsIt’s that time of the DNC Convention! It’s time to hear from Hillary Clinton our next President!
Chelsea Clinton will be introducing her mother as the Democratic Nominee. This should be an interesting contrast to the Sith Lord’s dark vision for and of our country.
Here’s a preview from the LATimes.
As released by the campaign, here are portions of what Hillary Clinton plans to say tonight as the first woman to accept a major party’s nomination for president:
“America is once again at a moment of reckoning. Powerful forces are threatening to pull us apart. Bonds of trust and respect are fraying. And just as with our founders there are no guarantees. It truly is up to us. We have to decide whether we’re going to work together so we can all rise together.
“We are clear-eyed about what our country is up against. But we are not afraid. We will rise to the challenge, just as we always have.
“So I want to tell you tonight how we’re going to empower all Americans to live better lives. My primary mission as president will be to create more opportunity and more good jobs with rising wages right here in the United States. From my first day in office to my last. Especially in places that for too long have been left out and left behind. From our inner cities to our small towns, Indian Country to Coal Country. From the industrial Midwest to the Mississippi Delta to the Rio Grande Valley.
“The choice we face is just as stark when it comes to our national security. Anyone reading the news can see the threats and turbulence we face. From Baghdad and Kabul, to Nice and Paris and Brussels, to San Bernardino and Orlando, we’re dealing with determined enemies that must be defeated. No wonder people are anxious and looking for reassurance — looking for steady leadership.
“Every generation of Americans has come together to make our country freer, fairer, and stronger. None of us can do it alone. That’s why we are stronger together.”
The story behind Michelle Obama’s beautiful blue dress on Monday night is truly beautiful too.
The ever-stylish first lady of the United States, 52, donned a custom Christian Siriano dress with cap sleeves and an A-line silhouette, dipped in the Democrats’ signature shade — it almost perfectly matched the backdrop. (While Obama’s was made to order, a very similar style is available for $995 at christiansiriano.com.) She added an understated touch of shine with dangling earrings and metallic, pointed-toe Jimmy Choo pumps.
“It is an incredible honor to have such an amazing woman wear one of my creations,”Siriano, 30, said in a statement. “I am in such awe.”
Sirano is best known for using the word “fierce” on Project Runway and dressing the fabulous Leslie Jones of the remade “Ghostbusters” and victim of racist and fat-shaming bullying on Twitter. Sirano is also known for designing dress for full figured women.
“I just don’t think anyone should be excluded from having a beautiful dress,” he said to me when we were talking about the Jones brouhaha, and why he had volunteered to play fairy godfather.
Lest you think Mrs. Obama’s wardrobe choice was just happenstance, however, know that the convention appearance was only the second time she has worn Mr. Siriano; the first time was this month, at the funeral for the police officers killed in Dallas.
Throughout her time in the White House, the first lady has made something of a secondary cause out of supporting new, independent American designers, and choosing her clothes not only because she likes them but because their back story has a certain resonance that goes beyond the aesthetic. Monday night was no different. Fashion is not known for its embrace of togetherness (more for its exclusion). But Mr. Siriano is.
Fierce! Like Michelle Obama and our next President Hillary Clinton!!!
The Democratic National Convention comes to a conclusion Thursday night with the nomination of Hillary Clinton, no surprise there. First daughter Chelsea is expected to make the introduction. Also speaking tonight: former Mayor Michael Nutter; actors Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen; Pa. Gov. Wolf; basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabaar; and performances by Carole King and Katy Perry.
Jennifer Granholm is warming up the crowd right now and I understand Kareem Abdul-Jabaar is on his way!
Here‘s a brief look at the schedule for the Democratic National Convention tonight!! #DemsInPhilly
Musical performance by Carole King.
Remarks by Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC); Hillary for America’s Marlon Marshall; House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi; Sen. Barbara Mikulski; Hillary for America’s Lorella Praeli; Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX); NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Stronger Together: An Economy That Works For Us All. Remarks by Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH); Colo. Gov. John Hickenlooper; Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen; home care worker Henrietta Ivey; worker Betha Mathias; equal pay advocates Jensen Walcott & Jake Reed; Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf; former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Stronger Together: Americans for Hillary. Remarks by former Reagan Administration official Doug Elmets; Director of Health Policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and co-founder of Republican Women for Hillary Jennifer Pierotti Lim.
Stronger Together: Tribute to Fallen Law Enforcement Officers. Remarks by Dallas Sheriff Lupe Valdez; family members of fallen law enforcement officers Jennifer Loudon, Wayne Walker, Wayne Owens, Barbara Owens.
Stronger Together: An Inclusive America. Remarks by Rev. William Barber, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar; mother of fallen Muslim U.S. soldier Khizr Khan.
Stronger Together: Supporting Our Military. Remarks by Ted Lieu (D-CA); Gen. John Allen (USMC, retired), former commander, International Security Assistance Forces and commander, U.S. Forces in Afghanistan; Medal of Honor recipient Cpt. Flo Groberg (U.S. Army, retired); actress Chloe Grace Moretz; Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA).
Musical performance by Katy Perry.
Here we go!!!!
Let’s Celebrate that it’s TIME FOR HILLARY!!!
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