A Soft and Malleable Spine – But Growing. Democrats Stop Two Chumph Confirmations

What I am hoping is the beginning of Democrats growing a spine. Let’s hope they discover the courage to also trash Sessions, and the rest of the rats. They need to block every singe one.

Empty Seats as Democrats Boycott

Senate Democrats Block Committee Votes On 2 Trump Nominees

Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee boycotted planned votes on Tuesday morning to advance the nominations of two Trump Cabinet nominees.

The committee was to begin voting at 10 a.m. on the nominations of Georgia Rep. Tom Price to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and Treasury Secretary-designate Steven Mnuchin. Committee rules require that at least one member of each party be present for a vote to proceed. If and when the committee does vote, their confirmations would still need the approval of the full Senate.

Price has been under a cloud of controversy for weeks over questions about whether he properly disclosed stock trading of a biomedical company, which says the congressman was able to purchase with a discount, according to the Wall Street Journal.

As for Mnuchin, he faces more questions about his role in the foreclosure crisis as the head of OneWest Bank. As NPR’s Yuki Noguchi reported when Mnuchin testified before the committee earlier this month, he was grilled by Democrats “for his role as CEO of a company that took over IndyMac Bank, now known as OneWest, which failed because of its bad home loans and later pushed through many controversial foreclosures, ultimately yielding massive profits for Mnuchin.”

The Columbus Dispatch reported over the weekend that Mnuchin “flatly denied in testimony before the Senate Finance Committee that OneWest used ‘robo-signing’ on mortgage documents. But records show the bank utilized the questionable practice in Ohio.”

Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown said, “We are not going to this committee today because we want the committee to regroup, get the information, have these two nominees come back in front of the committee, clarify what they lied about — I would hope they would apologize for that — and then give us the information that we all need for our states.”

Senate Finance Committee chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, opened the committee meeting by saying he was “really disappointed” by the Democrats’ decision to boycott. “These two nominees are going to go through regardless,” Hatch said. “Let’s not treat people like this. I think some of this is because they just don’t like the president.”

Other Senate committees moved ahead on votes to approve Trump’s nominees to lead the departments of Energy, Interior and Education, as well as Attorney General-designate Jeff Sessions.

Hatch said he couldn’t remember Republicans treating nominees from Democratic presidents this way. In response to that and other such assertions from the GOP, many Democrats are raising the fact that Republicans refused to hold hearings last year on President Barack Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland. President Trump is set to announce his pick to fill that seat Tuesday night.

Democrats are under increasing pressure from their party’s voters to obstruct the Trump administration however they can. At a demonstration led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer last night in front of the Supreme Court to protest President Trump’s executive order on immigration and refugees, some demonstrators said they wanted Democrats in Congress to block every Trump nominee, though they have limited power to do so.

In a statement on the delay, Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, said, “Until questions are answered, Democrats believe the committee should not move forward with either nomination.”

 

Chumph’s Whites Only House…Nowhere to Run! Hackers Publish Phone Numbers

Want to have a polite conversation about how badly the Chumph has fucked up?

Call Here!

Need to set these folks up on an autodialer with a recording!

456 is the White House Exchange. So any 456 exchange goes to the White House.

Dressed for the Circus

Group leaks White House staffers’ direct phone numbers after Trump kills Obama’s feedback line

(p)resident Donald Trump’s White House has made it nearly impossible for his constituents, the people of the United States of America, to offer feedback over his actions.

The White House used to have a public comment line that individuals could call to speak with a staffer about everything former President Barack Obama did in his eight years to cause some outrage. But Trump, not a fan of bad reviews, has taken that down.

An anonymous group of citizens has found a way around Trump’s closed comment line — or rather, they have taken the time to dig up all the direct phone numbers to reach staff at the White House.

The group set up a website called “White House Comment Line” where it has listed all the numbers to reach White House staff, and a guide as to what you should say when you call, who will answer your call, and other questions you might have.

A spokesperson for the group told Gothamist in a statement, “Open communication is the foundation of a good, functioning democracy. But it’s a two-way street.”

“Right now there’s ‘information’ coming out of the White House to the people, but not much the other way around,” the spokesperson said. ” They may have shut down the comment line, but we the people still have comments. In light of that, we wanted to create one way for the people to be heard.”

According to Gothamist, the numbers that have yet to be disconnected are as follows:

+1 (202) 456-1259
+1 (202) 456-1260
+1 (202) 456-3323
+1 (202) 456-3376
+1 (202) 395-1194
+1 (202) 456-1565
+1 (202) 395-1608
+1 (202) 456-2046
+1 (202) 456-2500
+1 (202) 456-4640
+1 (202) 456-3256
+1 (202) 456-3878
+1 (202) 395-1480
+1 (202) 456-3450
+1 (202) 456-4655
+1 (202) 456-4770

“Just like you would call your member of Congress, calmly share your views with the White House. You have the right to be heard,” the spokesperson told Gothamist.

The outlet also noted that one of the numbers will take you to the voicemail of “Conway, Kellyanne.” All the more reason to try them all.

 

White Supremacists Invade Police Forces – The Murders of the Unarmed.

White Supremacists have sucessfully infiltrated a number of Police Forces around the country. You want to know why there is such a pushback to Black Lives Matter? Why Police still shoot down unarmed black men? Why so many die of maltreatment while incarcerated?

Here is the proof.

Why did the FBI fear conservatives?

Conservatism = Racism.

Florida Cops Fired For Being Members of KKK

FBI investigated White supremacists infiltrating law enforcement agencies: report

The FBI feared conservative backlash in bringing a shocking report to light

According to a classified FBI counterterrorism policy guide obtained by The Intercept, “white supremacists and other domestic extremists” have been joining law enforcement agencies across the United States.

“Domestic terrorism investigations focused on militia extremists, white supremacist extremists, and sovereign citizen extremists often have identified active links to law enforcement officers,” the FBI’s guide states. Detailing the ways the FBI places individuals on a terrorism watch list, the Known or Suspected Terrorism File.

Despite the evident threat posed by these right-wing extremists, law enforcement has failed to acknowledge proper ways to combat, or even address the systemic issue.

“No centralized recruitment process or set of national standards exists for the 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States, many of which have deep historical connections to racist ideologies. As a result, state and local police as well as sheriff’s departments present ample opportunities for white supremacists and other right-wing extremists looking to expand their power base,” The Intercept wrote.

In October 2006, the FBI released an internal assessment noting that white supremacy groups have a history intending to infiltrate law enforcement agencies. The memo contained many redactions, but noted “ghost skins,” or individuals who mask their personal beliefs in order to integrate with society, while still secretly advancing their ideologies.

“In at least one case, the FBI learned of a skinhead group encouraging ghost skins to seek employment with law enforcement agencies in order to warn crews of any investigations,” The Intercept reported.

The report came about after widespread instances of abuse, including a local sheriff’s department that formed a neo-Nazi gang that consistently terrorized black and latino communities, and a police detective in Chicago rumored to be a KKK member that tortured at least 120 black men throughout his career, to name a few.

After Barack Obama took office, an intelligence study conducted by the Department of Homeland Security, with the partnership of the FBI, warned of a “resurgence” in right-wing extremism. The report stated, “lone wolves and small terrorist cells embracing violent right-wing extremist ideology are the most dangerous domestic terrorism threat in the United States.”

These conclusions resulted in unrest from many conservatives who felt as if they were painted in a bad light, and presumed dangerous, by association. Due to the criticism, the report was condemned by then DHS Secretary, Janet Napolitano, who also issued an apology to military veterans.

Despite re-establishing the Domestic Terrorism Task Force in 2014, the majority of the government’s efforts to thwart extremism was focused on foreign groups, rather than domestic.

“Critics fear that the backlash following the 2009 DHS report hindered further action against the growing white supremacist threat, and that it was largely ignored because the issue was so politically controversial,” The Intercept wrote.

The Intercept cited sociologist Pete Simi, who has studied for decades the rapid increase in white supremacists in both law enforcement and the military. Simi conducted a study finding at least 31 percent of individuals indicted for right wing extremist activities, to have military experience.

 

Another White Supremacist Trumpazoid _ Another Massacre of the Innocent and Unarmed. Quebec Mosque.

Another racist Trumpazoid, another attack on defenseless people because of their race/religion, sexual preference, or sex.

Faux News this Am was still trying to pawn that the  shooter was a non-white “Islamic Terrorist”

Quebec mosque shooter Alexandre Bissonnette’s classmates say he was a white nationalist who loved President Trump

Alexandre Bissonnette “really liked Trump and had a permanent grudge against the left”

The suspected shooter who carried out a massacre of Muslims praying at a mosque in Quebec, Canada, is a strong supporter of far-right U.S. President Donald Trump and a right-wing extremist, according to his former classmates, acquaintances, and social media accounts.

During evening prayers on Sunday, January 29, a gunman opened fire in the Quebec Islamic Cultural Center, killing six worshipers and injuring 19 more. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the shooting as a “terrorist attack on Muslims.”

The suspected assailant, 27-year-old Alexandre Bissonnette, is a white Canadian who has expressed far-right, anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-feminist, and pro-Israel views.

“He really liked Trump and had a permanent grudge against the left,” explained Éric Debroise, who knew Bissonnette and contacted the police after the attack. (Quotes are original translations from French.)

The suspected shooter’s politics are “very right-wing and ultra-nationalist white supremacist,” Debroise told the local newspaper Le Journal de Quebec.

“He has right-wing, pro-Israel, anti-immigration political ideas,” Jean-Michel Allard-Pru, another classmate, said of Bissonnette, who was a student at Laval University.

Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail reported that the suspected shooter “was known in the city’s activist circles as a right-wing troll who frequently took anti-foreigner and anti-feminist positions and stood up for U.S. President Donald Trump.”

François Deschamps, who runs a refugee support page on Facebook, told the publication that Bissonnette was an abusive far-right internet troll “who made frequent extreme comments in social media denigrating refugees and feminism.”

Multiple people who knew Bissonnette linked him to the far-right, nationalist, racist “Identitarian” movement, which is on the rise in Europe and North America.

Bissonnette’s extreme right-wing views were similarly inspired by Marine Le Pen, the far-right politician who may become the next president of France. Like Trump, Le Pen campaigns on racist, anti-Muslim, white nationalist policies.

On his personal Facebook page, Bissonnette liked the pages of both Trump and Le Pen. (Bissonnette’s Facebook profile was taken down after the attack, but it is archived here.)

A pro-refugee group in Quebec City wrote on Facebook that activists knew of the suspected shooter because of his extreme “Identitarian, pro-Le Pen, and anti-feminist positions.”

Bissonnette also liked the Facebook pages of the Israel Defense Forces and the pro-Israel group United with Israel. The Israeli government is extremely right-wing, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed staunch support for President Trump and his anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant policies.

After the massacre at the Quebec Islamic Cultural Center, police initially detained two people — Bissonnette and Mohamed Khadir, who is Muslim. Khadir was widely reported to be another suspect, but he was quickly released and police made it clear that he was a witness, not an assailant. This, however, did not stop anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant groups from distorting the facts surrounding the events.

President Trump’s far-right administration and right-wing news sources jumped on the opportunity to misleadingly blame the attack on a Muslim. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer tried to use the rumor to justify President Trump’s racist ban on Muslim refugees and migrants. But in reality the opposite is true: the suspected shooter is a white Canadian who massacred Muslim migrants. The victims were largely from North Africa.

As if often the case with terrorist attacks carried out by white right-wing extremists, media reports and government officials claimed the shooting was a “lone wolf” attack, and gave very sympathetic coverage to the suspected shooter, portraying him as “timid,” “lonely,” and “kind.”

Far-right terrorism is on the rise in North America. In the U.S., residents are significantly more likely to be killed by right-wing extremists than they are Islamist extremists.

 

Scientists, Hackers, Gov’t Employees Back Up Gov’t Databases in Europe to Prevent Trump Destruction

Anyone who doesn’t believe this isn’t headed to insurrection – may want to take note of this. There has been a massive effort by Scientists, Government Worker, and Hackers to back up US Databases to European Servers in order to protect the data, starting the day after it was announced the Chumph “won” the presidency. Such effort goes far beyond what this article discusses – an an all out effort to protect information from the Chumph’s filthy racist scum.

So far, we can see that the Chumph has suborned some of Homeland Security’s TSA people. Specifically at Dulles Airport in Washington, DC – where TSA/Homeland Security refused the Legal orders of a Federal High Court in violation of the Constitution, and their charter. While officers from the same department carried out the Court Orders in the rest of the country. This is the beginning of a Constitutional Crisis, and with the Chumph doubling-down on his Executive Order is an Impeachable Offense which is a violation of his Oath of Office.

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

 

 

Uber No More – Nationwide Boycott of Chumph Supporting Companies is Growing Fast

Rage against the Chump is rising very fast. The next major March Against Trump is planned for April. Here is hoping they put at least 3 million people in DC. At the rate things are going, if there is a march in June, it may draw 10 million. Breaking down the doors of the White House and Capitol buildings and hauling the right-wing miscreants to hang from the light poles going down Constitution Avenue…

About the only thing that is certain is that if the Republican scum in Congress continues to bloc investigations in to the Chumph’s dirty dealings and Treason (as in Charge Him, Try Him, Convict Him, and Hang Him) – the shit is going to hit the fan. Consider it a re-education as to whom politicians really are supposed to  work for.

#DeleteUber’s Creator: Resist Trump or ‘Pay a Price’

Silicon Valley companies like Uber don’t want to take a stand on Trump, but users won’t let them stay neutral. Now, protesters and even some forward-looking CEOs are saying the same thing: Resist or face deletion.

On Saturday night, as protesters swamped airports nationwide demanding foreigners be released from indefinite detention due to Donald Trump’s Muslim ban, Dan O’Sullivan inadvertently created a playbook for getting corporations to stop playing nice with Donald Trump.

O’Sullivan was the first to tweet the hashtag #DeleteUber, although he insists he didn’t invent the idea for an Uber boycott and doesn’t take credit for the phenomenon the hashtag became. His initial string of #DeleteUber tweets, all replies to Uber’s surge pricing announcement, have over 7,000 retweets.

“Let this be a warning: if you are a corporation who thinks you will ride out Trump, and quietly make money at his side, you will be made to pay a price,” O’Sullivan told The Daily Beast.

#DeleteUber wound up becoming the No. 1 trend in the country on Saturday night after the company turned off surge pricing to and from JFK International Airport, where thousands were protesting the Muslim ban. Earlier in the night, the New York City Taxi Workers Alliance announced its members would partially strike in solidarity with the refugees and affected immigrants by not offering services to or from the airport.

Protesters on Twitter alleged that Uber was promoting scab work, highlighting Uber’s stance that drivers aren’t considered employees to begin with, but only independent contractors. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick had also been announced as part of Trump’s business advisory board in December.

Kalanick and Uber released several statements attempting to quell the furor, repeatedly insisting they disagree with Trump’s executive order and that they would pay out to drivers stuck in other countries due to the hastily implemented order, but it was too late.

Thousands were already tweeting the hashtag #DeleteUber along with screenshots of the account deletion page.

Direct competitor Lyft capitalized, handing out a $1 million donation to the ACLU, whose lawsuit granted a temporary stay to visa holders held in unlawful detention by Customs and Border Patrol.

“Deleting an Uber account, or tweeting a bunch about it, is quite literally the least anyone can do to register how disgusted one is by Uber’s exploitative labor practices and collaboration with Trump,” said O’Sullivan.

O’Sullivan wants Kalanick to resign from Trump’s board, and predicts this kind of boycott will keep happening to companies who don’t actively defy Trump’s policies that exploit and target their employees.

“The popularity of #deleteUber only exists because decent people around the country and world—including the unionized cab drivers Uber hates and targets—took to the streets, occupying airports in defense of refugees, immigrants, and Muslims,” said O’Sullivan.

“Trump is losing and is going to keep losing. Anyone who sticks with him will lose, too.”

Other tech CEOs had had enough, and finally used their apps to deliver calls to action. Dots CEO Paul Murphy was furiously texting with the co-creator of his big name mobile gaming company.

 Murphy had a user base of millions of people he could deploy to fund efforts to stop Trump’s discriminatory immigration ban, and he was a little fed up with leaders in his industry who refused to stand up for their employees—immigrant or otherwise.

“I’m still a little bit underwhelmed from the larger tech companies’ responses,” he told The Daily Beast. “I suggested we take over the game—to use that—since we have this big audience.”

So when users opened any of Dots’ mobile games on Saturday night or Sunday morning, they saw this message: “We believe America should be a welcoming place, particularly for those most in need, wherever they come from and whatever their religion.” It then linked out to an ACLU donation page.

When Murphy talked to The Daily Beast on Sunday, he said 4 million people had already seen the message.

“In my mind it’d be much more powerful for these platforms to be proactive—to interrupt people consuming services and remind them that these are products that are built from Americans, but also immigrants or people from outside the country,” said Murphy.

For some tech companies like Uber, however, being proactive in resisting the administration’s more racist and discriminatory policies isn’t just a “powerful” move. It’s a necessary move, if they don’t want a boycott that could directly impact their bottom line literally overnight.

 

 

1 Million (And Growing) Brits Petition to Keep the Chumph Out of The UK as an Embarassment

In the UK, citizens can petition Parliament on an issue. Once 100,000 signatories are reached, the issue must be debated on the Parliament floor. This isn’t the first time the English have wanted to ban the Chumph from their shores, Prior to out election over 600,000 signed a petition resulting in him being banned from the country.

While Parliament often ignores the petitions, the prospect of several million pissed off citizens signing the petition makes it impossible to ignore politically.

No way, the tacky arsed Chumph is getting feted by the Queen. The Queen hasn’t said anything yet. She and Michelle Obama developed a special friendship, setting off a bit of controversy when she and the Queen hugged. I know nothing about Mrs Trump’s personality…But Michelle is a hard act to follow.

Don’t let Trump embarrass our queen, say a million Britons

Over a million people in Britain have signed a petition calling for U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned state visit to be canceled to avoid embarrassing Queen Elizabeth, in a grassroots backlash against his immigration policies.

The invitation to make a state visit, which will involve lavish displays of royal pageantry and a banquet hosted by the monarch, was conveyed by Prime Minister Theresa May when she visited Trump in Washington last week.

The petition was started before May’s trip, but gained traction after Trump issued an executive order barring Syrian refugees and suspending travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, sparking protests at home and abroad.

Further complicating matters, the Sunday Times newspaper reported tensions were mounting between London and Washington because Trump, a climate change denier, did not want a “lecture” during his visit by heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, a passionate environmentalist. [bit.ly/2jMRraF]

The petition against the state visit, which is on the British parliament’s website, passed the one million mark on Monday morning and the number of signatories was rising fast.

“Donald Trump should be allowed to enter the UK in his capacity as head of the US Government, but he should not be invited to make an official State Visit because it would cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen,” the petition says.

It was the second most popular petition ever on the parliamentary website, after one calling for a second referendum on membership of the European Union drew over 4 million signatures last year.

Once a petition passes 100,000 signatures, lawmakers must consider it for debate. Such debates are largely symbolic and rarely affect government policy, although one on this particular issue would potentially be embarrassing for May.

Her Downing Street office said the invitation had been extended and accepted, declining further comment.

A year ago, parliament debated a petition calling for Trump, then the Republican candidate, to be barred from the United Kingdom. It gathered close to 600,000 signatures before it was closed last June.

 

Putin’s Boi Gets His Marching Orders From Putin

The Chumph gets his marching orders to destroy America…

Trump Speaks With Putin

Russian attitudes to President Trump are expected get a further boost after Russian President Putin spoke with Trump on the phone Saturday.

 

Democrats Dither as The People Take to The Streets

A few hours after the jarheaded jackass signed an executive order to ban people from 11 countries from entering the US, tens of thousands of Americans flooded the International Airports protesting against the racist order.

These ad hoc demonstrations started just a few hours after Homeland Security tried to implement Putin’s Bitch orders.

The Democrats in the House and Senate con bring this fiasco to its knees if it wasn’t for their cowardly streak.

If Republicans continue to block the Investigation into Putin’s payoff to elect the Chumph…Maybe it’s time for a coup.

Senate Democrats have the power to stop Trump. All they have to do is use it.

As a Democratic Senate aide for the past seven years, I had a front-row seat to an impressive show of obstruction. Republicans, under then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, decided they would oppose President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid at every turn to limit their power. And it worked: They extorted concessions from Democrats with threats of shutdowns, fiscal cliffs and financial chaos. I know firsthand that Democrats’ passion for responsible governance can be exploited by Republicans who are willing to blow past all norms and standards.

Now we have a president who exemplifies that willingness in the extreme. Partly, this explains why he faces more questions about his legitimacy than any president in recent history and why he drew three times as many protesters as inauguration attendees last weekend. But in something of a mismatch, Republicans’ unified control of government means that the most effective tool for popular resistance lies in the Senate — the elite, byzantine institution envisioned by the founders as the saucer that cools the teacup of popular opinion.

Senate Democrats have a powerful tool at their disposal, if they choose to use it, for resisting a president who has no mandate and cannot claim to embody the popular will. That tool lies in the simple but fitting act of withholding consent. An organized effort to do so on the Senate floor can bring the body to its knees and block or severely slow down the agenda of a president who does not represent the majority of Americans.

The procedure for withholding consent is straightforward, but deploying it is tricky. For the Senate to move in a timely fashion on any order of business, it must obtain unanimous support from its members. But if a single senator objects to a consent agreement, McConnell, now majority leader, will be forced to resort to time-consuming procedural steps through the cloture process, which takes four days to confirm nominees and seven days to advance any piece of legislation — and that’s without amendment votes, each of which can be subjected to a several-day cloture process as well.

McConnell can ask for consent at any time, and if no objection is heard, the Senate assumes that consent is granted. So the 48 senators in the Democratic caucus must work together — along with any Republicans who aren’t afraid of being targeted by an angry tweet — to ensure that there is always a senator on the floor to withhold consent.

Because every Senate action requires the unanimous consent of members from all parties, everything it does is a leverage point for Democrats. For instance, each of the 1,000-plus nominees requiring Senate confirmation — including President Trump’s Cabinet choices — can be delayed for four days each.

While the tactic works well, as we’ve seen for the past eight years, there remains the question of strategy. Should Democrats be pragmatic and let Trump have his nominees on a reasonable timetable, so as not to appear obstructionist? So far, this has been their approach to some of Trump’s Cabinet picks.

But it’s also fair to say that, by nominating a poorly qualified and ethically challenged Cabinet, Trump forfeited his right to a speedy confirmation process, and Democrats should therefore slow it down to facilitate the adequate vetting that Trump and Senate Republicans are determined to avoid by rushing the process before all the questionnaires and filings are submitted. Four days of scrutiny on the Senate floor per nominee, even after the committee hearings, is a reasonable standard for fulfilling the Senate’s constitutional responsibility of advice and consent.

Democrats can also withhold their consent from every piece of objectionable legislation McConnell tries to advance. With 48 senators in their caucus, they have the votes to block most bills. But even when Democrats don’t have the votes, they can force McConnell to spend time jumping through procedural hoops. This is the insight McConnell deployed against Reid to manufacture the appearance of gridlock, forcing him to use the cloture process more than 600 times.

Finally, Democrats can withhold their consent from Trump until they feel confident that foreign governments are not interfering in our elections. Credible reports hold that U.S. intelligence agencies are investigating whether Trump’s campaign cooperated with the Russian government on Vladi­mir Putin’s personally directed meddling. Withholding consent from Trump’s agenda until an independent, bipartisan probe provides answers is not just reasonable; it’s responsible. If Democrats withhold consent from everything the Senate does until such a process is established, they can stall Trump’s agenda and confirmation of his nominees indefinitely. Sen. Richard Durbin has been a leader in demanding an independent investigation. But unless Democrats back their calls with the threat of action, McConnell will steamroll them and never look back.

Of course, it would be unwise to deploy this strategy blindly. The kind of universal obstruction pioneered by McConnell during Obama’s presidency is not in Democrats’ nature: They believe in the smooth functioning of government.

But Democrats’ concern with delivering results for their constituents is also part of who we are and something we should embrace. Even for innately cautious Democrats, some issues demand dramatic action. If Trump wants to put their concerns about his legitimacy to rest, he can reach out with consensus nominees and policies, and come clean about his ties to Russia and his tax returns (which may show whether he has compromising financial debts to Russian interests). Until then, Democrats can stand up for America by withholding their consent.

 

 

Roland Martin Unloads on the CBC and Black Legislators

Those familiar with my blog have heard me say it a number of times. A lot of black legislators out there aren’t doing much but showing up at picture events and going o Cabarets. Roland Martin takes these folks to task. Why is it there is no serious opposition to the Chumph and Republicans. Why is it, any Democrat can vote for a massively unqualified Uncle Ben Carson’s confirmation to provide some racial cover for the most racist administration since Wilson, and not have all 43 Members of the Congressional Black Caucus standing on their desk the next morning?

As black voters, we are going to have to take the position that “either you are going to fight for us, or get the fuck out!” It is way past time to cull the useless, accomodationalist – garbage.

The New Jim Crow is allowed, an enabled by the failure of black legislators to stand up.

Media Host Roland Martin Challenges State’s Black Leaders in Passionate MLK Speech

TV One commentator and host Roland Martin challenged African American legislators and other officials to aspire to the goals, dreams, and ideals of civil rights icon Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during a speech last week in Sacramento.

Martin, a journalist, and the host of TV One’s NewsOne Now, asked attendees at the California Legislative Black Caucus’ (CLBC)’ annual breakfast “ Are We Satisfied?  He said he was not satisfied where we are but encouraged attendees to reflect and recognize King’s birthday as a way to renew their commitment to what King fought for during his lifetime.

“When it comes to equality. When it comes to freedom. What are you satisfied with?” Martin asked. “Are you advocating for the very policies he stood for? Are you advocating for the very people he stood for?”

King, a champion for racial, social and economic equality organized boycotts, protests and marches, won a Nobel Peace Prize, spoke out against racism in the United States and delivered some of the most influential speeches in American history.

King’s 88th birthday was Jan. 15, a day before the national holiday named after him and held each year in remembrance of his legacy. The Atlanta-based Baptist minister, was gunned down by an assassin on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tenn.

The Golden State’s eleven-member CLBC’s breakfast took place on Jan. 12 at the Sacramento Convention Center. At the event, over 250 people honored King and celebrated individuals that have a commitment to work for the betterment of California’s African Americans and more.

Martin expounded with a self-proclaimed “spirit of discomfort” said he was not satisfied with the standing of African-Americans in America today.

“I’m not satisfied if you come asking for Black votes, but can’t hire Black companies,” said Martin alluding to the relationship between elected officials and African American businesses vying for state contracts. “I’m not satisfied when you come asking for Black votes, but can’t fund Black media.”

“I’m not satisfied when you say, ‘We’ll offer internships, but won’t hire full-time for critical positions,” the television personality continued. “In this particular state, where are your dollars being spent? Who are you actually supporting? I’m not interested in internships.”

Martin said King spoke about education, police brutality, voting rights, and economics; all issues that concern the African-American community today.
Martin said when it comes to educating Black youth he stands for success in the classroom.

“If it’s working for a child I’m with it 100 percent,” he said. “I would expect the Black Caucus in California – when you have constituents and children in some of the worst schools – to say, ‘I will provide an opportunity for you whatever it looks like.’ For some reason we are having a 1950s’ dialogue about education, but we are in 2017.”

Martin said African-Americans should not be satisfied with the progress in the U.S. as of now. He said King focused on what racial and social and economic challenges lay on the horizon. The renowned media figure challenged Black caucus members to do the same.

 

Yet Another Trump/Bannon Alt/Right Type Exposed as Hate Criminal

The rotten apple didn’t fall far from he tree here Another of Steve Bannon’s (who sits at the right hand of the Chumph in the Whites only House) boys is a violent, vicious criminal with self admitted “mental illness” …

Leader of UW-Madison ‘alt-right’ movement committed racially motivated crimes in 2005

A UW-Madison student who stirred up outrage on campus Tuesday by distributing flyers denouncing “anti-white racism” committed two racially motivated crimes.

Daniel Dropik, the founder of the controversial Madison American Freedom Party, pleaded guilty to two counts of “racially motivated arson” in 2006 after setting fire to two primarily black churches the year before, according to a U.S. Court of Appeals document.

On April 16, 2005, Dropik started a fire that caused $850 worth of damage to a Baptist Church in Milwaukee, according to a 2006 Capital Times article. The next day, he set ablaze a Methodist Episcopal church in Lansing, Mich., causing about $39,000 of damages. Both churches’ congregations were predominantly black.

The judge in the case said Dropik, then a resident of Oconomowoc, had “deep psychological and psychiatric problems,” according to the article.

The Southern Poverty Law Center highlighted the crimes in their list of “hate incidents.”

Dropik, then 23-years-old, was sentenced to two concurrent terms of 63 months imprisonment and two concurrent three-year terms of supervised release for the crimes, according to the court document.

In posts on the question-and-answer website Quora, Dropik admitted to committing the crimes and writes about his experience in federal prison.

“In 2005 I started fires to African American churches, citing racism as the reason for my actions,” Dropik wrote in one post. “I admitted guilt, and served nearly five years.”

In a separate biography from 2012 on the website causes.com, Dropik details his decision to go on the “interstate arson spree.”

“I targeted African American churches, because it was controversial and may lead to a ‘suicide by cop’ scenario,” Dropik writes in the post.

He goes on to describe his history of mental health issues and his experiences with sexual violence while in prison. He also expresses regret for his “destructive decisions.”

Dropik’s now-deleted Quora profile describes him as a “Web Developer and Computer Science Student” who was born and raised in Wisconsin and is accompanied by a photo showing his face.

It also says he is “strongly in favor of religious and racial tolerance.”

The 33-year-old, who describes himself as a “freethinker” and “race-relations innovator” on his website, gained prominence on campus Tuesday after his organization, the Madison American Freedom Party, distributed flyers to students urging them to combat “anti-white racism.”

Students were quick to denounce Dropik and his organization. One student said Dropik’s flyers were a “dangerous attempt to victimize those who are born with systematic white privilege.”

“Anti-white racism does not exist in American society period,” UW-Madison student Dane Skaar wrote in one Facebook response to the flyers that has been shared over 500 times. “This is not a political view; this is a fundamental fact.”

Currently, Dropik is a student employee at UW-Madison, where he works for the university as a software trainer and studies computer science, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Dropik earned an associate degree from the UW-Waukesha in 2013, two years after he was released from federal prison.

Chancellor Rebecca Blank said in a statement Thursday she was “appalled” to learn of Dropik’s past.

“The safety of our campus community is my top priority. I recognize the mere presence of this activity is concerning,” Blank said. “The student claims to be affiliated with the American Freedom Party, a recognized hate group. Its activities are diametrically opposed to our campus values of respect and inclusion.”

Blank said the university does not have any information that suggests a “specific safety threat.”

“Handing out political information and expressing objectionable, even hateful, viewpoints is not illegal nor a violation of any campus policy,” Blank said.

Blank also said the university does not take criminal history into account during the admissions process.

Dropik addressed Blank’s statement in an audio recording posted on the Madison American Freedom Party website Thursday night.

“I regret these violent and wrong acts,” Dropik said, after confirming that he committed the crimes. “For those on campus who are just learning about this, who may feel discouraged or sad or hurt … I am sorry.”

Dropik also asked the public to consider some facts that Blank did not mention, including that he was severely mentally ill at the time he committed the crimes.

He said that since the crimes, the time he spent in federal prison was a “transformative” experience for him, and even helped him “change some of [his] stereotypes about racial minorities.”

“Living in prison for a long time, you get to know people of different kinds,” he said. “It was actually a very positive thing.”

Dropik went on to say that he disagreed with Blank’s characterization of the Madison American Freedom Party as a hate group, but that she was correct to say that he presents no threat to the campus community.

 

White Woman at the Center of Emmit Till Murder…Admits to Lying

60 years later, the white woman who accused Emmit Till of fondling her has confessed that it didn’t happen.

‘Not true’: Woman admits she made up claims that led to Emmett Till’s brutal lynching

The woman at the center of the brutal murder of Emmett Till — which helped launch the civil rights movement — has revealed for the first time that she had fabricated the most sensational part of her testimony, reported Vanity Fair.

Carolyn Bryant Donham has never spoken publicly since she testified in the murder trial of her then-husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, who were each acquitted less than a month after they kidnapped, tortured and executed the black boy.

After their acquittal, the pair proudly admitted what they’d done to Look magazine, saying they basically had no choice but to kill the teenager for behaving lasciviously toward Bryant’s wife.

But Donham, who later divorced Bryant and married twice more in the following years, admitted to author Timothy Tyson that she’d made up some of the claims that led to Till’s death.

Donham was 21 years old in 1955, when she spent about one minute alone with the 14-year-old Till, who was visiting family in Mississippi from Chicago, while working in the store she owned with her husband.

The teen, whose mother called him “Bo,” bragged to his cousin and some other boys that he had a white girlfriend back home — and the boys dared him to speak to the woman working behind the counter.

A 12-year-old cousin briefly went inside but left Emmett alone with Donham for about a minute, and she later claimed Till had grabbed her and made lewd comments.

His cousin, Simeon Wright, recalled decades later that couldn’t have been possible — and, it turns out, he was right.

“That part’s not true,” Donham told Tyson, who conducted the first-ever interview with the elderly mother of two for a new book, The Blood of Emmett Till.

She also claimed Till had wolf-whistled at her, but Tyson notes that might not have been intentional because the boy had a lisp.

Donham claims she couldn’t remember anymore the rest of their brief encounter.

The interview was actually conducted in 2007, after Donham approached the Duke University scholar about helping to write her memoirs.

“That case went a long way toward ruining her life,” said Tyson, who said the Donham family reminded him of his own.

He said Donham’s views on race had changed over the years, along with much of the country’s.

“She was glad things had changed [and she] thought the old system of white supremacy was wrong, though she had more or less taken it as normal at the time,” Tyson said.

Donham told the author she “felt tender sorrow” toward Mamie Till-Mobley, who insisted on an open casket to show the world her son’s mutilated body, and she expressed something like regret about her role in his slaying.

“Nothing that boy did could ever justify what happened to him,” Donham said.

Donham, who retreated back into seclusion, has also written a memoir, “More Than a Wolf Whistle: The Story of Carolyn Bryant Donham,” but it will not be available to scholars until 2038, at her request.

 

The Chumph Tried to Order Park Service to Lie About Inauguration Crowd

Getting to the source of why the Park Service is up in arms!

Trump pressured Park Service to back up his claims about inauguration crowd

On the morning after Donald Trump’s inauguration, acting National Park Service director Michael T. Reynolds received an extraordinary summons: The new president wanted to talk to him.

In a Saturday phone call, Trump personally ordered Reynolds to produce additional photographs of the previous day’s crowds on the National Mall, according to three individuals who have knowledge of the conversation. The president believed that they might prove that the media had lied in reporting that attendance had been no better than average.

Trump also expressed anger over a retweet sent from the agency’s account, in which side-by-side photographs showed far fewer people at his swearing-in than had shown up to see Barack Obama’s inaugural in 2009.

According to one account, Reynolds had been contacted by the White House and given a phone number to call. When he dialed it, he was told to hold for the president.

For Trump, who sees himself and his achievements in superlative terms, the inauguration’s crowd size has been a source of grievance that he appears unable to put behind him. It is a measure of his fixation on the issue that he would devote part of his first morning in office to it — and that he would take out his frustrations on an acting Park Service director.

 

 

Thousands Protest Chumph and Republicans in Pliladelphia

Nowhere to run…nowhere to hide!

The folks in Philly give Putin’s Bitch a proper Philly salute

Demonstrators flood the streets of Philadelphia to protest Donald Trump at GOP retreat

Throngs of protesters took to the streets for the third day of massive protests since Trump’s inauguration

Donald Trump took his first official trip as president aboard a newly rechristened Air Force One Thursday. When the 45th president landed in Philadelphia, he was greeted by throngs of protesters who took to the streets for the third day of massive protests since Trump’s inauguration six days ago.

Protesters had gathered for a second day of demonstrations against congressional Republicans, who were visiting the city of brotherly love for an annual retreat. Trump arrived in Philadelphia to address Republican lawmakers and broke with a long-held bipartisan tradition by refusing to take any questions from the elected officials of his own party.

Amid petty battles over crowd sizes and viewership of his inauguration, Trump has taken to setting the controversial agenda he presented on the campaign trail into motion — leaving Republican congressional leaders in the awkward position of dodging questions about torture, rampant voter fraud and who will pay for a wall on the U.S. – Mexico border.

Partially organized by PA Home Care Workers and SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, hundreds of demonstrators protested the GOP’s plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act by holding an activism workshop followed by a march to Thomas Paine Plaza Thursday morning.

 

The Scientist March In Planning Against the Chump

Not sure how big this one may be, unless they join with other groups – as the number of actual scientists is fairly small. But would love to see 3 million on the mall, so here is hoping lots and lots of other folks come out.

It seems in this case, the scientists and doctors…

Are, really mad.

Scientists are planning the next big Washington march

A group of researchers have proposed a March for Science, but it won’t be the first time scientists have protested

Last weekend, a massive milieu of women in pink hats descended on Washington, D.C. for the Women’s March. The next big protest being planned for the nation’s capital could involve a sea of lab coats (and likely a few pink hats as well).

A group of researchers have proposed a March for Science. What started as a discussion on Reddit has quickly blossomed into a movement.

Organizers started a private Facebook group and Twitter account on Monday. By Wednesday afternoon, the former boasted more than 300,000 members and the latter had nearly 55,000 followers. A public Facebook page had more than 11,000 likes just five hours after going online. The explosion of support caught organizers off guard, but they’re meeting this weekend to discuss details about the date and full mission statement.

The march would be the latest in a string of actions taken by scientists following Donald Trump’s election and his inauguration as president. His administration has been widely viewed as hostile to science — from the transition period through hearings for his cabinet nominees through silencing key federal science agencies and freezing grants.

“This is not a partisan issue. People from all parts of the political spectrum should be alarmed by these efforts to deny scientific progress,” Caroline Weinberg, a medical researcher who is helping organize the march, said. “Scientific research moves us forward and we should not allow asinine policies to thwart it.”

Researchers have been getting more vocal about the value of science and evidence-based policymaking in recent months. Earth scientists took to the streets in San Francisco last December during the annual American Geophysical Union meeting. Researchers and librarians are also racing to save climate data from federal websites. And more recently, scientists flooded Twitter during Friday’s inauguration with updates about how science impacts everyday people.

The March for Science represents a next step, with a groundswell of support behind it and the potential to dwarf the December San Francisco rally of a few hundred earth science researchers. While details are forthcoming, Weinberg underscored that scientists and science lovers of all disciplines and backgrounds will be welcome.

“Diversity in science, both in the researchers who participate and the topics we are focused on, is a critically neglected area,” she said. “We fully intend to emphasize diversity in both the planning of and mission statement for this march.”

Whatever becomes of the march, it won’t be the first time scientists have turned out to protest what they view as federal policies ungrounded in science. The 2014 People’s Climate March turned out an estimated 310,000 people in New York, including a large number of climate scientists.

Naomi Oreskes, a science historian at Harvard, said that looking further into the past reveals another telling example of scientists organizing.

“It is the scientists who mobilized against the arms race in the late 1950s and 1960s,” she said. “So that tells you how scientists feel now. This is an existential threat.”