Let's give it up for Rep. Ilhan Omar for her wonderful actions yesterday

[ck4829]

During the Reagan administration, one of the US-supported militias went into the village of El Mozote and tortured, raped, and murdered the inhabitants of the village. Despite media coverage at the time and later forensics which also indicated that this massacre happened, the Reagan Administration (With Elliott Abrams) and it's supporters denied the massacre happened and pretty much called it "fake news" (Sound familiar?)

Yesterday, with a lot of pressing and persistence, Rep. Ilhan Omar got the soulless sociopath to sheepishly admit the massacre was not a high point of the Reagan Administration's policy there.

I don't think there are a lot of people there who could have done that.

That is power being used right.

[Sherman A1]

1. K&R

[malaise]

2. +1,000

Get thee to the greatest page.

[customerserviceguy]

3. Every second that she and AOC get face time in the media

is a second lost to our eventual nominee for 2020. And Faux Snooze loves using their "foreignness" to scare the GOP base into keeping in line, even if they're disappointed by the amount of wall money.

[doompatrol39]

5. Every second they get face time in front of the media...

....people see Democrats as fighters, standing up for Democratic values of justice, morality, and economic fairness.

If our eventual nominee supports all of those things too then there's no downside.

If we're worried about what Fox news thinks or says even for a minute, then we've already lost.

[ck4829]

6. Bingo

[customerserviceguy]

7. Screw Faux Snooze

and their viewers. I'd like to see Sens. Warren, Klobuchar, Booker, Harris, etc. be seen as the fighters right now. They need screen time to be able to do that, and they didn't just land in Washington D.C. a month ago.

[doompatrol39]

11. So the people with the opportunities to grill and question these criminals...

....should not be so good at it because the press will cover them if they are too good at it......and that's a bad thing?

Still really confused at the logic here.

If the people you mentioned want that press then they need to be out there doing and saying bold, brash things and not playing it safe.

I know they all can do that since I've seen them. But now is the time for that.

[customerserviceguy]

12. OK, let me put it this way

Our slate of Democratic presidential candidates will be running against someone already well-skilled at sucking the oxygen out of the room, who did it to his seventeen GOP opponents three years ago. If a first-ballot leader is to emerge from a very large group, their views will need all the exposure they can get to prevail both in the nominating battle and the general election contest.

Time that the non-Faux media spends on the newbies takes away time from someone who is actually going to be the nominee. And no nominee worth more than 1% of the vote is going to say "bold, brash things" about AIPAC or Israel in general.

Perhaps you remember recent history when Dave Brat unseated Eric Cantor in a primary? That's pretty much what AOC did, yet you didn't have even Faux spending a lot of time on Brat's new seat in the House. That's because the GOP is not focused on every "bright and shiny new object who came out of nowhere and surprised people" as Sen. McAskill put it not so long ago. By pretty much ignoring Brat, they paved the way for a massive Republicon victory in 2016.

Like I said to my son, "Boy, you learn from mistakes, but it's always cheaper to learn from the other guy's mistake."

[doompatrol39]

15. Fair points, but I still disagree....

..the rules are different for Democrats. Democrats are told they need to be nice, and safe and dignified and civil, but then those things don't get media coverage.

Plus, Cantor was a leader in the house with a high national profile. I know people say that the guy who AOC defeated was a "leading Democrat" but most people on the national stage didn't even know who he was.

Plus, here's the thing......if our leaders, if the people with the media attention were fighting harder then AOC or whoever else wouldn't seem like shiny new objects. The only reason they are seen as such is because so much of our public image as Democrats is as dull, safe, middle of the road pols.

If you want to be on the news more, then do or say something newsworthy. That's another thing that Trump is skilled at and our nominees will need to compete against. If our candidates think that this is the same environment as it was in 2008 when we could run on nice platitudes such as "hope and change" or whatever else, then we will lose. We are fighting against another monster altogether and the tactics of old, of playing it safe will not work. I like Corey Booker and Elizabeth Warren, but if either of them think that just repeating words like "love" or "fight" in general terms are going to be enough to get the copious amounts of media attention that you think they need then I'm afraid they are in for a rude awakening.

[customerserviceguy]

18. Your point helps my point

I agree, Cantor had a greater national media presence than Crowley. That would have been all the more reason to focus on Brat after the election, he was able to slay a bigger Goliath. But, that didn't happen.

I have a hard time defining Sens. Warren, Harris, or Booker, or Rep. Castro as dull. I find it noteworthy that AOC found time to make news on the day of Sen. Warren's formal announcement, thus stepping on her story. Her remarks were still being talked up the next day when Sen. Klobuchar made her formal announcement.

Is it asking too much for her to stay in the background on the day of the televised debates, just for ONE lousy day? Or do you really want Reps. Omar and AOC to be the face of the Democratic Party in 2020? Trump will use them to play his favorite game with America: divide and conquer.

[doompatrol39]

22. I am more than happy to have both be the face of the Democratic party

Strong, diverse women who fight rather than shrinking from a fight? Who confront evil head on?

Absolutely. There's no reason that we have to be like Repubs and have the "face of our party" only be the presidential nominee.

My hope is that it makes everyone else step up their game then we have more "faces of the party" than we know what to do with. That shows diversity. That shows a broad coalition. And that shows unity. Way more than telling anyone (especially strong women) that they should be more quiet and deferential.

[customerserviceguy]

24. Let's see how that works out for us. n/t

[LanternWaste]

32. Ah, like having a schedule of which Democratic can speak on any given day to "avoid stepping on toes

And ensure no Democrat speaks to their issues, their concerns or their passions if it's someone else's speaking day, while utilizing the flaw of reductio ad absurdum to illustrate your point.

Riiiight.

[HootieMcBoob]

23. Thank you!

[ananda]

27. This. I hope they stay front and center!

And our candidates follow suit!

They are leading by example.

[doompatrol39]

28. I know many on here will disagree

but I'm convinced Speaker Pelosi's recent moves and brazen, public taunting of Trump and Republicans is because she has been emboldened by this new crop of strong fighters. She has seen how public fighting rather than just behind the scenes wonky, procedural fighting is important and can inspire and change people.

[rampartc]

29. +1 doom patrol

and a heart for not caring what faux news thinks!

[brush]

38. Now that's more like it.

Preach!

[niyad]

46. every second of airtime these people get is a second NOT devoted to the toddler tyrant.

[Blues Heron]

13. Disagree. "keeping our powder dry" days are over.

[customerserviceguy]

20. I was referring in this instance

to the Latino members of Congress, and specifically from Texas, who might immediately give Rep. Castro a boost if they didn't have to choose between two Dems from their own home state. Not to the party as a whole.

[47of74]

19. Fuck them

It’s past time that we worry about what Faux Spews is going to say. They’re going to spew their horseshit anyways so the new Reps ought to not back down. As much as the Branch Trumpvidian supporters are to blame years of milquetoast Democrats who were afraid of their own shadows because of what those shitheads at Faux Spews might have said got us to this situation as well. We need hard, pipe hitting liberals who aren’t the least bit afraid of bringing the political pliers and blowtorches with them into the process. I’ve beem saying that for years now so I’m glad to see we’ve got some young firebrands now.

[customerserviceguy]

21. I'm old enough to remember feeling the way that you do

in 1972, when I was sure that George McGovern was going to take it to Nixon and the warmongers, and we all know how that turned out. And we didn't have Faux then, we didn't have any cable news networks, most folks got their news from the daily paper that I was delivering to their homes. Many, out in Washington State, had McGovern posters in their windows, I felt sure we couldn't lose.

The experience has made me fairly pragmatic ever since.

[LanternWaste]

31. Which eventual nominees should then get her airtime?

Seems a rather absurd premise on its face, but I'm confident you can support it with objective evidence.

[customerserviceguy]

53. Anybody who has announced their candidacy

and is presumably constitutionally eligible, that leaves out AOC on age alone.

Look, if you want the next couple of years to be about her, while making our eventual nominee puny in comparison, well, let's see how that works out for us.

[ProfessorPlum]

35. this has to be the oddest concern I've ever read

I think that our eventual candidate will survive this horrible news coverage of other Democrats.

Don't you?

[customerserviceguy]

54. Not necessarily

I figured Hillary was a lock for the win, but things didn't turn out that way.

All I'm asking for is for the House freshmen to take a break on the days when an eligible candidate declares, or there is a televised debate involving the aforesaid eligible candidates. Is that asking for the moon?

[ProfessorPlum]

58. you can ask, but I think even if nothing changes

the eventual nominee is going to be just fine. It's 21 months away.

[cannabis_flower]

40. That's a load of it.

Their "foreignness"! Really? AOC was born in New York. And Rep. Omar is a naturalized citizen. Just because Fox News thrives to other them doesn't mean we should allow them to silence them. Or that we should. That's offensive to me.

[customerserviceguy]

55. If you haven't noticed

AOC is Latina, and Rep. Omar wears a headscarf. It's easy to demonize both of them in flyover country.

Again, I'm not talking about silencing anybody, just give it a break when an eligible Democratic candidate wants to get a message out on an important day, like when they announce their candidacy, or when there is a televised debate.

Am I asking for too much here?

[uponit7771]

49. Who gives a crap about what FAUX Viewers see ?! tia

[customerserviceguy]

56. I agree

What I give a crap about is the declared candidates for the Democratic nomination being able to have the chance to get their message out to the American people without being overshadowed by "AOC got into a Twitter war with Trump today over blah, blah, blah."

Someday, she'll be a great leader, in the meantime, she needs some on the job training. Maybe she will get enough of it by the time she's 35.

[uponit7771]

57. The KGOP is going to do this no matter what, right now on other mixed aisle forums they're LITTERALY

... making up crap about Harris ...

They are ... THAT ... bad, they're just make up stuff ...edit pics... videos etc

[tazkcmo]

59. So...

...even though not a single primary/caucus vote has been cast, all non-candidate Democrats must not appear on a news program? In the last campaign for the Presidency, did you notice the major news channels covering an empty podium Trump was going to speak behind? An empty podium received more coverage than Nadam Secretary Clinton that night and you're worried about a Democrat preventing another Democrat from receiving air time? Wrong tree my friend.

[customerserviceguy]

61. As I keep trying to say, over and over and over again

It's not about silencing the newbies, it's about deferring every ONCE in awhile to let the folks who WILL be running for president to get their message across, or at least having a shot at it.

It would be helpful if Sens. Booker, Harris, Warren, Klobuchar, etc. could be the ones asking, "Why does Amazon get away with paying zero taxes under our tax code?"

However, Trump and his minions will be more than pleased to make the next election all about AOC and her green dreams, as Speaker Pelosi recently referred to the NGD. If our candidates can't or won't step up to defend parts of the plan effectively, leaving it to the seemingly childlike naivety of AOC to make the case, we will have four more years of Trump. Trump does one thing far better than anyone else in the history of American politics (at least through my lifetime) and that is to play divide and conquer games. He has to love the fact that the oxygen in the room is being sucked up by people he won't have to run against.

I don't think Justice Ginsberg will necessarily be able to hold out that long, do you?

[livetohike]

4. The years of ignoring atrocities are coming to an end.

I love this Freshman class of Representatives. Confront and demand! Too many long serving Representatives have gotten too comfortable. Maybe the newbies will set a fire in them too.

[flor-de-jasmim]

9. It's up to everyone to be fighting back - don't silence the newbies - the oldies need to step up.

[customerserviceguy]

14. There's a happy medium

between silencing the newbies and making them the face of the Democratic Party, to the detriment of our eventual nominee, who is going to need to be seen as a champion, and not someone who kowtows to an inexperienced media star.

[brush]

41. I disagree. The difference is our having taken the House in the Nov. blue wave.

We actually have some power now in DC that we can use effectively. That doesn't mean we should STFU.

Hail to the newbies and all hail to Madame Speaker for standing up to trump and making him back down.

For years repugs have been in charge in Congress. Now they have to share the power.

And fuck what they think. We need to fight for what's right for the majority, not the rich repug clients or the low-info deplorables who don't know any better than to back repugs stealing from them by funneling their money up to the rich (see tax scam law and your chopped tax refund).

[customerserviceguy]

42. Again, not calling for anyone to STFU

I would just like for the most inexperienced new members of Congress to not step on the messaging of someone who will have to beat Trump.

Also, the blue wave seems to me to have been almost entirely in the suburbs, where pissed off voters blamed the Republicons for the $10K state and local tax cap. Perhaps they'll shift the blame to politicians in their states that cause them to pay over $10K in those taxes, we'll see.

Every reich-winger I have the chance to encounter is thrilled to see AOC and especially Rep. Omar being the focus of the news, they consider them to be shining examples of why voters should fear the Democratic Party. I just want to see more coverage of the candidates, and less "look what she's done now!" sort of stuff.

Trump has already signaled that he's going to take on socialism in the next election. It will saddle our nominee with the burden of explaining how democratic socialism will work to a mushy middle that may tend to equate socialism with communism.

[brush]

43. IMO your worries are unfounded. Speaking truth to power...

is what gave voters the info to vote for Dems in November, which trump himself made a referendum on his leadership.

He and the repugs lost because people are sick of his shit. This border wall and kidnapping of children and the goverment shutdown is just making people even more sick of his crap.

Mueller's report won't favor him either, and no matter how the repugs try to hide it or edit it, details of trump's complicity with the Russians will come out and he will lose in 2020 if he runs.

He may not even run as he'll be such a liability to the repugs they will encourage him not to.

[customerserviceguy]

44. Hopefully, you're right

At this time four years ago, my money would have been on Hillary to kick any Republicon's ass. And on Inauguration Day, 2017, I figured that the GOP'ers would have had their fill of Trump, and that they would be preparing to replace him on the ticket. That hasn't come to pass.

We'll see what Mueller's report does. I recall the Rethugs salivating over the Starr report, and it ended up being a footnote to history, not really changing history. I'm psyched myself into thinking that Mueller's work will be underwhelming, hopefully I'm wrong about that.

[brush]

45. The Starr report did change history.

Gore lost and the repugs got early experience in stealing votes which they used in 2004 and in 2016.

Rove tried against Obama too but the count wasn't close enough for him to steal it.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

62. no medium; MORE noise

All the newbies and any other Dem who feels a need to speak up should do so, often and loudly. We've had 40 years of GOPerism; it's time for a change. Make the M$M take note of the 99%, instead of the 1% of which they are part and parcel.

[customerserviceguy]

63. And when Trump triumphs

over our eventual nominee, because he/she wasn't pure enough for someone barely thirty years old, we'll see who's happy and who is not. We need a strong nominee to beat this particular form of evil, and anything that takes away from that nominee weakens him/her.

The MSM doesn't give a ding dong damn about anything but the money the 1% tosses down its throat, and they never will.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

64. might as well blow up the planet now?

Every candidate who has announced so far appears capable of beating TrumPutin, assuming he's not in prison by 2020.

I do not see any reason for your obsession with defeat. Please cheer up. We don't have to hide from the Democratic Party platform in order to beat Trump.

[customerserviceguy]

66. Not what I'm calling for

I'm just asking the newbies to be aware that they're stepping all over the messaging of someone who will be on the ballot in 2020, that's all.

[malaise]

10. I wish that were true

Looks like they are ready for some more

[justie18]

33. K&R

Loved her questioning of Eliot Abrams yesterday. We need more of her bravery on display. Why is it ok to sweep the atrocities of Iran-Contra under the table and for the media to continue to portray Ronald Reagan as one of the great presidents.

[livetohike]

39. Exactly. Reagan is treated as a saint by the GOP and the media.

So sick of it all.

[ck4829]

50. On one hand they deify Ronald Reagan. On the other, we deal with the aftermath of his policies every

day.

It's crazy.

[McKim]

37. Amen!!!!

I was part of three human rights delegations to Guatemala in the early 2000’s. I saw the direct results of Eliot Abram’s policies. We interviewed survivors and survivor organizations, we visited graveyards, The Forensic Anthropology Center where we saw bones and scraps of clothing. The little caskets where the identified victums remains were to be sent home lined the entryway. Americans need to face up to facts about our foreign policy. It is beyond disgusting that Abrams is a free man and once again a spokesperson for the wrong side of history. Kudos to our true representative!!!!!

[ck4829]

47. One can only hope

[OnDoutside]

8. Knowing that Abrams viewed her with hatred and disgust, she handled it very well.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

16. Just like Raygun and W, Rethugs like to use shock and awe....

and that's what Trump has done with every appointee in his administration. My jaw dropped each time they announced new cabinet positions, as I said each time "they couldn't find a worse person for that duty".

I hope our new-found voice with our majority in the House will insult and expose each and every one of these totally unqualified miscreants until they crawl away and go back under the rock they came from.

Keep on pounding, Speaker Pelosi and crew!........

[zentrum]

17. Amen!!

[pdsimdars]

25. Give her a call or drop her a note to let her know we appreciate her and have her back.

[Gothmog]

26. Congresswoman Omar did a great job yesterday

Link to tweet

?s=20

[malaise]

30. When did stating fats beome an attack

STFU convicted criminal...fucking war criminal to boot.

[ck4829]

48. Facts are anathema to this crowd, plain and simple

[malaise]

60. +1,000

[dlk]

36. Brava for Shining a Light on Republicans Rewriting History

The lying and coverups started long before Trump. He is only the most recent and, arguably, the most disgusting iteration of Republican malfeasance

[Anon-C]

51. K&R!!!

[Blue Owl]

52. K&R

[mercuryblues]

65. This is why republicans

are afraid of intelligent women.