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DonViejo

DonViejo's Journal
DonViejo's Journal
April 2, 2019

'Enemy of the People' Attacks Are Working


April 2, 2019 at 5:56 am EDT By Taegan Goddard

A new Wason Center poll finds that 86% of Republican voters and 61% of independent voters say major American news organizations publish fake news stories for political purposes.

Said pollster Rachel Bitecofer: “President Trump’s rhetoric appears to be having a massive impact on voter confidence in the media. Although confidence in media has been declining for the past few decades, this represents a sharp decline in trust, which carries serious implications.”

Also interesting: “Political polarization in the American electorate runs deep. 71% of Republicans say the views of Democrats are a threat to the country; 55% of Democrats say the same about Republicans.”

###

https://politicalwire.com/2019/04/02/enemies-of-the-people-attacks-are-working/
April 2, 2019

Bloomberg May Still Run If Biden Doesn't


April 2, 2019 at 6:18 am EDT By Taegan Goddard

“Michael Bloomberg might still run for president in 2020, especially if former Vice President Joe Biden winds up not getting in,” Axios reports.

“Bloomberg, estimated by Forbes to be worth $58 billion, could spend unlimited amounts to argue that no one in the race had done more to promote action on climate and guns. So Bloomberg, at least at first, could command a hearing and impose a footprint in a way that few candidates can.”

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https://politicalwire.com/2019/04/02/bloomberg-may-still-run-if-biden-doesnt/
April 2, 2019

Biden Advisers Smell a Conspiracy


April 2, 2019 at 6:56 am EDT By Taegan Goddard

“Joe Biden advisers believe coverage of allegations of inappropriate behavior is being stoked by rival Democrats — a dynamic that could actually fire up the vice president at a time when others see success as increasingly improbable,” Axios reports.

“Several around Biden think advisers to Bernie Sanders are at least partly behind the anti-Biden campaign. One prominent backer thinks Biden will run, and ‘is ready to kill Bernie.'”

Said one source close to Biden: “VP directed staff this evening to reach out to supporters and donors with a simple message — full steam ahead.”

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https://politicalwire.com/2019/04/02/biden-advisers-smell-a-conspiracy/
April 2, 2019

Gun Control Passes Nearly Unanimously In New Zealand

Source: PoliticalWire



April 2, 2019 at 7:10 am EDT By Taegan Goddard

“New Zealand lawmakers on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of new gun restrictions during the first stage of a bill they hope to rush into law by the end of next week,” the AP reports.

“The bill would ban the types of weapons a gunman used to kill 50 people at two mosques last month.”

“The bill was backed by both liberals and conservatives, with only a single lawmaker from the 120 that sit in Parliament voting against it. The vote was the first of three that lawmakers must pass before the bill becomes law.”

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Read more: https://politicalwire.com/2019/04/02/gun-control-passes-nearly-unanimously-in-new-zealand/

April 1, 2019

Reporters Group Asks Judge To OK Release Of Mueller Report's Grand Jury Materials

Source: Talking Points Memo



By Tierney Sneed
April 1, 2019 12:32 pm

A press freedom group requested on Monday that judge authorize the release of the grand jury materials in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.

The grand jury materials are just one of several categories of information in Mueller’s report Attorney General Bill Barr has said he will withhold when he releases a public version of the report sometime in mid-April.

While typically under the law, grand jury materials are kept confidential, there is also a legal process for seeking a judge’s OK to release them. Barr so far has not given any public indication that he plans to pursue that option, despite House Democrats’ request that he work with them to do so.

In its filing Monday, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press requested the court’s authorization for the release of all grand jury materials “cited, quoted, or referenced” in Mueller’s report. It comes on the heels of a March 27 request by the group under the Freedom of Information Act that the Justice Department release the full report.

Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/reporters-group-asks-judge-to-ok-release-of-mueller-reports-grand-jury-materials



court document at link, above
April 1, 2019

Former Biden Aide Scolds Lucy Flores For Coming Forward 5 Years Later: 'It's Politicized Now'


by Tommy Christopher | Apr 1st, 2019, 11:14 am

Claire DeMatteis, former senior counsel to then-Senator and current former Vice President Joe Biden, defended the potential Democratic candidate over the recent allegations of inappropriate touching from former Nevada lawmaker Lucy Flores.

On Monday morning’s edition of MSNBC Live With Hallie Jackson, host Hallie Jackson interviewed DeMatteis just seconds after an appearance by Flores. Jackson began by asking if Biden “or someone from his team should reach out to” Flores.

“I think his response has been adequate,” DeMatteis said. “He said he did not think he did anything inappropriate. He certainly did not intend to make her feel uncomfortable and he said he’s listening and listening very respectfully. I don’t think it’s necessary to reach out to her.”

She added that it is Flores who has “made this a very public coming out,” and called Flores’ story “an allegation that is five years old, and that cannot negate or change or diminish in any way Joe Biden’s very strong record empowering women.” Jackson asked DeMatteis if she would feel differently if the incident Flores described had taken place in a business setting, asking “Would that not be grounds for a complaint?”

DeMatteis responded that she teaches about this subject at the University of Delaware, and that “It’s about having that conversation.

“There was a way for her to talk about this closer to the event, rather than five years later in the middle of a political campaign coming forward,” she added “So, it’s politicized now. There was a way to handle this one-on-one at the time, to clear the air, and that didn’t happen, unfortunately.”

Jackson concluded by asking DeMatteis if she still thinks Biden should run for president.

“Absolutely,” DeMatteis replied.

https://www.mediaite.com/election-2020/former-biden-aide-scolds-lucy-flores-for-coming-forward-5-years-later-its-politicized-now/
April 1, 2019

Whoopi Goldberg Defends Biden Over Lucy Flores Allegations: This 'Pisses Me Off'


by Ken Meyer | Apr 1st, 2019, 11:53 am

Whoopi Goldberg and Meghan McCain offered defenses of Joe Biden on Monday as The View discussed the new accusations of inappropriate behavior from the former vice-president.

-snip-

As Goldberg and McCain discussed how Flores’ claims don’t rise to a “MeToo moment,” the rest of the panel chimed in to discuss where the claims against Biden might be taking the movement against sexual harassment as a whole. Abby Huntsman wondered what Flores’ motives could be as she wondered if the country is heading to “this place where you can’t have normal interactions with each other.”

“Are we going to get to a place where we can’t shake hands or hug each other? I worry about that.” Huntsman said.

As Sunny Hostin praised Biden over how he responded to the allegations, Goldberg said the situation “pisses me off” and “I don’t want Joe to stop” behaving as himself. McCain followed up by calling Biden “a good, decent man,” by saying his actions are quite different from more serious instances of sexual abuse, and that Democrats have to make a decision on their standards before the furor cripples Biden’s possible 2020 run.

“For me, these things are not Democratic or Republican,” Goldberg said. “I want women to get to the place where they can say, ‘hey, you just made me uncomfortable.’ This idea that you have to tiptoe away from this, you don’t have to carry it. If someone makes you uncomfortable, tell them…you have to stop mischaracterizing stuff. Don’t sit and wait and say ‘I’m uncomfortable’ on national television.”

Full article + video
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/whoopi-goldberg-defends-joe-biden-over-flores-allegations-this-pisses-me-off/
April 1, 2019

Antitrust is all the rage. Monopolies and mergers emerge as major issues in the Democratic primaries


By James Hohmann April 1 at 10:25 AM

With Joanie Greve and Mariana Alfaro

THE BIG IDEA:

STORM LAKE, Iowa — If the newest Democratic purity test sounds retro, it’s because it is.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) quotes William Jennings Bryan’s “Cross of Gold” speech as she channels the prairie populism that catapulted him to the Democratic nomination in 1896. “Like Bryan, I will fight for farmers,” she promises.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) calls for a modern-day Granger movement, the coalition of Midwestern farmers that formed after the Civil War to challenge hefty fees being charged by monopolistic railroads to transport their grain to market.

“Literally this movement started when farmers were out there with their pitchforks … and that's what we need to see today,” Klobuchar told hundreds of farmers during a forum here in rural northwestern Iowa on Saturday afternoon. “Our railroads … are down to four, the same number as on the Monopoly board. We are entering what is essentially a new Gilded Age, and we need to take on the power of these monopolies. We're getting to the point where you know you're not going to be able to get a fair deal.”

This riff drew the loudest cheers of the day during the Heartland Forum. Klobuchar was one of four Democratic presidential candidates, plus Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), who fielded questions about issues facing rural America. About 150 farmers gathered for a separate rally earlier in the day to agitate for legislation that would put a moratorium on corporate mergers.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2019/04/01/daily-202-antitrust-is-all-the-rage-monopolies-and-mergers-emerge-as-major-issues-in-the-democratic-primaries/5ca166921b326b0f7f38f2cf/
April 1, 2019

Seth Moulton: Trump Is the Reason He Doesn't Want His Daughter 'Growing Up In This Country'


Potential 2020 Dem: Trump Is the Reason He Doesn’t Want His Daughter ‘Growing Up In This Country’

by Julio Rosas | Apr 1st, 2019, 9:37 am

Speaking with CNN anchor Jake Tapper on Sunday, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) said President Donald Trump is one of the many reasons why he does not want his daughter to grow up in the United States.

Moulton made his remarks as he is mulling over potentially joining the crowded 2020 Democratic presidential candidate field.

“I love this girl more than I could ever imagine. I just met her. She’s only 5 1/2 months old. I’m completely in love with her. It’s hard to leave her every time I go to Washington for a few days. But I also feel even more invested in her future than maybe I did ever before in this job because I don’t want her growing up in this country,” Moulton said.

“What do you mean you don’t want her growing up in this country,” Tapper asked.

“I don’t want her growing up in this country the way that it is, with a commander-in-chief that we fundamentally can’t trust, where women are disrespected, where she doesn’t have the same opportunities that a little boy growing up at the same time would have. We have a lot of things to fix in this country,” he explained.

video:
https://www.mediaite.com/trump/potential-2020-dem-trump-is-the-reason-he-doesnt-want-his-daughter-growing-up-in-this-country/
April 1, 2019

Justin Fairfax Accuser Calls For Virginia Lt. Gov to Resign; Details Alleged Assault:...

Justin Fairfax Accuser Calls For Virginia Lt. Gov to Resign; Details Alleged Assault: I Was ‘Choking and Gagging’

by Ken Meyer | Apr 1st, 2019, 8:15 am

Vanessa Tyson got emotional on Monday as she gave an interview to CBS and shared graphic details about her claim that Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax sexually assaulted her years ago.

Tyson drew media attention approximately two months ago when she came forward with her claim that Fairfax forced himself on her when they met at a Democratic convention in Boston back in 2004. As she spoke to Gayle King about how she knew Fairfax and wound up inside of his hotel room, Tyson recalled how she was “surprised” when Fairfax started kissing her.

While she said the kissing “wasn’t unwelcome” and was “completely consensual,” Tyson described how she and Fairfax ended up on his bed, and she started crying when she recalled the moment when “it’s like my neck didn’t work.”

“I couldn’t feel my neck, I couldn’t hold my neck up. he’s using his hand on the back of my neck and I didn’t know what was going wrong. I thought there was something wrong with my neck, and he’s pushing down and pushing down and I couldn’t hold my neck up and I didn’t know what was going on. I honestly didn’t know what was going on. The next thing I know my head is literally in his crotch and I’m choking and gagging and I couldn’t say anything because I’m choking and gagging. and so, it continues and he’s holding my head…I’m trying to lift my head and I can’t.”


more + video:
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/justin-fairfax-accuser-speaks-out-i-was-choking-and-gagging-as-he-put-my-head-towards-his-crotch/

Profile Information

Name: Don
Gender: Male
Hometown: Massachusetts
Home country: United States
Member since: Sat Sep 1, 2012, 03:28 PM
Number of posts: 60,536
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