February 26, 2020

This crowd is so hostile to Bernie. Biden packed the room. #DemDebate2020 -Krystal Ball

https://twitter.com/krystalball/status/1232479562614759424


No, Krystal it's the Democratic base in a diverse state.

February 26, 2020

Bernie supporters stalk a Dem candidate in Illinois, surround her car and shout "Block her in"

https://twitter.com/MarkMaxwellTV/status/1232462627743264769


Bizarre. Watch these Bernie Bros stalk
@BetsyforIL
and then surround her car last night, while they shout, "Block her in!" They scream at her to debate a fringe far-left candidate who only has 2 donors from Illinois.

Here's the other thing: Betsy has participated in a forum with her primary opponent already. Her campaign tells me they haven't declined any invitations. This is
@BetsyforIL
's second straight campaign where young males have confronted her in public like this.

The guys in the video describe themselves as democratic socialists. They posted this Facebook Live video last night after staking out a public event. This is precisely the kind of aggressive bullying
@PeteButtigieg
and
@EWarren
chided
@BernieSanders
for during the last debate.

February 26, 2020

A Sanders Visit to New Hampshire Set Off Alarms He'd Primary Obama

Bernie Sanders has insisted he was not on the verge of a primary run against Barack Obama during the summer of 2011—but that would have been news to activists in New Hampshire at the time, who were watching his schedule in the first primary state and listening to his speeches criticizing the president then running for reelection.

Sanders’s public comments entertaining the idea of a primary challenge to Obama had already put people at the reelection-campaign headquarters, in Chicago, on edge. The Vermont senator had been arguing that a progressive challenge to the president could serve a similar function as the Tea Party had during the 2010 midterm elections, moving the party away from the center.

But then, on August 6, 2011, the chair of the Merrimack County Democrats, Eric Tolbert Kilchenstein, sent an email to the reelection campaign. Kilchenstein was asking for advice. The county party was having its annual barbecue fundraiser on August 21, and he’d learned that one of its board members had spoken with Sanders and arranged for the senator to attend. Kilchenstein thought that was odd, because although Sanders had been a Vermont politician for decades, he was not a regular speaker at local political events in New Hampshire. The senator seemed like he could be a good draw for the event, Kilchenstein told the Obama aides. But two days later, Kilchenstein saw Sanders’s comments talking up the primary challenge, and Merrimack County Democrats’ backs went up. Kilchenstein was looking for an out, he told the reelection campaign staff, or at least for someone from the Obama campaign to come as a surrogate to counter Sanders.


Since my story last week detailing that top Obama campaign officials had to ask then–Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to speak to Sanders—twice—to stop him from getting into a primary race against Obama, Sanders and his aides have repeatedly denied that he was interested in running. “I did not give any consideration to running for president of the United States until 2015,” Sanders said in a CNN town hall on Monday night, responding to the article. Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, Jim Messina, and top adviser David Plouffe confirmed the story on the record. Sanders said that people could ask Reid or fellow Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, and that they’d deny that Sanders had talked about running. But I did ask Reid and Leahy about this last week in reporting the story, and neither of them denied it. (Reid eventually issued a deliberately cryptic statement not commenting on the conversations but saying he was glad there was no primary challenge. Leahy’s spokesperson didn’t comment at all.) Sanders last Thursday called Obama an “icon” in an interview with CNN, but has not explained what changed over the nine years from that summer of 2011, when he spoke of “deep disappointment” with Obama in an interview on a progressive radio show.


https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/02/more-sources-confirm-sanders-tried-primary-obama/607099/

February 25, 2020

Campaign finance violations per candidate

In 2020, correspondence letters from the FEC have been sent to:
Bernie Sanders (510 pages)
Tom Steyer (8)
Mike Bloomberg (3)
Kamala Harris (42)
Elizabeth Warren (2)
Pete Buttigieg (20)
Andrew Yang (150) (2)
John Delaney (2)
Steve Bullock (9)
Joe Biden (4)
Wayne Messam (2)



https://twitter.com/davelevinthal/status/1231954882858569735


1/ NEW:
@FEC
sends
@BernieSanders
campaign a letter flagging 510 pages worth of "apparent excessive, prohibited and impermissible contributions."

Letters such as this aren't uncommon for large presidential campaigns, but this is still a lot.

Full doc: https://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/943/202002230300058943/202002230300058943.pdf

February 24, 2020

Ava Duvernay receives death threats from Bernie Sanders supporters

Ava Duvernay is one of the most celebrated Black creatives of our time, but over the weekend the award-winning director found herself in the crosshairs of overzealous Bernie Sanders supporters who took issue with her for critiquing their candidate.

Friday evening, the Vermont Senator tweeted out, “I’ve got news for the Republican establishment. I’ve got news for the Democratic establishment. They can’t stop us.”

"I’m undecided. But I know this isn’t what I want,” she wrote in response to Sanders’ tweet Saturday.

“Ava what is it that you want then? A little surprised with your tweet. Since I have always seen you as a progressive woman,” wrote one woman to which the filmmaker responded, “So you’re saying if I disagree with his statement that I’m not a progressive woman? Is that what you’ve just written here?”


“People on here getting emotional about one man without keeping their eye on the real ball,” she elaborated, then added, “I understand exactly what he’s saying here and I don’t agree with it. He can’t win that way. And he surely cannot govern that way. How’s he gonna get anything passed? How’s he gonna move anything forward?” However, once the discussion became ugly and violent, DuVernay tapped out, posting, “Bernie supporters terrorizing my mentions while I’m off enjoying my Saturday.”

https://thegrio.com/2020/02/24/ava-duvernay-receives-death-threats-from-bernie-sanders-supporters/


https://twitter.com/ava/status/1231637548428120066

February 23, 2020

"We're not looking to keep Pelosi because there's a progressive running" - Susan Sarandon

https://twitter.com/SusanSarandon/status/1231417510198751237



Did I just awake from a coma and Sanders was elected President? What is this "we're not looking to keep " shit ?

February 21, 2020

Paul Ryan Lauded For Inspiring Millions Of Young Gutless Fucking Cowards To Take On Leadership Roles

WASHINGTON—Noting the former congressman’s deep, unwavering commitment to shying away from every one of his civic responsibilities, the Heritage Foundation lauded Paul Ryan Thursday for inspiring millions of young gutless fucking cowards to take on leadership roles.
“Thank you, Mr. Ryan, for showing countless milquetoast little weaklings across the United States that if they want a place in politics, they can have it,” said Heritage Foundation spokesperson Katherine Primm, adding that she was grateful so many young candy-ass pushovers had the chance to see someone just like them not just get elected but also become speaker of the House. “Before Paul Ryan, you’d never see a spineless coward taking charge, but now, faint-of-heart boys and girls will finally have the determination to become leaders and then cower in front of more powerful people and bend to their will. Before, it was just the brave who led—but thankfully, that era is behind us forever.”
At press time, thousands of newly inspired chickenshit Americans had reportedly begun fundraising for congressional runs in 2020.

https://politics.theonion.com/paul-ryan-lauded-for-inspiring-millions-of-young-gutles-1836291461?utm_campaign=SF&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_content=Main&utm_source=Twitter&__twitter_impression=true


https://twitter.com/samstein/status/1230912314121113606


Paul Ryan says he doesn’t agree with Mitt Romney’s impeachment vote

February 18, 2020

Pardons for sale!

https://twitter.com/samstein/status/1229895101746483201


NEW — The son of one of Trump’s pardon recipients gave $85k to Trump victory this August. His wife gave $50k that same month. On top of that, they made an in-kind contribution for $75k in air travel.



President Donald Trump on Tuesday granted clemency to 11 people, including several convicted felons who are either Fox News regulars or have been championed by the president’s favorite cable-news network.

Unsurprisingly, a key influence that led to Trump’s decision, particularly as it related to Blagojevich, was Fox News. The same could partly be said of the decision on Kerik, a frequent Fox News guest whose pardon was backed by several of the network’s stars; Milken, whose pardon was supported by Fox Business Network host and Trump loyalist Maria Bartiromo; and Angela Stanton, an occasional pro-Trump TV pundit whose pardon was pushed by frequent Fox News guest and evangelical leader Alveda King.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump made the Fox News connection abundantly clear, telling reporters that he decided to commute the rest of Blagojevich’s sentence because he’d seen the ex-governor’s wife Patti Blagojevich pleading her husband’s case on Fox.

For those who didn’t receive the Fox News treatment, it appears that in at least one case, cold hard cash did the talking. Paul Pogue, a construction company owner who pleaded guilty to underpaying his taxes by $473,000 and received three years probation, was issued a full pardon and clemency by the president. According to FEC filings, Pogue’s family has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in direct contributions and in-kind air travel to the Trump Victory Fund. Beginning in August 2019, Ben Pogue—CEO of Pogue Construction and son of Paul Pogue—and his wife Ashleigh made over $200,000 in contributions to the campaign.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-grants-clemency-to-another-round-of-people-he-saw-on-fox-news?ref=home

February 13, 2020

McClatchy filed for bankruptcy , bought by hedge fund that owns National Enquirer. Really bad news.

McClatchy Co., the owner of the Miami Herald, Kansas City Star and other newspapers, has become the latest casualty of the collapsing industry to fall into hands of an investment firm.

Only a day after Warren Buffett’s long-time business partner predicted the death of newspapers, the struggling McClatchy filed for bankruptcy in New York with plans to hand majority ownership of one of the industry’s largest newspaper publishers to hedge fund Chatham Asset Management, owner of the scandal-plagued tabloid National Enquirer.


The plan further tightens the grip of financial firms on the newspaper industry, renewing concerns over the cost-cutting and loss of local coverage that often follows ownership by financial firms. Funds from Chatham to Alden Global Capital LLC and Fortress Investment Group LLC have swooped in to take stakes in hundreds of papers, including once-mighty names as the Chicago Tribune and the New York Daily News. The nation’s largest newspaper chain is owned by New Media Investment Group Inc., which is managed by Fortress.

If McClatchy’s bankruptcy plan succeeds, more than one-third of the total circulation of U.S. newspapers will be controlled by private equity firms or hedge funds, according to analyst Ken Doctor.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-13/mcclatchy-company-newspaper-publisher-files-for-bankruptcy

February 9, 2020

After being booed, Amy Klobuchar responds "Hi, Bernie people"

https://twitter.com/TomDangora/status/1226533115331518466


In NH Sanders supporters start to boo
@amyklobuchar
.

She responds "Hi, Bernie people!"