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MrWendel
MrWendel's Journal
MrWendel's Journal
February 13, 2016
The announcement comes the day after the state government released a cache of 24,000 pages of documents detailing what officials knew about the crisis.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said Friday that he will testify before Congress on the health crisis in Flint, where a disastrous decision to save money by switching the city’s water supply has sickened many with Legionnaire’s disease and potentially poisoned thousands of children with lead.
“The people of Flint have suffered because they were failed by all levels of government, and so it is understandable that there are questions at all levels of government,” the governor told the Detroit News.
The governor’s decision comes after his government released more than 24,000 pages of official emails and documents regarding the health crisis.
The emails, released in response to a Freedom of Information request, bring new revelations into the extent to which federal and state officials were aware of the incoming health crisis months before the dangers became known to the public. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and several other high-ranking officers have been the subject of much criticism for not acknowledging the problem until earlier this year.
(More in link)
Michigan Governor To Testify Before Congress On Flint Crisis
http://www.buzzfeed.com/nicolasmedinamora/new-documents-reveal-federal-officials-were-aware-of-legionn#.vibL3QZBqThe announcement comes the day after the state government released a cache of 24,000 pages of documents detailing what officials knew about the crisis.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said Friday that he will testify before Congress on the health crisis in Flint, where a disastrous decision to save money by switching the city’s water supply has sickened many with Legionnaire’s disease and potentially poisoned thousands of children with lead.
“The people of Flint have suffered because they were failed by all levels of government, and so it is understandable that there are questions at all levels of government,” the governor told the Detroit News.
The governor’s decision comes after his government released more than 24,000 pages of official emails and documents regarding the health crisis.
The emails, released in response to a Freedom of Information request, bring new revelations into the extent to which federal and state officials were aware of the incoming health crisis months before the dangers became known to the public. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and several other high-ranking officers have been the subject of much criticism for not acknowledging the problem until earlier this year.
(More in link)
February 13, 2016
Two days ago, I brought you the story of Tomi Lahren, a reporter for The Blaze who attempted to take down Beyoncé for her controversial Super Bowl performance. Lahren contradicted herself as she tried to claim that Beyoncé tributing the Black Panters perpetuated racism during the same segment in which she admitted that the real purpose of the Black Panthers was to “overthrow white domination.”
Plenty of other people took notice of Lahren’s furious two-minute speech, too. After all, she launched a one-woman campaign to bring it to the attention of as many people as possible by tweeting about it incessantly and even hashtagging #TeamTomi as though she were really in some sort of feud with Beyoncé.
(More with TMZ video in link)
TMZ and The Blaze Reporters Go At Each Other Over Attempted Takedown of Beyonce
http://www.mediaite.com/online/tmz-and-the-blaze-reporters-go-at-each-other-over-attempted-takedown-of-beyonce/Two days ago, I brought you the story of Tomi Lahren, a reporter for The Blaze who attempted to take down Beyoncé for her controversial Super Bowl performance. Lahren contradicted herself as she tried to claim that Beyoncé tributing the Black Panters perpetuated racism during the same segment in which she admitted that the real purpose of the Black Panthers was to “overthrow white domination.”
Plenty of other people took notice of Lahren’s furious two-minute speech, too. After all, she launched a one-woman campaign to bring it to the attention of as many people as possible by tweeting about it incessantly and even hashtagging #TeamTomi as though she were really in some sort of feud with Beyoncé.
(More with TMZ video in link)
February 13, 2016
The best, most effective way to discourage young people from voting is to tell them that there is no difference between the two sides, that Republicans and Democrats are all the same, that all politicians are corrupt and cannot be trusted. Works every time.
I fear that the new voters who see Bernie Sanders as their savior are coming to view the rest of the Democratic party and those of us who have long worked to achieve it's goals as the enemy. When Bernie Sanders ran for governor as an Independent in Vermont against Madeleine May Kunin, a Democrat, his statement regarding Democrats and Republicans was: "It is absolutely fair to say you are dealing with Tweedledum and Tweedledee." Direct quote. Sure he has since said things like "On our worst day we are better than the Republicans," but it speaks to my larger concern about the tone of this campaign and the rhetoric of absolutism. If you are not endorsing him you are the "establishment" ... you are the "bogeyman." This is dangerous. I am thrilled that these young voters are engaged. I welcome the passion and fervor Mr. Sanders evokes, but I also want to temper this with a simple fact.
We Democrats are on the same side and it is not the one occupied by the likes of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. We may support different candidates at this point, but in the long run we must stay together and work together to promote a Democratic agenda no matter who is leading that charge. Young people it is your future on the line and I care about that. So does Hillary Clinton and the rest of the Democrats who are supporting her. Whoever wins, you will need our help to shape that future. We are not your enemy.
(More in link)
Tweedledum
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/beth-broderick/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-democrats_b_9220306.htmlThe best, most effective way to discourage young people from voting is to tell them that there is no difference between the two sides, that Republicans and Democrats are all the same, that all politicians are corrupt and cannot be trusted. Works every time.
I fear that the new voters who see Bernie Sanders as their savior are coming to view the rest of the Democratic party and those of us who have long worked to achieve it's goals as the enemy. When Bernie Sanders ran for governor as an Independent in Vermont against Madeleine May Kunin, a Democrat, his statement regarding Democrats and Republicans was: "It is absolutely fair to say you are dealing with Tweedledum and Tweedledee." Direct quote. Sure he has since said things like "On our worst day we are better than the Republicans," but it speaks to my larger concern about the tone of this campaign and the rhetoric of absolutism. If you are not endorsing him you are the "establishment" ... you are the "bogeyman." This is dangerous. I am thrilled that these young voters are engaged. I welcome the passion and fervor Mr. Sanders evokes, but I also want to temper this with a simple fact.
We Democrats are on the same side and it is not the one occupied by the likes of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. We may support different candidates at this point, but in the long run we must stay together and work together to promote a Democratic agenda no matter who is leading that charge. Young people it is your future on the line and I care about that. So does Hillary Clinton and the rest of the Democrats who are supporting her. Whoever wins, you will need our help to shape that future. We are not your enemy.
(More in link)
February 12, 2016
The upcoming South Carolina Democratic primary means that Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are locked in a battle of Dueling Black Endorsements, and one of Sanders’ most prominent endorsers this week has been well-respected former NAACP head Ben Jealous. There are a lot of fair cases to be made in either direction about these candidates, but Jealous has been hitting the airwaves with an argument that centers around a very dishonest attack.
In television appearance after television appearance, Jealous has made comparisons between Bernie Sanders’ record and Hillary Clinton’s that vary in their degree of persuasiveness, but every time, he has prominently featured the claim that Hillary “pushed the ‘Superpredator’ Theory”:
Pushing the Superpredator theory. a theory that said a child as early as age 6 months could be a sociopath beyond redemption, and was never used to explain the actions of the white young men who shot up Columbine, but always used against urban black men caught up in drug wars and street crime and used that to push for mass incarceration.
If you don’t know what the “Superpredator” theory was, The New York Times did a bang-up recap a few years ago, but it was essentially a junk-science criminology theory that foretold a cataclysmic wave of child sociopaths, and while Jealous is correct that there was a strong racial component to the narrative, his claim that it was “never used to explain the actions of the white young men who shot up Columbine” is belied by the fact that an entire chapter of the book “Superpredators” is devoted to that very crime.
(More with video in link)
Ben Jealous Needs to Stop Lying About Hillary and ‘Superpredators’
http://www.mediaite.com/online/ben-jealous-needs-to-stop-lying-about-hillary-and-superpredators/The upcoming South Carolina Democratic primary means that Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are locked in a battle of Dueling Black Endorsements, and one of Sanders’ most prominent endorsers this week has been well-respected former NAACP head Ben Jealous. There are a lot of fair cases to be made in either direction about these candidates, but Jealous has been hitting the airwaves with an argument that centers around a very dishonest attack.
In television appearance after television appearance, Jealous has made comparisons between Bernie Sanders’ record and Hillary Clinton’s that vary in their degree of persuasiveness, but every time, he has prominently featured the claim that Hillary “pushed the ‘Superpredator’ Theory”:
Pushing the Superpredator theory. a theory that said a child as early as age 6 months could be a sociopath beyond redemption, and was never used to explain the actions of the white young men who shot up Columbine, but always used against urban black men caught up in drug wars and street crime and used that to push for mass incarceration.
If you don’t know what the “Superpredator” theory was, The New York Times did a bang-up recap a few years ago, but it was essentially a junk-science criminology theory that foretold a cataclysmic wave of child sociopaths, and while Jealous is correct that there was a strong racial component to the narrative, his claim that it was “never used to explain the actions of the white young men who shot up Columbine” is belied by the fact that an entire chapter of the book “Superpredators” is devoted to that very crime.
(More with video in link)
February 12, 2016
The days of Hillary Clinton subtly separating herself from President Barack Obama on one policy or another are over: she won the debate in Milwaukee by lavishly and repeatedly praising Obama -- and delivered a sharp rebuke to Sen. Bernie Sanders for criticizing the President.
"The kind of criticism we've heard from Senator Sanders about our President, I expect from Republicans," she said in the closing minutes of the debate. "I do not expect from someone running for the Democratic nomination to succeed President Obama."
Clinton's sudden bombshell was delivered so late in the proceedings that Sanders had no choice but to use part of his closing statement to respond. "Madam Secretary, that is a low blow," he said. "I think it is really unfair to suggest I have not been supportive of the President."
The exchange capped a night in which Clinton drew on her experience as a debater to outpoint Sanders.
Playing to the home crowd, she attacked Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, the conservative Republican who has tangled with labor unions in bitter battles in recent years. When talk turned to ending racial bias in the criminal justice system, it was Clinton, not Sanders, who dropped a reference to the killing of Dontre Hamilton, a man shot more than a dozen times by a Milwaukee police officer in 2014.
But most of all, in a straightforward pitch to black voters -- who will make up an estimated 60% of the ballots cast in the South Carolina primary later this month -- Clinton suggested that Sanders has not been sufficiently loyal to Obama, who is beloved by his community.
(More with video in link)
Clinton embraces Obama and wins debate
http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/12/opinions/democratic-debate-reaction-louis/index.htmlThe days of Hillary Clinton subtly separating herself from President Barack Obama on one policy or another are over: she won the debate in Milwaukee by lavishly and repeatedly praising Obama -- and delivered a sharp rebuke to Sen. Bernie Sanders for criticizing the President.
"The kind of criticism we've heard from Senator Sanders about our President, I expect from Republicans," she said in the closing minutes of the debate. "I do not expect from someone running for the Democratic nomination to succeed President Obama."
Clinton's sudden bombshell was delivered so late in the proceedings that Sanders had no choice but to use part of his closing statement to respond. "Madam Secretary, that is a low blow," he said. "I think it is really unfair to suggest I have not been supportive of the President."
The exchange capped a night in which Clinton drew on her experience as a debater to outpoint Sanders.
Playing to the home crowd, she attacked Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, the conservative Republican who has tangled with labor unions in bitter battles in recent years. When talk turned to ending racial bias in the criminal justice system, it was Clinton, not Sanders, who dropped a reference to the killing of Dontre Hamilton, a man shot more than a dozen times by a Milwaukee police officer in 2014.
But most of all, in a straightforward pitch to black voters -- who will make up an estimated 60% of the ballots cast in the South Carolina primary later this month -- Clinton suggested that Sanders has not been sufficiently loyal to Obama, who is beloved by his community.
(More with video in link)
February 12, 2016
Thursday’s Democratic presidential debate started off quietly but escalated into passionate debates about foreign policy and the legacy of Barack Obama as Clinton doused Sanders’ burning passion with a cool dose of realism.
Clinton arguably boasts experience in government unparalleled by anyone in the presidential field — but that has also made her a high-profile target for attack.
Clinton has struggled to find a clear and inspiring message, often sounding like a professional killjoy on the stump as Sanders makes uplifting promises. But during the PBS debate Thursday night in Milwaukee, Clinton adopted a new more measured tone to reflect her message, and honed her rhetoric.
Instead of taking swings at her opponent as she has in previous debates, Clinton made it clear she agrees with Sanders’ progressive principles. She let him throw the punches while she subtly undermined his competence and readiness to enact those principles.
Clinton began the night by saying she wants to “knock down all the barriers that are holding Americans back,” not just the economic ones Sanders emphasizes. And she ended the evening with a devastating new line: “I am not a single issue candidate and I do not believe we live in a single issue country.”
(More with video in link)
Hillary Clinton cools the Bern in Democratic debate
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/hillary-clinton-cools-the-bern-democratic-debateThursday’s Democratic presidential debate started off quietly but escalated into passionate debates about foreign policy and the legacy of Barack Obama as Clinton doused Sanders’ burning passion with a cool dose of realism.
Clinton arguably boasts experience in government unparalleled by anyone in the presidential field — but that has also made her a high-profile target for attack.
Clinton has struggled to find a clear and inspiring message, often sounding like a professional killjoy on the stump as Sanders makes uplifting promises. But during the PBS debate Thursday night in Milwaukee, Clinton adopted a new more measured tone to reflect her message, and honed her rhetoric.
Instead of taking swings at her opponent as she has in previous debates, Clinton made it clear she agrees with Sanders’ progressive principles. She let him throw the punches while she subtly undermined his competence and readiness to enact those principles.
Clinton began the night by saying she wants to “knock down all the barriers that are holding Americans back,” not just the economic ones Sanders emphasizes. And she ended the evening with a devastating new line: “I am not a single issue candidate and I do not believe we live in a single issue country.”
(More with video in link)
February 12, 2016
By Jhannon
I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about the presidential race. As a democratic socialist it seemed obvious to me that I would support Bernie Sanders in the Democratic race. I have followed his career, and supported him, since I first moved to Vermont in 1972. I was a member of the Liberty Union Party, for Pete's sake, and Bernie's success in Vermont politics coincided with the political and cultural changes we wanted to make as part of the "back to the land" movement that brought so many war-weary and politically alienated young people to Vermont as a place to learn and help create changes on a workable scale.
But I have had an increasingly uncomfortable feeling as I watched the campaign unfold. Bernie is talking about a political revolution in ways that make no sense to me. The American system dampens the possibility of radical change through the ballot box. There is no third party/proportional representation. I can't imagine him leading as much as a change in the majority party in the House and there is no way any of his more dramatic proposals have any chance of passing given the composition of Congress--which is very unlikely to change radically in the near/medium future. Hope and Change struck me as utopian vagueness in 2008 and Bernie is doubling down.
(More in Link)
Why I Have Switched from Bernie to Hillary
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/2/11/1483752/-Why-I-Have-Switched-from-Bernie-to-HillaryBy Jhannon
I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about the presidential race. As a democratic socialist it seemed obvious to me that I would support Bernie Sanders in the Democratic race. I have followed his career, and supported him, since I first moved to Vermont in 1972. I was a member of the Liberty Union Party, for Pete's sake, and Bernie's success in Vermont politics coincided with the political and cultural changes we wanted to make as part of the "back to the land" movement that brought so many war-weary and politically alienated young people to Vermont as a place to learn and help create changes on a workable scale.
But I have had an increasingly uncomfortable feeling as I watched the campaign unfold. Bernie is talking about a political revolution in ways that make no sense to me. The American system dampens the possibility of radical change through the ballot box. There is no third party/proportional representation. I can't imagine him leading as much as a change in the majority party in the House and there is no way any of his more dramatic proposals have any chance of passing given the composition of Congress--which is very unlikely to change radically in the near/medium future. Hope and Change struck me as utopian vagueness in 2008 and Bernie is doubling down.
(More in Link)
February 11, 2016
The militants were indicted last week along with 12 others previously arrested on charges of conspiring to impede federal officers.
PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - Federal agents on Wednesday closed in on the last four anti-government militants still holed up at a national wildlife refuge in Oregon after a 40-day armed occupation protesting federal land control in the West.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said that no shots had been fired and that negotiations were continuing to end the standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in remote eastern Oregon without violence.
The FBI said the latest confrontation began after one of the protesters was seen riding an all-terrain vehicle outside the encampment.
(More in link)
FBI Arrests Cliven Bundy, Tightens Grip On Final Occupiers At Oregon Wildlife Refuge
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/oregon-standoff_us_56bbfe12e4b0c3c5505019b9The militants were indicted last week along with 12 others previously arrested on charges of conspiring to impede federal officers.
PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - Federal agents on Wednesday closed in on the last four anti-government militants still holed up at a national wildlife refuge in Oregon after a 40-day armed occupation protesting federal land control in the West.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said that no shots had been fired and that negotiations were continuing to end the standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in remote eastern Oregon without violence.
The FBI said the latest confrontation began after one of the protesters was seen riding an all-terrain vehicle outside the encampment.
(More in link)
February 11, 2016
By First Amendment
Yes you are, Mr. President!
The President addressed the Illinois State Assembly today. He spoke about many subjects and ticked off his many great accomplishments. If Republicans weren't playing obstructionists for basically his entire term, he could have accomplished even more.
We were marred in the Great Recession, as he took the oath of office. If it were not for this President’s leadership, things could have been much, much worse.
We’ve come a very long way since those dark days and there’s still work to be done, but we have made incredible progress. I couldn't be more proud of our President!
I'll really miss him.
(More in link)
President Obama: “I am a progressive Democrat, I am proud of that. I make no bones about that"
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/2/10/1483180/-President-Obama-I-am-a-progressive-Democrat-I-am-proud-of-that-I-make-no-bones-about-thatBy First Amendment
Yes you are, Mr. President!
The President addressed the Illinois State Assembly today. He spoke about many subjects and ticked off his many great accomplishments. If Republicans weren't playing obstructionists for basically his entire term, he could have accomplished even more.
We were marred in the Great Recession, as he took the oath of office. If it were not for this President’s leadership, things could have been much, much worse.
We’ve come a very long way since those dark days and there’s still work to be done, but we have made incredible progress. I couldn't be more proud of our President!
I'll really miss him.
(More in link)
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Member since: Wed Jul 22, 2015, 02:19 PMNumber of posts: 1,881
