bitterross
bitterross's JournalIf Notre Dame makes you feel the need to donate, do it locally. Or for LA fires.
I applaud every, single person who wants to donate to the restoration of Notre Dame.
From what I've read, there are wealthy, European Entrepreneurs who have already pledged HUNDREDS of millions to that cause. I doubt Notre Dame is going to be lacking funds.
If you want to donate, please donate. But think of the three churches in LA and other local causes first please.
I don't say this because of any ill will toward France, Catholics, etc. Just saying it with the thought charity begins at home.
What if Assange had released the Mueller Report/Trump's Taxes?
I believe, with respect to Assange, we should consider the situation from a different standpoint. I bet if he had released the Mueller Report or Trump's taxes there would be a lot of people here defending him.
Sure, he may be a despicable human personally. That is not what the free press is about though. It's not about the character of the publisher or the journalist. It's about their actions in reporting information to the public.
ON EDIT AND IMPORTANT: The charges stem from him assisting Manning. From exposing Bush-Cheney/GOP lies. When they come for people like Maddow it may be too late to stop them.
How can I stop feeling?
Some philosopher in the past said:
"
life is a tragedy for those who feel and a comedy for those who think"
I suspect I'm cursed because I feel and I think.
It's the feeling that gets me into the most trouble. Because I have empathy for others. I feel so strongly about it when I believe others have been wronged or mistreated.
The world, alas, is not built upon fair and equitable though.
Prediction - No Matter Who the Nominee is there Will be a Scandal. Because we allow it.
I'm predicting, with great confidence, the GOP opposition research machine is hard at work right now. They're scrutinizing the writings and pictures of every Democrat. All of their school newspapers and yearbooks. They're looking at every appearance and photo they can find.
If I were them, I'd find the most controversial stuff and hold on to it for the last few months of the general election. Maybe some stuff can be released during the primaries to manipulate who becomes the nominee. The Flores/Biden allegations may be just that.
Who can blame them for this strategy? It works beautifully. If you think Roger Stone is idle right now you're not thinking. I'd guess there's a "Leeann Tweeden" sort of kindling out there to start a fire for just about any candidate. Someone or something Stone or his one of his type, working with the GOP, can throw out there to get a good scandal under way. FOX will feature it 24x7 and then the rest of the "media" will have to cover it.
The real question is: Are we going to let them get away with it? Are we going to allow a "But her e-mails" October Surprise again this time to swing the election? It's clear that no amount of dirt and abhorrent behavior will ever bring down Trump.
We have to stop jumping on the GOP assassination squad every time they start a scandal. We have to start standing behind our people until there is more than a bunch of accusations. No, I'm not saying we have to support a sexual assault predator like a Trump, a Kavanaugh or a Roy Moore. I'm saying there is a huge difference between the validity of the allegations we accept as true, then dispose of a candidate and the reality of the candidate's behavior. I think everyone here on DU is familiar with the fact eye-witness testimony is the least reliable form of testimony. Ten people in the same situation will see the same event in ten different ways. None of them are lying or intentionally misrepresenting the event. We allow the GOP to use this with the accusations of people like Franken. Then, when there is a Kavanaugh, they use this to foster the "he-said/she-said" arguments and get away with it. Even though, when it comes to the GOP, there is usually a huge amount of corroborating evidence against the accused.
For a non-sexual assault example, think about VA Gov. Ralph Northam. Everyone wanted him to resign over 35-year-old pictures. Yes, they were racist photos. But they were from 35 years ago. No one wanted to stand up and say "Hey, wait a minute. Let's look at his record." Which, by the way, is clearly the opposite of a racist, white supremacist. We supported that GOP scandal and ratfuck.
Then there are the policy disagreements. The GOP knows we like to have purity in our candidates. Well, that's not going to happen. Do I love the "hard on crime" stuff Harris did while she was a prosecutor? Hell no, I don't. That's not going to stop me from supporting her if she's the nominee. I realize at the time and place she did that it was probably the best way to continue being prosecutor. Does that make her an opportunist - hell yes. But, FFS, ALL politicians are opportunists at some point.
We have to stop reacting to every piece of meat they throw out the way Lindsey Graham acts to affection from Trump. We can't get all spun up about every. single. thing.
-- Now, go ahead and pile on me and tell me how we have to be better than them. Note, I never said we didn't need to be better. I just said we need to be fair and confirm accusations, confirm racism and bigotry before we throw people away.
No more indictments might just be a brilliant move by Mueller
Think about how they've said Mueller has overstepped his mandate. If the rest of the indictments come from SDNY and others they won't be able to make the case indictments about his foundation and taxes, etc. are improper because they came from Muller. Coming from regular prosecutors with obvious jurisdiction they are solid.
Let's be honest. Omar wants to talk about Palestinian Treatment. That's why she gets shut down.
I think, if people were honest, they'd acknowledge a major reason Ilhan Omar gets so much crap is she wants to talk about how the STATE of Israel and the hard-right in Israel treat Palestinians.
Her words may not be the most eloquent, nor the most well thought out when she speaks. So people take advantage of the fact she isn't polished in her presentation. They take her not-so-great wording and twist what she means to be what they want it to mean so they can discredit her and take her down before she can actually make us have that difficult discussion no one wants to have.
I don't know a lot of people here who are fond of Netanyahu and his far-right coalition. THAT'S who she's talking about when she makes statements. She's not talking about all Jewish people as a class. People know that if they're not being intellectually dishonest. But the politicians in DC, and many people here on DU do not want to have any discussion about whether or not the STATE of Israel and the hard-right in Israel, treat Palestinians poorly. I know I avoid the topic almost completely because I don't want to risk being banned for being called anti-Semitic.
Just as the Trump and the hard-right in the US deserve to be called out for their treatment of minorities, so too does Netanyahu and the hard-right of Israel for their treatment of people.
The GOP must be ecstatic they got BLM and Me Too Supporters fighting.
That is all.
Edited the title to make the idea clearer.
"An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind" - Gandhi
It seemed logical to post this.
Feel free to discuss.
Why is Neeson Getting Skewered?
I saw so many people here post that Northam should have come out and admitted to his behavior. Talked about it being bad and then how it it was improper. They said if he'd just done that he'd have been okay. That was only 48 hours ago.
Now, Neeson has done just that. Admitted his racist behavior, admitted how horrible it was and suggested that racism and bigotry still exist and we need to talk about it as part of overcoming it.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/04/entertainment/liam-neeson-revenge/index.html
"It was horrible, horrible, when I think back, that I did that," he said.
"It's awful," Neeson continued. "But I did learn a lesson from it, when I eventually thought, 'What the f*** are you doing', you know?"
Shouldn't we be encouraging this sort of dialog the way this op-ed writer suggests?
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/05/opinions/liam-neeson-interview-racism-courage-joseph/index.html
Hmm, The Northam thing might be like Franken after all. Original story by former Brietbarter
It seems the guy who broke the story about Northam is a former Brietbart employee. It will be interesting to see how this finally plays out.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/a-tip-from-a-concerned-citizen-helps-a-reporter-land-the-scoop-of-a-lifetime/2019/02/03/e30762ea-2765-11e9-ad53-824486280311_story.html?utm_term=.cb279b73b366
Howley said he is co-owner of Big League Politics, which he described as politically “independent.” He didn’t mention the site’s close connection to Republican and Virginia politics.
Big League Politics’ co-owners include Noel Fritsch, a consultant who worked for the campaign of Corey Stewart, a conservative, neo-Confederate sympathizer who unsuccessfully challenged Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine (D) for his seat last year, and Reilly O’Neal, another consultant who worked for Roy Moore, the Alabama Senate candidate who was accused by multiple women of harassment and child molestation.
In its short existence, the website has reliably boosted Trump, attacked Democrats and liberal figures and written many articles promoting a discredited conspiracy theory popular among far-right conservatives about the murder of a young Democratic National Committee staffer named Seth Rich in 2016.
