August 15 and 16, 2017


News and Views


MUSINGS: WE MUST DELINEATE IN OUR LEGISLATION AND IN THE CONSTITUTION, BETWEEN WHAT ARE LEGITIMATE POLITICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWS VERSUS THE HATE BASED GROUPS AND BELIEFS – AND VIOLENT BEHAVIOR ON ALL SIDES. VIOLENCE IS NOT SPEECH. PEACEFUL MARCHES ARE ELOQUENT SPEECH UNLESS THE SLOGANS ARE THE HATEFUL AND POLITICALLY UNAMERICAN PHRASES SUCH AS “BLOOD AND SOIL.” THAT PHRASE COMES FROM THE EARLY GERMAN FASCISM, WITH VARIATIONS IN ITALY AND IN JAPAN AS WELL. THE “SOIL” MEANS THAT THE PEASANTS ARE BONDED TO THE SOIL (AS OPPOSED TO BEING IN A TAINTED URBAN ENVIRONMENT); AND THE “BLOOD” MEANS THE DESIRED/REQUIRED GENETIC STRAIN – PURE “ARYAN” AND WITHOUT FLAWS.

IT WAS POPULAR AS A PART OF THE EUGENICS CRAZE OF THE NAZI TIME PERIOD AND BEFORE, INCLUDING IN THE US. EVEN CHARLES DARWIN WAS INTERESTED IN IT AS A LEGITIMATE SOLUTION TO HUMAN PROBLEMS. THAT WAS BEFORE THE “NATURE VS NURTURE” QUESTION BEGAN TO BE DEBATED. PEOPLE WITH PROBLEMS, INCLUDING NOT BEING WEALTHY ENOUGH, WERE CONSIDERED TO HAVE “BAD BLOOD.” THE WORST, HOWEVER, WAS THAT EUGENICS WAS A GOVERNMENTALLY MANDATED PROGRAM IN SOME US STATES TO STERILIZE WOMEN WHO BORE “MENTALLY OR PHYSICALLY DAMAGED CHILDREN; OR WHO PERSONALLY SHOWED ANY MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, EVEN ONE AS SIMPLE AS DEPRESSION OR, PERHAPS, A LEARNING DISABILITY. THE GOAL WAS TO HAVE BETTER BLOOD LINES, JUST LIKE DOGS, CATS, HORSES, ETC. DEALING WITH HUMANS AS BEING IMPORTANT IN THEIR OWN RIGHT, EVEN IF THEY AREN’T BRILLIANT OR RICH OR INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL WAS NOT IN VOGUE. IT WENT ALONG WITH CORSETS LACED SO TIGHTLY THAT LADIES COULDN’T EVEN GET A GOOD, DEEP BREATH. IT’S DANGEROUS FOOLISHNESS.

OUR CONSTITUTION NEEDS TO CEASE PROTECTING RACKETEERING AND CRUELTY IN THE FORM OF GROUPS WHOSE SOLE PURPOSE IS TO KEEP ANOTHER GROUP IMPOVERISHED, UNEDUCATED, AND VERY, VERY TIMID – ESPECIALLY WHEN THE PEOPLE WHO ARE DOING IT ARE WEALTHY AND POWERFUL. THAT ISN’T MY AMERICA. WE HAVE THE RICO ACT ON THE BOOKS, WHICH HAS BEEN USED AGAINST ORGANIZED CRIME OF THE ORDINARY TRADITIONAL SORT. THE MAFIA HAD THEIR BOOTLEGGING AND EXTORTION; THE EL CHAPO ORGANIZATION HAS ITS’ DRUG FUELED VIOLENCE OF A SINGULARLY BRUTAL KIND; AND NOW THE OLD KKK WITH ITS’ CRIME-BASED INCOME FROM GUNS AND EXTORTION, HAS JOINED WITH THE NEO-NAZIS TO FORM A DANGEROUS MOVEMENT OF A VERY SIMILAR MINDSET AGAINST URBANE AND CLASSICAL WISDOM OF ALL KINDS. THOSE TRADITIONAL VIRTUES FORM THE UMBRELLA UNDER WHICH ALL OF OUR CIVIL RIGHTS, DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENTAL STRUCTURE AND INTELLIGENT, HONEST IDEAS TAKE SHELTER.

THE TRUMPITES, SOME MORE OPENLY AND AGGRESSIVELY THAN OTHERS, ARE ATTACKING EVERYTHING GOOD IN OUR GOVERNMENT WHICH HAS ACCUMULATED SINCE THIS COUNTRY BEGAN. THEY ARE NOT PATRIOTS. THANK GOODNESS, THOSE PEOPLE ARE NOT ALL-POWERFUL IN THE AMERICAN CONSENSUS, HOWEVER. GROUPS LIKE BLM AND ANTIFA HAVE EMERGED, ESSENTIALLY BECAUSE THEY SEE THAT GOVERNMENT IS NOT ADDRESSING THESE INTENSELY IMPORTANT ISSUES THAT PROTECT THE AVERAGE CITIZEN. THE REPUBLICAN POLITICIAN WHO SO RECENTLY REFUSED TO SAY THAT “HEALTH CARE IS A RIGHT,” COMES TO MY MIND. THE PROBLEM IS NOT “A HANDFUL OF BAD APPLES,” ANYMORE THAN IT IS ON THE MANY PROBLEMATIC POLICE FORCES AROUND THE COUNTRY. I WON’T EVEN LOOK AT OTHER COUNTRIES. IT MAY OR MAY NOT BE BETTER THERE, BUT SAYING THAT “OTHER COUNTRIES ARE WORSE,” DOES NOT MAKE OUR SITUATION HERE ACCEPTABLE.

I AM PROUD TO SAY, THOUGH, THAT OUR CONGRESS AND SENATE ARE ALSO TAKING PART IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THIS HOMEGROWN EVIL. SEE THE STORIES I HAVE COLLECTED TODAY. ONE IS VERY INTERESTING. THERE IS TALK OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY DECLARING A SPECIAL ELECTION TO VOTE TRUMP OUT. NOW THAT WOULD TRULY BE POETIC JUSTICE. I WOULD TAKE BACK A GOODLY CHUNK OF THE BAD THINGS I’VE SAID ABOUT THEM IF THAT WERE TO OCCUR, AND HAPPILY FORM A YUUGE GROUP OF LOVE WITH THEM, HOLDING HANDS AND SINGING “KUMBAYA!”

WHAT WE HAVE TO GET BACK TO IN THIS COUNTRY IS THAT WE ARE ALL AMERICANS, AND ALL HAVE EQUAL RIGHTS UNDER GOD AND IN THIS SOCIETY. ONLY NOW WE NEED TO REALLY MEAN IT!! I DON’T THINK THE YOUNG BLACKS WILL BE AS PASSIVE AS THEIR ELDERS WERE IN 1950. INTERESTINGLY, THE ANTIFA WHOM I SAW IN NEWS FOOTAGE OF RIOT SCENES SINCE TRUMP’S ELECTION, WERE NOT BY ANY MEANS TOTALLY BLACK. IN FACT, IN THE VIDEOS I SAW ONLY A FEW BLACK FACES. OF COURSE THE ANTIFA WERE OFTEN WEARING MASKS. WHAT IS MAKING TRUE AMERICANS SO ANGRY IS THE FACT THAT THIS "MOVEMENT" THAT IS FOLLOWING TRUMP GO AGAINST "THE AMERICAN WAY." IT’S ABOUT PRINCIPLES. I DON'T THINK THIS COUNTRY IS READY FOR A FUHRER.


I WISH I HAD A WRITTEN STORY TO GO WITH THIS VIDEO SPEAKING OF JOLLY’S PROPOSAL TO CALL A NEW PRIMARY. HE IS A GREAT SPEAKER – ALMOST MAKES ME WISH I WERE A REPUBLICAN.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/could-trump-apos-comments-lead-192132805.html
Could Trump's Comments Lead To a GOP Presidential Primary?
Yahoo View • August 15, 2017

Trump's media availability drew intense criticism from the right. Former GOP Rep. David Jolly says today may be the start of a primary movement to replace Trump. He joins O'Donnell and Jarvis DeBerry to discuss Trump's long pattern of bigoted behavior.



I DON’T ALWAYS LIKE MCCONNELL, BUT HE CERTAINLY SAID IT THE WAY IT SHOULD BE SAID HERE. THOSE OF US WHO ARE OLD ENOUGH TO HAVE BEEN AWARE OF THE NEWS IN OUR YOUNG YEARS TEND TO BE ANTI-NAZI. USED TO BE NO REPUBLICAN WANTED TO USE THE N WORD FOR FEAR OF OFFENDING A VOTER, BUT TRUMP HAS REVEALED HIS INNER BEING IN THIS STATEMENT. I EXPECT TO SEE HIS POPULARITY, SUCH AS IT IS, WANE FROM NOW ON.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mitch-mcconnell-responds-to-trump-there-are-no-good-neo-nazis/
By REBECCA SHABAD CBS NEWS August 16, 2017, 11:35 AM
Mitch McConnell responds to Trump: "There are no good neo-Nazis"

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday responded to President Trump's suggestion a day earlier that there were "very fine people, on both sides" in Charlottesville last weekend.

"There are no good neo-Nazis, and those who espouse their views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms. We all have a responsibility to stand against hate and violence, wherever it raises its evil head," the Kentucky Republican said in a statement.

McConnell didn't explicitly call out the president in his statement, which also said that white supremacist, neo-Nazi and KKK groups are planning a rally in Lexington, Kentucky.

"Their messages of hate and bigotry are not welcome in Kentucky and should not be welcome anywhere in America," he said.

Trump draws fire for saying "blame on both sides" in Charlottesville
Play VIDEO
Trump draws fire for saying "blame on both sides" in Charlottesville

Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, tweeted Tuesday, "We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity."

A number of GOP lawmakers also tweeted or issued similar statements, with many not addressing Mr. Trump directly. Some more moderate members, on the other hand, did call him out by name.

During a press conference at Trump Tower Tuesday that was supposed to be a statement on infrastructure, the president again blamed both sides -- the white supremacists and the people protesting them -- for the Charlottesville violence like he did on Saturday after the terror attack.

"You have some very bad people in that group. But you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides. You had people in that group — excuse me, excuse me — I saw the same pictures as you did. You had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down of, to them, a very, very important statue and the renaming of a park from Robert E. Lee to another name," Mr. Trump said.



A TERSE AND SUGGESTIVE STATEMENT APPEARS AT THE END OF THIS ARTICLE: “A STATEMENT FROM THE FORUM SAID THAT DECISION TO DISBAND IT WAS MADE JOINTLY BY THE GROUP AND THE PRESIDENT.” COULD IT BE THAT THERE WAS A BATTLE ROYALE AT THAT TIME?”

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-announces-that-hes-disbanding-manufacturing-council/
By REBECCA SHABAD CBS NEWS August 16, 2017, 1:36 PM
Trump says that he's disbanding manufacturing council

President Trump said Wednesday afternoon that he was disbanding his manufacturing council after a number of its members resigned in the wake of the president's handling of the terror attack and violence in Charlottesville last weekend.

Mr. Trump made the announcement on Twitter and said that he was also disbanding the Strategy and Policy Forum, another business advisory group. A statement from the Forum said that decision to disband it was made jointly by the group and the president.

Follow
Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!
1:14 PM - Aug 16, 2017
53,476 53,476 Replies 14,989 14,989 Retweets 57,194 57,194 likes

This comes after at least a dozen of the manufacturing council's members resigned since Monday. Kenneth Frazier, the CEO of Merck, was the first one to step down, and the latest to resign on Wednesday include Inge Thulin of 3M and Campbell's CEO Denise Morrison. Moments after the president's announcement, United Technologies CEO Greg Hayes resigned. Richard Trumka, the president of the AFL-CIO, was also among those who stepped down. Many of them suggested in statements that the president didn't properly respond to the rally by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia last weekend.

AFL-CIO chief denounces Trump's "spirited defense of racism and bigotry"
Play VIDEO
AFL-CIO chief denounces Trump's "spirited defense of racism and bigotry"

"We cannot sit on a council for a President who tolerates bigotry and domestic terrorism," Trumka and his deputy chief of staff said in a statement Tuesday. "President Trump's remarks today repudiate his forced remarks yesterday about the KKK and neo-Nazis. We must resign on behalf of America's working people, who reject all notions of legitimacy of these bigoted groups."

The president had dismissed some of these members' decisions to leave his initiative in a tweet on Tuesday.

Follow
Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
For every CEO that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, I have many to take their place. Grandstanders should not have gone on. JOBS!
11:21 AM - Aug 15, 2017
65,633 65,633 Replies 24,359 24,359 Retweets 104,368 104,368 likes

Later in the day, Mr. Trump held a press conference at Trump Tower in which he blamed both sides -- the white supremacists and the people protesting them -- for the violence in Charlottesville.



TRUMPIAN MORALS AND ETHICS -- RACHEL MADDOW

https://www.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-fails-role-moral-182245370.html
Michael Beschloss, NBC News presidential historian, talks with Rachel Maddow about how far afield Donald Trump is from the American president's function as a role model of responsible, moral leadership.



THIS STORY IS LESS ABSOLUTELY EXCITING AT THE MOMENT THAN THE CHARLOTTESVILLE STORY, BUT IT IS A PIECE OF PROGRESS FOR MUELLER’S INVESTIGATION. IT’S ALSO VERY INFORMATIVE. THIS IS THE SECOND OR THIRD BUSINESS INSIDER ARTICLE THAT I HAVE SEEN AND LIKED. I DISLIKE THOSE THAT SAY VERY LITTLE, OR ARE COMPOSED COMPLETELY OF VIDEOS, THOUGH I DO LOOK AT THE WEEKNIGHTS STORIES FROM MSNBC, ESPECIALLY THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW.

http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-russia-emails-devastating-legal-papadopoulos-paul-manafort-2017-8
New Trump-Russia emails could establish a 'devastating' legal entanglement for Paul Manafort
Sonam Sheth
August 15, 2017

SEE ALSO: 'Facts don't matter': Trump is using one of Putin's favorite propaganda tools

Newly reported emails show a campaign foreign-policy adviser's efforts to set up a meeting between Donald Trump, then a candidate, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Paul Manafort, the campaign chairman, expressed concern about the proposal and rejected the request.

Experts say the emails could pose a "devastating" legal entanglement for Manafort.

The ongoing investigation into whether President Donald Trump's campaign colluded with Moscow during the 2016 election gained new traction on Monday when The Washington Post reported that a foreign-policy adviser, George Papadopolous, sent at least six emails during the campaign offering to set up meetings with Russian leaders.

Papadopolous sent the first email to seven campaign advisers in March 2016 with the subject line "Meeting with Russian Leadership - Including Putin." His requests were reportedly met with hesitancy from multiple campaign officials, including retired Navy Rear Adm. Charles Kubic, who voiced concerns about violating both US sanctions on Russia and the Logan Act, a law forbidding US citizens from negotiating with foreign governments without authorization.

Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign chairman and a current subject in the Russia investigation, also expressed concerns about the proposal and rejected Papadopoulos' request for a meeting between Trump and Russian officials in May 2016, according to The Post.

Manafort's rejection stands in contrast to his willingness to accept a meeting with a Russian lawyer weeks later in June, a point that Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor, raised after the story broke.

Mariotti wrote in a series of tweets that perhaps the most important implication of the news was that "everyone on those emails was aware of the concerns expressed in the emails about meeting with Russians, including Admiral Kubic's concern about the legality of meeting with Russia."

"If anyone on those emails later met with Russians or accepted aid from them," Mariotti continued, "the prior emails about concerns could be used to indicate that they knew that the meeting was problematic and potentially illegal but nonetheless persisted."

The meeting Manafort attended in June included Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. and his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner. Also present were Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin; Rinat Akhmetshin, a Russian lobbyist and former Soviet military intelligence officer; Anatoli Samachornov, a translator; and Rob Goldstone, the British music publicist who arranged the meeting at the request of Aras and Emin Agalarov, a wealthy Russian family.

Trump Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump. AP

The legal issues 'are very similar, if not the same'

What may account for Manafort's rejection of one meeting and acceptance of the other is that Papadopoulos' was "pitched as a Trump-level meeting," said Andrew Wright, an associate professor at Savannah Law School.

In one email in April 2016 to Corey Lewandowski, the campaign manager at the time, Papadopoulos said he had gotten "a lot of calls over the past month" about how "Putin wants to host the Trump team when the time is right," according to The Post.

Papadopoulos followed up on May 4, sending Lewandowski and Sam Clovis, the campaign cochairman, a message he'd received from Ivan Timofeev, a senior official at the Russian International Affairs Council, that Russian officials were open to Trump visiting Moscow.

Clovis replied, "There are legal issues we need to mitigate, meeting with foreign officials as a private citizen," according to the report.

Papadopoulos forwarded the message to Manafort right after he was named Trump's campaign chairman.

"Russia has been eager to meet with Mr. Trump for some time and have been reaching out to me to discuss," Papadopoulos said, according to The Post.

Manafort forwarded the email to an associate and said, "We need someone to communicate that DT is not doing these trips," The Post reported. They then agreed to have someone else handle the response, indicating that it did not require a reply from a senior official like Manafort.

The proposal of a Trump-Putin meeting by Papadopoulos — a lower-level campaign aide who told campaign officials he was acting as an intermediary for the Russian government — is "a very different calculus" than the president's son suggesting a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Wright said, and that may have factored into Manafort's decisions about whether to accept the meetings.

Still, he added, the legal issues about possible violations of the Logan Act and US sanctions against Russia "are very similar, if not the same."

'Devastating evidence in a trial'

A spokesman for Manafort, Jason Maloni, told The Post that Papadopoulos' email chain was "concrete evidence that the Russia collusion narrative is fake news."

"Mr. Manafort's swift action reflects the attitude of the campaign — any invitation by Russia, directly or indirectly, would be rejected outright," Maloni said.

Paul Manafort
Manafort at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July 2016. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File

However, the meeting Manafort attended in June 2016 was described in an email to Trump Jr. from Goldstone as "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump." Trump Jr. forwarded Manafort that email chain, in which Goldstone provided more details of the meeting.

"If you're Paul Manafort and your defense is to say, 'I didn't think taking this meeting was a problem,' and then you have the prosecutor showing the jury emails that were sent a month earlier where people are raising precisely those same legal concerns — that's such devastating evidence in a trial," Wright said.

Mariotti agreed.

"I expect those earlier emails to be used against Manafort, who is already in the hot seat after the FBI executed a search warrant at his home," he wrote, referring to Papadopoulos' correspondence. "Although Manafort's lawyer suggests that the emails exonerate him, they appear problematic in light of the later meeting."

Manafort has come under increased public scrutiny after The Post reported last week that the FBI conducted a predawn raid on his home in July.

Agents working with Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading the bureau's Russia investigation, left Manafort's home "with various records," according to The Post.

Manafort has been cooperating with investigators' requests for relevant documents. But the search warrant obtained by the FBI in July indicates that Mueller managed to convince a federal judge that Manafort would try to conceal or destroy documents subpoenaed by a grand jury.



“THE INTELLIGENCE REPORT FOUND WHITE SUPREMACISTS WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR 49 HOMICIDES IN 26 ATTACKS FROM 2000 TO 2016, MORE THAN ANY OTHER DOMESTIC EXTREMIST MOVEMENT DURING THAT TIME PERIOD.” DONALD TRUMP YESTERDAY STATED THAT SOME OF THE WHITE SUPREMACISTS ARE “NICE PEOPLE.” IF THEY KEEP PALLING AROUND WITH THIS TYPE OF COMPANION, THEY’RE GOING TO END UP IN FEDERAL PRISON, SO THEY WOULD DO WELL TO JUST GO BACK TO THEIR PSYCHIATRISTS AND TAKE THEIR MEDS.

WHO ARE THE ANTIFA? WHEN I WAS WATCHING THE INAUGURATION I DID SEE MOSTLY WHITE MEN IN BLACK LEATHER FIGHTING THE ALT-RIGHT GROUPS. AT FIRST I THOUGHT, “GREAT!” THEN I SAW THAT THEY WERE FIERCELY FIGHTING AND BREAKING STORE WINDOWS. IT WAS ALSO CLEAR TO ME THAT THEY WERE ORGANIZED. IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT THEY COULD POSSIBLY BE ANARCHISTS AND NOT ORDINARY INCENSED CITIZENS.

ANARCHISTS HAVE BEEN MENTIONED IN STORIES ABOUT EUROPE, AND IN COME CASES IN THE USA. THE MOLLY MAGUIRES, AN IRISH GANG KNOWN IN THE EASTERN USA AS A VIOLENT UNAFFILIATED LABOR GROUP IN THE COAL MINES, WERE ALSO SIMILAR, AND OF COURSE THE INFAMOUS BUNDY FAMILY SO RECENTLY IN OKLAHOMA AS WELL. THEY ALL HAVE THEIR ISSUES WHICH USUALLY MAKE SOME SENSE TO ME, BUT I SIMPLY PERSONALLY BELIEVE IN COOPERATION WITH GOVERNMENT FORCES. WHEN THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT INSTITUTE FAIRNESS, SUCH VIOLENT POLITICAL GROUPS EMERGE. THE CORE ISSUE, THOUGH, IS THAT WHEN A VIOLENT, HATE-BASED GROUP RUN AMOK, THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO STEP IN. IN THE SOUTH DURING THE FIRST SCHOOL INTEGRATION EVENTS, PRESIDENT EISENHOWER ORDERED FEDERAL ARMY TROOPS IN TO RESTORE PEACE TO THE STREETS OF LITTLE ROCK, AND PROVIDED PROTECTION AGAINST A WHITE MOB FOR LITTLE BLACK SCHOOL CHILDREN TO ENROLL. I AM STRONGLY IN OPPOSITION TO THE WHOLE RANGE OF FAR-RIGHT GROUPS, BECAUSE THEIR WHOLE HISTORY HAS BEEN BLACK IN THE US AND IN EUROPE. DECENCY MUST NOT STAND STILL AND WATCH WHILE THAT HAPPENS.

I PREFER THEM TO THOSE WHO SIMPLY ARE BASED ON GROUP HATRED AND A DESIRE TO TAKE OVER OR TOPPLE THE GOVERNMENT BY FORCE. MUCH AS I DISLIKE STREET VIOLENCE, I ALSO AM ENRAGED AT THE FACT THAT THE KKK AND NEO-NAZIS ARE BEING GIVEN CARTE BLANCHE IN VARIOUS USA AREAS, AND EVEN ALLOWED TO TAKE POSITIONS OF POWER IN GOVERNMENT. IN MY VIEW, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT HAS HAPPENED WITH DONALD TRUMP. WHILE I DON’T WANT HEARTLESS BLOODSHED, I DO WANT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST TRUMP BEFORE HE TOTALLY DISMANTLES REGULATORY GROUPS, THE FBI, JUDGES WHOM HE CONSIDERS TO BE HOSTILE TO HIM, AND ONE GROUP AFTER ANOTHER. HE STANDS BEHIND DAVID DUKE, SHERIFF ARPAIO, AND PERHAPS OTHERS OF THEIR ILK WHOM I HAVEN’T SEEN YET IN THE NEWS. THAT IS UNDOUBTEDLY THE REASON FOR THIS UPSURGE OF ANTIEVERYBODY GROUPS ON THE SCENE IN THE LIGHT OF DAY. THEY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THERE IN AN INCIPIENT STAGE, BUT THEY DIDN’T WANT TO GO TO PRISON AS INDIVIDUALS. NOW, THEY ARE AN ACTIVE VIOLENT “BAND OF BROTHERS” OF A SORT, AND THEY ARE READY TO RUMBLE.

INEVITABLY THEIR ANTAGONISTS, ARE EMERGING FROM THE POPULATION AND WHAT APPEARS, AT LEAST TO BE A WAR IS BEGINNING. I WANT A GOVERNMENT FORCE TO INTERVENE AND RESTORE PEACE. ONE OF OUR LARGEST PROBLEMS IS THE TOTALLY FREE INTERNET AS IT NOW EXISTS. THE RECENT TWITTER STANCE MADE AGAINST VIOLENT AND SCURRILOUS RHETORIC ON ITS’ PLATFORM AND GODADDY’S DELETION OF DAILY STORMER FROM ITS SITE WILL BE HELPFUL. FINALLY, TODAY, FACEBOOK HAS DELETED A SINGLE KNOWN WHITE NATIONALIST NAMED CHRISTOPHER CANTWELL, ALONG WITH “AT LEAST 8” OTHERS FOR HATE SPEECH. IN CANTWELL’S CASE, HE WAS CAUGHT ON CAMERA AT THE CHARLOTTESVILLE “PEACEFUL PROTEST,” AT WHICH THOSE HORRIBLE ANTIFA HAD THE GALL TO FIGHT BACK. SO SAD.

ANOTHER PROBLEM IS THOSE CHAT ROOMS WHICH DO, OFTEN AT LEAST, LEAN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER ON ISSUES; AND WHICH ALLOW FREE SPEECH TO GET TO THE POINT THAT IT BECOMES TRULY ABUSIVE. BOTH THE ALT-RIGHTERS AND THE ANTIFA MUST COMMUNICATE IN ORDER TO MOBILIZE ACTIONS. IF THEY CAN’T GET ON THE NET, THEY’LL HAVE TO USE SOME OTHER TOOL. THE CHARLOTTESVILLE ALT-RIGHT “MARCH” – WITH TORCHES IN ORDER TO LOOK MORE LIKE THE KKK – HAD BEEN ANNOUNCED ON THEIR INTERNET PLATFORM AND ORGANIZED THERE ACCORDING TO A NEWS STORY. WE NEED LIMITATIONS ON WHAT KIND AND DEGREE OF ACTIVITY WILL BE ALLOWED ON THE NET. THERE ARE ALREADY RULES AGAINST IT, SO USE THE MIGHTY POWER OF THE NET TO IDENTIFY AND PUNISH THEM. IT IS GOOD THAT IN THIS STORY THE ANTIFA GOT OUT A CLEVER LITTLE TWEET: “MICHAEL BLACKMAN @MBLACKMAN37
RICHARD SPENCER DID NAZI THAT PUNCH COMING.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/neo-nazis-grow-bolder-antifa-emerged-fight-195800993.html
As neo-Nazis grow bolder, the 'antifa' has emerged to fight them
Caitlin Dickson Yahoo News August 14, 2017

Photograph -- Antifascist counterprotesters outside Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 12, 2017. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Deadly violence outside a rally in Charlottesville, Va., this past weekend has raised concerns about white supremacists and neo-Nazis from across the country and the political spectrum.

But for many on the far right, conversations about Charlottesville seem focused on another term less familiar to many in the mainstream: “antifa.”

Follow
Bill Mitchell ✔ @mitchellvii
I am hearing Democrat after Democrat this morning completely exclude #Antifa from ANY responsibility for the Charlottesville violence.
9:39 AM - Aug 14, 2017
585 585 Replies 3,285 3,285 Retweets 4,932 4,932 likes

Follow
Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 ✔ @JackPosobiec
"And I denounce Antifa and condemn the outrageous conduct of the national media for fanning the flames of violence in Charlottesville"
1:10 PM - Aug 14, 2017
71 71 Replies 483 483 Retweets 1,107 1,107 likes

Follow
Brittany Pettibone ✔ @BrittPettibone
Why is the violence of Antifa in #Charlottesville being ignored by MSM? Resolution will be impossible until all sides are equally judged.
2:16 PM - Aug 13, 2017
649 649 Replies 2,476 2,476 Retweets 5,204 5,204 likes

Short for antifacist, the term “antifa” refers to a secretive movement of combative leftists, including many self-described anarchists, who are ready and willing to use violence in order to fight white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and others they deem to be “fascists.”

Like the authoritarian movements they seek to destroy, the antifa’s origins can be traced back to Europe in the 1920s and 30s. Since the end of World War II, antifa activity has ebbed and flowed along with that of neo-Nazis, skinheads and other hate movements that have sprung up around the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States.

In the U.S. at least, the modern battle between antifa and racists has largely played out on the fringes of society. But as proponents of white supremacy and other previously politically unacceptable ideologies gained momentum with the presidential campaign and election of Donald Trump, so too did their antifascist nemeses.

“Since antifa is heavily composed of anarchists, its activists place little faith in the state, which they consider complicit in fascism and racism,” writes Peter Beinart, in an in-depth report on the rise of antifa in the latest issue of the Atlantic. “They prefer direct action: They pressure venues to deny white supremacists space to meet. They pressure employers to fire them and landlords to evict them. And when people they deem racists and fascists manage to assemble, antifa’s partisans try to break up their gatherings, including by force.”

View photos

White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the alt-right clash with counterprotesters as they enter Emancipation Park during a “Unite the Right” rally August 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Va. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

While alt-right allies and sympathizers often court publicity, the antifa is mostly anonymous. There are no prominent antifa leaders with the visibility of a David Duke or a Richard Spencer. And their activities are mostly reactive, organized via social media in response to white nationalist marches and rallies.

Easily identifiable — and somewhat intimidating — in a crowd thanks to their uniformly black clothes, their faces often partially covered with ski masks or bandanas, antifa activists have not only faced off with Trump supporters in several violent clashes since the election, but have also managed to forcefully derail scheduled events like a speech by ex-Breitbart editor and prominent alt-right figure Milo Yiannopoulos at the University of California Berkeley.

In Portland, Ore. — which has emerged as a hotbed of tensions between antifa and the far right —masked activists smashed store windows, vandalized cars, and set newspaper dispensers on fire during an otherwise peaceful protest after Trump’s election in November.

Perhaps the most notable example of the mainstream left’s recent support for antifa violence was the widely praised and parodied video of a masked antifa protester punching prominent alt-right leader Richard Spencer in the head during an interview outside Trump’s inauguration in Washington, D.C.

Follow
Jon Favreau ✔ @jonfavs
I don't care how many different songs you set Richard Spencer being punched to, I'll laugh at every one.
1:45 AM - Jan 21, 2017
344 344 Replies 3,470 3,470 Retweets 14,852 14,852 likes

Follow
Michael Blackman @MBlackman37
Richard Spencer did Nazi that punch coming.
8:15 PM - Jan 20, 2017 · Los Angeles, CA
41 41 Replies 681 681 Retweets 1,685 1,685 likes

Follow
dan💫 @prttybadtweeter
this is as patriotic as I've felt in a long time
9:44 PM - Jan 20, 2017
592 592 Replies 18,189 18,189 Retweets 31,733 31,733 likes

Spencer and others have accused police of failing to protect right-wing rally-goers from antifa violence in Charlottesville, even posting videos of bat-wielding counterprotesters to suggest that they were to blame for instigating the vehicular attack that killed one person and injured several others.

Social media feeds and websites affiliated with anarchist and antifascist groups have accused organizers for Saturday’s “Unite the Right” rally of encouraging violence in Charlottesville. They called on opponents of white supremacy to rally in solidarity across the country.

Follow
New York City Antifa @NYCAntifa
The violence of the far right is not something that started yesterday. Their history of racist violence & racial hatred is why we fight them
1:27 PM - Aug 13, 2017
76 76 Replies 196 196 Retweets 475 475 likes

“If we allow the alt-right and neo-Nazis to organize in our communities, the consequences will be fatal,” reads a recent post on the antifa-linked site ‘It’s Going Down.’ “Charlottesville is just the beginning. If the alt-right can get away with murder there, none of us will be safe. We have to stand up to white supremacists, we have to shut down and chase out these bigots every time they try to organize, or else they will kill more people.”

“The police will not protect us,” the post continues. “They murder over a thousand people every year in this country, and infiltrate and attack our demonstrations when we stand up against alt-right terror. We have to organize to defend ourselves.”


FORESEEN, BUT NOT FORESTALLED

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-dhs-may-report-warned-of-threat-posed-by-white-supremacists/
By EMILY TILLETT CBS NEWS August 15, 2017, 10:46 AM
FBI, DHS report warned of threat posed by white supremacists

In a Joint Intelligence Bulletin, members of the intelligence community highlighted the growing threat posed by white supremacists and the rise of extremist violence in the United States, months before the violent clashes and subsequent deaths in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday.

The bulletin, dated May 10, 2017 and posted by Foreign Policy on Tuesday, provided what the agencies described as "new insight into the targeting preferences of white supremacist extremists" and the current state of white supremacist-related violence in the country. The briefing, a joint effort by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), detailed their efforts to deter, prevent and disrupt potential terrorist attacks in the U.S and its authenticity has been confirmed by CBS News.

While the intelligence community and Department of Justice have since vowed to investigate the weekend's violent events, the May report found that the white supremacist movement was likely to become increasingly violent.

"We assess lone actors and small cells within the white supremacist extremist (WSE) movement likely will continue to pose a threat of lethal violence over the next year," the report read.

The findings were based on reviews of lethal and potentially lethal incidents of extremist violence from 2000 to 2016. The report's release comes after President Trump came under fire for blaming "both sides" for the violence in Charlottesville. On Monday, Mr. Trump formally denounced hate groups following the clashes.

The perpetrators of violence in 2016, the report found, included members of racist skinhead groups, Klan members and "individuals who lacked group affiliations."

The report also noted that white supremacists targeted racial or religious minorities including Hispanics, African-Americans, a Chinese student and one person "perceived to be Jewish" in 2016.

screen-shot-2017-08-15-at-9-56-44-am.png -- Victims in white supremacist extremist attacks from 2000-2016 DHS/FBI

"Adherents of the WSE movement view these persons as legitimate targets, as they pose a threat to, or reflect poorly on, the white race. Other targets have included persons or facilities associated with government and law enforcement," the report added.

The intelligence report found white supremacists were responsible for 49 homicides in 26 attacks from 2000 to 2016, more than any other domestic extremist movement during that time period. It concluded in their overall assessment that "violence over the next year very likely will derive from the capabilities of lone offenders or small cells, rather the resources of larger groups" due to the white supremacist movements' lack of clear organization or direction.

Similar to the weekend's violent events, which evolved from a white supremacist rally into a car attack against counter-protesters, the report noted that future violence would likely continue to be "spontaneous and involve targets of opportunity."



CEOS DROP BOARD MEMBERSHIP DUE TO BELIEVED TRUMP LINKS WITH WHITE SUPREMACISTS AND ALT-RIGHT. I SAW AND FAILED TO COLLECT AN ARTICLE TODAY STATING THAT TRUMP -- PERHAPS IN A FIT OF ANNOYANCE -- ABOLISHED ONE OF THESE BOARDS. THE BOARDS WERE SET UP BY A STATUTE. CAN TRUMP ABOLISH THEM?

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40933391
Charlottesville violence: Fourth executive exits Trump council
August 15, 2017

Photograph -- Intel chief Brian Krzanich said there should be "no hesitation in condemning hate speech"

A fourth executive has quit Donald Trump's American Manufacturing Council amid criticism of the president's response to a violent rally.

Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul said on Twitter he was stepping down "because it's the right thing for me to do".

He follows Intel's Brian Krzanich, Under Armour head Kevin Plank and Merck's Ken Frazier.

A woman died when a car rammed into protesters in Virginia on Saturday.

Web firm fights DOJ on Trump protesters

The US president was widely rebuked for his initial response for not specifically denouncing the far right, and instead ascribing blame to "many sides".

Bowing to pressure, the president issued a statement on Monday calling the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and white supremacists "repugnant" to everything Americans held dear.

"Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs," he told reporters.

'Diversity and inclusion'

He tweeted on Tuesday: "For every CEO that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, I have many to take their place. Grandstanders should not have gone on. JOBS!"

Mr Plank sent out a tweet on Monday condemning racism.

"We are saddened by #Charlottesville. There is no place for racism or discrimination in this world. We choose love & unity."

Ten hours later Mr Plank released another statement on Under Armour's Twitter account announcing his resignation from the advisory body.

President Donald Trump walks into the Roosevelt Room for a meeting with Mark Sutton of International Paper, Jeff Fettig of Whirlpool, White House Senior Counselor Steve Bannon, Kevin Plank of Under Armour, Elon Musk of SpaceX (L) and other other business leaders at the White House on 23 January 2017 in Washington, DC.Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES

Image caption -- Under Armour boss Kevin Plank (seated right) came under pressure to resign from the council.

"I love our country and our company and will continue to focus my efforts on inspiring every person that they can do anything through the power of sport which promotes unity, diversity and inclusion."

Soon after, Mr Krzanich announced in a blog post on Intel's website that he too was leaving the council "to call attention to the serious harm our divided political climate is causing to critical issues, including the serious need to address the decline of American manufacturing".

"Politics and political agendas have sidelined the important mission of rebuilding America's manufacturing base."

In an earlier tweet, he had also said "there should be no hesitation in condemning hate speech or white supremacy by name".

Both men in the past have expressed some admiration for Mr Trump.

Their resignations follow the departure of Ken Frazier, the head of drugs giant Merck, and one of only a handful of black leaders of Fortune 500 companies, on Monday morning.

Image caption -- Donald Trump and Ken Frazier during a previous White House meeting Image copyright AFP

Mr Frazier said: "I feel a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism."

"America's leaders must honour our fundamental views by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy, which run counter to the American ideal that all people are created equal."

In response, Mr Trump tweeted that Mr Frazier would now have "more time to lower rip off drug prices".

In January, Mr Trump had called on pharmaceutical companies to cut "astronomical" drug prices.

Skip Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump
Follow
Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President's Manufacturing Council,he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!
8:54 AM - Aug 14, 2017
53,426 53,426 Replies 21,091 21,091 Retweets 85,162 85,162 likes

Other company heads have previously stepped down from presidential advisory councils in protest at Mr Trump's policies.

Former Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick left the Business Advisory Council in February over the Trump administration's immigration policies.

Tesla's chief executive Elon Musk and Walt Disney's chief executive Robert Iger left the President's Strategic and Policy Forum in June, after Mr Trump said he would withdraw from the Paris climate accord.

Mr Musk also left the manufacturing council.



SANDERS NEWS TODAY

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/vermont/articles/2017-08-14/sanders-to-introduce-medicare-for-all-plan-soon
Sanders Will Offer 'Medicare for All' Soon
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders says the solution to the country's health care crisis is to make Medicare available to all, a plan that he plans to introduce shortly after Congress reconvenes in September.
By LISA RATHKE, Associated Press
Aug. 14, 2017, at 9:05 p.m.

ST. ALBANS, Vt. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders told a group of seniors that the solution to the country's health care crisis is to make Medicare available to all, a proposal he plans to introduce shortly after Congress reconvenes in September.

The Vermont independent visited the Franklin County Senior Center in St. Albans on Monday answering questions about health care, social security and President Donald Trump's budget before heading to an East Fairfield dairy farm to hear from several dairy farmers about the challenges facing the industry, as well their health care concerns.

Sen. Bernie Sanders before the Senate Policy luncheon on Capitol Hill
The Democrats' Race Problem

"Well, we kept the affordable care act alive by the slimmest of margins. Some of us worked very, very hard on that," said Sanders.

He acknowledged that a "Medicare for all" bill likely won't pass in the Republican-controlled Congress and with Trump as president. But he said change takes time, and would involve organizing effectively in every state to make it happen.

Sanders "Litmus-Test" Worries Democrats
Inform

"If we pass this thing, it's not going to be tomorrow, it would be the most significant step forward legislatively since I suspect the creation of Social Security in the 1930s. It's a big deal," he said.

After meeting with seniors, he told reporters that a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday in which a counter-protester was killed, was "a very, very sad moment in American history."

The former presidential hopeful said Trump bore some responsibility for giving rise to hate groups by not previously condemning them.

See AP video White House press briefing

Facing increased pressure, Trump on Monday named and condemned hate groups as "repugnant," and declared "racism is evil" after his previous remarks about violence on "many sides" prompted criticism. Trump called members of the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and white supremacists who take part in violence "criminals and thugs" in a prepared statement.




https://www.mediaite.com/online/bernie-sanders-deletes-numerous-tweets-that-blamed-trump-for-charlottesville-violence/
Bernie Sanders Deletes Numerous Tweets That Blamed Trump for Charlottesville Violence
by Joseph A. Wulfsohn | 10:44 pm, August 14th, 2017

Bernie Sanders made multiple tweets (and deleted multiple tweets) earlier this evening that assigned blame on what happened in Charlottesville, VA over the weekend onto President Trump.

As The Daily Caller reported, the Vermont Senator tweeted a video of himself speaking to the press and captioning it with, “Do I think the president bares [sic] some responsibility for what happened in Charlottesville? Absolutely, yes.

It was immediately taken down.

He then shares the same video but with slightly different captioning. He tweeted, “Do I think President Trump bares responsibility in conjuring the behavior of white supremacists in this country? Absolutely, yes.”

That too was deleted.

Sanders attempted to get out his message one last time, and now the following tweet is up on his Twitter page, which has the video of him still saying the words from those earlier tweets: [WATCH VIDEO OF PRESS CONFERENCE.]

Follow
Bernie Sanders ✔ @SenSanders
The message President Trump sent out to racists and Neo-Nazis all over the country this past weekend is this is okay.
5:49 PM - Aug 14, 2017
1,046 1,046 Replies 4,409 4,409 Retweets 11,164 11,164 likes

“The message President Trump sent out to racists and Neo-Nazis all over the country this past weekend is this is okay,” he tweeted.

Perhaps Sanders was regretting the blunt blame game since Trump never blamed him for the assassination attempted of GOP lawmakers executed by a Sanders supporter earlier this summer.

[screenshots via The Daily Caller]

Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com

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A NEW SANDERS PROGRESSIVE ENTERS POLITICS:

“THAT’S ONE OF THE PROBLEMS,” HE SAID. “THE VOICES OF EVERYDAY AMERICANS ARE BEING DROWN OUT IN THIS ROARING SEA OF MONEY. ... MY PLATFORM IS GOING TO FOCUS ON HEALTH CARE, MONEY IN POLITICS AND ISSUES SURROUNDING THE ECONOMY – HOW WE CAN HELP SMALL BUSINESSES GROW AND THRIVE.” THESE ARE THE WORDS OF BERNIE SANDERS FOLLOWER, BRAD WESTMORELAND, WHO HAS “JUMPED IN” AND CHALLENGED THE INCUMBENT MAINSTREAM DEMOCRAT. THROW IN THE ENVIRONMENT AND THAT WOULD BE ALL HE NEEDS TO SAY.

IT’S FUNNY TO SEE THIS HEADLINE IMPLYING THAT FOR A BERNIE SANDERS SUPPORTER TO DARE TO RUN AGAINST A MAINSTREAM PARTY-FAVORED DEMOCRAT IS IN ANY WAY OUT OF LINE. THAT’S REALLY OFFENSIVE; IN ADDITION, IT WEAKENS OUR DEMOCRACY. DOING IT THAT WAY JUST DOESN’T GET THE JOB OF GOVERNING DONE, AND WE BECOME TRUE WIMPS. I DESPISE THAT AS MUCH AS RIGHTIST REPUBLICANS DO.

SO, DEMS, “STRAIGHTEN UP AND FLY RIGHT!” YOU NEED TO PROVE THAT YOU DESERVE THE JOB THAT YOU WANT TO WIN, AND THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. FROM WHAT THIS ARTICLE SAYS ABOUT BRAD WESTMORELAND, HE IS STANDING FOR WHAT IS GOOD. HOPEFULLY HE WON’T BECOME INTIMIDATED AND DEPART FROM THAT PATH.

HE SOUNDS LIKE A REALLY STRONG CANDIDATE, WHO WOULD MAKE A PRINCIPLED AND INTELLIGENT LAWMAKER. I AM OF THE OPINION THAT A GOOD PREREQUISITE FOR BEING IN CONGRESS OR THE SENATE WOULD BE TO HAVE AT LEAST SOME LAW BACKGROUND. ONE WILL BE CHARGED WITH WRITING LAWS SHOULD HAVE FORMAL TRAINING IN THAT FIELD, AND BE ABLE TO READ THEM AND JUDGE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE WORDING. THERE WAS A GREAT COMIC PIECE I READ MANY YEARS AGO WHICH WAS BUILT AROUND THE IDIOCY OF SOME LAWS THAT ARE ACTUALLY ON THE BOOKS, ESPECIALLY ON THE LOCAL LEVEL. SOME WERE BAD WHEN THEY WERE WRITTEN, AND OTHERS ARE JUST TOTALLY OUTDATED, EVEN USELESS, IN MODERN TIMES.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article167300197.html
Bernie Sanders supporter jumps in to unseat Democrat in one of nation’s hottest House races
BY ANGELA HART
ahart@sacbee.com
AUGUST 15, 2017 10:17 AM

Photograph -- Former presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, speaks in Sacramento on Nov. 7, 2016. The newest challenger to Rep. Ami Bera in the 7th Congressional District, Brad Westmoreland, supported Sanders in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary. Rich Pedroncelli Associated Press

A 30-year-old lawyer who backed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign last year has jumped into the race to challenge Rep. Ami Bera, a three-term Democrat representing suburban Sacramento.

Brad Westmoreland, a Democrat and political newcomer, said he wants to shake up “politics as usual.” He criticized Bera for his stance on health care and for accepting campaign contributions from insurance companies.

“I believe in Medicare for all ... . I don’t think we can rely on Congressman Bera to go against his own interests and support universal health care when he takes money from people who are opposed to a Medicare-for-all type system,” Westmoreland said, referencing Sanders’ push for a single-payer health care system. “I think about my son growing up in a world where we continue to ration health care away from those who need it, and I think that’s unacceptable.”

Westmoreland is the second candidate to enter the race for California’s 7th Congressional District, a highly competitive seat that consistently ranks among the most expensive in the nation. When Bera defeated the Republican incumbent in 2012, it was the most costly congressional campaign in the country.

Bera, an Elk Grove physician, narrowly beat back Republican challenger Doug Ose in 2014, winning by just 1,455 votes. That margin widened last year, when he defeated Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones by just shy of 7,000 votes. The district now leans blue, with Democrats holding a slight edge in voter registration. Bera faced criticism from Democratic allies in organized labor in his last race over his support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Still, it’s seen as a swing district. Bera is one of four California Democrats being targeted in 2018 by the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Andrew Grant, a Republican and Marine Corps veteran, is also running to unseat Bera.

Bera did not make himself available for an interview, but in an April town hall, he said he didn’t support the concept of Medicare for all, citing concerns with upending a complicated health care financing system. He said Congress should work to improve the Affordable Care Act.

“As a doctor, I swore an oath – to do good, to do no harm and to help patients make the best health care decisions for their own circumstances,” Bera said in a prepared statement in late July. “Sacramento County faces real health care challenges, and it’s time Washington put aside the political games and worked to improve the lives of the American people.”

Westmoreland, born and raised in Yuba City, works as a lawyer for the state Department of Social Services. Previously, he worked as a clerk for the state Senate and has a law degree from University of Washington. He has never held elected office.

He and his wife are planning to move this week to Elk Grove from Sacramento, which falls outside the 7th District. Elk Grove is in the district. They are expecting their first child in December.

Westmoreland backed Bernie Sanders in the 2016 presidential primary, later voting for Hillary Clinton in the general election.

He said he staunchly opposes policies and actions of President Donald Trump, taking particular issue with Republican attempts to repeal Obamacare.

“Taking health care away from millions of Americans without any kind of replacement system is a terrible idea,” Westmoreland said.

He said his campaign will focus on jobs and the economy. He acknowledged steep campaign challenges, including in raising money, with Bera putting up strong fundraising totals year over year.

“That’s one of the problems,” he said. “The voices of everyday Americans are being drown out in this roaring sea of money. ... My platform is going to focus on health care, money in politics and issues surrounding the economy – how we can help small businesses grow and thrive.”

Angela Hart: 916-326-5528, @ahartreports



THIS CRITIQUE BELOW OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF TODAY IS ONE THAT THE GOOD OLD MAINSTREAM “MODERATE” DEMS HAD BETTER PAY ATTENTION TO. LET’S FACE IT, THEY AREN’T SO MUCH MODERATE AS RIGHT-LEANING. SOME BLACK PEOPLE ARE SAYING THEY HAVE “HAD ENOUGH,” ALSO. I PERSONALLY THINK IT’S TIME TO SPLIT BOTH THE MAJOR PARTIES AND PUT THE GENUINE NEEDS OF THE MINORITY MEMBERS RIGHT INTO THE PLATFORM, OR PERHAPS FORMING SEPARATE FACTIONS AND RUNNING MORE THAN TWO CANDIDATES. SCRAP THE “TWO PARTY SYSTEM.”

THOSE TWO PARTIES HAVE BOTH BECOME SO SELF-SATISFIED AND OVERBEARING THAT THEY DON’T EVEN LISTEN TO THE VOTERS ANYMORE. THAT’S WHY A CARNIVAL BARKER LIKE DONALD TRUMP AND A TRULY DANGEROUS MAN LIKE DAVID DUKE HAVE MANAGED TO WORM THEIR WAY INTO THE SERIOUS BUSINESS OF PICKING A GOOD, HONEST, EMPATHETIC, INTELLIGENT AND BENIGN PRESIDENT. EVEN WITHOUT A FOLK HERO LIKE BERNIE SANDERS ENTERING THE CONVENTION HALL TO A HUGE AND ALMOST UNENDING SHOW OF SUPPORT, THE TIME TO REFORM HAS COME. WHEN I SAW THAT, MY HEART SWELLED WITH PRIDE FOR HIM. EVEN MORE PLEASANT IS HIS HUMBLE AND JOYOUS SMILE AT HIS RECEPTION. HE’S A GOOD MAN, AND WE NEED MORE LIKE THAT.

THE SAME IS TRUE OF THAT REALLY TERRIBLE SYSTEM OF AN ELECTORAL COLLEGE AND “SUPERDELEGATES” AMONG THE DEMS. IT’S NO DIFFERENT FROM THE “SMOKE-FILLED ROOMS,” AND IT’S UNACCEPTABLE. THE WHOLE POINT OF BOTH IS TO WEAKEN THE VOTES OF THE PEOPLE. IT’S LIKE THAT HORRIBLY WEAK COFFEE THAT SOME PEOPLE – AND EVEN RESTAURANTS -- MAKE. IT’S NOT COFFEE. WHY NOT JUST PUT SOME BROWN FOOD COLORING IN IT AND SERVE IT LIKE THAT?

IN THIS CASE WHAT THEY ARE DOING IN BOTH PARTIES, WITH THEIR CAREFULLY SCRIPTED BUZZWORDS, IS TRYING TO CONFUSE THE PUBLIC. IT’S NOT MUCH BETTER THAN WHEN POLITICIANS USED TO GO TO THE POLLS AND SERVE LIQUOR TO THE IGNORANT (OR ALCOHOLIC) VOTERS IN RETURN FOR THEIR VOTE. THAT’S WHY THERE IS NO ALCOHOL ALLOWED AT POLLING PLACES TODAY. OUR CANDIDATES WILL HAVE TO START SPEAKING IN HONEST FEELING AND WITH REAL IDEAS IN ANSWER TO WHAT THE PUBLIC NEEDS AND SPEAKS OUT FOR. THEN THEY WILL HAVE TO WORK TO ACHIEVE IT. THE TIME FOR THE PUBLIC’S BEING TOO PASSIVE AND IGNORANT TO SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES HAS COME AND GONE. THIS NEW GENERATION ARE NOT AFRAID OF SPEAKING OUT.

IT’S TIME NOW FOR CLINTON AND OTHER MAINSTREAMERS TO STEP ASIDE AND LET NEW IDEAS IN, WHICH AREN’T DERIVATIVE OF THEIR MASTERS WILL – BIG MONEY INTERESTS AND SOCIAL PRESSURE FROM RIGHTIST VOTERS. THE NRA SHOULD HAVE NO PLACE IN A PARTY PLATFORM. THE PARTY IS IN A CRISIS, BUT AS FAR AS I’M CONCERNED, IT’S THEIR OWN FAULT. I’M HOPING TO SEE A CLARIFICATION ON THESE ISSUES BY 2020.

https://newrepublic.com/minutes/144347/trumps-position-charlottesville-become-even-pro-nazi
The Democratic Party has a race problem.
Graham Vyse
August 15, 2017

Photograph -- Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images

The Democratic Party has a race problem.That was the conclusion of several prominent attendees at the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ annual retreat on Saturday, when a progressive congresswoman and a prominent party strategist criticized Democratic minority outreach.

“One of the things I find is a progressive blind spot is race,” said pollster Cornell Belcher, who previously worked for President Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns and the Democratic National Committee. “Republicans get race. They get it, and they understand how to organize around it.”

Representative Yvette Clarke, of Brooklyn, said her party doesn’t. “I will tell you one of the things that I found most disheartening in the last election cycle was this implied distrust of communities of color,” she said, summarizing the attitude: “We cannot vest any resources with you, but when we need you, you should be ready to be deployed.” She added, “We had the strategy on the ground already. We were just waiting for manna from heaven. It never showed up. And when it did, it was an insult. It was an insult. I don’t want to go through another election cycle like that.”

Belcher had his own harsh reprimands for fellow liberals. “When our young brothers and sisters want to talk about criminal justice reform, you in the progressive community can’t push their issue aside and want to talk about what your issue is,” he said. “We gotta meet them where they are. I was frustrated as hell this cycle working with progressives, because every progressive table I was around was like, ‘Okay, these are our four issues. Let’s talk to [voters] about our four issues,’ regardless of what these young folks’ four issues were. That shit’s gotta stop.”

Despite President Donald Trump’s success with the white working class, Belcher said courting these voters shouldn’t be progressives’ first priority. “When people say they want to take their country back, we should stop pretending we don’t know what that frickin’ means,” he said. “Democrats, you’re not going to win blue-collar whites anytime soon. You’re not.”

Instead, Belcher said Democrats should focus on turning out minority voters—starting with more political groups run and staffed by minorities:

Stop funding these one or two organizations that, quite frankly—how do I say this, congresswoman? maybe it’s ‘passive bigotry of progressives’?—where you fund these one or two primarily white organizations ... and they have to go communicate with people of color.... We shouldn’t go into another election cycle where there’s not a black or brown Super PAC that has the funding that Priorities [USA Action] does.

Belcher said this progressive blind spot manifested itself in a central conceit of the Clinton campaign: that she’d do better than Obama among white women.

“She didn’t do better among white women,” Belcher whispered into his microphone, prompting nodding heads and murmurs of agreement in the crowd. In politics, he said, “race has trumped gender.”



THIS FEAR THAT REPUBLICANS WILL VOTE BY THE PARTY LINE, NO MATTER WHAT THE SITUATION IS, ISN’T A SURPRISE TO ME. THEY HAVE CONSISTENTLY DONE THAT MORE THAN THE DEMS DO, AS LONG AS I HAVE BEEN VOTING. THEY LIKE TO LAUGHINGLY SAY THAT THE DEMOCRATS ARE LIKE THE PROVERBIAL “HERD OF CATS.” CONSERVATIVE MEANS NOT STICKING YOUR NECK OUT, AND NEVER WALKING ALONE. THAT’S WHY THEY’RE SO BORING SOMETIMES. TOO BAD THAT THE DEMS HAVE BEEN DOING THAT, TOO. THAT’S WHY BERNIE SANDERS MAY JUST POSSIBLY BE OUR NEXT PRES. I HAVE ALWAYS BELIEVED IN “MAKING A GOOD OLD COLLEGE TRY.” (THAT HAS TO BE SOME KIND OF ANTIQUATED SPORTS REFERENCE, BUT SOMETIMES IT COMES IN HANDY.) I’M ONE WHO BELIEVES IN SPEAKING UP AND TRYING. I DON’T WANT TO GO TO MY REST WITHOUT HAVING DONE THAT. WHO CARES IF ANY MOVES THAT LOOK LIKE “DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM” WOULD BE A LONG SHOT? THOSE ARE THE GOALS WE NEED TO REACH, SO WHY TRY TO DO SOMETHING ELSE INSTEAD? OUR PARTIES HAVE REACHED THE POINT THAT THEY ARE "TOO BIG TO FAIL," AND THAT COUNTERACTS THEIR EFFECTIVENESS AS LEGISLATORS AND GOVERNORS, ETC. ETC. ETC. POWER IS ONLY GOOD IF THE RESULT IS A GOOD ONE.

https://newrepublic.com/article/144323/just-might-stuck-donald-trump
We Just Might Be Stuck With Donald Trump
His critics should prepare themselves for the possibility that Robert Mueller makes the case for impeachment and the Republicans do nothing.
BY BRIAN BEUTLER
August 15, 2017

Though a reminder was hardly needed, occurring as it did against a backdrop of reckless nuclear threats against North Korea and a campaign of intimidation directed at Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller, Donald Trump’s ignominious response to the deadly white-supremacist demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia, served as a fresh testament to the fact that the president is unfit for office and deserves to be removed.

Follow
Ana Navarro ✔ @ananavarro
Went to Sunday mass. Prayed for the people of Charlottesville, healing in America, and Bob Mueller....that he hurries the hell up!🙏🏻
8:55 PM - Aug 13, 2017
1,523 1,523 Replies 7,494 7,494 Retweets 39,965 39,965 likes

It is possible to imagine circumstances under which a Republican Congress would impeach a Republican president, but not for conduct they have already decided to look past—including conduct reported to be in Mueller’s files. So, as welcome as it would be for Mueller to issue a withering indictment of the president and to present evidence of conduct worthy of impeachment, Trump’s detractors should prepare themselves for the possibility that Mueller makes the case of the century and Republicans in Congress respond by doing nothing.

Though it didn’t end his presidency as it rightly should have, Charlottesville did expose and deepen Trump’s real political vulnerabilities. Only a few dead-ender loyalists and paid employees defended Trump after he essentially sided with racists over counter-protesters. Most leading Republicans issued statements, in implicit contrast to Trump, against white supremacy. Some condemned the president directly.

Follow
Marco Rubio ✔ @marcorubio
Very important for the nation to hear @potus describe events in #Charlottesville for what they are, a terror attack by #whitesupremacists
5:30 PM - Aug 12, 2017
13,112 13,112 Replies 31,079 31,079 Retweets 92,756 92,756 likes

Others insisted Trump’s Justice Department launch a federal civil rights investigation of the murder of Heather Heyer, who was run down by a Nazi sympathizer behind the wheel of a speeding car. The Justice Department announced late Saturday that it was doing just that.

By Monday, Trump’s daily Gallup job approval numbers had reached an all-time low, and he was forced to issue a less ambiguous (though by no means unambiguous) statement condemning hate groups. “Racism is evil,” he said. “And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the K.K.K., neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.”

Though better concealed, the coded language embedded in this statement was apparent to white supremacists, too. “Donald Trump’s most recent condemnation of racism was also good and was appropriate as the head of our entire country,” American Freedom Party leader William Johnson told TPM. “I note that he condemned all racism INCLUDING that coming from the KKK and neo-nazis. The use of the word ‘including’ indicates that he believes there is a larger, over-arching source of racism besides those groups named.”

Incidents like these trace the path to a near-term future in which Trump’s approval ratings slide below 30 percent and elected Republicans finally see their way clear to letting Trump go. But by then, they will have already made their peace with a stunning quantity of misconduct. Even in breaking with Trump this weekend, most congressional Republicans chose not to see his actions as disqualifying, and aimed instead to pressure him into making a better statement, so they could put Charlottesville behind them.

In the course of Trump’s short presidency, these same Republicans have already looked past his self-enrichment; his potentate-like deputization of his children as U.S. emissaries; his firing of FBI Director James Comey, along with other extraordinary efforts to quash or interfere with the federal investigation of his campaign’s involvement in Russian efforts to subvert the election on his behalf; evidence that his son, son-in-law, and campaign manager were eager to collude with the Russian government to sabotage Hillary Clinton’s campaign; and an impulsive threat to preemptively nuke North Korea. That is just a partial list.

It will be very difficult for Republicans, if they ultimately decide Trump should be removed from office, to cite any of these offenses as grounds for impeachment proceedings months after they decided they were merely worthy of statements of “concern.” Mueller could send Congress a report concluding that Trump engaged in a lengthy and barely-concealed effort to obstruct justice, and Republicans might still find it easier to chalk it all up to Trump’s imagined inexperience, and move on, than to explain why Mueller’s formal statement of the blindingly obvious changed their minds about the consequences Trump should face.

In a perverse way, Republicans’ early reluctance to impeach Trump for the impeachable things he did in plain sight could transform into the reason they won’t impeach him for that same conduct once his political collapse is complete. Their willingness to enable him when they thought he might be useful would inhibit them from holding him accountable once they’ve concluded he’s not, creating a self-fulfilling kind of impunity.

Of course, Trump makes even the unthinkable possible. He could commit a brand new raft of offenses severe enough to give Republicans an offramp if they’re looking for one. Alternatively, Mueller could uncover a level of wrongdoing none could have predicted and nobody can defend. But ending the Trump presidency speedily is by and large a political project, and a daunting one. The serene faith that Mueller can make Republicans do what Trump’s naked unfitness hasn’t done already is a blind and self-defeating one.

Brian Beutler is a senior editor at The New Republic. He hosts Primary Concerns, a podcast about politics.
@brianbeutler

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BUSH VOICES AGAINST DONALD TRUMP'S COMMENTS STATING THAT SOME NEO-NAZIS ARE "GOOD" PEOPLE

https://www.yahoo.com/news/charlottesville-bush-presidents-denounce-hatred-forms-154910912.html?soc_trk=gcm&soc_src=dbb2094c-7d9a-37c0-96b9-7f844af62e78&.tsrc=notification-brknews
After Charlottesville, both Bush presidents denounce ‘hatred in all forms’
Olivier Knox Yahoo News August 16, 2017

Photograph -- Former President George W. Bush and former President George H.W. Bush; Charlottesville, Va. (Yahoo News photo illustration; photos: Bob Levey/Getty Images, Justin Ide/Reuters)

Former President George H.W. Bush and former President George W. Bush, in a rare joint statement, declared Wednesday that Americans must reject “hatred in all its forms” in the aftermath of the white supremacist and neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Va.

“America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms,” the father-son duo said in the statement, which was released by both their offices.

“As we pray for Charlottesville, we are reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that city’s most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence: we are all created equal and endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights,” they said, in a reference to Thomas Jefferson. “We know these truths to be everlasting because we have seen the decency and greatness of our country.”

The combined message came a day after President Trump said there was “blame on both sides” in Charlottesville, where a young woman was killed when a white supremacist allegedly deliberately drove his car into a group of counterprotesters. The Unite The Right forces also clashed with so-called antifa counterprotesters. Some prominent Republicans have broken sharply with Trump, while white nationalists have cheered him on.

Joint statements from the Bushes are rare, though they have released at least one before — they did so in 2013, after former Massachusetts Gov. Paul Cellucci died, according to the elder Bush’s office.

Read more from Yahoo News:
How presidents should speak about racist violence: Lessons from history
As neo-Nazis grow bolder, the ‘antifa’ has emerged to fight them
U.S. cuts grant for group that seeks to deradicalize neo-Nazis
Jacksonville reassesses Confederate monuments in Charlottesville’s aftermath
Photos: Confederate statue toppled in Durham, N.C.; others vandalized as cities consider removal of such monuments



COULD IT BE THAT TRUMP, LIAR THAT HE IS, IS TOO HONEST TO CHOKE OUT A BELIEF IN THE "STANDARD" AMERICAN VALUES, LIKE ALL THE POLITICAL PROS DO? IN A WAY THERE IS A CERTAIN RELIEF THAT HE DECIDED TO STATE HIS REAL VIEWS. IN ANOTHER WAY, IT'S KINDA FRIGHTENING, DON'T YOU THINK?

https://newrepublic.com/minutes/144347/trumps-position-charlottesville-become-even-pro-nazi
Trump’s position on Charlottesville has become even more pro-Nazi
Jeet Heer
August 15, 2017

Trump’s position on Charlottesville has become even more pro-Nazi. At a press conference in New York City to nominally promote his infrastructure bill, the president re-iterated his belief that both white supremacists and their opponents were at fault for the racial violence in Virginia this weekend. “You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent,” Trump said. In that one sentence, Trump returned to his original position that “many sides” bore responsibility, which comes after a transparently insincere attempt on Monday to blame neo-Nazis and white supremacists specifically.

But there’s more! Trump also gave a rousing endorsement of the white supremacists’ cause, saying that many “good people” had come to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee. He said that tearing down the statue of Lee was comparable to tearing down statues of George Washington or Thomas Jefferson.

“Not all of those people were neo-Nazis,” Trump asserted. “Not all of those people were white supremacists by any stretch. ... You had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people—on both sides.”

As a factual matter, Trump’s statement is dubious: The event was openly organized by white supremacists, so it is unlikely that many “fine people” were at the rally. His latest remarks have only validated the suspicion that Trump sees white supremacists as a crucial part of his political alliance and that he is loath to alienate them. And the country’s racists like what they’re hearing:

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David Duke @DrDavidDuke
Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists in BLM/Antifa https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/897554574663442432 …
4:45 PM - Aug 15, 2017



A SAD FOOTNOTE: A 17 YEAR OLD BOY HAS BEEN CAUGHT DAMAGING A HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL IN CELEBRATION OF HIS WHITE CHRISTIANITY. IT WOULD BE INTERESTING IF, IN ADDITION TO IMPRISONING THEM, WE WOULD FORCE THESE PEOPLE TO DO PSYCHOTHERAPY AND TAKE ANTI-PSYCHOTIC DRUGS. HE WAS SAID TO BE "RANTING INCOHERENTLY" WHEN TWO BYSTANDERS CAUGHT HIM AND HELD HIM FOR THE POLICE.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/boston-holocaust-memorial-vandalized-teenager-arrested/
CBS NEWS August 15, 2017, 10:55 AM
Teen arrested after Holocaust memorial in Boston vandalized

Photograph -- Police say a 17-year-old boy allegedly smashed a glass panel at the Holocaust memorial in Boston on Monday night. CBS BOSTON

BOSTON -- For the second time this summer, the Holocaust memorial in Boston has been vandalized.

Boston Police say a 17-year-old boy from Malden allegedly threw a rock at the memorial around 6:30 p.m. Monday and smashed a glass panel.

"I saw this guy running around the corner dressed in all black," one witness told CBS Boston. "It was a dozen people chasing him. The world's gone crazy."

The suspect was detained by two bystanders until police arrived at the scene. Witnesses said they heard the suspect ranting incoherently.

"I'm grateful for the quick response and the community help, which led to the swift arrest of the suspect responsible for the damage done to the Holocaust memorial," Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said.

"Clearly, this type of behavior will not be tolerated in our city," he said. "And, in light of the recent events and unrest in Charlottesville, it's sad to see a young person choose to engage in such senseless and shameful behavior."

Over the weekend, an attack after a violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville claimed the life of a woman and injured 19 others.

The teen's name has not been released. He will be charged with the willful and malicious destruction of property. The Boston Police Civil Rights Unit is also investigating to determine if additional charges are pending.

The panels on the memorial's six towers are etched with millions of numbers that represent tattoos on the arms of the Jews murdered by the Nazis.


Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said he was saddened to see "such a despicable action in this great city."

The memorial was rededicated in July after a 21-year-old man who authorities say suffers from mental illness threw a rock through one of the panels.

"And now that this has happened twice in one summer it cannot be a coincidence," said Jeremy Burton of the Jewish Community Relations Council.

Burton's group oversees the memorial and points to the weekend's neo-Nazi violence in Virginia and fears a disturbing trend.

When the memorial was built more than 20 years ago, the organizers knew vandalism was possible and they created extra panels.

"It's horrific, it's terrible," one man visiting from Miami told CBS Boston. "You come here to pay your respects. You don't want to be reminded about the hate and evil."

When the glass was shattered in June, it was replaced in just two weeks. The pane smashed Monday is bigger and might take longer.


IS TRUMP IN SERIOUS MENTAL TROUBLE? I WONDER IF HE CARRIES A GUN? OF COURSE, HE ALWAYS HAS HIS LIVELY TWITTER FINGERS. BUT AT SOME POINT HE MAY GO BEYOND TWITTER. I WANT TO SEE SOMETHING DONE TO GET HIM OUT OF OFFICE. WE CAN'T WAIT ANOTHER THREE YEARS.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/has-trump-reached-the-bottom-or-can-he-fall-further?cid=eml_mra_20170814
Has Trump reached the bottom, or can he fall further?
08/14/17 12:41 PM—UPDATED 08/14/17 01:30 PM
By Steve Benen

Photograph -- US President Donald Trump walks after arriving on Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, April 28, 2017. SAUL LOEB

On Friday afternoon at one of the golf resorts he still owns and profits from, Donald Trump fielded some reporters’ questions on a variety of topics. For example, with the crisis in Venezuela continuing to unfold, the president was asked about what options he’s considering to “deal with this mess.” Trump, for the first time, publicly raised the specter of U.S. military intervention.

“We have many options for Venezuela. And by the way, I’m not going to rule out a military option. We have many options for Venezuela. This is our neighbor. This is – you know, we’re all over the world. And we have troops all over the world in places that are very, very far away. Venezuela is not very far away. And the people are suffering. And they’re dying. We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option if necessary.”

The president wouldn’t go into any details, but he added moments later that “a military operation, a military option is certainly something that we could pursue.”

By all appearances, Trump just blurted all of this out without any real thought or planning. The United States hasn’t actually taken any steps to prepare for military intervention in Venezuela, and Vice President Mike Pence soon after sent a very different signal about U.S. intentions – Trump and Pence routinely say very different things to different audiences – but the damage was already done.

As a Slate report explained, “Throughout his power grab that has accompanied Venezuela’s descent into chaos, Maduro has long warned the United States was planning to invade the country. Trump’s words seemed to play straight into his narrative…. ‘Maduro must be thrilled right now,’ said Mark Feierstein, who was a senior aide on Venezuela to former president Barack Obama. ‘It’s hard to imagine a more damaging thing for Trump to say.’”

That sentiment – “It’s hard to imagine a more damaging thing for Trump to say” – keeps coming up, in all kinds of contexts.

Just over the last several days, Trump’s bizarre saber-rattling towards North Korea created a national security crisis, complete with hollow-but-alliterative phrases such as “fire and fury” and “locked and loaded.” Given the seriousness of the threat, it was hard to imagine a more damaging thing for Trump to say.

Trump then thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for sanctions against the United States. And again, it was hard to imagine a more damaging thing for Trump to say.

After seeing the developments in Charlottesville, the president could’ve condemned white supremacists, but instead he complained about violence “on many sides.” And again, it was hard to imagine a more damaging thing for Trump to say.

This followed the president going after his own party’s Senate majority leader and lying about the U.S. nuclear arsenal, leaving much of the country to wonder aloud what in the world the president is talking about on a nearly daily basis.

We’re not talking about cringe-worthy moments that have unfolded over the course of months. These are just the developments we’ve seen since Wednesday.

I suppose the obvious joke at this point would be to note that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly has failed spectacularly at bringing discipline and maturity to Trump’s operation, but what I’d really love to know is whether this is the bottom or whether Trump still has further to fall.


YES, FOR GOODNESS SAKE, GET RID OF BANNON, AND THE SOONER THE BETTER! I DO WISH HE WOULD SHAVE.

http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/steve-bannon-is-in-limbo-nyt-1024630851829
ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES 8/14/17
Steve Bannon is in limbo: NYT
Thing 1/Thing 2: Donald Trump is facing growing calls to oust Steve Bannon – and things aren’t looking good for the White House chief strategist. Duration: 2:36


BESCHLOSS DOES A BEAUTIFUL SUMMATION OF OUR NATIONAL SHAME. I HOPE THOSE AROUND THE WORLD IN OTHER NATIONS WILL KNOW THAT UNLESS THE US GOVERNMENT DOES CRASH BURNING TO THE GROUND, WE WILL COME THROUGH THIS, TRUMP WILL BE OUSTED, AND SOME CHANGES WILL BE MADE ABOUT HAVING SOME LOGICAL QUALIFICATIONS FOR ANYONE WHO RUNS FOR OUR LEADERSHIP POSITIONS, ESPECIALLY THE PRESIDENCY. WE ALSO NEED RULES THAT HE/SHE JUST WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO BREAK.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 8/15/17
Trump fails on moral leadership with embrace of hate groups
Michael Beschloss, NBC News presidential historian, talks with Rachel Maddow about how far afield Donald Trump is from the American president's function as a role model of responsible, moral leadership. Duration: 4:27


DO WATCH THIS EXCELLENT VIDEO:

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 8/15/17
Donald Trump remarks aid white supremacists' political ambitions
Rachel Maddow looks at the history of Ku Klux Klan in American politics and its quest for power and points out that it was no accident that Donald Trump helped give racists legitimacy with his remarks about the deadly rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Duration: 19:23