Voters in Chicago’s Democratic primary rejected the city’s top prosecutor who was criticized for her handling of a case involving the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black teenager.
Anita Alvarez conceded the race to her challenger Kim Foxx, an attorney who argued Alvarez mishandled the controversial case of Jason Van Dyke, a Chicago police officer indicted for murder in the killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald more than a year before.
“There was no justifiable reason, whatsoever, for a delay in charges of 400 days,” Foxx said in an interview with MSNBC on the eve of the primary
Alvarez, 56, was widely criticized for waiting to act until a court ordered release of the now infamous video of the shooting. The ensuing controversy led the police chief to resign, and to weeks of protest and criticism of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The case also drew condemnation from all the Democrats running for president.
Kim Foxx didn't just beat Anita Alvarez, it was a blowout pic.twitter.com/iU6JYkgNrX
— Brandon Wall (@Walldo) March 16, 2016
Anita Alvarez concedes. Among her supporters Stacy Jurich who survived a baseball attack. @ABC7Chicago pic.twitter.com/6zWkrbMGys
— Leah Hope (@leahhopeABC7) March 16, 2016
Bernie Sanders Is Right: Black People ARE Poor
Watch Michelle Obama’s SXSW Keynote Speech Featuring Missy Elliott and Diane Warren
And check out the new single spearheaded by the first lady
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9iSCistRJI
https://youtu.be/PNR9jX9AX8U?t=5
https://youtu.be/7azjhUqQ_OI?t=35
http://www.spin.com/2016/03/watch-michelle-obama-sxsw-keynote-speech-missy-elliott-diane-warren-let-girls-learn-single-stream/
HillaryWho?
SenSanders,
Keep on Pushing! You can’t stop now, move up a little higher, some way, some how!
I hope Bernie stays put…We are patently waiting our turn to vote for him…My only regret is that I didn’t start helping him much earlier when it would have made a considerable difference…
The media and the Democratic hierarchy are trying their darndest to dampen and kill enthusiasm for Bernie by pretending it’s over..
But it isn’t…
Media wants it over so they can concentrate on the Hillary-Trump showdown, the 2016 Lesser of Two Evils Presidential Election.
Bernie is a real person who cares deeply about his country. The media wants no part of him, and they certainly do not want him to succeed.
https://twitter.com/Fedup_Mom/status/710206112893685760
**********************
More of FLOTUS at SXSW…
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDBjT03Mtkp/
Awwww…
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDBcvoWt2mu/
Awwwww…
It’s really all about the young people for our FLOTUS…
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDBjiaPl5Tn/
Hillary Clinton Has Big Night; Media Moves to Silence Bernie Sanders Campaign
MARCH 16, 2016
http://www.democracynow.org/2016/3/16/hillary_clinton_has_big_night_media?utm_source=Democracy+Now%21&utm_campaign=b41eea7e7f-Daily_Digest&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fa2346a853-b41eea7e7f-190335541
“NINA TURNER: Well, Amy, we’ve certainly come a long way in this campaign. And let us not forget that Senator Sanders is a senator from Vermont, with about 600,000 people, not a terribly diverse state. People wrote him off from the time he made his announcement to become the president of the United States of America. And look at him now. And to the credit of Democracy Now!, and I want to thank you so much for even playing a portion of his speech. A lot of this has to do with the corporate media structure, who—they have locked him out. And so they don’t want people to hear his message. So it’s either about Mr. Trump—he gets the overwhelming majority—or it’s about Secretary Clinton.
But we’re going to continue to push. Senator Sanders has some bright lights coming. We knew that the first few waves of Tuesdays were certainly more toward Secretary Clinton. But we are moving to the west, where we will see states that are more—that will be much more competitive for Senator Bernie Sanders. But we’re going to keep on pushing no matter what. We’re going all the way to the convention. And let us not forget: In 2008, when then-Senator Clinton was competing against then-Senator Obama, they went all the way to the convention. And we are going there, as well.”
All you need is one ride or die friend…
https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/710104691472859136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
FLOTUS is at SXSW today…Just saw some great stuff from the event..she was a hit as usual..
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDBcObVGpmq/
https://twitter.com/PoliticsNation/status/710143638282620928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
What a blessing..
What if Trump attempts to over-throw the government? Have folks thought about that? That’s why he can’t be near WH.He’s too effin dangerous.
LOL SG..
Eliihass , some of those red neck thugs are most likely planning for riots already. Trump knows his followers. He’s given them the green light already if he doesn’t get the nomination. They’re not going quietly into that good night.
I hate to say this SG, but I just can’t seem to get any more excised over Trump and his shenanigans than I was years ago when he was doing the same thing and nobody seemed offended – and everyone including the Clintons cheered him on and thought him harmless and ‘gracious’..
But now I’m supposed to be suddenly so appalled and only to whip up enough fear and outrage to help get his pal Hillary elected under this guise of anyone but Trump…?
Can’t do it SG…
I’m reserving my Trump outrage now, because all it does is aid fake Hillary and her racist butt…I won’t be manipulated…that’s the Hillary plan…get folks so mad and scared of Trump, thy get behind her…I’m not falling for that okey dokey…
Trump=Hillary and Bill . Same difference…And Trump will soon begin to squeal about everything the Clintons told him…
It’s a pity Bernie is too much of a gentleman to expose Hillary’s racism and hypocrisy – especially as she bold-faced looks folks in the eye and tries to play good cop, when she’s one of those that started and sustained this racist crap that’s now permeated our discourse..
And what in the blazing hell would this “principle” be? That the GOP Senate will obstruct a democratically elected president who they disapprove of because of his race and try to deny him his rightful authority?
This folks, must not be allowed to happen. This kind of action must be nipped in the bud, it WILL LEAD to worse things for future presidents. Call your senators often.
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Just called McCain and Flake’s Tucson offices. These senators need to feel some pressure. They need to feel pressure as though they were in a black hole, no pun intended.
The Republican Party’s Chosen One exits stage right
03/16/16 09:31 AM—UPDATED 03/16/16 09:48 AM
By Steve Benen
Over the course of the 2016 presidential race, Marco Rubio was compared to a variety of people – the “Republican John Edwards” was especially compelling – but the Florida senator always reminded me most of George W. Bush. Both enjoyed considerable support from the GOP establishment; both were far more conservative than their pleasant demeanor suggested; both chose not to invest too much energy in substantive policy details; both lacked necessary curiosity; and both preferred not to work too terribly hard.
The difference is, George W. Bush was actually a fairly savvy politician. Marco Rubio lost a primary in his home state by nearly 20 points.
It’s difficult to remember a candidate who enjoyed the kind of advantages Rubio had, but who ended up failing so spectacularly. The Florida senator was adored and celebrated by his party’s establishment. Pundits not only fawned over him, they practically ordered Republican primary voters to support him. What he lacked in accomplishments and qualifications he made up for through charm, money, and well-delivered right-wing rhetoric.
But Rubio’s castle was made of sand, washed away effortlessly by one obnoxious wave.
China uses Trump to make case against democracy
03/15/16 12:41 PM
By Steve Benen
The Chinese government does its best to limit the free exchange of ideas in its country, but there’s no doubt that the Chinese people are aware of democracy’s existence. Officials occasionally like to remind China, however, that the rival form of government is far more trouble than it’s worth.
And occasionally, Republicans in the United States offer convenient fodder that makes China’s job easier. When GOP members of Congress shut down the federal government a few years ago, for example, state-owned Chinese media ran reports that said, in effect, “See? Democracy leads to chaos and instability.” When Republicans launched their debt-ceiling hostage crisis in 2011, and threatened to crash the economy on purpose, China once again was only too pleased to tell its people about the tumult democracy brings.
As the Washington Post reported this week, with Donald Trump faring well in the GOP presidential race, China has brand new evidence to bolster their anti-democratic pitch.
Mussolini and Hitler came to power through elections, China’s Global Times reminded readers Monday. Now an “abusively racist and extremist” candidate is on the rise in the United States, it says. Maybe democracy isn’t such a good idea after all.
In an editorial Monday, China’s state-owned Global Times newspaper used Donald Trump’s rise to gloat about the fault lines in U.S. society and to argue that democracy was both a waste of time – and downright scary.
From the rise of a “narcissistic and inflammatory candidate” to the violence that surrounded his planned rally in Chicago, the paper said it was shocking this could happen in a country that “boasts one of the most developed and mature democratic election systems” in the world.
DEAR WHITE PEOPLE: DONALD TRUMP IS HAPPENING BECAUSE YOU’RE SCARED OF BLACK PEOPLE, SO DON’T BE!
Damon Young, 3/14/16
Both Donald Trump and Trump supporters seem to be perplexed that a campaign full of unambiguous antagonism towards people who don’t happen to be White has created the type of climate where what happened in Chicago last weekend happens. Which is like someone who happens to be lactose intolerant drinking an Oreo shake and then complaining all night about a stomachache. (Which is exactly what I did on Friday. Because my willpower vacillates from “six-year-old” to “crackhead.”)
Of course, the message from Trump and his followers is that President Obama is to blame for this atmosphere. Which is true, I guess, the same way it’s true that the guy who invented rap is responsible for Tyga.
The reality, as Slate’s Jamelle Bouie recently articulated, is that Trump is happening because many of you believe Obama inverted America’s true racial hierarchy:
BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
BEN CARSON ENDORSED TRUMP FOR A JOB HOOK-UP, WHICH REMINDS US BEN CARSON IS BLACK AS FUCK
Damon Young, 3/15/16
You can say many things about Ben Carson, the backordered decaffeinated coffee machine who recently dropped out of the presidential race. Iconic surgeon. Popeyes enthusiast. Vigilante. Black History Month book report muse. Delusional motherfucker. But one thing you cannot do is doubt his Blackness bonafides. Yes, his actual politics, if enacted, would have put America back to 1953. But let’s forget about that for a moment. Instead, just think about all the times he reminded us he was Black as fuck.
There were the multiple times he appeared to be barely conscious while giving speeches, appearing on TV, waiting to walk on stage, and just, like, standing there. Which reminded Black America of every middle-aged dad or uncle asked to do something, and doing what he’s asked to do, but emitting a barely concealed contempt through his body language at you for asking him to do something while Criminal Minds was on. There was the time he allowed the national anthem to be delivered by his wife; a (presumably) lovely woman whose voice can best be described as “bless her heart.” Which is no different from well-meaning Black people volunteering friends and family members who have no business volunteering to sing anywhere outside of showers and empty Priuses to sing church solos. And, there was the time he installed a portrait of him and Black Klingon Jesus at a YMCA sauna — a Rondo-handed Black Klingon Jesus with circa-2003 Katt Williams’s hair — in his home, which might actually be the Blackest thing ever done by anyone anywhere.
Now, it’s being reported that he only endorsed Donald Trump because of a potential job hook-up. Which…well. Let’s just say I know I’m not the only one who pretended to listen to and enjoy a mixtape produced by a bouncer at a club I used to frequent because I knew it mentioning it to him would get me in free.
WHY SOME MEN ARE SO DAMN UPSET ABOUT CIARA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH RUSSELL WILSON, EXPLAINED
Damon Young, 3/15/16
Who is Ciara?
You ever watch Step Up or any other movie made in the last decade featuring unrealistically competitive street dance tournaments? You know, the movies where dance-offs inexplicability result in stabbings, shootings, and random appearances from a seasoned Omarion? Well, there’s an 87% chance Ciara was somehow featured on the songs the people in the movie danced to.
Who is Russell Wilson?
Do you know who Joel Osteen is?
Yes.
Imagine if Joel Osteen was a 27-year-old NFL quarterback. And Black.
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/710135458265587712
You can smell that voter suppression 10 miles away.
This running out of ballots at polling stations is pure bullshit. I smell fish & it ain’t Friday.
Running Out of Ballots, Turning Voters Away & Candidates Campaigning at Polling Sites – Today’s DNC Rigged Primaries
There are NUMEROUS reports of precincts in Florida and Illinois that ran out of ballots. At what point does mere incompetence become suppression? Definitely a debate worth having. But it’s clear that the system enables and engenders what effectively amounts to voter suppression when all the obvious variables are considered, and that’s well before we even consider the possibility of direct manipulation by those with a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.
Several Adams County polling locations ran out of ballots: http://bit.ly/21udFw7
*****
“Reporting on some major mishaps in Orange County on Florida’s Primary. Voters were turned away at 52 precincts because of a ballot shortage!” ~Amanda McKenzie http://on.fb.me/1QW57eN
BREAKING: Voting hours will NOT be extended for Orange County where 52 precincts experienced a ballot shortage. Polls close at 7pm. http://bit.ly/21ud7X2
******
“It took me 2 mins to vote today. In those 2 mins, 2 ppl were denied the right to vote bc they’re independents & FL is a closed primary. 1 person per minute, per precinct, per state. Textbook voter suppression. By the way, 40% of Americans are registered Independents.” ~JR Nkume
The oldest voter suppression tactic in the book is unfolding in Central Florida: it is being reported that 13+ precincts were already out of ballots by noon today.
“So hellary gets all the retirement ballots in early and then they run out on the actual voting day? Wtf” ~Sallie Riley
“DNC at work for HER, because as we all know when more people vote, Bernie wins! Five States hold the future of America in their hands today! #BernieSanders2016 The Only Rational and or Logical Choice!” ~Steve Bowder
Voter Suppression Reported in Florida: http://on.fb.me/22jax8B
https://twitter.com/Nettaaaaaaaa/status/710118343538151425
https://twitter.com/JawnMurray/status/709002499320061952
Hey Chicas!
I just clicked on @Paula_White name this morning & voila…I am blocked. I never talk to her. Guess she must have seen my tweets to Joel Osteen and blocked out of the starting gate. She’s blocking everybody.
https://twitter.com/rolandsmartin/status/709414806198026240
She’s preemptively blocking ..LOL..
And Roland as usual is using the opportunity to push for relevance – his..
LOL..
There are no honest brokers fam…The black Pastors and Bishops are cooning from drinking compromised cheap Clinton cocktails…while the white ones are bowing at Trump’s dubious altar…
Everybody is bought and sold or selling out…
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Wow! Threats & bullying in full effect!
Well, it looks like this:
Clinton pledged delegates = 1,132
Bernie pledged delegates = 818
Clinton super delegates = 467
Bernie super delegates = 26
Illinois
Clinton pledged delegates = 68
Bernie pledged delegates = 67
Missouri
Clinton pledged delegates = 31
Bernie pledged delegates = 32
Florida
Clinton pledged delegates = 130
Bernie pledged delegates = 63
North Carolina
Clinton pledged delegates = 59
Bernie pledged delegates = 45
Ohio
Clinton pledged delegates = 76
Bernie pledged delegates = 57
Source: google.com
Super delegates SHOULD NOT be part of the discussion. They are not committed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superdelegate
Wikipedia
Democratic superdelegates are free to support any candidate for the nomination. This contrasts with convention “pledged” delegates that are selected based on the party primaries and caucuses in each U.S. state, in which voters choose among candidates for the party’s presidential nomination.
The whole concept of super delegates needs to go. If the Democratic party espouses itself to be truly democratic, then super delegates are unnecessary and wrong.
POTUS SCOTUS nom thread is up!
https://twitter.com/voxdotcom/status/710090760671109120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
UH HUH Granny-killer’s on the prowl. There’s a method to the madness with him going for that SPEAKER slot.
Paul Ryan won’t categorically rule out accepting GOP nom
“You know, I haven’t given any thought to this stuff,” Ryan said Tuesday night in an exclusive interview at the Capitol. “People say, ‘What about the contested convention?’ I say, well, there are a lot of people running for president. We’ll see. Who knows.”
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/15/paul-ryan-wont-categorically-rule-out-accepting-gop-nom.html?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_daily202
they build him. they can live with him.
https://twitter.com/NYMag/status/710086524994461696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
I am actually somewhat surprised that the Republican establishment plutocrats have completely lost control of their party at the national level. I have to admit that I didn’t see this coming and a year ago I wouldn’t have believed that Donald Trump could win the nomination.
Me either, Liza. I was so used to the establishment getting their way…I didn’t think it was possible for someone to lay waste to them.
They’re toothless bulldogs..
LOL..
They couldn’t even stop Trump or Cruz…and none of their preferred candidates made a dent – not even with all the tens of millions, the dynastic ‘power’ (Bush) – and the entire Neo-con-establishment poobahs anointing them …they all fell short and fizzled out – and not even with as much as a whimper..
https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/710082833205764096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
LOL I love this. Oh but if I could just drop and snap with a snap!
https://twitter.com/SCOTUSnom/status/710068697151352832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/SCOTUSnom/status/710059405459464192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Well, I am happy on the local front for the results from last night.
Anita Alvarez had to go. I had never been fond of her, but I was done with the result of the Rekia Boyd murder. From the result of that, I just felt nothing but disgust when I saw her. So, seeing her go down made me very happy. And, those who put up that fraud More shot themselves in the foot – More didn’t take votes from Foxx – she took them from Alvarez.
And, as for Ken Dunkin…don’t let the door hit you on your way out. I absolutely despise Michael Madigan..but, even when you have the Devil in your midst, somehow, there always happens to be an even worse Devil in the form of our Governor- Bruce Rauner. We have been without a State Budget since July. The thought…the mere thought.,..that ANY Democrat would side with Rauner – FOR ANY REASON – I didn’t give two shyts what Madigan decided to do to Dunkin. So, good riddance to him, and I hope the 30 pieces he got from Rauner was worth it, considering the thousands of the ‘least of these’ in my state that have been hurt because of Dunkin’s paid -for ‘ independence’. Negro, please.
And, Tammy Duckworth won. Wasn’t feeling her, but Andrea Zopp didn’t even reach out to the Black community like she should have..so, oh well. I’ll support Duckworth to get rid of Kirk.
“…Anita Alvarez had to go. I had never been fond of her, but I was done with the result of the Rekia Boyd murder…”
“…And, as for Ken Dunkin…don’t let the door hit you on your way out…”
Funny how we know so much about Chicago politics Rikyrah…and for all the wrong reasons…
“…And, Tammy Duckworth won. Wasn’t feeling her…”
Uh huh…I concur…
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Tim McGinty GONE TOO
https://twitter.com/RussWKYC/status/709958092088336386
uh huh
uh huh
BYE NOW! Don’t let the door hit you where the good LORD split ya!
This is good, but it’s just not enough.
How can she live with herself?
Anita Alvarez, Chicagos Top Prosecutor, Cleared Killer Cops 68 Times
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/14/anita-alvarez-chicago-s-top-prosecutor-cleared-killer-cops-68-times.html
In the era before Laquan McDonald, the Cook County state’s attorney didn’t once explain why she declined to charge officers when they shot and killed people.
CHICAGO — Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez has declined to file charges against Chicago police officers involved in the fatal shootings of at least 68 people in the last seven years and there is no documentation to explain these decisions, a Daily Beast review of public records has found.
Clearing police officers without explanation seems almost scandalous today, but in the era before Black Lives Matter, it was the norm. Even the press did not routinely report on the number of police-involved shootings, let alone the specifics of each. Even after the outrage of how Chicago deliberately hid the dashcam video showing Laquan McDonald’s death, Alvarez’s office largely escaped scrutiny about how it investigates officer-involved shootings; the focus instead has been mostly on Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office, the Chicago Police Department, and Independent Police Review Authority, none of whom can criminally charge officers.
She sat by deaf, dumb, and mute during the Jon Burge investigation too.
She has no conscience.
Incompetent and/or corrupt.
Take your pick.
Good riddance!
Folks like her either go bad and lose their humanity, or they never had any to begin with.
When will we see indictments coming down the pipe?
Second State employee refuses GOP questions on Clinton server
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/hillary-clinton-emails-state-department-220689
A State Department staffer who oversaw security and technology issues for Hillary Clinton is refusing to answer Senate investigators’ questions about the former secretary of state’s use of a private email server — marking the second time an ex-State employee has declined to talk to lawmakers.
John Bentel, a now-retired State employee who managed IT security issues for the top echelon at the department, declined to be interviewed by GOP staff on the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees, according to a letter obtained by POLITICO.
The chairmen of both committees, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), are now threatening to consider other ways to compel him to discuss the matter.
“We are troubled by your refusal to engage with the committees even after repeated overtures of accommodation,” the letter to Bentel and his lawyer reads. “We need to speak with you. … We would, of course, prefer that you meet with us in a voluntary and informal manner, but we will consider other options if faced with a continuing lack of cooperation.”
Good morning!
Not feeling too proud today, Chicas. I hate this election.
Good Morning, SG2. Have your FEELS.
Keep your head up and keep on PUSHING!!
I’m so angry and disappointed. Is this really my country?
Keep the faith Liza…
Something will give…
If all else fails, and Bernie chooses not to run as an Independent, we’ll have no option but to explore Jill Stein…
Hopefully Bernie stands his ground and realizes there are a lot of us behind him..
No Hillary..
But you’ve got to trust that things will work out SG…Don’t give up…don’t lose hope..
Thank you, Eliihass. I’m trying.
Don’t give up SG..