ICYMI
"Answer the question! Answer the question! Answer the question!"
—Constituents shout at Dean Heller town hall, via @American_Bridge pic.twitter.com/usxtQOIkgm
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 17, 2017
"How many Russian spies do we have to have in the White House before you investigate it?!"
—Constituents press Dean Heller at his town hall pic.twitter.com/hPLEgt6eRi
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 18, 2017
Y’all deserve a treat tonight. I remember this one from the radio, so yeah, I’m old.
I love it. Thanks for this. I love love the old songs.
Me too, SG2. This is one of those songs that just stands out in my memory, I’ve always loved it.
https://twitter.com/Crystal1Johnson/status/854453568102739969
Less than 1/5 of Asian-American voters supported Donald Trump in the 2016 election, according to new exit poll data https://t.co/1ILarOX2C7 pic.twitter.com/b83TKUvlfy
— NPR (@NPR) April 18, 2017
Beyond Black and White, the Role Xenophobia Played in the Election
by Nancy LeTourneau April 18, 2017 2:47 PM
Yesterday Martin raised some important questions about the findings outlined by Thomas Wood in an article titled, “Racism motivated Trump voters more than authoritarianism.” On the same day, Philip Klinkner wrote, “Immigration was central to the election, and hostility toward immigrants animated Trump voters.”
It is important to note that this kind of analysis has been triggered by the release of data from the American National Election Study (ANES). That was also the basis for an article by Mehdi Hasan that I referenced previously titled, “Top Democrats Are Wrong: Trump Supporters Were More Motivated by Racism Than Economic Issues.”
Some of the questions that arise from the reviews of this data might have to do with the need to revisit what we mean by words like “racism.” We have traditionally used that to describe some of the attitudes White Americans have about Black Americans. The questions Wood relies on to identify racism are all based on that formulation. But does “racism” also apply to attitudes about Mexican Americans? How about immigrants more generally? The survey questions from ANES on which Klinkner relies are a completely different set of inquiries.
The fact of the matter is that many Mexican Americans are not immigrants. They lived here long before European Americans came to these shores. And yet they have been subjected to much of the same kinds of racism directed towards African Americans. Is that because white people assume they are immigrants or because they are not white? Perhaps a combination of both.
Of course, we can’t talk about the role that anti-immigration played in the election without discussing Islamophobia. Based on what I have seen and read, that was a huge factor in many rural communities, especially where evangelical churches and community groups hosted presentations by the fear-mongers. That brand of discrimination is primarily based on religious beliefs. But there are also a lot of stereotypes about Muslims being “brown” and Islamophobia is often linked to fears about immigration in general.
Andrew Sullivan’s Pathology
The writer’s perpetuation of model-minority and black-deficiency myths is pretty boring at this point.
By Jamelle Bouie
Writing for New York magazine last week, Andrew Sullivan posed a question for those who see racism as the primary obstacle to equality and prosperity for nonwhite Americans: What about Asians?
Riffing off of the recent incident on a United Airlines plane, where an elderly Asian American man was forcibly removed from his seat to make room for United employees, Sullivan presented a question about the strength of racism and white supremacy.
……………………….
Even as he avoids the words black or African American, that charge—that black deficiency (or even pathology) drives black disadvantage—is the core of Sullivan’s inquiry. And his argument, unstated but clear as the blue sky, is that black Americans have only themselves and their culture to blame for continued racial inequality. That this flies in the face of what we know about structural and institutional disadvantage—of ongoing discrimination in jobs and housing, of the long and enduring effects of past discrimination and bias, of racial disadvantage among well-educated, two-parent black families, of the half-hearted efforts to remedy those accumulated burdens—is, at most, a minor obstacle in Sullivan’s narrative. It also flies in the face of what we know about Asian American gains, which followed that aforementioned—often politically motivated—mid-century decline in anti-Asian racism. Even still, Asian Americans face continued discrimination; among the highly educated, for instance, Asian men earned significantly less than their white counterparts.
Trump’s daughter meets Chinese president, receives Chinese trademarks
04/18/17 12:47 PM
By Steve Benen
During the presidential transition period, Donald Trump met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in New York, which wouldn’t have been especially notable were it not for Ivanka Trump’s participation in the discussion. The Republican’s daughter, at the time, said she intended to have no role in the Trump administration, so why was she there?
We learned soon after that Ivanka Trump was working on a licensing deal in Japan, as part of a deal with a bank owned by the Japanese government, when she sat in on a meeting with Japan’s prime minister.
This quickly became an obvious example of Team Trump’s conflict-of-interest troubles, which Trump himself showed little interest in addressing. Four months later, the Associated Press has highlighted a related story that’s just as jarring.
Let’s not lose sight of the timeline here: we learned in late March that Ivanka Trump, after having said the opposite, has joined her father’s White House team. Though she won’t receive a paycheck, Trump’s daughter will have an office in the West Wing and will serve as an assistant to the president.
It was a week later when White House Employee Ivanka Trump’s company won approval in China for several new trademarks, literally the same day she sat down for dinner with the Chinese president.
https://twitter.com/Impeach_D_Trump/status/854308011371896832
https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/854379010050195456
Watch The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
ON HBO SATURDAY, APRIL 22 @ 8 pm ET/7 pm CT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-jxEX1XQpY
Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne star in this adaptation of Rebecca Skloot’s critically acclaimed, bestselling nonfiction book of the same name. Told through the eyes of Henrietta Lacks’ daughter, Deborah Lacks, the film chronicles her search, along with journalist Rebecca Skloot (Byrne), to learn about the mother she never knew and understand how the unauthorized harvesting of Lacks’ cancerous cells in 1951 led to unprecedented medical breakthroughs, changing countless lives and the face of medicine forever.
I can’t wait to watch.
https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/854364299816521728
yes; go on to HELL. Knew he wasn’t going to come out this murder alive.
At first I thought this was suicide by cop. But now I see it was about getting the cops to chase him and depriving them of the kill shot. A real monster, better off dead to be sure and better for the rest of us.
AMEN! Go on to your own place in hell reserved just for you. Murdering Demon!
https://twitter.com/PAStatePolice/status/854360555108392960
This is so beyond troubling into alarming. US foreign policy has been sold for hotels & handbags https://t.co/QbnFbl7nMj
— David Frum (@davidfrum) April 18, 2017
Elect a world class grifter, expect world class corruption.
Some Disturbing Questions About Trump’s Ties to China
by Nancy LeTourneau April 18, 2017 10:42 AM
I have already written about my skepticism that Donald Trump turned on a dime during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago last week and that the two of them have now developed a “warm rapport.” That is mainly based on the fact that the president is a congenital liar. But I’ve always felt that there was something fishy about his demonization of China during the campaign. Then came this little tidbit in the Steele dossier that seems to have been completely ignored:
Since Trump’s election, we’ve seen several things happen that raise serious questions about who is pulling whose strings when it comes to this president’s relationship with China. They are worth taking a look at.
First of all, there are the Trump trademarks that have been approved in China. Today we learn that it is not only the president who is benefiting. His daughter Ivanka got approval for three new trademarks the same day she participated in the dinner with President Xi at Mar-a-Lago.
But it’s worth asking what China wants from Trump. That question might have been partially answered soon after the election with this:
Another key item on Trump’s wish list drifts further away
04/18/17 10:24 AM
By Steve Benen
As Donald Trump’s 100-day benchmark quickly approaches, it’s hard not to notice the Republican president’s to-do list is lacking check marks. Trump’s Muslim ban has faltered in the courts; his health care legislation can’t overcome opposition from within his own party; his infrastructure plan doesn’t exist; and his dream of a border wall is little more than a mirage.
What about tax reform, ostensibly at the top of Trump’s list of priorities? It’s drifting further away.
………………………………….
Wait, it gets worse. Congressional Democrats have said they won’t consider any reform legislation unless they know how it would affect Trump’s finances, which means the president would have to release his tax returns in order to get Democratic buy-in on any proposal. Trump, however, remains committed to keeping the materials secret for reasons he hasn’t explained.
At the Treasury Department, meanwhile, so many key offices are empty – Trump simply hasn’t nominated anyone for a variety of important posts – that the White House “does not appear to have the personnel in place to get an overhaul of the tax code out of the station.”
https://twitter.com/ABAJournal/status/854101686649888768
https://twitter.com/TeamOssoff/status/854296671844519936
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/854352845964967936
https://twitter.com/TheRoot/status/854353842351333377
a complete and UTTER NIGHTMARE, these folks!
The rabbit looks like he’s trying to separate himself as much as possible from the “family”.
Quite understandable.
https://twitter.com/Shareblue/status/854350365952815105
He wants to play mobster bully.
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/854341507217805312
Does the US really need to show it’s strength?
And where is the public concern / fear / outrage over Trump’s foreign “policy”?
They’re talking about nuclear war. They’re comparing the “heightened tensions’ with North Korea to the Cuban missile crisis. Did someone tell Trump about the Cuban missile crisis and how it helped JFK’s approval ratings?
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/854347764813242369
Well, “sorry” doesn’t help us now, does it?
Some of these “larger than life” icons believe their own mythology, and that is a big part of the problem here.
https://twitter.com/mcall/status/854346346035372032
https://twitter.com/TPM/status/854343082887741440
https://twitter.com/DekalbGADems/status/854332322958782465
https://twitter.com/ossoff/status/854140761557913600
https://twitter.com/funder/status/854340029753290752
I have said it for awhile…
they long for the delusional days of Mad Men.
they long for White Socialism
…………………………………………
My friend @Kris_Benny wrote this excellent analysis that “economic anxiety” actually stems from racism. Everyone should read it. pic.twitter.com/X63WWCTsrz
— Sally Albright (@SallyAlbright) April 17, 2017
Oregon man dies thinking President Trump was impeached
BY ELIZABETH ELIZALDE
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Monday, April 17, 2017, 10:33 PM
A man died peacefully in his Oregon home after his ex-wife lied to him that President Trump was impeached from office.
Michael Garland Elliott, 75, passed away on April 6 and was surrounded by his caregivers, neighbors and friends who loved him dearly, his ex-wife, Teresa Elliott, told the Daily News Monday.
Teresa, 68, who is described as Michael’s “best friend” in his obituary published in The Oregonian, said she told him Trump was impeached over the phone from her Austin, Tex. home.
“I knew it was his very, very last moments,” Teresa Elliott told The News. “I knew that would bring him comfort and it did. He then took his final breath.”
Michael died from congestive heart failure after his health had declined over the years, Teresa Elliott said.
She described Michael as a “news junkie” who had expressed his disapproval of the President frequently until he couldn’t communicate it verbally.
“He hated his effing guts,” she said of Michael’s attitude toward the President.
….
Asked whether she regretted telling Michael of the false news, Teresa Elliott replied: “Oh God no.”
“If I could leave him with a happy piece of news then why wouldn’t I?” she said. “And maybe in the end it won’t turn out to be a lie.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/man-dies-home-falsely-told-trump-impeached-article-1.3067124?cid=bitly
That’s a good woman. Let’s hope she’s a prophet.
DITTO!
The mills aren’t coming back, you whiners.
https://mobile.twitter.com/AP/status/854039544282349568?
Judge orders Secretary of State Kobach to produce plan taken to Trump
By Associated Press
Published: April 17, 2017, 4:24 pm
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – A federal judge has ordered Kansas’ top elections official to turn over a proposed changes to federal voting rights laws that he took to a meeting with President Donald Trump.
After privately examining the documents, U.S. Magistrate James O’Hara ruled Monday that parts of documents from Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach are “unquestionably relevant” to a lawsuit challenging a state law requiring voters provide proof of their U.S. citizenship when registering.
The order also instructs Kobach to produce a related internal document about proposed changes to the National Voter Registration Act. The ruling allowed him to redact parts of the plan that did not involve the voting rights issues.
An Associated Press photo of that November meeting showed Kobach holding a paper outlining homeland security issues.
@rikyrah:
ACLU seeks copy of proposed changes to US election law
By Associated Press
Published: January 24, 2017, 11:47 am Updated: January 24, 2017, 12:15 pm
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union asked a federal court to force Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach to turn over proposed changes to the nation’s voter registration law that the conservative Republican was photographed bringing to a meeting in November with Donald Trump.
That draft document — which is partially obscured by Kobach’s left arm and hand in the photograph taken by The Associated Press — is being sought as part of the ACLU’s lawsuit challenging Kansas’ restrictive voter registration law. The ALCU filed its request for the proposed amendments late Monday.
Kobach has championed Kansas’ proof-of-citizenship requirement as an anti-fraud measure that keeps noncitizens from voting, including immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. Critics argue such requirements suppress voter turnout, particularly among young and minority voters, and that there have been few cases of fraud.
The ACLU contends the photographed document is relevant to its lawsuit because lobbying by Kobach to change the central provisions of the National Voter Registration Act may show that there’s no problem with noncitizen registration in the state.
The ACLU argued that the proposal could provide “key evidence” that Kobach cannot rebut the presumption that existing federal law that requires people registering to vote to attest under penalty of law that they’re citizens is enough. Kansas requires people to provide documents, such as a birth certificate, naturalization certificate or U.S. passport.
Kobach’s attorney argued in a Jan. 20 email to the ACLU that the document is subject to “executive privilege” because “it was created and is maintained in Kobach’s capacity as a Trump advisor.”
“Additionally, to the extent you are now asking about the document seen in that photo, it is clear that the request is designed to harass, as opposed to actually obtain documents relevant to a claim or defense in this case,” wrote Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Garrett Roe.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 4/17/17
Trump ignores oppression in congratulatory call to Erdogan
Joy-Ann Reid reports on the questions about the legitimacy of a Turkish referendum election and the authoritarian power grab seen in Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s win, none of which stood in the way of Donald Trump making a congratulatory phone call.
Uh huh
Uh huh
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 4/17/17
Real Trump anti-immigrant plan seen in arrests of innocents
Joy-Ann Reid contrasts the Donald Trump White House explanations of its priorities for deportation with reports of arrests for deportation of mothers of American children with no criminal records.
Why is Trump celebrating Turkey’s democratic crisis?
04/18/17 08:43 AM
By Steve Benen
During yesterday’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Sean Spicer was asked about Turkey’s referendum, and allegations of election irregularities in a process that’s given Recep Tayyip Erdogan sweeping new powers. Spicer was circumspect.
“My understanding is there’s an international commission that is reviewing this and issues a report in 10 to 12 days,” Spicer said. “And so we’ll wait and let them do their job.” Asked what Donald Trump would like to see Erdogan do, Spicer added, “I think we’d rather not get ahead of that report and start to make decisions without knowing. There were observers there, as there routinely are, and I’d rather wait and see.”
A few hours later, Donald Trump decided not to wait and see.
Despite Benghazi focus, Trump looks past diplomatic security
04/18/17 09:34 AM
By Steve Benen
Donald Trump’s lax approach to filling key posts throughout his administration is becoming one of the president’s more glaring missteps. As of yesterday, of the 544 top positions requiring Senate confirmation, the White House hasn’t nominated anyone for 473 of those offices.
As Politico reported, that includes the office responsible for diplomatic security abroad.
Alex Jones’ ‘performance artist’ claim leaves Trump in awkward spot
04/17/17 12:40 PM
By Steve Benen
Alex Jones has earned a reputation for being a bellicose conspiracy theorist who routinely shares some deeply odd ideas with his broadcast audience. For most of the American mainstream, watching Jones push some of his most offensive theories – the idea that the Sandy Hook massacre was a staged “false flag” event, for example – gives the impression that he may not be altogether stable.
It’s against this backdrop that Jones finds himself in a legal fight with Kelly Jones, the host’s ex-wife who is seeking custody of their children. Not surprisingly, she and her attorney are pointing to Alex Jones’ InfoWars content as proof of his unsuitability as a parent.
The Austin American Statesman reported over the weekend, however, that the host’s lawyer has a specific defense in mind to explain away his client’s over-the-top tirades.
I like the phrase ” Swamp of Corruption”
Sums them up perfectly.
…………………
How Trump Is Filling the Swamp of Corruption
by Nancy LeTourneau April 18, 2017 8:00 AM
Throughout the campaign, one of Trump’s biggest applause lines came from his promise to “drain the swamp” of corruption in Washington. As we near his 100th day in office, much will be made of the fact that on January 28th he signed an executive order on ethics that will be touted as proof that he kept that promise. But the Washington Post has labelled it a promise broken.
For a while now I’ve been saying, “Who needs lobbyists when Trump’s entire cabinet consists of foxes who have been hired to guard the henhouse?” Not only are they the richest cabinet in U.S. history, the New York Times reports that the swamp is being filled by corporate interests.
District Says 24 Credits and a D-minus Average Aren’t Good Enough
Focusing on family buy-in, a Connecticut district shifts to mastery-based learning
by Tara García Mathewson
April 17, 2017 10:52 PM
WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. — When Kylie Jones brings home her report card, it doesn’t have any A’s, B’s or C’s. The Windsor Locks High School freshman belongs to the first cohort of students going through middle and high school under a new system. Traditional grades no longer exist, children get extra help based on their individual learning needs and classrooms run very differently.
The small Connecticut town, just south of the Massachusetts border, is in its fifth year under a system that asks students to master specific skills in every subject. They can’t just do all their homework and ask for extra credit projects to obscure the fact that they didn’t truly learn something.
Superintendent Susan Bell likes to say 24 credits and a D-minus average — what used to be the cutoff for graduation — is not enough.
Kylie’s class is known as the guinea pigs. They will be the first to graduate with a mastery-based diploma. And, more important to many parents in town, the first to find out how this new system will affect their college applications.
Some families have not stayed in the district long enough to find out. Indeed, five years into the shift, there is still organized opposition to it — even though 69 of the region’s colleges have said students with diplomas from mastery-based schools will not be discriminated against in their application processes. Some families have left for magnet schools and private alternatives. Some teachers have departed for more familiar work or taken advantage of offers for early retirement.
Trump White House struggles with questions about transparency
04/18/17 08:00 AM
By Steve Benen
During Barack Obama’s presidency, Donald Trump whined incessantly about transparency, calling the Democrat, among other things, “the least transparent president ever.” Trump asked in 2012, “Why does Obama believe he shouldn’t comply with record releases that his predecessors did of their own volition? Hiding something?”
Soon after, the Republican added, “Obama thinks he can just laugh off the fact that he refuses to release his records to the American public. He can’t.”
At the time, Trump’s preoccupation with transparency had a rather specific focus: Trump, championing a racist conspiracy theory, called for the disclosure of “records” such as Obama’s college transcripts.
Now that Trump is himself the president, the Republican has adopted a dramatically different posture. The New York Times reported:
There are basically four elements to this: (1) Trump’s secret tax returns; (2) the White House’s now-secret visitor logs; (3) disclosure of Trump’s excessive golf outings; and (4) White House readouts of the president’s conversations with foreign leaders.
Good Morning, Everyone 😄😄😄
Britain’s prime minister calls surprise elections for June 8 to seek support for Brexit moves
“I have concluded the only way to guarantee certainty and stability for the years ahead is to hold this election and seek your support for the decisions I have to make,” Prime Minister Theresa May said. The surprise announcement comes amid political strains over Britain’s planned exit from the European Union and moves by Scotland to possibly carve its own independent path to remain in the bloc.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/british-prime-minister-calls-for-elections-in-june-amid-brexit-fallout/2017/04/18/e8cfe446-241e-11e7-b503-9d616bd5a305_story.html?utm_term=.17d030986c8f&wpisrc=al_alert-COMBO-world%252Bnation&wpmk=1