US Politics Mega-thread - Page 8654

On September 06 2017 10:28 kollin wrote:
https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2017/09/05/my-analysis-of-the-hurricane-irma-panic/

What on

The hurricane is what I want to lead off with, folks. And I’ve gotta be very careful here because I am not a meteorologist, and nothing I say today should be considered to be a forecast or a prediction. I am not the National Hurricane Center. I am not a climatologist or meteorologist. All I do is analyze the data that they publish. Just as I am the go-to tech guy in my family and here on the staff, when it comes to a hurricane bearing down on south Florida, I’m the go-to guy.
..
Now, in the official meteorological circles, you have an abundance of people who believe that man-made climate change is real. And they believe that Algore is correct when he has written — and he couldn’t be more wrong — that climate change is creating more hurricanes and stronger hurricanes. And, of course, when Harvey hit, it was the first hurricane that had hit in 12 years. There haven’t been more hurricanes and no more dangerous than any others in previous years.

On September 06 2017 16:59 GreenHorizons wrote:


I'm curious about Democrat's opinion on this but whatever.

SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake police detective whose arrest of a University Hospital nurse sparked a worldwide outcry was fired Tuesday from his part-time position at Gold Cross Ambulance.

Gold Cross officials said Jeff Payne's termination was effective immediately.

"Although Jeff was not working for Gold Cross Ambulance at the time of the incident, we take his inappropriate remarks regarding patient transports seriously," the company said in a statement. "We acknowledge those concerned individuals who have contacted us regarding this incident and affirm our commitment to serving all members of the community with kindness and respect. We will continue to maintain our values of outstanding patient focused care, safety and the complete trust of the communities we serve."

Payne also remained on paid administrative leave from the Salt Lake Police Department on Tuesday for his role in the arrest of nurse Alex Wubbels on July 26.

As the incident was wrapping up, Payne's body camera video recorded him telling Salt Lake Police Lt. James Tracy, "I’ll bring 'em all the transients and take the good patients elsewhere," referring to who he transports to University Hospital.

On July 26, Wubbels, who was working as the charge nurse at University Hospital's burn unit, refused to allow Payne to draw blood from an unconscious man who had been flown to the hospital after being involved in a fatal crash.

Payne said he was following orders from Tracy when he told Wubbels that he would arrest her for interfering with a police investigation if she did not allow him to draw blood. Tracy was also placed on paid administrative leave on Friday.

Although the incident happened more than a month ago, it wasn't until Wubbels and her attorney, Karra Porter, released body camera video of her arrest on Thursday that two officers were placed on paid administrative leave. Within hours of its release, the video of Wubbels screaming as she's being dragged out of the hospital, held against a wall as she's being handcuffed and then placed into a police car went viral and the incident quickly garnered attention worldwide.

On September 06 2017 18:05 Gorsameth wrote:
I disagree that people outside of your political party should be allowed to run on for your party but the rules allow it so yes, he should be allowed to run in the primary.
But I don't see any reason why the Democrats should fall in line behind him when he lost the Democrats vote in the last primary.

If he wants their support he has to earn it.

My fellow white people: if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem - by Katherine Craig
...
We live in a society that is built on the spoils of racism, and that continues to benefit from inequality in all its forms. Or, as Bergdorf put it: “Slavery and colonialism, at the hands of white supremacy, played a huge part in shaping the United Kingdom and much of the west, into the superpower that it is today.”

“Why does that make me a racist?!” I hear you ask. It comes down to this: in western society we are all taught (explicitly or implicitly) that lighter is better. Those racist narratives are particularly prevalent in the US, but you’re kidding yourself if you think we Britons don’t suffer from the same prejudice. Take, for example, the stereotypical portrayals of black people in the media.

The net effect of this conscious and subconscious racism was reflected in a recent study recreating the landmark doll test of the 1940s. It showed that “we are still living in a society where dark things are devalued and white things are valued’.

In other words, if you grow up in a racist society, through no fault of your own, some of that racism is bound to stick subconsciously. It’s an unconscious conspiracy in which we are all complicit, unless we fight it.
...
I’m sure most of the people who were upset by Bergdorf’s statements would never be racially abusive or violent. But in a society that is still too often skewed in favour of white people, at the cost of everyone else, that is not enough. As Bergdorf states: “Institutionalised, systemic racism is just as damaging as a violent, racist attack.”

Bergdorf didn’t cause offence because she was wrong. She caused offence because she highlighted an uncomfortable truth: that being un-racist is not the same as being anti-racist.

Any white person who is serious about racial equality has to be anti-racist. This requires us to actively acknowledge our privilege, because that privilege – even though we never asked for it – is the very cause of the inequity suffered by others. Only then can we be part of a meaningful solution to institutional racism. We have a choice: be offended, or be part of the solution. But we can’t be both. I’ve learned not to bristle at the statement “all white people are racist”. Instead, I learned to listen to the pain, injustice and – yes – the accuracy in that statement. Just like I learned to recognise those subtle situations where my race made my life easier, and someone else’s life harder. Every day, I am still unlearning subconscious prejudices, and checking my thoughts, actions and language for hidden bias. Because I would rather acknowledge those faults now than look back in years to come and know that I could have done more to be on the right side of history.

As Martin Luther King said: “The privileged have a responsibility to do what they know is right.” Right now, when a black woman is being attacked for opposing structural racism, that means standing shoulder to shoulder with Munroe Bergdorf. If you’re a white person reading this, I hope you’ll do the same.

The Charlottesville, Virginia, City Council voted Tuesday night to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson from a local park after a public hearing punctuated by protests and chants of "Let her speak."

By voice vote, the council voted after 11 p.m. ET to ask a design firm to redesign Emancipation Park, where the Jackson statue stands — effectively ordering its removal once all court cases are resolved.

The vote would also expedite the relocation of a statue of Robert E. Lee, which was at the center of white nationalist demonstrations in mid-August that led to the death of a woman after a car plowed into a group of anti-protesters.

The vote proceeded without incident — a sharp contrast from the public hearing earlier in the evening, when the council cut off a woman who was seeking to speak about the resolution during other business.

Much of the first two hours of the meeting was dotted with further interruptions from audience members seeking to return to the topic of the Aug. 12 protests, in which 19 other people were also injured.

The City Council last month agreed to consider a resolution to remove and relocate the Jackson statue and expedite the removal of both that statue and one honoring Robert E. Lee. The Lee statue was at the center of the Aug. 12 protests, in which 19 other people were also injured.

The resolution wasn't due to come up until late in the evening, after discussion and public comment on other topics. It calls for removal of the Jackson statue "pending court decisions and/or changes in the Virginia Code," which includes a provision prohibiting removing certain war memorials.

As offered by Vice Mayor Wes Bellamy, it notes that the monuments were erected several decades after the Civil War ended, calling them "20th Century testaments to a fictionalized, glorified narrative of the rightness of the Southern cause in that war, when the actual cause was an insurrection against the United States of America promoting the right of southern states to perpetuate the institution of slavery."

The City Council voted 3-2 in February to take down the Lee statue in Lee Park, but the city was sued in March to prevent the removal.

City Council member Bob Fenwick, who voted for the motion, said the Jackson and Lee monuments "should be in a museum."

"If people stop and think, we have no statues, that I know of, to George Washington in Charlottesville, and yet none of us have forgotten his history," Fenwick told NBC affiliate WVIR. "So this argument that we have to keep it to preserve history, to me, is irrelevant."

Both statues were covered in black tarpaulins late last month as a symbol of mourning for Heather Heyer, the woman who was killed at the rally.

Heyer was among the group of counter-protesters at the Aug. 12 demonstration where white supremacists, white nationalists and other members of the far right convened to protest the decision to remove the Lee statue.

Tuesday night's vote comes as Confederate statues and other monuments are being taken down across the country in response to the events in Charlottesville.

President Donald Trump was criticized by both political parties for his response, which blamed "two sides" for the deadly violence.

On September 06 2017 19:06 Artisreal wrote:
Related

Source

On September 06 2017 19:06 Artisreal wrote:
Related

Source

On September 06 2017 19:49 SoSexy wrote:


This is one of the most delusional things I've ever read. I didn't believe that there were people with such degree of auto-mortification and this 'it's our fault'- complex. Wow. Unreal.

On September 06 2017 19:49 SoSexy wrote:


This is one of the most delusional things I've ever read. I didn't believe that there were people with such degree of auto-mortification and this 'it's our fault'- complex. Wow. Unreal.

Yet the statement “all white people are racist” doesn’t make me angry. It makes me sad, because I believe it’s probably true.

Holy shit. Does she really believe this or is she paid ?

On September 06 2017 18:56 GreenHorizons wrote:


The rules allow them to ignore the votes and pick a nominee too. It's all stagecraft. Whomever Democrats want instead of Bernie (or someone like him) will (with 99.99...% certainty) be less popular, wholly dependent on big money donors, and will not be trusted by a huge section of Democratic leaning voters.

Traditionally, he'll have the one thing the party used to value over "ability to milk the corporate tit", "most likely to win".

If "holding your nose" and "voting for the lesser of two evils" and "we have to beat Trump" were things Democrats actually believed, and weren't just saying to cynically pressure people to support their preferred candidate, the only responsible thing for them to do would be to back Bernie (or his successor). Unless someone shows remarkable promise (more so than Bernie vs Hillary) they would be guilty of the worst things they accused Bernie and his supporters of.

It's clear that the best strategy on the table for Democrats moving forward is to take Bernie's lead and make some serious changes to how they do politics. It's not that they shouldn't' be able to choose other options, it's just that the other options will be unquestionably starting from a worse position than if they backed Bernie.

I have no doubt that we'll be here 2 or so years from now listening to Democrats explain how the best plan really is taking the unpopular centrist (probably minority) candidate and trying to convince the large majority of people that support Bernie and his policies that they should instead support the younger less viable candidate. When we don't, we'll be called every "ist" that can apply and Democrats will go into the election unnecessarily split in every way they pretended to be offended by when Bernie's supporters did it. Because the Democratic party can't remove it's head from the dark crevice it had bent over to kiss.

On September 06 2017 20:05 SoSexy wrote:


Except police in the US. Police in the US is fucked.

GOP leaders have settled on a strategy to passing a debt ceiling increase reviled among conservatives: By marrying the toxic measure with a popular emergency spending package for the victims of Hurricane Harvey.

But there's a brewing intraparty fight over the move, which, if all goes according to plan, will deliver legislation for President Donald Trump's signature by Sunday.

The party's right flank quickly panned the package as irresponsible on Tuesday, noting the Republican Party has railed for years against raising the debt ceiling without structural fiscal changes.

“It’s a mistake to raise the debt ceiling without having some dramatic reform to our budget process," said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who is among a growing number of GOP lawmakers preparing to fight the measure. "A $20 trillion debt is really our no. 1 security risk so to just keep raising the debt I think is a huge mistake."

Under the emerging strategy, the House would pass a nearly $8 billion disaster relief bill Wednesday, and the Senate would then attach a debt ceiling increase. Paul and other congressional conservatives can fight it, but they do not appear to have the numbers to win.

"I believe that FEMA is going to literally run out of money at the end of this week. So it's imperative we get that [Harvey] supplemental passed. And the leader has made the decision to attach the debt limit to that. And I support that," said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Republican leaders are concerned that preparations for Hurricane Irma, a second massive storm that could hit Florida in the coming days, could deplete FEMA’s emergency funds as soon as this week. Harvey’s destruction costs are already sucking up funding faster than leaders believed possible just a week ago — requiring quicker action on the debt limit.

But conservative backlash began brewing immediately. Paul said in an interview he would seek to delay the measure without a full-throated debate and amendment process in the Senate. He said a closed debate on simply attaching the debt ceiling to the Harvey bill is "inappropriate and I will fight that."

“Any spending should be offset by spending cuts elsewhere. It’s one thing to say you are compassionate and want to give people money but if you are simply adding to the debt to give people money I think it’s not really appropriate," Paul said. "We’ll offer an amendment that will offset the spending with cuts in foreign aid to other countries."

Republican Study Committee Chairman Mark Walker during a Fox News interview Tuesday afternoon called the strategy “unsettling.” The conservative North Carolina Republican said he’s “grateful that in Texas the floodwaters continue to recede, but here in the swamp it looks like they continue to rise.”

“For Republicans, we have to be willing to hold the line when it comes to the out of control spending,” he said, urging Republicans to decouple the two and reduce spending as part of a debt ceiling increase.

Even some Texans want to deal with the issues separately.

“My hope is that we will see strong bipartisan support for substantial relief from the crushing damages and I think the best way to achieve that support is a clean relief package, not a relief bill tied to other unrelated matters," said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), one of the most conservative senators. He would not say how he would vote if the two matters are intertwined.

Still, there may be little the conservatives can do to stop the package. If the Senate begins considering Harvey aid on Thursday, Paul will only be able to delay it into the weekend. FEMA’s emergency response numbers could dwindle to zero by then, potentially forcing the House to stay in session into the weekend.

A senior Senate Democratic aide cautioned against the GOP relying on Democratic votes without seeing the details of the proposal, such as how long the debt ceiling would be lifted. In recent years, Democrats have shouldered the bulk of debt and spending votes and they have significant sway over negotiations and may push for a short debt limit extension to preserve leverage for the next fight.

"None of this is easy," Cornyn said.

But Republicans are portraying the unusual legislative marriage as unavoidable.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said on Fox Business Network’s "Morning’s with Maria" that Treasury Secretary Steven “Mnuchin is telling us, ‘If you pass just a supplemental, they may not be able to put the money forward without having the debt ceiling raised.’”

“You don’t want an inability to obligate funds because of either the disaster relief accounts running out of money or because Treasury is running low on its cash balances in an emergency,” added a senior Republican aide familiar with the issue. “The time to address these issues is this week.”

A FEMA spokesperson said the agency had $541 million available for Harvey relief and $472 million available for Irma and wildfires as of Monday morning. That money could run out by Friday, said three aides familiar with the funding discussions, placing added urgency on Congress to move.

Republicans are also considering adding a bill to fund the government to the Harvey-debt limit package, with a possible shutdown looming for Sept. 30. That would offer more disaster assistance more quickly to those affected by Harvey and Irma, one Republican aide argued. But it may not be doable on a tight timetable and with the government funding deadline still weeks away.

Many GOP lawmakers routinely oppose temporary funding bills as bad policy, and any single senator can delay a bill for several days. With the disaster aid needed urgently, loading up this week’s Harvey relief further would increase the chances of a messy fight over debt and spending at a critical time.

President Donald Trump will huddle Wednesday with McConnell, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), and Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to discuss next steps. White House budget director Mick Mulvaney will also be on the Hill and plans to brief all GOP senators at a Wednesday lunch, according to a Republican aide.

On September 06 2017 20:23 Gorsameth wrote:

Yes they could have simply appointed someone, but they didn't.

Is this where I once again remind you that Bernie lost the Primary by every single metric?

On September 06 2017 20:24 PM_ME_NICE_PUPPERS wrote:

Fucked, but also not really racist.