Are police cozy with far right?

Mark of the White Supremacist

A former FBI agent speaks, "Too many local police don’t take the far right seriously – or actively sympathize." The Brennan Center for Justice says there is, "Racism, White Supremacy, and Far-Right Militancy in Law Enforcement." A couple of observations from Brennan...

"many have concluded that a structural or institutional bias against people of color, shaped by long-standing racial, economic, and social inequities, infects the criminal justice system."

"These systemic inequities can also instill implicit biases — unconscious prejudices that favor in-groups and stigmatize out-groups — among individual law enforcement officials, influencing their day-to-day actions while interacting with the public."

Mike German, the former FBI agent has been warning of this enigma for years, but the problems have escalated in the last couple of years as Donald Trump spews racism and white supremacy from the Oval office. In an undercover assignment in California against neo-Nazi groups in Los Angeles, California, in 1992, there were routine warnings...

"A redacted version of a 2006 FBI intelligence assessment, White Supremacist Infiltration of Law Enforcement, alerted agents to 'both strategic infiltration by organized groups and self-initiated infiltration by law enforcement personnel sympathetic to white supremacist causes,'"

There's more from German...

"A leaked 2015 counter-terrorism policy guide made the case more directly, warning agents that FBI 'domestic terrorism investigations focused on militia extremists, white supremacist extremists, and sovereign citizen extremists often have identified active links to law enforcement officers.'"

The former agent says that "white supremacists have engaged in deadly rampages in Charleston, South Carolina, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and El Paso, Texas." It gets worse...

"More ominously, neo-Nazis obtained radiological materials to manufacture 'dirty' bombs in separate cases in Maine in 2009 and Florida in 2017, which were only avoided through chance."

The point is we have been lucky when it comes to the discovery of nuclear threats before they occur. What we don't need is law enforcement standing in the way or even aiding and abetting in these events. Police are basically honest and dedicated to their jobs to protect the public. The problem is identifying those who aren't. Mike German's article here.

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Is racism still a dirty word, or...just accepted today?

Racism is worse than that old weather saying. People have been talking about it for years, but no one has seriously done anything about it...

My take is that it is definitely a dirty word, even many racists would agree with that, but it is like one of those rogue genes that are the basis for a particular kind of behavior which allows those who have it to justify what they do. I grew up in the South, fighting with racists all my life, even within my own family, and when I finally left in the 1960s, there were still lynchings of black people, their houses being burned to the ground, all orchestrated by the Ku Klux Klan.

Like the Mafia, the Klan slowly faded away, but as is the case for both, there is still evidence of their activity around. Here's a scenario from NPR...

"For the fourth year in a row, the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organization that tracks hate groups, reports that hate and domestic extremism are rising in an unabated trend. The center found a 30 percent increase in U.S. hate groups over the past four years and a 7 percent increase in hate groups in 2018 alone."

NPR adds, "The watchdog group blames President Trump, his administration, right-wing media outlets and the ease of spreading hate on social media platforms for the alarming increase." Trump has promoted and encouraged white nationalism since being inaugurated, hiring people like Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller, of which the latter is still on his staff. Heidi Beirich, director of the SPLC's Intelligence Project said...

"The numbers tell a striking story — that this president is not simply a polarizing figure but a radicalizing one."

Excellent video on the Trump-Miller relationship...

This added...

"Heidi Beirich, director of the SPLC's Intelligence Project, said in a statement. "Rather than trying to tamp down hate, as presidents of both parties have done, President Trump elevates it — with both his rhetoric and his policies. In doing so, he's given people across America the go-ahead to act on their worst instincts."

"Worst instincts," resulting from that rogue gene that wallows in racism. And here's more on Stephen Miller from the Daily Beast...

"Stephen Miller, the highly influential advisor to President Donald Trump, is the end result of a shadowy network made up of racist organizations and PAC’s designed to push a white nationalist worldview from the fringes into deep inside the White House."

The Confederate battle flag

Now there are even rumbles that Steve Bannon is attempting to work his way back into the White House. The combination of Miller and Bannon, especially should there be a Trump second term, God forbid, and with the White House maniac at his highest level of mental instability since entering office, could turn this country into a national Confederate States of America. What would a new flag look like? Would future elections even be allowed?

Miller was a close ally of John Tanton, an Ophthalmologist from Michigan, founder of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), and considered by SPLC the "puppeteer" of the nativist movement and a man with deep racist roots. Stephen Miller, practicing Tanton's ideology, is considered the architect of Donald Trump's immigration policies. The Beast's Mark Potok reports...

"Miller is both a promoter and, to some extent, a product of a much wider racist network aimed at preventing non-white immigration into the United States.”

He also thinks there is little chance of Miller leaving the administration, able to now influence, as I stated earlier, a much more mentally unstable Donald Trump, who is already making the worst of bad decisions. I would surmise when the black community sees this rampant racism originate from the highest office in the land, they feel there is just no hope. And they may very well be right as long as Trump occupies the White House and Mitch McConnell controls the Senate.

Minneapolis police officer mercilessly suffocates black man

Presidential candidate, Joe Biden, says ‘George Floyd’s life mattered.’

George Floyd

Tomorrow you will see the post, "Is racism still a dirty word, or...just accepted today?," and since the killing of George Floyd, the 46-year-old black man who died in the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department earlier this week has raised condemnation around the country, I decided to do this piece now due to the urgency. Joe Biden's statement that it was a “horrific killing” is perhaps the most important. Biden looks like Trump's contender in November.

Aside from the fact that this could help Biden's support of the black community, it is in keeping with a Democratic platform that has for years backed people of color. And that's the way it should be since the left must maintain its position as the party of the people. We've lost our way recently, but Bernie Sanders gave us a wake-up call and it continues to reverberate within the Democratic candidates, even Joe Biden.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on George Floyd killing...

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said, "four Minneapolis police officers involved in the death of George Floyd have been terminated." I just watched the video in this article, above, (scroll down below Floyd's picture) and it is beyond a doubt the worst case of police brutality I have ever seen. Frey describes it "Blatantly wrong and malicious." It is terrifying to watch this cop hold Floyd down with a knee on his neck, preventing him from breathing for five minutes, until he was no longer responsive.

We know this is not typical of the average cop, and brings up the continuing question of how do you deal with this kind of situation without castigating all police officers. But equally disturbing, I thought, was the cop just standing, facing the crowd, looking like a complete idiot, yet not doing a thing to stop the other cop while obviously hearing Floyd's desperate pleas for help. Frey calls for the prosecution of killing cop; watch this video!

Here's the scenario from a local Minneapolis television station...

"Multiple sources confirm for KARE 11 that the officer with his knee on Floyd is Derek Chauvin. Early Wednesday afternoon the City of Minneapolis released the names of all four officers fired in the wake of Floyd's death."

 They are: 

• Officer Derek Chauvin
• Officer J Alexander Kueng
• Officer Thomas Lane
• Officer Tou Thao

Protesting turns volatile over Geo. Floyd killing...

The Floyd. family from Houston "is calling for action after viewing a video that appears to show George Floyd begging for help." And the video I watched proves that he was begging for help until he could no longer breathe and was unresponsive. It seemed obvious to me that Officer Chauvin repeatedly pressed down on Floyd's neck in the five minutes he was on top of him. All of this while the black man was handcuffed and not resisting.

More from Channel 11...

In the video of the fatal encounter, bystanders can be heard asking the officer to remove his knee and telling him that Floyd can't breathe. One person says that Floyd's nose is bleeding.

"I can’t thank them enough," [Shareeduh] Tate (a cousin) said. "We always see these kinds of things that take place and we wonder what would we do if we were placed in that position, and I can only be grateful that there were people there who were advocating for him, even more so grateful for the person who was there with the camera to capture it."

There's more...

The Floyd family's attorney, Ben Crump, told TMX.news he believes the officer shown in the video with his knee on Floyd's neck should be charged with murder, and that the other officers should be charged as accomplices to a murder.

"They were supposed to protect and serve citizens like George," Crump said. "We in black America, we are done dying at the hands of the people who are supposed to protect and serve us."

Termination of the officers isn't enough, the general consensus is for criminal prosecution. Amen!

Donald Trump starts war with Barack Obama

There is no doubt who started this war, but there is also no doubt who will finish it considering the two levels of mentality in the skirmish. The mentally confused, inarticulate Trump on one side, the educated, sophisticated and eloquent Obama on the other.

It's Joe Biden who is your competitor in the November election, you idiot, not Barack Obama. Obama is the guy who handily won two terms in spite of the dirty politics of Moscow Mitch McConnell. Obama is the guy who ran a class-act presidency in comparison with the lowlife, classless administration you have given us for almost four years. Obama is the guy who will help Joe Biden win back the White House for the left in November.

According to Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson this is Trump's reasoning...

"Noting that Trump has been presented with internal polls showing him losing to Biden, Robinson stated that Trump appears to have fallen back on the strategy that helped him win in 2016 — appealing to his follower’s racism. And that means going after Obama instead of Biden who is white."

Robinson, who is black, is not playing the race card since Donald Trump has been well steeped in racist activism during his entire administration. With Biden pretty much guaranteed the black vote in November, and with Trump's latest tirades of racism, he is hoping to get somewhere near Barack Obama's 2008 results where the "black turnout actually exceeded white turnout, 66.6 percent to 64.1 percent."

The Daily Show comedic remarks Trump's racism...

Robinson adds, and it is the most pathetic part, there is nothing tactical about these attacks, they are purely personal. Moving on to more personal immaturity on the part of the Oval Office lunatic, he has now refused to host the unveiling of Barack Obama's portrait in the White House. But the former president has publicly said, he would not appear there anyway as long as Donald Trump is still in the building. AlterNet says...

"The message they (the Obamas) want to send is the opposite. No one should try to play nice with this administration or behave as if things are okay. That will give others the courage to do the same."

Before Donald Trump entered the political scene, this kind of thinking would be unheard of. And as you know from me, the Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin always knows the right things to say about Donald Trump, although her less than complimentary comments are from a conservative columnist. How's this for starters?...

"It makes zero sense, you would think, for President Trump to attack his predecessor, since President Barack Obama is the most popular politician around (next to his wife) — someone who instills in Democrats a feeling of solidarity, of nostalgia for decent leadership and of hope. Even those critical of Obama’s presidency regard that era as akin to a Golden Age compared with the Trump calamity that brought us the Great Depression 2.0."

Obama criticizes Trump's handling of COVID-19...

Rubin doesn't think this is just to draw attention from "Trump’s meltdown or from the almost 90,000 deaths resulting from the pandemic." She has two other reasons...

ONE: "Trump has been in a juvenile competition with his predecessor since the day he took office. Trump insisted the economy was stronger under him than under Obama. (That was false then and is now, well, self-evidently ludicrous.) Trump tore up the Iran deal and backed out of the Paris accords in part because Obama was associated with them. " (There's more, read the article.)

TWO: "Trump seeks to make Obama out to be a criminal or unfit. It goes back to the original sin of Trump’s political career — birtherism — and to his campaign, which channeled cultural and racial animosity among whites against elites, nonwhites and immigrants."

And if you think the racism has been bad up until now, Rubin projects...

"Should Biden select an African American vice president (as I think he should), the grotesque racism that will ooze from the right will make birtherism seem innocuous. "

This country is doomed beyond comprehension if we don't get rid of Donald Trump, and soon. 

Donald Trump is completely obsessed with Barack Obama

David Smith of the Guardian says Donald Trump is being eaten alive inside by his manic compulsions with Barack Obama.

Barack Obama looked like a great president as he entered the White House in 2009, with the kind of enthusiasm, energy and capacity to get things done as John F. Kennedy. Kennedy was struck down by a bullet, Obama with a bullet of a different name, Moscow Mitch McConnell. President Obama had the overwhelming support of the American people as the racist McConnell began to spread his game plan of a one-term presidency.

That didn't work as Obama won with another landslide against Mitt Romney. But, as was the case in his first term, he was dogged by Moscow Mitch, who convinced his Republican colleagues to support him in keeping anything Obama from happening, actually anything Democrats. With the Dems, that hasn't changed. The Oval Office has changed and it is the startling difference between two men, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, that is the subject of this post.

Donald Trump's obsession with Barack Obama...

David Smith quotes journalist, Jon Karl, as he observed the then president and the one coming into office. He thought of Trump as actually "humbled," out of sorts, awed by the situation, and definitely not in control of the room. Obama was turning over the torch in the classy way he had conducted his presidency, to his predecessor, who “seemed a little dazed” and “a little freaked out.” These would be two of the earliest signs of Donald Trump's incompetency.

Then Smith comments...

"But what became clear in the next three and a half years is that Obama remains something of an obsession for Trump; the subject of a political and personal inferiority complex."

Here, the why...

"Observers point to a mix of anti-intellectualism, racism, vengeance and primitive envy over everything from Obama’s Nobel peace prize to the scale of his inauguration crowd and social media following."

Barack Obama criticizes Donald Trump's handling of coronavirus pandemic...

Obama criticizes Trump's handling of coronavirus...

CNN Politics says Trump has been backed into the corner on his incompetence with the COVID-19 pandemic, so he simply reverts to his favorite subject, Barack Obama...

"With the death count from the coronavirus rising and its economic fallout deepening, President Donald Trump is trying to fire up his base and divert the national conversation by promoting a baseless conspiracy that casts his predecessor, Barack Obama, as the architect of a plot to subvert his presidency."

And you can always depend on Jennifer Rubin, conservative columnist for the Washington Post, to zero in on Donald Trump's real intentions...

"It makes zero sense, you would think, for President Trump to attack his predecessor, since President Barack Obama is the most popular politician around (next to his wife) — someone who instills in Democrats a feeling of solidarity, of nostalgia for decent leadership and of hope. Even those critical of Obama’s presidency regard that era as akin to a Golden Age compared with the Trump calamity that brought us the Great Depression 2.0."

Donald Trump's absurd Obamagate conspiracy theory...

There's always a 'yeah, but'...

"And yet over the past week or so, Trump has rekindled “Obamagate,” a made-up scandal that has become a bumper sticker for Obama-haters. Trump’s claims are so thoroughly baseless and hopelessly convoluted that Trump cannot even explain it."

She also agrees with Jake Tapper's assessment...

"President Trump and his team are launching an unprecedented smear campaign against rivals, leveling wild and false allegations against critics in the media and politics, ranging from bizarre conspiracy theories to spreading lies about pedophilia and even murder."

Have we arrived at the pinnacle of Donald Trump's desperation, and are we dangerously close to the edge, or will this latest debacle simply fade away like all the others have because Republicans, plus an uncaring media, give him another free pass? Right now, I have to go with the latter.

Nursing homes and African Americans ...latest COVID-19 problems

While the blockhead protesters argue over economy or death, the African Americans and those in nursing homes have no choice...

The choice is death, over which neither group has control. The former due to the "racial character of inequality in the United States," according to the New York Times. Here's their reasoning...

"black Americans are more likely to work in service sector jobs, least likely to own a car and least likely to own their homes. They are therefore more likely to be in close contact with other people, from the ways they travel to the kinds of work they do to the conditions in which they live."

For nursing homes, there are multiple reasons and they all, by agreement, combine to make the overall task of caring for these folks seem almost impossible. For one, they are crammed together, making social distancing futile, second, staffs are already strained and now "there are reports of staff abandoning facilities when covid-19 cases appear." Third, these facilities have had management problems for years, with improvement, but now that's all reversed.

There are so many more and I urge you to read this Washington Post article that outlines many of the problems with nursing homes in the coronavirus pandemic. At this point, if there are any of your family that you are considering placing in one of these facilities, you might want to think again. Here's the scenario...

"As awful as these stories are, the situation could still deteriorate further, from terrible to unimaginable. The age and fragile health of their residents are not nursing facilities’ only vulnerabilities. The industry is potentially facing a financial catastrophe that could prevent any meaningful attempt to beat back covid-19."

 African Americans higher rate of COVID-19...

And can we argue that the workplace hasn't and still isn't geared toward white Americans for higher paying jobs, thus, better able to pay more for improved healthcare? I think not. The NYT says, and once again I believe this article is well worth a read...

"If black Americans are more likely to suffer the comorbidities that make coronavirus more deadly, it’s because those ailments are tied to the segregation and concentrated poverty that still mark their communities."

Nursing homes have a business model you can read about in WP, and it isn't working since COVID-19 has turned it upside down, which could worsen even more and put additional liabilities in the way of caring for the sick. But here's the answer...

"To stay afloat, nursing homes must take enough high-revenue short-stay Medicare patients to offset the low-revenue long-stay Medicaid residents. Otherwise, they will go out of business."

For the black community, the answer is the same it has been for years, but totally ignored. STOP RACISM. Not simple, but doable, and the timing couldn't be better. 

Trump coronavirus racism and lack of virus testing unconscionable

That, and there is something else to consider...testing...

The increase on Donald Trump's approval for coronavirus handling would be good, except it doesn't consider all the facts. The U.S. lags miserably behind other countries in testing, thus, the number of cases is no doubt drastically more than those recorded so far. As an example, Forbes is reporting...

"As of March 11, South Korea had conducted 4,099 tests per million of its inhabitants while the U.S. only managed 26. The most recent government data was compiled by website Our World in Data and it shows that by March 17, South Korea's number of tests per million people climbed to 5,567 while the U.S. figure increased to 125 tests per million of the population. Even though that should climb steadily over the next couple of days, it is still cause for serious concern."

In other words, T-rump is being given credit for doing a job that is much less than even half done. But, it gets worse. The favorability increased, incidentally, right after he adopted the racist approach of calling COVID-19, the "Chinese virus." His double-digit followers loved it, as did those others who make up the 55% approval rating. RawStory's explanation...

"This is the kind of crisis that opportunistic racists barely dared dream of before. Indeed, Fox News host Tucker Carlson has been all but pleading for weeks for Trump and his fellow right-wing talking heads to move away from denialism and towards racist exploitation."

The obtuse oaf explaining his racism...

[Trump] "like all racist trolls, is playing dumb when called out for it. He’s said it’s 'not racist at all, no, not at all' and that he wants 'to be accurate' and that the virus 'comes from China.'” And listen to this...

"Trump’s racist trolling is sending Carlson into bouts of near-orgasmic ecstasy. On Tuesday, he swooned that the president’s 'Chinese virus' rhetoric was an example of 'Trump at his very best.'”

Which points out the fact of just how racist Fox News is, as well as being the country's largest purveyor of misinformation. Carlson plods on with absurd conspiracy theories that aren't worth mentioning, and then Sean Hannity agrees with lowlife Rush Limbaugh "that the coronavirus crisis was a hoax." Between Fox News and Donald Trump, COVID-19 could be the "death" of the United States.

You're on Progressive Street...Where Liberals Walk...

Donald Trump evokes racism, again, to cloak coronavirus incompetence...

It cannot be said better than this...

"Trump's ignorance and hostility to science makes situation worse — so he turns to an old standby: race-baiting"

Donald Trump could care less about the American public; all he cares about is containing the coronavirus epidemic in order to prevent any damage it might cause to his reelection in November. The man is ruthless and completely without morals so the CV deaths so far in the U.S. don't even phase him. Here's the scenario...

"His utter lack of concern for the health and safety of Americans, including his own supporters, is unsurprising — after daily exposure to the man for years, we should know by now that he lacks normal human feelings such as empathy or concern for others. Indeed, the administration's response to the threat of this virus spreading in the U.S. has been focused mainly, if not solely, on propaganda — seeking to create the illusion that things are under control, instead of doing the hard work of actually trying to get things under control."

So where does he turn? To the immigration issue, where it all started before the 2016 election, when he called immigrants rapists and murderers. Meanwhile, the people of this country are dying.   READ MORE... 

The Clinton-era expert speaks out

Sporting a new bow tie but brandishing the same political philosophy as earlier, this liberal icon of American political commentary is fired up and telling the Democrat Party off. “We’re losing our damn minds,” he exclaims, with the urgency of someone about to be pushed over the edge. Carville is the epitome of strategists, making Republicans look like crooks in a mediocre way by keeping his tactics, and those around him, principled and honorable.

He says the Dems must be "Majoritarian," a word I have missed, if a part of the current liberal jargon. Here's the definition...

"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Majoritarian democracy, as opposed to constitutional democracy, refers to democracy based upon majority rule of a society's citizens. Majoritarian democracy is the conventional form of democracy used as a political system in many countries."

What worries me most is his opinion of the current tribe of 2020 Democratic candidates; he's not impressed with any of them, including Bernie Sanders and Mike Bloomberg. All this amid a chaotic Iowa Caucus that it isn't clear is settled yet. In the middle of this article, there is another piece, "Bernie Sanders leads Donald Trump in polls, even when you remind people he’s a socialist," and Carville has this comment...

"But back to Sanders — what I’m saying is the Democratic Party isn’t Bernie Sanders, whatever you think about Sanders."

And he's right, Bernie Sanders is where the liberals, call them Progressives or Democrats, are going for the future. Hillary Clinton screwed up 2016, ably assisted by the conniving of then DNC head, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, leading to an Electoral loss but a huge margin in the popular vote winning by over 3-million. Carville thinks Bernie could win the electoral--and I believe the popular vote in larger numbers than Clinton--but we won't regain the Senate.

And, of course, there is no way a Democrat/Progressive would get anything done in the White House with Moscow Mitch McConnell heading up the Senate, even though the Bern would probably hold on to the House. David Faris outlines his plan to fix all this in his book, "It's Time to Fight Dirty." This is how James Carville would fix it...

"The Democratic Party is the party of African Americans. It’s becoming a party of educated suburbanites, particularly women. It’s the party of Latinos. We’re a party of immigrants. Most of the people aren’t into all this distracting shit about open borders and letting prisoners vote. They don’t care. They have lives to lead. They have kids. They have parents that are sick. That’s what we have to talk about. That’s all we should talk about."

But when you look at the other Democratic candidates, it is clear that their focus is on those people above with programs like Sanders' fight against inequality, Bloomberg's gun control, Biden's appeal to the blacks, to name a few. James is right on racism; the only one in the campaign who really emphasized this issue was Corey Booker, and he is no longer running. And surprisingly, the ragin Cajun doesn't support free education for fear of pisssing off those who had to work their way through school.

Another thing I don't understand is his inability to grasp the fact that liberals are, in fact, slowly moving farther to the left and there is a quiet revolution of those of us who are fed up with the overall inequities between the elite wealthy and us normal folks. James Carville is looking for a "winning message," as he describes it, and I am not sure his reasoning here when Bernie Sanders has a hold on millennials numbering 71 million; that's a hell of a base to start with.

Carville closes with...

"I think the other side wants us to think there are no swing voters, that we’re doomed and it doesn’t even matter if you have a message because you can’t reach anyone. I think that’s bullshit. I think that’s a wholly incorrect view of American politics. But look, if no one’s persuadable, then let’s just have the revolution.

"Falling into despair won’t help anyone, though. I mean, you can curse the darkness or you can light a candle. I’m getting a fucking welding torch. Okay?"

You have to give the ragin Cajun his due, successfully steering Bill Clinton to wins in two presidential campaigns. I think the point here is to temper what he has said with the solid push to the left, which long time Democrats can't seem to get their minds around and come up with the winning combination. Not only to just win big in 2020, but to carry the left ahead in the future with solid issues there affect not only the left, but the right as well.   A MUST READ HERE!

Saturday news catch-up...

Racism dominated the end of the New Hampshire debates last evening, initiated by a statement from presidential candidate, Tom Steyer, to the effect that no one had talked about racism. Then everyone did. Here's something to think about, from UK's Guardian, "How to fight racism using science," claiming, "prejudice that has a longstanding relationship with science."   READ MORE...

And then the Guardian reports again of the "Montana Republican rebuked for saying socialists should be 'jailed or shot.'" Being a Democratic Socialist, and having personally experienced this exact kind of behavior here in Arizona from another Republican, it is easy to see how the GOP is going down the tube with its supporters with it.   READ MORE...

RawStory exclaims, "Why Fox News viewers are so ignorant," because they listen to and believe the garbage spewed out by hosts like Sean Hannity. This idiot was still defending Trump after the impeachment by "accusing Democrats of supporting 'abortion after birth.'” There is no such thing as any non-conservative and sane individual knows.   READ MORE...

Still feeling sorry for Rush Limbaugh and his medical problems? Here are 9 things this maniac said about women in the article, "." Rush Limbaugh’s 9 most appalling comments about women." Here's an example...

"Rush imagining that women secretly want to be sexually harassed. 'The sexual harassment crowd. They’re out there protesting what they actually wish would happen to them.'”

This gives you an idea of the mentality of the listeners this fanatical bigot appeals to.   READ MORE... 

I've heard numerous comments in the media, and actually following last night's debate, of how Donald Trump hopes he is up against Bernie Sanders in the November election, since he will be so easy to beat. The Bern raised $25 million in the month of January alone. With an average $18.80 contribution, that is 1.4 million loyal voters as a solid base. Once he wins the Primary, he is certain to garner most of Elizabeth Warren's voters.

And I did a blog post recently, "Looks like millennials could put Bernie Sanders over the top," pointing out the 71 million millennial voters out there, of which 26 million voted in 2018, and my expectancy that this figure will increase significantly in November.   READ MORE...

Here's a grabber, "Trump’s acquittal is invalid because he was not mentally competent to stand trial," a RawStory headline prompted by a letter sent by the World Mental Health Coalition, urging Congress to "invalidate President Donald Trump’s acquittal in the Senate until his mental competency to stand trial is evaluated." I have done several posts on the Oval Office lunatic's mentality you can see here.   READ MORE...

80% of Black America labels Trump a racist

It is disconcerting enough when the bubbas out there use the N word, but when it is the President of the United States, well, it hurts a little more. And that is the understatement of the year. But were we ever at the point where racism was actually subsiding, or have these niceties over the year just been a facade for a deep seated nationwide racism? I think the latter, and although not an expert on the issue, I grew up in the deep South and can recognize signals.

The RawStory reports the optimism among blacks when Barack Obama was elected President in 2008 , rejoicing again when he was reelected in 2012. I felt the same about Obama's election as I did when John F. Kennedy went to the White House. Kennedy was stopped by an assassin's bullet, Obama by a political assassin by the name of Moscow Mitch McConnell. Moscow Mitch is as much of a racist as is Donald Trump and both need to go.  READ MORE...

.Richmond pro-gun rally on Martin Luther King Day

MLK was killed with a gun and gun nuts are celebrating their toys today in Richmond

Richmond at its worst

NPR reports...

"The city of Richmond, Va., is under a state of emergency Monday morning as thousands of gun ownership enthusiasts and armed militia members gather at the Virginia State Capitol for a large rally aimed at quashing new gun laws."

This is in retaliation to Virginia's Gov. Ralph Northam temporarily banning firearms from Capitol grounds and a number of gun control laws passed recently in the state. This all coincides with the fact that today is Martin Luther King's birthday and he died from gun violence, which rings alarm bells with locals it could turn into a white supremacist incident like Charlottesville. It was here anti-racism protesters left protester Heather Heyer dead and 19 others injured.

Racism and guns definitely don't mix and it is those two issues that are the number one problems in this country today,  especially fostered by the maniac in the White House.   READ MORE...

Dump Trump along with GOP in 2020

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2019 NEWS BYTES

Are we on the cusp of dumping the GOP along with Donald Trump?  

Veteran pollster Stanley B. Greenberg has predicted that 2020 will be a disaster for Republicans and in his new book, “R.I.P. GOP: How the New America Is Dooming the Republicans,” lays out the reasons why...

Dump the GOP along with Trump

"that the Republican Party — rather than building a broad coalition — has been defining itself in increasingly narrow terms. “McCain Republicans” and “moderates,” Greenberg stressed, have been “driven out” of the GOP — whose base, he stressed, now consists primarily of Trumpistas, Tea Party members and Christian fundamentalist white evangelicals."

In my opinion, Republicans can thank the fact that lowlife Moscow Mitch decided to latch on to the coattails of Donald Trump in the early stages of his administration and has ridden out the comet through the most egregious behavior of any president in history. Just so the Senate head could maintain his power and line his pockets and those of his Sec. of Transportation wife, Elaine Chao. Here's an example: "Mitch McConnell and Elaine Chao's empire of corruption."

Rachel Maddow illustrates Moscow Mitch/Elaine Chao corruption...

AlterNet's Alex Henderson says, the GOP is shrinking itself while Democrats are appealing to a much more diverse base. Another turnaround for Trump is that he "isn’t reaching female voters in sufficient numbers," unlike 2016. This I have never understood with the kind of rhetoric T-rump uses in describing women. Here's a scenario with the wife of one of the general's he had met with during his campaign...

We were on a river boat cruise and my wife and I happened to be at the dinner table with the pair when Donald Trump's candidacy came up. I quickly stated my position that I thought he was a lunatic, even this early in the campaign. The general's wife defended him and I asked how she could after the things he had said about women. I mentioned the Billy Bush "Access Hollywood" tape where Trump talks about grabbing women. Her reply was to skirt the issue by blaming it on "locker room talk." The general didn't sound much smarter so I gave up.

And here's a surprise from the Daily Beast on the current feelings of a particular group, working class white women. "It turns out the racism may actually be more distasteful than the numerous sexual assault allegations." WOW! That is a huge tribute to the women of this country, in a time when the person sitting in the White House is an avowed white nationalist racist bigot. This, at a time when the nation is experiencing a resurgence of racial bigotry, all because of Donald Trump.

New York Times columnist Frank Bruni said Trump voters turned to him in 2016 because they were tired of Washington politics. That's then. “I think people are tired of it [Trump's Twitter rants] and I think they realize that, however you align or don’t align with him ideologically, this is a degree of constant turmoil, that can’t be good for the country and is not good for themselves.” That's now. His campaign claim of "draining the swamp' has now become laughable.

One of the reasons women have turned on Trump bigotry...

The Hill reports, "The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has reportedly built a trove of opposition research against President Trump in advance of the 2020 election." This includes 7,000 lawsuits from all 50 states, plus "a comprehensive document of every time Trump told supporters when campaigning in 2016 that Mexico would pay for a wall along the southern border." It will be distributed according to Trump campaigning, as follows...

"Let’s say [Trump] goes to Youngstown, Ohio. We have everything he said, what he promised in 2016 to that community — maybe it’s 'that bridge will be fixed' — then we’ll show what’s actually happened since," a source told the news outlet.

That sounds like a plan, but you can bet the staunch double-digit supporters of the Oval Office lunatic will continue to grovel around their idol until he is finally run out of office. 

Must Biden quit the Democratic Primary race?

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2019 NEWS BYTES

Should Joe Biden quit the race?   

Jo Biden...As if?

Jamil Smith of Rolling Stone contends that 2020 will end up being a fight to determine which side of racism will win the election. Will it be the white nationalist racist bigot Donald Trump, or the candidate on the left who truly believes that people of different colors can live happily together? Smith does not think Joe Biden is the latter and that he should drop out of the race now, although Biden seems to be garnering the black vote.

That last part doesn't make sense to me and Politico's Maya King substantiates that idea, but with additional input to Bernie Sanders recent growth in black American support...

"Joe Biden has amassed a staggering lead among older African Americans, commanding nearly two-thirds support of black voters 65 and older in the most recent Morning Consult poll. Bernie Sanders is the favorite of black millennials, though his margin with that group is much smaller. Among all black voters, Biden is leading Sanders, 41 percent to 20 percent."

The RollingStone article covers what it considers a multitude of gaffes by Biden on the racial issue after it trashes former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Smith started with a question on the coddling of Biden when he was attacked by Julian Castro...

"Treating the 76-year-old front-runner so delicately is arguably more insulting than questioning his mental fitness, especially considering the incumbent whom he is preparing to run against."

Joe Biden on no responsibility for 300 years ago... 

Could it come down to Joe Biden's meandering in a debate against the sheer lunacy in Donald Trump's rhetoric? In T-rump's state of deteriorating mental acuity, who knows where he'll be by the time they face each other. The Oval Office lunatic might even be in a strait jacket by then. The one thing that is clear is that Trump's racial bigotry will have to be faced head-on, and just hope that this country has not stooped so low as to fully support this ideology.

Linsey Davis, an African American from ABC, asked Biden about his "alarming 1975 comments on school segregation," which were...

“I don’t feel responsible for the sins of my father and grandfather, I feel responsible for what the situation is today, for the sins of my own generation, and I’ll be damned if I feel responsible to pay for what happened 300 years ago.”

Another Biden racist gaffe...

Biden said that "teacher raises are the first step to undoing the legacy of slavery," then rambled on with this...

"Number two, make sure that we bring in to help the teachers deal with the problems that come from home. The problems that come from home, we need — we have one school psychologist for every 1,500 kids in America today. It’s crazy.

 "The teachers are — I’m married to a teacher. My deceased wife is a teacher. They have every problem coming to them. We have — make sure that every single child does, in fact, have 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds go to school. School. Not daycare. School. We bring social workers into homes and parents to help them deal with how to raise their children.

"It’s not that they don’t want to help. They don’t — they don’t know quite what to do. Play the radio, make sure the television — excuse me, make sure you have the record player on at night, the — the — make sure that kids hear words. A kid coming from a very poor school — a very poor background will hear 4 million words fewer spoken by the time they get there."

Jamil Smith exclaimed with some shadowed doubt that this is the front-runner of the Democratic Party, talking as if this should be a surprise. My take is that Joe Biden has absolutely nothing for Progressives so it's on to Bernie and Warren as far as I am concerned. There's more and this article is well worth the read.

Will Donald Trump make 2020 grisliest election ever?

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 NEWS BYTES

A less than pretty 2020 election ahead? 

This what you want in 2020, folks?

Remember what Moscow Mitch said about Barack Obama's second term? His comment was that he would do everything to make him a one-term president. It didn't work and Obama won handily. In 2016 Donald Trump got down and dirty as only he could, he won, and it isn't likely he could stand losing in 2020. As a matter of fact, he is again talking about a third term, which probably sent his double-digit supporters into the streets.

Can anyone even imagine a second term with the Oval Office lunatic, much less a third? Alex Henderson in AlterNet says...

"As ugly as the presidential election of 2016 was, 2020 is likely to be even uglier. President Donald Trump does not want to go down in history as a one-term president, and a key part of his reelection strategy is trying to fire up his base as much as possible..."

Those are the double-digits, above, I was talking about. This is how he pumps up these pathetics...

"Trump tells four Democratic congresswomen of color they should leave the United States (Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Ilhan Omar, Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Rep. Rashida Tlaib), attacks the predominantly black city of Baltimore as a 'disgusting, rat- and rodent-infested mess' or claims that Jews who vote for Democrats are being 'disloyal' to Israel."

Trump significantly behind to four Dems...

Yes, that is the kind of rhetoric these mentally challenged people understand. And this is how Henderson says T-rump will do it...

1. There will be more racism: The Squad, Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Pressley and Tlaib, scenario will continue, and any other racial bigotry he can come up with.

2. More Hispanic harassment: The border wall, Latinos being hassled for speaking Spanish in public, jailing families at the border.

3. More emphasis on Evangelicals: In 2020, he will do everything imaginable to get far-right white evangelicals to the polls.

4. More voter suppression: "The last thing Republicans need in 2020 is a heavy turnout in Democratic parts of swing states, and as odious as the GOP’s voter suppression tactics have been, they will only get worse in the months ahead.

5. More violence: A recent Arizona newspaper headline read, “Could the 2020 election turn violent?" The answer was yes, due to the Trump White House encouragement of white nationalists

Bizarre moments with Donald dufus...

Keep in mind, the above is a compendium of how Donald Trump operates, a most pathetic conclusion when he heads up the most powerful nation in the world. But The Washington Post says, "Trump digs his own political grave," in a piece that points out once again the nuances of an individual that many think has reached a level of mental madness. The article places T-rump in a "somewhat feeble quality"...

"He makes the bare-minimum statement on the latest gun massacre, ducks a World War II commemoration in Poland on the grounds that he has to monitor the hurricane (but then plays golf and misinforms the public about the hurricane’s path) and eggs Vice President Pence to stay at the Trump International Golf Links and Hotel in Ireland, raising once more the grotesque self-dealing and corruption that permeates this administration."

And the democrats just remain on the sidelines holding their reactions while "he’s in the midst of blowing himself up."  That's okay for now, but the Dems had better get off their butts soon and make hay of the deterioration of this maniac, or they/we will be dealing with him for four more years.

Racism incidents accelerating: REPORT

September 4, 2019: PROGRESSIVE STREET NEWS BYTES...Where Liberals Walk

This sign says it all

Latest wrap up on racist incidents  

There have been 7 more racism incident in less than two weeks after my last report on August 23rd. That's close to one a day, and I am sure my research does not reveal the full extent of this problem. What the hell is wrong with these people? They must have little or no self-esteem, certainly a double-digit IQ, and are extremely insecure. Probably don't really like themselves, and rightfully so since they must be the dregs of humanity. Hard not to rant on but here are the events.

"Texas governor busted sending racist call-to-arms a day before El Paso attack." AFTER: "Promised to work to reduce violence in his state, in the wake of the shooting in El Paso that left 22 dead and dozens more injured." BEFORE: "Sent out a letter peppered with racist attacks on Hispanic immigrants — and a menacing, violent suggestion that Texans “take matters into our own hands.” Just how pathetic can these Republicans get?

"A white Florida man cited ‘stand your ground’ for shooting a black man. A jury found him guilty." Didn't work this time - Take that Marion Hammer and your NRA. Michael Drejka, 49, was convicted of manslaughter based on his shooting of Markeis McGlockton, after McGlockton pushed Drejka. Jury decided McGlockton's action did not justify his death. Watch it on the video.

Stephen Colbert on Trump racism and The Squad...

"‘Go back to China’: Racist white woman goes berserk after she allegedly hits ‘chinky’ Asian woman’s car." A racist white woman who was identified as Carla Waldman tells woman to go back to China for parking next to her when it was Waldman's car that was parked incorrectly. Looks like a double-digit IQ case for sure. And this was in Canada.

"Racist woman gets probation for insane and relentless campaign of harassment against neighbors." This has been going on for years. Roberta Madison finally admitted to one count of violating a harassment restraining order and was sentenced to one year of probation. "Neighbors have complained for years that Madison has subjected them to various and bizarre forms of harassment."

MSNBC does Donald Trump racism...

"‘I can’t breathe’: Officers caught on video applying chokehold to black man while they Taser him." There has to be a better way of taking a suspect down and the police had better find it fast. This has become much too common, especially with blacks. This happened in DeKalb County, Illinois where police officers were caught on camera using a Taser to shock a black man before putting him in what appeared to be a choke hold.

And, finally, this one takes the cake. "American Airlines booted allergic black man from plane so dog could fly first class: lawsuit." This reminds me of signs in yards in Norfolk, VA, during the Korean War: Sailors and dogs, keep off the grass. The black man was complaining he was allergic to the dog sitting close by, and it was a support dog. You decide.

Once again you are updated on the rampant racism going on in our country, but just hang around, there will be plenty more.

My last two posts on racism:

Racism at its worst in the U.S.today documented

Wrapping up the worst of.racism documented

Top Republican says Trump everything but electable

September 4, 2019: PROGRESSIVE STREET NEWS BYTES...Where Liberals Walk

Donald Trump completely unqualified for his office 

And that's an exaggeration

“He’s unqualified, he is unfit, he’s a child, he’s reckless, he’s erratic, he’s a narcissist, he’s mean, he’s cruel and he lies every time he opens his mouth.” That was a Republican talking about Donald Trump, not a Democrat. It was former Rep. Joe Walsh from Illinois, and the above tirade was followed by Walsh's assessment that the "GOP is in big trouble." There's more in this article reported by RawStory...

“If he’s our nominee in 2020, the Republican Party is going to get spanked because young people don’t like Trump, women don’t like Trump and people who live in the suburbs don’t like Trump,” Walsh explained. “I heard you earlier, Joe, the Republican Party right now is at a real crossroads and because of Trump they’re in trouble.”

You have to understand here that Joe Walsh is challenging Donald Trump in the Republican Primary. Then MSNBC's Joe Scarborough asked former RNC head Michael Steele...

“You have run the Republican Party before and it’s looking like another political tsunami is coming the Republican Party’s way if Donald Trump is at the top of the ticket,” he prompted.

“Yeah, it will be very hard for the president to sustain the races beneath the presidential campaign,” Steele conceded.

Joe Walsh challenging Trump in 2020 Republican Primary...

Vanity Fair says...

"his [Donald Trump's] first victory was a miracle. A second, after four years of embarrassments and betrayals in office, might take an act of God."

There's more and it's classic...

The best you can say for Trump is that he became less scary to a lot more people, and the devil you know is always preferable to some.

The magazine continues with its assessment of Donald Trump on everything from gun violence to trade tariffs, and most of it isn't complimentary, but it's definitely worth reading.  Salon/AlterNet reports on a Steve Bannon statement from the 2016 election, “The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.” Donald Trump took it from there with his lies and racism, concluding...

"Nearly three years into Trump’s tenure the American news media is still struggling with how to cover a president and an administration that have no use for democratic norms, the Constitution, the rule of law, and the truth or reality itself."

Republicans exit the House en masse...

Now here's an interesting viewpoint...

"The media covers President Trump because it must — and because he is highly entertaining and good for ratings. Those two factors together mean that Trump the president and TV character is highly profitable for the corporate media. He stands at the center of the country’s and the world’s attention in two roles. He is both the Mad King and the King of the American Kakistocracy."

And here's another glaring illustration that Republicans are looking at disaster in 2020, "GOP lawmakers are quitting at a ‘stunning’ pace rather than serve under Trump." That is perhaps one of the, if not the most, damning condemnation of Donald Trump I've heard yet. Here's the scenario...

CNN’s “New Day,” contributor John Avlon highlighted the exodus of GOP House members who have chosen to step down and not run for re-election under Donald Trump, calling the sheer number of them “stunning.”

The results: “Since Trump took office, the House GOP has seen a stunning 38 percent turnover." It can only bode well for Democrats, but will 2020 come too late?

Dominant factor in 2020 election could be racism

August 29, 2019: PROGRESSIVE STREET NEWS BYTES...Where Liberals Walk

How Donald Trump is suffering for 2020  

Donald Trump's anti-black supporters

Anti-black voters were an important asset to the Donald Trump campaign in 2016, as he encouraged racism, something that has been centerpiece since winning the White House. Without these voters T-rump could be in trouble as a new wave sweeps the U.S. voting public...

"According to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, 82 percent of people who reject anti-black ideas said they were strongly interested in voting, up from 70 percent in 2016. In comparison, 75 percent of anti-black voters expressed a strong interest in voting in 2020."

Donald Trump is a confirmed racist, which is replayed weekly, sometime on a daily basis. Just recently he was criticized...

"for racist tweets he sent telling four lawmakers of color — Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) — to 'go back' to the 'corrupt' countries they’re from. Shortly after, his supporters chanted 'send her back' as Trump attacked Omar during a rally in North Carolina."

The racism thing seemed to take a backseat during the Obama administration, but reared its ugly head with a roar when the Oval Office lunatic was elected. And it has made the left think about their vote and certain values for the upcoming election. I did two recent posts documenting the appalling incidents of racism occurring around this country you can see here and here. It is the blatant display of this racism since Trump came along that is so troublesome.

How farmers feel about Donald Trump...

There is another angle on Donald Trump's loss of followers for 2020, the farmers of the U.S. who solidly supported him in 2016, but who are now "reeling from plunging prices and unsold crops during what is now more than a year-long trade war with China." And then most recently T-rump made the decision to allow more oil refiners to skirt biofuel laws and use less corn-based ethanol. At recent campaign stops Joe Biden has said the trade war was “crushing” American farmers.

There's more...

"A round of more bad news for farmers last week, including extra tariffs Beijing announced on soybeans and other key U.S. agricultural exports, gave Democrats a fresh opening to attack Trump. He gave regulators the green light to grant exemptions to more than 30 small refineries so they can use less ethanol, Democratic candidates pounced on it as evidence Trump favors the oil industry."

5 top Democrats would beat Donald Trump today...

Donald dufus appears to be searching seriously for ways to lose the 2020 election with his bizarre actions that seem to be really pissing off American voters. And based on some recent figures, it definitely isn't the time to screw around with voters. Just recently AlterNet accused Trump of lying again about his approval numbers with Republicans. But his is how it really is...

"He says that he has 94 percent approval with them, and at one point, he actually did poll that well. But recent surveys from Monmouth, Zogby Analytics, AP-NORC, and Fox News all show him polling significantly lower than that. It appears that his support has been slipping and is now somewhere in the low-to-mid eighties."

There's more...

"The above might still sound impressive, but his approval with Democrats is in the low single digits, and he’s polling in the thirties-to-low forties with independents. He actually needs to be doing better with his base to compensate for this."

Michael Tomasky of the Daily Beast comments...

"If Trump were telling the truth about having 94 percent support from the GOP base, he’d be in reasonable shape, although Romney lost pretty badly at 93 percent."

How many U.S. presidents have actually lied themselves through a reelection? 

Trump in danger of engineering a global manufacturing recession

August 23, 2019: PROGRESSIVE STREET NEWS BYTES...Where Liberals Walk

Donald Trump's inept administration will doom his second term 

The clown and his minions

If the country should go into recession, the misfits Donald Trump has put in place to run the economy wouldn't have the slightest idea what to do, including the Oval Office lunatic.  Here's the scenario...

"Washington Post economics columnist Catherine Rampell on Friday warned that President Donald Trump’s team of economic advisers is woefully unprepared to handle a recession should one strike within the next year."

There is no plan she laments...

“We have this clown car of economic advisers… you have a guy who plays an economist on TV, you have a former Hollywood producer. This is not the dream team who will be handling a crisis if we face one."

Trump in danger of engineering a global manufacturing recession...

The stock market is tanking and the White House ego maniac is still playing games with China, resulting in their latest $75 billion tariff on U.S. goods just today. You have to wonder when this will all end until the realization hits; it won't until we get rid of Donald Trump. But perhaps there is light at the end of the tunnel with the fact that some GOP donors are running scared that T-rump's tactics will result in Republicans losing big in 2020. Former Sen. Jeff Flake says...

"he’s received calls from several nervous Republican donors who fear a slowing or shrinking economy will doom the GOP in 2020 — and they’re looking to find a primary challenger for President Donald Trump."

These donors took the step even further...

"Some donors even asked Flake if he would personally consider running a primary challenge against the president, but he said he does not want to run right now and admitted that the odds of such a challenge succeeding are slim to none."

Impeachment or voted out in 2020?...

There's additional reason for trump to worry and wonder about his crazy antics that have screwed up the country and turned a large portion of the population against him. He won in 2016 with the Electoral College, the popular vote went heavily for Hillary Clinton (3 million more votes) but this time around polls show Trump's...

"net approval ratios being underwater (i.e., negative) in 10 states he carried in 2016: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin."

This translates into only 119 electoral votes for T-rump when 270 are needed to win the presidency. There is another factor that has been responsible for Trump's downfall; the fact that he has been solidly and accurately labeled a racist. It is a label that is sticking, and this is driving him crazy since he is one of branding's biggest advocates. Taegan Goddard's Political Wire says...

“Being called a racist has led Trump in recent days to lash out — in tweets and in public comments — behavior his advisers and allies explain as the natural reaction of anyone who does not consider himself a racist but is accused of being one.”

And finally, this CNN's Anderson Cooper video is a must see in a documentation of Donald Trump's blatant racism. I have said this repeatedly, having come from a South of the 19402/1950s, where the Ku Klux Klan ran rampant over the black population and committed unimaginable atrocities, I still cannot comprehend what this white fascination of dominance over those of color is all about. I left the South to get away from this but quickly discovered...racism is everywhere.