Tag Archive: CNN

Could Elizabeth Warren win the Democratic presidential nomination?

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)

Democratic U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren appeared at a CNN town hall at Jackson State University in Mississippi this past Monday night, moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper. By numerous accounts, Warren “nailed” her performance. Warren exhibited traits shared by Democrats who have won the presidency: intelligence, empathy, passion and energy.

The question is whether Warren can gain momentum in these early stages of the 2020 Democratic presidential process, to catapult her into the lead, and eventually, to win the Party’s nomination. Currently, Warren sits in about fifth place in the polls (if Joe Biden, who has yet to enter the race, is included). Warren’s principal competition is thought to be Bernie Sanders, as both of them are considered to occupy the left lane of the Democratic field. Sanders, who ran for the Democratic nomination in 2016 and lost to Hillary Clinton, benefits from name recognition. However, Sanders suffers from some heavy baggage, including his 2016 negative attacks on Clinton and the Democratic Party, questionable votes on guns and Russia, a “woman problem,” and old age. Indeed, Warren appeared to distinguish herself from Sanders when she suggested at the CNN town hall that all candidates for federal office release their tax returns. This comes as Sanders, having been asked since at least 2016 to release multiple prior years of tax returns as other presidential candidates do, still has not done so. In short, Warren can be seen as a safe liberal alternative if Sanders stumbles or gets dragged down by his baggage.

At the same time, Warren may be carving out her own, more moderate lane next to Sanders. This could help her in a general election. In this regard, Warren notably gave tempered yet clear answers on several issues at Monday’s town hall:

On reparations for slavery, Warren was asked by an audience member specifically about what “public apology” should be made to African-Americans. Warren responded:

Warren: I believe it’s time to start the national, full-blown conversation about reparations. And that means I support the bill in the House to appoint a Congressional panel of experts, of people who are studying this, to talk about different ways we may be able to do it, and to make a report back to Congress, so that we can, as a nation, do what’s right and begin to heal.

Tapper: Senator, if I could just follow up on Georgia’s question, you said you’re open to a conversation about reparations to the descendants of slaves, and also to native Americans, you also said. Might that include direct payments, direct financial transfer of money?

Warren: So, there are a lot of ways to think about how reparations should be formed, and I noticed, Georgia’s question actually started with just the frame of an apology, right? With the frame of a national recognition. We have a lot of experts around the country, a lot of activists, who have a whole lot of different approaches to it. And I think the best we can do right now, I love the idea of this Congressional commission. Let’s bring people together, and let’s open that conversation as Americans. Let’s see what ideas people want to put on the table, and let’s talk them through. Because I gotta tell you, ignoring the problem is not working.

Likewise, Warren was asked about universal healthcare coverage. She responded:

Healthcare is a basic human right…. Right now, Democrats are trying to figure out how to expand healthcare coverage, at the lowest possible cost so everybody is covered. Republicans right this minute are out there trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, they’ve got a lawsuit pending down in Texas where they’re trying to roll it back, what they couldn’t do with a vote, they’re trying to do with the courts. HHS [Department of Health and Human Services] every day is doing what they can to undermine the Affordable Care Act…. The first thing we need to be talking about is defend the Affordable Care Act…. Then part two …. For example, let’s bring down the cost of prescription drugs all across the country…. And then when we talk about Medicare For All, there are a lot of different pathways. What we’re all looking for is the lowest cost way to make sure everybody gets covered.

Finally, on the question of whether Warren and some other Democratic candidates are “Socialists,” Warren also portrayed herself as more moderate:

I believe in markets, and I believe in the value that we get out of markets. But, it’s got to be markets with rules. You know, a market without rules is theft. But a market with rules, a market with a cop on the beat to enforce those rules, that’s how it is that small businesses can get a chance to start and grow…. That’s how it is that we get new products.

The trick for presidential candidates in both parties is that, while most of the country on average might be considered moderate, the primary process comes first, and it energizes activists who are more to the left on the Democratic side, and more to the right on the Republican side. It’s possible that Warren as well as other 2020 Democratic presidential candidates could successfully straddle this line. Warren’s responses at the CNN town hall were attention-getting both for not sounding too “Socialist,” and also for sounding like she’s open to great ideas, as a winning Democratic candidate should be.

Photo by ElizabethForMA, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/uKNPIy

CNN’s truth vs. Fox News’ lies

Fox News, state-run TV for Republicans

A jarring juxtaposition between Cable News Network (CNN) and Fox News on how to treat Donald Trump‘s administration took place this week. Yesterday, the Daily Beast reported that, before Trump Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt resigned this year in a wave of scandals, he repeatedly received sweetheart deals when appearing for interviews on the Fox & Friends program. The Fox treatment of Pruitt went way beyond simply going easy on a Republican guest, which Fox News does all the time, and which is why Donald Trump loves Fox & Friends in particular. Here, Pruitt’s staff coordinated closely with the Fox & Friends staff to script the actual interview questions and talking points in advance. This throws out any pretense of real journalism, especially in questioning a government official, and turns Fox News into the equivalent of the Russian state-run TASS news agency.

Right wing hate rhetoric and violence top the political agenda

Photo of MAGABomber Cesar Sayoc with photoshopped slogan on sign.

Just days before the 2018 midterm elections, two incidents have pushed the Republican culture of hate and violence to the top of the political agenda. The first incident culminated on Friday, when right wing activist Cesar Sayoc was arrested for allegedly sending approximately 14 package bombs to prominent targets of Donald Trump and the Republicans, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Joe Biden, Florida Congresswoman (and former Democratic National Committee Chair) Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and CNN. Sayoc’s van is covered in pro-Trump and anti-Democratic hate messages, including a picture of Hillary Clinton with gun cross-hairs over it. Sayoc was therefore dubbed the “MAGA Bomber.”

The second incident occurred Saturday morning, when a white man, yelling “all Jews must die!” opened fire with an AR-15 assault rifle at the Tree of Life Synogogue in Pittsburgh, PA, killing at least 11 worshippers and wounding several others, including police officers. This comes several days after a Fox Business channel host and other Republicans raised anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, such as the idea that the so-called “caravan” of migrants from Central America are dangerous people funded by Jewish billionaire George Soros. Likewise, Donald Trump tweeted on October 22 that the caravan included “unknown Middle Easterners,” a statement with which Vice President Mike Pence agreed. The Pittsburgh killer seemed to synthesize these ideas when he recently posted on his social media:

It’s the filthy EVIL jews Bringing the Filthy EVIL Muslims into the Country!!

This latest right wing violence (it appears to meet the definition of “terrorism,” which is essentially targeting civilians for violence for political purposes) is part of a long history coinciding with Republican hate and death rhetoric. For example, years of Republican anti-government propaganda, including after the 1993 siege in Waco, Texas, culminated in the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building on Oklahoma City on Waco’s second anniversary.

PoliticusUSA gets it right on Maxine Waters avoiding Trump’s distractions

Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California

The mainstream media are so invested in shiny object distractions surrounding Donald Trump that they can’t help but highlight and fan each new controversy of the day. The latest case in point was the controversy regarding Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California, as she advised supporters who were protesting Trump’s immigration policies to tell Trump Cabinet officials “they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.” After Republicans then falsely accused Waters of advocating “violence,” the media turned this into an exercise in “bothsiderism” over the phony issue of “civility,” when that train had left the Republican station long ago. However, pro-Democratic website PoliticusUSA has gotten it right with their coverage of this issue, by pointing out that it is a distraction that does not deserve our major focus.

What’s in a politician’s nickname?

U.S. Senator Raphael Edward “Ted” Cruz

There’s some big name news this week on the Republican side, involving both Donald Trump (and his alleged side woman, porn star Stormy Daniels), as well as Senator Rafael Edward “Ted” Cruz. The news brings to mind some of the nicknames politicians use, and why.

Is Donald Trump preparing us for the release of a very naughty tape?

Suspected Trump/Russia connections

Donald Trump has spent much of this year attacking mainstream (non-Murdoch) news media outlets, calling them “fake news.” The term apparently means real news that isn’t flattering to Trump. This can be seen as a strategy to influence us not to believe what we see, hear and read, unless it comes from a pro-Trump media outlet like Fox News. But now Trump seems to have taken his propaganda strategy one step further: he is saying that the Access Hollywood” tape released in October 16, in which Trump tells host Billy Bush that he likes to “just start kissing women” and “grab them by the pu*sy. You can do anything” is not authentic. What’s going on?

Instead of getting distracted, drive the narrative

 

Puerto Rico devastation from Hurricane Maria

Back in February 2011, we published Messaging Maxim #1: Go On Offense. Perhaps some folks need a refresher course. In that post, we wrote, “If you’re fighting a political battle on the other side’s rhetorical turf, you’ve already lost.” At the time, such advice was referring to phony cultural issues like “Ground Zero Mosque” and “is President Obama a Muslim?” that Republicans had ginned up and repeated everywhere they could (see Messaging Maxim #2: Rinse and Repeat). With their herd mentality, the mainstream media then picked up these issues and focused their broadcasts, cablecasts and column space on them.

Fast forward to today. Donald Trump and the Republicans are doing the same thing again, and it’s working. Currently, the phony cultural issues are: “Kneeling NFL Players” and “Harvey Weinstein.” To those, you can add, “NBC and CNN Licenses.” By next week, expect different cultural issues.

Donald Trump, the Great Divider

Armed white supremacist in Charlottesville, VA

Successful presidents of both political parties are usually the ones who, in times of crisis or difficulty, rise above partisanship and unite America. There are many examples of this, from Abraham Lincoln literally keeping the Union together, to Franklin Roosevelt leading us against Germany and Japan in World War 2, to Ronald Reagan eulogizing the Challenger Space Shuttle astronauts or calling upon Soviet head of state Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down” the Berlin Wall, Bill Clinton soothing a shocked America after the Oklahoma City bombing, George W. Bush standing with firefighters at the World Trade Center site after the 9/11 attacks, and Barack Obama successfully hunting down and killing Osama bin Laden. We may not agree with the policies these presidents pursue after such crises (for example, Bush’s Iraq War), but at least for a time, these leaders make us feel like we’re part of one big, strong nation.

Unfortunately, this is not the case with Donald Trump. Rather than being a Great Uniter, he has repeatedly proven himself to be the Great Divider, usually along racial and ethnic lines. Indeed, Trump essentially begun his presidential run during Barack Obama’s presidency by being one of the head cheerleaders in the “birther” movement, which questioned Obama’s Americanism and his birth certificate. Trump then ran his own presidential campaign in a divisive manner from the get-go, saying in his presidential announcement speech about Mexican immigrants:

They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.

From there, Trump has pitted one group (often his base of white males) against another, including the following partial list:

Trump spokesman gives up on Liberty

The Statue of Liberty, gateway for many American immigrants.

On Wednesday, Donald Trump‘s senior policy advisor Stephen Miller had a shocking exchange with a reporter in the White House Press Room, regarding Trump’s immigration policy.

Miller spoke about a Republican proposal co-authored by Trump White House officials which would reduce legal immigration into the United States by about half in the next 10 years, and favor English-speaking immigrants and skilled workers. CNN Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta then asked about the change this would mean for America. Acosta quoted “The New Colossus,” the poem which adorns the Statue of Liberty, asking:

The Statue of Liberty says, “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” It doesn’t say anything about speaking English or being able to be a computer programmer. Aren’t you trying to change what it means to be an immigrant coming into this country if you’re telling them, you have to speak English? Can’t people learn how to speak English when they get here?

Miller responded by saying “the poem that you’re referring to was added later, is not actually part of the original Statue of Liberty.”

Donald Trump’s media mistake

Caricature of Trump White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer

Caricature of Trump White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer

For over 40 years, Donald Trump has been a media creature. He has successfully used the media, from his books to his TV and radio interviews to his reality TV shows to his tweets, to further his business and political interests. Trump’s love of the spotlight was well rewarded during the 2016 Republican primaries and general election with an astounding $2 billion or more of free media coverage. That’s why Trump’s rookie mistakes towards the media since stepping into the White House are so surprising.