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.
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Trump’s child separation policy
2018 is turning into the Year of the Children. Unfortunately, however, Republicans keep ending up on the wrong side of heartrending, visceral issues regarding child safety. First and foremost this week is the barbaric Trump administration policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at the border, and then detaining the children in “cages.” This follows the school shooting tragedy in Parkland, Florida last Valentine’s Day, and the subsequent protest movement in favor of greater safety from gun violence in our schools and elsewhere.
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Leave a comment! Tags: border, child separation, children, Democrats, Donald Trump, family, family separation, GOP, immigration, Jeb Bush, Laura Bush, Republicans, Twitter, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Knotted Gun sculpture, New York City
Last month, the Democratic Party announced that it would run an anti-corruption campaign against Donald Trump and his administration in the 2018 midterm elections. We suggested that the Democrats also campaign on what they stand for, and, a few days later, the Democrats did something ingenious along those lines when they proposed that the Trump/Republican tax cuts be rolled back and the proceeds be used to fund teacher raises and school improvements such as new textbooks. Since we’ve gone through numerous special elections and primaries already, it’s time for the Democratic Party to roll out a specific, national campaign for the midterms that ties these ideas and actions together. We have the following suggestions:
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Leave a comment! Tags: 2018 midterm elections, Affordable Care Act, Bill Clinton, Democratic Party, Donald Trump, EPA, George H.W. Bush, guns, health, James Carville, Michael Dukakis, NRA, Republicans, Robert Mueller, Russia, schools, Scott Pruitt, taxes, teachers, Willie Horton
Science event at Fallston Middle School, Harford County, Maryland
A debate has been raging in the Democratic Party, over the best posture to take for the coming 2018 midterm elections. Some supporters advocate a sustained campaign of attacking Donald Trump and the Republicans, while others suggest focusing on positive Democratic proposals. Recently, the Democrats unveiled a midterm strategy of highlighting Trump and Republican “corruption.” We noted that such a focus may only be half the battle. Several days ago, however, Congressional Democrats came up with a rather novel approach that tied together both the positive and negative strategies and two separate issues: they seek to raise teacher salaries by rolling back the Trump tax cuts.
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Leave a comment! Tags: 2018 midterm elections, Chuck Schumer, Democratic Party, Democrats, Donald Trump, education, Nancy Pelosi, Republican Party, Republicans, tax cuts, taxes, teachers
Millau Viaduct, France
The word “infrastructure” puts people to sleep. It’s up there with “tax tables” in the attention-getting zone. However, few things are more important to America than having modern, well-maintained roads, bridges, airports, rail systems, electrical grids and Internet backbones. As Donald Trump and the Republicans have dropped the ball in this area, Democrats have a great issue to run on in the 2018 and 2020 elections. First, however, the Democrats could inject a little sex into the dry terminology on this issue.
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Leave a comment! Tags: 2018 Elections, 2020 Elections, Congress, Democrats, Donald Trump, electric, highways, infrastructure, Internet, Net Neutrality, rail, Republicans, roads
Fox News, completely removed from “news”
Yesterday, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Michael Cohen‘s attorney was forced to reveal that Cohen has three clients: Donald Trump, former Republican National Committee Deputy Finance Chairman and donor Elliott Broidy, and Sean Hannity of Fox News. The reveal of Hannity as Cohen’s heretofore mystery third client raises some serious questions:
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High school students march against gun violence in Minneapolis, MN.
The mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida has led to a renewed movement against the “guns everywhere” policy pushed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Republican Party members who receive so much NRA funding. Led initially by surviving students from Douglas High School, but now joined by many other individuals and groups, there are marches, protests, school walkouts, phone calls, emails, campaigns on social media such as Facebook and Twitter, and other efforts taking place to safeguard America’s children and adults. The momentum appears to be building and the tide may be turning in favor of steps such as Universal Background Checks for all firearm purchases, a renewed Assault Weapons Ban, and more. But as with all movements, the goals of this movement need to be articulated in a simple and powerful way in order to win over hearts and minds. So the question becomes, what is the best way to describe what this movement is fighting for?
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Leave a comment! Tags: Affordable Care Act, Broward County, Democrats, Facebook, firearms, Florida, gun control, gun reform, gun safety, gun violence, guns, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, mass shooting, National Rifle Association, NRA, Obamacare, Parkland, Republicans, Twitter
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida
After the Parkland, Florida school shootings last Wednesday that left 17 dead, most of them schoolchildren, one of the people who comes off looking the worst is Florida’s Republican U.S. Senator, Marco Rubio. Let’s look at Rubio’s responses to the Parkland shooting:
First, Rubio offered prayers, as Republicans typically do. However, Rubio’s version was to admit that his previous prayers did not work:
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Leave a comment! Tags: Al Hoffman, AR-15, Assault Weapons Ban, Elliot Rodger, Florida, gun control, gun restraining order, gun violence, guns, Marco Rubio, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, mass shooting, National Rifle Association, NRA, Parkland, red flag law, Republicans, Santa Barbara, school shooting, Twitter, universal background checks
Republicans’ dream? Lady Liberty holding a gun instead of a torch.
After another deadly school shooting involving an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, this time in Parkland, Florida, Republicans responded with their usual calls for “thoughts and prayers.” Perhaps the worst offender was Florida’s own U.S. Senator, Republican Marco Rubio, who proved that his previous prayers didn’t work:
However, when Rubio and other Republicans want something on any other issue, from tax cuts to taking away a woman’s freedom over her own body to military spending to taking away our affordable healthcare, they don’t pray, they vote. That’s just what Americans should do here.
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Leave a comment! Tags: AR-15, Assault Weapons Ban, Congress, Democrats, Florida, gun conrol, Marco Rubio, Nancy Pelosi, National Rifle Association, NRA, Parkland, Republicans, school shooting
London Heathrow Airport immigration poll.
Republicans are well-known for their loaded words and phrases. Being against abortion becomes “pro-life.” Discrimination against gay people becomes “religious freedom,” and so forth. Word pairs crafted by Republicans, such as “death tax” or “death panels,” can contain a tremendous amount of framing, that is, staking out an argumentative position merely in the way one refers to something. Republicans are also adept at the next step: repetition in lockstep to make such phrases stick, which artificially swings the discussion of the issue in the Republicans’ favor. It is no surprise therefore, that the Republicans, including Donald Trump in last night’s State of the Union address, are using another such loaded phrase, and that it appears in discussions about immigration, a Republican favorite hot-button issue.
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