August 22, 2020

Friday Depeche Mode Mood -- Lookin' At You, Republicans

Better with

August 21, 2020

Vice President Joe Biden's Acceptance Speech At The DNC 2020 -- Full Transcript

Good evening.

Ella Baker, a giant of the civil rights movement, left us with this wisdom: Give people light and they will find a way.

Give people light.

Those are words for our time.

The current president has cloaked America in darkness for much too long. Too much anger. Too much fear. Too much division.

Here and now, I give you my word: If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us not the worst. I will be an ally of the light not of the darkness.

It’s time for us, for We the People, to come together.

For make no mistake. United we can, and will, overcome this season of darkness in America. We will choose hope over fear, facts over fiction, fairness over privilege.

I am a proud Democrat and I will be proud to carry the banner of our party into the general election. So, it is with great honor and humility that I accept this nomination for President of the United States of America.


But while I will be a Democratic candidate, I will be an American president. I will work as hard for those who didn’t support me as I will for those who did.

That’s the job of a president. To represent all of us, not just our base or our party. This is not a partisan moment. This must be an American moment.

It’s a moment that calls for hope and light and love. Hope for our futures, light to see our way forward, and love for one another.

America isn’t just a collection of clashing interests of Red States or Blue States.

We’re so much bigger than that.

We’re so much better than that.

Nearly a century ago, Franklin Roosevelt pledged a New Deal in a time of massive unemployment, uncertainty, and fear.

Stricken by disease, stricken by a virus, FDR insisted that he would recover and prevail and he believed America could as well.

And he did.

And so can we.

This campaign isn’t just about winning votes.

It’s about winning the heart, and yes, the soul of America.

Winning it for the generous among us, not the selfish. Winning it for the workers who keep this country going, not just the privileged few at the top. Winning it for those communities who have known the injustice of the “knee on the neck”. For all the young people who have known only an America of rising inequity and shrinking opportunity.

They deserve to experience America’s promise in full.

No generation ever knows what history will ask of it. All we can ever know is whether we’ll be ready when that moment arrives.

And now history has delivered us to one of the most difficult moments America has ever faced.

Four historic crises. All at the same time. A perfect storm.

The worst pandemic in over 100 years. The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

The most compelling call for racial justice since the 60’s. And the undeniable realities and accelerating threats of climate change.

So, the question for us is simple: Are we ready?

I believe we are.

We must be.

All elections are important. But we know in our bones this one is more consequential.

America is at an inflection point. A time of real peril, but of extraordinary possibilities.

We can choose the path of becoming angrier, less hopeful, and more divided.

A path of shadow and suspicion.

Or we can choose a different path, and together, take this chance to heal, to be reborn, to unite. A path of hope and light.

This is a life-changing election that will determine America’s future for a very long time.

Character is on the ballot. Compassion is on the ballot. Decency, science, democracy.

They are all on the ballot.

Who we are as a nation. What we stand for. And, most importantly, who we want to be.

That’s all on the ballot.

And the choice could not be clearer.

No rhetoric is needed.

Just judge this president on the facts.

5 million Americans infected with COVID-19.

More than 170,000 Americans have died.

By far the worst performance of any nation on Earth.

More than 50 million people have filed for unemployment this year.

More than 10 million people are going to lose their health insurance this year.

Nearly one in 6 small businesses have closed this year.

If this president is re-elected we know what will happen.

Cases and deaths will remain far too high.

More mom and pop businesses will close their doors for good.

Working families will struggle to get by, and yet, the wealthiest one percent will get tens of billions of dollars in new tax breaks.

And the assault on the Affordable Care Act will continue until its destroyed, taking insurance away from more than 20 million people – including more than 15 million people on Medicaid – and getting rid of the protections that President Obama and I passed for people who suffer from a pre-existing condition.

And speaking of President Obama, a man I was honored to serve alongside for 8 years as Vice President. Let me take this moment to say something we don’t say nearly enough.

Thank you, Mr. President. You were a great president. A president our children could – and did – look up to.

No one will say that about the current occupant of the office.

What we know about this president is if he’s given four more years he will be what he’s been the last four years.

A president who takes no responsibility, refuses to lead, blames others, cozies up to dictators, and fans the flames of hate and division.

He will wake up every day believing the job is all about him. Never about you.

Is that the America you want for you, your family, your children?

I see a different America.

One that is generous and strong.

Selfless and humble.

It’s an America we can rebuild together.

As president, the first step I will take will be to get control of the virus that’s ruined so many lives.

Because I understand something this president doesn’t.

We will never get our economy back on track, we will never get our kids safely back to school, we will never have our lives back, until we deal with this virus.

The tragedy of where we are today is it didn’t have to be this bad.

Just look around.

It’s not this bad in Canada. Or Europe. Or Japan. Or almost anywhere else in the world.

The President keeps telling us the virus is going to disappear. He keeps waiting for a miracle. Well, I have news for him, no miracle is coming.

We lead the world in confirmed cases. We lead the world in deaths.

Our economy is in tatters, with Black, Latino, Asian American, and Native American communities bearing the brunt of it.

And after all this time, the president still does not have a plan.

Well, I do.

If I’m president on day one we’ll implement the national strategy I’ve been laying out since March.

We’ll develop and deploy rapid tests with results available immediately.

We’ll make the medical supplies and protective equipment our country needs. And we’ll make them here in America. So we will never again be at the mercy of China and other foreign countries in order to protect our own people.

We’ll make sure our schools have the resources they need to be open, safe, and effective.

We’ll put the politics aside and take the muzzle off our experts so the public gets the information they need and deserve. The honest, unvarnished truth. They can deal with that.

We’ll have a national mandate to wear a mask-not as a burden, but to protect each other.

It’s a patriotic duty.

In short, I will do what we should have done from the very beginning.

Our current president has failed in his most basic duty to this nation.

He failed to protect us.

He failed to protect America.

And, my fellow Americans, that is unforgivable.

As president, I will make you this promise: I will protect America. I will defend us from every attack. Seen. And unseen. Always. Without exception. Every time.

Look, I understand it’s hard to have hope right now.

On this summer night, let me take a moment to speak to those of you who have lost the most.

I know how it feels to lose someone you love. I know that deep black hole that opens up in your chest. That you feel your whole being is sucked into it. I know how mean and cruel and unfair life can be sometimes.

But I’ve learned two things.

First, your loved ones may have left this Earth but they never leave your heart. They will always be with you.

And second, I found the best way through pain and loss and grief is to find purpose.

As God’s children each of us have a purpose in our lives.

And we have a great purpose as a nation: To open the doors of opportunity to all Americans. To save our democracy. To be a light to the world once again.

To finally live up to and make real the words written in the sacred documents that founded this nation that all men and women are created equal. Endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. Among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

You know, my Dad was an honorable, decent man.

He got knocked down a few times pretty hard, but always got up.

He worked hard and built a great middle-class life for our family.

He used to say, “Joey, I don’t expect the government to solve my problems, but I expect it to understand them.”

And then he would say: “Joey, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It’s about your dignity. It’s about respect. It’s about your place in your community. It’s about looking your kids in the eye and say, honey, it’s going to be okay.”

I’ve never forgotten those lessons.

That’s why my economic plan is all about jobs, dignity, respect, and community. Together, we can, and we will, rebuild our economy. And when we do, we’ll not only build it back, we’ll build it back better.

With modern roads, bridges, highways, broadband, ports and airports as a new foundation for economic growth. With pipes that transport clean water to every community. With 5 million new manufacturing and technology jobs so the future is made in America.

With a health care system that lowers premiums, deductibles, and drug prices by building on the Affordable Care Act he’s trying to rip away.

With an education system that trains our people for the best jobs of the 21st century, where cost doesn’t prevent young people from going to college, and student debt doesn’t crush them when they get out.

With child care and elder care that make it possible for parents to go to work and for the elderly to stay in their homes with dignity. With an immigration system that powers our economy and reflects our values. With newly empowered labor unions. With equal pay for women. With rising wages you can raise a family on. Yes, we’re going to do more than praise our essential workers. We’re finally going to pay them.

We can, and we will, deal with climate change. It’s not only a crisis, it’s an enormous opportunity. An opportunity for America to lead the world in clean energy and create millions of new good-paying jobs in the process.

And we can pay for these investments by ending loopholes and the president’s $1.3 trillion tax giveaway to the wealthiest 1 percent and the biggest, most profitable corporations, some of which pay no tax at all.

Because we don’t need a tax code that rewards wealth more than it rewards work. I’m not looking to punish anyone. Far from it. But it’s long past time the wealthiest people and the biggest corporations in this country paid their fair share.

For our seniors, Social Security is a sacred obligation, a sacred promise made. The current president is threatening to break that promise. He’s proposing to eliminate the tax that pays for almost half of Social Security without any way of making up for that lost revenue.

I will not let it happen. If I’m your president, we’re going to protect Social Security and Medicare. You have my word.

One of the most powerful voices we hear in the country today is from our young people. They’re speaking to the inequity and injustice that has grown up in America. Economic injustice. Racial injustice. Environmental injustice.

I hear their voices and if you listen, you can hear them too. And whether it’s the existential threat posed by climate change, the daily fear of being gunned down in school, or the inability to get started in their first job — it will be the work of the next president to restore the promise of America to everyone.

I won’t have to do it alone. Because I will have a great Vice President at my side. Senator Kamala Harris. She is a powerful voice for this nation. Her story is the American story. She knows about all the obstacles thrown in the way of so many in our country. Women, Black women, Black Americans, South Asian Americans, immigrants, the left-out and left-behind.

But she’s overcome every obstacle she’s ever faced. No one’s been tougher on the big banks or the gun lobby. No one’s been tougher in calling out this current administration for its extremism, its failure to follow the law, and its failure to simply tell the truth.

Kamala and I both draw strength from our families. For Kamala, it’s Doug and their families.

For me, it’s Jill and ours.

No man deserves one great love in his life. But I’ve known two. After losing my first wife in a car accident, Jill came into my life and put our family back together.

She’s an educator. A mom. A military Mom. And an unstoppable force. If she puts her mind to it, just get out of the way. Because she’s going to get it done. She was a great Second Lady and she will make a great First Lady for this nation, she loves this country so much.

And I will have the strength that can only come from family. Hunter, Ashley and all our grandchildren, my brothers, my sister. They give me courage and lift me up.

And while he is no longer with us, Beau inspires me every day.

Beau served our nation in uniform. A decorated Iraq war veteran.

So I take very personally the profound responsibility of serving as Commander in Chief.

I will be a president who will stand with our allies and friends. I will make it clear to our adversaries the days of cozying up to dictators are over.

Under President Biden, America will not turn a blind eye to Russian bounties on the heads of American soldiers. Nor will I put up with foreign interference in our most sacred democratic exercise – voting.

I will stand always for our values of human rights and dignity. And I will work in common purpose for a more secure, peaceful, and prosperous world.

History has thrust one more urgent task on us. Will we be the generation that finally wipes the stain of racism from our national character?

I believe we’re up to it.

I believe we’re ready.

Just a week ago yesterday was the third anniversary of the events in Charlottesville.

Remember seeing those neo-Nazis and Klansmen and white supremacists coming out of the fields with lighted torches? Veins bulging? Spewing the same anti-Semitic bile heard across Europe in the ‘30s?

Remember the violent clash that ensued between those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it?

Remember what the president said?

There were quote, “very fine people on both sides.”

It was a wake-up call for us as a country.

And for me, a call to action. At that moment, I knew I’d have to run. My father taught us that silence was complicity. And I could not remain silent or complicit.

At the time, I said we were in a battle for the soul of this nation.

And we are.

One of the most important conversations I’ve had this entire campaign is with someone who is too young to vote.

I met with six-year old Gianna Floyd, a day before her Daddy George Floyd was laid to rest.

She is incredibly brave.

I’ll never forget.

When I leaned down to speak with her, she looked into my eyes and said “Daddy, changed the world.”

Her words burrowed deep into my heart.

Maybe George Floyd’s murder was the breaking point.

Maybe John Lewis’ passing the inspiration.

However it has come to be, America is ready to in John’s words, to lay down “the heavy burdens of hate at last” and to do the hard work of rooting out our systemic racism.

America’s history tells us that it has been in our darkest moments that we’ve made our greatest progress. That we’ve found the light. And in this dark moment, I believe we are poised to make great progress again. That we can find the light once more.

I have always believed you can define America in one word: Possibilities.

That in America, everyone, and I mean everyone, should be given the opportunity to go as far as their dreams and God-given ability will take them.

We can never lose that. In times as challenging as these, I believe there is only one way forward. As a united America. United in our pursuit of a more perfect Union. United in our dreams of a better future for us and for our children. United in our determination to make the coming years bright.

Are we ready?

I believe we are.

This is a great nation.

And we are a good and decent people.

This is the United States of America.

And there has never been anything we’ve been unable to accomplish when we’ve done it together.

The Irish poet Seamus Heaney once wrote:

“History says,

Don’t hope on this side of the grave,

But then, once in a lifetime

The longed-for tidal wave

Of justice can rise up,

And hope and history rhyme”

This is our moment to make hope and history rhyme.

With passion and purpose, let us begin – you and I together, one nation, under God – united in our love for America and united in our love for each other.

For love is more powerful than hate.

Hope is more powerful than fear.

Light is more powerful than dark.

This is our moment.

This is our mission.

May history be able to say that the end of this chapter of American darkness began here tonight as love and hope and light joined in the battle for the soul of the nation.

And this is a battle that we, together, will win.

I promise you.

Thank you.

And may God bless you.

And may God protect our troops.

August 20, 2020

Cuomo Signs New Laws To Expand Absentee Voting Ahead Of Presidential Vote

Source: Forbes

According to a statement from the governor's office, part of the legislation will allow voters to ask for an absentee ballot “due to risk of illness to themselves or others,” an expansion of permitted reasons to request one.

Another will expand the amount of time voters have to request absentee ballots; a previous limitation meant voters could only ask for a ballot 30 days out before elections, according to the statement—with the signing of this legislation, New Yorkers can request an absentee ballot immediately.

As controversy surrounding reported delays at the United States Postal Service stemming from Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s new cost-saving measures, the statement says the new legislation will provide voters with “reassurance that they will receive and can cast their vote in a timely manner.”

The third provision will allow ballots postmarked on November 3, Election Day, to be counted in the election, as well as allow a ballot with a time stamp proving it was received November 4, but does not have a dated postmark, to be counted, according to the statement.

Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2020/08/20/cuomo-signs-new-laws-to-expand-absentee-voting-ahead-of-presidential-vote/?fbclid=IwAR1Gu171ITpqbbqF85ovTV5fDUK5Ud5GJ-dm0vlSd9kPcqrkYb2VVjoyi48#462bd41116e8

---

https://twitter.com/NYGovCuomo/status/1296477504459493381

August 20, 2020

Steve Bannon Arrested For Defrauding "Build the Wall" Donors

"Law and order" is one thing. Rule of Law is another.

I'm so glad this unpardonable four are down and will have to spend a lot to build their pathetic defense.

Each of these is a click away from Trump.


https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/leaders-we-build-wall-online-fundraising-campaign-charged-defrauding-hundreds-thousands

Badolato


Brian Kolfage


Timothy Shea


Big EDIT: I misidentified Timothy Shea and inserted the correct photo per newly found media info. Source:
https://heavy.com/news/2020/08/timothy-shea/

August 20, 2020

It's Not a Trump Bubble, It's QAnon

This is the weirdest collective insanity I've ever come across. Here I've thought it's limited to reddit rabbit hole digital types, but it's the pattern of craziness that shows its extent in real life. It's grown for years, so huge in reach that it's now reached Congress.

The absolute crazy part is the motivation -- for money. It's not just a Q circus for suckers and haters, it's become crazy, violent talk that leads to real world violence.

Who QAnon are might be an ongoing investigation by the FBI, but we're not being told any of that. For all we really know, they are documenting all kinds of QAnon fueling of all kinds of white supremacist militias now waiting out the results of this election. Any more public drama in the next five months could as likely be driven by the Qult as by Putin's or Trump's operatives.

And here I thought it was just a tweet-generated Trump bubble. No wonder the man moves on to other media when Fox turns to facts.

We talk of a "Trump Tribunal" or a "Crimes Commission." Aside from the SDNY's handling Trump, it's the whole crowd of his enablers (Flynn using the Qanon pledge? wtf?) who brought us to this point. Around that, a Truth Commission might reveal another beta test of campaign to create reality by consensus.


How three conspiracy theorists took 'Q' and sparked Qanon

Source:
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/how-three-conspiracy-theorists-took-q-sparked-qanon-n900531?fbclid=IwAR2L_tNvEw-l-GPJb37bdHTgmq2ARkuKodVC9JzhQeeJTXLC0cSCpq5RPoQ



One recent example of QAnon effects in the real world -- the Wayfair affair.



Source:
https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/qanon-gop/


Now, YouTube shows QAnon warnings, but videos not taken down.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=The+general%2C+a+QAnon+icon%2C+recently+released+a+video+of+himself+and+his+family+earnestly+reciting+the+QAnon+pledge


Broad summary:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QAnon


And look how young its followers are.

August 20, 2020

QAnon Groups Hit By Facebook Crack Down

Source: NBC News

Facebook on Wednesday banned about 900 pages and groups and 1,500 ads tied to the pro-Trump conspiracy theory QAnon, part of a sweeping action that also restricted the reach of over 10,000 Instagram pages and almost 2,000 Facebook groups pushing the baseless conspiracy theory that has spawned real-world violence.

Facebook also took down thousands of accounts, pages and groups as part of what they called a “policy expansion,” seeking to limit violent rhetoric tied to QAnon, political militias and protest groups like antifa.

QAnon, militia movements and violent movements tied to protests will now no longer be allowed to purchase ads on Facebook. QAnon ads, which often pushed merchandise, were allowed on the platform before Wednesday’s announcement.

Facebook will now downrank QAnon, militia and anarchist protest groups on users’ News Feeds and in Facebook and Instagram’s search engines. The groups and accounts will no longer be featured in the “recommendations” sidebar on similar pages. The new ban will also prohibit fundraising based on hashtags related to these movements on Facebook and Instagram.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/qanon-groups-hit-facebook-crack-down-n1237330

---

Trump's campaign is also not able to reach its base through all those QAnons and their 'adjacents.'

August 20, 2020

Kamala Harris 2020 Democratic National Convention Speech -- Full Transcript

Greetings America.

It is truly an honor to be speaking with you.

That I am here tonight is a testament to the dedication of generations before me. Women and men who believed so fiercely in the promise of equality, liberty, and justice for all.

This week marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment. And we celebrate the women who fought for that right.

Yet so many of the Black women who helped secure that victory were still prohibited from voting, long after its ratification.

But they were undeterred.

Without fanfare or recognition, they organized, testified, rallied, marched, and fought — not just for their vote, but for a seat at the table. These women and the generations that followed worked to make democracy and opportunity real in the lives of all of us who followed.

They paved the way for the trailblazing leadership of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

And these women inspired us to pick up the torch, and fight on.

Women like Mary Church Terrell and Mary McCleod Bethune. Fannie Lou Hamer and Diane Nash. Constance Baker Motley and Shirley Chisholm.

We’re not often taught their stories. But as Americans, we all stand on their shoulders.

There’s another woman, whose name isn’t known, whose story isn’t shared. Another woman whose shoulders I stand on. And that’s my mother — Shyamala Gopalan Harris.

She came here from India at age 19 to pursue her dream of curing cancer. At the University of California Berkeley, she met my father, Donald Harris — who had come from Jamaica to study economics.

They fell in love in that most American way — while marching together for justice in the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

In the streets of Oakland and Berkeley, I got a stroller’s-eye view of people getting into what the great John Lewis called “good trouble.”

When I was 5, my parents split and my mother raised us mostly on her own. Like so many mothers, she worked around the clock to make it work — packing lunches before we woke up — and paying bills after we went to bed. Helping us with homework at the kitchen table — and shuttling us to church for choir practice.

She made it look easy, though I know it never was.

My mother instilled in my sister, Maya, and me the values that would chart the course of our lives.

She raised us to be proud, strong Black women. And she raised us to know and be proud of our Indian heritage.

She taught us to put family first — the family you’re born into and the family you choose.

Family, is my husband Doug, who I met on a blind date set up by my best friend. Family is our beautiful children, Cole and Ella, who as you just heard, call me Momala. Family is my sister. Family is my best friend, my nieces and my godchildren. Family is my uncles, my aunts and my chithis. Family is Mrs. Shelton — my second mother who lived two doors down and helped raise me. Family is my beloved Alpha Kappa Alpha … our Divine 9 … and my H.B.C.U. brothers and sisters. Family is the friends I turned to when my mother — the most important person in my life — passed away from cancer.

And even as she taught us to keep our family at the center of our world, she also pushed us to see a world beyond ourselves.

She taught us to be conscious and compassionate about the struggles of all people. To believe public service is a noble cause and the fight for justice is a shared responsibility.

That led me to become a lawyer, a district attorney, attorney general and a United States Senator.

And at every step of the way, I’ve been guided by the words I spoke from the first time I stood in a courtroom: Kamala Harris, for the people.

I’ve fought for children, and survivors of sexual assault. I’ve fought against transnational gangs. I took on the biggest banks, and helped take down one of the biggest for-profit colleges.

I know a predator when I see one.

My mother taught me that service to others gives life purpose and meaning. And oh, how I wish she were here tonight but I know she’s looking down on me from above. I keep thinking about that 25-year-old Indian woman — all of five feet tall — who gave birth to me at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, California.

On that day, she probably could have never imagined that I would be standing before you now speaking these words: I accept your nomination for vice president of the United States of America.

I do so, committed to the values she taught me. To the Word that teaches me to walk by faith, and not by sight. And to a vision passed on through generations of Americans — one that Joe Biden shares. A vision of our nation as a Beloved Community — where all are welcome, no matter what we look like, where we come from, or who we love.

A country where we may not agree on every detail, but we are united by the fundamental belief that every human being is of infinite worth, deserving of compassion, dignity and respect.

A country where we look out for one another, where we rise and fall as one, where we face our challenges, and celebrate our triumphs — together.

Today … that country feels distant.

Donald Trump’s failure of leadership has cost lives and livelihoods.

If you’re a parent struggling with your child’s remote learning, or you’re a teacher struggling on the other side of that screen, you know that what we’re doing right now isn’t working.

And we are a nation that’s grieving. Grieving the loss of life, the loss of jobs, the loss of opportunities, the loss of normalcy. And yes, the loss of certainty.

And while this virus touches us all, let’s be honest, it is not an equal opportunity offender. Black, Latino and Indigenous people are suffering and dying disproportionately.

This is not a coincidence. It is the effect of structural racism.

Of inequities in education and technology, health care and housing, job security and transportation.

The injustice in reproductive and maternal health care. In the excessive use of force by police. And in our broader criminal justice system.

This virus has no eyes, and yet it knows exactly how we see each other — and how we treat each other.

And let’s be clear — there is no vaccine for racism. We’ve gotta do the work.

For George Floyd. For Breonna Taylor. For the lives of too many others to name. For our children. For all of us.

We’ve gotta do the work to fulfill that promise of equal justice under law. Because, none of us are free … until all of us are free …

We’re at an inflection point.

The constant chaos leaves us adrift. The incompetence makes us feel afraid. The callousness makes us feel alone.

It’s a lot.

And here’s the thing: We can do better and deserve so much more.

We must elect a president who will bring something different, something better, and do the important work. A president who will bring all of us together — Black, White, Latino, Asian, Indigenous — to achieve the future we collectively want.

We must elect Joe Biden.

I knew Joe as Vice President. I knew Joe on the campaign trail. But I first got to know Joe as the father of my friend.

Joe’s son, Beau, and I served as Attorneys General of our states, Delaware and California. During the Great Recession, we spoke on the phone nearly every day, working together to win back billions of dollars for homeowners from the big banks that foreclosed on people’s homes.

And Beau and I would talk about his family.

How, as a single father, Joe would spend 4 hours every day riding the train back and forth from Wilmington to Washington. Beau and Hunter got to have breakfast every morning with their dad. They went to sleep every night with the sound of his voice reading bedtime stories. And while they endured an unspeakable loss, these two little boys Always knew that they were deeply, unconditionally loved.

And what also moved me about Joe is the work he did, as he went back and forth. This is the leader who wrote the Violence Against Women Act — and enacted the Assault Weapons Ban. Who, as Vice President, implemented The Recovery Act, which brought our country back from The Great Recession. He championed The Affordable Care Act, protecting millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions. Who spent decades promoting American values and interests around the world, standing up with our allies and standing up to our adversaries.

Right now, we have a president who turns our tragedies into political weapons.

Joe will be a president who turns our challenges into purpose.

Joe will bring us together to build an economy that doesn’t leave anyone behind. Where a good-paying job is the floor, not the ceiling.

Joe will bring us together to end this pandemic and make sure that we are prepared for the next one.

Joe will bring us together to squarely face and dismantle racial injustice, furthering the work of generations.

Joe and I believe that we can build that Beloved Community, one that is strong and decent, just and kind. One in which we all can see ourselves.

That’s the vision that our parents and grandparents fought for. The vision that made my own life possible. The vision that makes the American promise — for all its complexities and imperfections — a promise worth fighting for.

Make no mistake, the road ahead will not be not easy. We will stumble. We may fall short. But I pledge to you that we will act boldly and deal with our challenges honestly. We will speak truths. And we will act with the same faith in you that we ask you to place in us.

We believe that our country — all of us, will stand together for a better future. We already are.

We see it in the doctors, the nurses, the home health care workers and the frontline workers who are risking their lives to save people they’ve never met.

We see it in the teachers and truck drivers, the factory workers and farmers, the postal workers and the Poll workers, all putting their own safety on the line to help us get through this pandemic.

And we see it in so many of you who are working, not just to get us through our current crises, but to somewhere better.


There’s something happening, all across the country.

It’s not about Joe or me.

It’s about you.

It’s about us. People of all ages and colors and creeds who are, yes, taking to the streets, and also persuading our family members, rallying our friends, organizing our neighbors, and getting out the vote.

And we’ve shown that, when we vote, we expand access to health care, expand access to the ballot box, and ensure that more working families can make a decent living.

I’m so inspired by a new generation of leadership. You are pushing us to realize the ideals of our nation, pushing us to live the values we share: decency and fairness, justice and love.

You are the patriots who remind us that to love our country is to fight for the ideals of our country.

In this election, we have a chance to change the course of history. We’re all in this fight.

You, me and Joe — together.

What an awesome responsibility. What an awesome privilege.

So, let’s fight with conviction. Let’s fight with hope. Let’s fight with confidence in ourselves, and a commitment to each other. To the America we know is possible. The America, we love.

Years from now, this moment will have passed. And our children and our grandchildren will look in our eyes and ask us: Where were you when the stakes were so high?

They will ask us, what was it like?

And we will tell them. We will tell them, not just how we felt.

We will tell them what we did.

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.

August 20, 2020

President Barack Obama's 2020 Democratic National Convention Speech -- Full Transcript

Good evening, everybody. As you've seen by now, this isn't a normal convention. It's not a normal time. So tonight, I want to talk as plainly as I can about the stakes in this election. Because what we do these next 76 days will echo through generations to come.

I'm in Philadelphia, where our Constitution was drafted and signed. It wasn't a perfect document. It allowed for the inhumanity of slavery and failed to guarantee women -- and even men who didn't own property -- the right to participate in the political process.

But embedded in this document was a North Star that would guide future generations; a system of representative government -- a democracy -- through which we could better realize our highest ideals. Through civil war and bitter struggles, we improved this Constitution to include the voices of those who'd once been left out. And gradually, we made this country more just, more equal, and more free.

The one Constitutional office elected by all of the people is the presidency. So at minimum, we should expect a president to feel a sense of responsibility for the safety and welfare of all 330 million of us -- regardless of what we look like, how we worship, who we love, how much money we have -- or who we voted for.

But we should also expect a president to be the custodian of this democracy. We should expect that regardless of ego, ambition, or political beliefs, the president will preserve, protect, and defend the freedoms and ideals that so many Americans marched for and went to jail for; fought for and died for.

I have sat in the Oval Office with both of the men who are running for president. I never expected that my successor would embrace my vision or continue my policies. I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously; that he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care.

But he never did. For close to four years now, he's shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves.

Donald Trump hasn't grown into the job because he can't. And the consequences of that failure are severe. 170,000 Americans dead. Millions of jobs gone while those at the top take in more than ever. Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before.

Now, I know that in times as polarized as these, most of you have already made up your mind. But maybe you're still not sure which candidate you'll vote for -- or whether you'll vote at all. Maybe you're tired of the direction we're headed, but you can't see a better path yet, or you just don't know enough about the person who wants to lead us there.

So let me tell you about my friend Joe Biden.

Twelve years ago, when I began my search for a vice president, I didn't know I'd end up finding a brother. Joe and I came from different places and different generations. But what I quickly came to admire about him is his resilience, born of too much struggle; his empathy, born of too much grief. Joe's a man who learned -- early on -- to treat every person he meets with respect and dignity, living by the words his parents taught him: "No one's better than you, Joe, but you're better than nobody."

That empathy, that decency, the belief that everybody counts -- that's who Joe is.
When he talks with someone who's lost her job, Joe remembers the night his father sat him down to say that he'd lost his.

When Joe listens to a parent who's trying to hold it all together right now, he does it as the single dad who took the train back to Wilmington each and every night so he could tuck his kids into bed.
When he meets with military families who've lost their hero, he does it as a kindred spirit; the parent of an American soldier; somebody whose faith has endured the hardest loss there is.

For eight years, Joe was the last one in the room whenever I faced a big decision. He made me a better president -- and he's got the character and the experience to make us a better country.

And in my friend Kamala Harris, he's chosen an ideal partner who's more than prepared for the job; someone who knows what it's like to overcome barriers and who's made a career fighting to help others live out their own American dream.

Along with the experience needed to get things done, Joe and Kamala have concrete policies that will turn their vision of a better, fairer, stronger country into reality.
They'll get this pandemic under control, like Joe did when he helped me manage H1N1 and prevent an Ebola outbreak from reaching our shores.
They'll expand health care to more Americans, like Joe and I did ten years ago when he helped craft the Affordable Care Act and nail down the votes to make it the law.
They'll rescue the economy, like Joe helped me do after the Great Recession. I asked him to manage the Recovery Act, which jumpstarted the longest stretch of job growth in history.

And he sees this moment now not as a chance to get back to where we were, but to make long-overdue changes so that our economy actually makes life a little easier for everybody -- whether it's the waitress trying to raise a kid on her own, or the shift worker always on the edge of getting laid off, or the student figuring out how to pay for next semester's classes.

Joe and Kamala will restore our standing in the world -- and as we've learned from this pandemic, that matters. Joe knows the world, and the world knows him. He knows that our true strength comes from setting an example the world wants to follow. A nation that stands with democracy, not dictators. A nation that can inspire and mobilize others to overcome threats like climate change, terrorism, poverty, and disease.

But more than anything, what I know about Joe and Kamala is that they actually care about every American. And they care deeply about this democracy.

They believe that in a democracy, the right to vote is sacred, and we should be making it easier for people to cast their ballot, not harder.

They believe that no one -- including the president -- is above the law, and that no public official -- including the president -- should use their office to enrich themselves or their supporters.
They understand that in this democracy, the Commander-in-Chief doesn't use the men and women of our military, who are willing to risk everything to protect our nation, as political props to deploy against peaceful protesters on our own soil.

They understand that political opponents aren't "un-American" just because they disagree with you; that a free press isn't the "enemy" but the way we hold officials accountable; that our ability to work together to solve big problems like a pandemic depends on a fidelity to facts and science and logic and not just making stuff up.

None of this should be controversial. These shouldn't be Republican principles or Democratic principles. They're American principles. But at this moment, this president and those who enable him, have shown they don't believe in these things.

Tonight, I am asking you to believe in Joe and Kamala's ability to lead this country out of these dark times and build it back better. But here's the thing: no single American can fix this country alone. Not even a president.

Democracy was never meant to be transactional -- you give me your vote; I make everything better. It requires an active and informed citizenry. So I am also asking you to believe in your own ability -- to embrace your own responsibility as citizens -- to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure.

Because that's what at stake right now. Our democracy.

Look, I understand why many Americans are down on government. The way the rules have been set up and abused in Congress make it easy for special interests to stop progress. Believe me, I know. I understand why a white factory worker who's seen his wages cut or his job shipped overseas might feel like the government no longer looks out for him, and why a Black mother might feel like it never looked out for her at all. I understand why a new immigrant might look around this country and wonder whether there's still a place for him here; why a young person might look at politics right now, the circus of it all, the meanness and the lies and crazy conspiracy theories and think, what's the point?

Well, here's the point: this president and those in power -- those who benefit from keeping things the way they are -- they are counting on your cynicism. They know they can't win you over with their policies. So they're hoping to make it as hard as possible for you to vote, and to convince you that your vote doesn't matter. That's how they win. That's how they get to keep making decisions that affect your life, and the lives of the people you love. That's how the economy will keep getting skewed to the wealthy and well-connected, how our health systems will let more people fall through the cracks. That's how a democracy withers, until it's no democracy at all.

We can't let that happen. Do not let them take away your power. Don't let them take away your democracy. Make a plan right now for how you're going to get involved and vote. Do it as early as you can and tell your family and friends how they can vote too. Do what Americans have done for over two centuries when faced with even tougher times than this -- all those quiet heroes who found the courage to keep marching, keep pushing in the face of hardship and injustice.

Last month, we lost a giant of American democracy in John Lewis. Some years ago, I sat down with John and the few remaining leaders of the early Civil Rights Movement. One of them told me he never imagined he'd walk into the White House and see a president who looked like his grandson. Then he told me that he'd looked it up, and it turned out that on the very day that I was born, he was marching into a jail cell, trying to end Jim Crow segregation in the South.

What we do echoes through the generations.

Whatever our backgrounds, we're all the children of Americans who fought the good fight. Great grandparents working in firetraps and sweatshops without rights or representation. Farmers losing their dreams to dust. Irish and Italians and Asians and Latinos told to go back where they came from. Jews and Catholics, Muslims and Sikhs, made to feel suspect for the way they worshipped. Black Americans chained and whipped and hanged. Spit on for trying to sit at lunch counters. Beaten for trying to vote.

If anyone had a right to believe that this democracy did not work, and could not work, it was those Americans. Our ancestors. They were on the receiving end of a democracy that had fallen short all their lives. They knew how far the daily reality of America strayed from the myth. And yet, instead of giving up, they joined together and said somehow, some way, we are going to make this work. We are going to bring those words, in our founding documents, to life.

I've seen that same spirit rising these past few years. Folks of every age and background who packed city centers and airports and rural roads so that families wouldn't be separated. So that another classroom wouldn't get shot up. So that our kids won't grow up on an uninhabitable planet. Americans of all races joining together to declare, in the face of injustice and brutality at the hands of the state, that Black Lives Matter, no more, but no less, so that no child in this country feels the continuing sting of racism.

To the young people who led us this summer, telling us we need to be better -- in so many ways, you are this country's dreams fulfilled. Earlier generations had to be persuaded that everyone has equal worth. For you, it's a given -- a conviction. And what I want you to know is that for all its messiness and frustrations, your system of self-government can be harnessed to help you realize those convictions.

You can give our democracy new meaning. You can take it to a better place. You're the missing ingredient -- the ones who will decide whether or not America becomes the country that fully lives up to its creed.
That work will continue long after this election.

But any chance of success depends entirely on the outcome of this election. This administration has shown it will tear our democracy down if that's what it takes to win.

So we have to get busy building it up -- by pouring all our effort into these 76 days, and by voting like never before -- for Joe and Kamala, and candidates up and down the ticket, so that we leave no doubt about what this country we love stands for -- today and for all our days to come.

Stay safe. God bless.

August 19, 2020

THE STARTING 'FIX' FOR USPS IN TIME FOR OCTOBER EARLY MAILING

THIS IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE. THIS CAN BE DONE IN ONE MONTH. ONE MONTH.

1. BY SEPT 15: RETURN old and install replacement high speed sorter equipment across states.

2. BY SEPT 20: CERTIFY (ONLY by local postmasters sign off) the functionality of all 600+ high speed mail sorters across states.

3. BY SEPT 20: CERTIFY the finished reinstallment of all mail collection boxes from the streets.

4. BY SEPT 20: CONGRESS CANCELS THE CONTRACT DE JOY set up with his personally connected private mail carrier, overriding the barely existing Postal Service Board's approvals.

5. BY JAN 30 2021:
A. CONGRESS SHALL RE-COMPOSE ALL NEW MEMBERS FOR THE POSTAL SERVICE BOARD
B. CONGRESS WILL REQUIRE QUARTERLY REPORTS THE POSTMASTER GENERAL ON BUDGETING AND PERSONNEL NEEDS.



Historically, Congress has not enacted specific policies concerning the extent of the USPS’s use of contractors to deliver mail. It has left the matter to be decided by the Postal Service and its letter carrier unions through collective bargaining and the grievance process. Congress may continue this practice, reasoning that the USPS has legitimate grounds to pursue cost-savings via the use of contractors.

Contractors have been used to collect, transport, sort, and deliver mail; and machines built by private firms do much of the mail sorting work once performed by USPS employees.

Letter carriage would not appear to be an inherently governmental function under current procurement policy, so the USPS should be free to outsource this work as it deems proper.

But given the essential frontline nature of USPS in recent decades, that is the current issue.

Congress may choose to intervene, viewing the issue as involving an unintended conflict arising out of two national policies—USPS operational efficiency and the rights of unionized, federal employees. The two are not mutually exclusive, were Postal Service Board members not predominantly composed from the business world.

From this perspective, it could be argued that the USPS is supposed to be a self-supporting agency; but that does not necessitate that the USPS should be permitted to outsource however much postal work it chooses. The postal service may forever be a service and not a business, despite the conflict of issues board members might impose on the federal employees.

It might be further argued that there is a positive societal benefit in the federal government hiring individuals (often minorities and veterans) and compensating them well.

Thus, Congress might either ban the practice of using contractors to deliver mail (or perform other mail-movement activities); or it could limit the amount of mail delivery work performed by contractors — perhaps by capping the percentage of routes served by non-USPS employees.

Were Congress either to ban or limit the use of contractors, it might wish to consider helping the USPS recoup any lost savings by providing it with additional authorities to increase its revenues or decrease its operating costs. It could change the current undue burdening standard for pension solvency, which has amounted to defunding USPS.

The essential frontline nature of USPS in recent decades, and its proper funding and functioning is America's future concern.

Congress will HAVE to name post offices less, and take on the regular and indispensable oversight of the U.S. Postal Service more. More. Pandemics and climate crises will necessitate that Congress run the U.S. Postal Service, NOT the president and NOT any corporate business board.

August 18, 2020

Disney Princess Theology

We lefties always have to drag them kicking and screaming as we do their thinking for them as they pout their way to progress. And that's after they shoot first, aim later.

From reddit.