guillaumeb
guillaumeb's JournalNo mattter what you say about Trump, he is consistent.
A consistent liar.
A consistent bully.
A consistent idiot.
A consistent embarrassment.
A....?
Ilhan Omar and the Politics of 'Radical Love'
From the article:
While Republican members of Congress propose to wall off the United States and many Democrats are shy about engaging with global issues, the Democratic Representative from Minnesota maintains a passionate sense of connection with the rest of the world.
She is an immigrant, and a refugee. She is a Somali American woman who proudly identifies as an intersectional feminist. Her criticisms of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians have drawn a great deal of attention, including bipartisan rebukes. Yet little note has been made of the fact that this Muslim Congresswoman has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of human rights abuses in a number of predominantly Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia and Sudan. Even less noticed has been her focus on poverty and injustice in Central America, and her ardent advocacy on behalf of women’s rights and LGBTQ rights in places like Brunei....
Support for Omar has also come from those who want that debate. When Omar was accused of anti-Semitism earlier this year for a controversial tweet she made criticizing lobbying on behalf of Israel, Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of the pro-Israel, pro-peace group J Street, came to her defense: “What I see is Republicans who, for partisan purposes, are trying to drive a wedge in the Democratic Party.”
To read more:
https://progressive.org/magazine/ilhan-omar-politics-of-radical-love-nichols/
Got a License for That?
From the article:
But many dangerous people have fallen through the cracks, including several perpetrators of mass shootings. Current federal law subjects gun buyers to background checks only if the seller is a licensed dealer “engaged in the business” of selling firearms.
Collectors and private sellers at gun shows and individuals who advertise weapons on the Internet are not required to vet their customers. Those who acquire weapons from acquaintances, friends, or family are also exempt from federal background checks.
As a result, 22 percent of U.S. gun owners who acquired their most recent firearm within the previous two years did so without a background check, according to a 2017 study in the Annals of Internal Medicine...…
To close these gaps, fifteen states and the District of Columbia now require gun buyers to obtain a license, certificate, or permit to purchase, as it is sometimes called, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a San Francisco-based nonprofit.
To read more:
https://progressive.org/magazine/got-a-license-for-that-johnson/
In my opinion, the license should not be cheap.
And the training to qualify should also not be cheap.
And insurance should be required for every weapon purchased.
How Martin Luther King Jr. used the pulpit to 'redeem' America's soul
From the article:
King was, of course, one of the most important social reformers of the 20th century. His struggle against racial discrimination in the 1950s and 1960s led to changes in federal and state laws, including the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.
But he was first and foremost a Baptist preacher. And his mission to “redeem the soul of America” cannot be understood apart from his Christian convictions and his ability to eloquently articulate those convictions for a nation hobbled by segregation and structural racism.
To read more:
https://religionnews.com/2020/01/17/book-how-king-used-the-power-of-the-pulpit-to-redeem-the-soul-of-america/?utm_source=RNS+Updates&utm_campaign=83fe8c6cc0-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_01_09_06_29_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c5356cb657-83fe8c6cc0-127942461
Trump would love to run against the weakest Democratic candidate.
And that is obvious, even to someone as ignorant as Trump. And the leaders of the GOP, correctly seeing Trump as a useful idiot, will do everything to support Trump in the 2020 election.
Which brings up the question so often debated here.
Who is the strongest candidate? I say strongest because, in my view, there are no weak candidates among the top 4 running on the Democratic side. None.
Remember the 2018 elections, where a blue wave swept the GOP from the House and returned control to the Democrats. And remember that turnout, an energized electorate, was key.
Remember also that, as discouraging as it might sound, a large percentage of voters does not really follow the day to day of politics. Yes, Rachel Maddow's 2 shows featuring Lev Parnas rated the highest of any cable shows ever, but this level of interest is the exception. I would say that more voters follow sports than follow politics.
The question for us, as political activists, is how do we generate enthusiasm among the politically unenthusiastic for whoever the Democratic nominee is?
We do it by general outreach to voters.
We do it by canvassing in our areas.
We do it by writing letters to the newspaper.
We do it by organizing events in our areas.
We do it on social media by emphasizing the positive aspect of voting for the Democratic candidate.
We do it by ignoring the purity police who will attack whichever candidate is not their own preferred candidate.
Related to that, we do it by emphasizing that in 2016, most Democratic voters voted for HRC, not a spoiler.
And we remember that in 2016, approximately 47% of people eligible to vote did not vote at all. Part of that is due to GOP suppression, and intimidation, but part of that can be remedied by us doing what I pointed out above.
It is our job to reach out to the apathetic.
It is our job to help the unregistered to re-register, and to educate them as to the dangers of not voting in every election.
And if we do this, directly, or at least by contributing to organizations that are doing this, we will make the 2018 blue wave look pathetic by comparison to the blue tsunami of 2020.
I am so old that....
I can remember when GOP voters called themselves values voters.However, if being selfish, and openly racist, and greedy are seen as good values to have, they might still be values voters.
I am so old that I can remember when GOP voters called themselves the moral majority.
That was before they voted for a serially adulterous open racist.
And before they voted for a person who has been sued 4,500 times for non-payment of bills.
And before they voted for a person who has declared bankruptcy 6 times to escape failed decisions.
And before they voted for a person who has bragged about assaulting underaged girls.
And before they voted for a person who has declared he is against abortion, even as he paid for abortions for his mistresses.
Yes, I am that old.
Think of how intelligence falls on a bell curve.
And consider that the left side of the curve is where the below average scores are. The left side.
Now consider the irony that most Trump voters, the most far right voters of all, reside on the left side of that bell curve.
There might be a paradox here, or simply irony.
Let me also make clear that I am in no way trying to insult those who score below average on these tests.
Why are there no honest members of the Trump Administration?
The simple answer is that no honest and informed person would wish to associate with Donald Trump. His reputation for criminality is longer than his tie. Longer than his history of cheating on his wives.
There is a reason that Trump picked crooked lawyers like Michael Cohen, Jay Sekulow, and William Barr. They are unethical. An ethical attorney would never work for Trump.
There is a reason that Trump picked Betsy Devos, and Steve Manuchin, and Rick Perry, and the rest of the Cabinet. Ethical people would never accept a position in the Trump Administration.
There is a reason that Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kellyanne Conway were Trump's mouthpieces. And that reason is a willingness to lie about literally everything in order to provide cover for Trump.
And given that the GOP has a history of cheating to win elections, a history that stretches back to 1968, Trump knew which Party would enthusiastically support him.
Open Doors warns of 'rise of the surveillance state' as North Korea tops watch list again
From the article:
That’s because it could have “wide implications for the future,” Curry said.
“What they're doing is creating a roadmap of persecution. This is a blueprint that they will sell and use in other countries,” he said.
The organization's report notes that an estimated 1 million Uighur Muslims have been detained in China.
To read more:
https://religionnews.com/2020/01/15/open-doors-warns-of-rise-of-the-surveillance-state-as-north-korea-tops-watch-list-again/
The persecution of Uighurs and other theists in China has been covered by the media. If we truly believe in freedom, this intolerance should concern us no matter where it happens.
Federal judge blocks executive order on refugees in lawsuit by three faith-based organizations
From the article:
The preliminary injunction is part of HIAS v. Trump, a lawsuit by three faith-based organizations against the U.S. government over the order.
To read more:
https://religionnews.com/2020/01/15/federal-judge-blocks-executive-order-on-refugees-in-lawsuit-by-three-faith-based-organizations/
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Member since: Mon Jan 26, 2015, 06:15 PMNumber of posts: 42,641
