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Contents contributed and discussions participated by katherineharron

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katherineharron

Pete Buttigieg warns against 'going to the extreme' on 2020 election issues - CNNPolitics - 0 views

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election

shared by katherineharron on 15 Jan 20 - No Cached
  • Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday warned against "going to the extreme" on important election issues a day after he was assailed by his liberal competitors at the CNN/Des Moines Register Democratic debate for being too moderate.
  • Buttigieg's comments reflect some of the most significant fault lines among the party's top tier candidates. The former mayor has presented a more centrist alternative to the progressive views of Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, whose ideas have excited liberal voters but, according to moderates like Buttigieg, risk alienating the rest of the country in a general election.
  • "It's just not true that the plan I'm proposing is small," Buttigieg shot back. "We have to move past the Washington mentality that suggests that the bigness of plans only consists of how many trillions of dollars they put through the Treasury, that the boldness of a plan consists of how many Americans it can alienate."
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  • "On something like health care, I think it's just more reasonable to do it in a way that doesn't force Americans off their plans if they don't want to give those plans up," he said. "But again, this would also be the biggest, boldest thing we've done to American health care in a half century.
katherineharron

Has the world learned the lessons of the Holocaust? I don't think so. - CNN - 0 views

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shared by katherineharron on 25 Oct 19 - No Cached
  • The rise of the far right in Europe has brought back to the surface fears that many had hoped were gone forever.
  • There is something chilling about the way in which some countries and politicians have treated people fleeing war and persecution.
  • Anti-Semitism has a way of changing over time. It mutates like no other hatred and is camouflaged in so many ways.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • At first it was religious, then social, then it was racial and political. Whatever problems would arise, it was always the Jews that were to blame.
  • We are approaching a seminal time. Not only is the entire face of European politics changing. But we are coming to a point where many survivors of the Holocaust are departing this Earth.
  • People have to be informed of what happened. They need to be educated. There can be no room for ignorance. After all, once the survivors have passed, what will be left?
  • It has been a lifelong effort to recover from what happened at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, but I will keep telling my story.
  • Many of these myths about Jews have existed for so long, it will take decades, maybe centuries, for that to disappear.
  • For us to eradicate anti-Semitism, it will take all of us who care, all of us who want our children and everybody's children to live in a peaceful and safe society, to stand up and unite against this ancient hatred.
katherineharron

Brexit: What is the Withdrawal Agreement Bill and why is it so controversial? - CNN - 0 views

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shared by katherineharron on 23 Oct 19 - No Cached
  • We're in the Brexit endgame -- or so Boris Johnson hopes.
  • By Thursday evening, the British Prime Minister intends to have done the seemingly impossible and passed a Brexit deal.But whether he is able to do that depends on a series of crucial votes by lawmakers on his Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB).
  • But the government's efforts to force it through in three days are proving controversial, and the bill could be picked apart and reshaped by lawmakers even if it succeeds in its initial vote on Tuesday.
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  • The deal looked similar to the one previously negotiated by his predecessor Theresa May, with one big difference: Johnson's pact strips out May's hated Northern Irish backstop mechanism for a customs border in the Irish sea -- something May said she would never agree to.
  • Johnson is desperate to stick to his promise that the UK will leave the EU on October 31, but he can only achieve that with a rapidly accelerated timetable.
  • But that timeframe for such a lengthy and significant bill is causing anger on the opposition backbenches."Issues like this need to be properly debated not rushed through. Government is storing up very serious future problems by the way it is trying to implement this," Labour MP Yvette Cooper tweeted.
  • Ken Clarke, a former Conservative minister turned independent whose vote could be crucial, added: "If the Government is for some reason insistent on dashing for this completely silly and irrelevant date which it keeps staking its fate on then give some proper time for debate. Two-and-a-bit days of ordinary parliamentary hours is plainly quite insufficient."
  • The Labour Party is arguing that Johnson is running from proper parliamentary scrutiny. Its official position is to vote down both the bill and his timetable, but rebel MPs within the party could swing the votes towards Johnson.
  • It's looking like the Prime Minister could squeak the WAB through Parliament on Tuesday evening.A CNN analysis showed that he could win by around three to five votes, with just enough Labour rebels and independents joining his side.
  • Alternatively, the Prime Minister could abandon the legislation altogether and seek a general election in an effort to resolve the mess.
katherineharron

How to understand Trump's perverted version of history - CNNPolitics - 0 views

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shared by katherineharron on 23 Oct 19 - No Cached
  • President Donald Trump's taste for history is moving in new and awkwardly divergent directions as he faces the twin challenges of an impeachment inquiry and a 2020 re-election campaign. He's placing himself alongside the titans of US history one day and comparing himself to the victims of the country's collective sins the next.
  • Early in his presidency he pushed comparisons with his predecessor Andrew Jackson, who was an outsider in Washington and a populist. He was also a racist and anti-abolitionist. Of all the Presidents to put on a pedestal, Trump chose the one that his predecessor, the first black man to hold the job, was trying to take off the $20 bill.
  • And in Trump's mind, that equals injustice, so hours after comparing himself to the greatest presidents, he said the effort to end his presidency is like a "lynching," an incorrect and supremely insensitive historical comparison. Mobs of racists lynched African-Americans in one of the darker periods of US history, part of an effort intimidate, dehumanize and keep power from those who didn't have it. Trump certainly has power now.
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  • "The word impeachment is a dirty, disgusting word," Trump said."It's supposed to be for high crimes and misdemeanors. I can't believe that this wouldn't be a lawsuit."
  • His gripe is that he's being targeted without, as he puts it, "due process." But the Constitution and the courts are pretty clear that the House has leeway to impeach a President and it's the Senate's job to try him or her once they are impeached. That's the whole point of separation of powers.
  • "You know who was covered worse than me? They say Abraham Lincoln. I've heard the one person -- used to be five or six now it's down to one -- Honest Abe Lincoln. They say he got the worst press of anybody. I say I dispute it.
  • "When it's time to run, I'll run," he said, talking wistfully outside the White House about how soon his first term will end. "Can you believe we're getting down to 12 months. Can you believe it? When I first -- right in that corner of that beautiful building and I was in the first night with the first lady and I'm standing in an area where Abe Lincoln was and all of them were and that's the way it was and I'm standing there and I'm saying wow, four years, that's a long time.
  • "I give away my presidential salary. They say no other president has done it. I'm surprised, to be honest with you. They say George Washington may have been the only other president to do that. See whether or not Obama gave up his salary. See whether or not all of the other of your favorites, your other favorites gave up their salary. The answer is no."
  • Trump is right that the Founding Fathers were against the idea of any President trading on the office of the United States presidency. But he's also, it turns out, right that they didn't really close the loop and spell out how to make sure it didn't happen -- which is how he's been able to remain in possession of his real estate holdings, and to keep his business dealings private, while in office.
  • The Miami Herald reported Congressional Democrats plan to file plan to file a legal brief that alleges Trump's short-lived plan to hold a G7 summit with leaders of other developed democracies at his golf course in Doral, Florida, violates the emoluments clause. Democrats were already suing him for violating the foreign Emoluments Clause, arguing he must get the consent of Congress before accepting money from foreigners.
  • As much as Trump wants to be like Washington or Lincoln, he will always be synonymous with the Trump Organization.
katherineharron

Anita Hill says voters need to press 2020 Democrats on gender violence - CNNPolitics - 0 views

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shared by katherineharron on 23 Oct 19 - No Cached
  • Social policy and law professor Anita Hill said Tuesday that voters should press Democratic presidential candidates on how they will tackle the issue of gender violence, arguing that little attention has been placed on the topic during this election cycle.
  • "We have been listening to presidential debates and I have been trying to keep track, but I haven't heard one question about gender violence posed to the candidates. That needs to be addressed," Hill said, speaking at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington. "I think this is something that we need to be raising awareness about. If you go to a town hall and you're in a primary state, I hope you'll raise your hand and ask the candidates what they're going to do about gender violence."
  • Kavanaugh was narrowly confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate last fall after Christine Blasey Ford, a California professor, testified before a Senate panel that he had sexually assaulted her while he was drunk at a party during their high school years -- an allegation Kavanaugh has vehemently denied.
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  • Hill also weighed in Tuesday on the Trump administration's controversial "zero tolerance" immigration policy that led to the separation of migrant families at the US' southern border, saying that "it needs to be put in historical context for its real meaning in this country," adding that "family separation was a mainstay of slavery."
  • "You have two different uses for family separation: One was to dehumanize people, so that they could be treated like chattel during slavery. ... Secondly, take people away from their cultural roots. ... And then finally we have its use today in policy against immigrants, against asylum seekers to, I believe, shape the political identify of this country," she said.
katherineharron

California 2020 primary: Independent voters can participate in Democratic contest, but ... - 0 views

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shared by katherineharron on 23 Oct 19 - No Cached
  • California voters registered with "no party preference" can choose among the Democratic, Libertarian, and American Independent parties to vote for a 2020 primary candidate, its secretary of state announced on Monday.
  • The Republican, Green, and Peace and Freedom, however, have opted to keep their primaries solely for voters registered with their respective parties.
  • California holds a "jungle primary" for its congressional and state elections, a system that voters approved in a ballot initiative in 2010. Only the top two primary vote-getters make it onto the general election ballot, regardless of party.
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  • "The California Democratic Party is the Party of inclusion. Unlike others, we will continue to make it easier -- not harder -- for Californians to ensure their voices are heard at the ballot box," California Democratic Party Chairman Rusty Hicks said in a statement provided to CNN Tuesda
  • Independent voters who wish to vote for a Democratic candidate will need to request a primary ballot from the party, or they will receive a primary election ballot without any presidential candidates listed. Voters can make the request in person when they head to the polls. The same goes for voters who wish to vote for a Libertarian candidate or an American Independent candidate.
  • According to a 2016 Los Angeles Times report, a large number of voters during the 2016 primary inadvertently registered with the American Independent Party, an ultraconservative party, thinking that they weren't registering with a party.
  • California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, vetoed a bill earlier this month that would have required any existing political party that includes the phrase "no party preference," "decline to state," or the word "independent" to change its party name. Newsom issued the veto, saying the measure would violate freedom of speech and association.
  • In a win for Trump earlier this month, a federal judge in California blocked a state law that requires candidates for president to disclose income tax returns before their names can appear on the state's primary ballot. The decision has been appealed by California's secretary of state.
katherineharron

Conservative Republicans unveil Obamacare replacement plan - CNNPolitics - 0 views

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trump

shared by katherineharron on 23 Oct 19 - No Cached
  • Months after President Donald Trump declared the GOP would become the "party of health care," House conservatives are set to announce a sweeping health care proposal -- one that has virtually no chance of becoming law.
  • The conservative caucus says its plan, titled "A Framework for Affordable, Personalized Care," will protect coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, a top priority for many Americans. The concern that Republicans would weaken the Affordable Care Act's protections helped doom the GOP plan to repeal and replace the law in 2017 and was one reason Democrats, many of whom ran campaigns focused on health care, recaptured the House in the 2018 midterm elections.
  • The plan contains several elements that were in those 2017 replacement proposals, which narrowly fell short of enough Republican support to pass the Senate at the time. It would create federally-funded, state-run insurance pools to cover people with high-cost illness. For instance, states could establish high-risk pools, which existed before the Affordable Care Act with mixed levels of success, or institute reinsurance programs to stabilize the health care market.
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  • "It's even worse than what passed out of the Republican House last Congress," the aide said. "The whole notion of that sort of block granting idea just rips out even more of the protections."
  • House Republicans are rolling out their complex plan as Trump struggles to articulate broad ideas for the nation's health care, and as Democrats campaign across the country on an easy-to-explain vision for extending coverage to everyone.
  • That plan -- so far a patchwork quilt of health care proposals that Trump's team hopes will stack up to a comprehensive vision -- will serve as the White House's answer to the growing support on the left for the kind of universal health care system that Republicans have spent years warning against.
  • "The White House welcomes the RSC announcement and their contributions to improving our healthcare system," Judd Deere, White House spokesman, told CNN. "The Trump Administration continues to work to improve healthcare more broadly, which includes creating a system that protects the vulnerable and those with pre-existing conditions and delivers the affordability Americans needs, the choice and control they want, and the quality they deserve."
  • The House GOP plan comes against the backdrop of a court case that has the potential to upend the nation's health insurance system and the 2020 election campaign. Federal appellate court judges in Louisiana are now considering a case brought by a coalition of Republican-led states, and backed by the Trump administration, that argue Obamacare as a whole is unconstitutional because Congress essentially eliminated the penalty for not having health insurance, the so-called individual mandate. A US District Court judge in Texas in December sided with the Republican states.
  • The Trump administration has chosen not to defend the law, leaving many Republicans concerned that they will not have a replacement ready if the appellate court upholds the lower court's ruling. Democrats are already attacking Trump and the GOP for threatening the coverage of millions of Americans, and if the court invalidates the ACA, Republicans could be left with the blame for dismantling the country's health care system without preparing a realistic replacement.
  • "Do you want a president who wants to have the government take over your health care, or do you want personal choices?" Marshall said Monday. "So even though there's impeachment and all those other things going on here, I think this -- healthcare -- is the issue of 2020."
katherineharron

Hillary Clinton isn't walking through that door, Democrats - CNNPolitics - 0 views

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election

shared by katherineharron on 23 Oct 19 - No Cached
  • "With doubts rising about former Vice President Joseph R. Biden's ability to finance a multistate primary campaign, persistent questions about Senator Elizabeth Warren's viability in the general election and skepticism that Mayor Pete Buttigieg, of South Bend, Ind., can broaden his appeal beyond white voters, Democratic leaders are engaging in a familiar rite: fretting about who is in the race and longing for a white knight to enter the contest at the last minute."
  • This hand-wringing, it's worth noting, is a quadrennial rite for Democrats. The party -- or some element of the party -- can always be found fretting as to the alleged weakness of the perceived front-runner for the nomination and voicing concern that unless something changes they could find themselves on the outside looking in, again, on the White House.
  • But the simple truth here is this: Hillary Clinton isn't going to suddenly leap into the primary. And even if she did, it's far from a guarantee that she would win. Ditto -- and to an even greater extent -- Kerry, Brown, Holder and Patrick. (Michelle Obama actually might be able to get into the race this late and win, but she ain't running.) The Iowa caucuses are now just 104 days away. And there are still 19(!) Democrats currently running for the Democratic nomination.
katherineharron

Witch hunts and lynching: How Trump appropriates victimhood - CNNPolitics - 0 views

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trump

shared by katherineharron on 23 Oct 19 - No Cached
  • Shall we skip right to the obvious? Virtually the only moments when President Donald Trump refers to the pain and persecution of a marginalized group are when he's talking about his own perceived suffering.
  • But "witch hunt" has a gendered past -- and present. "Recent events show that men with political and economic power can often rely on the idea of witch hunts to work for them, not against them," as the political scientist Erin C. Cassese wrote for Vox last year. "The witch hunt still uses institutional authority to enforce traditional gender norms and power relations."
  • "So some day, if a Democrat becomes President and the Republicans win the House, even by a tiny margin, they can impeach the President, without due process or fairness or any legal rights," Trump tweeted about the ongoing, legal impeachment inquiry. "All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here -- a lynching. But we will WIN!"Read MoreExcept: His tweet papers over lynching's role as a distinct form of racial terrorism used significantly against black Americans.
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  • After all, this is the same President who called places such as Haiti "shithole countries," excoriated four congresswomen of color by telling them to "go back" to "the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came," and pointedly dismissed majority-black Baltimore as a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess."
  • "Lynching is a reprehensible stain on this nation's history, as is this President," Sen. Kamala Harris of California tweeted on Tuesday. "We'll never erase the pain and trauma of lynching, and to invoke that torture to whitewash your own corruption is disgraceful."
  • Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey: "Lynching is an act of terror used to uphold white supremacy. Try again."
  • "How careless white America has been with black pain," The Washington Post's Karen Attiah tweeted on Tuesday. "The same careless spirit that allows Trump to compare lynching to a constitutional process. The same spirit that sees slave plantations as romantic venues. That spirit that loves black forgiveness after white violence."
  • That said, Trump is perhaps the most obvious, most cavalier offender: Regardless of the past -- including his own -- the former reality television personality will always find a way to make himself the star of the story.
katherineharron

The White House's impregnable stone wall is starting to crumble (opinion) - CNN - 0 views

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trump

shared by katherineharron on 23 Oct 19 - No Cached
  • When the House of Representatives launched its impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump over the Ukraine scandal, the White House decried it as "invalid" and "baseless," and ordered some subpoenaed officials not to testify to Congress. This obstructionist strategy worked once before, as the White House effectively stonewalled the House Judiciary Committee's investigation of Robert Mueller's findings on Russian election interference by instructing executive branch employees not to comply with subpoenas.
  • Former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch defied the White House's instruction to remain silent and instead testified to the House about the efforts of Trump's counsel, Rudy Giuliani, to have her removed from her post; one House member said she gave a "gripping and emotional account of presidential abuse of power."
  • Fiona Hill, Trump's former top Russia adviser, testified White House officials were alarmed by Trump's potentially illegal conduct toward Ukraine even before the July 25 call with President Volodymyr Zelensky. And Ambassador Gordon Sondland testified Trump ordered diplomatic professionals to deal with Ukraine through Giuliani, which left Sondland "disappointed" -- particularly when he discovered (later, he claimed) that Giuliani's agenda included prompting Ukraine to investigate Trump's political rivals.
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  • Now that the parade of witnesses has started, Congress and the public will learn more about Trump's efforts to push Ukraine to investigate his political rivals. Bill Taylor -- the top US diplomat in Ukraine, who famously texted Sondland that it would be "crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign" -- provided devastating testimony Tuesday. In his opening statement, Taylor established clear as day that there absolutely was a "quid pro quo" of American foreign aid in exchange for Ukrainian investigations of Trump's political rivals.
  • Trump has defended himself by noting that Zelensky stated he felt "no pressure" while dealing with Trump over delivery of foreign aid to Ukraine. And indeed, Zelensky has said, "nobody pushed me." But even if Zelensky truly felt no pressure, it hardly matters criminally or in impeachment.
katherineharron

Hillary Clinton and Tulsi Gabbard: their crazy fight (Opinion) - CNN - 0 views

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election

shared by katherineharron on 23 Oct 19 - No Cached
  • Here's a 2020 election story I didn't see coming: Hillary Clinton suggesting that Tulsi Gabbard is a Russian asset, and Gabbard, who is polling at just over 1%, responding by saying Clinton is secretly running against her for president and that "it's now clear that this primary is between you and me."
  • It was obviously a mistake for Clinton to say what she did. She may not have used Gabbard's name, but she said that one candidate was "a favorite of the Russians," implied that she's an asset, and said that the candidate (clearly Gabbard), was prepping for a third-party spoiler run.
  • A number of Gabbard's views are disturbing. And it is clear that bad actors are using Gabbard's candidacy to continue to sow disinformation and division among the American public generally and the American left specifically, a tactic that proved remarkably successful in 2016.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • It's doubtful that the average American grasps those nuances, instead hearing "Russian asset," with respect to Gabbard, as "working for the Russians." There are better ways Clinton might have explained the issue: focusing on Russia as the bad actor and emphasizing its efforts to interfere with American democracy; pointing out that Russia's bolstering of the Gabbard campaign is one data point in this larger effort (it's certainly not the only one). That's the route Clinton should have taken. Instead, she turned the spotlight on a relatively inconsequential congresswoman, and opened up an opportunity for right-wing media scavengers to elevate her.
  • Gabbard, it should be noted, is polling so badly that she hasn't yet qualified for the November Democratic primary debate. Hillary Clinton, it shouldn't need to be said, is not running for president, and not even in a position to be puppeteering the race from behind the scenes.
  • Gabbard may very well launch a third-party run, quietly backed by all kinds of nefarious troublemakers. But that run will only be a threat if Gabbard has some fire behind her campaign. Right now, she's flaming out. 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katherineharron

US diplomat Bill Taylor directly ties Trump to Ukraine quid pro quo - CNNPolitics - 0 views

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trump

shared by katherineharron on 23 Oct 19 - No Cached
  • The top US diplomat in Ukraine, Bill Taylor, testified Tuesday that he had been told President Donald Trump would withhold military aid to the country until it publicly declared investigations would be launched that could help his reelection chances — including into former Vice President Joe Biden, according to a copy of Taylor's opening statement obtained by CNN.
  • Taylor's explosive testimony is likely to add fuel to Democrats' impeachment inquiry into Trump and Ukraine, with Democratic lawmakers leaving the closed door session before three House committees declaring Taylor's testimony was damning for the President. The testimony also undercuts White House assertions that there was no "quid pro quo" tying security assistance with the opening of an investigation, as Taylor says he was told repeatedly that the two were linked.
  • Taylor testified that US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland told him he'd made a mistake by telling the Ukrainian officials that a White House meeting with Zelensky "was dependent on a public announcement of the investigations."
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • Taylor says he was told by a National Security Council official that Trump told Sondland he had insisted Zelensky "go to a microphone and say he is opening investigations of Biden and 2016 interference."
  • "I argued to both that the explanation made no sense: the Ukrainians did not 'owe' President Trump anything, and holding up security assistance for domestic political gain was 'crazy,' as I had said in my text message to Ambassadors Sondland and Volker on September 9," Taylor added.
  • Asked about Taylor's comments that Sondland had told him the aid was tied to an investigation, a source familiar with Sondland's testimony said that Sondland cited multiple reasons the security aid was frozen, including because the Europeans weren't giving Ukraine enough and corruption in general. The source said Sondland was only speculating when he referenced the political investigations into the 2016 election and Burisma.
  • Text messages between Taylor and Sondland and provided to Congress show that the two discussed the aid being frozen on the phone, amid concerns Taylor had raised that it was being held up in order to help Trump politically.
  • Taylor, who testified before the three House committees leading the Democratic impeachment inquiry, planned to lay out the reasoning behind his different WhatsApp text messages in his opening statement Tuesday, the source said. Taylor planned to include a chronology of events, according to the source, dating back to June, when Taylor assumed his post, through October.
  • "I think Gordon Sondland may very well have to come back. He's got some explaining to do," said Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia.
  • Taylor did not bring any new documents to the committee, and he planned to just reference those that have already been made public, the source said. Volker, who is no longer at the State Department, provided the texts to Congress. Other witnesses who have appeared, including Sondland, have been prevented by the State Department from providing documents.
  • Taylor, as the US chargé d'affaires in Ukraine, was in a difficult and delicate position testifying Tuesday, the source said. Taylor's view was that he is there to speak to committee and answer their questions, and he was not looking to issue his own statement publicly. His full opening statement did eventually become public.
  • After the meeting, Taylor texted back and forth with Volker, and among other things he asked why Volker would not want to take the job. Volker said he was better off in his current role -- covering Ukraine as well as Washington and allies and NATO. Taylor was on the ground in Ukraine, serving as de-facto ambassador, about a month later.
katherineharron

In Trump world, flattery will get you everywhere -- and nowhere (Opinion) - CNN - 0 views

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trump

shared by katherineharron on 23 Oct 19 - No Cached
  • Sycophancy in politics is often hard to see, something done behind closed doors, away from public scrutiny. But the release of a rough transcript of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's conversation with President Trump offered a window into it. His flattery of Trump began small, as routine ingratiation -- a phone call, a private kowtow, with a limited audience of diplomats and officials inured to this dynamic. But now we have an expanded theater, a media spectacle that plays to an audience whose complicity is eagerly solicited.
  • Politics and sycophancy have a long association, ranging from the ingratiating punctilio of diplomacy to the pomp and fatuity of state visits. But the Trump brand prefers a different version of this old practice, one that exploits new media to intensify and redirect its force.Flatterers perform through the media for a target who often monitors the tribute at a distance. As toadying becomes spectacle, the observers -- or in the patois of new media, followers -- become more important. Where observers traditionally have been bystanders -- sometimes amused, sometimes appalled -- their participation and approbation are now cultivated.
  • We can trace a rough history of this rewiring of flattery. Trump himself tried something like this earlier in his career as a developer, when he reportedly called journalists using an assumed name to praise himself.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • Whatever pleasure Trump got out of flattering himself, this deceptive promotion of a brand was essentially flattery for the observer.
  • As kowtowing has become spectacle, flatterers are no longer embarrassed by their abasement. Who can forget the June 2017 cabinet meeting, which opened with a round of competitive sycophancy? Or Kellyanne Conway urging everyone "Go buy Ivanka's stuff?" Or when Anthony Scaramucci, during his brief tenure as White House communications director, addressed the camera directly to repeatedly proclaim "I love the President?"
  • In 2017, during the President's trip to the Middle East, Saudi King Salman, in presenting Trump with the country's highest civilian medal, affirmed that the Saudis respected him far more than his predecessor. Trump's picture was everywhere during the visit, culminating in the inspired five-floor projection of the President on the exterior of the Ritz-Carlton hotel. All this obsequiousness paid off handsomely, as Trump backed the Saudis' vision of the Middle East.
  • The more successful flattery is, the less likely the flatterer is to see it as fraud. It becomes habitual, second nature. Even in a time of swift technological change we can count on humans to, as Shakespeare memorably puts it, "commit the oldest sins the newest kind of ways."
  • Flattery diminishes the trust on which the social order is based, and it ultimately threatens this order. Dante associates flattery with an entire class of transgressions against social order -- such as hypocrisy, lying, graft, sowing of discord, false counsel -- by placing them on one level in hell. Fraud connects all them all.
katherineharron

Elizabeth Warren demands answers from US government after CNN's Yemen investigation - C... - 0 views

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election

shared by katherineharron on 23 Oct 19 - No Cached
  • US Sen. Elizabeth Warren has written to US government agencies demanding answers after a CNN investigation revealed that American-made weapons in Yemen are being turned on the internationally recognized and US-backed government.
  • "These unauthorized diversions of American military hardware to armed groups ... undermine US national security objectives in securing a political settlement to the conflict in Yemen, which has no military solution and remains one of the world's worst humanitarian crises," reads Warren's letter, which was sent Monday and is addressed to US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
  • This is the second time that Warren, a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, has written to the US agencies about arms transfers in Yemen following CNN reporting.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • Responding to the latest evidence published by CNN last week, a UAE official said: "There were no instances when US-made equipment was used without direct UAE oversight. Except for four vehicles that were captured by the enemy." The Saudi government has not responded to CNN's requests for comment on this issue.
  • Saudi Arabia has led a coalition, in close partnership with the UAE and including various militia groups, to fight the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen since 2015. But, in a clear break with its Saudi partners, the UAE said in July that it was reducing its forces in the country, and fighting escalated between separatists and government forces on the ground in August. The UAE has since thrown its support behind the separatist movement.
  • In June 2019 the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) reported that the total number of reported fatalities in Yemen is more than 91,000 since 2015.
katherineharron

Cory Booker says he's the alternative to Joe Biden - CNNPolitics - 0 views

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election

shared by katherineharron on 23 Oct 19 - No Cached
  • Warning of "growing signs of weakness" from front-runner Joe Biden's presidential campaign, Sen. Cory Booker on Wednesday offered up a solution for Democrats searching out an understudy: himself.
  • "To those Democrats who are looking for an alternative right now," Booker said at the National Press Club in Washington, "I want to make the case today very directly: look no further."
  • "That's what it will take to win next sprint and then to beat Donald Trump in the fall," Booker said. "I'm prepared to do that, I'm building a campaign to do that, and I'm the only one in this race who has proven I can do that."
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • In a CNN poll of Democrats released Wednesday, Booker drew just 1% nationally. The good news: he's viewed favorably, and many Democrats said they want to know more about him.
  • "Tearing your fellow Democrats down may get you a temporary boost in the polls," Booker said, "but it's not doing anything to help us choose the nominee who will beat Donald Trump, and could weaken the ultimate nominee."
katherineharron

Rep. Jim Himes says Bill Taylor's 'startling' testimony was 'most detailed, specific' s... - 0 views

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trump

shared by katherineharron on 23 Oct 19 - No Cached
  • A Democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee said Wednesday that testimony he heard from Bill Taylor, the top US diplomat in Ukraine, about President Donald Trump's dealings with the country was "startling" and the most "detailed (and) specific" he's heard so far in the impeachment inquiry. "Well, John, it was pretty startling testimony. You know, when the ambassador got done with his opening statement -- which is now public so we can talk about it under the rules -- you could hear a pin drop in the room," Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut told CNN's John Berman on "New Day."
  • On Tuesday, Taylor testified before three House committees that he had been told Trump would withhold military aid to Ukraine until it publicly declared an investigation would be launched that included Burisma, the company whose board Joe Biden's son Hunter sat on, and Ukraine's alleged involvement in the 2016 election, according to a copy of Taylor's opening statement obtained by CNN
  • "I know we're having this long conversation about what the definition of a quid pro quo is, but there's no question from his testimony that everything in the words of Ambassador (to the European Union Gordon) Sondland are contingent on the Ukrainians agreeing to go after Burisma, agreeing to go after Biden and all the other sort of things they asked for," Himes said on Wednesday.
katherineharron

Appeals court skeptical of Trump's effort to block subpoena for his tax returns - CNNPo... - 0 views

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trump

shared by katherineharron on 23 Oct 19 - No Cached
  • A federal appeals court expressed skepticism Wednesday that President Donald Trump can block a subpoena from New York state prosecutors for his tax returns, in a case that all sides agree is likely headed toward the Supreme Court for an election-year showdown.
  • The back-and-forth was an allusion to Trump's comment during the 2016 campaign that he "could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters."
  • The case is expected to make its way to the Supreme Court. Both sides struck a deal Monday to fast-track any Supreme Court petitions after the appeals panel weighs in, potentially teeing up a dramatic showdown in Washington before the 2020 election.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • "The premise is that this is a distraction. It distracts the President from carrying out his duties," federal Judge Denny Chin said. "Where is the distraction if the subpoena is served on accountants? The President doesn't have to do anything to comply with the subpoenas?
  • "You could invent scenarios where you could imagine it would be necessary or at least perhaps a good idea for a sitting president to be subject to a criminal charge, even by a state while, in office," Dunne said. "If he for example did pull out a hand gun and shoot someone on Fifth Avenue, well, what would be the impact of that? Would local police be disabled from restraining such a person? Or from processing such a person? Would we have to wait for an impeachment proceeding to be initiated?"
  • The case can be traced back to the hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and another woman who alleged extramarital affairs with Trump, which he denies. State prosecutors want to know if the Trump Organization, based in New York, filed false business records to cover up the payments.
  • Trump's team had asked the lower-court judge to block Vance from enforcing the subpoena, and to stop Mazars from sending over the tax records, until Trump leaves office. His lawyers argued that a criminal investigation of the sitting president is "unconstitutional." In a surprising move, the Justice Department got involved and also requested a temporary freeze on the subpoenas.
  • His critics have alleged that his tax returns could expose massive debts to foreign interests or that is he not as wealthy as he claims to be. A Forbes estimate from September said Trump is worth $3.1 billion, though Cohen has testified that Trump inflated his earnings in the past.
  • A federal appeals court expressed skepticism Wednesday that President Donald Trump can block a subpoena from New York state prosecutors for his tax returns, in a case that all sides agree is likely headed toward the Supreme Court for an election-year showdown.
katherineharron

Can the Democrats avoid a brokered convention in 2020? - CNN - 0 views

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election

shared by katherineharron on 23 Oct 19 - No Cached
  • Will 2020 see the return of the brokered national political convention -- that is, a convention where delegates are unable to agree on a nominee during the first round of voting, making it necessary to "broker" delegates between candidates in subsequent rounds to arrive at a nominee?
  • It's hard to ignore the potential for a first-round deadlock at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) convention next July. While it's true that every four years political pundits warn of the potential for brokered convention, and it hasn't happened in over half a century, the combination of a historically large field of candidates, no clear front-runner, a heavily front-loaded primary schedule and a change in Democratic party rules means that 2020 could be the year the prediction finally comes true.
  • One of the reasons they are likely to stay in the race is that former Vice President Joe Biden, long the front-runner, now looks weaker than he did. For months now, Biden's national poll average has remained stuck at around 30%. Democratic primary math, by which only candidates receiving at least 15% of the vote are awarded delegates, means the percentage of delegates earned will exceed the percentage of primary votes for the top candidates. Still, it will be a stretch for Biden, or any other candidate, to go from just below 30% in the polls to the 51% of delegates required to secure the nomination.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • In the one-month period between the Iowa caucuses and Super Tuesday, about 40% of the total number of delegates voting in the first round of the Democratic National Convention will have been selected. In comparison, in 2016 only about a quarter of the delegates were distributed during that same period. A few weeks later, by the end of March, nearly 70% of the delegates will have been chosen.
  • Which brings us to the final element that makes a brokered convention more likely this year than in the past: the rules change that the Democratic party made to how voting will work at the 2020 convention
  • The 2008 and 2016 DNC conventions weren't "brokered," though, because Democrats since 1984 have allowed a large number of unpledged or uncommitted delegates to attend and vote at the national convention. These so-called "superdelegates" -- and there were more than 700 of them in Philadelphia in 2016 -- are not bound by voting outcomes in any of the states. In fact, this large number of uncommitted superdelegates has made it difficult for Democratic candidates to obtain a majority of committed convention delegates without them.
  • The influence of the superdelegates over the years has led to cries of unfairness from candidates who were not awarded the nomination. Both Hillary Clinton in 2008 and Bernie Sanders in 2016 could correctly argue that, had the superdelegates offered them support, they could have been the party's nominee.
  • The result was a change in the convention rules so that, in 2020, superdelegates will not participate in the first round of voting under this scenario. So it is up to Democratic primary and caucus participants to avoid a brokered convention.
  • A brokered convention in 2020 would set the stage for a repeat of that scenario. Already, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is saying that she will fight all the way to the convention. If Biden or Warren were to be handed the nomination by the superdelegates, and Gabbard were to win some delegates, might cries of "Bernie or Bust" on the convention floor be joined by "Tulsi or Trump"?
katherineharron

The most important number in the CNN 2020 poll isn't the one you think it is - CNNPolitics - 0 views

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election

shared by katherineharron on 23 Oct 19 - No Cached
  • Joe Biden is ahead! By a lot! And by a lot more than he was just a few months ago!
  • That's the obvious takeaway from a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS examining the 2020 Democratic primary. The former vice president stands alone in first place with 34% followed by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 19% and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders at 16%. None of the other 15(!) candidates in the race made it into double digits.
  • Since I'm a good guy, I'll tell you the answer: Biden is ahead because he is consolidating his support among non-white voters, a key voting bloc among whom he already had a very clear edge over his primary rivals.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • Non-WhitesBiden 42%Sanders 16%Warren 13%
  • Why is his support among non-white voters -- and the suggestion that support is increasing as actual votes near -- so important for Biden and his chances? Because non-whites have been the decisive voting bloc in each of the recent contested Democratic presidential primaries. In 2008, Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton because of his massive edge over her among black voters. Eight years later, Clinton beat Sanders because she crushed him among African Americans and Hispanics.
  • Biden's path to the nomination starts with a win in South Carolina. If he can't win there, the race is over for him. What remains to be seen is whether black voters will stay with Biden if/when he loses Iowa and/or New Hampshire and Nevada in the days leading up the the first-in-the-south primary. If they do -- and there are no signs right now of any sort of erosion (in fact, quite the opposite!) -- and he wins South Carolina, Biden has an even money (and maybe better) chance at being the nominee.
katherineharron

Mitt Romney: What 'Pierre Delecto' tells us about the current Republican Party - CNNPol... - 0 views

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shared by katherineharron on 22 Oct 19 - No Cached
  • These three things are amazing beyond words:1) Mitt Romney has a lurker Twitter handle. 2) The handle name is "Pierre Delecto."3) "C'est Moi" is how Romney confirmed to a reporter that he was Delecto and Delecto was him.
  • "He explained that he uses a secret Twitter account — 'What do they call me, a lurker?' — to keep tabs on the political conversation. 'I won't give you the name of it,' he said, but 'I'm following 668 people.'"
  • By Feinberg's count, Pierre only ever tweeted 10 times (Romney -- or someone -- made the account private once its existence was revealed.) Which isn't a lot. (Good analysis!) But the nature of these tweets -- or, mostly, replies -- are interesting.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • In one response to criticism of Romney from liberal commentator Soledad O'Brien, Pierre noted that Romney (AKA him) was the "only Republican to hit" Trump on the Mueller Report and defended his "moral compass." In another, Delecto defended Romney from a Twitter onslaught by Washington Post blogger and Trump critic Jennifer Rubin.
  • On one level, "Pierre Delecto" is totally explainable by human nature. Romney knows that he looks defensive and thin-skinned if he uses his official Senate account to push back on his critics. To avoid that, he creates an alter ego that allows him to do just that. (NBA superstar Kevin Durant did the same thing, and of course don't forget President Donald Trump's pre-White House, telephone alter ego John Barron.)
  • While Pierre is right that Romney has been more willing than most Republican elected officials to publicly criticize Trump, it's also true that Romney hasn't a) been all that critical of Trump or b) done anything to put his discomfort with Trump into action.
  • Instead, he's used a fake Twitter person to defend himself and his image. Which works nicely as a metaphor for how elected Republican officials, more broadly, are dealing with Trump: light criticism (at most) in public and open anger, frustration and near-rebellion behind the scenes or covered by the anonymity of quotes without their names attached.
  • Which, last time I checked, doesn't have any actual impact on either President Donald Trump or the fate of the party he continues to lead with reckless abandon.
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