Tag: democrats

Democrats Introduce Legislation To Declare Racism A Public Health Crisis

A bill introduced on Thursday by Democratic lawmakers would classify racism as a nationwide public health crisis – requiring two wings within the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to address it, according to The Hill. 

The bill – Anti-Racism in Public Health Act – was crafted by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and House Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA). It is co-sponsored by Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Tina Smith (D-MN).

“It is time we start treating structural racism like we would treat any other public health problem or disease: investing in research into its symptoms and causes and finding ways to mitigate its effects,” said Warren, who masqueraded as a different race for decades – potentially depriving actual Native Americans positions at liberal institutions.

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U.S. govt-linked PR firm ran fake news networks for right-wing Latin American regimes

Another CLS Strategies partner, Juan Cortiñas, boasted on the firm’s website that he has represented top right-wing leaders and major corporations in Latin America, including the Venezuelan opposition.

Since the fake news ring was exposed, however, CLS Strategies has edited its website to scrub some of these compromising materials, removing the bios of associates like Feierstein and Cortiñas.

This controversy underscores how US PR firms, elite Washington insiders, and foreign opposition groups work in tandem to promote right-wing regimes in Latin America while astroturfing opposition to democratically elected left-wing governments.

Given the extensive links CLS has to the Democratic Party, this scheme also highlights the bipartisan consensus around regime change and support for corrupt neoliberal leaders linked to death squads and drug trafficking.

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California Senator’s Legislation Will Exempt Some LGBT Pedophiles From Registering as Sex Offenders

The California Senator who was behind the move to downgrade of the intentional transmission of HIV from a felony to a misdemeanor now is now spearheading new legislation that would allow a judge to decide whether a potential sex offender who committed statutory rape against a minor who is less than 10 years younger than them must register as a sex offender.

The controversial bill introduced by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, served to downgrade certain statutory rape cases not involving heterosexual sex–or vaginal penetration–if the act was deemed consensual. This law would allow judges to use their own discretion when determining whether, for example, a 24-year-old who statutorily raped a 15-year-old, must register as a sex offender.

“Last night the CA State Legislature passed #SB145 and it now goes to Gov. Newsom. It would lower the penalties for adults who have sex [with] willing same-sex minors. Judge could decide if adult has to register as sex offender if the offender is within 10 years of age of victim,” wrote California journalist Bill Melugin on Twitter. 

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The anti-war wing of both parties is dead

Elect Joe Biden, former (Republican) Secretary of State Colin Powell said in his Democratic National Convention appearance Tuesday night, and he’ll “restore America’s leadership in the world.”

Powell’s comments were followed by a video touting Biden’s friendship with the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), another heavyweight GOP hawk. Meanwhile, there’s a pro-Biden super PAC of George W. Bush administration alumni, and Biden has racked up support from a who’s who of neoconservatives (Bill Kristol, Max Boot, David Frum, Jennifer Rubin), as commentators left and right have observed.

These alignments highlight an increasingly undeniable fact of American politics in 2020: The anti-war wing of both major parties is dead. Your presidential choice is between war and war. There’s no faction of Republicans or Democrats which combines real power with a durable, principled interest in turning American foreign policy away from global empire.

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Pelosi says there shouldn’t be any debates between Biden and Trump

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday she doesn’t think there should be any presidential debates ahead of the November election, arguing Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden shouldn’t “legitimize” a discussion with President Trump.

“I don’t think that there should be any debates,” Pelosi told reporters. “I do not think that the president of the United States has comported himself in a way that anybody has any association with truth, evidence, data and facts.”

“I wouldn’t legitimize a conversation with him nor a debate in terms of the presidency of the United States,” she added. 

“I think that he’ll probably act in a way that is beneath the dignity of the presidency,” she said, citing what she called his “disgraceful” actions during the 2016 debates with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. 

“He does that every day,” she added. “But I think he will also belittle what the debates are supposed to be about.”

Instead, Pelosi proposed that the candidates take separate stages and answer questions about their policies in a “conversation with the American people” instead of “an exercise in skulduggery.” 

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‘Mostly Peaceful’ Rioting And Looting Is Helping Trump’s Campaign

‘Mostly peaceful protests’ are like the ‘moderate rebels’ in Syria – propaganda constructs that do not exist in the real world. The people who owned the burning cars and who’s businesses were destroyed will not be relieved by such phrasing.

Joe Biden’s attempt to swing Republican voters to his side has failed. At the same time he has rejected many of the issues progressives favored. This will hurt the election turn out the Democrats will need. Add to that the unrest which plays into Trump’s hands. The Democrats who fear that are right:

“There’s no doubt it’s playing into Trump’s hands,” said Paul Soglin, who served as mayor of Madison, on and off, for more than two decades. “There’s a significant number of undecided voters who are not ideological, and they can move very easily from Republican to the Democratic column and back again. They are, in effect, the people who decide elections. And they are very distraught about both the horrendous carnage created by police officers in murdering African Americans, and … for the safety of their communities.”

Trump, of course, is positioning himself as the antidote to urban unrest. “So let me be clear: The violence must stop, whether in Minneapolis, Portland or Kenosha,” Vice President Mike Pence declared in his Republican convention speech Wednesday night, with Trump looking on. “We will have law and order on the streets of this country for every American of every race and creed and color.”

Republicans had chided Joe Biden and other Democrats for not calling out the violence in the aftermath of the Blake shooting. Biden immediately addressed the shooting, but didn’t condemn the ensuing violence until Wednesday in a video posted on social media.

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