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Advocating for a ban on toxic pesticides that have led to massive bee die-offs nationwide, a truck filled with millions of the dead pollinators has trundled across the country to reach its final destination on Wednesday afternoon: the front steps of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters in Washington, D.C.
“If we stop keeping bees, who’s going to pollinate your fruits and vegetables? This can’t go on.”
—Roger Williams,
Central Maryland Beekeepers Association
The truck’s arrival at EPA headquarters heralds a rally in which environmental groups, beekeepers, organic food advocates and others will “deliver over 4 million signatures urging an immediate ban on bee-killing pesticides” to the agency, writes the conservation group Friends of the Earth.
“Bees pollinate most of the world’s most common crops, including summer favorites like peaches and watermelon,” said Environment America in a press statement. “But over 40 percent of U.S. honeybee hives die each year, costing the farming and beekeeping industry more than $2 billion annually.”
As Scott Nash, CEO of Mom’s Organic, said in a statement, “What’s happening today to pollinators is no different than what happened 50 years ago with the collapse of the osprey, bald eagle, and other bird and aquatic animal populations due to the use of DDT. If we allow the chemical agribusiness industry to continue these short-sighted practices, food costs will increase as food supplies diminish.”
“In the five years since I started keeping bees, I’ve seen many hives killed by pesticides,” added James Cook, a Minnesota-based beekeeper who has been driving the truck across the country since last Monday. “If some fundamental things don’t change, it’s going to be really hard for beekeepers to adapt to the environment around us.”
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As the crisis stretches on, studies continue to show that the so-called neonicotinoid class of pesticides, or neonics, are a major contributing factor to bee population decline, as Common Dreams has reported. (Pesticide giants have lobbied heavily against any regulations of their multi-billion dollar industry.)
And despite “a process to assess four types of neonics and their impacts on pollinators” the EPA launched a year ago, and an agency study that in January confirmed the link between one variety of neonics and widespread bee deaths, further agency assessments of what critics describe as bee-toxic pesticides—and in turn, action—are still outstanding.
Yet the bees—and their keepers—don’t have any time to lose.
“We have so many losses it’s worse than break-even. It is getting harder and harder to keep bees and make a living,” said Roger Williams, president of the Central Maryland Beekeepers Association. “And if we stop keeping bees, who’s going to pollinate your fruits and vegetables? This can’t go on.”
Rally participants documented the event on Twitter under the hashtag #keepthehivesalive:
#keepthehivesalive Tweets
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United Nations head Ban Ki-moon admitted Thursday that his widely condemned removal of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition from a blacklist for killing children in Yemen was the result of direct pressure from the “key UN donor.”
“This was one of the most painful and difficult decisions I have had to make,” Ban said, adding, “It is unacceptable for member-states to exert undue pressure.”
The UN had blacklisted the coalition last week, saying it was responsible for 60 percent of the 1,953 children killed or injured in Yemen last year.
But just days later, the UN removed the group from the list, “pending a joint review by the organization and the coalition of child deaths and injuries during the year-long war in Yemen,” as Reuters reported. That move unleashed a firestorm of criticism from human rights organizations who said the move was a “shameful cave.” Ban acknowledged such criticism, referring to the “fierce reaction to my decision to temporarily remove the Saudi-led Coalition countries from the report’s annex.”
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Backing up allegations that the de-listing was due to Riyadh threatening to withdraw its funding from UN programs like the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Ban said he “had to consider the very real prospect that millions of other children would suffer grievously if, as was suggested to me, countries would de-fund many UN programs. Children already at risk in Palestine, South Sudan, Syria, Yemen and so many other places would fall further into despair.”
In a letter sent Wednesday to the UN chief, 20 human rights organization urged him to put the coalition back on the list, stating that “evidence of grave violations against children in Yemen by the Saudi-led Coalition is overwhelming” and that the removal “following protests by the Saudi government sets a damaging precedent and undermines the list’s credibility.”
“If the Saudi-led Coalition wants to be removed from the list,” the letter states, “it should stop killing and maiming children and bombing schools and hospitals in Yemen—the violations for which it was listed.”
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Ahead of this weekend’s Democratic platform fight, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has once again taken aim at the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), skewering the corporate-friendly trade deal she says will allow for “open season on laws that make people safer.”
Warren makes the remarks about the 12-nation trade deal, which still needs Congressional approval, to progressive activists in a video released Thursday by social change network CREDO Action.
The deal, Warren says in the video, “isn’t about helping American workers set the rules. It’s about letting giant corporations rig the rules—on everything from patent protection to food safety standards —all to benefit themselves.”
Even in the drafting process industry representatives could exert influence—but there was no voice to represent American workers or consumers, she says. “A rigged process produces a rigged outcome,” she says.
One specific provision of the deal drawing Warren’s ire (as it has before) is the “wonky-sounding” Investor State Dispute Settlement, or ISDS.
“This is the part that gives a huge boost to big multinational companies when they want to challenge a country’s laws they don’t like,” she says. They do that not through courts but “industry-friendly arbitration panels staffed with corporate lawyers.” Faced with potential billions in fines, “some countries will just back down and change their regulations,” she says.
“Workers, environmentalists, and human rights advocates don’t get the right to use ISDS; only big corporations do. That’s a rigged system,” she says. Warren cites specific examples of ISDS challenges— last year when Canadian taxpayers got stuck with a $300 million bill after the country said a company couldn’t expand of a quarry off the coast of Nova Scotia, and when Keystone XL company TransCanada used the ISDS provision of NAFTA to seek $15 billion from the U.S. for its rejection of the pipeline.
With ISDS in the TPP, Warren says, “It will be open season on laws that make people safer—but cut into corporate profits.”
She concludes by urging activists to continue their fight stop the TPP.
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Watch the full 5-minute video of Warren’s remarks below:
Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research and president of Just Foreign Policy,also criticizes the trade deal on Thursday, writing at The Hill that the TPP “is strongly disliked by the base of the Democratic Party, as well as by a sizable majority of Democratic voters and the general public. There’s an awful lot not to like about this thing.” He cites, for example, how the deal “would grant corporations the right to sue governments for all kinds of decisions, laws or regulations that infringe on their profits or potential profits” and “would increase the price of prescription drugs.”
Yet the agreement is “at the heart” of President Barack Obama’s trade agenda. Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton was for the deal before she opposed it, while rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has opposed the deal from the get-go. Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump, meanwhile, is opposed to it, and “has made trade a centerpiece of his campaign, a key to his strategy of winning the votes of working people, particularly in the swing industrial states,” as Robert Borosage writes at Campaign for American’s Future blog.
Despite the widespread party rejection of the deal, specific opposition to it was kept off of the DNC’s platform during a drafting session in St. Louis, and Weisbrot argues that even if the full DNC platform committee fails to includes opposition to it when the group convenes in Orlando on July 8th and 9th, “the Sanders team and its many allies and delegates will take the fight to the floor of the Democratic National Convention, which begins in Philadelphia on July 25.”
To that end, while Warren’s video did not explicitly mention the platform fight, “opponents of the TPP are likely to view the message as encouragement,” Alex Seitz-Wald wrote for MSNBC.
“If,” Borosage writes, “Democrats are to address rising inequality and rebuild the middle class, they must define a new, far more balanced trade policy.”
“If Democrats can’t state clearly where they stand in their platform, few voters will believe that they are prepared to take on the corporate lobby to forge a new course,” he continues.
Ultimately, Weisbrot argues, “if the Democratic Party is unable to oppose the TPP, it will be because of [Clinton’s] decision to keep it from doing so.”
Also on Thursday, CREDO will join other major progressive organizations in releasing a petition signed by hundreds of thousands of Americans urging Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi to oppose a lame-duck vote on the TPP. The post-election session, they groups say, is the only time when there’s hope for congressional consideration of the deal in 2016.
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October 3, 2020 |
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WWE has announced two segments and a title match for this Friday’s post-Clash of Champions episode of SmackDown.
– After retaining his Universal Championship against his cousin Jey Uso at Clash of Champions, there will be a segment on SmackDown where Roman Reigns will officially be crowned as the tribal chief of the Anoa’i family:
It was about more than just the title at WWE Clash of Champions. It was about asserting his place at the head of the table for Roman Reigns.
After successfully defending his Universal Championship, Reigns will now be officially crowned the Tribal Chief in a ceremony presided over by Paul Heyman on SmackDown this Friday. The recognition comes on the heels of The Big Dog’s brutal victory over his cousin Jey Uso at WWE Clash of Champions.
What will Reigns have to say about his vicious actions? And will the rest of the legendary Anoa’i family simply accept the champion’s crowning?
Don’t miss Friday Night SmackDown at 8/7 C on FOX to see the latest from Reigns.
– Raw’s Kevin Owens will make an appearance on SmackDown as he hosts a KO Show segment with Alexa Bliss as his guest this Friday. Owens’ appearance is part of the brand-to-brand invitational.
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There was an angle last week where Bliss snapped during her match against Lacey Evans when The Fiend’s music played. When Reigns entered last week as Bliss was heading to the back, Bliss stared at Reigns and the Universal Championship. It was mentioned on commentary that Reigns took the title from The Fiend.
Bliss’ tag team partner Nikki Cross was supposed to challenge Bayley for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at Clash of Champions, but that match was pulled from the card and it was announced that Cross wasn’t medically cleared to compete. Bayley instead defended her title against Asuka. After the match ended in a disqualification, Sasha Banks attacked Bayley.
– New Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn will defend his title against Jeff Hardy on this Friday’s SmackDown. Zayn, who had been claiming to be the rightful Intercontinental Champion since making his return to WWE television in August, defeated Hardy and AJ Styles in a triple threat match for the title at Clash of Champions. The finish of the match included Zayn handcuffing both Hardy and Styles.
October 3, 2020 |
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A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Texas’s controversial voter ID law is discriminatory and violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
ThinkProgress describes it as “a stunning, unexpected decision from one of the most conservative federal appeals courts in the country,” the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Signed into law in 2011, Senate Bill 14 has been called the strictest voter ID law in the nation. As the Texas Tribune explains: “Texas is among nine states categorized as requiring ‘strict photo ID,’ and its list of acceptable forms is the shortest.”
The Tribune further reports:
The opinion states (pdf): “As the State would have it, so long as the State can articulate a legitimate justification for its election law and some voters are able to meet the requirements, there is no Section 2 violation. This argument effectively nullifies the protections of the Voting Rights Act by giving states a free pass to enact needlessly burdensome laws with impermissible racially discriminatory impacts. The Voting Rights Act was enacted to prevent just such invidious, subtle forms of discrimination.”
The appeals court “also sent the case back to a district court to examine claims by the plaintiffs that the law had a discriminatory purpose,” as Reuters reports, and to fix the “discriminatory effect” of the 2011 law—in time for the November elections.
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Myrna Pérez, deputy director of the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program, called the ruling “an enormous victory for voters in Texas.”
“The votes of more than 600,000 Texans were at stake in today’s ruling,” she said. “The court sent a message that discriminatory photo ID laws are an affront to our democracy.”
Yet the fight isn’t over, said Representative Trey Martinez Fischer, chairman of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus of the Texas House of Representatives, noting the erosion of voting protections over the past three years. He warned that “we cannot rely on the courts to protect our voting rights. Certain states, including Texas, have demonstrated that they will not relent in their fight against unfettered access to the ballot box for all Americans.”
“Whatever procedural course this case follows,” he continued, “Congress must act to restore the Voting Rights Act to put an end to the increasingly subtle and sinister efforts to disenfranchise those who challenge the status quo.”
Indeed, said Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, referring to the “arduous litigation” brought about by the gutting of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v Holder: “The scope of this problem is massive. Shelby ushered in a resurgence of voter discrimination and now politicians across the country have been choosing their voters instead of having voters choose them.”
The law had already faced numerous legal challenges. As NBC News previously reported, “A federal judge declared the law unconstitutional and found that more than 600,000 registered Texas voters did not have the kinds of IDs required by the new law.”
“But an appeals court issued a stay, saying it wanted to review the law further, and blocked that ruling, allowing the law to go into effect,” the NBC report continued. “Challengers then asked the U.S. Supreme Court to lift the stay, which would have put the legal hold back into place.”
Then, the Supreme Court in April let the law remain in effect, but said, “If, on or before July 20, 2016, the Court of Appeals has neither issued an opinion on the merits of the case nor issued an order vacating or modifying the current stay order, an aggrieved party may seek interim relief from this Court by filing an appropriate application.”
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The new ruling “sets up a potential Supreme Court showdown over the contentious issue of state photo ID rules,” USA Today reports.
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Since news emerged last week that imprisoned whistleblower Chelsea Manning is facing new criminal charges and further punishment from the U.S. Army for attempting suicide, public outcry has been swift.
Civil liberties group Fight for the Future has received over 30,000 signatures on a petition that demands the new charges be dropped and that Manning be provided with adequate healthcare.
A separate petition demanding that Manning be spared solitary confinement garnered over 2,000 signatures in a matter of hours.
Chase Strangio, one of Manning’s attorneys, said on Democracy Now! Wednesday that after her suicide attempt last month, Manning is “relieved to be alive.”
“It’s terrifying to think that as she survives, the government is continuing to give her the message that they will enforce punishment of her essentially for living,” Strangio said.
“Governments have so much power, and a single person often does not. It is very terrifying to face the government alone.”
—Chelsea ManningIndefinite solitary confinement, the punishment Manning is currently faced with for attempting suicide, would be “catastrophic for her mental health,” Strangio said, noting that the United Nations has said that solitary confinement can amount torture and should be banned.
Strangio is an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is also engaged in a lawsuit with the Department of Defense over Manning’s treatment while incarcerated, including her placement in a male prison. Manning is transgender, and Strangio observed that the “perils and the damages of being forced to be punished through the denial of her core identity has led to her depression, has imperiled her health.”
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Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with rights group Amnesty International published by the Guardian Tuesday—although the interview itself took place before Manning’s suicide attempt—Manning herself attested that she is “always afraid.”
“I am still afraid of the power of government. A government can arrest you,” Manning said. “It can imprison you. It can put out information about you that won’t get questioned by the public—everyone will just assume that what they are saying is true. Sometimes, a government can even kill you—with or without the benefit of a trial. Governments have so much power, and a single person often does not. It is very terrifying to face the government alone.”
“It’s a very difficult feeling to describe,” Manning continued:
“At one point,” Manning added, “I even gave up on trying to live any more.”
As the website Boing Boing wrote on Monday: “Even if you are someone who believes that Chelsea did something wrong and should be punished, ask yourself: ‘Isn’t nine months of solitary, three years of imprisonment before even receiving a trial, and three and a half years as a female in an all-male maximum security prison punishment enough?'”
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Putting aside the shortcomings of both major candidates, for many critical observers the biggest loser during Wednesday night’s presidential “Commander-in-Chief” forum on NBC News was the platform itself.
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Moderated by NBC’s host of The Today Show Matt Lauer, the town hall-style event was staged inside the belly of the U.S.S. Intrepid, a retired World War II aircraft carrier that now serves as a military museum in New York City, and was promoted by the news outlet as a chance to extract specific positions from both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on veterans affairs and foreign policy.
But instead of informing viewers on these key subject matters or holding the candidates to account for past actions or statements, a widespread reaction among progressive viewers and critical journalists from across the political spectrum was that Lauer failed to ask the necessary tough questions or followups, with many suggesting the forum was a lesson in how not to inform voters or put a check on those seeking high office.
According to Michael Calderone, senior media reporter for the Huffington Post, the forum “should have gone down as the first time the two 2016 presidential candidate shared a stage,” but instead “will be remembered largely for the shortcomings of the man who was tasked with moderating.”
Writing for The Intercept, staff journalists Zaid Jilani and Alex Emmons described the NBC production and Lauer’s performance as a “master class on how not to hold candidates accountable” before a national audience.
“From the questions chosen to the format,” Jilani and Emmons said that despite some good questions from veterans in the audience the event—which ran only one hour during prime time—was a total failure:
Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, called the forum “an absolute disgrace” and just more proof that the entire presidential debate system needs an overhaul. “Matt Lauer treated this forum less as a chance to educate voters about the real differences in temperament and policy between the candidates and more as a chance to do clickbait trolling,” Green said. “Instead of asking about big ideas, he asked small-bore questions that voters aren’t asking at their dinner tables.”
Columnist Jonathan Chait, meanwhile, dubbed Lauer’s interview approach as “pathetic” and lamented the impact such performances have on the voting public and, ultimately, the election.
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“I had not taken seriously the possibility that Donald Trump could win the presidency until I saw Matt Lauer host an hour-long interview with the two major party candidates,” wrote Chait following the event. “Lauer’s performance was not merely a failure, it was horrifying and shocking. The shock, for me, was the realization that most Americans inhabit a very different news environment than professional journalists. I not only consume a lot of news, since it’s my job, I also tend to focus on elite print news sources. Most voters, and all the more so undecided voters, subsist on a news diet supplied by the likes of Matt Lauer. And the reality transmitted to them from Lauer matches the reality of the polls, which is a world in which Clinton and Trump are equivalently flawed.”
Offering at least some buffer to the individual criticism, HuffPo‘s Calderone acknowledged that part of Lauer’s failures on Wednesday night “were not of his own making,” but could be attributed to the format of the event. “With only a half-hour with each candidate, he was pressed for time and forced to rush through topics while bringing in audience questions and timely follow-ups,” Calderone wrote.
For many on social media, however, Lauer would not be let off the hook so easily:
Though Wednesday night’s event was a one-on-one format, the first presidential debate with both candidates on stage together facing questions, is scheduled for Sept. 26 and will be moderated NBC News anchor Lester Holt.
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The Congressional Leadership Fund, a major GOP outside group that played a pivotal role in recent special elections, is putting boots on the ground in six new competitive congressional districts to get a head start on the 2018 midterm elections.
The group, which serves as the de facto super PAC of House Republican leadership and Speaker Paul RyanPaul Davis RyanBush, Romney won’t support Trump reelection: NYT Twitter joins Democrats to boost mail-in voting — here’s why Lobbying world MORE (R-Wis.), now has staff in 17 districts represented by vulnerable Republican lawmakers. The new offices are in the districts represented by Reps. Mike Bost (Ill.), Kevin YoderKevin Wayne YoderSharice Davids to vote for Trump impeachment articles: ‘The facts are uncontested’ Feehery: How Republicans can win back the suburbs K Street giants scoop up coveted ex-lawmakers MORE (Kan.), Ryan Costello (Pa.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Tom MacArthur (N.J.) and Leonard Lance (N.J.). “Our data-driven field program is expanding, but more importantly, our staff and interns are building relationships and having ongoing conversations with voters across key congressional districts fourteen months before the midterm elections,” said Corry Bliss, the group’s executive director, in a statement. “We know starting early in the field and making real, long-term investments will make a difference.” Along with the expansion, the group announced Wednesday morning that its staff had already knocked on 2 million doors with a new video highlighting those efforts on the ground. The Congressional Leadership Fund has already played a key role in Republican victories in key special elections earlier this year, spending more than $10 million in four of those races. The GOP won all four of those races, which were held in districts considered to be strong Republican or Republican-leaning districts. Click Here: cheap INTERNATIONAL jersey
October 2, 2020 |
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President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE targeted a slew of foes during a campaign rally Friday night for Sen. Luther StrangeLuther Johnson StrangeThe biggest political upsets of the decade State ‘certificate of need’ laws need to go GOP frets over nightmare scenario for Senate primaries MORE (R-Ala.), touching on health care, the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula and NFL players’ protests during the national anthem.
Trump escalated his war of words with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, calling him “Little Rocket Man,” and taking several swipes at Sen. John McCainJohn Sidney McCainThe Hill’s Campaign Report: Bad polling data is piling up for Trump Cindy McCain ‘disappointed’ McGrath used image of John McCain in ad attacking McConnell Report that Bush won’t support Trump reelection ‘completely made up,’ spokesman says MORE over the Arizona Republican’s “terrible” decision to oppose the latest ObamaCare repeal bill.
Here are five highlights from Trump’s campaign speech:
Ratcheting up criticism of North Korea’s ‘Little Rocket Man’
Trump continued to escalate his verbal battle with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, modifying his nickname for Kim as “Little Rocket Man.”
“This shouldn’t be handled now. But I’m going to handle it because we have to handle it. Little Rocket Man. We’re going to do it. Because we really have no choice choice. We really have no choice,” Trump said.
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The president also blasted past administrations’ handling of North Korea.
“We can’t have mad men out there shooting rockets all over the place,” Trump said.
“He should have been handled a long time ago by Clinton. I won’t mentioned the Republicans, by Obama,” he continued, referring to past presidents Bill ClintonWilliam (Bill) Jefferson ClintonWill the ‘law and order’ president pardon Roger Stone? Five ways America would take a hard left under Joe Biden The sad spectacle of Trump’s enablers MORE and Barack ObamaBarack Hussein ObamaHarris grapples with defund the police movement amid veep talk Five ways America would take a hard left under Joe Biden Valerie Jarrett: ‘Democracy depends upon having law enforcement’ MORE.
The president’s comments come after Kim issued a scathing statement in response to Trump’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly this week, in which Trump referred to Kim as “Rocket Man.” Kim later called the president a “mentally deranged dotard.”
North Korea’s foreign minister also threatened to test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean as a response to Trump’s U.N. address.
Swiping at John McCain for ‘terrible’ health-care decision
The president also took aim at Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) at the rally, just hours after the senator announced he would vote “no” on the latest Senate GOP effort to repeal and replace ObamaCare.
Trump called McCain’s decision “totally unexpected” and “terrible.”
“John McCain, if you look at his last campaign, it was all about repeal and replace, repeal and replace,” Trump said. “So he decided to do something different, and that’s fine.”
The president swiped at McCain after the Arizona Republican announced his opposition to a repeal measure sponsored by Sens. Lindsey GrahamLindsey Olin GrahamHillicon Valley: Biden calls on Facebook to change political speech rules | Dems demand hearings after Georgia election chaos | Microsoft stops selling facial recognition tech to police OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Joint Chiefs chairman says he regrets participating in Trump photo-op | GOP senators back Joint Chiefs chairman who voiced regret over Trump photo-op | Senate panel approves 0B defense policy bill GOP senators back Joint Chiefs chairman who voiced regret over Trump photo-op MORE (R-S.C.) and Bill CassidyWilliam (Bill) Morgan CassidySenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote GOP senators dodge on treatment of White House protesters The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – US virus deaths exceed 100,000; Pelosi pulls FISA bill MORE (R-La.), potentially dooming the repeal effort.
“I cannot in good conscience vote for the Graham-Cassidy proposal. I believe we could do better working together, Republicans and Democrats, and have not yet really tried,” McCain said in a statement.
Senate GOP leaders have to get 50 senators for Vice President Pence to cast a tie-breaking vote for the repeal bill before a Sept. 30 deadline expires to pass the measure with majority support.
Sen. Rand PaulRandal (Rand) Howard PaulRand Paul introduces bill to end no-knock warrants Louisville passes ‘Breonna’s Law’ banning no-knock warrants Rand Paul aide joins Trump campaign, RNC fundraising group MORE (R-Ky.) has already voiced his opposition to the bill, and Sen. Susan CollinsSusan Margaret CollinsRepublicans prepare to punt on next COVID-19 relief bill Trump tweets spark fresh headache for Republicans Trump’s tweet on protester sparks GOP backlash MORE (R-Maine) has said she is leaning against the legislation.
McCain and Collins joined with Sen. Lisa MurkowskiLisa Ann MurkowskiMilley discussed resigning from post after Trump photo-op: report OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Joint Chiefs chairman says he regrets participating in Trump photo-op | GOP senators back Joint Chiefs chairman who voiced regret over Trump photo-op | Senate panel approves 0B defense policy bill Trump administration seeks to use global aid for nuclear projects MORE (R-Alaska) in voting against Senate Republicans’ scaled-down ObamaCare repeal legislation in July.
Blasting NFL players who protest the national anthem
Trump’s campaign rally Friday night covered issues beyond legislative and international affairs.
The president slammed NFL free agent Colin Kaepernick, saying NFL owners should fire players who kneel during the national anthem.
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. He is fired,’ ” Trump said.
“Luther and I and everyone in this arena tonight are unified by the same great American values. We’re proud of our country. We respect our flag.”
The president’s comments drew backlash from the NFL community, with commissioner Roger Goodell saying Saturday that Trump’s “divisive comments” show “an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL.”
The head of the NFL Players Association responded as well, saying the union “will never back down” from supporting players’ right to protest.
‘See through’ border wall
Trump revealed at the Alabama rally that his proposed southern border wall would be a “see through” barrier that would allow people see who is on the other side.
“The wall is happening. In fact, you probably saw, you know, we have a wall up there now, and re-renovating it already. It’s being made pristine, perfect, just as good as new, though we may go a little higher than that, but that’s OK. And we are building samples of a new wall. You know, it has to be a see-through wall,” the president told the crowd at the rally.
“If you can’t [see] through it, you don’t know who’s on the other side. Let’s say we build a pre-cast concrete wall and now we have people on the other side,” he continued. “It’s going to stop drugs. It’s going to stop a lot of bad things.”
The president’s comments come after he struck a deal with Democrats on the debt ceiling earlier this month, indicating that it would not include funding for a border wall.
The proposed border wall was a cornerstone of Trump’s presidential campaign.
While Trump has insisted Mexico would pay for the wall, the country’s President Enrique Peña Nieto had repeatedly said his country would not pay for the wall’s construction.
Congress has not yet fully funded the wall’s construction.
Last-minute pitch for ‘Big’ Luther Strange
While the president devoted much of his speech to other issues, his primary reason for traveling to Alabama on Friday was to make a last-minute pitch for Strange over opponent Roy Moore ahead of Alabama’s closely watched Senate GOP runoff on Tuesday.
“I have to say this, and you understand this, and just look at the polls. Luther will definitely win,” Trump said. “Roy [Moore] has a very good chance of not winning in the general election.”
However, Trump revealed he told Strange, who is a GOP establishment favorite, that he would support whichever candidate wins the primary runoff.
“I told Luther, I have to say this, if his opponent wins, I’m going to be here campaigning like hell for him,” Trump said. Trump’s endorsement of Strange has driven a wedge between the president and some key allies in and out of his administration, who have backed Moore. The president’s own Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson broke with the president on Friday to publicly back Moore, who is seen as an anti-establishment favorite. Strange on the other hand, received the endorsement of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote GOP senator to try to reverse requirement that Pentagon remove Confederate names from bases No, ‘blue states’ do not bail out ‘red states’ MORE (R-Ky.). “I might have made a mistake. And I’ll be honest, I might have made a mistake, because, you know, here’s a story, if Luther doesn’t win, there’s a very short period of time. They’re going to say, ‘Donald Trump, the president of the United States, was unable to pull his candidate across the line,’ ” Trump said.
October 2, 2020 |
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Citing an investigation that revealed federal agents went undercover to spy on environmental activists, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) on Thursday filed nine Freedom of Information Act requests seeking information on surveillance of peaceful protests at federal fossil fuel auctions.
As they wrote at The Intercept in July, journalists Lee Fang and Steve Horn obtained emails showing that in May, local law enforcement and federal agents monitored and infiltrated a “Keep it in the Ground” protest at a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) auction in Lakewood, Colorado.
“The emails, which were obtained through an open records act request, show that the Lakewood Police Department collected details about the protest from undercover officers as the event was being planned,” they wrote. “During the auction, both local law enforcement and federal agents went undercover among the protesters.”
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What’s more, The Intercept reported:
Now, CBD wants to know not only what happened at the Lakewood protest, but whether similar surveillance strategies have been pursued at other fossil fuel auction protests.
“Every oil and gas lease sale on public lands since September 2015 has faced climate protests as part of the ‘Keep it in the Ground’ movement that is calling on President Obama to end all new fossil fuel leasing on public lands,” a CBD press statement reads, noting that such protests “have halted several BLM fossil fuel auctions, and spurred BLM and [Bureau of Ocean Energy Management] to begin conducting fossil fuel auctions online to avoid public controversy.”
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In turn, Thursday’s filings (pdf) apply to all federal fossil fuel auctions conducted by BLM and BOEM since August 2015, including 14 fossil fuel auctions that faced public “Keep it in the Ground” protests.
“There’s a large and growing movement of peaceful protesters calling on their government to make a moral choice to save our climate and end new fossil fuel leasing on public lands,” said Taylor McKinnon of CBD. “The public has a right to know whether the government has launched a surveillance program targeting climate activists who are courageously speaking up for what’s right.”
In the end, McKinnon said, “Neither undercover surveillance nor moving fossil fuel auctions online will hide the dangerous disconnect between the Obama administration’s climate rhetoric and its fossil fuel leasing policies. Until those policies align with U.S. climate goals, they’ll continue to face growing public protest—and rightfully so.”
Law enforcement surveillance and shifty procedural moves aren’t the only threats facing climate activists. DeSmog Blog recently reported on how environmentalists like Bill McKibben and Tom Steyer “are being stalked by a team of GOP-trained camera operators.”
Still, as McKibben wrote in a New York Times op-ed this weekend addressing such claims: “The fossil-fuel industry may threaten us as a planet, as a nation, and as individuals, but when we rise up together we’ve got a fighting chance against the powers that be.”
“And perhaps,” he said, “that realization is just a little bit scary for them.”
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