December 12, 2016- RUSSIAGATE
It’s time for everyone – especially President-Elect Trump – to get the facts right about Russian interference in the election. The conversation started months ago, when leading voices in the intelligence community began voicing concern that Russian government hackers were behind cyber-attacks at the DNC and other U.S. political organizations. In October, the U.S. government officially accused Russia of hacking and interfering in the U.S. election. And it gets worse: just this weekend, a new CIA report concluded that Russia acted with the specific intention of swinging the election to President Elect Donald Trump.
Russia’s interference with the U.S.’s presidential election is an attack on our sovereignty, our security, and the integrity of our democracy. But our president-elect doesn’t seem bothered. Over the weekend, Trump denied the CIA’s assessment, called the findings of the report “ridiculous”, and even refused to acknowledge the established fact that Russia was behind the hackings in the first place. Unclear where Trump’s getting his intel from, since he’s been refusing his daily intelligence briefings because he is “smart.”
Fortunately, it’s looking like the Trump Train will be met with serious resistance on this one. President Obama has ordered the intelligence community to do a full review before he leaves office of what happened during the election. And congressional leaders are also expressing serious concern. Over the weekend, a bipartisan group of Senators issued a call for an independent investigation of Russian interference in the election.
ACTION OF THE DAY
Call your Senator and urge him or her to support a robust, bipartisan investigation into Russia’s interference in our elections. Call: 202-224-3121 to be connected with your Senator, or find their direct phone numbers here.
WHAT’S TRENDING
State-Run TV. We’re not talking about Russia anymore. Thanks to a provision tucked into the defense bill passed by Congress last week, President-elect Trump will inherit a newly empowered state-run TV network, according to Politico. The provision dissolved the bipartisan Broadcasting Board of Governors, the agency that supervises the government-funded Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio y Television Marti, Radio Free Asia, and the Middle East Broadcast Networks. This provision, along with a 2013 change that allows VOA to reach U.S. audiences opens a path for Trump to push propaganda through the U.S. diplomacy arm. In other words, he may be getting Trump TV after all. Full story here.
Social Security. While all eyes were on Trump and his forming administration last week, Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX) introduced a new proposal to “reform” Social Security. But Johnson’s bill would lower benefits for virtually all beneficiaries, forcing even more hardship on seniors and working families struggling to make ends meet. And if that’s not enough, his plan will give rich Americans’ incomes a boost by lowering their taxes, all while cutting benefits for working- and middle-class Americans. Read five ways the GOP plan for Social Security will hurt seniors and other beneficiaries here.
Denial. Trump’s still in it. Over the weekend, Trump reiterated his climate denial in an interview that aired on Fox News this weekend, Trump falsely claimed “nobody really knows” what is causing climate change. Actually, basically everyone except most Republican elected officials is in agreement about what causes climate change (greenhouse gases emitted by human activities).
TRANSITION TRACKER
Rumor Has It. Over the weekend, rumors flew that Trump is tapping ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State. Besides heading the world’s largest oil company, Tillerson—like others in the Trump administration—is a “friend of Putin.” Yes, that Putin. For almost 20 years, Tillerson has worked with Putin to turn the Russia into Exxon’s “single biggest exploration theater.” And ICYMI and/or skipped the beginning of this email, this news comes just one day after a CIA report showed that Russia intervened in the election with the express goal of helping Trump win. Everything you need to know about Tillerson here.
HouseBolton. May be making a comeback. John Bolton is rumored to be Trump’s pick for Deputy Secretary of State. He has notably been pushing the conspiracy that Russia’s election hack was made up by the Obama administration. And his record is as bad as you’d think. More on him from the Global Progressive Hub here.
Sessions. Don’t forget about Trump’s pick for Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Voto Latino has everything you need to know about him here. And why you should call on your Senators to oppose Sessions’s nomination here.
UNDER THE RADAR
Sanctuary cities vs. Trump. Across the country, mayors are mounting a concerted resistance effort to Trumps’ hardline immigration stance by reassuring millions of immigrants they’ll remain safe. Federal funding for more than 30 sanctuary cities—including San Francisco, Ashland, New Orleans, and Santa Fe—has been threatened by Trump. Despite this threat, nearly 40 cities across the country are standing firm in opposition to Trump’s pledge to crack down on them.
Racism
Set your mind on things above: Seven days from now, we’ll celebrate Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection with believers from all over the world. Make the most of your time in God’s Word this Holy Week.
In 1966 confided to his staff: “You can’t talk about solving the economic problem of the Negro without talking about billions of dollars. You can’t talk about ending the slums without first saying profit must be taken out of slums. You’re really tampering and getting on dangerous ground because you are messing with folk then. You are messing with captains of industry. Now this means that we are treading in difficult water, because it really means that we are saying that something is wrong with capitalism. There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism.”
Today King is viewed as something of an American saint. A recent Gallup Poll discovered that 94 percent of Americans viewed him in a positive light. His birthday is a national holiday. His name adorns schools and street signs. In 1964, at age 35, he was the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Many Hollywood films — most recently Ava DuVernay’s brilliant “Selma” — explore different aspects of King’s personal and political life, but generally confirm his reputation as a courageous and compassionate crusader for justice. Politicians, preachers, and professors from across the political spectrum invoke King’s name to justify their beliefs and actions. Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/martin-luther-king-was-a-democratic-socialist_b_9008990.html
King was a radical. He challenged America’s class system and its racial caste system. He was a strong ally of the nation’s labor union movement. He was assassinated in April 1968 in Memphis, where he had gone to support a sanitation workers’ strike. He opposed U.S. militarism and imperialism, especially the country’s misadventure in Vietnam.
Nov 9, 2015 | CAP Action War Room: University of Missouri President Tim Wolfe resigned today after student and faculty protests over his handling of racist incidents on campus. Multiple racist incidents on Mizzou’s campus in recent weeks sparked the student protests, which led various groups on campus to question Wolfe’s leadership and commitment to addressing racism on campus.
Over the weekend student protests escalated. Graduate student Jonathan Butler, who had been on a hunger strike, was joined on Saturday night by at least 32 members of the school’s football team who vowed not to play or practice until Butler ate. Head coach Gary Pinkel supported his players’ decision tweeting, “The Mizzou Family stands as one. We are united. We are behind our players.”
The protests came after multiple racist incidents on Mizzou’s campus. In one, a swastika was drawn on a university bathroom in feces. In two other incidents, African American students, including the school’s African American student associated president, were harassed and called a racial slur. In the wake of these incidents, various campus groups began to question Wolfe’s leadership and his commitment to addressing racism on campus.
How the events transpired, and in particular the way the football team’s advocacy elevated the issue to national prominence and forced a quick action on the part of the university, is a powerful example of how sports can play a role in cultural and political change. In a press conference announcing his resignation Wolfe said, “It is my belief that we stopped listening to each other. We forced individuals like Jonathan Butler to take unusual action to effect change. This is not, I repeat, not the way change should come about.”
The University of Missouri is not the only school grappling with how to address tense issues of racial insensitivity and injustice. Halfway across the country at Yale University, students are also protesting the administration to demand a public response to recent controversial events involving race on campus. In one incident, a fraternity allegedly turned away black women from a party, with one brother saying only “white girls” were welcome, according to eyewitness reports. In another, some students took offense to an associate master of one of Yale’s undergraduate residential communities when she wrote an email encouraging students to tolerate and talk about insensitive Halloween costumes.
BOTTOM LINE: The events at the University of Missouri come in the midst of a heated national debate over race that has created tension across the country. Whether on a college campus or a neighborhood street corner, everyone in America should have the right to feel safe and respected in their communities. It is troubling when vile events take place, but it is also encouraging to see public pressure to fight them and a national dialogue taking place.
oh, and one last point, if all charges has been dropped and the school officials look like a fools in front of America..then why does this child have a 3-day suspension? #whatswrongwiththeschoolsystem?
danetteoneal1
Danette O'Neal, PhD 