This week at progressive state blogs is designed specifically to focus attention on the writing and analysis of people focused on their home turf. Here is the June 9 edition. Inclusion of a blog post does not necessarily indicate my agreement with—or endorsement of—its contents.
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LOLGOP at Eclectablog of Michigan writes—We can’t count on the press to save us from Trump:
How do you deal with a pathological liar who has admitted to at least one journalist that his goal is to destroy the credibility of objective journalism?
At the very least don’t spread his lies for him.
The AP deleted a tweet on Friday in which it repeated Trump’s virulently false framing of the FBI’s Inspector General’s report into James Comey’s handing of the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email after enough people, including a U.S. Senator, noted the world’s most important wire service was acting as “an effective vessel for lies.”
So that’s a good drop in the bucket. And it follows a pretty strong piece from the Washington Post’s Philip Bump: “Why untrue tweets from Trump shouldn’t be unchallenged in headlines.” Bump didn’t dare use the L-word but it was a well-aimed volley at The Hill, one of the worst disseminators of Trump unfiltered lies.
Of course, there are many commentators, notably Sarah Kendzior and Greg Sargent, who constantly weigh in on the media’s atrocious approach to Trump’s lies. But the mainstream press still largely treats Trump the same way they have since he went birther — as a quotable curiosity.
They do this now even as he’s become a quotable curiosity who wants to jail them and may have to power to do so.
If the situation is going change quickly, scores of journalists need to read and heed George Lakoffand Gil Duran’s new piece in The Guardian: “Trump has turned words into weapons. And he’s winning the linguistic war“.
Jason Salzman at ColoradoPols writes—If You Want a Semi-Automatic AR-15, Maybe You Should Start Going to GOP Fundraisers:
If you want to start amassing guns, you might consider attending Republican Party fundraisers in Colorado.
To get your own military-style semi-automatic AR-15 rifle this weekend, you’d have to be lucky (or unlucky if you hate guns), because it’s the grand prize in a Saturday raffle for the Teller County Republican Party.
In May, you could have gotten one at a GOP fundraiser in Colorado Springs.
The AR-15 is the firearm used at the mass killings of students in Florida this year and Sandy Hook in 2012. it was used in the Las Vegas massacre in 2017 and San Bernadino in 2015. And, unfortunately, elsewhere.
Does that bother the organizers of the raffle?
“Absolutely not,” said Erik Stone, the elected chair of the Teller County Republican Party, told the Colorado Times Recorder. “Individual people are responsible for individual acts. Guns are inanimate objects. They are tools. They can be used the same as a car, a knife, a sword, as we saw in Kansas City. There are many weapons people can use with evil intent. And I have no problems with our raffle.”
Stone said the winner of the raffle will have to pass a background check before receiving his or her grand prize.
“If they cannot pass a background check, they will receive a cash prize in lieu of the firearm,” said Stone, adding that he is not only a gun-rights advocate but also an NRA certified instructor who recently taught a free concealed-carry class for teachers and first responders. “Everything will be done completely legally.”
El Jefe at Juanita Jean’s of Texas writes—Anger Has Its Place, and This is It:
So, Samantha Bee calls Ivanka Trump a “feckless c***” for remaining silent while her father directs a policy that tears immigrant families apart and imprisons small children in converted big box stores. The walls of these big box prisons actually have Soviet style murals of Trump complete with quotes from his book, The Art of the Deal. Fake outrage over Bee’s verbal attack resulted in her forced apology for being unkind to Princess Ivanka.
Last weekend, Robert DiNiro shouted, “F*ck Trump!” several times during his few moments on stage at the Tony Awards on national television. Again, que the right wing noise machine that whipped up fake outrage over DiNiro’s denouncement, but luckily, he doesn’t work for anyone and doesn’t care what they think.
Then came Frank Bruni of the NY Times, who did what most progressives, including Michelle and Barack Obama, do, and that’s chant the “when they go low, we go high” mantra. His article this week tut-tutted, finger wagged, and warned ominously that getting mad and saying so will re-elect Trump and his cronies. That advice is STUPID and exactly the tactic that got us Al Gore and John Kerry. I’m sorry, but that is just plain wrong and stupidly puts artificial limits on good people’s ability to get pissed off. Several of my progressive friends reposted the op-ed on Facebook, imploring all of us to take to the high road, because some mouth breathing, drooling knuckle dragger in Columbia Mississippi won’t like our anger and will decide not to vote for the Democrat. That’s an idiotic notion. Said mouth breathing, drooling knuckle dragger will NEVER vote for the Democrat. Wake up.
Steve Appleford at Capital & Main of California writes—The Real Costs of Living in California: A new report from United Ways of California shows that 1 in 3 working families struggle to make ends meet:
These seem to be boom times for Americans, as monthly statistics from the U.S. Labor Department tout a fast-rising economy and dwindling unemployment since the final years of the Obama administration. What those numbers fail to measure is the real cost of making ends meet, and how far out of reach that remains for many working households that continue to struggle.
The reality in California is that one in three households are falling short, according to Struggling to Stay Afloat: The Real Cost Measure in California 2018, a new report from the nonprofit United Ways of California. The study sought to document the actual costs of a “a bare-bones decent standard of living,” says Peter Manzo, president of the nonpartisan advocacy group, and include the real-world impact of housing costs, transportation, education and other immovable factors.
The report is downloadable from the United Ways website, which also has interactive features where each county is examined in detail. In an interview with Capital & Main this week, Manzo explained the report’s findings.
Capital & Main: What inspired this study?
Peter Manzo: The federal poverty level doesn’t really take into account the cost of living in California. It also doesn’t tell you where we would like families to be. It doesn’t show you what is doing OK and how far most households are from it. Everyone knows it can be expensive to live in California, but this adds more detail.
How did you determine what the real costs were?
The real cost measure we used is a basic needs budget: housing, food, transportation, health care, childcare, taxes and 10 percent of the total for miscellaneous – things like your mobile phone bill. The interesting thing about the real cost measure is that the household budget varies by composition. So if you have two adults working full-time minimum-wage jobs, the household budget was different from the same two adults with an infant. The cost structure changes significantly by adding family members. [...]
Bill Orr at Blue Jersey writes—The Elephant in the Room:
In one of several versions of a famous parable, “three blind men encounter an elephant for the first time and try to describe it, each touching a different part. “An elephant is like a snake,” says one, grasping the trunk. “Nonsense; an elephant is a fan,” says another, who holds an ear. “A tree trunk,” insists a third, feeling his way around a leg.“
In New Jersey today, as in past periods, we and our politicians are deeply divided when confronting an elephant in our room. The split is not just between Republicans and Democrats but more profound. [...]
Divisions are to be expected, but what are we to do about the wide chasms which we see today? The quote above on how to describe the elephant comes from a book review of a work by Brazil’s Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (1839-1908), “who is always writing about liberation which to him begins with the freedom – the obligation – to think.” With an overwhelming array of social media where too often people remain stuck in their own boxes and reinforce each others positions, we must stop, listen to different points of view, then think and make our own decisions.
Yet another writer, the French millennial Édouard Louis, speaks about “intersectionality” bemoaning, “we are not what we do, but to the contrary, we are what we have not done, because the world, or society, has prevented us . . . verdicts fell on us – gay, trans, women, black, poor – and they rendered certain lives, experiences and dreams inaccessible.” Such speaks to the need not only for Republicans but for Democrats as well to broaden their vision and listen more and embrace solutions which collectively benefit society.
The importance of today’s NJ resistance activists is essential in generating better representation. However, regarding officials in office when policies are debated, both politicians and the public should heed what President Obama said, “There is not a liberal America and a conservative America – there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America – there’s the United States of America.” Achieving that goal is what must motivate us.
David Gordon at Blogging for Arizona writes—AZ’s Worst Legislator: Don Shooter Disgraces the LD 13 Senate Race:
Over the last week, the GOP which regularly touts its commitment to inclusion and family values has nominated a self-admitted white nationalist and Confederate supporter to run for the Senate in Virginia and a brothel owner to run for a Congressional seat in Nevada.
With examples such as these, it should be no surprise that an individual expelled from the Arizona State House of Representatives for sexual harassment would think he would have an opportunity to elevate himself to the Arizona State Senate.
Like many reactionary and self-absorbed members of his party, Don Shooter is one of the worst examples of public servants in Arizona.
In some ways, Democrats should hope he gets the nomination. Shooter, along with “let’s take away your rights” Vince Leach, “ISIS is going to invade us from Mexico” Mark Finchem and “There are not enough white kids” David Stringer are poster candidates for why the Democrats need to return to power. However, decency prevails and the residents of LD 13 should not reward bad behavior and allow Shooter to run for the State Senate.
James Rowen at The Political Environment of Wisconsin writes—Advocates to hold groundwater session 6/21 at WI's CAFO ground-zero:
Four things to note about Kewaunee County, WI, other than its new, pro-conservation State Senator is about to be sworn in:
* Kewaunee County, in the northeastern part of the state and bordering Lake Michigan south of Green Bay, has so many dairy-related concentrated animal feeding operations, (CAFOs) which can pollute the groundwater that the DNR will supply bottled water to people who believe their wells have runoff contamination.
So goodbye 'brown water events' downstream—or at the kitchen tap—
* Fecal contamination in Kewaunee County is rampant and documented, yet the DNR continues to green-light CAFO expansion there. While offering outdated information on its website about the rapid expansion of CAFOs statewide.
After all, Walker intends to move CAFO 'regulation,' such as it is, from the DNR to the friendly confines of the dairy marketers over at the state ag department, so why update the DNR's data if state ag is about to take over?
* Important litigation that could rein in one large Kewaunee County CAFO is headed for an appeals court chosen by GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel to better serve Corporate Wisconsin.
His move is but one of many by GOP politicians and agencies they control which continually put Corporate Wisconsin and industry's demands above the public's rights to clean water, fresh air and unspoiled open space.
And, yes, you can add the severely, self-inflicted-conflicted State Supreme Court to the list of Wisconsin agencies where big business has an out-sized, campaign-donation presence. Which makes the April, 2019 race to fill a vacancy being created by the planned retirement of long-serving liberal Justice Shirley Abrahamson so important—but later for that.
A staffer at NH Labor News writes—Victory! Governor Sununu Signs HB1319, Transgender Nondiscrimination Into Law:
Today, Republican Governor Chris Sununu signed HB 1319 into law, protecting transgender individuals across New Hampshire from discrimination in employment, housing and public spaces. The major victory for equality marks the first statewide proactive win on LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections in any state since 2016. New Hampshire is the 19th state in the country – and final state in New England – to explicitly provide comprehensive nondiscrimination protections to LGBTQ people. It is particularly significant because of the broad Republican support HB 1319 garnered. The measure passed the Republican-controlled Senate by a vote of 14-10 and the Republican-controlled House with an overwhelmingly strong vote of 195-129.
Governor Sununu also signed HB 587 into law banning conversion therapy for minors, a dangerous and debunked practice that purports to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. New Hampshire joins 12 other states and the District of Columbia that also have laws or regulations protecting LGBTQ youth from conversion therapy.
“Today, New Hampshire lived up to its Live Free or Die motto. We are elated that elected leaders recognized the need for this law and worked together in a bipartisan effort to get it passed. We created a strong coalition of business leaders, law enforcement, elected officials, faith leaders, human rights advocates, and transgender people and their families, who were able to move the debate beyond fear to a place of understanding,” said Dan Pontoh, Field Organizer for Freedom New Hampshire, the bipartisan campaign that worked to pass the bill. “We want to especially acknowledge the courage of the transgender community who shared their stories and helped educate lawmakers and their neighbors that every person deserves to be treated fairly and equally under the law.”
“LGBTQ equality is not a partisan issue, but a human issue,” said Masen Davis, CEO of Freedom for All Americans. “The vast majority of Americans agree that LGBTQ people should be protected from discrimination, and I’m encouraged to see a growing number of conservative leaders join us in supporting freedom for all – especially after meeting their transgender neighbors and learning about the devastating impact of discrimination against LGBTQ people from all walks of life. New Hampshire residents have much to be proud of as they join their New England neighbors in protecting LGBTQ residents from discrimination.”
Clayton Henkel at The Progressive Pulse of North Carolina writes—Expert: Want to preserve our democracy? End gerrymandering (with video):
If this week’s roller coaster legislative sessions have left you reeling, take time today to learn about how redistricting reform could greatly improve the political discourse in our state.
Tom Ross, former President of the University of North Carolina system and co-chairman of the bi-partisan board of directors of North Carolinians for Redistricting Reform, will speak at Campbell University’s School of Law in downtown Raleigh at noon to address the benefits of reforming the way North Carolina draws its Congressional and legislative districts.
Mr. Ross’ presentation will include an update on the redistricting cases before the Supreme Court and other critical legal battles. He will also outline a plan of action for North Carolina to fairly draw Congressional and state districts.
NC Policy Watch had the opportunity to talk with Ross this week about the benefits of an independent system of redistricting where politicians do not draw their own districts.
Yellow Dog at Blue in the Bluegrass of Kentucky writes—No, Seriously, Don't Fuck With Rev. Barber:
He brought down another repug governor who thought he could defy the people without consequence. Bevin should surrender now before it gets worse.
Just to be clear, no previous Kentucky Governor has ever barred Kentuckians and their out-of-state guests from the Capitol. That's because no previous Kentucky Governor, even the worst ones, threw temper tantrums of unconstitutional arrogance when anyone dared to disagree with them.
A national leader of the Poor People's Campaign told a group of anti-poverty protesters Wednesday that Kentucky's policy of limiting the group's access to the state Capitol must be challenged in court.
The Rev. William J. Barber, national co-chairman of the campaign, spoke outside the Capitol during his second trip to Frankfort this month to meet with protesters. He said a Kentucky State Police policy of allowing only two members of the group into the statehouse at a time is "an old tactic from civil rights days" and courts in his home state of North Carolina have ruled its Capitol Rotunda is a public place for protesters.
"We believe the same thing will happen here when it is tested under the law," said Barber. "If you let this stand, what is next?"
Pam McMichael, team coordinator for the Kentucky campaign, said the group is exploring "the appropriate legal steps to vindicate our group's right and those of all Kentuckians."
Sue Lincoln at The Bayou Brief of Louisiana writes—Digging In: Entrenchment on the Far Right:
Certainly, advocates for higher education, TOPS, and SNAP benefits have been waging an all-out social media campaign to encourage lawmakers to fight for funding these vital programs, while Koch Industries-supported Americans for Prosperity and even Grover Norquist (of the no-tax pledge that persuaded former Gov. Bobby Jindal to help create this mess) have been urging lawmakers to duck-and-cover and hold the line.
Take Rep. Jay Morris (R-West Monroe), for example. This week he sent a letter to his constituents, writing, “I have trouble telling the citizens in northeast Louisiana that they must pay more taxes to fund our priorities when, in fact, I think we are wasting money… probably lots of it… and are funding things that probably aren’t the priority of a vast majority of citizens. We spend money subsidizing the Benson family through the Saints and Pelicans, we divert $100 million per year to subsidize horse racing, we subsidize Hollywood to the tune of $180 million per year and we also give exemptions from sales taxes to big business but most small businesses have to pay full freight to name but a few.”
Morris, who filed no bills or resolutions attempting to curb these subsidies during this year’s prior three sessions, nevertheless has been pounding the verbal warpath about them, whining repeatedly in committee and on the House floor about “turning a blind eye to waste and continuing to fund questionable priorities.”
Because of the restrictions in this call for the third special session, he cannot file any bills to address this.
He sits on the Ways and Means Committee, which controls the movement of any tax bill that could alleviate the impending fall off the fiscal cliff. And he is telling his constituents, “Although there is immense pressure to vote for more taxes, I believe we can find other ways to fund government adequately if my colleagues will get up the willpower to take on special interests and the bureaucracies.”
Entrenchment. Digging in and going nowhere.
Will Weatherly at R.I. Future.org writes—Reed, Whitehouse counter forced separation of undocumented families:
Sen. Jack Reed and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse renounced the Trump administration’s separation of immigrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border during a meeting of immigration advocates, community leaders, and pediatricians at Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island on Monday. Both senators have announced their support for the Keep Families Together Act, introduced by California Senator Dianne Feinstein, which seeks to put an end to a practice widely critiqued as irreparably destructive for undocumented families and violently traumatic for undocumented minors.
Border and customs officials forcibly tear children away from their parents as a result of arrests of undocumented immigrants crossing the border; those children are then transported to “sponsors” within the country or detention centers, in many cases thousands of miles away, and within facilities as decrepit as the boarded-up Walmart Texas Senator Jeff Merkley tried (and failed) to enter in Brownsville, Texas on June 3. [...]
The Keep Families Together Act would allow enforced familial separation “only in the event they are being trafficked or abused by their parents. To provide an additional layer of protection, the bill provides for an immediate review by a superior upon the recommendation to separate, and only after consultation with a child welfare expert,” according to a description of the bill on Feinstein’s website.
A letter to the president, signed by Reed and Whitehouse along with 38 other senators, urged, “Your Administration’s decision to separate children from their parents at the border is cruel, unnecessary, and goes against our values as Americans.”