Clinton's convention is not going according to script.... or is it?
"Thousands rally at DNC to voice disaffection" by Wesley Lowery Washington Post July 26, 2016
PHILADELPHIA — ‘‘Never Hillary,’’ ‘‘RIP DNC,’’ and ‘‘Bernie or Bust’’ read the placards, as thousands of protesters opposed to the Democrats’ unity-first program gathered here Monday to express dismay with the party, the presumed presidential nominee, and a political system they consider corrupt.
I would be one were I there.
Many left-wing groups skipped last week’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland and focused instead on this city and the Democrats. They espoused a wide variety of causes: In addition to supporters of Bernie Sanders, people were protesting police brutality, advocating immigrant rights, and pushing for gun control.
The Revolutionary Communists chanted that Hillary Clinton should be in prison. Other protesters planned a mock trial of the Democratic candidate. Another group prepared to erect ‘‘tombstones for democracy’’ in a park.
I wouldn't have been a part of that, and explained last week how you have to handle it. Trump would have to do Bushes first, then Clintons and Obama administration. And he ain't gonna do that whatever this charade of an election becomes.
Sanders supporters repeatedly declared that there is no chance they will vote for Clinton, whose nomination many described as illegitimate. Sanders got a sense of that himself when, speaking midday at the Wells Fargo Center, the crowd rejected his call to support his former rival.
They know she stole the nomination through electoral fraud and bribery of the party $upers. What I didn't know was BERNIE WON CALIFORNIA and was denied it through massive vote fraud, same as in New York. Looks like the people know, too.
‘‘I’m a Never Hillary person. Because she’s corrupt. She represents everything we’re against,’’ said Luigi Costello, 60, of Sarasota, Fla., as he held a makeshift peace symbol at a protest at City Hall.
That's part of my problem with her.
Forget what happened at Benghazi; she was for the overthrow of Khadafy and regime change in Syria.
Although police braced for clashes between supporters and detractors of Republican nominee Donald Trump at the Republican convention in Cleveland, the confrontations never materialized.
Philadelphia is another story: The crowds are here — and far larger than in Cleveland. Some activists hoped to disrupt the convention. Others planned to be arrested.
The one constant was the sun overhead. The heat index reached triple digits. Local authorities sounded as worried about people suffering heat stroke as they were about civil unrest and violence.
That tends to slow violence, also, which makes Islamic militant actions even more perplexing.
More protests are expected Tuesday. The unhappiness of the Sanders supporters could prove a challenge for Democratic leaders hoping to pull off a unified convention, something the Republicans were unable to do last week.
During a joint rally at City Hall that stretched for more than two hours, Sanders supporters circulated an ‘‘open letter’’ from his delegates in which they urged super-delegates to abandon Clinton and vote for Sanders.
As did I.
‘‘You’d have to be crazy not to be worried about the possibility of Trump or Hillary becoming president,’’ said Amanda Sullivan, 35, a computer programmer from Weston, Fla.
Sullivan, who said she’ll support Green Party nominee Jill Stein, argued that it was unlikely that support for a third-party candidate would result in Clinton losing to Trump. But, she added, Trump is ‘‘actually less of a threat to democracy than Hillary.’’
I hate to say it, but she is right on both counts. All we have with Trump are what he says he will do and the pro-Hillary pre$$ caterwauling. Meanwhile, Clinton is and was part of another in a long line of war criminal administrations, things Trump has yet to do -- but likely will do when he is president.
If not, well.... can you say President Pence?
Ryan Hoke, 23, a college student and self-described conspiracy theorist, said his online research had proved that the campaign was a ‘‘stitch-up.’’
You kids, and for the lying, obfuscating, and distorting corporate pre$$ puke to ridicule electoral fraud shows you how far they have jumped the shark.
The most pathetic thing is they still think they can sell the same old narratives to the people.
‘‘You look at Trump and realize he’s the ultimate . . . false flag,’’ he said. ‘‘This system has been rigged so everyone feels they have to vote for Clinton, and we’re just not going to fall for that.’’
Gee, really throwing some charged words out there!
Braving the heat in a full Trump costume, Eric Varlo, an Occupy Denver activist, made a similar argument: ‘‘Even a Hollywood script writer wouldn’t manage something this good.’’ Despite strong objections to Trump’s views, Varlo said, Trump might make a better president. ‘‘With Hillary, you know you’re voting for lies. At least Trump is an unknown quantity,’’ he said.
He has a certain point there, but I'm leaning Stein at this point -- if I even bother to vote in this one. I'll explain later below.
Said Jeremy Dolan, 24, of St. Petersburg, Fla., a Sanders supporter who said he votes in Democratic primaries and supported President Obama in 2012, ‘‘We did eight years of Bush and nothing that bad happened, so we can deal with four years of Trump.’’
Nothing that bad happened under Bush?
Dear God, man!
When asked about the Iraq War and the USA Patriot Act — two decisions during George W. Bush’s presidency that many on the left despise — Dolan shook his head.
‘‘What I say to that is that I don’t negotiate with terrorists,’’ Dolan responded. ‘‘I’ll never vote for Clinton.’’
??????
What's he doing, smoking the weed?
People were buzzing about the leaked DNC e-mails and the under-pressure resignation of Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida as party chairwoman. ‘‘One down, one to go!’’ was a popular chant — although few here realistically think Clinton will go the way of Schultz.
That's where my print paper ended it, and I'm thinking this whole flap was staged in advance. Think about it: we are talking about Wasserman Schultz's e-mails and NOT HILLARY'S!!!!
Web Globe left this in the street: A
nother chant: ‘‘We won’t vote for Hillary!’’
‘‘It’s not over till the superdelegates have voted,’’ Cheryl Miller of Austin said.
There were rumors on the web that there isn't going to be a traditional roll call voted. It's going to be by acclimation instead.
Rachel Kessler of Bristol, Pa., said, ‘‘We believe the primary was rigged against [Sanders]. The WikiLeaks e-mails prove that.’’
But it's too late now, huh?
Tracy Graunstadt drove from Michigan for the protest, saying she opposes the two-party system. ‘‘I want people to see that we’re not going to give up on the revolution. We’re not going to give up on Bernie,’’ she said. ‘‘We’re not blind to the corruption of the DNC.’’
Because it is now a ONE-PARTY $Y$TEM with TWO FACTIONS!
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Meanwhile, inside the hall:
"Sanders confronts skeptical delegates with Clinton support" by Annie Linskey and Victoria McGrane Globe Staff July 26, 2016
PHILADELPHIA — Senator Bernie Sanders made a case for his one-time rival Hillary Clinton in an impassioned speech Monday night, confronting a crowd of thousands of delegates who were deeply skeptical of the new Democratic standard-bearer.
He was later joined on the stage by Sarah Silverman, a comedian and celebrity Sanders supporter. She reiterated her affection for Sanders — and then gave a full throated endorsement of Clinton.
“Come on,” Silverman said. “She’s like the only person ever to be overqualified for president. I will vote for Hillary with gusto.”
That brought the crowd to their feet. But then Silverman, who isn’t a practiced political activist, pushed it some more. “Can I just say to the ‘Bernie or bust’ people: You’re being ridiculous.”
Isn't she the lovely lady that.... never mind.
I hope Bernie didn't kiss her.
The first night of the convention was staged by the Democrats as a way to try to draw in the Sanders and Warren wing of the party, which is crucial to the Clinton effort.
But the liberals who had supported Sanders weren’t ready yet to choke down that sentiment — and with it, the call for unity — for much of the day. When Clinton’s name was mentioned, particularly in the early hours, hundreds of delegates booed.
(Blog editor's eyebrows raise)
In downtown Philadelphia his supporters handed out buttons with the motto “Flip-A-Delegate.” The idea: convert Clinton backers into Sanders supporters, but a major sticking point for many was they felt no clear reason to support Clinton other than fear of Trump.
Clinton was not in the convention hall, but her top aide, Huma Abedin, watched Sanders from the floor, showing no emotion as he spoke. She occasionally checked her phone, folded and unfolded her arms and hugged friends.
Don't delete those!
Michelle Obama gave a powerful address to the crowd, calling out Trump in her remarks, saying that ‘‘when someone is cruel or acts like a bully, we don’t stoop to their level.’’
Unless it's Israel or his government is doing it to someone ourselves.
Please tell me she didn't plagiarism some of it from Melania!
In her own prime-time speech, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts spent much of her time focused on Republican nominee Donald Trump.
“Donald Trump knows that the American people are angry — a fact so obvious he can see it from the top of Trump Tower,” Warren said. “So now he’s insisting that he — and he alone — can fix the rigged system.”
She added: “Well, I’ve got news for Donald Trump. The American people are not falling for it! We’ve seen this ugliness before, and we’re not going to be Donald Trump’s hate-filled America — not now, not ever.”
She also urged the party to come together. “When we turn on each other, we can’t unite to fight back against a rigged system,” Warren said.
She admitted the $y$tem is rigged?
And she still with her anyway, huh?
My print had her referencing MLK, Jr.; I wonder why web took it out.
Some of the most effective arguments with the crowd came with humor. Al Franken, a Minnesota senator and former “Saturday Night Live” comedian, gave what amounted to a political stand-up routine about Trump.
“We might be misunderestimating Trump,” said Franken. “Sure he scammed a lot of people. But did you know that the Trump University School of ripping people off is ranked second in the nation? Just behind Bernie Madoff University.”
That's not funny.
“It’s a little tough to pivot to Hillary,” said Mykie Reidy, a delegate from the critical swing state of Pennsylvania. “It is a trust problem.”
I'm thinking that might go red this year, and the map is going to look really weird on election night.
Even the news that Democratic National Committeewoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz would have no role in the opening day of the convention seemed to embolden Sanders delegates who had long been calling on her to resign. Leaked e-mails had linked her to efforts to favor Clinton over Sanders during the primaries.
Because of the lingering support for Sanders, and the uproar over Wasserman Schultz, former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell acknowledged that the Democrats’ convention was getting off to a bad start.
“I’m a big fan of Debbie Wasserman Schultz but I wish that she had stepped down immediately and she wasn’t continuing to be associated with the Clinton campaign, concentrate on her own reelection,” he said in an interview before Monday night’s gavel dropped.
Did he see what he said on the ride in?
Shortly after the convention began, the Democratic National Committee continued to try to make amends for revelations found in leaked e-mails that their staff was rooting for Clinton during the lengthy primary process.
“On behalf of everyone at the DNC, we want to offer a deep and sincere apology to Senator Sanders, his supporters, and the entire Democratic Party for the inexcusable remarks made over e-mail,” according to the statement.
I'm sorry, but that is not enough for me.
Wasserman Schultz scrapped her plans to take the stage at the convention Monday morning after a revolt by members of her Florida delegation.
They heckled and booed her repeatedly as she tried to speak at a brunch.
“All right everybody now settle down,” she said to the crowd, with some holding up printed signs that simply read: “E-mails.”
She remained in Philadelphia, though it was unclear what role, if any, she would play in the convention for the rest of the week.
Where is the nearest closet?
It's still mission accomplished, and by waiting they took attention off the other e-mails!
That news wasn’t enough to assuage the Sanders delegates who loudly booed the first few times Clinton’s name was mentioned in the opening moments of the convention.
Their passionate pro-Sanders chants interrupted one speaker so many times that she departed from the prepared remarks in the Teleprompter.
“I am going to be respectful of you and I want you to be respectful toward me,” said Representative Marcia Fudge of Ohio, the convention chairwoman.
That prompted a written message from Sanders: “I would ask you as a personal courtesy to me not to engage in any kind of protest or demonstration on the convention floor.”
Paul Pinsky, a Sanders delegate from Maryland, said he felt the message went a long way in calming Sanders supporters on the convention floor.
It was a much different message than Sanders offered earlier in the day when he addressed his delegates behind closed doors at the Philadelphia Convention Center, miles away from the Wells Fargo Center where the convention was held.
“We have got to defeat Donald Trump!” he yelled to a roomful of cheers. “We have got to elect Hillary Clinton!”
Boos erupted. One person hollered “No Bernie.” Others imported the Republican chant from last week’s convention, yelling “Lock her up!”
Goodness gracious!
Sanders struggled to regain control of the room.
“Brothers and sisters! Brothers and sisters!” he said, according to a recording that was reviewed by the Globe. “This is the real world that we live in,” Sanders argued, making the pitch that Democrats must unite to defeat Trump.
That's why I'm voting Stein, for I have become convinced we need a Jew to take on the Israeli lobby. Much like we need a Republican administration to hold war crimes trials for Bush administration figures. Or a Democrat one to charge Obama.
Of course, Stein could do 'em all being a Green and everything.
The night’s big event, though, was Sanders’ speech — a moment made all the more dramatic because of disclosures that officials in the Democratic National Committee had sought to undermine him during the primaries.
When he took to the stage, he seemed to soak up the moment and let the crowd of people that watched the arc of his long-shot campaign have one last emotional moment.
“I understand that many people here in this convention hall and around the country are disappointed about the final results of the nominating process,” Sanders said. “I think it’s fair to say that no one is more disappointed than I am.”
I don't blame him. Even if they are tools and this is a big show, a sense of fairness kicks ink for these egotistical and competitive people. Same with Trump, and in his case he may have even looked at the landscape and viewed it as a public service -- in an egoists way, of course, but does that invalidate the idea?
Ever see The Candidate?
Chants of Ber-nie, Ber-nie erupted on the floor.
As the Vermont senator took the stage, thousands held up blue signs that read “Bernie.” Chants of “Ber-nie, Bern-ie, Bern-ie” broke out.
Reminds me of 1980 and Ted Kennedy's speech.
Sanders urged his supporters to focus on the stakes of the presidential election, saying that the choice in November is about reducing income inequality, improving the lives of working people, and expanding opportunities for minorities.
As I have been documenting, all those problems have been exacerbated by Democrat rule, and that's not to say the other wing of corporati$m is any better (or worse).
“By these measures, any objective observer will conclude that — based on her ideas and her leadership — Hillary Clinton must become the next president of the United States,” Sanders said. “The choice is not even close.”
Though Sanders came up short, he declared that he wouldn’t exit the political arena. “We have begun a political revolution to transform America,” Sanders said. “Election days come and go. But the struggle of the people to create a government which represents all of us . . . that struggle continues. And I look forward to being part of that struggle with you.”
I think it goes forward without him unless things start changing up high.
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Also see:
It’s up to Bernie Sanders to fix the Democratic Party
Why? Did he break it?
He isn't even a member!
The pretentious Wasserman Shultz
Warren’s future lies in Clinton’s defeat
Reports are circulating that Warren’s tired of the Senate and wants out.
Really? After half a term?
Why didn't you run for president then?
If there’s a ‘Hillary standard,’ Clinton has earned it
That's why Democrats are flirting with Trump (he must be drunk).
Legal Sea Foods ad has people upset
No one complained when he hated on Trump!
Mass. politicians featured during first day of Democratic convention
I know who I didn't see up there:
Jill Stein sees opportunity with Sanders supporters
They gave her the Ron Paul treatment and didn't let her in.
And once again, the convention overshadows Europe:
"Turkey cracks down on journalists" by Ceylan Yeginsu New York Times July 25, 2016
ISTANBUL — The witch-hunt environment that has enveloped Turkey in the wake of a failed military coup extended to the media Monday, as the government issued warrants for the detention of dozens of journalists.
Gotcha, NYT!
A progovernment newspaper, meanwhile, published a list of names and photographs of journalists suspected of treachery. The Associated Press reported that warrants were issued for the detention of 42 journalists suspected of links to the alleged organizers of the failed coup.
Did they have CIA credentials?
The step followed the dismissals of tens of thousands of workers — teachers, bankers, police officers, soldiers, bureaucrats, and others — as well as the arrests of thousands accused of ties to the conspiracy. More than 13,000 people have been detained since the uprising, which killed about 290 people.
The government said the journalists, too, were part of a vast network linked to Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania whom it has alleged was the mastermind of the botched coup.
He's the fall guy for U.S./NATO policy.
A senior Turkish official, speaking on the condition of anonymity in keeping with government protocol, said the dismissal of the journalists was not related to their professional activities, but possible criminal conduct.
But it has been a common reflex of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government to crack down on freedom of expression during times of crisis.
Like after 9/11, 9/11, 9-eleven! Ari Fleischer saying watch what you say?
And remember when AG HOLDER was SPYING ON JOURNALISTS and THROWING THEM IN JAIL!?
At least they are getting help from the military now.
Back to the NYT ax grind:
Many dozens of journalists have lost their jobs during his tenure. Others have been arrested over their coverage of national security issues. Still others have been charged with insulting the president, a crime in Turkey.
Good thing that will never happen here, right?
Paradoxically, at Erdogan’s moment of greatest crisis — as a faction of the military tried to topple his government — some of the prominent media outlets he once hounded gave him support, and the president’s ability to freely communicate with the public was decisive in thwarting the coup.
Uh-huh?!
Contrary to some reports that emerged while the coup unfolded overnight between July 15 and 16, social media was mostly up and running in Turkey, and allies of the government used Twitter to mobilize opposition to the coup.
OMG, my pre$$ and government lied to me with their early reports!
But not long after the coup was put down, the government began purging the state bureaucracy of those it suspected had links to Gulen. It also began cracking down on freedom of expression, a move that has long been a hallmark of Erdogan’s rule.
The announcement last week that Turkey would enter a state of emergency for three months has deepened fears among the country’s beleaguered journalists.
The emergency statutes give the government a freer hand to make laws by allowing it to bypass Parliament and to stifle expression it deems harmful to national security....
It's okay when the French or Germans do it!
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Speaking of those devils:
Donna Karan, DKNY brands sold for $650m
Bomber at concert in Germany pledged loyalty to Islamic State
Lucky Strikes maker cuts 950 jobs
British American Tobacco PLC, the maker of Lucky Strike cigarettes, is eliminating 950 jobs at a German factory. That's what the kid was angry about.
Prince Harry says he regrets not talking about mother’s death sooner
Ryanair to shift growth focus from UK following EU exit vote
Also see:
Hungarian socialists want referendum on Sunday store closings
Italy’s biggest phone company to cut as many as 15,000 jobs
Included was the CEO.
