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BY BRIAN BEUTLER, PRIYANKA ARIBINDI & CROOKED MEDIA Monday, August 5, 2019 |
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| —Beto O’Rourke to a political media that refuses to see President Trump for what he is |
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| VOTE THEM OUT |
| Two terrorist gunmen, including a white nationalist who was emboldened by President Trump, murdered over 30 people in El Paso, TX, and Dayton, OH, over the weekend. Now Republicans, led by Trump, are desperately ducking and deflecting widespread demands for them to pass background-check legislation and denounce the President’s complicity.
Here’s the latest.
What happened? First, a man armed with a military-style assault rifle posted a hate-filled, anti-immigrant screed on the white natonalist online organizing hub 8chan, before entering an El-Paso Wal-Mart and murdering at least 22 people. The so-called “manifesto” used terms like “invaders” to describe Hispanic immigrants and “fake news” to describe the media—words taken directly from Trump. Hours later, another white man, similarly armed, killed nine people, including his own sister, in a 30-second gun rampage at a bar in Dayton. The Texas gunman is in custody, and police killed the Dayton gunman.
How has the public responded? In two ways. First, there’s the overwhelming majority of people of good faith who take the problem seriously. They have engaged in a conversation about fighting and deradicalizing white supremacists, holding media and tech outlets that enable them accountable, and passing gun control measures. Democrats have called on the Senate to return from recess to pass H.R. 8, a bipartisan bill that would require everyone trying to purchase a firearm to undergo a background check.
How have Republicans responded? By ignoring the problem and blaming people and influences that have nothing to do with it.
In other words, Republicans at all levels of government are too cowardly or bigoted to do anything about this. That’s not surprising at this point—Republicans are completely invested in or in agreement with Trump’s racism and his efforts to encourage racism among his supporters to maintain his grip on power. But it is still shocking and unacceptable. The only solution is to end their careers resoundingly next November, and to never let them or people like them within a mile of public office ever again.
What can you do?
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| Cloudfare, the internet infrastructure company that hosted 8chan, announced that it would stop hosting the site, which is now struggling to remain online.
8chan was once a relatively obscure online messageboard, nominally devoted to “free speech,” but it quickly became a haven for terrorist mass shooters and violent white supremacists— in other words, a place where people too extreme for 4chan congregate. Before the shooting in El Paso, the gunman posted a four-page, racist manifesto on the site and encouraged its users to spread it widely.
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| On last week’s Lovett or Leave It (the night after his debate appearance): JAY INSLEE. Plus Kara Swisher, Kara Brown, and Ramy Youseff. But seriously—Jay Inslee. And his glasses. 🔥
Gov. Inslee breaks down the debates, the importance of climate change in his campaign, and his newfound title as the "ancient snack" of the Democratic primaries.
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| House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler said his committee *could* recommend articles of impeachment against Donald Trump by late fall. Reminder, the purpose of impeachment is to hold numerous public hearings on Trump’s unprecedented criminality before making every representative and senator vote on it, so please don’t skip that part.
North Korea used cyberattacks to steal from banks and cryptocurrency exchanges to amass an estimated $2 billion for its weapons of mass destruction programs, according to a confidential U.N. report. So that’s who probably stole your friend’s bitcoin.
The Dow dropped 760 points on Monday in the year’s worst day of stock trading in response to Chinese retaliation against Trump’s catastrophic trade war. So sick of winning!
Widespread strikes in Hong Kong have canceled and delayed over 100 flights into and out of the city’s airport—one of the world’s busiest. The strikes grew out of months worth of mass protests for greater democracy, an inquiry into alleged police brutality, and the resignation of the city's pro-Beijing leader, Carrie Lam.
Rep. Kenny Merchant (R-TX) became the fourth Texas Republican in the past two weeks—and the eleventh House Republican this year— to announce his retirement ahead of the 2020 elections, reflecting President Trump’s wizard-like ability to use racism to make Democrats play into his hands. Merchant beat his obscure Democratic opponent by only three percentage points in 2018, but this year there will be a competitive Democratic primary in the district.
R. Kelly has been charged with two counts of child prostitution in Minnesota on top of his similar state and federal charges in Chicago and additional federal charges in Brooklyn.
Gannett and GateHouse Media, two of the country’s largest newspaper publishers, will merge, creating a conglomerate of over 250 daily newspapers, and hundreds more weekly ones. The merger is expected to save hundreds of millions of dollars, but the company will still likely cut jobs. According to the Washington Post, “Employment in the newspaper industry fell about 47 percent between 2008 and 2018, a decline worse than coal mining over roughly the same period.” Can’t figure out how to make a profit? MERGE BABY MERGE!
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| The man who pleaded guilty to sending 16 pipe bombs to prominent Democrats, liberals, and CNN in October 2018 was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Monday. During his sentencing, his attorney said "We believe that the president's rhetoric contributed to Mr. Sayoc’s actions in this offense." Wasn’t the first or last time. |
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| Politics Live from New York Times - Politics, Pacing and Comfort Food Don’t miss The Times’s first revue exploring the 2020 Election hosted by deputy politics editor Rachel Dry. You’ll hear from Times political reporters Astead Herndon and Katie Glueck on this historic field of Democratic candidates — and from experts beyond our Politics desk. Food columnist Melissa Clark and political correspondent Jonathan Martin will dish on deep-fried Twinkies at the Iowa State Fair. Journalist Lindsay Crouse will speak with Olympian and marathoner Alexi Pappas on pacing. $10 ticket for Crooked Media with code 2020 (Savings of $30) |
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| “...All of us have to send a clarion call and behave with the values of tolerance and diversity that should be the hallmark of democracy. We should soundly reject language coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear and hatred or normalizes racist sentiments; leaders who demonize those who don’t look like us, or suggest that other people, including immigrants, threaten our way of life, or refer to other people as sub-human, or imply that America belongs to just one certain type of people… it has no place in our politics and our public life. And it’s time for the overwhelming majority of Americans of goodwill, of every race and faith and political party, to say as much—clearly and unequivocally.” —Barack Obama |
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