Lessons of History and Trying To Avoid the Same Mistakes

[Sixties Fan]

[ What was his excuse to not do the debate on Wednesday? Oh, yes.....he does not have to. He is way ahead ]


Former President Donald Trump has already taped an interview with Tucker Carlson that is expected to be used as counterprogramming for the first GOP primary debate Wednesday, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

Trump confirmed Sunday he will not participate in the debate in Milwaukee. Stating that the public already “knows who I am,” Trump wrote on his social media platform: “I will therefore not be doing the debates!”

It is unclear what platform the interview with Carlson will be published on. The sources said that it would be released around the time of the debate Wednesday night.

For weeks, the former president had privately and publicly floated skipping Wednesday’s debate, given his lead in the polls. He is expected to spend Wednesday evening at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.


(full article online)

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/21/politics/trump-interview-tucker-carlson/index.html?link_id=25&can_id=6e84143cce349aec0c9a0b4e4a28c9c6&source=email-trumps-closest-ally-throws-him-under-the-bus-2&email_referrer=email_2023239&email_subject=trumps-abhorrent-second-term-plans-leak

 

[Sixties Fan]

GOP-led Tennessee legislature orders removal of public from gun control hearing

On Tuesday, families close to a Nashville fatal school shooting broke down in tears after Republican leaders ordered state troopers to remove them and others from a legislative hearing room while they waited to testify in favor of gun control measures.

www.pbs.org

 

[Sixties Fan]

The founder and sponsor of a far-right network of secretive, men-only, invitation-only fraternal lodges in the US is a former industrialist who has frequently speculated about his future as a warlord after the collapse of America, a Guardian investigation has found.

Federal and state tax and company filings show that the Society for American Civic Renewal (SACR) and its creator, Charles Haywood, also have financial ties with the far-right Claremont Institute.


SACR’s most recent IRS filing names Haywood as the national organization’s principal officer. Other filings identify three lodges in Idaho – in Boise, Coeur d’Alene and Moscow – and another in Dallas, Texas.

SACR’s public-facing presence is confined to a slick one-page websiteadvertising the organization’s goal as “civilizational renaissance”, and a society “with strong leadership committed to family and culture”.

The site claims SACR is “raising accountable leaders to help build thriving communities of free citizens” who will rebuild “the frontier-conquering spirit of America”. It condemns “those who rule today”, saying that they “corrupt the sinews of America”, “[alienate] men from family, community, and God” and promising to “counter and conquer this poison”.

It also prominently features SACR’s cross-like insignia or “mark” which it describes variously as symbolizing “sword and shield” and the rejection of “Modernist philosophies and heresies”.

Finally, the site advises that SACR membership “is organized primarily around local groups overseen by a national superstructure” and “is by invitation only”, offering an email address for those “interested in learning more”.

US businessman is wannabe âwarlordâ of secretive far-right menâs network

Revealed: Charles Haywood, creator of the Society for American Civic Renewal, has said he might serve as ‘warlord’ at the head of an ‘armed patronage network’

www.theguardian.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

Rumble has been placing ads for the Republican National Committee on pro-Hitler and neo-Nazi videos on its streaming site ahead of the Republican presidential debate tonight. The existence of those virulently antisemitic videos are further confirmation of how the Republicans’ debate partner has trafficked in extreme and toxic content for profit.

The RNC chose Rumble as its livestreaming partner in April, with RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel stating that “people deserve a fair, unbiased platform and that’s exactly what this partnership will provide.” (Conservatives have spent years promoting dubious claims about being unfairly censored by various platforms.)

Rumble was founded as a “free speech” alternative to YouTube. The publicly traded platform, as Media Matters has documented, features violent threats, far-right conspiracy theories, and bigotry against LGBTQ people.

Rumble is also a cesspool of antisemitism and pro-Nazi propaganda.

Europa: The Last Battle is a pro-Hitler and neo-Nazi film. The ADL wrote that it “is an antisemitic, World War II revisionist film released in 2017 that claims Jews deliberately caused both World Wars--and that Hitler was only trying to save Germany from the Jews — as part of a plot to found the nation of Israel. The film is popular with white supremacists and antisemites, who often use it to recruit new individuals into their hateful ideology.”

Rumble hosts the film, despite claiming that it “has strict policies that ban … antisemitism.” Media Matters found advertising for the Republican National Committee on a page for the film:


(full article online)

GOP debate streaming partner Rumble placed RNC ads on numerous pro-Hitler videos

www.mediamatters.org

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]

IN AUGUST 2021, Jeremy Parker had a telehealth appointment through the anti-vaccine group America’s Frontline Doctors. Parker wanted hydroxychloroquine, a drug that he falsely believed could prevent or treat Covid-19, though he didn’t have any symptoms at the time. According to a lawsuit filed by Parker’s family, he spoke with Dr. Medina Culver, who wrote him a prescription. In early February 2022, Parker began having cold-like symptoms and took the drug, and the next morning, he was found dead. The cause, according to his death certificate, was “sudden death in the setting of therapeutic use of hydroxychloroquine.”

Parker’s wife, Jelena Hatfield, and their three children sued AFLDS and Culver a year after his death, claiming that it “was caused by the negligence of Dr. Culver and by falsehoods spread by America’s Frontline Doctors.” The wrongful death lawsuit claims that Culver never performed a physical examination of Parker, then 52 years old, nor did she run any diagnostic tests to ensure that drug would be safe to prescribe.

AFLDS records, provided to The Intercept by an anonymous hacker in September 2021, corroborate parts of Hatfield’s account. Culver is included in the list of 225 AFLDS physicians who prescribed disproven Covid-19 drugs, and consultation notes from Parker’s telehealth appointment confirm that no physical examination took place. While the hacked data — hundreds of thousands of medical and prescription records from AFLDS’s telehealth partners — includes lists of physicians and patients, it doesn’t link physicians to specific patients.

“It’s disappointing that people like America’s Frontline Doctors were able to get away with this for so long,” Hatfield told The Intercept. “How many other people are there out there that have gone through this? That have lost their husband, or their wife, or daughter, or mother? They really pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes.”
-------------
Hydroxychloroquine is commonly used to treat malaria and lupus, but it has “not been shown to be safe and effective for treating or preventing COVID-19,” according to the Food and Drug Administration. Well into the Covid-19 pandemic, AFLDS — as well as former President Donald Trump — falsely promoted the drug as an alternative to vaccines, despite the fact that by mid-2020, the FDA revoked its emergency use authorization and warned against using it to treat Covid-19 “due to risk of heart rhythm problems.” (Parker’s autopsy revealed a small abnormality in his heart, the Washington Post reported.)

In 2021, The Intercept revealed that AFLDS and its network of health care providers charged patients at least $6.7 million — though likely much more — for telehealth appointments. The investigation also showed that Ravkoo, the online pharmacy that filled Parker’s hydroxychloroquine prescription, charged patients at least $8.6 million for similar ineffective Covid-19 drugs. The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis launched an investigation into AFLDS and the telehealth companies it worked with, citing The Intercept’s reporting.


(full article online)

Hacked Records Corroborate Claims in Hydroxychloroquine Wrongful Death Suit

Jeremy Parker died soon after taking the drug, which was prescribed to him by a physician with the anti-vaccine group America’s Frontline Doctors.

theintercept.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

AS STUDENTS ACROSS the country grapple with mass shootings and the looming threat of a decimated planet, Republican lawmakers have trained their energy instead on education.

Over the last two-and-a-half years, state lawmakers introduced 392 so-called educational intimidation bills, according to a report from PEN America published on Wednesday. As of earlier this summer, only four state legislatures had not seen this type of bill, according to the report, which spans legislative activity from January 2021 to June 2023. All but 15 of the bills were sponsored solely by Republicans.

The wave of legislation documented in the report is complementary to but distinct from “educational gag orders” that explicitly ban materials and content, the authors wrote. Educational intimidation bills create “the conditions for censorship indirectly, threatening the freedoms to teach and learn with death by a thousand cuts.” Such efforts, the authors explain, “pressure educators to be more timid in the content they teach, pressure librarians to be more restrictive in the books they make available to students, and pressure students to limit their self-expression.”


(full article online)

Republicans Pushed Almost 400 “Education Intimidation” Bills in Past Two Years

Lawmakers in all but four states introduced bills that indirectly censor what’s taught in schools, according to a new PEN America report.

theintercept.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

[ De Santis, going forward into turning Florida its own country within the USA ]

FLORIDA GOV. RON DESANTIS has been slowly taking over the mechanisms of governance in the state by swapping out officials he doesn’t like — even if they were elected by voters — and replacing them with people who will bend to his will.

Lately, DeSantis has set his sights on the justice system. Earlier this month, he removed an elected prosecutor from office over a political disagreement — the second he has taken out. State Attorney for Orange-Osceola counties Monique Worrell, the governor claimed, hadn’t pursued the charges he wanted. A year earlier, he suspended former Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren, who had said he wouldn’t criminally charge people who sought abortion care under Florida’s latest abortion ban.

Now, Florida is opening a new front in the battle between state politicians and elected stewards of the law, taking the first steps to launch what could become an ideological gerrymandering of the justice system. In Florida, 20 circuit courts serve two main purposes: as regional courts for certain types of cases, as well as appeals courts for the smaller county court systems. DeSantis’s allies are seeking to remake those circuit districts.


(full article online)

Ron DeSantis’s Next Ideological Coup: “Judicial Gerrymander” in Florida

Gov. Ron DeSantis’s allies took steps to remake Florida’s circuit courts — potentially ousting more elected prosecutors and even judges.

theintercept.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/23/west-virginia-university-budget-cuts-humanities/?link_id=6&can_id=6e84143cce349aec0c9a0b4e4a28c9c6&source=email-republicans-view-reagan-trump-as-best-recent-presidents&email_referrer=email_2025848&email_subject=chandrayaan-3-landing-live-updates-aditya-solar-mission-gaganyaan-crewed-mission-in-pipeline

 

[Sixties Fan]

The video in question is an intentionally low-resolution clip created to support yet another Republican hoax, this one claiming that President Joe Biden fell asleep during a memorial for the victims of the Maui fires. You can tell the video was created as a hoax because C-SPAN footage of the supposed moment is not grainy, and shows Biden looking down, coughing, nodding his approval at what the speaker is saying, and looking up again. None of it is out of place with what you’d see at any somber memorial. The video used to boost the hoax had to be low quality because the high-definition version simply disproves it.


Why a Fox News talking head thinks it's inappropriate to bow your head during a memorial is, at best, confusing, but conservatives just finished showing us they don't understand why people pet dogs, so it's clear that nonsociopathic behavior during national tragedies is simply beyond their comprehension.

What does Hannity think appropriate memorial-service behavior looks like? Should Biden have started throwing rolls of paper towels at people? If any of these supposed top-of-their-industry bobbleheads had not had their brains rotted out by defending decades of powerful Republicans’ trashy behavior, Hannity wouldn't be scouring Xitter for new fake smears to peddle.

The memorial event wasn't the only footage that conservative hoaxers tampered with. Another faked video overlays footage of Biden touring fire damage with anti-Biden chants, which supposedly came from fire victims.

One suspects the value of such hoaxes has jumped due to Xitter rewarding conservative posters with cash based on their ability to generate traffic. It surely would have happened either way, though.

Unfortunately, deepfake videos can already be crafted to depict public figures saying anything a hoaxer wants them to say. Now hoaxers are making it impossible to trust footage of a breaking-news event or a supposed gaffe.

This is why it is more important, not less, to hold people in power to account for boosting hoaxes. Creating alternative factual universes is a primary means of capturing and retaining control. And we lose more hope for a better world every time political figures and pundits shrug off their responsibility to separate truth from fiction.

Faux News strikes again: Hannity promotes verifiable Biden hoax

It seems like only yesterday we were being told that hosting the big Republican lie-o-rama on Wednesday night could help Fox News regain some of the credibility it never had to begin with. The fatal flaw in that theory is that it presumes Fox gives a...

www.dailykos.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

[ The Confederate States of America Rise ]

Seven months after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis banned his state’s schools from teaching Advanced Placement African American Studies courses, someone in Arkansas appears to have realized that there was political hay to be made from picking the same fight.

Although students at two Arkansas high schools took a first-year pilot version of the class last year, immediately before the start of the current school year Arkansas state officials decided that it was unacceptable and announced that the state would not recognize credits from the course and would not pay for students to take the AP exam in that subject, as it does for other AP exams. Now, with six schools saying they will teach the course even without state recognition, Arkansas Education Secretary Jacob Oliva demanded that the schools teaching it “submit all materials, including but not limited to the syllabus, textbooks, teacher resources, student resources, rubrics, and training materials,” as well as “your statement of assurance that the teaching of these materials will not violate Arkansas law or rule.”


(full article online)

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders targets teachers over African American Studies

Seven months after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis banned his state’s schools from teaching Advanced Placement African American Studies courses, someone in Arkansas appears to have realized that there was political hay to be made from picking the same fight....

www.dailykos.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

Leo and Layla are cartoon adventurers on the PragerU.com website. Cartoon Layla is a white teenage girl in middle school. Her younger brother, Cartoon Leo, is a white pre-teen boy. In July, the Florida Department of Education approved the use of “PragerU Kids” videos in elementary school classrooms to teach social studies and American history.

“PragerU,” despite the “U” in its name, is not a university. A note on its websiteacknowledges that it is “not an accredited university” and it does not offer degrees. It claims to “provide educational, entertaining, pro-American videos for every age.” It might better be called DeSantis.com. Its goal is to challenge the “Woke agendas infiltrating classrooms, culture, and social media” and “teach classic American values.”

The Southern Poverty Law Centers calls PragerU, established up by rightwing radio talk show host Dennis Prager, “another node on the internet connecting conservative media consumers to the dark corners of the extreme right.” Some of its videos are hosted by extreme right-wingers including Ben Shapiro, a former Breitbart editor who co-founded The Daily Wire, Kanye West influencer and Trump apologist Candice Owens, Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, and Heather MacDonald of the Manhattan Institute. Charles Blow of the New York Times describes Prager as “poison on the racial question, and anything springing from his efforts should, by definition, be considered tainted, particularly when it comes to race.”

“Leo & Layla's History Adventures with Frederick Douglass” is a seven-minute trip back to 1852 where they interview Mr. Douglass, a former slave and African American abolitionist, in what “PragerU” describes as “an honest and accurate look at slavery and a lesson on how to create change.” The video starts with Leo and Layla sitting on a bed watching a mock television news broadcast about “violence and destruction” caused by “angry activists” who want to “abolish the police” and tear down the U.S. system. Leo says they are talking about social justice in his math class and Layla responds that math class is supposed to be about math. Leo asks Layla what abolish means, which leads to a factually flawed history lesson about the 19th century movement to end slavery in the United States. Layla mistypes abolitionist into her magic cell phone which transports the two adventurers into the past where they meet Frederick Douglass. They ask Douglass if he can help them learn about activism and abolishing things. The ensuing conversation between Douglass and the adventurers presents a very distorted history of slavery and the United States.

1. Cartoon Douglass tells Leo and Layla that “slavery has existed everywhere in the world for thousands of years.” But Cartoon Douglass is mistaken. Slavery did not exist in most of Europe after the fall of the Roman empire. Chattel slavery was a modern invention after the Columbian exchange as European countries used Africans to exploit the resources of the Americas. There were bondage systems in other parts of the world, but only in the Americas, including in the United States, were enslaved people considered property and denied humanity. The chattel slavery system was also the only slave system based on race where children inherited the enslaved status of their mother.


(full article online)

How Racist is the Florida Curriculum, Ask Leo and Layla

Leo and Layla are cartoon adventurers on the PragerU.com website. Cartoon Layla is a white teenage girl in middle school. Her younger brother, Cartoon Leo, is a white pre-teen boy. In July, the Florida Department of Education approved the use of...

www.dailykos.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[KissMy]

View attachment 722538

MAGA printed 5 times more US dollars as all other presidents COMBINED! This destroyed the value of all savings workers pay and set inflation in motion to destroy the US dollar & government.

 

[JWBooth]

MAGA printed 5 times more US dollars as all other presidents COMBINED! This destroyed the value of all savings workers pay and set inflation in motion to destroy the US dollar & government.

Since when has money printing, inflation and massive government spending ever been a problem for you lot?

 

[Sixties Fan]

[ Why do these people want to see Republicans die or be arrested? They were not born in the 1800, and know nothing of what the civil war brought to the south. Destruction. ]

As they demonstrated in previous indictments, conservative media have a tired playbook in responding to the former president’s legal woes. They were quick to make use of their talking points:

• On Newsmax, Sarah Palin called for civil war.
• Fox's Laura Ingraham told viewers that Trump's arrest is proof government officials are trying to "take them out."
• Fox’s Sean Hannity said the Department of Justice will target Republicans “until there’s nothing left of the party.”

ERIC BOLLING (HOST): When you see the former president being fingerprinted, having to show up, turn himself in, you see the mugshots of the other seven or eight who've turned themselves already, do you have concern for the country as I do?

SARAH PALIN (GUEST): Absolutely, I mean -- I think those who are conducting this travesty and creating this two-tiered system of justice and I want to ask them, "What the heck? Do you want us to be in Civil War?" because that's what's going to happen. We're not going to keep putting up with this. And Eric, I like that that you suggested that we need to get angry. We do need to rise up and take our country back.

On Newsmax, Sarah Palin calls for civil war

www.mediamatters.org

Trumpists demand political prosecutions and even civil war as Trump is booked in Georgia

www.mediamatters.org

 

[Sixties Fan]

Tennessee moms fighting gun violence score legal victory

On Tuesday, a video showing two women being escorted by state troopers from a Tennessee Capitol hearing room went viral. Their infraction: quietly holding small paper signs that read, “1 KID > ALL ...

www.dailykos.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

• Senator Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin), up for re-election in 2024: "Working families shouldn’t have to worry about politicians in Washington breaking the promise of Social Security and putting it on the chopping block. Social Security is a promise that must be kept."
• Senator Jon Tester (Montana), up for re-election in 2024: Corporate "consolidation is one of the greatest threats to rural America. Less competition means higher prices and fewer choices…As the Senate’s only working farmer, I’ll take on anyone to make sure that Montana’s family farmers and ranchers get a fair chance to compete in the marketplace."
• Senator Sherrod Brown (Ohio), up for re-election in 2024: "Social Security and Medicare are two of the most popular programs in the country -- together they represent a solemn commitment to the American people. While Republicans continue trying to roll back and undermine seniors’ retirement security, I am fighting to protect and strengthen these programs to ensure a dignified retirement for all hard-working Americans."
• Congressman Ruben Gallego (Arizona), running to replace Sen. Kyrsten Sinema in 2014: "We’re pushing Congress to pass my Junk Fee Prevention Act so all companies provide consumers upfront pricing [on] concert tickets, flights, and hotel reservations cost --no surprises…This price gouging impacts millions of Americans each year. It’s unfair and corporate abuse."
• Congresswoman Angie Craig (Minnesota), who won a Trump district by 2 points: "Look at who already has run ads against me: Pharma. Why? Because they know that I’m going to fight and stand up for my constituents…They are trying to make an argument that somehow if Pharma is made to negotiate prices, no other drug will ever be created. And, quite frankly, I just call bullshit on that every single time because I think that’s what my constituents expect me to do."
• Congressman Chris Deluzio (Pennsylvania), who won a swing district with 53% in 2022: "Freedom to me means the right to have a good job, to form and join a union, to have an economy that rewards work, not wealth."
• Congressman Steven Horsford (Nevada), who won a swing district with 52% in 2022: "Republicans want to force Nevadans to work longer for massive giveaways to wealthy corporations. I will work to strengthen Social Security and Medicare, not weaken it."
• Congressman Matt Cartwright (Pennsylvania), who won a swing district with 51% in 2022: "There’s no reason other than greed that a corporation should pay fewer taxes than you. I’m proud to have supported legislation that will make corporations pay their fair share."
• Senate candidate Lucas Kunce (Missouri), running to replace Josh Hawley in 2024: "If you or I got caught taking money out of people’s wallets without telling them, we’d get locked up. It shouldn’t be any different for the crooks running Wall Street banks. In the U.S. Senate, I'll fight to make it happen."
• Robert Trujillo, Candidate for School Board in NM, running for a flippable seat: "I'll always stand with our educators and working people. I want to combat the destructive and fictitious culture war issues that dominate our national politics and school board, and focus on the issues my communities care about."
• Heather Benavidez, Candidate for School Board in NM, running for an open seat: "As the first in my family to attend college, I understand the importance and value of education. I'll work with my colleagues to create a budget that funds programs for our at-risk students and create feasible policies that ensure the safety of students, faculty, and staff."
• Randy Riffle, Candidate for School Board in VA, running against a Moms for Liberty-aligned Republican: "My goal is to be an advocate for the next generation of teachers, parents, and students. I will actively oppose any efforts to divert public school funding toward charter or private schooling. I will work tirelessly to fight for adequate funding for our public schools, advocating for increased resources, updated infrastructure, and modern educational tools."
• Shantell Rock, Candidate for School Board in VA, challenging an incumbent in a vulnerable district: "I believe we need a school board member that reflects the diverse set of lived experiences in our district. A person willing to fight for marginalized students and families. A person willing to stand up and fight against the norm."
• Erika Ogedegbe, Candidate for School Board in VA, running a tough re-election campaign: "I believe in the power of great public schools, not just for individual students but for the strength of our entire community. I will continue to work with others in the community to support creating safe and welcoming schools for our children."

PROGRESSIVE CHANGE
CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE

 

[kaz]

Hitler purged communists, socialists, Jews and Democrats.

Democrats are American, princess, you weren't in Germany to start with

 

[Sixties Fan]

Recently the CEO of Clorox—which also sells Burt’s Bees skincare products, Brita water filters, and other brands—said they have no plans to reduce prices, even as inflation costs fall: “We intend for these price increases to stick.”1

Major corporations continue to price gouge the American people, blaming it on inflation. All the while, they’re seeing record high profits and paying hardly any taxes, if at all. In 2020, 55 of the largest corporations in the U.S. paid $0 in federal taxes, despite having substantial pre-tax income. If those corporations had paid their share of taxes, it would have amounted to $8.5 billion in revenue for the federal government.2

Last year, to fight back against greedy tax dodging corporations, Congress passed a 15% minimum tax on billion dollar corporations. This was done to stop major corporations like Amazon and FedEx from paying nothing in taxes. But lobbyists representing major corporations are fighting to maintain tax loopholes abused by these tax dodging corporations.

Teachers, firefighters, and other workers shouldn’t pay more in taxes than multi-billion dollar corporations. Tell the Biden administration to stay firm against corporate lobbyists who are seeking to maintain these egregious tax loopholes. It’s time for billion dollar corporations to pay their fair share in taxes!


Major lobbying firms that represent corporations such as AT&T, Duke Energy, and Ford Motor Company have put pressure on Congress and the Treasury Department to push for changes that would reduce corporations’ tax liability. Some utility corporations are even threatening to raise prices on consumers.3

When corporations pay their fair share in taxes, we can invest in critical programs for our families and communities, including health care, housing, child care, nutrition, and more. The $8.5 billion that 55 corporations managed to avoid paying in 2020 could have been used to strengthen programs that helped people in the early stages of the pandemic, keeping children and families housed and fed, ensuring access to health care including vaccines and COVID tests, and more.

Every day we see more and more people struggling to get by while human needs programs face drastic cuts. Making corporations pay their fair share of federal taxes isn’t a punishment, it’s their contribution to a society that has given them so much.

Right now, the U.S. Treasury Department is finalizing the rules that will dictate how new corporate taxes will be implemented. Tell the Biden administration: we support their efforts to stand up to corporate lobbyists and ensure billion dollar corporations are paying their fair share in taxes.

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