2016 Democratic Thread

[StrangeSox]

Depending on what the criteria for "mass shooting" is, Sunday's horrific attack was not the worst mass shooting in US history. The LGBT community has suffered violent attacks for decades , but other groups have unfortunately suffered even worse massacres.

 

What Was the Colfax Massacre?

In Colfax, La., on Easter Sunday 1873, a mob of white insurgents, including ex-Confederate and Union soldiers, led an assault on the Grant Parish Courthouse, the center of civic life in the community, which was occupied and surrounded — and defended — by black citizens determined to safeguard the results of the state’s most recent election. They, too, were armed, but they did not have the ammunition to outlast their foes, who, outflanking them, proceeded to mow down dozens of the courthouse’s black defenders, even when they surrendered their weapons. The legal ramifications were as horrifying as the violence — and certainly more enduring; in an altogether different kind of massacre, United States v. Cruikshank (1876), the U.S. Supreme Court tossed prosecutors’ charges against the killers in favor of severely limiting the federal government’s role in protecting the emancipated from racial targeting, especially at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan.

 

Colorado militia massacre Cheyenne at Sand Creek

Fearing that U.S. troops might mistakenly identify his band of peaceful Cheyenne as having participated in the attacks on settlers, Chief Black Kettle traveled to Denver under escort of U.S. Army Major Edward Wynkoop to affirm his non-hostile intentions. Chivington and the territorial governor of Colorado clearly did not want peace, yet they could not openly reject the overtures of Black Kettle. Believing that he had a promise of safety if he brought his people into Fort Lyon, Black Kettle lead the band of Cheyenne to a spot designated by Major Wynkoop near the fort along a small stream known as Sand Creek. The tribe flew an American flag and a white flag at the camp to indicate their alliance with the U.S. and alert all to their generally peaceful intentions.

 

Determined to have his glorious battle, Chivington refused to recognize that Black Kettle’s settlement was peaceful. At daybreak, Chivington and his 700 volunteers, many of them drunk, attacked the sleeping village at Sand Creek. Most of the Cheyenne men were away hunting, so the women, children, and elders were largely defenseless. In the frenzied slaughter that followed, Chivington and his men killed more than 100 women and children and 28 men. Black Kettle escaped the attack. The soldiers scalped and mutilated the corpses, hacking off body parts that included male and female genitals, and then returned to Denver where they displayed the scalps to approving crowds during intermission at a downtown theatre.

 

 

[bmags]

Since wild consipiracy theories are completely reasonable to tie to clinton without evidence, if I were a dem operative I would float that paul manaforts ties to Putin allies shows that Trump may have coordinated hacking of dem server to steal oppo research for Trump.

 

[StrangeSox]

I prefer to focus on all of the Republican Senators refusing to comment on Trump's speech from yesterday, even going as far as pretending the reporters aren't even there.

 

or Trump just openly accusing the President of treason

 

In an emailed response to questions Tuesday, Trump said the president "claims to know our enemy, and yet he continues to prioritize our enemy over our allies, and for that matter, the American people."

 

He added that "when I am president, it will always be America first."

Edited June 14, 2016 by StrangeSox

[bmags]

This is so embarrassing. Everyone that votes for Trump should be forced to get an identification card and put on a national registry.

[StrangeSox]

Obama's speech today and it's thorough take down of the "he didn't say the magic words!" nonsense we've heard from Republicans for months/years was refreshing. He must have been reading my SoxTalk posts to greg yesterday.

 

http://time.com/4368733/barack-obama-donal...lando-shooting/

And let me make a final point. For a while now, the main contribution of some of my friends on the other side of the aisle have made in the fight against ISIL is to criticize the administration and me for not using the phrase “radical Islam.” That’s the key, they tell us. We cannot beat ISIL unless we call them radical Islamists.

 

What exactly would using this label would accomplish? What exactly would it change? Would it make ISIL less committed to try to kill Americans? Would it bring in more allies? Is there a military strategy that is served by this?

 

The answer is none of the above. Calling a threat by a different name does not make it go away. This is a political distraction.

 

Since before I was president, I have been clear about how extremist groups have perverted Islam to justify terrorism. As president, I have called on our Muslim friends and allies at home and around the world to work with us to reject this twisted interpretation of one of the world’s great religions.

 

There has not been a moment in my 7.5 years as president where we have not able to pursue a strategy because we didn’t use the label “radical Islam.” Not once has an adviser of mine said, “Man, if we use that phrase, we are going to turn this whole thing around,” not once.

 

So someone seriously thinks that we don’t know who we are fighting?

 

If there is anyone out there who thinks we are confused about who our enemies are — that would come as a surprise to the thousands of terrorists who we have taken off the battlefield.

 

If the implication is that those of us up here and the thousands of people around the country and around world who are working to defeat ISIL aren’t taking the fight seriously? That would come as a surprise to those who spent these last 7.5 years dismantling Al Qaida in the FATA, for example — including the men and women in uniform who put their lives at risk, and the special forces that I ordered to get bin Laden and are now on the ground in Iraq and in Syria.

 

They know full well who the enemy is. So do the intelligence and law enforcement officers who spend countless hours disrupting plots and protecting all Americans — including politicians who tweet and appears on cable news shows.

 

They know who the nature of the enemy is. So, there is no magic to the phrase “radical Islam.” It is a political talking point. It is not a strategy.

 

And the reason I am careful about how I describe this threat has nothing to do with political correctness and everything to do with actually defeating extremism.

 

Groups like ISIL and Al Qaida want to make this war a war between Islam and America, or between Islam and the West. They want to claim that they are the true leaders of over a billion of Muslims around the world who reject their crazy notions.

 

They want us to validate them by implying that they speak for those billion-plus people, that they speak for Islam. That’s their propaganda, that’s how they recruit. And if we fall into the trap of painting all Muslims as a broad brush, and imply that we are at war with the entire religion, then we are doing the terrorists’ work for them.

 

Now, up until this point, this argument of labels has mostly just been partisan rhetoric, and sadly, we have all become accustomed to that kind of partisanship, even when it involves the fight against these extremist groups.

 

That kind of yapping has not prevented folks across the government from doing their jobs, from sacrificing and working really hard to protect the American people.

 

But we are now seeing how dangerous this kind of mind set and this kind of thinking can be. We are starting to see where this kind of rhetoric and loose talk and sloppiness about who exactly we are fighting, where this can lead us.

 

We now have proposals from the presumptive Republican nominee for president of the United States to bar all Muslims from immigrating into America. And you hear language that singles out immigrants and suggests entire religious communities are complacent in violence.

 

Where does this stop? The Orlando killer, one of the San Bernardino killers, the Fort Hood killer — they were all U.S. citizens. Are we going to start treating all Muslim-Americans differently? Are we going to start subjecting them to special surveillance? Are we going to start discriminate them, because of their faith?

 

We heard these suggestions during the course of this campaign. Do Republican officials actually agree with this?

 

Because that’s not the America we want. It does not reflect our Democratic ideals. It won’t make us more safe, it will make us less safe, fueling ISIL’s notion that the West hates Muslims, making Muslims in this country and around the world feel like, no matter what they do, they’re going to be under suspicion and under attack.

 

It makes Muslim-Americans feel like their government is betraying them. It betrays the very values America stands for.

 

We have gone through moments in our history before when we acted out of fear, and we came to regret it. We have seen our government mistreat our fellow citizens, and it has been a shameful part of our history.

 

This is a country founded on basic freedoms, including freedom of religion. We don’t have religious tests here. Our founders, our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, are clear about that.

 

And if we ever abandon those values, we would not only make it a lot easier to radicalize people here and around the world, but we would have betrayed the very things we are trying to protect.

 

The pluralism and the openness, our rule of law, our civil liberties, the very things that make this country great. The very things that make us exceptional. And then the terrorists would have won and we cannot let that happen. I will not let that happen.

 

You know, two weeks ago I was at the commencement ceremony of the Air Force Academy and it could not have been more inspiring to see these young people stepping up dedicated to serve and protect this country.

 

And part of what was inspiring was the incredible diversities of these cadets. We saw cadets who are straight applauding classmates who were openly gay.

 

We saw cadets born here in America applauding classmates who are immigrants and love this country so much they decided they wanted to be part of our armed forces.

 

We saw cadets and families of all religions applaud cadets who are proud, patriotic Muslim-Americans serving their country in uniform ready to lay their lives on the line to protect you and to protect me.

 

We saw male cadets applauding for female classmates who can now serve in combat positions. That’s the American military. That’s America. One team. One nation.

 

Those are the values that ISIL is trying to destroy and we should not help them do it. Our diversity and our respect for one another, our drawing on the talents of everybody in this country, our making sure that we are treating everybody fairly, that we are not judging people on the basis of what faith they are or what race they are or what ethnicity they are or what their sexual orientation is.

 

That’s what makes this country great. That’s the spirit we see in Orlando. That’s the unity and resolve that will allow us to defeat ISIL. That’s what will preserve our values and our ideals that define us as Americans. That’s how we are going to defend this nation and that’s how we are going to defend our way of life. Thank you very much.

Edited June 14, 2016 by StrangeSox

[bmags]

His Goldberg Foreign Policy article was the most interesting and reassuring thing I've ever read. While he was not able to quiet the media factions that push toward war and action at every step, there is a considerable group now that will be used in future administrations.

[StrangeSox]

Hopefully they'll influence Clinton's. Her hawkishness is one of my major reservations about her.

 

eta: watch Obama's speech to get the full impact, he was in one of his "legitimately pissed off and disgusted" modes

 

Edited June 14, 2016 by StrangeSox

[southsider2k5]

Obama's speech today and it's thorough take down of the "he didn't say the magic words!" nonsense we've heard from Republicans for months/years was refreshing. He must have been reading my SoxTalk posts to greg yesterday.

 

http://time.com/4368733/barack-obama-donal...lando-shooting/

 

I have actually enjoyed listening to Obama a lot more since he got to quit being a politician. Honestly that is my favorite part of any Presidency. I loved GW in the same time period too. He can speak his mind instead of worrying about polls and re-elections.

[StrangeSox]

Anderson Cooper calls out Pam Bondi's superficial pandering to the LGBT community in the wake of the Orlando shootings after a history of persecuting LGBT and opposing marriage equality.

 

 

Plenty of other conservatives doing the same thing despite their less-than-happy responses to Obergefell less than a year ago.

[bmags]

Hopefully they'll influence Clinton's. Her hawkishness is one of my major reservations about her.

 

eta: watch Obama's speech to get the full impact, he was in one of his "legitimately pissed off and disgusted" modes

 

 

I can't tell if she will be more aggressive still, but I can tell that she puts more emphasis on the Middle East going forward than Obama who tried to move more resources to Asia/Americas.

[StrangeSox]

I prefer to focus on all of the Republican Senators refusing to comment on Trump's speech from yesterday, even going as far as pretending the reporters aren't even there.

 

or Trump just openly accusing the President of treason

 

The ones that are commenting aren't offering support of the speech, either.

 

Luke Russert ✔ @LukeRussert

Ryan declines to answer question on Trump's assertion that Obama is complicit w Islamic terrorism. Says he won't comment on day to day Trump

1:48 PM - 14 Jun 2016

 

Michelle Dubert @michelledubert

GOP Sen Flake of AZ hopes Trump will change his policy positions,"but I'm not optimistic."

12:42 PM - 14 Jun 2016

 

Benjy Sarlin ✔ @BenjySarlin

Sen Corker on Trump: "It wasn't the type of speech one would expect" from potential president. Says he's "discouraged" by the campaign.

12:15 PM - 14 Jun 2016

 

Benjy Sarlin ✔ @BenjySarlin

Ask Sen Tim Scott (R-SC) how he feels about Donald Trump's Islam speech. He stops, pauses. "You know...mmm." Then walks onto senate floor.

10:27 AM - 14 Jun 2016

 

Seung Min Kim ✔ @seungminkim

What a coincidence that so many Senate Republicans say they haven't seen Trump's post-Orlando remarks

10:26 AM - 14 Jun 2016

 

Niels Lesniewski @nielslesniewski

Republican Sen. Susan CollIns calls Trump's comments in response to Orlando "inappropriate"

 

Erica Werner @ericawerner

"We don't have a nominee" Sen Alexander says in response to question on Trump. Informed he's the presumptive nominee: "That's what you say."

10:25 AM - 14 Jun 2016

 

Jamie Dupree ✔ @jamiedupree

Asked about Trump by reporters, Ted Cruz says: "I have no interest in providing play-by-play, color commentary"

2:04 PM - 14 Jun 2016

Edited June 14, 2016 by StrangeSox

[StrangeSox]

Anderson Cooper calls out Pam Bondi's superficial pandering to the LGBT community in the wake of the Orlando shootings after a history of persecuting LGBT and opposing marriage equality.

 

 

Plenty of other conservatives doing the same thing despite their less-than-happy responses to Obergefell less than a year ago.

 

or they're trying to take this absurd stance

 

Daniel Newhauser

‏@dnewhauser

Asked ]RNC] Rules Chair [Republican Senator Jeffery Beauregard] Sessions if Orlando shooting changes calculation on LGBT Maloney amdmt. He argued Pulse was not a gay club.

RETWEETS

96

 

Daniel Newhauser @dnewhauser

“It was a young person’s nightclub, I’m told. And there were some [LGBT ppl] there, but it was mostly Latinos”

[bmags]

Jeff Sessions, so dumb about literally every topic.

[StrangeSox]

The man so racist that he couldn't get confirmed by the Senate for a judicial appointment and he's named after two slave-holding treasonous scum!

 

He's rumored to be on Trump's short list for VP.

[StrangeSox]

Anderson Cooper calls out Pam Bondi's superficial pandering to the LGBT community in the wake of the Orlando shootings after a history of persecuting LGBT and opposing marriage equality.

 

 

Plenty of other conservatives doing the same thing despite their less-than-happy responses to Obergefell less than a year ago.

 

 

Oh and just a couple of weeks ago, the House GOP opened a session with a lovely "homosexuals worthy of death" reading from the Bible, and then voted to kill a bill that had an amendment to protect LGBT rights.

Edited June 14, 2016 by StrangeSox

[Big Hurtin]

Russia apparently hacked into the DNC.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politic...trump/85867116/

 

[StrangeSox]

Trump doesn't believe Muslims ever assimilate

 

https://mobile.twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/...929105209987073

[StrangeSox]

Trump doubling-down on OBAMA SECRET MUSLIM ISIS SYMPATHIZER! today

 

Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump

An: Media fell all over themselves criticizing what DonaldTrump "may have insinuated about @POTUS." But he's right: http://bit.ly/1tpAFlM

 

good lord what a dumpster fire

[bmags]

What does that link to, i'm scared to click.

[GoSox05]

What does that link to, i'm scared to click.

 

An awesome Breitbart article about how Clinton knows that Obama is secretly supporting ISIS.

 

Make sure to check out the comment section for some really good political discussion.

[RockRaines]

@corbinreiff

 

Check it out

[StrangeSox]

Ss2k5 please explain how Republican presidential nominee donald trump claiming that current president Obama is a Kenyan Muslim foreign agent is actually the fault of the Democrats, I'm lost on this one!

[southsider2k5]

Ss2k5 please explain how Republican presidential nominee donald trump claiming that current president Obama is a Kenyan Muslim foreign agent is actually the fault of the Democrats, I'm lost on this one!

 

Obama is the one claiming that labeling leads to radicalization. Ask him.

[StrangeSox]

I think you need to reread or watch his speech because you misunderstood his message.

 

Calling out radical ideologies as radical is not bad, and it's not something Obama said he's against. There's a gigantic excluded middle between "don't claim all Muslims are suspect and have knowledge of terrorist plots" and "don't criticize any political ideology ever."

 

Edit I guess the better question here is whether you agree with trump and other Republicans about the need to shout radical Islam frequently, or if you agree with Obama that that's a useless political talking point and this is just one of your harder flails in trying to prove that anyone but conservatives are actually responsible for the toxic ideology and their preferred candidates like trump and Cruz?

Edited June 15, 2016 by StrangeSox

[StrangeSox]

Russia apparently hacked into the DNC.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politic...trump/85867116/

 

Looks like somebody sent the Trump oppo file to Gawker:

 

http://gawker.com/this-looks-like-the-dncs...file-1782040426