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Today we begin with Hillary’s response to the horrible tragedy yesterday in Orlando.
I join Americans in praying for the victims of the attack in Orlando, their families and the first responders who did everything they could to save lives.
This was an act of terror. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies are hard at work, and we will learn more in the hours and days ahead. For now, we can say for certain that we need to redouble our efforts to defend our country from threats at home and abroad. That means defeating international terror groups, working with allies and partners to go after them wherever they are, countering their attempts to recruit people here and everywhere, and hardening our defenses at home. It also means refusing to be intimidated and staying true to our values.
This was also an act of hate. The gunman attacked an LGBT nightclub during Pride Month. To the LGBT community: please know that you have millions of allies across our country. I am one of them. We will keep fighting for your right to live freely, openly and without fear. Hate has absolutely no place in America.
Finally, we need to keep guns like the ones used last night out of the hands of terrorists or other violent criminals. This is the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the United States and it reminds us once more that weapons of war have no place on our streets.
This is a time to stand together and resolve to do everything we can to defend our communities and country.
This was such an unthinkable event that affected so many lives that it is very difficult to find the right words to discuss it. Unfortunately, with the 2016 Presidential running at full speed, it took only hours for the event to become politicized with Donald Trump’s morning tweets.
St Louis Post-Dispatch offers a contrast in the handling of the tragedy.
For Donald Trump, Sunday's mass shooting in Florida was a moment to redouble his call for tougher action against terrorism and to take credit for "being right" about the threat. For Hillary Clinton, it was a time to choose words carefully and reiterate her call for keeping "weapons of war" off America's streets.
The responses of Trump and Clinton to the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history were a study in contrasts for the two presumptive presidential nominees — one of whom will soon be leading a country fearful of terrorism, gun violence and the often merciless intersection of the two.
Josh Marshall at TPM gives his views on whether Trump is helped by politically by the response.
As we've already seen today, this attack brings more than national security to the fore. It brings temperament just as much. That's a problem for Trump because while polls suggest the public sees the two as comparable on 'toughness' and leadership, it sees a huge gap between the two candidates on temperament.
Climates of fear and threat do frequently, though not always, buoy parties of the right. This pattern is not unique to the United States. But we know it from the way it defined American politics in the years after the 9/11 attacks. Another Republican candidate might be buoyed by the climate of threat and fear inevitably generated by this kind of horror. But to assume that will happen in this case is, I think, to misjudge both candidates.
Trump's tweets this morning were slashing but they were also preening, self-congratulatory and manic. There are ways to effectively politicize a tragedy. Trump appears psychologically incapable of doing so. He does sound 'tough' at some level. But far more he seems unsteady, erratic and self-obsessed.
For some Republicans, the event highlighted just how unsuitable Trump is to have the power of the Presidency and how Clinton is the clear choice.
Lous C. K. is not endorsing either of the Democratic contenders over the other, but he made an illustrative analogy about how Hillary compares to Trump.
For those baffled by the turbulent political climate the nation is experiencing, Louis C.K. explained the candidates and their qualifications with one simple analogy.
“It’s like if you were on a plane and you wanted to choose a pilot,” the “Louie” star said. “You have one person, Hillary, who says, ‘Here’s my license. Here’s all the thousands of flights that I’ve flown. Here’s planes I’ve flown in really difficult situations. I’ve had some good flights and some bad flights, but I’ve been flying for a very long time, and I know exactly how this plane works.’”
… And then Trump says, ‘I’m going to fly so well. You’re not going to believe how good I’m going to fly this plane, and by the way, Hillary never flew a plane in her life.’ ‘She did, and we have pictures.’ ‘No, she never did it.’ It’s insane.”
Floridageorge already did a fantastic job covering news of Clinton’s Friday speech to Planned Parenthood Action Committee in the Saturday HNV. It was such a remarkable and important speech, acting as an opening to her general campaign as presumptive nominee, that I had expected to see quite a bit more analysis a day or two later, but I found only a little. Here is some insightful commentary from Melissa McEwan that I think has not yet been featured here
And the crown jewel in her platform: “Let’s repeal laws like the Hyde Amendment that make it nearly impossible for low-income women, disproportionately women of color, to exercise their full reproductive rights.”
She talked about the intersection of race and poverty with reproductive justice. She mentioned the role of providers in providing compassionate care to survivors of sexual assault. She noted that although Planned Parenthood overwhelmingly serves women, they also make a place for trans men (and genderqueer folks) who often struggle to find reproductive healthcare providers who welcome them.
Hillary’s vision of comprehensive reproductive justice was exactly what I wanted to hear from a presidential candidate — what I have been wanting to hear for a very long time.
I was touched by the reaction of Sheila Moriarty to Hillary’s ground-breaking nomination.
I have felt, in the past and in this election, that our latent sexism and misogyny is on full display in both men and women as Hillary Clinton repeatedly has been held to different standards than her male counterparts. I have cringed at my own sexism as I’ve wished she looked more attractive and dressed younger. As I wished she were more charming.
And then last week happened, and Obama said there is no one more uniquely qualified for this job, and I felt such excitement.
I read that Jake Gyllenhaal made a shout out to Clinton at the Tony awards, which of course rightly heaped accolades this year on the musical Hamilton.
“As Hillary Clinton showed us this week, women can do anything,” Jake said when he arrived on stage.
Politico reports on the new Ad for Hillary for America.
Later today Hillary will be in Cleveland, reportedly giving a speech that has had to be updated to take into account the tragic events in Orlando.
Clinton aides late Sunday were still tailoring her remarks, which she was set to deliver in Cleveland just after noon Monday. Clinton has already started to lay the groundwork for a master argument that Trump is not fit to lead the country, starting with her brutal salvo in San Diego on June 2. Advisers were conscious that Clinton could not give the same campaign speech, ripe with politics, on Monday. But they also were unified in their belief that the moment gave Clinton a justified reason to remind voters what is at stake.
“Secretary Clinton will further address this act of terrorism and hate, and the steps she would take to keep Americans safe, in Cleveland on Monday, and beyond,” a senior campaign aide told TIME.
Bonus Tweets:
Be safe out there, everyone!
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Crossposted at HillaryHQ, an independent, progressive blog committed to the electing Hillary Clinton as the next President of the United States.