Welcome once again to a $27-group / Political Revolution open thread — a weekly place where you can sit back, relax, and enjoy some inspiring quotes, good music, and (most importantly) a picture or two of Noble Fur.
As you probably know, Cynthia Nixon came out strongly in support of Markos Moulitsas this week. That will be tonight’s title quote, and I’ll feature both a video of that important moment and a transcript of the quote for those who prefer to read rather than to watch.
But before we get to that, let’s start with a different video. Apologies, I couldn’t find a transcript and didn’t have time to type one, but this is a powerful 2-minute video of California congresswoman Nanette Barragan talking about immigration issues and about her experience as an attorney trying to help a young refugee and his mother in their struggle to gain asylum.
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Here’s a related (non-video) quote from Nanette Barragan:
No child should be afraid to go to school. Betsy DeVos should be ashamed of herself for suggesting that it is acceptable for schools to report their undocumented students.
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And here’s a quote from Cynthia Nixon on this subject. (No, it’s not the title quote. That’s farther down the page.)
Regarding stories of refugee children being separated from their parents by ICE, Cynthia Nixon said:
These stories are heartbreaking. As governor, I will fight to make New York a real sanctuary state.
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Two months ago the New York state senate narrowly failed to pass a Dream Act due to the IDC (the “Independent Democrats Caucus”, a group of allegedly Democratic state senators who routinely help Republicans). As Cynthia Nixon recently pointed out:
This is the same IDC that blocked the passage of the Women’s Equality Act, which would have codified federal abortion protections into state law.
(What she’s talking about is the Women’s Equality Act, which came up for a vote last year in New York and would have guaranteed abortion rights to women in New York if the US Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade.)
On a related note, here’s a quick quote from a current member of the senate who is strongly committed to supporting women’s rights:
President Trump: you are not improving health care when you deny funding to Planned Parenthood and deny millions of women their provider of health care. Stop the attack on women's health.
~ Bernie Sanders
And here’s a quick quote from a prospective member of congress who is strongly committed to supporting women’s rights:
In Congress, I will always protect a woman's right to choose and fight any efforts to defund Planned Parenthood.
~ Katie Porter
Katie Porter is a candidate for congress in California’s 45th district. Here’s a short quote from her campaign website:
Katie Porter will always protect a woman's right to choose and believes that women's health care and birth control shouldn't be a luxury. She will fight any efforts by Republicans to defund Planned Parenthood, restrict access to birth control, or ban the right to choose.
Here’s something else Katie Porter says on her site:
As a Consumer Protection Attorney, I know what it means to fight. I’ve spent nearly twenty years taking on Wall Street banks and powerful financial institutions who cheat middle-class families. Now, I’m running for Congress to hold Donald Trump and the powerful special interests in Washington accountable...
Hmmm. How about a music break. Here’s one of my favorite Kate Porter songs, as sung by Ella Fitzgerald.
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Oops!
Apparently that’s a Cole Porter song, not a Kate Porter song. Who would have guessed they aren’t the same person?
(Although if she had written that song back in 1934 it would make her a bit older than she appears in her campaign photos, so I guess that should have been a tip-off they aren’t the same person ...)
Maybe I’d better get back to some quotes.
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When Trump tells us the economy is "booming," please remember:
- - Over 40% of Americans don't have enough savings to cover a $400 emergency expense.
- - 43% can't afford the basics to live.
- - Over 25% of adults skipped necessary medical care last year because they couldn't afford it.
~ Bernie Sanders
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Our job: Increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour, create up to 15 million good jobs rebuilding America, expand Social Security, enact Medicare for all, and make it easier for workers to join unions.
~ Bernie Sanders
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At a time when banks have never been more profitable, Congress voted yesterday to give them another massive gift in the form of deregulation. Our job is to break up the largest financial institutions in the country, not reward their greed and recklessness.
~ Bernie Sanders
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Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' wealth increases by $275 million every single day. Meanwhile, Amazon workers have to rely on food stamps and public assistance just to survive. This is what a rigged economy is all about.
~ Bernie Sanders
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In case some of you aren’t familiar with Bernie Sanders (he’s currently a senator from the northeastern state of Vermont) here’s some background information on him from a neighboring state’s recent newspaper editorial:
After eight years as mayor of Burlington, 16 years as Vermont’s sole representative in the U.S. House of Representatives and nearly 12 years as a U.S. senator, Sanders’ outrage is undiminished when it comes to the struggles of working class families and the growing divisions in society between the few who possess extreme wealth and the many who do not. Indeed, his announcement last week that he intends to seek a third six-year term in the Senate was thematically of a piece with all that has come before: “Our struggle to create a government which represents all of us and not just the 1 percent — a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice — must continue,” the 76-year-old senator said.
And, as he did in 2006 and 2012, Sanders intends to seek the Democratic nomination in the primary, respectfully decline it if he wins, and run as an independent in the general election, meanwhile accepting the hearty endorsement of the Vermont Democratic Party. Thus are accommodations made to finesse the senator’s continued insistence on being identified as an independent, though he caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate.
What has changed remarkably, though, is the degree to which people outside Vermont take notice of what an independent “democratic socialist” (that’s small ‘d’, small ‘s’) from a tiny, deep-blue state thinks. When, for example, Sanders released a video last week calling out Amazon and its fabulously rich CEO Jeff Bezos over low wages and exhausting working conditions for employees of its fulfillment centers, the company responded the same day with a defense of its policies and an invitation to Sanders to visit. Sanders in turn accepted the invitation with thanks and added for good measure, “I remain deeply concerned about Amazon, an enormously profitable corporation, paying workers wages that are so low that they are forced to depend on federal programs like Medicaid, food stamps and public housing for survival.”
from a May 27 editorial in the Valley News
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Time, perhaps, for one more quick look at Noble Fur before we get to tonight’s title quote.
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Here’s a video of tonight’s title quote. It’s a 6 minute video, but the title quote appears in the first couple of minutes.
And I’ve provided a transcript of the quote directly below the video. Here’s a quick sneak peak:
“It’s really important for us in 2018 to elect more Democrats, but I think it’s equally important to elect better Democrats.”
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It’s really important for us in 2018 to elect more Democrats, but I think it’s equally important to elect better Democrats.
I think what we saw in the past presidential election is we can’t just give people something to vote against, we really actively have to give people something to vote for.
~ Cynthia Nixon
That’s a pretty clear endorsement of the philosophy expressed by Markos Moulitsas, the founder of a prominent website devoted to the election of more and better Democrats!
Markos Moulitsas is not currently running for elected office as far as I know, but if he does at some point decide to do so those words from Cynthia Nixon could be helpful to him in reaching progressives and winning their support.
As usual I’m running late, so time to post this (and fix whatever typos have slipped through later.)
My good wishes go out to veterans and refugees and other war survivors, and their families, for Memorial Day tomorrow.