Welcome once again to $27 Quotes — a weekly place where you can sit back, relax, enjoy some inspiring quotes and good music, and (most importantly) spend time gazing at a picture or two of foresterbob’s cat Noble Fur.
Once again there were more inspiring quotes this week than I have anywhere near enough time (or space in this diary) to include. Let’s jump in...
For starters, here are a couple of quotes which are way too long to include in their entirety but well worth reading. The first is from an e-mail Beto O’Rourke sent out this week:
I’ve spent the last 24-hours in Mississippi following one of the worst ICE raids in the history of this country.
Here’s what I saw...
~ Beto O'Rourke
It’s a very powerful e-mail. And at the end, he makes a fund appeal — not for himself, but for the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance. If you didn’t receive the e-mail yourself, you can read the full text here.
I also received an e-mail from Elizabeth Warren which begins:
After years of failure, it’s finally time for Washington to fully recognize its historic and ongoing trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations...
…
That’s why I’ve teamed up with Representative Deb Haaland, one of the first Native American women to serve in Congress, on a proposal called the Honoring Promises to Native Nations Act. And it’s why I've put forward a set of additional ideas to uphold the federal government's trust and treaty obligations with Tribal Nations and to empower Native communities...
You can read the full text of her e-mail here. That will give you a lot of the details of the proposal they’re putting forward. (And if you’d like to learn even more, you should read Warren’s article, “Honoring and Empowering Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples”, as well as this very good Deb Haaland article published in Indian Country Today.
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Next, here’s tonight’s title quote:
Donald Trump believes climate change is a hoax. Donald Trump is an idiot.
All over the world the scientists who study climate have determined almost unanimously that not only is climate change real but that it is already causing devastating problems in our country and around the world. You all know that
And what the scientists tell us is that if we do not get our act together within the next twelve years -- which is not a long period of time -- that there will be irreparable harm done to our planet and our country.
And for the sake of these kids, and their kids, and their grandchildren, we have a moral responsibility to make sure that we leave them a planet that is healthy and that is habitable.
That means we need to have the courage to take on the greed of the fossil fuel industry. So we have got to tell them that their short term profits are not more important than the future of humanity.
~ Bernie Sanders
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July 2019 was the hottest recorded month ever. The four hottest Julys before that:
- July 2018
- July 2017
- July 2016
- July 2015
Anyone who does not understand the urgency of the climate crisis and plans to respond accordingly needs to get out of politics right now.
~ Bernie Sanders
Sanders is, of course, not alone in speaking out on that subject. Here’s a recent quote from someone else who’s been speaking out on that strongly and consistently:
We must be bold in our commitment to a clean energy future. And that means it needs to be the end of the line for dirty, dangerous pipelines.
~ Jay Inslee
Where Do I Sign?
On Tuesday, the land and water protection group Bold Nebraska announced that Elizabeth Warren had become the first Democratic candidate to take the “NoKXL Pledge.” That pledge commits signatories to reversing Trump’s approval for Keystone XL and stopping the project entirely on “Day One” in office. Environmental organizations, tribes, ranchers, farmers, and other activist groups have all expressed support for the effort.
Jay Inslee, who has devoted his entire campaign to tackling climate change, also tweeted his support. “The Keystone XL pipeline is a disaster waiting to happen. Where do I sign?” the candidate asked shortly after Warren’s support was confirmed.
That’s from a story at ThinkProgress. An update on the story notes that Bernie Sanders became the third signer soon after, and that it’s expected more of the 2020 candidates will sign in the days ahead.)
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Jay Inslee is very good on climate change, but it’s important to remember he’s very good on other issues as well:
Gov. Jay Inslee today issued a strong rebuke against the Trump administration’s final adoption of a “public charge” rule that could disqualify immigrants who use or seek certain public benefits from obtaining or renewing a green card or visa.
“We are witnessing an unprecedented escalation of animus against our nation’s immigrant families. This rule may score the president political points with the most extreme voices in his party, but it could be devastating to millions of hard-working immigrants, including those who already have visas, or who are U.S.-born.
“Our nation’s economy – and Donald Trump’s own businesses - rely on the labor of immigrant workers. Our communities are strengthened and enriched by the diversity of experiences and cultures of our immigrant families. And our collective ability to thrive is horrifically diminished by this latest xenophobic effort to sow confusion and fear throughout our immigrant communities.
“This action flies in the face of everything our nation stands for. Instead of aiding those seeking opportunity and working to provide their children a better life, this sends people into the shadows and deeper into poverty. We will continue pursuing every possible option for fighting this rule.”
~ Jay Inslee
Donald Trump is a Lying Bigot
Here’s the short version:
Mr. Trump is a lying bigot.
~ Bernie Sanders
Here’s the longer version:
The reasons for weaponizing division are not mysterious. Racial fear prevents Americans from building community with one another — and community is the lifeblood of a functioning democratic society. Throughout our history, racist language has been used to turn American against American in order to benefit the wealthy elite. Every time Mr. Trump attacks refugees is a time that could be spent discussing the president’s unwillingness to raise the federal minimum wage for up to 33 million Americans. Every racist attack on four members of Congress is a moment he doesn’t have to address why his choice for labor secretary has spent his career defending Wall Street banks and Walmart at the expense of workers. When he is launching attacks on the free press, he isn’t talking about why his Environmental Protection Agency just refused to ban a pesticide linked to brain damage in children.
His efforts to pit religious minorities against one another stem from the same playbook. If working Americans are too busy fighting with one another, we will never address the very real and deep problems our country faces — from climate change to soaring inequality to lack of quality affordable health care.
The only way to push back is to be unequivocal about our values. It is not enough to condemn Mr. Trump’s racism. We must affirmatively confront racist policies — whether the caging of immigrant children at the border or the banning of Muslim immigrants or the allowing of segregation in public housing. It is not enough to condemn the corruption and self-dealing of this administration. We must support policies that unmistakably improve working people’s lives, including by strengthening collective bargaining, raising the minimum wage and pursuing a universal jobs guarantee.
~ Ilhan Omar
(Well, that’s an excerpt from the longer version. I recommend reading the full editorial which that quote comes from, which Ilhan Omar wrote for the NY Times back in late July: It Is Not Enough to Condemn Trump’s Racism.)
Go Back Where You Came From
Oops, no — I Meant to Say “Stay Home!”
A major story this past week was Trump telling Benjamin Netanyahu not to let members of congress Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar visit Israel and Netanyahu agreeing to deny them entry.
Members of congress are frequently asked to visit Israel to “see things for ourselves.”
But Netanyahu choosing to ban the only 2 Muslim women in Congress from entering tells the US that only *some* Americans are welcome to Israel, not all.
Trump is exporting his bigotry and making matters worse.
~ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
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To Prime Minister Netanyahu:
I'm not sure you will see this as a loss, but I just want to say that your denial of entry and free speech to my U.S. Congresswomen, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, is also a welcome sign that I never have to enter any country or place under your authority.
In the 1980s when you were Israel's representative to the United Nations, I once sat at your New York dinner table, and you were a conversational bully to your guests then, just as you are a bully to these two elected women leaders now.
I know that Donald Trump, the accidental occupant of the White House, is drawn to successful bullies, from Russia to Saudi Arabia, but I hoped that as the leader of a nation dedicated to democracy and free speech, you would support the same rights for two elected leaders from my country.
If you and Trump continue to imitate each other, you will eventually be alone together at the table. I could wish both of you no greater punishment than that.
~ Gloria Steinem
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Those attacking Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar for their stance on Israel are in denial. Israel is occupying Palestinian land. No spinning or propagandizing or mythologizing or rationalizing is going to change that ugly fact.
~ Geraldo Rivera
Anti-Semitism is not some abstract idea to me. It is very personal. It destroyed a good part of my family. I absolutely reject Trump's disgusting efforts to exploit fear of anti-Semitism to attack my colleagues.
~ Bernie Sanders
… The idea that a member of the United States congress cannot visit a nation which, by the way, we support to the tune of billions and billions of dollars is clearly an outrage. And if Israel doesn't want members of the United States congress to visit their country to get a first-hand look at what's going on -- and I've been there many many times — but if he doesn't want members to visit, maybe he can respectfully decline the billions of dollars that we give to Israel.
~ Bernie Sanders
Where on Earth Does All The Money Go?
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In the last three decades the top 1% increased its net worth by $21 trillion.
The bottom 50% of Americans lost $900 billion.
We should be treating our inequality crisis as an emergency—because it is one.
~ Bernie Sanders
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Notice how whenever we pursue large spending increases and tax cuts for corporations, contractors and the connected, it’s treated as business as usual.
But the moment we consider investing similar amounts of money in working class people (for example, tuition-free college) they cry out it’s “unrealistic.”
~ Ilhan Omar
Every dollar we spend on endless wars is a missed opportunity to invest in jobs, housing, education and green technology.
~ Ilhan Omar
The reason we need Medicare for All boils down to this:
The point of a health care system should be to keep people alive and healthy—not to make billions of dollars in profits for greedy health insurance companies.
~ Bernie Sanders
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For the cost of one military aircraft carrier we could end homelessness [in the USA].
~ Ayanna Pressley
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- $70,000 a minute.
- $4 million per hour.
- $100 million per day.
That's how much the Walton family, the richest family in the world, made last year.
I say to the Walton family: No more excuses. Pay your workers a living wage—at least $15 an hour.
~ Bernie Sanders
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The reason working people are struggling is not because of immigrants, like Trump wants people to believe.
It is because Trump and his billionaire friends have rigged our economy to ensure the rich get richer and everyone else gets poorer.
~ Bernie Sanders
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Our national crisis of faith in government boils down to this simple fact: people don’t trust their government to do the right thing because they think it works for the rich and powerful, not for the American people. And here’s the kicker: They’re right.
We need to stop self-dealing public officials and padlock the revolving door between big business and government. That’s why I’ve introduced the most ambitious anti-corruption legislation since Watergate. These reforms will help us build a country and a government worth fighting for.
~ Elizabeth Warren
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Some say we can't afford tuition-free public college.
Let me get this straight: 40 years ago, in an economy with half the income per person, some of the best public schools were essentially free.
But guaranteeing college for all is so "radical" that we can't afford it today?
~ Bernie Sanders
Yikes! Running way late, as usual. There were quite a few more quotes I’d hoped to include tonight, but those will have to wait for some other time.
But let me at least squeeze in this one last quote (from Bernie Sanders):
We must not be about tearing small children away from their families. In 2002, I voted against creation of DHS and the establishment of ICE. That was the right vote.
What our cruel and broken immigration system needs is comprehensive reform.