Good Day, Good News Readers! It’s my privilege to fill in for chloris creator today. Let’s dive right in:
Re: May 8 Elections-One More Thing...
oldhippiedude and others covered the primary results from Tuesday really well and I would like to highlight one item that I thought was one of the best pieces of good news from that day:
For quick background on both Carmichael and the 287(g) program, check out this link from In Justice Today describing Carmichael and his predecessor Sheriff Jim Pendergraph. One chilling Pendergraph quote from this article illustrates how good the news is that Gerry McFadden beat Irwin Carmichael “resoundingly” on Tuesday. “If you don’t have enough evidence to charge someone criminally but you think he’s illegal, we can make him disappear.”
Yes, that’s what he said, “We can make him disappear.” Thankfully, it appears that the people of Mecklenburg County, NC will no longer support fascist local law enforcement. McFadden, a retired Charlotte-Mecklenburg police detective who ran on a promise to end the 287(g) contract with ICE was voted in as the next Sheriff by over 25 points. Carmichael came in a distant third, behind another challenger who had also promised to end the 287(g) contract. That means that more than 75% of primary voters in Mecklenburg County chose candidates who explicitly pledged to end the 287(g). And that is good news!
"I want to change the city to bring unity," McFadden said to his supporters after his victory. "I want to change this city to bring inclusiveness. And we're going to have to talk about race. And someone said, 'Is that the job of the sheriff?' Well, that's the job of this sheriff." New Sheriff in Town: McFadden Ousts Carmichael in Meck County, wsoctv.com, May 9, 2018.
In Durham, NC, the incumbent sheriff and district attorney are also both out, as voters there opted to repudiate racism, too. Sheriff- elect Clarence Birkhead, who defeated the incumbent Mike Andrews by over 30 points, will be the first black sheriff in Durham County.
“Clarence Birkhead unseated incumbent Sheriff Mike Andrews. Birkhead won 69 percent of votes to Andrews's 31 percent, more than reversing the results of a 2014 match between the two. Birkhead will be the county's first black sheriff.” Incumbents Out in Durham Sheriff, District Attorney Races, indyweek.com, May 8, 2018
These local law enforcement races, especially in a state whose last Republican governor signed surgically targeted voter suppression legislation, seem to suggest that there is a groundswell of progressive people power growing at a local level. That’s important good news! Our current situation is, in many ways, the result of a long patient campaign by the radical right to undermine the pillars of our constitutional republic by first winning local elections and moving up through the halls of power from there. To win back our country, we are going to have to win back local seats and these results in NC are very encouraging.
Human Rights Campaign
This week, the Human Rights Campaign kicked off a membership drive “Moms for Equality”. I had a nice brief chat with a friendly young HRC activist on the sidewalk today while walking my dog. It didn’t take long for her to deduce that this mom is already a supporter of HRC! (see photo of my best friend showing off my very amateur clipper work).
I include this as good news in spite of a couple of recent setbacks in the fight for LGBTQ rights because, even in the face of Republican legislatures passing hateful legislation and a generally increased public tolerance for the expression of hate thanks to the current hate regime in power, the reality is that the 79% of Americans who support equal rights for LGBTQ people has remained steady. That’s due in part to campaigns like the HRC, and that is good news.
Women Candidates Rising and Shining
In addition to the great news that women have been stepping up to run in races all over the country in record numbers, today the FEC made an excellent ruling which will help level the playing field and encourage even more women to believe that running for public office is doable.
“The Federal Election Commission has ruled that federal candidates can use campaign funds to pay for child care costs that result from time spent running for office. On Thursday, the FEC ruled unanimously, 4-0, in favor of New York Democratic House candidate Liuba Grechen Shirley..."The Commission concludes that the childcare expenses described in your request, to the extent such expenses are incurred as a direct result of campaign activity, would not exist irrespective of your election campaign, and thus may be permissibly paid with campaign funds," they wrote.” FEC Says That Candidates Can Use Campaign Funds For Childcare, Danielle Kurtzleben, npr.org, May 10, 2018.
House Democrats Release List of Social Media Ads
It’s kind of a wonky list, in large downloadable zip-type files and then each ad has to be clicked on individually (and is in pdf format), but still, it’s all there. Social Media Advertisements, (USHR Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Democrats, May 10, 2018). At the bottom of that .gov page, there is also this: “To read more about these advertisements and Russia’s effort to sow discord online, click here.” — it’s a short recap of the Facebook/social media influence campaign and what Democrats in the House have been trying to do about it. Interesting stuff. The more daylight that is shone on these shenanigans, the closer we will get to holding these people accountable.
Helpful Explainer: House Democrats Release 3500 Russia-Linked Facebook Ads, Issie Lapowsky, Wired, May 10, 2018.
Acting New York AG Fires Shot Across Ajit Pal’s Bow re Net Neutrality
Yes, it was terrible news today that the awful FCC chairman Ajit Pal announced June 11 as the date that he hopes to kill net neutrality. But, the good news is he won’t be allowed to do it without a fight! People were concerned after the Schneiderman fiasco earlier this week, because it was the former NYAG who seemed to be leading the charge to save Net Neutrality, organizing a coalition of 23 states in a lawsuit trying to block the new rules from taking effect. Happily, however, no man is irreplaceable, and the acting NY AG, Barbara Underwood, wasted no time letting the FCC, the people of New York and the country know that she is ready to vigorously continue the fight:
“A free and open internet is critical to New York, and to our democracy. The repeal of net neutrality would allow internet service providers to put their profits before the consumers they serve and control what we see, do, and say online. This office has proudly led the suit to block this illegal rollback of net neutrality – and we certainly won’t stop now. We look forward to making our case in court.” Statement by the Acting Attorney General of New York, May 10, 2018.
States’ attorneys general are not the only people in powerful positions who are in this fight to save net neutrality. On Wednesday, Senate Democrats filed a petition to force a vote on net neutrality and according to Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), that vote could come as early as the middle of next week. The Democrats have the support of every member of their caucus, as well as that of the two Independent Senators (King I-ME, Sanders I-VT) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). With Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) absent due to illness, proponents of net neutrality are very hopeful that they will win the vote 50-49. Fingers crossed!
“The agency failed to listen to the American public and gave short shrift to their deeply held belief that internet openness should remain the law of the land,” FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, said on Thursday. “The FCC is on the wrong side of history, the wrong side of the law, and the wrong side of the American people.” U.S. “net neutrality” rules will end on June 11: FCC, David Shepardson, Reuters, May 10, 2018
That’s a...
Smoothish Segue to the Swamp
Since more than 80% of Americans support Net Neutrality according to a December poll, whatever could have influenced the peoples’ representatives (ha :-/) to support ending it? It was a mystery (not really :-/) until this week, when evidence came to light — later confirmed by at&t — that at least one deep-pocketed corporation with a lot to gain if consumer Net Neutrality protections were to be removed had paid DT “personal lawyer” Michael Cohen a “consultant” fee, for “insights” into Trumpworld. The “consultant” gig ended in December 2017, conveniently the same month that the FCC voted to gut Net Neutrality. What a coincidence!
AT&T Paid Cohen Up to $600,000 for Trump Insights, Source Says, Ben Brody and Bill Allison, Bloomberg, May 10, 2018.
AT&T also happened to have a huge merger in the works (with Time Warner), and boy howdy wouldn’t it be nice to have that go off without a hitch instead of AT&T being hassled by snoopy, anti-trust government types? AT&T thought so! It’s definitely not good news that a corporation knew where to find an obscure LLC, “Essential Consultants”, through which to grease the palm of Michael Cohen for favorable government influence. The good news here is that until these documents came to light, there was little publicly-known evidence of corporate ‘pay to play’ schemes. This news, pushed into the spotlight by Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti, may very well be the tip of a quid pro quo iceberg.
But Wait, There’s More!
Several other entities paid Cohen even larger sums for his “consultation” services, including pharmaceutical giant Novartis, Korea Aerospace, and Columbus Nova (whose “business” seems hard to pin down, though it appears to be an American vehicle for Russian oligarch, Viktor Vekselberg). These companies might understandably want an expert lobbyist to navigate government regulations re pharmaceutical, aerospace and ??? businesses. The trouble is, Cohen is not lawfully registered as a lobbyist, nor is he an expert in any of these fields (well, maybe in the ??? field that interests Columbus Nova/Vekselberg, but who knows?). Looks like he is vulnerable to investigation here for failure to register as a lobbyist, at the very least. The Special Counsel has, of course, been on to Michael Cohen’s grifting for months. DT’s agitation over the Cohen matter has been palpable and likely for very good cause. The “fixer” may very well destroy the entire Trump criminal house of cards.
Oh Rudy! If You Weren’t Such An Ass, You’d Be Pathetic!
America’s (worst) mayor, Rudy Giuliani, has continued to cover himself in glory this week. Wait, did I say “glory”? Oops! I meant shame, of course. Following several days of incredibly damaging appearances on cable tv and even network news (late night hosts say thanks, btw!), Giuliani’s (former) law firm, Greenberg Traurig, issued a statement today making it clear that Rudy no longer works there, on the heels of an almost simultaneously breaking story that Giuliani had “abruptly resigned”. Giuliani had previously stated that he had taken a “leave of absence” from the firm to represent the president.
“Trump didn’t hire Rudy for his skills as a litigator, or as a warrior in the high-speed low-drag social-media world of today. He was hired to break shit and make loud noises, and he’s damn good at it. Unfortunately for Rudy, that probably won’t be enough to save him from the Trump curse.” Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump: This Will End Badly. And Probably Soon. Rick Wilson, The Daily Beast, May 10, 2018.
It appears that Rudy’s star is flaming out. It couldn’t happen to a more despicable guy.
And That Goes Double For You, Erik Prince!
“Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has spoken with Blackwater founder Erik Prince, two sources familiar with the matter tell The Daily Beast. It was not immediately clear what questions Mueller’s team had or what information Prince shared with the special counsel.” Special Counsel Mueller’s Team Questioned Blackwater Founder Erik Prince, Betsy Woodruff, The Daily Beast, May 9, 2018.
Click below for a really good explainer of that vexatious Seychelles trip — the one Erik Prince portrayed, under oath, as a royal invitation that he could not refuse. One tidbit I hadn’t caught before now was this:
“And on Tuesday, Erin Banco reported for NJ Advance Media that there may be yet more to the Seychelles story. According to Banco’s sources, Mueller is digging into not just one but several Seychelles meetings from 2017 that “wealthy and politically-connected individuals” were involved in.” The secret Seychelles meeting Robert Mueller is zeroing in on, explained. Andrew Prokop, Vox News, May 10, 2018.
Oh, And You, Too, Mike Pence
It is interesting that two prominent conservative media types came after Mike Pence today. Speculation is flying that perhaps some people are in the know about possible news concerning Pence and are establishing themselves as having already called out Pence for his lack of character. Whatever the case may be, the elusive VP has made an art of avoiding the spotlight, flying under the radar, living in cognito, destroying from within...and it has worked pretty well! Pence has avoided racking up a record of media criticism. Until today, that is.
“Mike Pence has been claiming that he was just out in the dark,” said Scarborough, ”And that he was just this clueless, hapless Indiana Hoosier that Donald Trump and the rest of the White House said nothing to.… but I guess we have to start asking the question why does Mike Pence want to kill this investigation?” Joe Scarborough, MSNBC, May 10, 2018. via Jenna Amatulli, Huffington Post
“The oleaginous Mike Pence, with his talent for toadyism and appetite for obsequiousness, could, Trump knew, become America’s most repulsive public figure.” Trump is no longer the worst person in government, George F. Will, The Washington Post, May 10, 2018.
Whatever may or may not be about to come out, these stories are (at the very least) a sign that the veil of feigned ignorant innocence has been yanked off our shifty-eyed VP, at long last.
Lightning RoundUp
House Republicans get a tough lesson in running for higher office in the Trump era, Kevin Uhrmacher, The Washington Post, May 9,2018.
Trump lawyer, Michael Cohen, hit with new ethics complaints, Fredreka Schouten, USA Today, May 10, 2018.
Same swamp, different reptiles, Karen Tumulty, The Washington Post, May 10, 2018.
These House Republicans Are Trying To Force the DACA Issue, Jim Newell, Slate, May 10, 2018.
Michael Avenatti drops bombshell on Cohen and Trump associates, Dominique Jackson, Raw Story, May 10, 2018.
Rep. Maxine Waters is not having it: “No, I will not yield ”, R.Eric Thomas, Elle, May 10, 2018
McCain defends giving dossier to Comey: “Anyone who doesn’t like it can go to hell.” Brett Samuels, The Hill, May 9, 2018.
Steve Schmidt: Pence is “a titanic fraud”, via Deadline White House, MSNBC, May 10, 2018.
Also
Confused by all the criss-crossing Trump/Russia threads? Same here! Luckily, a new video released on May 9 makes the tangled web of ties between DT and Russian oligarchs/Putin a little bit easier to understand. From The Moscow Project :
I’m going to borrow from Good News Roundup, who signs off her roundups with this list of helpful links for Good News Readers who want to be more proactive in the effort to save our country from the slide into authoritarianism. I’ve added one to the list (Freeway Blogger).
Donate to ActBlue
Donate to Swing Left
Send postcards to voters in other districts
Consider Freeway Blogging
Sign up to go door to door in your district
Sign up to drive people to the polls
In closing, I’d like to leave you with some food music for thought. We are (nous sommes) the new sum of the interconnected diverse and beautiful parts of our world! There is positive energy rising within the chaos. Let’s embrace it.
Happy Day, Resistors,
Nifty