Happy Memorial day everyone! The day when we celebrate our brave fighting folk, and once again it falls on me to bring the good news on this Holiday Monday morning. So be sure to check out the good news while you are getting ready to barbecue today.
Some are running for city council, others for governor. At least 28 are running for the House of Representatives, including Allred in Texas' 32nd Congressional District. He won a primary run-off last week, defeating another Obama alum, Lillian Salerno. (Four other alums have won their House primaries so far, while one other has lost.)
The groundswell of Democratic candidates with ties to the former president — channeling their former boss's demeanor and politics, tapping into an extensive alumni network for fundraising and volunteers, and levying significant political muscle ahead of the 2018 midterm elections — could fill state and federal legislatures with likeminded allies, many of whom are young or diverse or both.
The GOP have spent the last year and a half trying to erase Obama’s legacy. Now Obama’s Legacy is gearing up to fight back. Despite what the enemy says, the Blue Wave is still coming.
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee on Sunday called on voters to “throw the bums out” of Congress whom he has accused of trying to help President Trump undermine the special counsel’s Russia probe.
“The only thing that makes this possible is a Congress that is complicit,” Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) said on ABC News’s “This Week,” naming several conservative leaders in the Republican Party and accusing “a weak” Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) of refusing to “stand up for the independence of the Justice Department.”
“As long as there’s a majority in Congress that is willing to do this president’s will and as long as we have a deeply unethical president, there’s only one remedy,” Schiff said.
There’s your rallying cry right there folk. THROW THE BUMS OUT.
Stacey Abrams and Conor Lamb are supposed to represent opposite poles of the Trump-era Democratic Party. She is the new progressive heroine — the first black woman to win a major-party nomination for governor, who will need a surge of liberal turnout to win Georgia. He is the new centrist hero — the white former Marine who flipped a Western Pennsylvania congressional district with support from gun-loving, abortion-opposing Trump voters.
But when you spend a little time listening to both Abrams and Lamb, you notice something that doesn’t fit the storyline: They sound a lot alike.
They emphasize the same issues, and talk about them in similar ways. They don’t come across as avatars of some Bernie-vs.-Hillary battle for the party’s soul. They come across as ideological soul mates, both upbeat populists who focus on health care, education, upward mobility and the dignity of work.
During her victory speech in a hotel ballroom last week, Abrams recognized the hotel’s workers. In a television ad, Lamb said it always bothered him that teachers and construction workers didn’t get the public respect that he did as a Marine. When asked what one thing she would like to change about Georgia, Abrams named its failure to expand Medicaid. In his campaign, Lamb took on Paul Ryan for referring to Medicare and Social Security as an entitlement — “as if,” Lamb said, “it’s undeserved.”
For anyone worrying the Dems weren’t gonna get their act together for November, this should put the lie to that fear. We’re getting ready for a fight.
Sen. Jeff Flake on Sunday did not rule out launching a Republican primary challenge to President Trump in 2020 and said he does hope a GOP alternative to Mr. Trump emerges for the next presidential election.
“It’s not in my plans, but I have not ruled anything out,” the Arizona Republican said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I do hope somebody runs on the Republican side other than the president, if nothing else to simply remind Republicans what conservatism is and what Republicans have traditionally stood for.”
Mr. Flake, who is not seeking re-election this year, said if he were to run for president, he likely would run as a Republican.
“I think so. I can’t imagine doing anything else,” he said.
He said more Republicans in Congress need to stand up to Mr. Trump, but acknowledged that doing so could hurt them politically.
And even as we come together our enemies continue to split apart at the seams. Not that I expect Flake to go through with it (or win if he does) but is an amusing notion. Imagine the embarassment if Don the Con becomes the first standing President to lose his own parties nomination?
Finally for our soft touch story. Probably something not a lot of people care about, but its a big deal to me as a gamer.
Back in March, there were reports that the new Battlefield game would feature loot boxes in some capacity. As it turns out, that won't be the case. A representative for Battlefield V publisher Electronic Arts told Kotaku, "I can confirm that there are no loot boxes."
The rumor was that Battlefield V's loot boxes would contain only cosmetic items, but the statement makes it sound like there will be no loot boxes whatsoever. The last big Battlefield game, 2016's Battlefield 1, featured loot boxes, as a lot of games today do.
For those who don’t know, Loot boxes are a thing in modern video games where you buy a randomly generated bundle of in game goodies in a video game. You have no control over what you actually get, and in fact a lot of people have equated it to a form of gambling. So while I have no intention of playing this particular game, I am glad that loot crates are beginning to become unpopular.
And that’s the good news for today. I know things are looking rough now, with all the bullshit with ICE and stuff, but stay strong, we’re gonna get through this one way or another. Stay strong, fight hard, resist.