Eoin Higgins at Common Dreams writes—'Great Example' of Local Organizing as Maine AFL-CIO Signs Onto #GreenNewDeal:
Maine's Green New Deal legislation is the first to be backed by labor unions.
The Maine AFL-CIO made its support for the state-level bill public on Tuesday.
The union delivered a strong statement allying the organization with the environmentally friendly policy from executive director Matt Schlobohm.
Schlobohm said that the Green New Deal could answer the "twin crises" of climate change and inequality.
"Climate change and inequality pose dire threats to working people, to all that we love about Maine, and to our democracy," said Schlobohm. "The work of moving towards a renewable economy must be rooted in workers's rights and economic and social justice."
The announcement of the union support came from freshman Democratic state Rep. Chloe Maxmin, who introduced the bill last month.
In a tweet celebrating the on-boarding of union support for the policy, Maxmin shared a photo of the team behind the news.
"[A coalition] of labor, farmers, students, teachers, small business owners, and legislators came together today to roll it out," said Maxmin.
The state level union endorsement comes just over a month after the national AFL-CIO called the national Green New Deal policy "not achievable or realistic." [...]
TOP COMMENTS • HIGH IMPACT STORIES
QUOTATION
“There is not one Indian in the whole of this country who does not cringe in anguish and frustration because of these textbooks. There is not one Indian child who has not come home in shame and tears.” ~~Rupert Costo, Textbooks and the American Indian, 1970
TWEET OF THE DAY
BLAST FROM THE PAST
On this date at Daily Kos in 2011—Torture Tapes Destruction and "Looking Backward":
Another document release sheds some light into the the 2005 destruction of tapes showing the torture of two detainees.
Porter J. Goss, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, in 2005 approved of the decision by one of his top aides to destroy dozens of videotapes documenting the brutal interrogation of two detainees, according to an internal C.I.A. document released Thursday.
Shortly after the tapes were destroyed at the order of Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., then the head of the C.I.A.’s clandestine service, Mr. Goss told Mr. Rodriguez that he "agreed" with the decision, according to the document. He even joked after Mr. Rodriguez offered to "take the heat" for destroying the tapes.
"PG laughed and said that actually, it would be he, PG, who would take the heat," according to one document, an internal C.I.A. e-mail message.
According to current and former intelligence officials, Mr. Goss did not approve the destruction before it happened, and was displeased that Mr. Rodriguez did not consult him or the C.I.A.’s top lawyer before giving the order for the tapes to be destroyed.
Now, apparently, according to CIA officials, "Mr. Rodriguez did not consult him or the C.I.A.'s top lawyer [or Goss] before giving the order for the tapes to be destroyed."
The destruction of these tapes, Glenn points out, was called obstruction of justice by the 9/11 Commission. An obstruction that covered up the illegal torture of these two detainees. And, an obstruction that is apparently one of those things that the current administration isn't interested in looking back at.
On
today’s Kagro in the Morning show:
Notre Dame burns, and Trump still wants to be a fireman when he grows up. Does Barr have Russia ties? More relevant: he’s got a history of misleading Congress about confidential reports that he “summarizes.” Watergate’s grand jury foreman speaks.