How Did Donald Trump Become President? The Truth The Media Dare Not Utter

Posted on January 12, 2017 by Trish Nelson

Les Moonves – even kind of looks like Trump. Photo by Matt Furman/Redux

You must forgive your fellow lefties.

In the heat of the campaign and aftermath of the election, hard feelings prevail within our party and it is easy to blame fellow Democrats, progressives, lefties, Greens, for everything that went wrong.  I’ve done my share of it.

This video reminded me what really caused this.

Fact: The Corporate Media caused Donald Trump to become President.

Thom Hartmann is the only political analyst I know of who is saying this.

The directors and managers and producers of a small handful of immensely powerful and profitable media corporations made the decision a year and a half ago that the Donald Trump Show was more important to put on TV every day and every night than any actual news because the Doald Trump Show brought ratings, and ratings are the variable that determine what they can charge for advertising, which in turn determines their profitability. Les Moonves, Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer of CBS Corporation, said to a group of CBS stockholders in an investor phone call, “Donald Trump may be terrible for America but he’s great for CBS.” The estimates are between 2 and 3 billion dollars that Donald Trump got in 2016 that helped him win the Republican primary first and then helped him win the White House. Literally billions of dollars in free media that was not given to Hillary, Bernie, Stein, or Trump’s primary opponents. Just Trump.

There’s much more. It will make you angry and it will make you forgive your fellow lefties no matter who they supported.

 

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The Saga In Muscatine Continues

Posted on January 11, 2017 by bfiatracykurowski

After months of hearsay, Muscatine City Council plans to proceed with its rumored threat to remove Mayor Diana Broderson from office on yet to be revealed charges at the Thursday City Council meeting.

The Mayor has not received the substance of those charges as yet, and first learned of the charges when Thursday’s city council agenda was publicly posted on the City of Muscatine’s website. http://www.muscatineiowa.gov/Archive.aspx?AMID=37&Type=Recent

Over the summer, the council passed an ordinance that stripped the Mayor of her appointment powers (read about that here: http://www.bleedingheartland.com/2016/06/20/take-back-muscatine/

While state code permits city councils the right to establish appointment duties for most city board and commissions, the Mayor questioned the legality of removing the mayor’s power to do so for the Civil Service Commission – the body that ultimately decides the eligibility of individuals to serve as Police and Fire Chief. Section 400 of the Iowa State Code http://coolice.legis.iowa.gov/Cool-ICE/default.asp?category=billinfo&service=IowaCode&input=400.1 details the rules governing Boards and Commission, and Section 400.1 relates to the appointment of civil service commissioners. Because the language seemed to indicate that this is a power granted only to the Mayor, Senator Taylor was asked to make an inquiry with the Iowa Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General. See their response, issue in October, here:

The AG’s office’s response, “…no, there is no authority for city officials of a city having a population of eight thousand or over and having a pad fire department or a pad police department to diverge from the requirement of section 400.1,” seemed to substantiate the Mayor’s suspicions, so the Mayor forwarded the letter to the Muscatine County Attorney’s office requesting it take action to declare that part of the ordinance invalid.

But in December the County Attorney responded, declining to proceed with any sort of prosecution against city council the attorney or city attorney. See the letter here

Which takes us to the present moment, one month later, when the council will remove the mayor from office. This requires a 2/3 vote of the council, and given past vote counts in this ongoing saga between the mayor and council, the city manager has the votes he needs to get this accomplished. But at what cost? Across the nation, we are experience a cynicism when it comes to government that is a direct threat to the very institutions of democracy itself. Removing a mayor from office is an extreme act usually reserved for only the most egregious of offenses, felony crimes or other criminal behavior.

At this point, such a move seems politically motivated, and plays into the cynicism the public feels toward government. It is a sad day indeed.

###

THE OFFICE OF THE MUSCATINE COUNTY ATTORNEY
Alan R. Ostergren County Attorney
420 E. Third Street Muscatine, Iowa 52761-4104
Phone: (563) 263-0382 Fax: (563) 263-4944
http://www.co.muscatine.ia.us attorney@co.muscatine.ia.us

Assistant County Attorneys: Korie L. Shippee Oubonh P. White Dan Williamson Joan Black

December 21, 2016

Hon. Diana Broderson Mayor, City of Muscatine
via email to: dbroderson@muscatiney.org

Dear Mayor Broderson:

This letter will be a follow-up to our conversation last week concerning the potential for criminal charges due to a recent amendment to City of Muscatine ordinances implementing provisions of Iowa Code Chapter 400. I have reviewed the letter you provided me from the Iowa Attorney General’s office to a state senator dated October 13, 2016. I have also examined the relevant changes to the ordinance.

Iowa Code § 400.30 provides:

The provisions of this chapter shall be strictly carried out by each person or body having powers or duties thereunder, and any act or failure to act tending to avoid or defeat the purposes of such provisions is hereby prohibited and shall be a simple misdemeanor.

There are no Iowa court cases which have construed this provision. It is not drafted in the normal manner for a criminal statute. It is difficult to determine the scope of the law and it would appear to be potentially applied to a vast range of conduct – particularly in criminalizing the failure to act and using the phrase “tending to avoid or defeat.” I have serious concerns as to whether it would be possible to prosecute anyone for a violation of this law because of the vague and broad way it is drafted.

I should also point out that the purpose of Chapter 400 is to protect municipal employees, not the mayor. An employee who has discipline upheld by an improperly-constituted commission might have a basis to challenge the action due to the change in the appointment process. This does not mean that the change would constitute a crime.

The attorney general’s letter does not undermine this view. The letter refers to the criminal law provision in section 400.30 to support its statutory analysis. I think this reference is appropriate, but it is not the same as a conclusion that a prosecution under these circumstances would be feasible. The letter simply notes the existence of the criminal provision as evidence that a court would likely view the remaining provisions of Chapter 400 in a strict and literal manner. It should also be noted that the letter is dated several months after the city council voted on the amendments to the ordinance.

I therefore find that there is no basis to proceed with any sort of criminal prosecution against city council members, the city attorney, or the city administrator.

Very truly yours,
Alan R. Ostergren
Muscatine County Attorney

Posted in Blog for Iowa | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Crash Of 2017

Posted on January 11, 2017 by Trish Nelson

Thom Hartmann is the nation’s #1 progressive talker for a reason.

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President Obama’s Farewell Address And Call For Action

Posted on January 10, 2017 by Trish Nelson
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Resist Trump This Friday At Grassley’s Office

Posted on January 10, 2017 by Trish Nelson

Action Alert from CCI:

If you can’t make it to Des Moines Friday, call Senator Grassley’s office. Washington, D.C. (202) 224-3744;Cedar Rapids (319) 363-6832; Council Bluffs (712) 322-7103; Davenport (563) 322-4331; Des Moines (515) 288-1145; Sioux City (712) 233-1860; Waterloo (319) 232-6657

Join us for a critical moment of Trump resistance in Des Moines this Friday!

What: We’ll pack Sen. Grassley’s office to demand he stop fast-tracking Trump’s racist, anti-immigrant nomination for U.S. Attorney General and oppose Jeff Sessions’ nomination outright.

Why Grassley? As chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he controls who comes up for a vote. He’s been the Republican’s chief obstructionist, refusing to hold a hearing for the appointment of Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court, and blocked the appointment of one hundred judges throughout the last four years.

But now, Grassley is laying out the red carpet for Senator Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump’s nominee for Attorney General of the United States.

Sen. Jeff Sessions is unfit to serve as the head of our Justice Department. Our U.S. Attorney General is charged with enforcing our nation’s laws without prejudice and a commitment to justice; and be an advocate for all people.

But Sessions has:

  • a 30-year record of racial insensitivity, bias against immigrants and the LGBTQs, disregard for the rule of law, and hostility towards the protection of civil rights
  • waged an infamous prosecution against civil rights activists in the 1980s on phony charges of voter fraud
  • is a staunch opponent of the Voting Rights Act

We need to hold Grassley accountable. We need to demand he stop fast tracking Sessions’ appointment and oppose Sessions as Attorney General nominee.

This is part of a national call to action. Last Tuesday, six NAACP members were arrested and removed from Sessions’ Alabama office.

Will you stand with us Friday? 

A strong turnout will put pressure on Grassley, show strong opposition to Trump in Iowa, and garner state and national press for this critical issue.

When: Friday, January 13  11 am – 1 pm

Where: Meet at the Iowa CCI Action HQ at 11:00 a.m. for a prep session. We’ll head to Grassley’s office together for a powerful speak-out action.

See you Friday! RSVP here.

Bridget Fagan-Reidburn and CCI Action Staff

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Making Climate Change Personal

Posted on January 9, 2017 by Paul Deaton

Earth 7-6-15 from Deep Space Climate Observatory

“We could use some of that global warming,” a truck driver told me.

It was a joke. The ambient temperature was in the low teens and we both work outside as part of our jobs. If the weather were warmer our jobs would be easier. I thought it was funny.

“I don’t really believe in global warming,” he said after a pause.

“It doesn’t really matter if you do,” I replied. “Like it or not our climate is changing because of man-made global warming. It affects us even when it is cold.”

He seemed skeptical. Given a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal I should have expected his response.

Our perception of climate change and willingness to accept scientific evidence about it is shaped by what we experience, according to Scott Waldman, writing in Scientific American.

That means if one lives where weather is cooler than average, he is more likely to be a climate change skeptic, deferring to personal experience as a guide. If one lives where it is warmer than average, she is more likely to accept the science of climate change, also deferring to personal experience as a guide.

“When personal experience and expert opinion don’t align on a topic that’s not critical to an individual’s well-being, they’re going to go with their gut rather than what the expert tells them,” Robert Kaufmann, the study’s lead author said.

The article’s title is a mouthful — “Spatial heterogeneity of climate change as an experiential basis for skepticism.” Here’s the crux:

Kaufmann said it’s human nature to trust one’s own experience over scientific evidence or political wisdom.

“Unless it really affects my everyday life, I’m not going to spend time studying this issue, and I’m not necessarily going to believe scientists either, especially now that experts are held in such ill repute, but I’m going to make up my mind based on how I can see and feel climate change,” he said. “For many people, that is record-high and record-low temperatures.”

Such attitudes notwithstanding almost two-thirds of voters across all parties want the Trump administration and the Congress to do more to address global warming, according to Kaufmann.

I appreciate a good climate change joke in the middle of winter because it presents an opportunity to address the fact climate is changing because of human-made global warming, and there is scientific evidence to support it. The conversation is something we should have more often, yet people avoid talking about climate change.

“Most Americans say global warming is personally important to them, but don’t talk or hear about it much,” Edward Maibach and others from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication wrote.

In “Is there a Climate ‘Spiral of Silence’ in America?” the authors found “more than half of those who are interested in global warming or think the issue is important “rarely” or “never” talk about it with family and friends (57 percent and 54 percent respectively).” Fewer than half of Americans say they hear about global warming in the media monthly or more, and only one in five Americans hear people they know talk about global warming at least once a month according to the article.

It’s pretty quiet out there regarding discussion of global warming and climate change.

“The future of the planetary conditions on which human civilization depends are reliant now more than ever upon scientists and innovators, businesses and civil society, and our collective efforts to accelerate the implementation of the solutions to the climate crisis that are already available and cost-effective,” former Vice President and Nobel Prize winner Al Gore wrote in Scientific American.

If that’s the case, and no one is talking about climate change, how can we create meaningful action to mitigate the effects global warming is having on us?

The good news is technological solutions to the problem are working as the price of renewable energy approaches parity with fossil fuels. In some markets, solar generation of electricity is cheaper than with fossil fuels. If technology will lead the business community to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions contributing to global warming, we are part of the way there. Technology alone won’t drive the change we need. To find political will for action, every voter should engage in the issues. What can we do?

For my part I’m going appreciate the value of a good climate change joke, and use them to break the ice on conversations about the need to act on climate. People may agree or disagree, but talking about global warming and climate change, and the science behind them, is as important as laughter on a chilly day, or a cold drink during a drought.

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Gender Roles Before Birth

Posted on January 8, 2017 by Dave Bradley

sexism starts early

A friend of mine who is about halfway through a pregnancy posted that she is tired of the “appallingly sexist things people have said to me (and will likely continue to say) since we found out we’re having a boy. No wonder kids have so many confidence issues.”

Really got me to thinking. I guess friends and acquaintances feel a need to comment on big events such as an impending birth. No doubt they feel that comments like “(husband) will get the boy he wants” or “boys are easier (or harder) to raise than girls” or any one of a number of little offhand remarks that make the sex of the child an issue and makes it seem like that sex is either right or wrong for some reason.

And thus we have introduced sexism into the world of the child and its family. Until she said this it never occurred to me just how pervasive sexism and no doubt racism is in our society.

When she mentioned this I had this picture in my mind of people stabbing a little pin into the future mother with their little sexist comments.

We are far removed from child bearing age. Back then we found out the sex of the baby about five minutes after the birth. The conversation reminded me of the little shots I would get. Things like “are you hoping for a boy” or “boys are so much easier than girls” and so many other little comments. If I can recall it seemed like most favored the male child.

I would usually meet such comments with a wilting look and tell the person that we both wanted a healthy baby. That was all.

Even after our girls were born for several years I would get the comments such as “don’t you wish you had a boy?” The answer was once more a wilting look followed by “I am very happy with my girls.”

So the conversation once more reminded me of what we went through. And it once more reminded me of how far this country has to go to reach one of its basic tenets that “all {men} are created equal.”

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Sunday Funday: Fox News Virus Spreads Edition

Posted on January 8, 2017 by Dave Bradley

looks like a guy who could ace the quiz!

Speaking of fake news, that is the brand that Fox News has been practicing for 20 years or so, isn’t it? Not sure why people are so surprised by the spread of fake news during a campaign. This has been standard operating procedure for Republicans as long as I can remember. Back in the 1950s Adlai Stevenson once said “If the Republicans will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.” –

As long as we have had NEWS we have had those who take great liberty with it. I think the real issue now has more to do with just how successful fake news is. From the days of yellow journalism through Father Coughlin and Walter Winchell it has always paid to be alert when someone tells you what is going on.

What is concerning though is that there are so few major purveyors of the news (NPR, Fox, CBS, NBC/Comcast, ABC/Disney, CNN/Time-Warner) and they all seem to toe the same line in reporting following Fox’s lead. Now we see former and current Fox talking heads showing up at rival networks as news commentators. Even NPR has Tucker Carlson as a commentator.

Were you paying attention?

1) When the jobs report came out Friday, it marked how many consecutive months of job growth for the Obama administration?

2) During that period, how many jobs were added to the economy?

3) In addition to trying to end Obamacare, Republicans will also try to strip any federal payments to what organization?

4) The president-select lumped all who didn’t vote for him in what group in a New Year’s tweet?

5) January 6th 1941, FDR gave his State of the Union address which became known as what due to the theme that FDR used? (hint: four _______)

6) Backfire! House Republicans tried to gut what committee late on a holiday night only to wake up to outrage from the public on Tuesday?

7) Once again, contractor’s were stiffed for millions by what hotel mogul for work on a Washington, DC project?

8) Build the wall! Build the wall! But now it comes out who will be paying for it?

9) The editor of what major US newspaper went on record refusing to call anything the next president would say a what?

10) Is this Iowa’s future? In Kansas, Gov. Brownback has suggested using money from what to cover budget shortfalls caused by disastrous financial policies?

11) The band from what historically black college made news last week when they agreed to do what?

12) 23% of Americans say they have ‘no religion’. How many members of congress claim ‘no religion’?

13) With the death of Sister Frances Carr Monday there are only 2 living members of what religious society left?

14) What cabinet nominee is facing an investigation for using his congressional office to affect the price of stocks he owns?

15) What world wide fast food restaurant opened a store near the Vatican in a move that has Cardinals upset by their presence?

16) What chain department store announced multiple closings and loss of jobs that may be related to tweets sent by Trump just after the election?

17) What Trump supporting newspaper reported that Trump may owe as much as $1 billion to over 150 financial companies?

18) Good news from Massachusetts. Who announced another run for senate Friday?

19) Started in 1886, what mail order company that grew into one of America’s retail giants sold off a major brand and announced the closing of another 150 stores?

20) What king was born on January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Miss.?

only 12 days left
Answers:

1) 75 longest streak ever

2) very close to 15 million

3) Planned Parenthood

4) enemies

5) The Four Freedoms

6) the Office of Congressional Ethics created after the Abramoff scandal

7) Donald Trump

8) the US taxpayers – Surprise!

9) lie

10) the state’s long term investments

11) Talladega (Alabama) College

12) one – Kirsten Sinema of Arizona

13) Shakers

14) Tom Price – accused of pushing bills that would enrich companies he had stock in

15) McDonald’s

16) Macy’s – Trump sent a series of tweets on Nov. 12 to boycott Macy’s

17) Wall Street Journal

18) Elizabeth Warren!

19) Sears – very near death it looks like

20) Elvis Presley

call, call, call your congress critters and let them know.

Posted in Humor | Comments Off on Sunday Funday: Fox News Virus Spreads Edition

Iowa-stan

Posted on January 7, 2017 by Dave Bradley

Donald Kaul

Iowa Needs You, Donald Kaul!

Considering the coming of what promises to be a MEMORABLE Iowa legislative session this spring, my mind wandered to days of yore when a young writer for the Des Moines Register would annually make fun of the folly that was the Iowa legislature. Iowa needs you Donald Kaul!

We await a legislature that will be doing the will of the people of ALEC and making grandstanding speeches on how every Iowan should be locked and loaded and ready to shoot their fellow Iowan. No more Iowa nice! What would Donald Kaul have to say to such grandstanding?

What prompted my sudden thirst for a witticism from the pen of the master was a comment from a listener on the Thom Hartmann show the other day. He was commenting on the minimum wage laws. As of January 1st a majority of the states have minimum wages higher than the federal minimum. The caller said that those wit lower minimums should have “stan” tacked on to their state names.

Yep, Iowa-stan. Proudly and loudly refusing to pay workers for decades. Once again trying to cement our standing in the deep south.

For some reason the thought of Iowa-stan made me think that that was the kind of comment we would see in the Register from Kaul. This was back in the day when reading the Register while you grabbed a coke between classes with some friends. “Hey, did you read Kaul today? He really nails it!”

Sometimes the very best and most effective commentary especially on the inflated ego world of politics is the sharp humorous barb. That was Kaul’s weapon of choice adoring his days covering the Iowa legislature.

Taking away healthcare from Americans seems to be the theme of the day for Washington Republicans. But here in Iowa we have what should be a scandal of major proportions as King Terry soon-to-be-of-China decided unilaterally to privatize Iowa’s Medicaid system.

Now this poorly hatched scheme is crumbling. The clients of the system are getting shorted on their health care, the providers are not getting paid and those for whom the system was set up to benefit – the management companies – are crying because they aren’t making enough money. On top of that you have government leaders, the governor and lieutenant governor, refusing to admit there is a problem. Man if ever there was a situation that could use a few ego crumbling barbs from the pen of a Donald Kaul, this is it.

Hopefully another Kaul will emerge someday. Heaven knows Iowa will continue to have more than its share of bloated egos and politicians who dance to the tune of a dollar sign ($$$$$) being plucked in their direction.

We could use this guy today also!

Posted in Branstad, Health Care & Medicare, Iowa legislature 2017, minimum wage, wage theft, working poor | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Iowa-stan

TODAY! Statewide Press Conferences Celebrating Minimum Wage Increases

Posted on January 7, 2017 by Dave Bradley

MEDIA ADVISORY: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:

Johnson County: Rafael Morataya, 319-499-8363, rafael@cwjiowa.org

Linn County: Devin Mehaffey, 319-573-0701, devinpmehaffey@gmail.com

Polk County: Mark Cooper, 515-975-5627, mark@scifl.org

Wapello County: Steve Siegel, 641-799-2569, sj_siegel@yahoo.com

Workers Celebrate Wage Increases in Four Counties

Residents Vow to Defend Local Progress against State Threats

Workers and community leaders will convene press conferences Saturday to celebrate 2017 minimum wage increases taking effect in Johnson, Linn, Polk, and Wapello counties. Local officials in the four counties, home to one third of the state’s private sector jobs and several of its fastest-growing communities, have enacted increases in response to vocal support for a higher minimum wage after nearly a decade of state inaction on the issue.

Speakers will respond to clear signs that incoming Iowa legislators are being pushed by out-of-state corporate groups to pass legislation rolling back the minimum wage increases as part of a wholesale attack on workers’ rights and wages. Speakers will call on legislators to drop threats to lower wages, and to adopt a statewide minimum wage that meets or exceeds increases already passed at the county level.

WHAT: “Celebrate Local Progress & Defend Workers’ Rights” Press Conferences

WHEN/WHERE: Saturday, January 7 at times and locations below

Johnson County

2:00 pm, Center for Worker Justice, 940 S. Gilbert Court, Iowa City

Linn County

2:00 pm, Jean Oxley Public Service Center, 935 2nd St. SW, Cedar Rapids

Polk County

12:00 pm, I Work and Play, 1308 8th St., Suite 1, West Des Moines

Wapello County

12:00 pm, UFCW Local 230, 1305 E. Mary St., Ottumwa

Press conferences will include perspectives of local workers, small business owners, elected officials, and members of faith, labor, and community groups who will address the significance of wage increases for families, local businesses, social safety nets, and Iowa’s economy.

Iowa’s current state minimum of $7.25 translates to $15,080 for a full-time, year-round worker, not enough for any resident to meet basic needs. Iowa’s minimum wage was last increased on January 1, 2008, meaning low-wage workers have not had a raise in over nine years. In the meantime, 29 states (including four bordering Iowa) have increased their minimum wage rates above the federal level of $7.25, and a 2016 Iowa Poll showed 70% of Iowans favor a minimum wage increase.

Posted in Iowa legislature 2017, minimum wage, Progress Iowa, wage theft | Comments Off on TODAY! Statewide Press Conferences Celebrating Minimum Wage Increases