Steve Flowers: Kay Ivey is Governor again
Governor Kay Ivey’s 2022 reelection victory run has been very impressive. Some of you may be wondering how quickly I have been able to resolve that she has indeed culminated her victorious run when the General Election was held Tuesday, and my column’s published date is Wednesday. It is simply, as I have told you numerous times over the past two decades, winning the Republican Primary for governor in the Heart of Dixie is tantamount to election. The General Election in Alabama is an afterthought. We are a one-party state when it comes to statewide races. Kay Ivey laid to rest the last hope of the Alabama Democrats being able to win a statewide race, especially for governor in my lifetime and probably in yours, when she beat Walt Maddox like a rented mule in 2018. Walt Maddox was the best shot and best mule the Democrats could ever dream up. Maddox is the young, articulate mayor of Tuscaloosa. He has been and had been mayor of the Druid City for a good while. He has been an excellent mayor with an impeccable record. He ran a good well-run, well-financed campaign for governor. He got 40% of the vote. This seems to be the threshold for a Democrat for governor. Therefore, Kay Ivey’s 2022 run may not be as impressive as her 2018 race. Although, this run has been extremely impressive. Probably the reason that 2022 has gone so well is because she ran so well in 2018. She beat a very formidable field four years ago. She beat the popular mayor of Huntsville, Tommy Battle, in the Republican Primary. His credentials and fundraising prowess were equal to Maddox’s, if not better. Having beaten the 2018 thoroughbreds, Battle and Maddox, so thoroughly, made serious candidates not even consider challenging her. In 2022, to compare Lindy Blanchard, Tim James, and Yolanda Flowers to Tommy Battle and Walt Maddox is like comparing Mutt to Jeff. Governor Kay Ivey has done a good job as governor during the four years, 2019-2022, and folks knew that, and they knew her. There also have not been any scandals or controversies. She had garnered one of the finest men and managers in Alabama political history, Congressman Jo Bonner, to be her right arm and Chief of Staff. They together ran a pretty solid ship of state. Most of us who follow Alabama politics felt like Kay was going to only serve one four-year term when she won the 2018 race. She, deep down, may have thought the same thing. Therefore, she governed with the attitude of what is right for the state and not what is right for reelection. When she decided to run, most of us were in agreement that she would win. She would be well-financed, and national polls revealed that she was one of the most popular incumbent governors in the nation. My thoughts were, and I conveyed to you, that the only way Kay Ivey could lose the race was if she beat herself. If she misspoke or did a debate and made a miscue or misstep. She did none of the above. She ran a perfectly scripted, flawless campaign. She campaigned as governor and looked gubernatorial. Most importantly, her campaign TV ads were brilliant. They were folksy with the perfect Alabama flavor. They had her looking good, speaking well, and southern with a grandmotherly appeal. They made her age and demeanor an advantage. She came out of the campaign being better liked than before. Some of her ads came close to being racist when she said, “Folks think we ought to require our schools to teach everyone to speak Spanish. Well, I say, ‘No Way, Jose.’” This prompted ultra-liberal Democrats around the nation to deride her. When Maxine Waters, the liberal Democratic California Congresswoman, criticized her, Kay quipped, “I ought to give Maxine Waters an in-kind contribution proxy for her help in my Alabama Republican Primary campaign.” The big question in the Republican Primary was whether Kay Ivey could win the May 24 Primary without having to go to a June 21 runoff to win. Some doubted that anyone could beat eight opponents without a runoff, especially given that Blanchard and James spent a total of $16 million dollars. She proved them wrong. She beat the field of eight without a runoff and got 54% percent of the vote. My guess is that she got a higher percentage than that on Tuesday. Kay Ivey is Governor, again. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at: www.steveflowers.us.
Groups seek probe of Alabama use of virus funds for prisons
Nearly two dozen organizations have sent a letter asking the U.S. House Financial Services Committee to investigate Alabama’s plan to use $400 million in coronavirus pandemic relief funds to build two super-size prisons. The American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama, The Sentencing Project, and others signed on to a letter arguing that prison construction is an improper use of COVID-19 relief dollars from the American Rescue Plan. It asks Chairwoman Rep. Maxine Waters to hold hearings on the matter. “Directing COVID relief funds to a massive prison construction plan that long predates the pandemic is an absurd and inappropriate use of (American Rescue Plan) funds,” the organizations wrote. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation in October to tap $400 million of the state’s money from the federal plan to help build two super-size prisons. The Republican governor at the time called the construction plan “a major step forward” for the prison system, which faces various federal court orders and a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice. The Alabama prison construction proposal calls for three new prisons — one north of Montgomery in Elmore County with at least 4,000 beds and enhanced space for medical and mental health care needs; another prison with at least 4,000 beds in south Alabama’s Escambia County and to replace the current women’s prison in Elmore — as well as renovations to existing facilities. Many existing facilities would close. Republican legislative leaders and Ivey have said they are confident that they can use the pandemic money for prison construction because the American Rescue Plan, in addition to authorizing the dollars for economic and health care programs, says states can use the money to replace revenue lost during the pandemic to strengthen support for vital public services and help retain jobs. But the opposed organizations argued that was not the intent of the money. “Building more prisons is a gross misuse of funds that were sent to help the people of Alabama, not punish them,” said JaTaune Bosby, executive director of ACLU of Alabama, in a statement. Bosby added that, “There seems to be no urgency from elected officials to provide relief to the people incarcerated in their facilities.” The U.S. Department of Justice has sued Alabama over a prison system “riddled with prisoner-on-prisoner and guard-on-prisoner violence.” The Justice Department noted in an earlier report that dilapidated facilities were a contributing factor to the unconstitutional conditions but wrote “new facilities alone will not resolve” the matter because of culture, management deficiencies, corruption and violence. The department updated its complaint this year, saying conditions in Alabama prisons have not improved since the federal government warned of unconstitutional conditions earlier and that male inmates continue to live in deadly and dangerous conditions. Ivey’s office did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
CDC issues new eviction ban for most of U.S. through Oct. 3
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new eviction moratorium that would last until Oct. 3, as the Biden administration sought to quell intensifying criticism from progressives that it was allowing vulnerable renters to lose their homes during a pandemic. The ban announced Tuesday could help keep millions in their homes as the coronavirus’ delta variant has spread, and states have been slow to release federal rental aid. It would temporarily halt evictions in counties with “substantial and high levels” of virus transmissions and would cover areas where 90% of the U.S. population lives. The announcement was a reversal for the Biden administration, which allowed an earlier moratorium to lapse over the weekend after saying a Supreme Court ruling prevented an extension. That ripped open a dramatic split between the White House and progressive Democrats who insisted the administration do more to prevent some 3.6 million Americans from losing their homes during the COVID-19 crisis. Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, Joe Biden said he pushed the CDC to again consider its options. But he still seemed hesitant as to whether the new moratorium could withstand lawsuits about its constitutionality, saying he has sought the opinions of experts as to whether the Supreme Court would approve the measure. “The bulk of the constitutional scholarship says that it’s not likely to pass constitutional muster,” Biden said. “But there are several key scholars who think that it may, and it’s worth the effort.” The president added that the moratorium — even if it gets challenged in court — “will probably give some additional time” for states and cities to release billions of dollars in federal relief to renters. Politically, the extension could help heal a rift with liberal Democratic lawmakers who were calling on the president to take executive action to keep renters in their homes. The administration had spent the past several days scrambling to reassure Democrats and the country that it could find a way to limit the damage from potential evictions through the use of federal aid. But pressure mounted as key lawmakers said it was not enough. Top Democratic leaders joined Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., who has been camped outside the U.S. Capitol for several days. The freshman congresswoman once lived in her car as a young mother and pointed to that experience to urge the White House to prevent widespread evictions. As she wiped her eyes before a crowd at the Capitol after the CDC’s announcement, Bush said she was shedding “joyful tears.” “My God, I don’t believe we did this,” she said. “We just did the work, just by loving folks to keep millions in their homes.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it was a day of “extraordinary relief.” “The imminent fear of eviction and being put out on the street has been lifted for countless families across America. Help is Here!” Pelosi said in a statement. Administration officials had previously said a Supreme Court ruling stopped them from setting up a new moratorium without congressional backing. When the court allowed the eviction ban to remain in place through the end of July by a 5-4 vote, one justice in the majority, Brett Kavanaugh, wrote that Congress would have to act to extend it further. But on Tuesday, the CDC cited the slow pace of state and local governments disbursing housing aid as justification for the new moratorium. Aside from the moratorium, Biden has insisted that federal money is available — some $47 billion previously approved during the pandemic — that needs to get out the door to help renters and landlords. “The money is there,” Biden said. The White House has said state and local governments have been slow to push out that federal money and is pressing them to do so swiftly. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen briefed House Democrats Tuesday about the work underway to ensure the federal housing aid makes it to renters and landlords. She provided data so that lawmakers could see how their districts and states are performing with distributing the relief, according to a person on the call. The treasury secretary tried to encourage Democrats to work together, even as lawmakers said Biden should act on his own to extend the eviction moratorium, according to someone on the private call who insisted on anonymity to discuss its contents. Yellen said on the call, according to this person, that she agrees “we need to bring every resource to bear” and that she appreciated the Democrats’ efforts and wants “to leave no stone unturned.” The CDC put the initial eviction ban in place as part of the COVID-19 response when jobs shifted, and many workers lost income. The ban was intended to hold back the spread of the virus among people put out on the streets and into shelters, but it also penalized landlords who lost income as a result. National Apartment Association president and CEO Bob Pinnegar said the organization “has always held the same position — the eviction moratorium is an unfunded government mandate that forces housing providers to deliver a costly service without compensation and saddles renters with insurmountable debt.” Democratic lawmakers said they were caught by surprise by Biden’s initial decision to end the moratorium even though the CDC indicated in late June that it probably wouldn’t extend the eviction ban beyond the end of July. Rep. Maxine Waters, the powerful chair of the Financial Services Committee, has been talking privately for days with Yellen and urged the treasury secretary to use her influence to prod states to push the money out the door. But Waters also called on the CDC to act on its own. After the CDC’s announcement Tuesday, Waters released a statement thanking Biden “for listening and for encouraging the CDC to act! This extension of the moratorium is the lifeline that millions of families have been waiting for.” Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Mo Brooks: Rebuts vicious, scurrilous fake news media and Socialist Democrat attacks
As one of America’s most effective conservative leaders, I defend my honor and reputation against scurrilous, George Orwellian, 1984, Socialist Democrats Politics of Personal Destruction, the same attack strategy used in 2012 against then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney, and nonstop against President Donald Trump with false Russian Collusion charges and the 2019 sham impeachment effort. Let’s be clear, this entire smear campaign is about intimidating, censoring, and suppressing the ability of American citizens to fight at the ballot box the efforts of Socialist Democrats to seize control of the United States of America. So that I am unambiguously clear, American citizens’ recourse is at the ballot box (maybe this comment will deter Socialist Democrats and Fake News Media from again shrilly shouting false claims of violence advocacy). As you read these remarks, I ask that you consider two quotes. First, as Jesus said in the Bible, John 8:32, “And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free”. Second, I quote the words of American patriot Martin Luther King, who stated in 1958 that, “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.” I ask the Members of Congress, the citizens of the great State of Alabama, and the citizens of America, to bear these words in mind, set their political stridency aside, and strive for justice. Before I get into the meat of my remarks, let me add that January 6 was supposed to be a day of great debate on the floors of the House and Senate about voter fraud and election theft that is supposed to propel America to more honest or accurate elections. Instead, our message was hijacked by people whose illegal breach of the Capitol did a great disservice to our cause and America. Those who engaged in illegal conduct should be ashamed of themselves because their attack on the U.S. Capitol destroyed two months of debate and work. Those who engaged in the illegal breach of the U.S. Capitol could not have done more damage if they had followed any script written by the Democrat National Committee. I take great offense at anyone who suggests I am so politically inexperienced as to want to torpedo my honest and accurate election system effort I spent months fighting on. Mo Brooks Background Let me share a little about myself. My long-time acquaintances and family would describe me as a straight arrow or a “square”. I have never smoked tobacco. I don’t consume alcohol. I have never taken illegal drugs. I have never been accused or convicted of any felonies or misdemeanors. In half a century of driving, I have never had a DUI, a reckless driving ticket or even a speeding ticket. I did once misjudge a traffic light and deservedly got a ticket, but that is it. I have never had a vehicle wreck in which anyone claimed I was at fault. My parents raised me to be a good, self-supporting citizen and I have strived to be just that. My parents also encouraged me to participate in government if the opportunity arose, as this was a part of my ancestry. On my mother’s side, we have a North Carolina ancestral history that includes a county sheriff, a state legislator, a board of education member, a road commissioner, and the like. In fact, the first rest stop you come to on I-40 when you enter North Carolina from Tennessee is named after my grandfather, D. Reeves Noland. I am proud of that ancestry. I have tried to follow it. As such, I have served the public for 36 years as a Tuscaloosa assistant district attorney, an Alabama legislator, the Madison County District Attorney, a county commissioner, and U.S. Congressman. In my 36 years as a public servant, I have a perfect ethics record, having never been found guilty of an ethics violation, large or small. I am proud that, in 1982, I was the first Republican legislator ever elected in Alabama House District 18. I am proud that, in 1983, I was the first Republican legislator ever elected in Alabama House District 10. I am proud that, in 2010, I was the first Republican elected in Alabama Congressional District 5 in more than 130 years. I am proud that, in the history of the State of Alabama, no person has successfully carried the Republican banner in general elections more than I have. You can imagine my dismay upon learning that Socialist Democrats, without ever even bothering to first discuss this matter with me to discern the truth, and without any substantive and connective evidence, so viciously besmirch my good name and character that took 66 years to build. It is with that as a background, that I will address how misplaced and malevolent the motives are of those who falsely accuse me of bad conduct. Accusation Flaw #1: Mr. Malinowski, in his Censure Resolution, alleges that “Representative Mo Brooks addressed a rally in Washington, DC, attended by numerous members of known extremist and anti-government groups, including the Proud Boys, QAnon, Boogaloo Boys, and Oathkeepers, who would shortly thereafter march to seize the United States Capitol” That statement is meaningless because it omits a key fact. Mr. Malinowski fails to allege I knew any of that! Why? Because I did not know any of that. For the record, I have never knowingly associated or communicated with any of those groups in my life and I certainly had no inkling any of these groups were a part of the Trump rally at the Ellipse. Perhaps, at some political event, I have had a photo with one, or a five second conversation with another, but, if so, I don’t recall it and paid no attention to it. Per my cell phone records, on Tuesday morning, January 5, I had a telephone call with Brian Jack, White House Political Director. He asked me to speak at the Trump rally the next day, Wednesday morning. I had never attended a Trump
Donald Trump impeached after Capitol riot in historic second charge
President Donald Trump was impeached by the U.S. House for a historic second time Wednesday, charged with “incitement of insurrection” over the deadly mob siege of the Capitol in a swift and stunning collapse of his final days in office. With the Capitol secured by armed National Guard troops inside and out, the House voted 232-197 to impeach Trump. The proceedings moved at lightning speed, with lawmakers voting just one week after violent pro-Trump loyalists stormed the U.S. Capitol after the president’s calls for them to “fight like hell” against the election results. Ten Republicans fled Trump, joining Democrats who said he needed to be held accountable and warned ominously of a “clear and present danger” if Congress should leave him unchecked before Democrat Joe Biden’s inauguration Jan. 20. Trump is the only U.S. president to be twice impeached. It was the most bipartisan presidential impeachment in modern times, more so than against Bill Clinton in 1998. The Capitol insurrection stunned and angered lawmakers, who were sent scrambling for safety as the mob descended, and it revealed the fragility of the nation’s history of peaceful transfers of power. The riot also forced a reckoning among some Republicans, who have stood by Trump throughout his presidency and largely allowed him to spread false attacks against the integrity of the 2020 election. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invoked Abraham Lincoln and the Bible, imploring lawmakers to uphold their oath to defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign “and domestic.” She said of Trump: “He must go, he is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love.” Holed up at the White House, watching the proceedings on TV, Trump took no responsibility for the bloody riot seen around the world, but issued a statement urging “NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind” to disrupt Biden’s ascension to the White House. In the face of the accusations against him and with the FBI warning of more violence, Trump said, “That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for. I call on ALL Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers.” Trump was first impeached by the House in 2019 over his dealings with Ukraine, but the Senate voted in 2020 acquit. He is the first to be impeached twice. None has been convicted by the Senate, but Republicans said Wednesday that could change in the rapidly shifting political environment as officeholders, donors, big business and others peel away from the defeated president. The soonest Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell would start an impeachment trial is next Tuesday, the day before Trump is already set to leave the White House, McConnell’s office said. The legislation is also intended to prevent Trump from ever running again. McConnell believes Trump committed impeachable offenses and considers the Democrats’ impeachment drive an opportunity to reduce the divisive, chaotic president’s hold on the GOP, a Republican strategist told The Associated Press on Wednesday. McConnell told major donors over the weekend that he was through with Trump, said the strategist, who demanded anonymity to describe McConnell’s conversations. In a note to colleagues Wednesday, McConnell said he had “not made a final decision on how I will vote.” Unlike his first time, Trump faces this impeachment as a weakened leader, having lost his own reelection as well as the Senate Republican majority. Even Trump ally Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, shifted his position and said Wednesday the president bears responsibility for the horrifying day at the Capitol. In making a case for the “high crimes and misdemeanors” demanded in the Constitution, the four-page impeachment resolution approved Wednesday relies on Trump’s own incendiary rhetoric and the falsehoods he spread about Biden’s election victory, including at a rally near the White House on the day of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. A Capitol Police officer died from injuries suffered in the riot, and police shot and killed a woman during the siege. Three other people died in what authorities said were medical emergencies. The riot delayed the tally of Electoral College votes which was the last step in finalizing Biden’s victory. Ten Republican lawmakers, including third-ranking House GOP leader Liz Cheney of Wyoming, voted to impeach Trump, cleaving the Republican leadership, and the party itself. Cheney, whose father is the former Republican vice president, said of Trump’s actions summoning the mob that “there has never been a greater betrayal by a President” of his office. Trump was said to be livid with perceived disloyalty from McConnell and Cheney. With the team around Trump hollowed out and his Twitter account silenced by the social media company, the president was deeply frustrated that he could not hit back, according to White House officials and Republicans close to the West Wing who weren’t authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. From the White House, Trump leaned on Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina to push Republican senators to resist, while chief of staff Mark Meadows called some of his former colleagues on Capitol Hill. The president’s sturdy popularity with the GOP lawmakers’ constituents still had some sway, and most House Republicans voted not to impeach. Security was exceptionally tight at the Capitol, with tall fences around the complex. Metal-detector screenings were required for lawmakers entering the House chamber, where a week earlier lawmakers huddled inside as police, guns drawn, barricade the door from rioters. “We are debating this historic measure at a crime scene,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. During the debate, some Republicans repeated the falsehoods spread by Trump about the election and argued that the president has been treated unfairly by Democrats from the day he took office. Other Republicans argued the impeachment was a rushed sham and complained about a double standard applied to his supporters but not to the liberal left. Some simply appealed for the nation to move on. Rep. Tom McClintock of California said, “Every movement has a lunatic fringe.” Yet Democratic Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo. and others recounted the harrowing
Donald Trump uses State of Union to campaign; Nancy Pelosi rips up speech
Partisan discord was on display during the state of the union address.
From toast of town to toxic: Mark Zuckerberg on outs with democrats
Mark Zuckerberg’s social network in Washington is shrinking. Bipartisan hostility against Facebook has been building for months, fueled by a series of privacy scandals, the site’s role in Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign and accusations that Facebook crushes competitors. Now, with the 2020 elections approaching, Democrats especially are homing in on the conduct of the social media giant and its refusal to fact-check political ads and remove false ones. “When you’re the No. 1 monopoly, people are going to come after you,” says John Feehery, a veteran Republican communications strategist. The challenge for Democrats, as he sees it: “They’re facing a base that is very angry and restive. So they have to be much more aggressive in taking on corporations.” Zuckerberg enjoyed a cozy relationship with the Obama administration. But in the face of growing public outrage, the co-founder of the upstart born under the motto “Move fast and break things” is learning the art of smoothing over and piecing back together. His new strategy: a personal blitz featuring serial private meetings in Washington with key lawmakers of both parties and President Donald Trump; small, off-the-record dinners at his California home with conservative journalists and opinion makers; and the occasional public address or TV interview. Addressing criticisms from Democratic lawmakers and civil rights groups over Facebook’s track record on fighting discrimination, Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg planned to host a dinner Monday night with civil rights leaders. The two executives want to hear the leaders’ “direct perspective and feedback,” the company said. The Rev. Al Sharpton said last week that Zuckerberg would meet with him and others to discuss concerns such as Facebook’s handling of political messages. Misinformation on the platform can contribute to the suppression of voting by African Americans and other minorities, civil rights leaders say. Zuckerberg has become lobbyist-in-chief for a tech giant that has about 60 people officially playing that role. The company spent an estimated $12.6 million on federal influencing last year. The political ad issue hits close to home for Democrats. Facebook, as well as Twitter and Google, refused in September to remove a misleading video ad from Trump’s reelection campaign that targeted top-tier Democratic candidate Joe Biden. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, another top Democratic contender, chose to hit back by running her own ad and making it personal by falsely claiming that Zuckerberg had endorsed Trump for 2020. Warren, who has called for breaking up Facebook and other tech giants, acknowledged the ad’s deliberate falsity to make her point. Then came Zuckerberg’s speech last month at Georgetown University in which he promoted free expression as the foundation for Facebook’s refusal to take down content it deems newsworthy, even if the material violates company standards. The next week, during prickly questioning by Democratic lawmakers at a televised House hearing, Zuckerberg dug in on not fact-checking politicians’ speech and the handling of hate speech and potential incitements to violence. “This really is not about money,” Zuckerberg insisted. “It is important that people can see for themselves what politicians are saying.” Facebook says political advertising accounts for less than half of 1 percent of its total revenue. Separately from political advertising, Facebook has policies and improved technology that it says now enables it to more efficiently detect terrorist content in many languages. Following the mass shooting in New Zealand last spring, for example, Facebook now prohibits livestreaming by people who have violated rules covering organizations and individuals deemed dangerous and potentially violent. In the lambasting from Democrats, Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, the vice chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, focused on Facebook’s track record on civil rights and diversity. She told Zuckerberg that he had “ruined the lives of many people, discriminated against them.” As part of a legal settlement with civil rights groups, Facebook changed its ad-targeting systems this year to prevent discrimination in housing, credit and employment ads. It previously had allowed such ads to be targeted to people based on age, sex or race, which is illegal. At some points, friendlier Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee asked Zuckerberg how he was holding up through the six-hour hearing. “I’m doing OK,” replied the 35-year-old co-founder, chairman and CEO. He’s one of the world’s richest individuals, with a net worth currently estimated at $71 billion. Summing up, Rep. Maxine Waters, the California Democrat who leads the committee, told Zuckerberg, “You have opened up a discussion about whether Facebook should be broken up.” A mandated breakup would be the worst-case scenario for Facebook and the other big tech companies. Facebook says splitting up large tech corporations would make the election system more vulnerable to interference because the companies wouldn’t be able to work together to prevent it. For Zuckerberg and the Democrats, “it may be a nasty divorce,” said James Thurber, a professor of government at American University who founded its Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies. “He clearly has taken a stand that’s really quite unpopular.” Thurber called Zuckerberg’s backstage celebrity approach to lobbying efforts “very dangerous.” “You’ve got to be very careful about that, if you think you can do it yourself,” he said. Rep. David Cicilline, a senior House Democrat who leads the Judiciary Committee’s investigation into the market dominance of big tech companies, is working on legislation that may target the profits made by Facebook from political ads it knows are false. The measure likely would also apply to social media rivals Twitter and Google. Last Wednesday, Twitter made the unexpected announcement that it will ban all political advertising from its service. “This is a good first step,” Cicilline tweeted. “Your move, Google/Facebook.” Zuckerberg’s quick riposte, during Facebook’s quarterly conference call on earnings, was to reaffirm the company’s commitment to the value of free speech, including for politicians. It’s a sharp reversal of fortune for Facebook from the days of the Obama administration, when the company was hailed as an exemplar of innovation and an engine of economic growth. Campaign money flowed to the
No Donald Trump didn’t make you do it: We need more personal responsibility and civility
I’m a mom. It’s a fact that pretty much defines who I am, especially these days. I’ve been teaching my five year old to take responsibility. She’ll sometimes do something and then she’ll say “well I took the candy because you wouldn’t let me have it.” Or “I took the toy away from my baby brother because he had it too long.” I always gently step in and say “sweetie, nobody else is responsible for your behavior. You didn’t take the candy because I didn’t allow you to have it. You took it because you wanted it. You knew it was against the rules.” Or “You didn’t take the toys away from your baby brother because he had it too long, you took it because you wanted it. This is you acting on your feelings, regardless of the rules or other people’s feelings.” I may take a while for her to learn the lesson, but what I’ve learned over the course of this past year is that there are lots of adults out there who were never taught this lesson: our reactions to others aren’t justified by their behavior. This past week a video of a man went viral. The man causing the stir, Timothy Trybus was later arrested and saw the charges he faced upgraded to felonies for hate crimes. It all stemmed from an angry tirade directed at a woman wearing a shirt with the Puerto Rico flag on it. I wouldn’t have clicked the link except the post I saw that shared it included a message that said something along the lines of “This is what electing President Donald Trump has gotten us.” I expected to see a man who was quoting Trump or expressly advocating for Trump but no I just saw someone behaving like a jerk. I saw an il-informed, bigot clearly breaking the law by harassing a woman for no reason other than he chose to behave like he had a right to disrupt her day and bully her. He didn’t. The cop, Patrick Connor from Forest Preserves of Cook County that stood by and did nothing shouldn’t have been allowed to resign. He should have been fired. All of that to say, the man and the cop were responsible for their actions (or inactions as it were). No one else. We cannot justify or blame the behavior of jerks on the right or left on Trump and the way he tweets or the way he speaks. This guys behavior isn’t due to some cosmic shift in cultural standards that came with a Trump presidency. There were ignorant and mean people before Trump and there will be plenty after him. I’m tired of hearing that our president or the Republican Party is to blame for the actions of others. That by electing Trump this is what we should expect this behavior to be a norm. It’s just not true. Rep. Maxine Waters who called for people to not only be disruptive and rude, but to be violent toward those in the Administration is solely responsible for her words and actions. We can’t blame the incivility of the people at the movie theatre with Pam Bondi, or the restaurants with either the Department Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen or White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders as something that should be socially acceptable because of the times. No, the individuals behaving badly need to take responsibility. You’re acting like a jerk or a bully. It’s you who made a conscious decision to behave that way. That’s not because Trump behaves or Tweets one way or another. It’s not because Trump was elected. There is no excuse. I have been thinking about Rep. Maxine Waters and all of the Members of Congress who have left Congress over the past few year. Some were over-spending money, some were using drugs, others for breaking the law. I feel like there will always be a Rep. Maxine Waters in Congress, heck she’s been there for 18 years already. Or an Alan Grayson type of bomb-thrower, is what they call him. We have them on both sides of the aisle. But we can’t allow the least-behaving, the lowest common denominator set the standard for our levels of civility. Yes, Trump frequently speaks or tweets in a way that I would never allow my children to, but he’s a grown man and his behavior speaks only to him and his character. It doesn’t even speak for those who work for him contrary to what some believe. Those who use his bad actions as an excuse for their own bad actions are making a false argument. Those people need to come back to reality and realize our standards must be higher for ourselves and those around us. I hope Congress censures Maxine Waters. I hope the guy in the video faces appropriate consequences. That’s how we stop and prevent future behavior like this. While we have First Amendment rights, there are certain expectations and standards and even laws that prevent the views and actions of disruptive people from harming those around them. Enough with the excuses, let’s just take responsibility and expect better from one another and those around us.
Death threat forces Rep. Maxine Waters to cancel Birmingham event
California Democrat, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters stirred up controversy last week when she incited violence, calling on Americans to confront Trump administration officials whenever they are out in public. “If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them!” Waters instructed. “And you tell them that they are not welcome, anymore, anywhere.” Her remarks garnered the attention of President Donald Trump, who called her “an extraordinarily low IQ person” on Twitter Monday, warning, “Be careful what you wish for Max!” Congresswoman Maxine Waters, an extraordinarily low IQ person, has become, together with Nancy Pelosi, the Face of the Democrat Party. She has just called for harm to supporters, of which there are many, of the Make America Great Again movement. Be careful what you wish for Max! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 25, 2018 On Thursday, news surfaced Waters had to cancel an upcoming trip Birmingham due to security concerns. Waters canceled her Friday appearance at the National Organization of Black Elected Legislative (NOBEL) Women’s Annual Legislative Conference. “There was one very serious death threat made against me on Monday from an individual in Texas which is why my planned speaking engagements in Texas and Alabama were cancelled this weekend,” Waters said in a statement. “This is just one in several very serious threats the United States Capitol Police are investigating in which individuals threatened to shoot, lynch, or cause me serious bodily harm.”
