9/16/2023

family values?

well, i guess this passes for 'family values' among that crowd:


According to a new report from the Daily Mail, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and Trump advisor Corey Lewandowski have been having “a years-long clandestine affair.”
The Republican governor has been married to her spouse Byron Noem for more than 30 years. Lewandowski has been married to his wife Alison for more than 15 years.

Kristi Noem has made family values central to her identity. She has received awards in the past for championing family values and attended the Iowa Family Values summit in 2021.

At an NRA forum in April of this year, Noem touted her relationship with her husband and her family values during a speech stating, “Here today with me is my husband Bryon, who has been with me every step of the way. Thank you for our amazing family and all the support. Speaking of family… can you believe I’m a grandma? Not just once either, but twice. For those of you with grandchildren you know, they are why we get up each day and continue to fight for our values.”

disgusting.  and at the end of last week, the press was talking about her like she was a cinch to be donald trump's running mate.  do they do any work at all?  besides gossip, do they do any work at all?  and that's a good intro into c.i.'s 'iraq snapshot'.


let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'


Friday, September 15, 2023.  The US Treasury Department's Elizabeth Rosenberg meets with officials in Iraq -- including one that has some shocked, Robert F. Kennedy Jr's poll numbers continue to drop, media malpractice is all around as Ron DeSantis is allowed to lie repeatedly on CBS EVENING NEWS and as Mike Pence lies about his state's law (just as Ron did before him) and gets away with it because, goodness, my, oh, my, it's so 'hard' for the media to fact check and do their damn job apparently.



Starting in Iraq. 








The US Treasury’s assistant secretary is in Iraq to meet with top officials on combatting corruption and the smuggling of the dollar abroad as the Iraqi dinar’s value continues to plummet and dollars remain scarce in the market. 

Elizabeth Rosenberg, Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes at the US Department of the Treasury, arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday to make “progress on int’l [international] anti-money laundering & banking reform” to “help combat corruption & support international invest in Iraq,” US Ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski said on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

Rosenberg met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Wednesday, discussing joint US-Iraq financial cooperation “and the Iraqi government’s measures to implement financial and banking reforms to reduce corruption in all its forms,” said a statement from Sudani’s office. 


Not everyone was pleased with the meet-up. 

October 11, 2020, Kataeb Hizbollah and the US government declared a cease fire.  That ended on both sides in February 2021. Kataeb Hizollah ended it on February 15, 2021 when they attacked a US base in Erbil (KRG part of Iraq).  For the US government, it ended on February 26th when they launched air strikes on Kataeb Hizbollah in retaliation for the attack on the US base.


The group came to prominence in 2007 for attacks against U.S.-led Coalition forces in Iraq,[35][51] and was known for uploading videos of its attacks on American forces on the internet.[52] The militia's main tactics were to fire rockets and mortar shells at U.S. bases, sniper attacks, and detonate roadside bombs along routes where the forces moved.[53]

On 15 March 2007, four U.S. soldiers were killed in eastern Baghdad when IEDs planted by Kata'ib Hezbollah detonated near their unit.[54][55]

On 25 September 2007, Staff Sgt. Zachary B. Tomczak was shot dead by a Kata'ib Hezbollah sniper in Baghdad. His killing was captured on video and posted online by the KH militia.[56][57]

On 4 October 2007, U.S. Army Spc. Avealalo Milo was killed by a Kata'ib Hezbollah sniper shot in Baghdad. The attack was recorded and subsequently published online by the militia.[58][59]

On 4 June 2008, Kata'ib Hezbollah conducted a rocket attack that was meant to target Coalition forces but instead killed 18 civilians in Baghdad.[60][61]

In mid-2008, U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a crackdown against the group and the "Special Groups", the US military term for Iran-backed militias in Iraq. At least 30 of its members were captured during those months. Many of the group's leaders were also captured and US officials claimed that "as result much of the leadership fled to Iran".[62][63]

On 2 July 2009, the group was added to the U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. The group was held responsible for numerous IED attacks, mortar, rocket and RPG attacks as well as sniper operations, targeting US and Iraqi forces, including a November 2008 rocket attack that killed two U.N. workers.[51]

In December 2009, the group intercepted the unencrypted video feed of MQ-1 Predator UAVs above Iraq.[64]

On 12 February 2010, a firefight with suspected members of the group occurred 265 km (165 mi) southeast of Baghdad in a village near the Iranian border, the U.S. military said. Twelve people were arrested, it said. "The joint security team was fired upon by individuals dispersed in multiple residential buildings ... members of the security team returned fire, killing individuals assessed to be enemy combatants," the military said in a statement. The Provincial Iraqi officials said many of the dead were innocent bystanders, and demanded compensation. They said eight people were killed.[65]

On 13 July 2010, General Ray Odierno named Kata'ib Hezbollah as being behind threats against American bases in Iraq. "In the last couple weeks there's been an increased threat ... and so we've increased our security on some of our bases," Odierno told reporters at a briefing in Baghdad.[66]

On 6 June 2011, Kata'ib Hezbollah militants fired rockets at Forward Operating Base Loyalty in eastern Baghdad killing six U.S. soldiers.[67] Another five soldiers were also wounded in the attack.[68]

On 29 June 2011, Kata'ib Hezbollah fired IRAM rockets that struck a US base near the Iranian border – COP Shocker. The attack resulted in the deaths of three American soldiers.[69] A videotape of the rocket attack was published online by the militia.[70]

In July 2011, an Iraqi intelligence official estimated the group's size at 1,000 fighters and said the militants were paid between $300 and $500 per month.[71][72]

The Al-Qa'im border crossing has seen hastened military activity as the group is expected to play an important military and security role as the crossing with Syria is officially opened on September 30, 2019.[73][74]



Across the country, the hate merchants lie and sport stupidity.  Which was Mike Pence doing recently? Wednesday, NEWS NATION held a townhall where former US Vice President Mike Pence, now running for the GOP's presidential nomination, took questions.  Charlie Nash (NEWS NATION) notes one mother asked the following:



Melissa McCollister: Good evening, vice president. I am an LGBTQ member and I have trans individuals in my family. Recent anti-LGBTQ bills have been signed into law all around this United States, including here in Iowa. So far, in 2023, 15 transgender individuals and gender-nonconforming people have been murdered. The vast majority of those people have been Black and Latinx transgender women. It is very hard for me to ask these questions after just hearing what I heard. What is your policy plan to protect the transgender community, specifically Black and brown trans women from historically high levels of violence?


 You can read Nash's article for the long winded response from Mike Pence.  We don't have the time (as Ben Taylor sings).  What we do have time for is to correct the record.

It's the same incorrect information that Ron DeSantis declared and we called him out.  He's the governor of Florida, he should know Florida law.  Pence was governor of Indiana until 2017.  He should know the state's law.

More to the point, when are journalists going to do their damn job?

I'm really not in the mood.  

Here's the part of Mike Pence's response that is factually wrong:


For me, what adults do in their lives, decisions that they make, including transgender adults, is one thing, but for kids under the age of 18— there’s a reason why we don’t let you drive ’til you’re 16. In the state of Indiana, you can’t get a tattoo until after you’re 18, you can’t drink until after you’re 21, that’s because we understand that kids don’t fully understand the consequences of their actions.




"In the state of Indiana, you can't get a tattoo until after you're 18."  No.

That is wrong. 

It sounds wrong.  It should sound wrong to everyone.  And it is wrong.  It was wrong when Ron lied about Florida law.

All I did when I looked at the statement was GOOGLE "indiana tattoo laws for minors" and what do you immediately find out?  




That, say it with me, requires parental permission if you're under the age of 18.


Okay, I get ticked when reporters don't care about facts.  A NEWSWEEK editor can tell you how long I screamed over the phone at him in the 90s when they did a filler article about sex on TV and talked about how Matthew Perry's Chandler Bing on an episode of FRIENDS handcuffed Rachel's boss (Alison La Placa) while they were in a sexual relationship.

Do you see the problem?

Chandler didn't handcuff her, she handcuffed him.  And I still can't let it go.  All these years later.

Or the response which was, "It's just a TV show."  It's a TV show you elected to assign a writer to write about and then elected to publish an article about.  It does matter.  It's also true -- and I raised this in real time as well -- that the culture norms of the 90s were a lot more comfortable with a man handcuffing a woman.  Look at all the 90s films with any BDSM elements -- I'm talking mainstream films -- the worst is Madonna's BODY OF EVIDENCE but they're all pretty awful and they all feel the need to have the handcuffed man or the spanked man assert his 'dominance' over the woman.  (Reality, many S&M relationships have women in charge.)  

So they weren't reflecting reality, NEWSWEEK wasn't, but it was lying.

And that's the case with the media that covered Ron DeSantis lie and NEWS NATION covering Mike Pence's lie.  They're just typing up remarks.  They're not doing any real work and they're certainly not doing journalism.

If you are a parent or plan to be a parent or hope to be a parent and you hear a claim about how children can't do this or that, you're natural reaction should be, "Really?"


And, parent or not or not ever want to be, if you're in the media and someone's making claims about laws regarding children, you should immediately take five seconds to GOOGLE.


Lies have fueled the attacks on the transgender community.

At this late date, I don't feel like forgiving any 'journalist' who can't do their damn job on this subject.

Pence lied in front of a group of people, cited the Bible, tried to play caring and understanding while endorsing parents being stripped of rights.  It's not your damn business what medical attention a parent and a doctor decide is needed.  It's not your damn business.

But to justify this break with basic rights, to act like it's normal, Ron DeSantis and Mike Pence both resort to the exact same lie: You can't even get a tattoo if you're under 18!!!

LIE.

In Indiana, as in Florida, someone under 18 can get a tattoo if the parent gives permission (Florida also allows medical tattoos -- Indiana law makes no mention of them).  

And that's how it should be.  If your parent (or legal guardian) says you can get a tattoo at whatever age, that's not my business.  

But they lie -- Ron and Mike -- and the media helps them lie so that we'll all cluck and say, "Oh, can't even get a tattoo why should they be allowed to be on hormone blockers or have surgery"?  Why?  Because the parent and the doctor have made the private, medical decision that is legal and should remain that way.  

THE NEW YORK TIMES has done so much damage with regards to the trans community and that goes far beyond their nonsense that egged on Bette Midler to make a fool of herself on Twitter.  (I'm with Kim Brown -- I don't work for Musk, I'll call it what it's known as: Twitter.) The paper has lied over and over and intentionally misled.  People think "liberal paper."  No, not really.  It not only did not lead on climate change, it never leads on science.  Look at their archives and see how they responded to the science on extinction level events.  That's not a pretty tale and, time and again, NYT has been reactionary with regards to science and medicine.  Look at their hideous and homophobic coverage of AIDS and grasp that we were calling that out in real time.  Don't say, "Oh, it was the 80s."  Yes, it was the 80s and, yes, their coverage was homophobic and, no, there was no excuse for it.


And when politicians start insisting that they have the right to interfere in your child's medical treatment that you and the doctor you have elected to take your child to because, they lie, you can't even get a tattoo when you're under 18, it is the job of the press to state, "This is not true."  

Instead, they keep letting Ron DeSantis and now Mike Pence lie.  

Journalism is supposed to hold the powerful accountable and that includes calling them out when they lie -- or, if you prefer, when they misspeak -- out of malice or stupidity.

It's not too much, especially on a charged topic like this, to expect journalist to do their damn jobs.  

When they fail to do so, they allow the lies and misinformation that created the culture of fear to begin with to flourish.  So do your damn job.  The hate merchants are very focused on the destruction they want to carry out.  If you're not up to the job of covering what's going on, admit it and quit.  Stop pretending you're a journalist if you're not doing your job.


The hate merchants of Moms For Bigotry remain busy.   Colleen Wixon (Treasure Coast Newspapers) reports on a school in Florida:


Another 128 school library books here are being reviewed — and will be permanently removed if found to have sexual content, district officials told the School Board this week.

All the books stem from continuing challenges made by the local chapter of Moms for Liberty, a conservative political group, over the past two years.

[. . .]

Among the books most recently removed: Alice Walker's "The Color Purple," which won a Pulitzer Prize; and "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison. New York Times best-selling author Jodi Picoult no longer comes up in a search of books available in the district's libraries, as 20 of her 30 novels made the list of challenged books to review.

In 2022, Moms for Liberty asked for 156 books to be removed, citing sexual or racial content. In February 2022, the School Board removed just five of them. Since then, the group found an additional 98 books to be challenged, said chapter President Jennifer Pippin.







In Chester County, Pennsylvania -- a suburb of Philadelphia -- Ronna Dewey, a mother with a recently graduated son, was alarmed when calls for the removal of certain books started occurring in her district in 2021.

"Two of the books in particular that they were targeting were written by and about people who identify as part of [the LGBTQ] community," Dewey, whose son is gay, told ABC News. "And so, it felt really personal to me. It felt like a direct attack on my son and my family."


If you're wondering, Shannon Grady is the hate merchant there.  She's a Moms For Bigotry hate merchant.  ABC notes:


Schools in many parts of the U.S. have become a battleground and parental involvement is one of the topics at the center. Fights in school board meetings, including in Chester County, have erupted over how race, sexual orientation, gender and other topics are brought up, or taught, in the classroom.

Moms for Liberty, in particular, has come under fire over its political ties and its calls to remove material from schools that, critics say, feature LGBTQ+ characters and promote racial inclusivity. The group has responded to this criticism in the past, calling it “laughable” and saying it lacks credibility.

Some parents are arguing their children don't need to be exposed to certain topics at certain ages while some parents on the other side of the debate say they trust the schools and teachers to determine which topics and materials are age-appropriate for the students.


And who's unhappy?  Not most parents with kids enrolled in schools:

Despite the seemingly contentious discussion about the state of the U.S. education system, a recent Gallup poll found parents are generally satisfied with the quality of their children's K-12 education.

At least 76% of parents of K-12 students say they are "completely" or "somewhat" satisfied with the quality of the education their oldest child is receiving.

[. . .]

Katie Paris, a mother in Ohio, and the founder of Red, Wine and Blue -- a progressive political mobilizing group -- said she saw these topics coming under attack during school board meetings.

"Anything that mentioned words like 'diversity' or 'inclusion' or 'equity' those all of a sudden, were becoming kind of lightning bolt controversial phrases," she told ABC News. "But just this small minority of people who were getting very loud … and I think parents were concerned about the impact that this was going to have on their kids."

"Our suburban communities are becoming more diverse, and we have a lot of pride actually in the steps for the progress that we're making together, in terms of better understanding [what it means] to really respect our differences and grow together in these communities and thrive in a diverse environment," she continued. "For me, as a parent, I know that for my kids to be successful, they need to be exposed to reality, and diverse viewpoints, learning real accurate history."



TEEN VOGUE explains what's going on:


Recent Republican efforts to curtail the preservation of LGBTQ+ history are threatening to erase the past. In June, Maigen Sullivan, PhD, cofounder of the Invisible Histories Project (IHP), gave a talk on Alabama’s Lesser Known LGBTQ History at the Alabama Department of Archives & History. The backlash was swift. Before the event even took place, state representative Jamie Kiel condemned it as part of a “woke liberal agenda”; soon after, Senator Chris Elliot authored a bill that would slash $5 million from the department’s total annual budget.

Elliot’s bill was introduced during a five-day special session that was originally called to address redistricting legislation. Though the bill ultimately did not make it to the floor, Elliot warned that this would not be the end of his interest in the archives department, telling Alabama Daily News, “What I was proposing was minor compared to what’s coming.”

This is new territory for IHP, which is headquartered in Birmingham and works to preserve LGBTQ+ history across the American southeast. Since Dr. Sullivan and her cofounder, Josh Burford, launched their project in 2018, presentations have largely taken place without scandal. But in a political climate that is partly characterized by attacks on trans youthgender-affirming care, and abortion services, it seems another element of queer culture is now under attack: history itself.

“There's something insidious about coming after archives, coming after history,” Dr. Sullivan tells Teen Vogue. “It's like, 'Let's go after the people. Let's push them back in the closet. Let's eradicate them from public view, and then let's erase any trace of the progress that they had made and that they were here previously.'”

Alabama legislators’ move to censor queer history comes at a time when a record number of anti-trans bills have been introduced in state legislatures nationwide, most of them targeting health carehigh school sports, and school bathrooms. Archives have so far mostly flown under the radar, but censorship has been on the rise in the form of book bans and restrictions on Black history curriculacritical race theory, and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Says Molly Tepera, a digital archivist at the University of Texas at Dallas, book bans are easier for politicians to execute because they’re about censoring individual titles, not entire collections. Dr. Sullivan says it’s all part of a broader “anti-intellectualism” trend.



In other news of hate merchants, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.  Whiner and crackpot Junior.  We told you at the start of last month his support was dropping.  That was obvious, you just had to pay attention.  In the middle of August, Katherine Fung (NEWSWEEK) had the hard numbers:

 
A new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday shows Kennedy with 13 percent support from Democrats or Democratic-leaning voters, a 3.5 percentage point decrease from June's survey.
The most recent poll, conducted from August 10 to August 14 among 1,632 likely voters, also showed a slight uptick in support for self-help author Marianne Williamson. She received 9 percent support in August, compared to 8 percent in June. Biden also saw a bump from 70 percent support to 72 percent in the last two months.
Those numbers are part of a national trend that shows Kennedy on a downward trajectory. He had a RealClearPolitics average of 20 percent in April, a stronger-than-expected showing that fell to 16.8 percent in June. As of Wednesday, his average from the polling data aggregator is 13.3 percent.


Quinnipiac has a new poll and Marianne's only dropped 1% (to 8) whereas Junior is now polling at 11%.   In June, he had 16.5% support in the Qunnipiac poll.  He's lost 5.5% support in four months. If this trend continues, he'll be in the single digits in no time. 



 Last week the RFK, Jr. Redemption Tour took him to the friendly confines of the Jimmy Dore Show, where he continued to grunt out slanders about Palestinians: “We give 800 million a year to the Palestinian Authority, which uses that money to pay bounties to Palestinians who kill Jews. Not government officials, but civilians. So if you go to Israel…Uhm…So if you kill a Jew anywhere in the world and you’re a Palestinian, the Palestinian Authority will pay you money for that…There’s this mentality, especially on the liberal left, that portrays Israel as a kind of occupying nation sitting on Palestinian land and the whole thing is a lie from start to end.”



Speaking of poor polling and likely voter drop off, Ron DeSantis.  Mike covers Doo-Doo Ron Ron Desantis at his site regularly, so be sure to check that out.  Due to poor polling, we're seeing a 'new' Ron of late.  Why he doesn't hate anyone.  He's not racist, he's not homophobic, he won't arrest women for having abortions. 



In case you forgot, as Aretha sang, Ron was supposed to be the front runner.  He's never been.  And his support has slid down so far that last week his campaign began saying that a second place win in Iowa would be great.  (In Iowa, the GOP does a primary.  The Democrats do a caucus.)  In case you forgot, when he failed to live up to the polling promises early in the campaign, they began calling mannish Casey DeSantis his "secret weapon."  Those days are long gone.  Casey couldn't save her friend's job on his campaign and she couldn't save Ron.  There are no more "secret weapons."

There is only reality and that reality decrees Ron needs to drop his war on 'woke' because it has run off voters and because that jibes with recent elections where the GOP's learned the hard way that 'woke' is not an issue animating voters.  So now Ron has to say new words.

And he wants to be believed.

But should we waste our time on that nonsense?

No.

Appearing on CBS EVENING NEWS yesterday with Norah O'Donnell, he lied over and over.


Florida Gov. and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis said the NAACP is pulling a "stunt" by calling Florida hostile to Black Americans, other minorities and LGBTQ+ people. 

The NAACP has issued a warning that Florida is "openly hostile for African Americans, people of color, and LGBTQ individuals." In an interview with DeSantis, CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor Norah O'Donnell asked if he would represent the entire country, and whether everyone could feel welcome in DeSantis' America. 
"A hundred percent," DeSantis responded.



No, he would not.  A real journalist who was prepared for the interview would have immediately offered examples of how that is not his history.


Let's focus on that first part of the report.  A "stunt."  The NAACP is pulling a "stunt."  Yeah, sounds like he's changed (that was sarcasm).  In case you forgot, he 'revised' the Florida curriculum.  This was done by his hand picked crew.  And they decided that slavery was nothing but a government works program -- kind of like FDR's WPA? -- that imparted valuable skills and knowledge.

And he has the audacity to accuse the NAACP of pulling a "stunt."  We're not done yet.  Because of his actions, Ryan Palmeter killed three African-Americans in a Dollar General shooting in Florida. The three killed were 19-year-old Anolt Joseph "AJ" Laguerre Jr., 29-year-old Jerrald De'Shaun Gallion and 52-year-old Angela Michelle Carr.  At the press event to garner attention on the backs of the dead, Ron DeSantis was booed loudly by the majority of African-Americans present.  We're still not done.  Then he ran back to the campaign trail and when an African-American who was a veteran of the US military 'dared' to question him, Ronald exploded and had the man kicked out of the campaign event.  



And he wants to accuse the NAACP of pulling a "stunt."


He went on to toss out figures that really have no bearing such as, "But in Florida, our unemployment rate amongst African Americans is way lower than New York, California and these blue states."  Florida is tied with Maryland with 3.6% unemployment rate among African-Americans.  Per the data from the Economic Policy Institute for 2023, the following states have African-American unemployment rates lower than 3.6%: George, Alabama (the lowest of the 50 states with 2.2%), Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Hampshire and Vermont.  Maryland (which is tied with Florida) is a "blue state" as are New Hampshire and Vermont.  He continues to struggle when it comes to being honest and truthful.  




A state judge on Saturday rejected congressional district boundaries affecting communities across North Florida, saying they unconstitutionally restrict Black voting power and that Florida’s Legislature must redraw them.
“By dismantling a congressional district that enabled Black voters to elect their candidates of choice under the previous plan, the enacted plan violates … the Florida Constitution,” Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh in Tallahassee ruled.
In the 55-page ruling, he also noted that throughout history "Florida has been a state home to discrimination in voting."


Golly Ronald didn't mention that (and Norah O'Donnell didn't raise it).  But it's the NAACP that's pulling a "stunt"?  


Back to the report on the very bad interview:


Still, O'Donnell pointed out that because of DeSantis' policies in the Sunshine State, some minorities and members of the LGBTQ community think he would discriminate against them. DeSantis said some of the blame for that lies with the media. 

"Well, part of the reason they think that is 'cause of narratives that are put out by media," DeSantis responded. "I mean, for example, when we had the fight with Disney over the elementary education about, should you have things about sex and gender identity telling a second grader that their gender's fluid? We said, 'Absolutely not.' Parents in Florida agreed. And throughout — the country I think agreed with that."


He wants to mention DISNEY?  With all the money he's lost Florida and is losing Florida because of his war with DISNEY?  Interesting.  


He lies again -- did Norah not push back -- "over the elementary education."  And then he wants to say second grader.

Why?


Because he's a liar who wants to make his actions seem far less extreme than they were.  If Norah didn't push back, shame on her.  Here's reality  CBS NEWS viewers were deprived of:

The Florida board of education has voted to expand the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, banning classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation to all grades.

Under the original Parental Rights in Education law, which was signed into law last year, instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation was banned for K-3 students, but teachers in grades 4-12 were allowed to offer this kind of instruction if it was deemed developmentally appropriate. What developmentally appropriate means is up to the Florida department of education to determine.

But under the expansion, which was proposed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration last month and approved on Wednesday, all public school students will be banned from learning about these topics, unless required by existing state standards or as part of reproductive health instruction that students can opt out of.


Eesha Pendharkar (EDUCATION WEEK) reported the above on April 19th.  Norah interviewed Ronald on September 13th -- five months later -- and didn't know that?


If that's the case, heads need to roll among her staff. Someone should have prepared her for that ahead of the interview.  

No this doesn't end in elementary school and Ronald knows that.  He lied to make it seem less extreme.

He is liar, a damn liar. 

And only an idiot's going to believe him when he claims that he'd be welcoming of all Americans. Let's note that again:

In an interview with DeSantis, CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor Norah O'Donnell asked if he would represent the entire country, and whether everyone could feel welcome in DeSantis' America. 
"A hundred percent," DeSantis responded.


No, he's not going to.  And let's note that American citizens are people born in this country (as well as those who seek citizenship).  I can forgive Norah for not knowing one thing.  She's paid a lot of money to sit at that desk but she's only one person.  I cannot forgive her when the entire interview is one mistake after another.  He's going to be welcoming to all Americans?

She should have confronted him immediately about his plan to strip American citizens of citizenship. Max Greenwood (MIAMI HERALD) and Ana Ceballos (TAMPA BAY TIMES) reported at the end of June:

Andressa Reis, a 29-year-old from Coconut Creek, repeatedly refers to her U.S. citizenship status as a “privilege.” She was born in Florida after her newlywed Brazilian parents, who were in the United States at the time, decided to start a family.
“It was pretty common within my community to have people who were undocumented,” Reis said in an interview with the Miami Herald. “So I grew up recognizing the privilege I had. I didn’t have to go through a quarter of the fight that most people do.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, however, is promising that if he is elected president, he will eliminate the constitutional guarantee of citizenship for children born in the United States to migrants who entered the country illegally.

DeSantis made the promise to end birthright citizenship this week as he unveiled a host of hardline immigration policies meant to appeal to conservative voters. Former President Donald Trump also vowed years ago to do so through an executive order and, though he never followed through, has renewed the promise for the 2024 campaign.


Norah let him lie on national TV.  The media doesn't do their job over and over and it's how these hate merchants get away with so much.  We long ago noted that the backlash against them had started and it has.  But let's never forget that the media helped publicize these hate merchants and their programs by refusing to call out lies over and over.  People around the country suffer right now because the media refused to do its job.


Jeffrey St. Clair (COUNTERPUNCH) zooms in on this section of the interview:

 Ron DeSantis is only 44, but he may already have a kind of dementia that threatens US security, given this exchange with CBS News’s Nora O’Donnell on using the US military against drug cartels in Mexico…

O’Donnell: “Would you send missiles into Mexico?”

DeSantis: “We would use all available — the tactics, I think, can be debated. If you have something you want to accomplish, people would brief you on the different ways you’d be able to do it. So, that would be dependent on the situation.”

O’Donnell: “But launching military forces into Mexico is a much different standard, that’s why I’m asking the question.”

DeSantis: “The reality is they’re overrunning our border … Do we just throw up our hands and say there’s nothing we can do about it?”



Lastly, I wasn't planning on reviewing Naomi Klein's new book.  I like the book but I wasn't planning on reviewing it.  I'll look at my schedule for tomorrow later and see if I have time to do a review on Saturday.  Warning, I don't do fluff.  I have a serious problem with one aspect of the book.  If I do a review, I will probably focus on that because no one else probably is.  But I do think it's a good book and I do think it's worth reading.




The following sites updated: