July 18-19, 2016
Jul 18 01:34 Legitimate civil rights leaders Jul 18 11:58 ABM talks unity in Minnesota Jul 18 12:39 Twins fire Terry Ryan Jul 18 17:25 Are Democrats anti-cop, pro-terrorist? Jul 18 18:37 The law & order governor? Jul 18 23:34 Melania rocks Night 1 of RNC Jul 19 03:27 The Dayton pro-cop shuffle Jul 19 09:56 Matthews, Hillary vs. Patricia Smith
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Legitimate civil rights leaders
When it comes to the networks or the NY Times naming civil rights leaders, they'll frequently name Jesse Jackson, Jr., Al Sharpton or, occasionally, John Lewis. It's time to name a new set of civil rights leaders. If I were king-for-a-day, I'd start the list with Alton Sterling's family . I'd start with Quinyetta McMillon, the mother of his son Cameron.
My heart broke when I read that she said "My family is heartbroken for the officers and their families. We are praying for them, city leadership and the Baton Rouge community. As my son Cameron and I have said from the beginning, all we want is peace. We reject violence of any kind directed at members of law enforcement or citizens. My hope is that one day soon we can come together and find solutions to the very important issues facing our nation rather than continuing to hurt one another" in a printed statement.
I don't think it's a stretch to think of Quinyetta and Cameron as the opposites of #BlackLivesMatter and Al Sharpton. Further, I'd argue that Quinyetta and Cameron's attitude is more like Martin Luther King's attitude than #BlackLivesMatter and Al Sharpton's attitude towards MLK. Check out this article about "8 peaceful protests that bolstered civil rights":
1. Montgomery bus boycott, 1955-56
Lasting just over a year, the Montgomery bus boycott was a protest campaign against racial segregation on the public transit system in Montgomery, Ala. The protest began, on Dec. 1, 1955, after African-American Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white person. The next day, Dr. King proposed a citywide boycott of public transportation at a church meeting.
2. The Albany movement, 1961
The Albany movement was a coalition formed in November 1961 in Albany, Ga., to protest city segregation policies. Dr. King joined in December, planning only to counsel the protesters for one day. Instead, he was jailed during a mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators, and he declined bail until the city changed its segregation policies.
Read the entire article.
Alton Sterling's family is calling for peace just like Martin Luther King rejected violence in his march for civil rights. Dr. King was a giant, just like Quinyetta and Cameron are peace-advocating giants at a time when America needs more peace-advocating giants.
On Wednesday, Cameron Sterling made a public plea for peace.
"Protest in peace. Not guns, not drugs, not alcohol, not violence," he said. "Everyone needs to protest in the right way, with peace. No violence. None whatsoever."
Let's pray we find more Quinyettas and Camerons fast. We need them badly.
Posted Monday, July 18, 2016 1:34 AM
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ABM talks unity in Minnesota
ABM Executive Director Joey Davis just sent me an email that's essentially pure propaganda. The email starts with "Funding our schools so our children have a great start in life. Closing corporate loopholes so small businesses have a level playing field. Making the economy work for all of us, not just the wealthy. These are the priorities that Democrats in the Minnesota legislature have focused on, while conservative Republicans continue to try and divide us and keep the deck stacked against working families."
Nothing tells voters that the DFL wants to level the playing field for small businesses and working families than Gov. Dayton's veto of a tax bill that would've provided substantial property tax relief for small businesses and farmers.
ABM and the DFL (pardon the repetition) want Minnesotans to forget that Gov. Dayton, like he's done each year, vetoed popular legislation that had strong bipartisan support. This year, he vetoed the Tax Bill that garnered 178 out of a possible 200 votes in the House and Senate. Last year, Gov. Dayton vetoed most of the budget bills that passed. Those bills were the product of bipartisan negotiations between Sen. Bakk and Speaker Daudt.
Later in the email, we find this gem:
Republicans want us divided and focused on who we should be scared of, but we know that to build a better Minnesota we need to go a different way.
In 2015, Speaker Daudt met with Sen. Bakk and hammered out a solid bipartisan budget. It's difficult to say that Republicans want Minnesotans divided when the top-ranking Republican in the state negotiates a solid bipartisan budget. Considering the fact that Gov. Dayton said that he couldn't trust Sen. Bakk in 2015, it's impossible to believe that Republicans are the dividers. It's important to remember this :
Gov. Mark Dayton erupted in anger Thursday in a dispute with the DFL Senate leader over a weeks-long controversy surrounding pay raises the governor gave to his cabinet. 'To have a majority leader of the Senate come in and stab me in the back and blindside me is absolutely unacceptable,' Dayton said.
Dayton's ire came after Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk led the Senate in voting to suspend the salary increases for state commissioners. All but two members of the DFL-controlled Senate voted with Bakk in favor of the proposal. The friction between the Capitol's two most powerful DFLers threatens to cast a cloud over the rest of the 2015 legislative session. The two have tussled before, but Dayton indicated Thursday that their relations now were beyond repair.
Dayton said Bakk, a former ally, has proved himself untrustworthy because he brought forth the salary smackdown without any warning. "I'm confronted with two hostile bodies of the Legislature, one with a leader I believe I can trust (Republican House Speaker Kurt Daudt) and one I know I can't trust," Dayton said. " I certainly learned a brutal lesson today that I can't trust (Bakk.) I can't believe what he says to me and connives behind my back."
ABM wants to paint the picture that they're unified and that their agenda is popular. Last year's fight between Sen. Bakk and Gov. Dayton indicates that ABM isn't tethered to reality.
Posted Monday, July 18, 2016 11:58 AM
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Twins fire Terry Ryan
Saying that this decision is startling is understatement. Minutes ago, the Twins announced that they'd fired Terry Ryan as their GM . Jim Souhan, the longtime Strib sports columnist and former Twins beat writer, summed it up best when he wrote "The Twins' firing of Terry Ryan feels shocking, but only because of his personality and the organization's longstanding commitment to loyalty among its most visible employees."
This isn't Carl Pohlad's team anymore. It's Jim Pohlad's team. Though they're father and son, style-wise, they're miles apart. Carl Pohlad hated paying big money on free agents or to retain the Twins' own free agents. Jim Pohlad hasn't hesitated in signing free agents. (Think Ervin Santana, Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes.)
The truth is that the Twins haven't been competitive in almost a decade. While their farm system has done a decent job of producing position player (decent, not great), their farm system has utterly failed at producing starting pitching or relief pitching. While that appears to be turning around, it's clear that the Twins' farm system should've produced more All Stars considering the fact that they've been drafting in the top 10 in the draft pretty much every year.
TR is a man of integrity but that isn't justification enough to keep him as the Twins' GM.
Posted Monday, July 18, 2016 12:39 PM
Comment 1 by Chad Q at 18-Jul-16 07:11 PM
Ryan was good at squeezing talent out of young players for a low cost. When it came to spending big money on good players, he failed miserably. You can't just spend money to spend it.
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 18-Jul-16 11:58 PM
Their farm system went to hell after Jim Rantz retired, too.
Are Democrats anti-cop, pro-terrorist?
I intentionally gave this post that inflammatory title. Other than a few left fringers that I could count on my fingers, nobody is pro-terrorist. It isn't difficult to make a case that there are lots of lefties that hate America or that think that they need to apologize for America, with our current president at the top of that list.
After reading Chris Stirewalt's article , though, I thought it was important to highlight how the Democrats' passivity or indifference towards terrorism and their pandering towards #BlackLivesMatter, Hands up, don't shoot and Al Sharpton have created the situation we're currently facing.
Shortly after starting in office, President Obama said that he didn't know the facts surrounding the Cambridge Police Department arresting Henry Gates but that he knew that "the cops acted stupidly." Later, he sent then-US Attorney General Eric Holder to Ferguson to conduct a civil rights review and investigation. President Obama even bought into the 'Hands up, don't shoot' storyline. President Obama didn't speak out against Black Lives Matter, either, because he wanted them stirred up for the midterm elections.
Couple that with Bill DeBlasio's shameful statement that he worries about his son and Gov. Dayton's statement that he thinks that Philando Castile would still be alive if he wasn't black and Mrs. Clinton's statement that systemic racism is putting African-Americans in danger.
It isn't a stretch to say that the Democrats' default position is to question law enforcement authorities. It's simply happened too many times to argue otherwise.
As for terrorism, it's painfully obvious that this administration hasn't done all it could in fighting ISIS. John Kerry admitted that attacks against Syria and ISIS would be "unbelievably small":
In Afghanistan, generals recommended to President Obama that they use a troop surge to destroy the Taliban. Rather than immediately accepting their recommendation, the administration dithered and dithered until the opportunity had passed and the Taliban had escaped. After all that time waiting, President Obama ordered a troop surge, then stated in the very next sentence when he'd pull our the surge troops.
Hillary isn't much better. She's more 'hawkish', if you can call it that. She's more willing to use the military but she's only willing to do that in a photo op way. Look at Libya. She insisted that we get rid of Qaddafi. Eventually, that happened. Then she ignored all of Christopher Stevens' urgent requests for additional security. After ignoring those urgent cables, the result was Christopher Stevens getting killed in a terrorist attack.
There's no proof that she's learned from that lesson.
Simply put, the Democratic Party hasn't shown that they have the inclination to consistently support police officers or to fight terrorists wherever they are. If we want to make America safe again, then voting for Hillary isn't an option. She has tons of national security experience with virtually no serious accomplishments. Think Benghazi, the Arab Spring, the Russian Reset Button and insisting that Bashar al-Assad was a reformer we could work with.
That isn't the type of experience that I'd vote for.
Posted Monday, July 18, 2016 5:25 PM
Comment 1 by LadyLogician at 18-Jul-16 05:56 PM
And Hillary invited Michael Brown's mother to speak at the DNC convention this year. http://twitchy.com/twitchys-3839/2016/07/18/outrageous-why-is-this-anti-cop-activist-headlining-the-dnc/
LL
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 18-Jul-16 06:51 PM
I disagree with the idea to disinvite her. She should be up on stage so that the entire nation can see that the Democrats aren't pro-law enforcement. Then again, it's pretty obvious that they aren't pro-law enforcement whether she speaks or not. That's pretty obvious.
The law & order governor?
It's difficult to take Gov. Dayton's statements about law enforcement seriously these days. Hours after Philando Castile was shot and killed by a St. Anthony police officer and while the investigation was just getting started, Gov. Dayton threw white gas on the fire by saying he thought Castile wouldn't have gotten shot if he'd been white.
Law enforcement officials across the nation and in the Twin Cities took Gov. Dayton to task for making such a reckless statement. They were justified in extracting the proverbial pound of political flesh from Gov. Dayton's hide.
I can't take Gov. Dayton's statement about the Baton Rouge assassinations seriously after Gov. Dayton's statements about Philando Castile. In his statement about Baton Rouge, Gov. Dayton said "The terrible murder of three law enforcement officers in Baton Rouge shocks the conscience of every decent-minded American. I renew my plea for all Minnesotans to engage only in peaceful and lawful ways to exercise their First Amendment rights. This is our opportunity to help lead the nation away from this wanton, mass violence and toward a reconciliation and healing."
Lt. Gov. Smith issued this statement:
I join all Minnesotans in mourning the tragic shooting deaths of two Baton Rouge police officers and an East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office deputy. Our prayers are with their families, friends, and communities. Law enforcement officers in Baton Rouge and across our country bravely serve to keep us safe with little consideration for their own well-being. This makes their murders particularly horrifying. We must stop this terrible violence.
Notice what's missing from their statements. Notice that they didn't criticize Black Lives Matter. Neither criticized Al Sharpton or President Obama for the outright lie that is "Hands up, don't shoot." That would require them to exhibit courage, something that neither has.
If we want healing, which is desperately needed, we need politicians who will call out race pimps like Sharpton and gutless civic 'leaders' like Marilyn Mosby and Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. Right now, the Democratic Party doesn't have anyone that fits that description.
Posted Monday, July 18, 2016 6:37 PM
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Melania rocks Night 1 of RNC
If you didn't see the first night's speeches from the Republican National Convention, you missed the coming out party of the Republican Party's newest rock star. Her name is Melania Trump. To fully appreciate Mrs. Trump's speech, I think it's important to first watch it, then read the transcript of Mrs. Trump's speech. Here's the video of Melania Trump's speech:
Thinking about Melania Trump's speech from a visual standpoint, I'm left with a surprising thought. From a visual standpoint, Melania Trump delivered a speech that could be thought of as elegant as one delivered by Jackie Kennedy.
If that's all you took from Mrs. Trump's speech, though, you didn't get how powerful Mrs. Trump's message was. The best way to understand how powerful Mrs. Trump's speech was, you should read the transcript of Mrs. Trump's speech . I don't know who Mrs. Trump's speechwriter is but whoever it is, they're fantastic.
One of the most powerful parts of Mrs. Trump's speech came early in the speech:
After living and working in Milan and Paris, I arrived in New York City twenty years ago and I saw both the joys and the hardships of daily life. On July 28th, 2006, I was very proud to become a citizen of the United States, the greatest privilege on planet Earth. I cannot, or will not, take the freedoms this country offers for granted. But these freedoms have come with a price so many times. The sacrifices made by our veterans are reminders to us of this. I would like to take this moment to recognize an amazing veteran, the great Senator Bob Dole.
While the video showcased Mrs. Trump's physical elegance, something that the political world has long known about, the transcript shows Mrs. Trump's substantive side:
Yes, Donald thinks big, which is especially important when considering the presidency of the United States. No room for small thinking. No room for small results. Donald gets things done. Our country is underperforming and needs new leadership. Leadership is also what the world needs. Donald wants our country to move forward in the most positive of ways. Everyone wants change. Donald is the only one that can deliver it. We should not be satisfied with stagnation. Donald wants prosperity for all Americans.
With perfect elegance, Mrs. Trump powerfully stated what most Americans know -- that America has underperformed the past 8 years. That's an indictment against this administration.
Later, Mrs. Trump said "Donald wants our country to move forward in the most positive of ways. Everyone wants change. Donald is the only one that can deliver it." That's an indictment against Hillary Clinton. She's the status quo candidate. It's as if Mrs. Trump was saying "if you're satisfied with 8 more years of stagnation and rapidly increasing terrorist attacks, Mrs. Clinton is your candidate. If you want a great America that lives up to its history, Donald Trump is your candidate.'
From a literary standpoint, that's brilliant. It's brilliant because the speechwriter, I suspect intentionally, framed it as a binary choice: stagnation with Hillary, greatness with Trump.
Posted Monday, July 18, 2016 11:34 PM
Comment 1 by Bob J. at 20-Jul-16 09:29 AM
If you want four more years of more of the same, vote for either of the two major party candidates, neither of which will do thing one to cure what ails us.
Comment 2 by Chad Q at 20-Jul-16 09:27 PM
And voting for someone who doesn't have a chance or staying home and pouting gets you the same for the next 4 years too.
Trump is nowhere near a perfect candidate but Gary told me long ago "if you're waiting for the perfect candidate, you might be waiting for a long time". It's time to come together to beat Hillary.
Comment 3 by Gary Gross at 21-Jul-16 01:25 AM
I'm not buying all of the platitudes that have been said about DJT. What changed me from #NeverTrump to voting for him was when the FBI decided not to prosecute Hillary. That was the tipping point for me.
The Dayton pro-cop shuffle
Monday, I wrote this post to highlight Gov. Dayton's statement on the Baton Rouge assassinations. Gov. Dayton said "The terrible murder of three law enforcement officers in Baton Rouge shocks the conscience of every decent-minded American. I renew my plea for all Minnesotans to engage only in peaceful and lawful ways to exercise their First Amendment rights. This is our opportunity to help lead the nation away from this wanton, mass violence and toward a reconciliation and healing."
While it's true that Gov. Dayton's tone in this statement was conciliatory, let's not forget that Gov. Dayton also accused a Hispanic police officer of racism by saying "Would this have happened if driver and the passenger have been white? I don't think so."
Don't let Gov. Dayton's latest public statements fool you. Gov. Dayton accused a Hispanic police officer of being a racist. In her speech to the NAACP Convention, Hillary Clinton said "Americans need to do a better job of listening when African-Americans talk about the seen and unseen barriers you face every day. We need to recognize our privilege and practice humility rather than assume that our experiences are everyone's experiences. We all need to try, as best we can, to walk in one another's shoes, to imagine what it would be like to our son or daughter down and have the talk."
Whether it's Gov. Dayton accusing police officers of being racists or whether it's Mrs. Clinton talking about white privilege, Democrats talk the language of victimization to minorities, especially African-Americans.
Gov. Dayton's political allies at TakeAction Minnesota hinted that white people are racists in this letter:
Last week, we shared our reflections on the tragic death of Philando Castile, Alton Sterling and countless other black people, as well as other people of color, at the hands of the police. We were amazed by the overwhelming amount of people like you who recognize this injustice and are ready to act.
You know more than anyone that the time to show up, to be in solidarity, to act for the movement of black lives is NOW. We must take action against the structural racism plaguing our state and entire country. A racism that shows up in our policing as systemic violence, in the public education system that fail students of color, and in every other facet of our communities.
Here are a couple immediate ways you can join the fight right away:
In the Twin Cities tomorrow? We're joining the educators from the Saint Paul Federation of Teachers, the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, Neighborhoods Organizing for Change & other black leaders hitting the streets to demand justice for #PhilandoCastile and for Black lives across the country.
Can't make the march, but still want to act? Sign this petition to call on St. Paul County Attorney Choi to turn over the investigation on the murder of Philando Castile into the hands of an independent special prosecutor.
Police violence and structural racism are literally costing the lives of people of color and ultimately, both of these forces impact all of us in varying ways, but they do and will take all of us to create change. As a white father, whose children are in the St. Paul Public Schools, the tragic death of Philando Castile is a terrifying reminder that the educators who care so much for my children are not safe themselves - and that's unacceptable. We can't stress this enough. That's why we'll be there tomorrow, and we want to see you.
It isn't difficult to understand what's happening. In public, Gov. Dayton and Mrs. Clinton sound like us. The minute they're with their special interest friends, though, they start accusing people of being racists. Personally, I can't trust someone who changes what they say depending on which audience they're speaking to.
Mrs. Clinton's divisiveness is off-putting and unattractive. Couple that with her lack of trustworthiness and you have a legitimate reason not to trust her with the keys to the Oval Office.
Posted Tuesday, July 19, 2016 3:27 AM
Comment 1 by Bob J. at 20-Jul-16 09:27 AM
"They'd be alive if they weren't cops."
"Words We Will Never Hear", by Mark Dayton
Matthews, Hillary vs. Patricia Smith
Last night, Chris Matthews attempted to defend the indefensible. He attempted to exonerate Hillary Clinton of all blame for Benghazi. If that seems impossible to believe, check this out . It's appalling that Matthews said that "And then to pile on to that this gross accusation that somehow Hillary Clinton had anything to do with the death of Chris Stevens, the ambassador, she had nothing to do with it. Even with all the arguments with the PR afterwards, as Gene pointed out, if it's true, worst case scenario, she didn't give a straight story afterwards. That had nothing to do with the death of our great ambassador over there."
Is Matthews that stupid or that blindly partisan? Hillary Clinton, as Secretary of State, was ultimately responsible for making policy decisions on security at diplomatic outposts. While it's true that she didn't hire this security contracting company over another, she certainly was responsible for signing off on security levels at embassies, consulates and diplomatic outposts. She failed miserably at that.
Hillary insists that she never heard from her "good friend Chris" about getting additional security. As the Secretary of State, all she had to do, if she was that interested in protecting Christopher Stevens was to contact him through the State Department's secure communications and find out for herself. She never did that, which is directly responsible for Christopher Stevens' death.
This statement should be demolished:
Her emotions are her own but for the country in choosing a leader, it's wrong to have someone get up there and tell a lie about Hillary Clinton.
Mr. Matthews, saying something that you disagree with isn't a lie. A lie is defined as "a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood." A lie can be proven forensically. For instance, a person saying they weren't at a specific location at a specific time is either verifiable or it isn't. That still isn't a lie, though, unless the person intended to deceive others.
When a person, in this case Patricia Smith, offers an opinion that Matthews disagrees with, that's a difference of opinion. It isn't a lie. It's a difference of opinion, nothing more.
Posted Tuesday, July 19, 2016 9:56 AM
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