Category: National Issues

Stephen Miller’s bushels of Pinocchios for false voter-fraud claims

The following Fact Checker article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website February 12, 2012:

White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images)

White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller appeared on ABC’s “The Week” on Sunday, spouting a bunch of false talking points on alleged voter fraud. (He also repeated similar claims on other Sunday talk shows.) To his credit, host George Stephanopoulus repeatedly challenged Miller, noting that he had provided no evidence to support his claims. But Miller charged ahead, using the word “fact” three times in a vain effort to bolster his position.

Here’s a guide through the back and forth. Continue reading “Stephen Miller’s bushels of Pinocchios for false voter-fraud claims”

Russian dossier on Trump gaining credibility with law enforcement

The following video from CBS News was posted February 10, 2017:

 

The Takeaway: The Special Relationship

The following is from the Washington Post Today’s WorldView by Ishaan Tharoor was issued February 13, 2017. Teamed with President Trump stating he wasn’t aware of this issue this past Friday, the situation is extremely concerning on multiple levels.

President Trump’s national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, had a pretty wretched week. The Post’s reporting revealed that Flynn, contrary to his and the White House’s earlier assertions, had discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with Moscow’s ambassador in Washington prior to Trump’s inauguration. Flynn, according to intelligence sources, likely signaled that the question of sanctions would be revisited by a more friendly Trump administration. Continue reading “The Takeaway: The Special Relationship”

We Can’t Take His Word for It

English teachers beginning in the earliest grades demand that students writing essays or research papers support assertions with fact or expert opinion. Part of becoming a thoughtful, engaged citizen, the argument goes, is being able to make an argument and back it up with credible sources. An English teacher will often write in the margin of a draft of a research paper “It looks like you lack support for this assertion,” or “How did you draw this conclusion?”

Candidate Trump often employed unearned assertions throughout the campaign against his primary opponents and Hillary Clinton. As President of the United States, Donald Trump can no longer make unfounded assertions and a number of his most remarkable assertions demand evidence and further investigation. Continue reading “We Can’t Take His Word for It”

DeVos Sees Public Education As A Biblical Battlefield

The following article by Cynthia Tucker Haynes was posted on the National Memo website February 11, 2017:

Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) greets Betsy DeVos for her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on Capitol Hill on Jan. 17. (Brendan Smialowski/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

There’s a reason that Betsy DeVos’ confirmation as the new secretary of education was such a close vote, requiring Vice President Mike Pence to break the tie. Even in the Trump administration, with its clear suspicion of expertise and competence, DeVos stands out as spectacularly ill-suited for her new post.

There was such a public outcry against her that two Republican senators, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski and Maine’s Susan Collins, voted against her confirmation. In this hyperpartisan age, that’s extraordinary. Continue reading “DeVos Sees Public Education As A Biblical Battlefield”

The touching letter Hillary Clinton sent this lifelong Republican protesting Donald Trump

The following article by Terrence McCoy was posted on the Washington Post website February 8, 2017:

Joanne Barr has received lots of letters since the Women’s March on Washington. But none like this one. (Photo by Heather Ainsworth for The Washington Post)

Joanne Barr, 54, has never wanted attention. She has only ever wanted a quiet life, and for a long time, what she had in Williamsport, a mountainous town in Central Pennsylvania, was just that. She never thought there would be a time when people would know her story. But then again, she never thought Donald Trump would be president, and when that happened, everything changed. Continue reading “The touching letter Hillary Clinton sent this lifelong Republican protesting Donald Trump”

Deutsche Bank Remains Trump’s Biggest Conflict of Interest Despite Settlements

The following article by Jesse Eisenger was posted on the ProPubica website February 9, 2107:

If you measure President Donald Trump’s conflicts of interest by the amount of money at stake, or the variety of dicey interactions with government regulators, one dwarfs any other: his relationship with Deutsche Bank.

In recent weeks, Deutsche Bank has scrambled to reach agreements with American regulators over a host of alleged misdeeds. But because the president has not sold his company, the bank remains a central arena for potential conflicts between his family’s business interests and the actions of officials in his administration.  Continue reading “Deutsche Bank Remains Trump’s Biggest Conflict of Interest Despite Settlements”

Stephen Miller: A key engineer for Trump’s ‘America first’ agenda

The following article by Rosalind Helderman was posted on the Washington Post website February 11, 2017:

As a young conservative in liberal Santa Monica, Calif., Stephen Miller clashed frequently with his high school, often calling in to a national radio show to lambaste administrators for promoting multiculturalism, allowing Spanish-language morning announcements and failing to require recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Miller’s outrage did not appear to subside after he graduated. As a Duke University sophomore, Miller penned a column, titled “Santa Monica High’s Multicultural Fistfights,” in which he ripped his alma mater as a “center for political indoctrination.” Continue reading “Stephen Miller: A key engineer for Trump’s ‘America first’ agenda”

Al Franken to Maher: GOP senators privately express ‘great concern’ about Trump’s temperament

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website February 11, 2017:

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) said Friday night that his Republican Senate colleagues privately express “great concern” about President Trump’s temperament, and he joked about the GOP eventually impeaching Trump.

Appearing on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” Maher asked Franken what Republicans really say behind closed doors. Continue reading “Al Franken to Maher: GOP senators privately express ‘great concern’ about Trump’s temperament”

State DFL Chair Ken Martin on Betsy DeVos

 

Chair Martin released the following statement February 7, 2017:

“Today, the Trump Administration forced a dangerously unqualified nominee on the American people. His ‘my way or the highway’ attitude has put too many families in harm’s way and this latest promotion of the most unqualified candidate for Secretary of Education is no different.

“Once she was announced as Trump’s pick to be the country’s highest ranking education official, it was immediately revealed that she had no experience with public schools at all- not as a student, parent, teacher, administrator, nothing.  Her gross incompetence was on full display during the U.S. Senate hearings. When she was before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, she refused to rule out defunding public schools, refused to stand up for kids with disabilities, and failed to answer basic questions about education policy.

“The American people have expressed their displeasure through calls, emails, letters, and social media asking their senators to listen when they say no to Trump’s agenda and not confirm DeVos. Our children and our country’s future are too important to allow an unqualified, enemy of public education to lead the Education Department.”

– See more at: https://www.dfl.org/blog/dfl-news/2017/02/statement-from-dfl-chairman-ken-martin-on-betsy-devos-confirmation/#sthash.kNIDe8QN.dpuf