Marsha also says that Green Party has activities all over the world, even Sweden, with Greta Thurnberg, who has her own, very special Michigan connection.
Very interesting interview...
MARVIN SUROWITZ a.k.a. ‘MARVIN MARVIN’ Marvin is a professor of Political Science. He has been teaching college since 1964. Students say his class is a pivotal point in their lives. Since the 1960’s Marvin has been involved in social and political issues: environmental, human rights and peace. He has run for political office. He’s travelled to over 30 countries so far. In the 1970’s Marvin studied with R. Buckminster Fuller, the famed architect, writer and futurist. ‘Bucky’ declared “Humanity could be a success on Spaceship Earth...” through technology and thinking “outside of the box.” “When I was a child there was a TV show called “Queen for a Day” where the “lucky” winner (the one with the most compelling sad story) was awarded most of her heart’s desires: a new washer, TV, money, etc. I dreamed of being “King for a Day,” where I might right the world’s wrongs -- hunger, poverty, discrimination, injustice. I soon realized I would need more than one day more than one week -- perhaps more than one lifetime. In my best moments I see people as One. I see the Earth working. I see peace and prosperity. I see no wars. I see sustainable and equitable growth. I see Earth Community!” Marvin Surowitz is the founder and Executive Director of Earth Community, Inc. Marvin is a lifetime Detroit area resident. Marvin continues teaching Political Science, as he has since 1964. He is a parent, grandparent, mentor, world traveller, an author, a community organizer, a freedom advocate, and an accomplished public speaker. Most importantly he is a visionary and a peacemaker. S.J. FLECK Steven Joseph Fleck holds a Bachelor of Science in Telecommunication and Film, with a Minor in Art Photography, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design. He is an artist, musician, DJ, political voice and resident of Detroit, Michigan.
Washington – Sen. Bernie Sanders, who saw his once strong lead in the Democratic primary evaporate as the party’s establishment lined swiftly up behind rival Joe Biden, ended his presidential bid on Wednesday, an acknowledgment that the former vice president is too far ahead for him to have any reasonable hope of catching up.
The Vermont senator’s announcement makes Biden the presumptive Democratic nominee to challenge President Donald Trump in November.
Sanders plans to talk to his supporters later Wednesday.
Sanders initially exceeded sky-high expectations about his ability to recreate the magic of his 2016 presidential bid, and even overcame a heart attack last October on the campaign trail. But he found himself unable to convert unwavering support from progressives into a viable path to the nomination amid “electability” fears fueled by questions about whether his democratic socialist ideology would be palatable to general election voters.
The 78-year-old senator began his latest White House bid facing questions about whether he could win back the supporters who chose him four years ago as an insurgent alternative to the party establishment’s choice, Hillary Clinton. Despite winning 22 states in 2016, there were no guarantees he’d be a major presidential contender this cycle, especially as the race’s oldest candidate.
Sanders, though, used strong polling and solid fundraising – collected almost entirely from small donations made online – to more than quiet early doubters. Like the first time, he attracted widespread support from young voters and was able to make new inroads within the Hispanic community, even as his appeal with African Americans remained small.
Sanders amassed the most votes in Iowa and New Hampshire, which opened primary voting, and cruised to an easy victory in Nevada – seemingly leaving him well positioned to sprint to the Democratic nomination while a deeply crowded and divided field of alternatives sunk around him.
But a crucial endorsement of Biden by influential South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, and a subsequent, larger-than-expected victory in South Carolina, propelled the former vice president into Super Tuesday, when he won 10 of 14 states.
In a matter of days, his top former Democratic rivals lined up and announced their endorsement of Biden. The former vice president’s campaign had appeared on the brink of collapse after New Hampshire but found new life as the rest of the party’s more moderate establishment coalesced around him as an alternative to Sanders.
Things only got worse the following week when Sanders lost Michigan, where he had campaigned hard and upset Clinton in 2016. He was also beaten in Missouri, Mississippi and Idaho the same night and the results were so decisive that Sanders headed to Vermont without speaking to the media.
Sanders had scheduled a rally in Ohio but canceled it amid fears about the spread of coronavirus – and the outbreak kept him home as his campaign appeared unsure of its next move. The senator addressed reporters the following day, but also sounded like a candidate who already knew he’d been beaten.
“While our campaign has won the ideological debate, we are losing the debate over electability,” Sanders said then.
Protestors jumped up on stage at the Bernie rally in Carson City, Nevada. The topless protestors took the mic and asked Bernie to stop propping up the dairy industry.
Then poured milk on themselves.
Protesters calling for Sen. Bernie Sanders to cut his support for the dairy industry crashed his Carson City, Nevada rally on Sunday afternoon.
One protester grabbed a microphone to say she was Sanders' "biggest supporter" but pleaded that he "stop pumping up the dairy industry."
While she was speaking, three topless women took the stage with "let dairy die" written on their chests.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Topless protesters crashed the stage at a rally for Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday afternoon to protest his involvement with the dairy industry.
The Democratic presidential hopeful was taking the microphone from his wife Jane, whom he called "the next first lady," at a rally in Carson City, Nevada. But then protesters took the stage.
"Bernie, I'm your biggest supporter, and I'm here to ask you to stop pumping up the dairy industry and to stop pumping up animal agriculture," one protester said. "I believe in you…" she added, before the mic cut out and security appeared to approach her on stage.
A tweet with video from the event's livestream tagged activist Priya Sawhney and animal-rights group Direct Action Everywhere.
Sawhney was not arrested, but the three women who were topless were arrested and charged with indecent exposure. They are currently being held on $2,500 bond each, according to a press release from Direct Action Everywhere.
"I love Bernie, but we must hold abusive industries accountable, not shield and subsidize them. Animal farming is an industry which gives welfare payments to millionaires," Sawhney said in a statement included in the release. "People are fed up. Like the Sanders campaign itself, animal rights is a burgeoning mass movement."
The same release cited their disagreement with Sanders' "decades-long legislative history of protecting the dairy industry," including writing a 2009 amendment providing dairy with $350 million in aid and approving the 2018 Farm Bill, which the group writes "approved over $100 billion in subsidies while rejecting activist requests to prevent handouts to millionaires and billionaires."
Sanders didn't seem fazed by the interruption.
"This is Nevada, there's always a little bit of excitement at no extra cost," he said, according to the New York Post.
Section 13.7 of the City Charter describes the Election Commission:
“The Clerk, the Chief of Police, and the Attorney shall be the Election Commission. The Clerk shall be chairman. The Election Commission shall have charge of all activities and duties required of it by law and this charter relating to the conduct of City elections. The compensation of all election personnel shall be determined in advance by the Council. In any case of doubt concerning election procedure, the Election Commission shall prescribe the procedure to be followed.”
Members
The incumbent City Clerk, Chief of Police, and City Attorney are:
Michael Cox, police chief of the Ann Arbor Police Department, has been placed on paid administrative leave for two weeks, according to an email from City Administrator Howard sent on Friday afternoon.
The email was addressed to the mayor, members of City Council and Lisa Jackson, the Independent Community Police Oversight Commission chair.
“I am writing to inform you that I have placed Police Chief Cox on Administrative Leave due to a personnel matter,” Lazarus wrote. “Deputy Chief Forsberg will serve as the Acting Chief.”
Deputy Chief Jason Forsberg will assume Cox’s duties while Cox is on leave. Forsberg was one of three finalists who interviewed for the police chief position over the summer.
In an interview with The Daily, Jackson said the commission was not told the specifics of the situation.
“I do not know as much as I would like to know,” Jackson said. “The commission is a little concerned that we were given the same amount of the information as the public was. We were not told why.”
However, Jackson added she has been told the leave is not due to Cox’s “personal misconduct” or an “allegation of him personally doing something improper.” When asked where she acquired this knowledge, Jackson said she was reassured by “people with more information” but declined to specify, as she said these individuals were likely not supposed to have told her.
Jackson said some members of City Council have also expressed their frustration to her about being “in the dark.”
City Councilmember Ali Ramlawi, D-Ward 5, shared in Jackson’s confusion. He said he understands the police chief will be on leave pending the investigation of a matter “we don’t know anything about yet.”
“There was no information given as to what it pertains to, only that there was a need to put the senior official on an administrative leave so an investigation can be conducted so we can have the best possible look at what happened,” Ramlawi said.
The Daily contacted Cox’s secretary Keri Hirschman, who did not reply prior to publication.
Cox was sworn in as the city’s new police chief in September 2019 after being appointed unanimously to the position in July 2019 by City Council. Cox’s salary starts at $160,000 a year.
Prior to coming to Ann Arbor, Cox served in the Boston Police Department for 30 years, including as a bureau chief for the Boston Police Academy from 2018 until his leave.
According to Jackson, Lazarus dealt exclusively with Cox’s leave. Lazarus had recommended Cox for the position in June over two other candidates vying for the role.
She said she found out about the leave Friday afternoon after being copied on an email from Lazarus to City Council members. Lazarus did not respond to request for comment prior to publication.
Ramlawi, as one of the liaisons to the ICPOC alongside Councilmember Jane Lumm, I-Ward 2, said he received a phone call from Lazarus informing him of Cox’s leave before the email was sent. City Council established the ICPOC in 2018 following years of advocacy by local activists.
Lumm did not reply to request for comment by time of publication.
Ramlawi said he is unsure why Cox’s leave will last two weeks.
“I’m not sure what made the city administrator believe it would just take two weeks, or whether they might come back and ask for more time after that,” Ramlawi said. “I would only be guessing.”
Jackson said the fact that the leave has a specified time frame “strikes a lot of people as strange.”
“If there is an investigation we want to know into what,” Jackson said. “If there is an investigation we’d like to know on what evidence that investigation is being conducted. Those are things we don’t have answers to now, and those are things we would like and we would like that information to be made public.”
Despite the ICPOC receiving minimal information about Cox’s leave, while he was being considered for the position in March, Cox emphasized transparency, expressing that he believes a police oversight commission had an important role to play in the community, bridging the gap between law enforcement and the public.
“I think in policing we don’t always educate the public or educate folks on what we do or how we do it, and the oversight commission is just an opportunity for that education process to exist in a more transparent way,” Cox said.
Forsberg has also commended the commission as an important transparency and accountability tool.
“I think the policing commission is a great opportunity to begin bridging that gap,” Forsberg said. “We really only do begin building trust by having transparency — having accountability within the ranks. But we do a lot of great work right now that, I feel like, people just don’t know about.”
In 1995, Cox was beaten by other police officers while undercover. According to Cox in a previous interview with The Daily, his experience with police brutality and others in which he said he has been mistaken as the suspect rather than the officer have informed his belief in fostering trust between law enforcement and the community.
“Interacting with the public in ways that don’t have to do with normal police work is important and builds trust,” Cox said. “It helps us figure out what the community wants. It helps the officers get to know the community, and the community gets to know the officers.”
Though Ramlawi said he would like more information, he said he understands not everyone can know the details because there can’t be “five different bosses.” He urged patience as the investigation plays out.
“We need to have trust in a system that has checks and balances hopefully,” Ramlawi said. “You want due process. All too often, we just jump to conclusions… It’s important to take our time and just allow the process to work.”
The Iowa Caucus is a disaster and no one is reporting in. Biden campaign sent a letter to the Iowa Democratic Party. It cites “considerable flaws” and says the campaign needs a “full explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control you are employing" BEFORE they release ANY official results. The Biden Campaign General Counsel sent the letter after a conference call with all campaigns in which the state party HUNG UP on them because they didn't have answers to questions the campaigns were peppering them with.
Even legislators have voting rights, where the vote is tallied and recorded, unlike the previous years elections in Detroit, the largest concentration of voters in the State of Michigan.
How can you count votes if they were never tallied?
What if the votes were knowingly and willingly purged from the tally?
When votes are not tallied, you do not have due process in an election, you do not have a duly elected official, hence, illegitimate.
The purpose of the tally is to preserve the record to be challenged under the Second Amendment through the impeachment.
There are many different processi of impeachment called the extraordinary writs.
Kathleen Gray and Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press
Published 4:34 p.m. ET Oct. 27, 2019 | Updated 5:09 p.m. ET Oct. 27, 2019
The Conyers - Post-vows
U.S. Rep. John Conyers, a civil rights icon who during five decades in Congress co-founded the National Black Caucus and pushed to establish a national holiday to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., died Sunday of natural causes at the age of 90.
His death comes after a long and illustrious career that spanned more than 50 years and 27 terms in office, but ended in 2018 with a sudden resignation amidst claims of sexual harassment and verbal abuse of employees and misuse of taxpayer funds to cover-up those claims.
Conyers' tenure was a remarkable 53-year-run during which the lawmaker, the son of a well-known labor lawyer in Detroit, compiled a near-record legacy of civil rights activism, longevity and advocacy for the poor and underprivileged.
He died with the sixth-longest tenure in congressional history.
"For a long time he was black America's congressman," said Sam Riddle, a longtime family friend and consultant to the Conyers family, who confirmed the death Sunday. "On the streets of Detroit, he'll be mourned."
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan in a statement said he "was deeply saddened" by Conyers' death.
"One of my most special memories was spending time with him at Gordon Park on 12th Street and Clairmount on the 50th anniversary of the violence of 1967 as he recounted the story of his courageous efforts to calm the angry crowds," Duggan said. "He has fought for a better Detroit for more than half a century.
"From co-founding the Congressional Black Caucus to leading the fight in Congress to enshrine Martin Luther King’s birthday as a national holiday, John Conyers’ impact on our city and nation will never be forgotten," Duggan said.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called Conyers a "lifelong Detroiter who was deeply committed to the city and to those he represented."
"His impact on our state, whether by spearheading reforms in criminal justice and voting rights in Congress or through his lifetime of civil rights activism, will not be forgotten," Whitmer said in a statement.
Conyers was born in Detroit and graduated from Northwestern High School. After a tour of duty with the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Conyers returned home to earn bachelor's and law degrees from Wayne State University.
His law practice and work in the auto plants in Detroit led him to the office of former U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, where he worked as a legislative assistant for three years. But by 1964, at the age of 35, Conyers went after a seat of his own in Congress, winning the first of 27 general elections and serving portions of Detroit and some surrounding Wayne County suburbs for the next five decades.
He may not have had many bills that carried his name — only 26 of the 712 bills he introduced became law, according to the Library of Congress — but he fought for issues of civil rights and social justice, including seeking reparations for the descendants of African-American slaves, modifying the mandatory sentences for those convicted of non-violent drug crimes, defending assaults on the Voting Rights Act, reforming laws that put juvenile offenders in prison for life and calling for investigations into police brutality of African-American men.
And he was the key sponsor of the bill, introduced each session for 20 years, that designated the third Monday of January as a federal holiday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Conyers introduced the bill four days after King was assassinated in 1968, but it wasn’t signed into law until 1989.
In the thick of the civil rights battles, Conyers walked alongside King and other leaders of the movement in Selma, Ala., to bring equal voting rights to blacks.
In 2015, during his 50th year in Congress, Conyers told the Washington Post that King was one of the most important historical figures in history.
"I felt the civil rights movement was a powerful chapter in American history, King to me is the outstanding international leader of the 20th century without every holding office," he said. "He advanced us forward even though there was a terrible loss of life and violence and injustice. But Martin Luther King Jr. moved us in a way that changed history."
He moved among those involved in the disturbance in Detroit in August 1967, urging calm. And he burnished his civil rights record even more by hiring icon Rosa Parks after she moved from Alabama to Detroit. The secretary and receptionist job in Conyers' Detroit office was a job she held until her retirement in 1988.
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who won election to Conyers' seat after his resignation, on Twitter called Conyers "our Congressman forever."
"He never once wavered in fighting for jobs, justice and peace," Tlaib tweeted. "We always knew where he stood on issues of equality and civil rights in the fight for the people. Thank you Congressman Conyers for fighting for us for over 50 years."
Career ends amidst a sex scandal
Despite facing a rising chorus of voices demanding he step down because of the sexual harassment claims, Conyers, D-Detroit, refused to do so for several months in 2017. The scandal was a swift and crushing fall from grace for the longest-serving active member of Congress.
Conyers, 90, resigned after an article on BuzzFeed.com detailed a secret settlement of more than $27,000 with a former staffer who accused him of making sexual advances toward her and paying her out of funds from his taxpayer-supported office.
Within days, several other women had come forward with accusations against Conyers, who, despite his express denials that he harassed anyone, saw House leaders and members of his own party abandon him, with three of the four Democrats in the Michigan delegation calling for him to resign.
In addition to Marion Brown, the staffer who received the settlement, six other women claimed they either experienced or saw him touching and rubbing women in his office, making sexual advances toward them or making inappropriate remarks. One of them filed a lawsuit against him early this year and then withdrew it, saying she didn't want to hurt Conyers' reputation.
Another woman, Washington lawyer Melanie Sloan, also told the Free Press that Conyers had verbally mistreated her, forced her to babysit his children and, on one occasion, showed up at a meeting with her at his office in his underwear —though she didn't consider it sexual harassment.
From accusation to resignation, Conyers' colleagues went from being warily supportive, urging caution while an investigation by the House Ethics Committee was completed to issuing outright calls for his resignation, even from at least one fellow member of the Congressional Black Caucus, which he helped to create in 1971.
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, who is the third-ranking Democrat in the House and had been a colleague of Conyers' on the Congressional Black Caucus since 1993, called for him to resign shortly after similar calls by House Speaker Paul Ryan and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.
Conyers' lawyer, Arnold Reed, of Southfield, had reiterated on several occasions that the congressman was not ready to resign and wanted to see the ethics investigation completed.
But with allegations swirling not only over the harassment claims but his use of taxpayer funds to pay at least one settlement, he abruptly stepped down as the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, a position he had held for more than two decades.
Then — with media reports that some members of the caucus were privately urging him to resign — he suddenly quit Washington, missing several votes, including one mandating sexual harassment training for members, as he headed back to Detroit and his family.
Conyers record in Congess
During his time in office, which he won with huge margins ever two years like clockwork, Conyers was considered one of the most liberal members of Congress, with a 100% rating from the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Campaign.
The conservative Freedom Works gave him a 15% rating, while the Club for Growth and Americans for Prosperity give him ratings of 8% and 6% respectively.
Conyers, however, had already come under scrutiny twice from the House Ethics Committee in Congress for possible transgressions in his office.
In 2017, the committee confirmed it was continuing to look at whether he had wrongly paid his former chief of staff more than $50,000 for time she didn't work. Conyers said he was only paying her for accrued leave time and severance as part of a separation agreement reached after she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of receiving stolen property unrelated to her job.
In 2003, the Free Press reported on complaints from six unnamed Conyers aides who said they were forced to work on various campaigns, including a failed legislative campaign for Conyers' wife, Monica, on government time. A follow-up Ethics Committee report, however, focused on allegations that the congressman used staff to babysit his sons, help his wife with her law studies and chauffeur him to private events.
Conyers' office denied the accusations and eventually reached a deal to ensure staff knew where their responsibilities began and ended.
RIP John Conyers. Our legacies will always be tied together. See you on the other side.https://t.co/icjSQpxnWj
In 2014, Conyers nearly didn’t get the chance to run for reelection because of irregularities in the petitions he filed to run for office. Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett said he had used ineligible people to gather signatures, but a federal court disagreed and the state Legislature passed a law that people who collected signatures didn’t need to be registered voters.
If there has been found to election irregularities in the 2018 election in absentee ballots, well, that would mean there exists a plausible pattern of past practice that may be applied to the 2016 election....and the 2014 election....and the 2012 election...and the 2010 election... and the 2008 election....
But, hey, what do I know?
I know there is a strong probablitly Fat Ass probably got to her.
I know we have arrived in Detroit where there is a similar absentee ballot election fraud scheme when it comes to Janice Winfrey and the Detroit Land Bank Authority.
The charges, which stem from the Nov. 6, 2018, general election, are as follows:
Count One. Election Law - Falsifying Returns/Records, a five-year felony and/or $1,000
Count Two. Forgery of a Public Record, a 14-year felony
Count Three. Misconduct in Office, a five-year felony and/or $10,000
Count Four. Using a Computer to Commit a Crime - Election Law - Falsifying Returns/Records, a seven-year felony and/or $5,000
Count Five. Using a Computer to Commit a Crime - Forgery of a Public Record, a 10-year felony and/or $10,000
Count Six. Using a Computer to Commit a Crime - Misconduct in Office, a seven-year felony and/or $5,000
Southfield city clerk Sherikia Hawkins is facing 14 years in prison for six felonies related to the 2018 general election.
Discrepancies in the Southfield voter count were brought to the Secretary of State’s attention by the Oakland County Clerk’s office, following its efforts to certify Southfield’s absentee ballots.
Michigan State Police conducted a thorough investigation and determined that election records had been altered.
“Today upon learning that the Southfield City Clerk was formally charged with multiple crimes under Michigan election law, I exercised my authority under Michigan law to exert supervisory control over local election officials and directed the clerk to refrain from administering any election while there are charges pending against her,” Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said. “Our elections are the foundation of our democracy, and under my and Attorney General Nessel’s administration there will be no tolerance for any actions that undermine that foundation - anywhere, anytime, by any person or official.”
Hawkins, 38, of Southfield, was elected Southfield city clerk in November 2017. Prior to election she was the city clerk of Pontiac, a non-elected position, where she was responsible for that city’s elections.
Hawkins turned herself in and was charged and arraigned late Monday morning in the 46th District Court (Southfield) on six felony counts in front of visiting judge Michelle Friedman Appel, chief judge of the 45th District Court.
Hawkins was given a $15,000 personal bond and a probable cause conference was scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 30. A preliminary examination hearing is set for Tuesday, Oct. 15, before Judge Appel.
Cory lies about the who the people of Detroit are.
Cory spews propaganda in the public record, in a presidential campaign debate, on an ongoing DHS investigation on election interference in absentee ballots.
Cory is playing cover up for his friend, Betsy DeVos.
Cory wants to put babies in bondage, the reengineered child welfare law of indentured servitude as civil asset forfeiture for the civil debt of being born in the land of "The Poors".
Cory bears false witness on the 2016 Michigan Presidential Election; ergo, he is mean to my Sweetie.
We should ask Cory why he lies so much.
Perhaps, it is his Chief of Staff.
Perhaps, it is his Campaign Staff.
Perhaps, he is just a the next, manufactured construct, groomed to take on the mission to cover up how his handlers have been stealin' the children, the land and the votes.
Better yet, let us just follow his presidential campaign, for I am very secure in stating that he will continue to lie, and money launder through his campaign, but hey, what do I know?
I know Cory has no clue of how the heavens shall fall.
I also know he lies about how Trump won Michigan.
I should file an Ethics Complaint on him for lying.
The disgraced former chairman of President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign has pleased not guilty to mortgage fraud and a raft of other criminal charges.
Paul Manafort pleaded not guilty Thursday in the New York Supreme Court to fraud charges brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, according to a CNN report. Manafort has been charged with 15 felony counts, including residential mortgage fraud.
Manafort was one of the first people charged in the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller. He was convicted last year in one case and pleaded guilty in another, according to CNN. The former Trump aide is currently serving a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence for federal tax fraud, bank fraud and foreign lobbying violations.
The New York charges against Manafort relate to mortgages he received on properties in the state between 2015 and 2017, and involve some of the same loans over which he was convicted on federal charges, according to CNN. The New York case was filed moments after Manafort’s federal sentencing in March. If convicted on the state charges, Manafort could not receive a presidential pardon, which applies only to federal crimes.
Manafort’s attorney, Todd Blanche, said the state charges amount to double jeopardy. In New York state, defendants cannot be tried twice for the same actions unless certain conditions are met, CNN reported. However, the Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that a person can be tried in both state and federal court for the same actions without violating the Constitution’s prohibition against double jeopardy.
Former President Jimmy Carter said Friday morning that Donald Trump is an illegitimate president due to Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Carter, 94, was speaking at a Carter Center event on human rights in Leesburg, Va., when he was asked how he would deal with Russian meddling in the last presidential election.
“The president himself should condemn it, admit that it happened, which I think 16 intelligence agencies have already agreed to say,” said Carter. “And there’s no doubt that the Russians did interfere in the election, and I think the interference although not yet quantified, if fully investigated would show that Trump didn’t actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election, and he was put into office because the Russians interfered on his behalf.”
Moderator Jon Meacham then asked if Carter thought Trump was an illegitimate president. Carter paused before replying as the audience laughed.
“Based on what I just said, which I can’t retract,” said Carter smiling, “I would say yes.”
At the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, on Friday, Trump joked with Russian President Vladimir Putin, wagging his finger and saying, “Don’t meddle in the election, please,” to which Putin smirked. Although a number of U.S. intelligence agencies and special counsel Robert Mueller found that Russia had systemically interfered in the 2016 election, Putin called it “mythical interference” earlier this week.
The number of U.S. intelligence organizations that stated Russia interfered with the 2016 election include the CIA, FBI, Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Director of National Intelligence and both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees.
Trump himself nevertheless repeatedly cast doubt on that conclusion.
“They said they think it’s Russia,” Trump said in July 2018. “I have President Putin, he just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be.”
When pressed the following day, Trump attempted to clarify, saying, “I accept our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place. It could be other people also. There’s a lot of people out there.”
Who said this was strictly a GOP election interference operation?
This could easily be one of those "Israeli/Russian/Ukrainian" election interference operations that they are running through the Michigan Republican Party.
This also could be one of those "Legal Geniuses" (trademark pending) election interference operations that they are running through the Michigan Democratic Party.
This could also be a conjugal collaborative in a venture of the two political parties in Michigan, coming together, in a form of unity, to cover their arses, for the purposes of maintaining freedom, as opposed to incarceration.
Bill is still the State Attorney General for the next few hours, which means he probably has, or will receive, a formal complaint, or a request for an advisory opinion, or something. I would do it just to irritate him for calling me a public nuisance in the Court of Claims, in the public record, through his pet human, just because I reported fraud, but he is going to lose, because the Primary Election is still not certified and recorded. I heard rumors that Bill is planning on setting up shop in Detroit after his loss. I will go visit and bring cocktails & popcorn. "Hey Bill, Smooches!" On second thought, these "misleading" election interference materials were sent through the U.S. Postal Service, making this federal jurisdiction for investigation, which is already going on.
ridiculously misleading mailer I got today in Ypsi. Sanders has rallied with Gretchen Whitmer and I can’t even find him mentioning @Kurland4MI’s campaign. pic.twitter.com/WDmfV8g7gK
Lansing — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders endorsed Democrat Gretchen Whitmer for Michigan governor and campaigned with her in Ann Arbor, but a new political mailer from a group with Republican ties uses his image to promote a Green Party candidate.
The mailer encourages readers to "Feel the Bern" and vote for Green Party gubernatorial candidate Jennifer Kurland, who said her campaign did not authorize the mailer and does not accept money or assistance from super political action committees.
While encouraging voters to cast ballots for Kurland, the mailer depicts both Whitmer and Republican gubernatorial nominee Bill Schuette as "corporate puppets." Green Party candidates typically run to the left of Democrats and often court Democratic voters, as presidential candidate Jill Stein did in 2016.
Campaign finance records show that funding for the group behind the mailer, the Michigan People for Progress super PAC, was transferred by and through multiple groups but ultimately derived from the Michigan Republican Party.
Michigan Republican Party spokeswoman Sarah Anderson declined to comment on the mailer and its funding, except to say “We would never authorize sending a mail piece that attacks our own candidate.”
Michigan People for Progress, the super PAC behind the mailer, registered with the state Oct. 23 and has so far disclosed a single contribution of $82,000 from another super PAC, Michigan Prosperity, on Oct. 27.
Michigan Prosperity, formed in early September, has disclosed a single contribution of $175,000 from the Hardworking Americans super PAC on Oct. 18. The Hardworking Americans group recently disclosed its first contribution in four years, a $175,000 donation from the Michigan Republican Party on Oct. 17.
Liberal website Eclectablog was the first to highlight connections between the groups.
The Hardworking Americans super PAC is run by Randall Thompson, a longtime GOP operative.The Michigan Prosperity super PAC lists Heather Cerone of Traverse City as its treasurer.
The Prosperity group's East Lansing mailing address is a home belonging to Scott Hagerstrom, according to Ingham County property records and campaign finance records. Hagerstrom is the former state director for Americans for Prosperity, was the state chair of President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and has worked for a separate super PAC supporting Schuette for governor.
Little is known about Michigan People for Progress, which lists a UPS store in East Lansing as its mailing address. The group's treasurer, Rifaat "Mike" Hacham, lists a different UPS store in Dearborn as his address. He is reportedly a GOP precinct delegate who made national news as a Muslim supporter of Trump.
Neither Thompson, Hagerstrom nor Cerone returned calls for comment. The number listed for Michigan People for Progress was answered by a woman who said she was the group’s attorney, but could not comment on the group’s flyer.
Whitmer spokesman Zack Pohl suggested a direct link to Schuette and accused Republicans of resorting to “dirty tricks” in an attempt to sway the election.
“It won't work, because Michiganders are too smart to fall for this kind of garbage,” Pohl said, adding that Whitmer is “going to stay focused on getting things done for Michigan families, like fixing the damn roads.”
Schuette’s campaign said Sunday evening it was unaware of the mailer and declined to comment on it.
The Secretary of State's office has not received any complaints about the mailer and would not review the issue unless it did, said spokesman Fred Woodhams.
Kurland said she’s heard from people in Ypsilanti, Grand Rapids and Genesee County who have received the mailer. An advocate of campaign finance reform, Kurland said she does not take any money from PACs, super PACs or corporations. Though she supported Sanders in the 2016 election, she now believes he’s “playing along with the Democratic establishment.”
If the intent of the mailer was to pull votes from Whitmer, Kurland said she doesn't think the effort would accomplish much since her supporters range from liberal to independent to conservative.
“I don’t believe that Green-Party-is-a-spoiler theory,” she said.
Harry Anbender of Ypsilanti, a 30-year-old sports blogger who voted for Sanders in the 2016 presidential primary, received the mailer at his home on Friday and posted it to Twitter, calling it "ridiculously misleading."
"It mentioned Bernie up down and sideways, and nothing in there mentioned (Kurland) is not the candidate that was endorsed by him," Anbender told The Detroit News. "Regardless of who paid for it, it's misleading."
Ypsilanti and neighboring Ann Arbor are traditionally liberal areas of Washtenaw County, which Sanders carried by 12 percentage points two years ago in his surprise primary win over eventual Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
"I have a pretty good idea of who I'm voting for, so I was about to toss it in the recycling when I noticed it wasn't Whitmer on the top," Anbender said of the mailer. "It struck me as pretty odd."
Conyers Adds 118th Cosponsor to House Legislation Today
Washington, D.C. – Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (MI-13) today released the following statement on the Senate introduction of Medicare for All legislation:
Dean of the U.S. House
of Representatives
John Conyers, Jr.
“The Affordable Care Act has done a great deed for our nation in providing millions who were uninsured with health insurance. It is vital that we continue to protect and build on this progress; however, it’s a fact that there are still millions of Americans who don’t have health insurance or have high-deductible plans that they can’t afford to use.
“I’ve been introducing H.R. 676, The Expanded And Improved Medicare For All Act since 2003. Under my bill, instead of a complicated, expensive network of exchanges and employer-sponsored plans and networks administered by for-profit insurance companies that some people can afford and many others can’t, we would have one health insurance plan, one health insurer and one network available to every single American. In other words, we would finally have guaranteed, universal healthcare. I’m proud that we currently have 118 House Democrats who cosponsored the legislation – a majority of the Democratic Caucus.
“I applaud Senator Bernie Sanders’ introduction of the Senate companion to my Medicare for All bill and all of the momentum he has garnered in support of a universal single-payer healthcare system.
“Healthcare should be a right, not a privilege for those who can afford it. It deserves to be an essential service provided by the government, no different than fire departments, public schools, and military protection.
“Poll after poll shows that Americans agree that we have a collective obligation to guarantee healthcare coverage to everyone through a government financed healthcare system. It’s time for a real debate, including hearings, independent analysis, and input from doctors, patients, and hospitals.
“As I’ve said many times before, it took a nationwide movement to achieve civil rights. I introduced legislation to make Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s birthday a federal holiday and it took nearly two decades for it to become a reality. In that same vein, we are creating a movement to make Medicare for All the law of the land.”
Rep. Conyers invited U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to join in on the discussion. Topics included healthcare, creating good paying jobs, raising wages and building an economy that gives every American the tools to succeed in the 21st century.
Dean of the U.S. House of Representatives John Conyers, Jr. &
2017 Democratic Presidential Candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders
DETROIT – On Tuesday, August 22, 2017 at 7:00 pm, Representative John Conyers, Jr. (MI-13) will host a town hall meeting to discuss jobs, healthcare and building a better future for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District.
Rep. Conyers has invited U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to join in on the discussion. Topics will include healthcare, creating good paying jobs, raising wages and building an economy that gives every American the tools to succeed in the 21st century. This event is open to the public.
Conyers and Sanders also just introduced companion youth jobs bills in the House and Senate to tackle unemployment. According to some estimates, Detroit has one of the highest youth unemployment rates -- 30 percent -- amongst the 25 largest U.S. metro areas.
50 years ago, President Johnson signed into law, Medicare & Medicaid to provide health care to old, the young, the sick and the veterans who have served this nation.
50 years later, our elected officials want to "unsign" the health care law.
No longer will older Americans be denied the healing miracle of modern medicine. No longer will illness crush and destroy the savings that they have so carefully put away over a lifetime so that they might enjoy dignity in their later years. No longer will young families see their own incomes, and their own hopes, eaten away simply because they are carrying out their deep moral obligations to their parents, and to their uncles, and their aunts.
And no longer will this Nation refuse the hand of justice to those who have given a lifetime of service and wisdom and labor to the progress of this progressive country.
