U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar is scheduled to make a major announcement on Sunday at Boom Island Park in Minneapolis. It’s likely Minnesota’s senior senator will announce she’s running for president in 2020.
In an interview on MSNBC shortly after President Trump’s ‘State of the Union’ address, Klobuchar said to “come to Boom Island on Sunday… to find out what the decision is.”
George Will: Amy Klobuchar could be the Democrats’ best bet in 2020
…don’t know much about her, but i’ll keep an open mind, because what we got now ain’t working. Literally.
…heard Andrew Yang speak, recently, and liked what he had to say.
Amy is appealing. From the Senate she and Sherrod strike me as the top 2. And Bunk’s right. What we have now ain’t working. Literally.
I like Amy very much. She is both personable and a good senator. She can keep cool in a debate, and can make points without being mean. She is a nice ladylike lady, besides being a tough prosecutor.
I wish Amy were a little less careful and conventional, cuz she has political credit to burn here in Minnesota. In ’09 she pressed the Obama Admin to move toward a more aggressive reorganization of health care and coverage, but was slapped down by the republican lite crowd, who wanted romneyheritageCare to funnel big bucks to the insurance companies. Amy has been careful about sticking her neck out very far since then. After the d.l.c. partisans’ defeats in the last 2 elections, maybe Amy will become emboldened once again.
Klobuchar has a good sense of humour on top of all her other qualities. I have been following her for years hoping she would make the decision to run for president.
thank you pogo and all other mixers who bravely endured on my behalf the “comity come on” farce last night. sounds like it was really “c’mon, comity? ”
bbronc, really enjoy that about her too. example of her wit and ability, unlike the twit, to carry it off:
https://binged.it/2GdAJAa
A record number of female House members were present for Donald Trump’s second State of the Union address on Tuesday night. Many, including the speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, dressed in white in tribute to the women’s suffrage movement. Trump obviously wasn’t expected the dancing and laughter that broke out among the mainly Democratic members when he talked about record levels of female employment in the US economy. ‘No one has benefited more from our thriving economy than women who have filled 58% of the newly created jobs last year,’ Trump said before the large group of women stood up and cheered. ‘You weren’t supposed to do that,’ Trump joked before pointing out that the midterms had seen the largest number of women elected to Congress.
Pogo… thanks for watching. I stuck to my guns… we watched the Celtics win and then watched the third period of the Bruins game (they won also, BTW). Then we went to bed so Rick could get up nice and early for what I hope is a good day of skiing with friends.
I like Klobuchar… she should be fun to watch during the debates.
more post mortem from wapo: ‘Queen of Condescending Applause’: Nancy Pelosi clapped at Trump and the Internet lost it
[…]
In a single fleeting moment, shown for only seconds on live broadcasts but immortalized in photos and GIFs, Pelosi became the Internet’s newest obsession — for clapping.
Despite being engaged in a tense standoff with Trump over funding for his border wall, for most of the evening, Pelosi managed to limit her reactions to subtle head-shaking, pursed lips and eye-rolls. But when Trump, who has been accused of exacerbating deep divisions, declared, “we must reject the politics of revenge, resistance and retribution and embrace the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise and the common good,” she appeared to be unable to hold back.
Rising from her seat along with others in attendance, Pelosi began applauding with her arms oddly extended out toward the president. When Trump turned toward her and the pair locked eyes, Pelosi, still clapping, appeared to smirk.
Social media users proceeded to lose their collective minds. As many put it, Pelosi had just effectively issued a “literal clap back” to the president on national television and in front of a room full of the country’s most powerful people. By early Wednesday morning, Pelosi’s clap was a trending moment on Twitter and she had been mentioned in more than 222,000 tweets.
“Respect to Pelosi,” one Twitter user wrote. “Circumstance demanded she clap, so she invented this weird walrus clap that was mocking, aggressive, and delightfully surreal all at the same time. Nobody has ever has clapped like this.”
Crowned the “Queen of Condescending Applause,” the picture of Pelosi clapping was celebrated as the “photo of the century.”
Others, such as actor and comedian Patton Oswalt, credited Pelosi with creating a new type of clap — named after an explicit two-word exclamation commonly used to convey anger or contempt.
[…]
While there was no shortage of reactions to Tuesday’s State of the Union, hours after the event was over, people still could not stop discussing what many considered to be the “most iconic moment of the night”: Pelosi’s applause.
“Nancy Pelosi’s ‘sarcastic’ clapping steals Trump’s thunder at State of the Union address,” read a headline from the Independent.
Slate called it the “Sarcastic Point Clapback Heard Round the World.”
re nancy’s slap of the union
ny times’ take:
In the image, the speaker of the House stands frozen behind President Trump at his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, she a vision in suffragist white, tilted head, pursed lips and outreached arms.
The hands came together in a clap that resonated around the world.
Cross-party applause for the president on such a night is normally a pro forma affair, overlooked in the sea of stirring words penned by a speechwriter and recited from a teleprompter.
But this was no ordinary House speaker, and her wordless gesture almost stole the spotlight on an important night for a president seeking to deliver to millions of viewers his delayed speech — a speech she previously blocked.
This was Representative Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, self-described “mother of five, grandmother of nine,” and the first woman to take up the speaker’s gavel. And she was applauding a political sparring partner whom analysts have concluded she has roundly outfoxed twice before.
In the image, captured by Doug Mills of The New York Times, and in other pool video footage, the internet saw acres of shade dispensed by a skilled politician firmly in control, and social media users turned Ms. Pelosi’s wordless gesture into a viral meme.
Many called her gesture a “clap jeer.” Some called it a literal clap back. One Twitter user said it was the “read your tweets” clap, in reference to Mr. Trump’s penchant for weaponizing his Twitter feed. The comedian Patton Oswalt congratulated Ms. Pelosi for “inventing” an obscenity without using a certain finger.
[continues]
The Speaker Pelosi photo gallery keeps expanding. She is nailing it. She is the most powerful woman in the U.S. and it shows. The red coat and sun glasses is now combined with the FU clap in white.
Someone noted that SFB was less orange last night. Other than lighting in the House Chamber the only other possibility is that he did not do his own makeup. Possibles include a makeup artist he would not allow near him, or the can of orange he uses was swapped by a staffer. It has been a while since it was brought up that he has a vision issue and to him the orange looks “tan”. Since he is off his rocker this would not be too far away to not be considered.
My hardware analysis on Amy: Given her neighboring state advantage media will deem Iowa a must-win, victory there would dramatically up her fundraising, national name rec and chances in New Hampshire. Without that early momentum I don’t see her as a natural fit for next round in Nevada, South Carolina, or most of the Super Tuesday states in early March.
for the wonk pros out there, who in the cluster of candidates are really there for reasons other than running for potus?
getting certain policy messages out or just wanting to be listened to [think about old perennials like chris dodd]
or them that’s in it only for the fund raising, [like some of those who lived off Adelson’s largess every election season]
or for a name recognition boost step-up to next rank [think possibly rep. tulsi prepping for becoming sen. tulsi]
domino effect? the next in line after Fairfax
wapo:
Virginia Attorney General Herring says he wore blackface in college
when will the spotlight be turned on abuses of other races? those who aren’t native american who donned redfaces, or brownface who aren’t hispanic or yellowface who aren’t Asian?
these too are just as disrespectful.
Well, I didn’t watch the damned thing–for the first time in my life I rejected a SOTU as being unworthy of my time.
Pat, what Sue finds deeply hurtful is when she goes into a shop and other customers talk about her as if she is stupid, deaf, just off the boat, lost, applying for work, or, shamefully worse.
If Amy chooses to run (why else invite folks to Boom Island Park in the middle of winter ?) she should know quickly whether or not it is her time. If she does not do well in IA, then her style won’t sell in 2020.
Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s testimony at House Intel. Committee is delayed by nearly 3 weeks.
sorry about that unworkable link. here’s the yellowface site which tells of typical “Racist Asian Stereotypes” and among other things defines
Yellowface is another example of the racism prevalent in American culture. Yellowface means more than a white person wearing make-up to look Asian. It also describes the systematic bias against hiring real Asians to play Asian roles shown by white producers, directors, and others who control the depiction of Asians in popular culture through casting decisions and the propagation of racist Asian stereotypes and caricatures.
scroll down page for other (X)faces depicting
“Racial and Racist Stereotypes in Media”
Remember John Wayne playing Genghis Khan ? That wasn’t quite as rowdy and incongruous as Shaq playing Taylor Swift, but you get the idea. I mean, who knew that Genghis Khan couldn’t act ?
Was John Belushi playing a samurai warrior racist ? How about his Greek diner act ?
perhaps it’s time to return to being proud of the melting pot concept on the order of vichyssoise and bisques rather than lumpy stews and burgoos with their obviously identifiable this and that.
media always tag those who are African American, Asian American, Hispanic American in a way which seems to insinuate otherness. why aren’t there in the same reports also labels on the rest, those who are European American, UK American, Canadian American etc.? or drop the tags altogether in keeping with the unum of the e pluribus
I think kamala might be on to something with her (as reported by wapo the other day)
‘I am who I am’: Kamala Harris, daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, defines herself simply as ‘American’
X-R, how bout all those non Asians (great opera singers as well as Shirley MacLaine) who’ve taken on the madame butterfly role? to say nothing of the multitude of actors playing Indians in the old westerns?
Laurence Olivier and Orson Welles as Othello?
WTVR cbsnews: Virginia Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax has a new statement on sexual assault allegation
RICHMOND, Va. — Days after Virginia Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax called a sexual assault allegation made against him a “totally fabricated story,” he has issued a new statement on the topic.
“I’d like to begin by emphasizing how important it is for us to listen to women,” Fairfax, a former prosecutor, said. “I know that many survivors of sexual assault suffer in silence, and it is absolutely essential to their healing and our healing as a culture that we give all survivors the space and support to voice their stories.”
Big League Politics published a report Sunday night that a California woman accused Fairfax of sexually assaulting her at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. A situation Fairfax described as consensual.
“While this allegation has been both surprising and hurtful, I also recognize that no one makes charges of this kind lightly, and I take it and this situation very seriously,” his statement continued. “This has been an emotional couple of days for me and my family. And in my remarks on Monday, I think you could hear how emotional dealing with an allegation that I know is not true has been for me.”
Fairfax said at no time during the sexual encounter with the accuser did she express discomfort or concern. He added she raised no concerns to him as they kept in touch in the months that followed.
“The first indication I had that she felt that anything that had happened between us 15 years ago made her uncomfortable was when I was contacted by a national media organization shortly before my inauguration in 2018,” he said. “I voluntarily met with their staff, in person, told them what I knew about the encounter and responded to all of their questions. I also shared the allegation and my account of the events with a number of leaders in Richmond because then, as now, I have nothing to hide.”
Fairfax’s accuser has hired the legal team that represented Christine Blasey Ford after she came forward with her allegations against then Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, NPR reported.
“I would like to encourage the media, my supporters, and others to treat both the woman who made this allegation and my family with respect for how painful this situation can be for everyone involved,” Fairfax continued. “I wish her no harm or humiliation, nor do I seek to denigrate her or diminish her voice. But I cannot agree with a description of events that I know is not true.”
The tale of Virginia Dems is enlightening to me about what racism looked like in the 80’s in the area. I was working in the area then and knew of institutionalized racism. Which was in the D.C. area too. Also, from when I was stationed in Mississippi in the early 70’s I saw blatant examples which us Northerners delighted in pointing out to the locals. America has a new generation who are not putting up with it, and I am proud of them.
The big question is what are Virginia Dems going to do about racist acts which occurred over thirty years ago. Is the purity push so deep and hard that intervening years of work to halt racism do not count? Will the purity groups go so far as to return Virginia to the greedy old perverts? The governor is on the cusp of slipping into the abyss due his weird words. But, will he be allowed to beat himself bloody in penance to keep the governorship? How about the AG, he too could provide evidence he was stupid and reformed? Right now it is the Virginia Dems and Black Caucus who have to make decisions.
newsweek:
Prosecutors in Maryland have subpoenaed financial documents of a company that owns President Donald Trump’s golf courses in Scotland.
The subpoenas are part of an ongoing case brought by attorneys general from Maryland and Washington, D.C. that seeks to determine whether Trump is violating the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits the president from profiting off his position by accepting gifts, or emoluments, from foreign governments without the approval of Congress.
Ethics experts said Trump was in violation of the emoluments clause because foreign officials used Trump-branded properties for official business in order to curry favor with the president. The U.S. attorneys are focusing their attention specifically on one Washington, D.C. hotel, the Trump International Hotel, which is located in what used to be the city’s main post office.
DJT Holdings LLC, a trust that owns the D.C. hotel and Trump’s gold resort in Turnberry, Scotland, among other properties, was the latest company to be subpoenaed. The attorneys are investigating whether money flowed through the U.K.-based resorts into the D.C. hotel, according to The Times of London.
A representative for Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh directed Newsweek to a list of subpoenas for the ongoing emoluments case but declined to comment on ongoing litigation. Frosh has also subpoenaed President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., who is a trustee of the Trump Organization, and Allen Weisselberg, the organization’s financial officer.
The source of financing for Trump’s Scotland resorts has come under increased scrutiny as investigators in the U.S. look into potential connections between Trump associates and Russia.
During his testimony before the House Intelligence Committee in January 2018, Glenn Simpson, co-founder of Fusion GPS—the company that commissioned the famous Steele dossier that linked Trump to Russia—said that Trump’s Scotland-based golf courses were used to shuffle around huge amounts of capital from unknown sources. Simpson stressed that the resorts in the U.K. were “sinks” that did not make money on their own.
[continues]
Charlie Chan movies —
And what about the Washington Redskins
Mom’s Spirit Messenger Hawk just checked out our dumpster. I’m taking that as permission to toss some of her stuff.
I’m going to go as a “slutty racist” for Halloween, this year, just to see how it goes over.
Get those phone cameras ready!
Poobah, I don’t envy you that task. What to keep, what to donate and what to toss?
If there’s any doubt, let the charity dispose of it.
I’ll bet Pops has a bunch of valuable stuff that looks like junk to the untrained eye.
From WaPo (Jennifer Rubin) on Amy:
Now who’d want that? (Me?)
I’ve had the task of being among the sorters of last resort for seven generations of my family. Some of the artifacts I’m now holding are of museum significance.
The late Godfrey Cambridge in whiteface playing Putney Swope – racist ?
Glenda Jackson as King Lear – sexist ?
If the Dems have a contentious primary where they all damage each other, politically, and are unable to coalesce around a single candidate for the good of the country, then get ready to submit to the will of criminal, corporate fascists indefinitely.
Warren- i like you, but you can’t win. You’re out.
Yang- i like what you have to say: keep saying it, but get out once you’ve made your points.
Starbucks guy- you built an empire selling sugary faux-coffees to the children of exhausted parents, just go away.
Biden- you’re too old, your sob-stories grew thin 2 years ago. Thanks for your service, bye.
Sanders- we are in this mess because of you, good riddance.
Anybody else whose platform is “free shit for everybody”- we live in a capitalist society, get a grip, goodbye.
Who does that leave?
The biggest mistake, imo, that Democrats can make is nominating a woman in an effort to pass some historic cultural milestone of gender-equality, for that reason, alone.
You tried that, and lost to the most terrible Republican candidate, ever. Don’t be stupid.
Bink.. I agree with you. If I vote for a woman in the primary, it’ll be because I think she’s highly qualified and that she can beat trump.
Right now I’m leaning toward Sherrod Brown… yup… an old white guy.
RR, Sherrod is David’s current favorite.
Add Sherrod to my list – I do like him. I just forgot to mention him.
I think Sherrod Amy would be a great ticket
I’m looking for President Pelosi. Let’s do this.
What’s needed is someone who knows how to handle a playground bully, because that’s all Trump is, is a playground bully. Pelosi has demonstrated she can.
she is third in line –get rid of Trumpence and she is it
trump/pence- a stuffed suit, and an empty one.