30 September 19
RSN: Norman Solomon | MoveOn's Phony New Campaign for 'Protecting Whistleblowers'
Norman Solomon, Reader Supported News
Solomon writes: "After many years of carefully refusing to launch a single campaign in support of brave whistleblowers who faced vicious prosecution during the Obama administration - including Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning, NSA whistleblowers Thomas Drake and Edward Snowden, and CIA whistleblowers John Kiriakou and Jeffrey Sterling - MoveOn.org has just cherrypicked a whistleblowing hero it can support."
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Norman Solomon, Reader Supported News
Solomon writes: "After many years of carefully refusing to launch a single campaign in support of brave whistleblowers who faced vicious prosecution during the Obama administration - including Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning, NSA whistleblowers Thomas Drake and Edward Snowden, and CIA whistleblowers John Kiriakou and Jeffrey Sterling - MoveOn.org has just cherrypicked a whistleblowing hero it can support."
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Sen. Bernie Sanders. (photo: Mary Schwalm/AP)
New Bernie Sanders Plan Takes Aim at CEO Pay
Morgan Baskin, Vice
Baskin writes: "Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has promised voters he can get the wealthy to 'pay their fair share' - and today, he rolled out another way to get there."
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Morgan Baskin, Vice
Baskin writes: "Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has promised voters he can get the wealthy to 'pay their fair share' - and today, he rolled out another way to get there."
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Adam Schiff. (photo: Getty Images)
Donald Trump's 'Treason' Attack on Adam Schiff Is Completely Misleading
Chris Cillizza, CNN
Cillizza writes: "The President always needs a villain to focus his ire on. Schiff looks like that guy for now."
Chris Cillizza, CNN
Cillizza writes: "The President always needs a villain to focus his ire on. Schiff looks like that guy for now."
EXCERPT:
Here's what Schiff said at a hearing last week in describing the recently released transcript of a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky:
"In not so many words, this is the essence of what the President communicates.
'We have been very good to your country, very good. No other country has done as much as we have. But you know what? I don't see much reciprocity here. I hear what you want. I have a favor I want from you though. I'm going to say this only seven times so you better listen good. I want you to make up dirt on my political opponent. Lots of it. ... I'm going to put you in touch with people, not just any people, I am going to put you in touch with the attorney general, my Attorney General Bill Barr. He has the whole weight of the American law enforcement behind him. I'm going to put you in touch with Rudy. You are going to love him. Trust me. You know what I'm asking. So I'm only going to say this a few more times. In a few more ways. By the way, don't call me again. I will call you when you have done what I asked.'
"This is in sum and character what the President was trying to communicate with the president of Ukraine. It would be funny if it wasn't such a graphic betrayal of the President's oath of office."
First off, it's clear that Schiff is not attempting to portray his summary of Trump's call as a some sort of verbatim retelling. Schiff literally says before he starts, "in not so many words, this is the essence of what the President communicates." Unless you are being willfully obtuse, you have now been signaled to understand that what comes next from Schiff is his interpretation of the call. He is not saying: "here's exactly what President Trump said to President Zelensky."
Then there's the Schiff summary itself. Trump says it bore "no relationship" to what he said on the call with Zelensky. Lucky for us, we have the transcript of that call! Here are a few side-by-side comparisons:
1) What Trump said: "I will say that we do a lot for Ukraine. We spend a lot of effort and a lot of time. Much more than the European countries are doing and they should be helping you more than they are."
What Schiff said: "We have been very good to your country, very good. No other country has done as much as we have."
2) What Trump said: "I wouldn't say that it's reciprocal necessarily because things are happening that are not good but the United States has been very, very good to Ukraine."
What Schiff said: "But you know what? I don't see much reciprocity here."
3) What Trump said: "I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it."
What Schiff said: "I have a favor I want from you though."
4) What Trump said: "There's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the attorney general would be great."
What Schiff said: "I want you to make up dirt on my political opponent. Lots of it. ... I'm going to put you in touch with people, not just any people, I am going to put you in touch with the attorney general, my attorney general Bill Barr."
5) What Trump said: "I will have Mr. Giuliani give you a call, and I am also going to have Attorney General Barr call and we will get to the bottom of it."
What Schiff said: "I'm going to put you in touch with Rudy. You are going to love him. Trust me. You know what I'm asking. So I'm only going to say this a few more times. In a few more ways."
It's not all that different, right? Yes, Schiff embellishes in places -- "lots" of dirt on Biden, "you are going to love" Rudy Giuliani -- but, in the main, what Schiff said Trump said is, in fact, what Trump said. Not word for word, but certainly in its sentiments.
Latorre gave birth to her daughter in the recreation room of a Colorado church. (image: Daily Beast/Getty Image)
An Immigrant-Rights Advocate Gave Birth to Her Baby in a Church to Avoid ICE
Scott Bixby, The Daily Beast
Bixby writes: "Two weeks ago, Ingrid Encalada Latorre gave birth to her daughter in the recreation room of a Colorado church where she has claimed sanctuary since December 2017 - the safest place to do so, she said, when stepping off of church property could mean being permanently separated from her children."
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Scott Bixby, The Daily Beast
Bixby writes: "Two weeks ago, Ingrid Encalada Latorre gave birth to her daughter in the recreation room of a Colorado church where she has claimed sanctuary since December 2017 - the safest place to do so, she said, when stepping off of church property could mean being permanently separated from her children."
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Bonnie Sparks, 47, walks on the treadmill at Planet Fitness in Wayne, Mich., on Sept. 4, 2019. (photo: Brittany Greeson/WP)
With the Affordable Care Act's Future in Doubt, Evidence Grows That It Has Saved Lives
Amy Goldstein, The Washington Post
Goldstein writes: "With about 20 million Americans now covered through private health plans under the ACA's insurance marketplaces or Medicaid expansions, researchers have been focusing on a question that was not an explicit goal of the law: whether anyone is healthier as a result."
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Amy Goldstein, The Washington Post
Goldstein writes: "With about 20 million Americans now covered through private health plans under the ACA's insurance marketplaces or Medicaid expansions, researchers have been focusing on a question that was not an explicit goal of the law: whether anyone is healthier as a result."
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Demonstration demanding the resignation of Haitian President Jovenel Moise in Port-au-Prince. (photo: Reuters)
Haiti: Massive Protests Continue Calling for President's Removal
teleSUR
Excerpt: "Haiti experienced Friday one of the most massive protests ever it the country's recent history as people took to the streets, called by the opposition, in the main cities to demand the immediate resignation of United-States backed President Jovenel Moise."
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teleSUR
Excerpt: "Haiti experienced Friday one of the most massive protests ever it the country's recent history as people took to the streets, called by the opposition, in the main cities to demand the immediate resignation of United-States backed President Jovenel Moise."
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Nylon tea bags are not as innocent as they seem. (photo: S-Attila/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Those Fancy Tea Bags? Microplastics in Them Are Macro Offenders
Adrienne Matei, Guardian UK
Matei writes: "The amount of plastic found in these tea bags is more than we ingest from just about anything else."
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Adrienne Matei, Guardian UK
Matei writes: "The amount of plastic found in these tea bags is more than we ingest from just about anything else."
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