joe biden bak

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">maIN blank 519</font><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">SEE BIDEN 3 3/20
</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/05/dhs-report-manipulated-trump-ally/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/05/dhs-report-manipulated-trump-ally/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">collusion rept buried? says IG</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>During 2020’s presidential race, national security experts were warning that the Kremlin and its allies would try to interfere in that election just as they had interfered in the 2016 election</b>&nbsp;— and a report was released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis. The DHS Inspector General’s Office, in 2022, has been investigating that report; the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2022/05/watchdog-dhs-manipulated-intel-russian-election-interference-during-trump-administration/366423/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">results of the recent DHS IG probe</a>&nbsp;were released on Tuesday, May 3, and<b>&nbsp;according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2022-05/OIG-22-41-Apr22-Redacted.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">DHS IG Joseph V. Cuffari</a>, the 2020 report was improperly manipulated.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Reporters Courtney Bublé and Patrick Tucker, in Defense One, explain, “A top Trump Administration official delayed and altered an intelligence product about the upcoming 2020 presidential election, leading to the perception that it was changed to help Donald Trump’s reelection bid, according to a federal watchdog.”</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bublé and Tucker note that the newly released DHS IG report is titled “DHS Actions Related to an I&A Intelligence Product Deviated from Standard Procedures” and “reflects reporting by ABC News from back in September 2020.”</font></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">On September 2, 2020,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/dhs-withheld-july-intelligence-bulletin-calling-russian-attack/story?id=72747130" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">ABC News</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;reported that in early July 2020,</span><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;DHS had “withheld publication of an intelligence bulletin warning law enforcement agencies of a </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Russian scheme to promote ‘allegations about the poor mental health’ of former Vice President Joe Biden.”</span></b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In 2020, the false and ageist claim that Biden was mentally impaired was pushed by Kremlin-operated media in Russia as well as by their useful idiots in far-right MAGA media in the United States.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In its newly released report, the DHS IG’s Office explains, “The acting secretary participated in the review process multiple times despite lacking any formal role in reviewing the product, resulting in the delay of its dissemination on at least one occasion</b>. The delays and deviation from (the Office of Intelligence and Analysis) standard process and requirements put (the office) at risk of creating a perception of politicization.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bublé and Tucker note that in April 2020, DHS’ Cyber Million Center started drafting a report titled “Russia Likely to Denigrate Health of U.S. Candidates to Influence 2020 Electoral Dynamics.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Aiming to inform state and local governments,” Bublé and Tucker explain, “the analysts followed the Office of Intelligence and Analysis’ drafting and editing policies, the IG found. But when DHS leaders reviewed the report at a July 8, 2020 meeting,<b>&nbsp;Acting Secretary Chad Wolf&nbsp;</b>— who is referred to by his title but not explicitly named in the IG document — determined that DHS should hold the report because it would embarrass President Trump, according to a whistleblower complaint noted in the IG report.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bublé and Tucker add, “The report was delayed for months. A Cyber Mission Center official added a ‘tone box’ — a new section of text — that said China and Iran were trying to derail Trump’s reelection. When DHS investigators asked why the material outside of the original scope of the report was added, the official didn’t have a good answer.”</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: currentcolor none medium; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; letter-spacing: 0px;">=</span></font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/03/trumps-usual-tactics-will-fail-against-coronavirus-and-thats-when-things-could-really-get-dark/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2020/03/trumps-usual-tactics-will-fail-against-coronavirus-and-thats-when-things-could-really-get-dark/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Trump’s usual tactics will fail against coronavirus — and that’s when things could really get dark</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">President Donald J. Trump addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House Wednesday evening, March 11, 2020, on the country’s expanded response against the global Coronavirus outbreak. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Written by Nancy LeTourneau / Washington Monthly March 13, 2020</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dan Diamond, who writes about health issues for Politico, exposed the way that sycophants in the Trump administration have failed to respond effectively to the coronavirus. Of particular concern is the battle underway between Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and Seema Verma, the administrator for Medicare and Medicaid Services. They appear to be in competition to gain the president’s favor. During a conversation about that with Terry Gross on NPR, he revealed how it has affected the federal government’s response to a pandemic (emphasis mine).</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I think they are both trying to show that they’re incredibly active and aggressive in public, but some of the decisions behind the scenes haven’t always reflected the best judgment of career professionals. In the case of Alex Azar, he did go to the president in January. He did push past resistance from the president’s political aides to warn the president the new coronavirus could be a major problem. There were aides around Trump – Kellyanne Conway had some skepticism at times that this was something that needed to be a presidential priority.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>But at the same time, Secretary Azar has not always given the president the worst-case scenario of what could happen.&nbsp;</b>My understanding is he did not push to do aggressive additional testing in recent weeks, and that’s partly because more testing might have led to more cases being discovered of coronavirus outbreak, and the president had made clear — the lower the numbers on coronavirus, the better for the president, the better for his potential reelection this fall.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That not only explains the lack of tests that have been made available, it tells us why the administration has so consistently lied about the spread of the virus in the United States. But the president had already signaled his obsession with keeping the number of cases low during remarks to the press last week.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump was addressing the question of what his administration would do about passengers on the Grand Princess cruise ship, where an outbreak of coronavirus had occurred.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[My experts] would like to have the people come off. I’d rather have the people stay, but I’d go with them. I told them to make the final decision. I would rather—because I like the numbers being where they are. I don’t need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn’t our fault.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">While the coronavirus was spreading all over the country, the president wanted to keep the numbers artificially low because it served his own interests. So they lied, which is what Trump always does. But as Kevin Drum noted, it’s not working this time.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">You can get away with this for a while, especially if you have Fox News and talk radio to back you up. And the longer you get away with it, the more convinced you become that it will always work, that everything in politics is marketing. So eventually you go too far: you try to deny the reality of an epidemic that even your most fervent supporters know is real. You double down by quoting obviously bogus testing numbers. But unlike your previous delusions, this one has real consequences: since testing and tracing are the backbone of infectious disease control, a lack of testing makes the epidemic even worse.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">You might remember that Trump didn’t just lie about what was happening, he joked about the Democrats politicizing the crisis and called it a hoax. That was an attempt to distract his supporters and get them focused on how he had been under siege from the beginning of his presidency. It allowed him to compare the criticisms of his handling of the situation to the Russia investigation and his impeachment.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>But ultimately, whenever Trump feels challenged, he becomes obsessed with finding someone to blame.</b>&nbsp;You can see him attempting to deflect blame during his remarks about the cruise ship. Even though it had absolutely no bearing on the situation, he felt the need to point out that the coronavirus outbreak on the ship “wasn’t our fault.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Perhaps because he recognizes that he can’t lie or distract his way out of this crisis, the president went into full blame mode on Twitter Thursday night.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Donald J. Trump</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">@realDonaldTrump</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Sleepy Joe Biden was in charge of the H1N1 Swine Flu epidemic which killed thousands of people. The response was one of the worst on record. Our response is one of the best, with fast action of border closings & a 78% Approval Rating, the highest on record. His was lowest!</b></font></div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2020</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Donald J. Trump</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">@realDonaldTrump</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“The Obama White House had to immediately issue an apology for Joe Biden’s remarks, and any alarm that he might have caused, an alarm about a Swine Flu outbreak that took 6 months for President Obama to declare a National Emergency, and that killed 12,000 Americans.” @LouDobbs</font></div><div>#]</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The Obama White House had to immediately issue an apology for Joe Biden’s remarks, and any alarm that he might have caused, an alarm about a Swine Flu outbreak that took 6 months for President Obama to declare a National Emergency, and that killed 12,000 Americans.” @LouDobbs</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2020</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In case you’re wondering, nothing in either of those tweets resembles the truth</b>. But using lies to blame an opponent for your own failures is typical of the current leader of a party that once billed itself as a proponent of “personal responsibility.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Since the beginning of Trump’s presidency, he has always resorted to his pattern of lie, distract, and blame when challenged. While that has been apparent to those of us who live in the reality-based world, it has often worked to maintain the loyalty of his most ardent followers. As the coronavirus reaches the stage of exponential growth in this country, will it continue to work? That is doubtful. It is at that point that we’re likely to see him ramp up the divisiveness of xenophobia to defend himself—which is when things will really get dark.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p></div></div><div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/sean-hannity/sean-hannity-lavishes-praise-sen-ron-johnson-opening-investigation-joe-biden">https://www.mediamatters.org/sean-hannity/sean-hannity-lavishes-praise-sen-ron-johnson-opening-investigation-joe-biden</a></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/02/trumps-treasury-department-is-now-helping-a-hunter-biden-probe-while-furiously-protecting-the-president/">https://www.alternet.org/2020/02/trumps-treasury-department-is-now-helping-a-hunter-biden-probe-while-furiously-protecting-the-president/</a>
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">omg whataboutism</font></div><div><p>
</p><p><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/02/gop-tries-to-turn-impeachment-against-as-a-way-to-justify-their-shameless-trump-cover-up/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2020/02/gop-tries-to-turn-impeachment-against-as-a-way-to-justify-their-shameless-trump-cover-up/</font></a></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>GOP tries to turn impeachment against as a way to justify their shameless Trump cover-up</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Written by Sophia Tesfaye / Salon February 3, 2020</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There’s a decent chance that former Vice President Joe Biden will win the Iowa caucuses on Monday night, cementing his status as Democratic frontrunner. The Republican-controlled Senate will then vote to acquit Donald Trump, probably two days later, after blocking witnesses and direct evidence at his impeachment trial. Instead of paying attention to the case outlining Trump’s public corruption, however, several Republican senators have spent the last two weeks slagging Biden in an effort to tarnish the potential Democratic nominee — using almost exactly the same playbook used to defeat Hillary Clinton in 2016.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Demonstrating exactly why it’s bad to have foreign governments smear a political opponent on your behalf,<b>&nbsp;Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican who faces a tough re-election battle this fall, appeared before reporters after a day of impeachment hearings last week and casually suggested that the airing of Trump’s misdeeds might actually result in Biden’s defeat.</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Iowa caucuses are this next Monday evening. And I’m really interested to see how this discussion today informs and influences the Iowa caucus voters, those Democratic caucus goers. Will they be supporting VP Biden at this point?” the first-term Republican asked.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The question came just before the GOP Senate voted to cover up Trump’s crimes by refusing to hear witnesses. For months, Republicans argued that Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine and pressured President Volodymyr Zelensky to look into the activities of Joe and Hunter Biden because he was earnestly trying to root out corruption. In a classic case of projection, Republicans still vaguely deny that Trump’s actions were politically motivated but now insist that Biden, not Trump, is the one who deserves impeachment.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I think this door of impeachable whatever has been opened,” said Ernst, whose approval rating is underwater with Iowa voters, in an interview with Bloomberg News on Sunday. “Joe Biden should be very careful what he’s asking for because, you know, we can have a situation where if it should ever be President Biden, that immediately people, the day after he would be elected, would be saying, ‘Well, we’re going to impeach him.'”</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>On CNN that same day, Ernst argued that not just Biden but even Barack Obama is more deserving of impeachment than Trump, who has already sought foreign interference in the 2020 election after welcoming it four years ago.</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Whether you like what the president has done or not — we can argue this up one side and down the other all day — does it come to the point of removing a president from office?” Ernst asked rhetorically. “I don’t believe this does. I’ll tie it back to Obama and his hot-mic moment with the former president of Russia, where he literally said, ‘Give me some space in my election.’ Oops, OK, talking about elections.”</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Host Jake Tapper reminded Ernst of the context for the former president’s 2012 remarks: “He was talking about a missile defense.”</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Yes, but a missile defense that the Congress wanted him to build up, make much more robust [to] protect American citizens,” Ernst responded, “and President Obama choose not to do that as long as the Russians gave him space in the elections. That nobody brought up for impeachment. So the very fact that because aid was held for about two months because there was not an official White House meeting, people are wanting to impeach this president. What President Trump did, it didn’t rise to the level of what President Obama did.”</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">This nonsensical comparison only makes sense as an attempt to justify the vote to acquit Trump by treating impeachment as an ordinary partisan tactic.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“There is a mountain of evidence to suggest the Bidens’ behavior was harmful to the United States,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., tweeted last Wednesday, coming close to threatening a Biden impeachment if he becomes president next year.</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Such presumptive threats were doled out by Republican senators prior to the 2016 election as well, which makes their “let the voters decide” rhetoric in defense of Trump so much more dishonest. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, now a staunch Trump defender, declared that Clinton could be impeached before a single general election vote was cast in 2016.</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>This certainly looks like the GOP’s 2016 playbook all over again. Trump’s campaign has sent and more than 80 surrogates to Iowa ahead of Monday’s caucuses, including Vice President Pence</b>. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has claimed “there was more than enough information [and] allegations about corruption” surrounding the Bidens to make Trump “entirely justified in asking for an investigation, and that resolves the matter.”&nbsp;<b>Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., a multimillionaire, has taken out his own TV ads in Iowa to claim that “The real story here is the corruption Joe Biden got away with.”</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump, Rudy Giuliani and all their goons have been searching for dirt on Biden for well over a year and so far have produced zero material evidence. Senate Republicans, for their part, displayed little interest in Biden’s supposed impropriety back when they controlled both chambers of Congress. They could still launch a Senate investigation into the Bidens, since they currently hold a majority in the upper chamber. But that’s not the point, and they’re well aware that even if they found dirt on either Biden, it would change nothing about Trump’s impeachable actions.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Republicans view the law as a weapon to be wielded against their opponents, so it should come as little surprise if Attorney General Bill Barr announces an official investigation into Bide before the general election, should he be the Democratic nominee.<b>&nbsp;Perhaps only Joe Biden himself, who has repeatedly touted his ability to work effectively with the very Republicans out to destroy his family, would be surprised by such indecency.</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sophia Tesfaye is Salon’s Deputy Politics Editor and resides in Washington, D.C. You can find her on Twitter at @SophiaTesfaye.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 120</font></p><div class="mag-header" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 19px; padding: 0px; position: relative; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h3 class="magcat-titlte entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; letter-spacing: 1px;"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/01/57-climate-scientists-object-after-biden-falsely-claims-not-a-single-solitary-scientist-thinks-sanders-green-new-deal-can-work/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; display: block; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.4;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">57 climate scientists object after Biden falsely claims ‘not a single solitary scientist’ thinks Sanders’ Green New Deal can work</font></a></h3><div class="grid-post-box-meta mag-meta" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 7px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="author-italic author vcard" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/author/jon-queally/" title="Posts by Jon Queally" class="author url fn" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Jon Queally</a>&nbsp;/&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alternet.org/author/common-dreams/" title="Posts by Common Dreams" class="author url fn" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Common Dreams</a></font></span></div></div><div class="mag-excerpt entry-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In an open letter, the climate experts say Bernie’s plan “not only possible,” but necessary “if we want to save the planet for ourselves, our children, grandchildren, and future generations</font></p></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/12/ukrainian-politician-who-peddles-biden-dirt-arrested-as-giuliani-visits-kyiv"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/12/ukrainian-politician-who-peddles-biden-dirt-arrested-as-giuliani-visits-kyiv</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">n o lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ukrainian politician who peddles Biden dirt arrested as Giuliani visits Kyiv</font></div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Written by Travis Gettys / Raw Story December 6, 2019</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A former Ukrainian lawmaker who has peddled dirt on Joe Biden’s family was arrested earlier this week in Germany, where he is awaiting extradition to his home country.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oleksandr Onyshchenko, who had close ties to Ukraine’s former president before fleeing the country to avoid embezzlement allegations, was arrested Friday by German authorities at the request of Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, reported The Daily Beast.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“According to our information, Oleksandr was in the process of seeking international protection and could not be arrested in accordance with Article 33 of the international convention relating to the status of refugees,” said Oleg Ishemko, the former lawmaker’s attorney.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Onyshchenko was arrested as President Donald Trump’s allies continue seeking information about Burisma Group, where Biden’s son Hunter Biden once served as a board member.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The president’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani flew to Kyiv this week to hold meetings on that topic, which is also being probed as part of the impeachment inquiry.</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">booktv 1119</font></div><div style=""><span class="title" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?465487-1/blowout" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: color 0.35s ease 0s; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rachel Maddow, "Blowout"</font></a></span><span class="abstract" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MSNBC's Rachel Maddow argued that the gas and oil industry are weakening…</font></span><span class="abstract" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></span><span class="abstract" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;"><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="abstract" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">rachel bktv 11/19</span><span class="abstract" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">
</span><span class="abstract" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">putin solve for pattern; nat gas makes $ but also divides/disrupts; Fitrash deal as middleman (not needed) 800m$ in one year 2007 [but can be siphoned and directed to diff purposes; gazprom itlself loses some $;</span><span class="abstract" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">
</span><span class="abstract" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">2006 Putin back Party of regions Manafort; ~ Orange Yulia Tymo; she undid sweetheart deal, got rid of middleman firtsh 2009;&nbsp; she was arrested under anti-corruption by prosecutor [appt by Yut, charged by parl?]</span><span class="abstract" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">
</span><span class="abstract" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">Firtash gets new deal 4 bill$ profit one year?! w/ help of US PR firm?</span><span class="abstract" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">
</span><span class="abstract" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">Yano 180 on camp pledge to get closer to EU, putin offers 15 bill$ ukr, ppl don'r fall for it; 9/21/12 small # ppl grows fast Maidan revo 100k ppl; pots for armor; Cops harass, putin thinks cold will drive them home but no, embaraa sochi olympics; 2/18/18? slingshots; KIa; ring of fire as defense; snipers, machine guns: we will give our lives to be free, not slaves; yano called off force (lost nerve?) and fled to east (regions safehouse?)&nbsp;</span><span class="abstract" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">
</span><span class="abstract" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Biden had made mult visits, said wd protect ukr vs russia; said russia "withering" clinging to past, could not cope w/ new changing world;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> [150m ppl, biggerst geo, gdp less than s korea or italy;&nbsp;</span></span><span class="abstract" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">
</span><span class="abstract" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">Rudy says firtash a pal, client...</span><span class="abstract" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">resource curse: decline democ, follow $; FF corps make "ownm weather"; saudi: bettee to discover water; OPEC devil's excrement"</span><span class="abstract" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">
</span><span class="abstract" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">Activ meas 2016 a wild pitch; why take huge risk (HC a russia hawk; she could easily find out]&nbsp;</span><span class="abstract" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">
</span><span class="abstract" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">putin desperate to get rid of sanction b.c petrostate; he and rex made deal for 1/4 billion$ (#1 in industry if not history)</span><span class="abstract" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">
</span><span class="abstract" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">Rex hd no clue he wd be offered SoS (never met trump, thot they wanted advice on energy)</span></font></span></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/11/a-gop-picked-witness-just-buried-republicans-bogus-conspiracy-theories-about-joe-biden"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/11/a-gop-picked-witness-just-buried-republicans-bogus-conspiracy-theories-about-joe-biden</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A GOP-picked witness just buried Republicans’ bogus conspiracy theories about Joe Biden</b></font></div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Written by Cody Fenwick November 19, 2019</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Throughout the impeachment proceedings into President Donald Trump, Republicans have tried to distract from the central allegations by casting aspersions and floating conspiracy theories about Vice President Joe Biden.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But on Tuesday, one of the key witnesses that the Republicans themselves requested to appear in the public hearings dramatically undercut their efforts to smear Biden.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Former U.S. envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, one of the key people in the Trump administration’s efforts to induce the country to announced investigations into the president’s political rivals, dismissed the allegations against Biden. He said that, while he was involved in the push to get Ukraine to announce in the investigation into Burisma — the oil company where Biden’s son Hunter served on the board — he did not at the time link the company to the former vice president. He said that, in retrospect, he should have realized that there was a connection. Had he realized the connection, he said, “I would have raised my own objections.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">He also emphasized that the investigation of the Bidens would have been “unacceptable” and baseless.</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I have known Vice President Biden for 24 years,” Volker said. “He is an honorable man and I hold him in the highest regard.”</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The allegations against Joe Biden are self-serving and not credible,” he added.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He said the concerns Republicans — and particularly Rudy Giuliani — have raised about the former vice president and his son Hunter Biden, that the father somehow used his office to protect his son,&nbsp; were “conspiracy theories, circulated by the Ukrainians.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Watch the clip below:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Aaron Rupar</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">@atrupar</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Replying to @atrupar</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Volker portrays Sondland and Giuliani -- but not himself -- as the ones who were interested in leveraging Ukraine to investigate the Bidens</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I have known Vice President Biden for 24 years. He is an honorable man and I hold him in the highest regard."</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Embedded video</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/10/not-how-we-defeat-trump-says-sanders-campaign-after-biden-opens-door-to-super-pacs/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/10/not-how-we-defeat-trump-says-sanders-campaign-after-biden-opens-door-to-super-pacs/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">‘Not how we defeat Trump,’ says Sanders campaign after Biden opens door to super PACs</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Written by Eoin Higgins / Common Dreams October 25, 2019</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Former Vice President Joe Biden’s 2020 Democratic presidential campaign on Thursday announced that they would accept support from super PACs, a reversal of a stance that had lasted through the primary season and is shared by his top rivals.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In response to the news, Faiz Shakir, campaign manager for the democratic presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), sounded a note of disappointment.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The former Vice President has been unable to generate grassroots support, and now his campaign is endorsing an effort to buy the primary through a super PAC that can rake in unlimited cash from billionaires and corporations,” said Shakir.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As Common Dreams reported Thursday, plans are underway by Biden allies to start a super PAC for the beleaguered front-runner. Biden has struggled to raise money; a CNN report Thursday showed the former vice president has less than $9 million cash on hand. Sanders has $33.7 million.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield told NBC in a statement Thursday afternoon after the CNN story broke that the campaign was still oppposed to super PACs—at least ideologically. She left the door open to accepting their support due to fears of running against President Donald Trump in a hypothetical general election match-up.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Until we have these badly needed reforms, we will see more than a billion dollars in spending by Trump and his allies to re-elect this corrupt president,” said Bedingfield. “And let’s be clear: Donald Trump has decided that the general election has already begun.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bedingfield did not explain why Biden would need a super PAC in the primary, where he will not face Trump. Instead, the Biden aide focused on the future.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“In this time of crisis in our politics, it is not surprising that those who are dedicated to defeating Donald Trump are organizing in every way permitted by current law to bring an end to his disastrous presidency,” said Bedingfield. “Nothing changes unless we defeat Donald Trump.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Shakir, in his statement, strongly disagreed with that interpretation of how to defeat the Republican incumbent. Super PACs, said Shakir, are a recipe for disaster.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“That’s not how we defeat Trump,” said Shakir. “It’s a recipe to maintain a corrupt political system which enriches wealthy donors and leaves the working class behind.”</font></div></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/10/democratic-candidates-are-finally-punching-back-against-corporate-medias-shoddy-press-coverage/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/10/democratic-candidates-are-finally-punching-back-against-corporate-medias-shoddy-press-coverage/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Democratic candidates are finally punching back against corporate media’s shoddy press coverage</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Written by Eric Boehlert / Daily Kos October 13, 2019</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Democrats running for president have a new message for the news media: We’re not going to take it anymore.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">No longer willing to stoically suffer through bad, misleading press coverage, Democrats are borrowing a page from Republicans by going public with their complaints and demanding journalists do better. But unlike Republicans who often “work the refs” by griping about imaginary slights in hopes of better treatment in the future, Democrats are calling out the press with wholly accurate claims of media malpractice.</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Last week, Joe Biden’s presidential campaign sent a blistering letter to New York Time</b>s editor Dean Baquet, reprimanding the paper for helping spread Donald Trump’s debunked conspiracy theory about Joe Biden and his son’s business dealings in Ukraine. It’s “part of a larger strategy not to let the same coverage that corrupted the 2016 election happen this time around,” a campaign source told CNN’s Brian Stelter.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The stinging critique from Biden came one day after the Times published an opinion column from discredited right-wing author Peter Schweizer, once again hyping the Biden/Ukraine story.</b>&nbsp;Schweizer, who wrote a patently dishonest book about Hillary Clinton in 2015 alleging all sorts of made-up crimes—a book the Times helped market and promote during the campaign—has been peddling the Biden smear all year within the far-right media ecosystem.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It was the Times that trumpeted Schweizer’s book Clinton Cash as the “the most anticipated and feared book” of the 2016 campaign season. And it was the Times that forged an exclusive alliance with the Breitbart-backed book (published by a Rupert Murdoch-owned subsidiary), and used the factually erroneous tome as a guidepost for Hillary Clinton ‘gotcha’ articles.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">As for this campaign cycle, even after mainstream news outlets had completely debunked the hollow claims about Biden that Schweizer was peddling, the Times invited the smear’s architect, who has a soft spot for plagiarism, to spread more partisan attacks via the newspaper. Also, note that it was the Times that got caught last May trying to peddle the GOP’s anti-Biden storyline about Ukraine in the first place.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And yes, the right-wing media feasted on the Times’ handiwork last spring, and presented it as confirmation that Biden is corrupt. More recently, the Times often tied Trump’s attempt to get a foreign player to interfere with an American election with the bogus allegations Biden has faced regarding Ukraine, suggesting that both Trump and Biden were being sullied in the process.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Biden campaign’s aggressive response last week represents a new approach for prominent Democratic candidates. In the past, party stalwarts often ignored press slights, likely feeling that media critiques weren’t why they were running for president and that candidates didn’t want to get distracted from larger, more important issues. But after Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by 3 million votes yet still lost the election thanks to some of the most openly hostile, sexist, and unfair campaign coverage in modern American history, Democratic campaigns are moving faster and much more forcefully to call out bad behavior and pressure news organizations to do better.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">My sense is also that for way too long, Beltway Democrats remained wedded to the idea that the press was actually their friend and ally, and that The New York Times for instance, was on the “side” of progressives. But the Times, of course, has been at the forefront of tearing down a long list of Democratic nominees in recent years.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Today, determined not to get ‘Hillary’d,’ or ‘Gore’d,’ or ‘swift boated‘ like previous Democratic nominees Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, and John Kerry, who all lost extremely closes races after being treated unfairly by the press (led by dubious Times coverage in all three instances), more Democrats are stating up front that they’re not going to politely stand back and ignore what they see as unfair and unprofessional media coverage</span>. In 2016, the press obsessed so much over the phony Clinton email “scandal” that coverage of her policy initiatives got obliterated. In 2000, the press took the GOP bait and spent the entire campaign depicting Gore, previously known as a Boy Scout-like politician, as a craven liar. And Kerry was the subject of a vicious, extended smear campaign as partisan Vietnam War veterans, cheered on by Republicans, lied about his war record while the Beltway press amplified the bogus swift boat claims for weeks on end.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Biden campaign last week also dispatched letters to both Facebook and Twitter, urging them not to run an ad that spread the debunked theory about Biden and Ukraine. “Whether it originates from the Kremlin or Trump Tower, these lies and conspiracy theories threaten to undermine the integrity of our elections in America,” the campaign stressed.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Biden hasn’t been alone among candidates voicing clear media critiques. In the wake of yet another rash of mass shootings, Beto O’Rourke was asked if he thought Trump’s racist, anti-immigration rhetoric had led to immigrants being targeted. “Like, members of the press, what the fuck?” the Democrat responded. “It’s these questions that you know the answers to.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Bernie Sanders also recently offered up a blunt critique of the news media.&nbsp;</b>“There are six major media conglomerates, including Time Warner which owns CNN, which control about 90% of the media in this country in terms of what we see, hear and read. Between you and me, that is a very dangerous situation,” he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.&nbsp;<b>“The CEOs make tens of millions of dollars a year in compensation. They have an agenda, and I worry about that, as I do worry about concentration of ownership in agribusiness, in Wall Street and in many other areas.” (</b>Democratic candidate Tulsi Gabbard has aired critiques of the press this campaign season, but they strike me as being un-serious and often incoherent.)</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There’s no question Democrats face in uphill battle on this front, not only because they’re getting a late start in the larger debate, but because the Beltway press responds differently to media critiques coming from the left and the right. Eternally spooked by the conservative claim of “liberal media bias,” journalists tend to be hypersensitive to GOP allegations of malpractice. At the same time, political journalists often ignore criticism, or become extremely defensive when their work is questioned by Democrats and liberals.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nonetheless, the ongoing media debate is one that Democrats desperately need to part of. And for the 2020 campaign, they will be.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Eric Boehlert is a veteran progressive writer and media analyst, formerly with Media Matters and Salon. He is the author of Lapdogs: How the Press Rolled Over for Bush and Bloggers on the Bus. You can follow him on Twitter @EricBoehlert.</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">// pod save 9/23/19</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/09/its-clinton-cash-all-over-again-as-the-media-blow-the-trump-whistleblower-story/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/09/its-clinton-cash-all-over-again-as-the-media-blow-the-trump-whistleblower-story/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...no lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;another edition of What Fresh Hell?, Raw Story’s roundup of news items that might have become controversies under another regime, but got buried – or were at least under-appreciated – due to the daily firehose of political pratfalls, unhinged tweet storms and other sundry embarrassments coming out of the current White House.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We would praise the reporters who revealed the content of a whistle-blower’s complaint that the Trump regime has refused to turn over to Congress as the law requires. But it appears that the outlines of the story were already known in DC political circles. Two weeks before the whistleblower story broke, The Washington Post ran an editorial noting that Donald Trump was withholding $250 million in military aid to Ukraine, and that while “some suspect Mr. Trump is once again catering to Mr. Putin, who is dedicated to undermining Ukrainian democracy and independence,… the president has a second and more venal agenda: He is attempting to force [Ukrainian president Volodymyr] Zelensky to intervene in the 2020 U.S. presidential election by launching an investigation of the leading Democratic candidate, Joe Biden.” The authors added, “Mr. Trump is not just soliciting Ukraine’s help with his presidential campaign; he is using U.S. military aid the country desperately needs in an attempt to extort it.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But we’re conflicted about crediting WaPo’s editorial board for breaking that news. They, like so many neutral outlets this week, described the goal of Trump’s extortion as forcing Ukraine to “launch an investigation” of Biden. That is flatly false, as there is no serious allegation of wrongdoing against the former Vice President. So Trump didn’t press Zelensky to investigate Biden–he used the power of his office to extort the newly elected Ukrainian leader to fabricate a controversy about a domestic political opponent.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Every headline suggesting that Trump (or Rudy Giuliani) simply pressed for an “investigation” adds credence to Trump’s defense.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This is not the first time the press has assisted Trump in his effort to smear Biden. In May, The New York Times helped mainstream Trump’s baseless allegation in a story titled, “Biden Faces Conflict of Interest Questions That Are Being Promoted by Trump and Allies.” Although the piece acknowledged that Biden’s effort to pressure the Ukrainian government to oust former prosecutor Viktor Shokin was based on the view of the entire US government that Shokin had consistently turned a blind eye to corruption within Ukraine’s elites, and that Shokin had “long [been] a target of criticism from other Western nations and international lenders,” it nonetheless insinuated that something was amiss because Biden’s son, Hunter, had been connected to a firm that Shokin may have been investigating.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The story was widely panned for being misleading. CNN noted that “it wasn’t until the 19th paragraph that The Times noted that there was no evidence to support the claim that Biden intentionally tried to aide his son by working to oust the prosecutor. Bloomberg also reported on May 16 that the Ukrainian prosecutor general said he had no evidence of misconduct against Biden.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The piece was co-authored by Kenneth Vogel and Iuliia Mendel. One month later, Mendel took a job as Volodymyr Zelensky’s spokesperson. Vogel remains with The Times.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Here’s @kenvogel of the New York Times saying on MSNBC that he views Joe Biden son’s work in Ukraine as “a significant liability for Joe Biden.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“There is a story here,” Vogel adds, saying “we’re going to continue to, sort of, pull that back.” (I’m sure Trump is very grateful!) pic.twitter.com/HSl90pk6Zn</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 20, 2019</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>It’s hard not to see echoes of how The New York Times—followed by CNN and The Washington Post—helped move the&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Uranium One&nbsp;</span>nontroversy from the fever swamps of the right into the mainstream political dialogue in 2015</b>. That contrived scandal, like this one, had absolutely no basis in fact. It had been pushed relentless by conservative outlets for months without getting much traction, until former&nbsp;<b>Breitbart editor-at-large Peter Schweizer snookered</b>&nbsp;The Times into laundering the allegations in a now-infamous piece titled, “Cash Flowed to Clinton Foundation Amid Russian Uranium Deal.” After that, every ostensibly neutral outlet ran with it, and although the story was easily and repeatedly debunked, it, along with EmailGhazi, became the basis for Trump’s claims that Hillary Clinton was hopelessly corrupt and should be locked up. (Peter Schweizer, having failed so far to get traction with a different Biden “scandal” having to do with China, is now pushing hard on the Biden-Ukraine story.)</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">919 intercept new&nbsp;</font></div><div><div class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-textBlock" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); margin-left: 16px; width: 247.266px; flex: 1 1 100%; display: inline !important;"><h4 class="Heading-heading Heading-light Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-heading" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 0px; display: inline !important;"><span class="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 400;">a</span><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); display: inline !important;">fter Climate Forum, Biden Heads to a Fundraiser Co-Hosted by a Fossil Fuel Executive</a></font></span></h4></div></div><div><div class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-textBlock" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); margin-left: 16px; width: 247.266px; flex: 1 1 100%; display: inline !important;"><h4 class="Heading-heading Heading-light Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-heading" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 0px; display: inline !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></h4></div></div><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><div class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-textBlock" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: 16px; width: 247.266px; flex: 1 1 100%;"><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; 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outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/09/04/after-climate-forum-biden-heads-to-a-fundraiser-co-hosted-by-a-fossil-fuel-executive/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238);" /><a class="Homepage-HomepageSubjectSecondaryNode-container" relay="[object Object]" href="https://theintercept.com/2019/08/29/lake-erie-bill-of-rights-ohio/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; margin-bottom: 40px; padding-top: 20px; position: relative; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); display: inline !important;"><font style="display: inline !important;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">a&nbsp;</font></a><font style="display: inline !important;" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/06/a-tale-of-two-climate-plans-biden-borrows-coal-industry-language-while-warren-responds-to-challenges-in-the-green-new-deal/" open="Open" sans="Sans" sans-serif="sans-serif" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" box-sizing="box-sizing" border-box="border-box" outline="outline" none="none" margin="margin" px="px" padding="padding" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line" color="color" transition="transition" all="all" s="s" ease="ease" cursor="cursor" pointer="pointer" display="display" inline="inline" important="important" font-size="font-size" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" line-height="line-height" style=""><font color="#000000">tale of two climate plans Biden borrows coal industry language while Warren responds to challenges in the Green New Deal</font></a></font></div><div class="mag-header" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 19px; padding: 0px; position: relative; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="grid-post-box-meta mag-meta" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 7px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="author-italic author vcard" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/author/matthew-rozsa/" title="Posts by Matthew Rozsa" class="author url fn" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Matthew Rozsa</a>&nbsp;/&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alternet.org/author/salon/" title="Posts by Salon " class="author url fn" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Salon</a></font></span></div></div><div class="mag-excerpt entry-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It’s a tale of two very different Democratic climate change plans: Former Vice President Joe Biden’s new plan includes coal industry talking points, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s new plan channels…</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2019/05/14/skdknickerbocker-biden-advisor-anita-dunn-fracked-gas-dominion-energy"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.desmogblog.com/2019/05/14/skdknickerbocker-biden-advisor-anita-dunn-fracked-gas-dominion-energy</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;zichal too</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/05/inside-trumps-plan-to-destroy-joe-biden/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/05/inside-trumps-plan-to-destroy-joe-biden/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">De<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">mocrats, especially early supporters of Joe Biden should probably get their war faces on. Donald Trump and his 2020 re-election campaign are about to emerge with tweets blazing in the general direction of the Democrats’ current frontrunner. Get ready for endless attacks circulating around Uncle Joe, Ukraine and Hunter Biden, Joe’s son. This won’t be your average election-year mudslinging. The story that’s about to circulate throughout the ranks of the Red Hats is aimed at completely derailing the Biden campaign before it really begins.</span></font></div><div class="p1_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Last week,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/01/us/politics/biden-son-ukraine.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">the New York Times broke a story</a>&nbsp;that, once we deciphered its complexities, could become a serious crisis for Biden, especially if the Trumpers handle it the way I think they will. It offers Trump a convenient excuse to attack Biden as corrupt (yes, the irony is staggering) while expanding upon the ridiculous narrative that Democrats are the real colluders.</font></p><div class="p2_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="alt_ad_block story-page-in-content-graph-2" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="teadsNative" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Times piece detailed how during the last year of the Obama administration, in March of 2016, Joe Biden traveled to Ukraine to convince the government in Kiev to oust its then-prosecutor general, Viktor Shokin. Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in loans to the embattled Ukrainian government unless the prosecutor was fired. Naturally, Shokin was removed and replaced by current prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko.</font></p><div class="p3_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By itself, it’s kind of a yawn. But there’s more.</font></p><div class="p4_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When Biden dangled a billion dollars over the head of the Ukrainian prime minister, prosecutor Shokin was in the middle of investigating a natural gas company called Burisma Holdings. One of the corporation’s board members, as it happens, was Hunter Biden, a New York lawyer who apparently pulled down a salary of $50,000 per month for his role at Burisma.</font></p><div class="p5_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Now, imagine you’re Donald Trump possessing this information in his stubby, sweaty fingers. The strategy practically writes itself, especially if you don’t care about mitigating circumstances (we’ll circle back to those). If you’re Trump, the obvious spin is this: Biden bribed Ukraine with a billion clams in American taxpayer dollars to squelch an investigation into a company that employed Biden’s son. I can hear Trump’s grating voice at rally after rally:&nbsp;<i style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">a beeeeeellion dollars!&nbsp;</i>Biden used your money that you earned, Trump will say, to shield his own son from prosecution. But that’s not all.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The other political dimension to this story is easy to ascertain. Trump will say Biden&nbsp;<i style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">colluded</i>&nbsp;with Ukraine in order to protect his son. This will expand to the argument that Democrats are the real crooks, actively cooperating with Russia-adjacent nations, all of which slides conveniently into Trump’s ongoing narrative that “the Democrats and Crooked Hillary colluded!”</font></p><div class="p7_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Meanwhile, the current prosecutor general in Kiev, Lutsenko, reopened the case against Burisma in March of this year, even though he cleared Burisma of wrongdoing in 2017. The Times reports that Lutsenko took up the case again in order “to curry favor from the Trump administration for his boss and ally.” The reason for reigniting the probe seems obvious: It damages Joe Biden and therefore helped Donald Trump, while simultaneously greasing the skids for a relationship between Trump and Ukrainian Prime Minister Petro Poroshenko, although the latter lost his re-election campaign in April.</font></p><div class="p8_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Now, let’s talk about the mitigating details that Trump and his disciples will never mention:</font></p><div class="p9_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; list-style: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px; list-style: square; position: relative; line-height: 1.7;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The new prosecutor general, Lutsenko, continued the investigation into Burisma upon being appointed to replace the ousted Shokin. In other words, the firing of Shokin, for which Biden lobbied, didn’t actually kill the investigation into Burisma. There’s no tat in any alleged tit-for-tat.</font></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px; list-style: square; position: relative; line-height: 1.7;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It’s also quite possible — indeed certain, in my opinion — that Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s television lawyer, [cough] persuaded the Ukrainian government to reopen the investigation after meetings earlier this year with both Shokin and Lutsenko in New York. During one of these meetings, according to the Times, Giuliani “called Mr. Trump excitedly to brief him on his findings.”</font></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px; list-style: square; position: relative; line-height: 1.7;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump will also ignore the fact that the Obama administration never opposed the investigation into Burisma. In fact, the Obama White House endorsed the probes by both Ukraine and Britain. Likewise, Biden never lobbied Obama officials to disavow the administration’s position.</font></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px; list-style: square; position: relative; line-height: 1.7;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Finally,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.salon.com/2019/05/03/the-empire-strikes-back-will-trump-order-barr-to-sabotage-joe-biden/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">as Salon’s Heather Digby Parton pointed out this week</a>, Trump may have urged Attorney General Bill Barr to open his own investigation into Joe Biden’s Ukraine escapade. You might recall that Sen. Kamala Harris asked Barr whether Trump had “suggested” investigations to Barr, to which Barr stammered like Barney Fife in a haunted house, eventually refusing to answer the question. We can only assume Trump’s looking for a “But Her Emails” 2020 scandal to hammer to death. If there’s a Justice Department investigation underway, it could basically manufacture a perfect rehash of 2016, cutting and pasting new names into the so-called scandal.</font></li></ul><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Regardless, Trump has his Biden strategy locked down, and the Democrats need to be prepared for it, especially given all of the aforementioned holes and the well-known, well-normalized Trump bullshit factor.</font></p><div class="p10_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It looks like Donald Trump Jr. and the Daily Caller are already exploiting it.</font></p><div class="p11_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; position: relative; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.7; overflow: hidden; background: rgb(245, 245, 245); border: none !important;"><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.7;" lang="en"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sounds like sleepy&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">@JoeBiden</a>&nbsp;has some explaining to do.&nbsp;<a href="https://t.co/PGvqGsj4AJ" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">https://t.co/PGvqGsj4AJ</a></font></p><div class="p12_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.7;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr)&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1125445093392039938?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">May 6, 2019</a></font></p><div class="p13_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></div></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Of course the Democratic candidates don’t need to have actual scandals attached to their names for Trump and his flying monkeys to accuse the entire party of being crooked. The Republican tactic in accusing the Democrats of doing something shady isn’t subtle: Just screech a word in a sinister tone of voice, and the Red Hats will suck it down like Kool-Aid. Details are irrelevant. For example,&nbsp;<i style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Benghazi! Emails! Dossier! Pocahontas! Obamacare!</i>&nbsp;Shout any one of these words at a Trump rally and within seconds you’ll be able to cut glass with the blue-steel erections in the crowd. Add “<i style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Ukraine!</i>” to the list.</font></p><div class="p14_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Whether Hunter Biden and his dad and other Democrats are on the level doesn’t much matter. Where there’s nothing, Trump will make things up and continuously tweet-shriek about all of it. The press is sure to report it with plenty of infuriatingly counterfactual both-siderisms. Unfortunately, the hook with the Biden story is that there’s a lot for Trumpers to work with, irrespective of accuracy or guilt, and around 40 to 45 percent of the American voting population will take it all at face value. Team Biden had better buckle up.</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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