Harris, Kamala Sen

merr iokpromoted to primary 5/15 on dark $

SEE harris 2 VP 5 23

3-FER TARGET // Hillary

http://ecowatch.com/2016/02/03/exxon-lawsuit

exxon busted

shortlisted for scotus?

===

On social media, news outlets give more attention to Kamala Harris using an expletive than Trump’s corrupt promise to oil executives](https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/social-media-news-outlets-give-more-attention-kamala-harris-using-expletive-trumps)

05/21/24

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https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/charlie-kirk-joe-biden-should-be-put-prison-andor-given-death-penalty-crimes-against

CHARLIE KIRK (HOST): I know what you're thinking, we've got to get Joe Biden out of the way so we can run against Kammy. Oh my goodness, is she beatable. It's like Black Hillary on steroids. Is she Black? I guess she says she's Caribbean or whatever. ...

She would be a lot easier to beat than Joe Biden. Joe Biden is a bumbling dementia filled Alzheimer's corrupt tyrant who should honestly be put in prison and/or given the death penalty for his crimes against America.

===

mma 5 23

despite once claiming that “Twitter needs to become by far the most accurate source of information about the world,” CEO Elon Musk is using the site to amplify dangerous conspiracy theories and right-wing talking points. In just the last few days, Musk has peddled conspiracy theories about a mass shooting in Allen, Texas, fearmongered about migrants, and seemingly suggested that white people are being discriminated against.

After a gunman in Allen, Texas, killed eight people and injured seven last weekend, Musk followed the lead of right-wing media, undermining reporting that the shooter expressed neo-Nazi beliefs. In the days after the shooting, Musk tweeted, “this is either the weirdest story ever or a very bad psyop” and seemingly expressed doubt about reported connections to far-right ideology. (He did so without providing any evidence and disregarding multiple reports from research centers and outlets that confirmed the shooter had expressed neo-Nazi beliefs online.)

Musk has a history of flirting with bad actors and dangerous content on Twitter; he has previously amplified and seemingly given credence to conspiracy theories, boosted a QAnon influencer at least two dozen times, and catered to right-wing accounts that promote bigotry, extremism, and misinformation. And in recent days, he has done more of the same.

Here are a few examples of Musk amplifying and engaging with right-wing users and misinformation within the last few days.

Musk has engaged with right-wing figures to fearmonger and push anti-immigrant rhetoric

This week, Musk has engaged with multiple right-wing media figures about immigration, seemingly agreeing with Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk that “America is being invaded” by migrants and responding to anti-immigrant Fox News reporter Bill Melugin’s fearmongering tweets with “Wow.” After Collin Rugg, co-founder of conservative site Trending Politics, wrote that the end of Title 42 will lead to “an invasion along the southern border,” Musk responded, “This is next-level!” Musk also ostensibly agreed with right-wing account End Wokeness after it bashed the Biden administration for its immigration and other policies, responding with “!!”

Musk is engaging with dangerous rhetoric that is evocative of the white nationalist “great replacement” conspiracy theory. Anti-immigrant “invasion” language has previously contributed to real-life incidents of violence, including the 2019 El Paso, Texas, shooting where 22 people were killed by a shooter who expressed similar anti-immigrant beliefs. Additionally, the Biden administration has already announced plans to further secure the southern border after Title 42 ends, and blaming the current White House for a broken immigration system is disingenuous, as the GOP has and continues to obstruct immigration reform policies.

Musk has engaged — and seemingly agreed — with far-right users who claim that white people are being discriminated against

After Jordan Neely was held in a chokehold on a New York City subway and later died, some on the far right have “pushed unsubstantiated, misleading, and false information to suggest that the media is only covering the story because Neely was Black” and the other rider was white — and Musk was quick to latch on to this anti-white bias narrative.

Musk interacted with a series of posts from QAnon influencer KanekoaTheGreat, who seemingly argued that the media are biased against white people, and thus are at least partly responsible for the “division and polarization of society.” (The posts included graphs created by two different employees at the right-wing Manhattan Institute, one of whom is a self-proclaimed “wokeness studies scholar.”)Musk engaged with these posts by replying with responses like “interesting,” “wow,” and “I wonder why.” Quote-tweeting another user who previously wrote an essay attacking the “Woke Left,” Musk also claimed that the media are engaging in “massive public manipulation” for apparently using the terms “racist,” “racists,” and “racism” more frequently within the last decade than before.

Popular Information debunked Musk’s suggestion that the media display an anti-white bias: “Since the 1990s, research has shown that the media propagates negative stereotypes of Black people as criminals.” Also, not only do the media struggle to fairly cover race, but the Center for American Progress found that Black Americans are actually overrepresented in the media as perpetrators of crime.

Additionally, Musk and his right-wing allies have shared these graphs about the media’s coverage without the necessary sociopolitical context of the last decade; police officers have killed scores of Black Americans, white supremacist violence is becoming an increasing concern, and former President Donald Trump “upped the ante on race.”

Musk has responded to bad-faith actors' suggestions for Twitter features and encouraged his followers to subscribe to their accounts

One doesn’t need to scroll long to see an example of Musk engaging with a right-wing user. In just the last few days, Musk has laughed at anti-trans content, instructed his followers to subscribe to at least two different right-wing users, and mocked Vice President Kamala Harris.

After anti-LGBTQ bigot and Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dilion begged for people to subscribe to The Babylon Bee’s Twitter account, snarkily prefacing the ask with, “We know you have important things to spend your money on, like reparations and other people's student loans,” Musk responded, “I subscribed!”
Wannabe governor of California **Michael Shellenberger** wrote a Twitter thread about “woke” culture war issues and pleaded for subscribers, to which Musk responded, “I recommend subscribing.” Musk is also evidently one of his subscribers.
Musk responded to requests for new Twitter features from conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec and QAnon influencer Ron Watkins, who may have posted as “Q,” with “coming” and “coming soon.”
Responding to right-wing personality ALX, Musk posted a laughing emoji on an anti-trans tweet and made fun of a decision to name Harris “AI Czar.”

Musk is working to court back advertisers that have previously fled his platform, but they should take caution, considering the sort of content their ads might run alongside. As BBC reporter Shayan Sardarizadeh wrote on Twitter competitor Bluesky: “These days, if you want to find the latest conspiracy theories trending on Twitter, the easiest thing to do is to check the tweets Elon Musk replies to, you’ll find most of them.”

===

https://www.alternet.org/a-very-slow-destructive-campaign/

Carlson takes aim at Kamala Harris blaming her for Russia's invasion of Ukraine

https://www.alternet.org/tucker-carlson-2659437361/

===

no lnx twt

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/right-wing-media-weaponized-vice-president-kamala-harris-climate-equity-comments-push

Right-wing media weaponized Vice President Kamala Harris' climate equity comments to push a white grievance narrative

Special PROGRAMS

CLIMATE & ENERGY

WRITTEN BY EVLONDO COOPER

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM ALLISON FISHER, ALICIA SADOWSKI & KATHERINE ABUGHAZALEH

PUBLISHED 10/03/22

Update (10/4/22): This piece has been updated with additional segments from Fox News’ evening and prime-time programming.

On September 30, as public officials assessed the catastrophic devastation Hurricane Ian caused to large swaths of southwest Florida, Vice President Kamala Harris was asked to discuss global socioeconomic disparities in climate change impact during theDemocratic National Committee’s Women’s Leadership Forum. As part of her response, Harris remarked: “It is our lowest income communities and our communities of color that are most impacted by these extreme conditions and impacted by issues that are not of their own making.”

Since then, right-wing politicians and media figures have been lying about the context of her remarks to falsely imply that the Biden administration planned to deny disaster relief to white victims of Hurricane Ian.

This white grievance narrative is inherently divisive and denies the reality that low-income communities and communities of color are on the frontlines of the climate crisis and have far fewer resources to adapt, evacuate, and rebuild before and after devastating disasters. These inequities are often compounded by discriminatory practices in receiving federal aid.

This narrative also denies the reality that a large number of poor, white Americans stand to benefit from an equity-focused approach to disaster relief. As NewsOne succinctly stated:

In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, communities across Florida were slammed by the fierce storm. And without the express commitment to equity in the recovery process, flooded communities like an Orange County low-income housing complex that flooded or a North Fort Meyers trailer park might not actually get the support they need.

Everyone who suffered losses due to Hurricane Ian must be provided with the resources they need to rebuild and recover. Although Harris’ remarks were not specifically about the federal response to Hurricane Ian, her response cuts to the core of what equity is designed to achieve: Equity is not about exclusion; it's about ensuring that the most vulnerable populations are fully included in disaster relief and future climate adaptation and mitigation planning.

But the right doesn’t do nuance. And weaponizing the vice president’s anodyne comments about climate equity allows right-wing media to downplay or deny the role global warming is playing in extreme weather events, while running interference on behalf of the fossil fuel industry, the primary driver of the climate crisis. It also allows the network and its media allies to further rile up their viewership with culture war narratives ahead of the upcoming midterm election.

And both of those moves fit into Fox News' larger playbook. For much of 2022, the network has led the right-wing mediasphere in pushing a series of unrelenting narratives that sought to undermine the Biden administration’s climate actions, while absolving the fossil fuel industry from any wrongdoing.

Below is a non-exhaustive catalog of Fox News personalities and guests and other right-wing media figures advancing this false and cynical narrative:

Fox News contributor Charlie Hurt: “It's pretty disgusting.” Appearing on The Ingraham Angle, Fox News contributor Charlie Hurt attacked Harris’ equity comments, asserting, “I think it's completely transparent and people see right through it. And when you have Democrats trying to politicize a natural disaster like this, whether it's by trying to justify their crazy power scam that they want global warming to provide them, or in their effort to try to trash their political opponents, using a tragedy like this, it's pretty disgusting.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 10/3/22]

Fox host Tucker Carlson:“She has a new plan to distribute relief, of course, on the basis of race. … So this is immoral.” Fox host Tucker Carlson claimed that Harris planned to “distribute relief, of course, on the basis of race,” before continuing, “So this is immoral. Not one thing ever in American life should be distributed on the basis of race. Ever. However, as long as we’re becoming a two-tiered society with a privileged class and an underclass, how about rewarding good behavior? Why not give priority to Americans who pay their taxes? Follow the law? Raise decent children who don’t join gangs or sell drugs or spray paint things or shoot people?” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 10/3/22]

Fox host Bret Baier:“President Biden and his team are trying to clean up – at least rhetorically – from a self-inflicted wound by Vice President Kamala Harris.” Fox host Bret Baier accused the White House of trying to spin the vice president’s “self-inflicted wound” before adding, “She made a comment that most interpreted as her saying that federal aid to hurricane victims should be distributed through the prism of race and equity to make up for injustices in years past.” [Fox News, Special Report, 10/3/22]

Fox host Jesse Watters:“Kamala Harris picking the wrong time to go woke after Hurricane Ian wreaked havoc on Florida. … Is the vice president saying white Floridians should get their hurricane relief last?” During October 3, 2022, episode of The Five, co-host Jesse Watters accused the vice president of “using this tragedy to push her radical ideology'' and later claimed that “the White House is trying to clean up her mess.” The discourse further devolved into a panel discussion that featured co-host Greg Gutfeld waxing philosophical about equity. [Fox News, The Five, 10/3/22]

Fox host Kayleigh McEnany: “At a time when America came together — perhaps one of the most unifying times in our country is after a natural disaster, when the whole country comes together — she chooses to invoke such hateful, divisive, race-based rhetoric.” During the intro to Outnumbered, host McEnany attacked Harris for her comments on equity and falsely claimed she “invok[ed] such hateful, divisive, race-based rhetoric.” Later, during a panel discussion, co-host Harris Faulkner added, “Because what she’s doing is she is following Biden's footsteps in terms of dividing us along a racial line for votes.” [Fox News, Outnumbered, 10/3/22]

Fox host Harris Faulkner: “Vice president Kamala Harris willing to do the unthinkable, divide Hurricane Ian victims by race. Was she trying to say she would prefer to help the ones she chooses first?” Before running down the damage Hurricane Ian did to Florida, Faulkner falsely claimed that Harris “was willing to do the unthinkable, divide Hurricane Ian victims by race.” This led to a longer segment that collected right-wing reaction to Harris’ statement about equity, which correspondent Peter Doocy described as “race-based relief.” [Fox News, The Faulkner Focus, 10/3/22]

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC): “It is incredibly racist. Can you imagine someone saying the exact opposite, that only whites and men should get hurricane resources first? I mean, that’s crazy town.” Appearing on Sunday Night in America, Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace responded to a loaded question about Harris’ equity comments by calling her statement, “incredibly racist” and added, “The fact that the vice president of the United States is making those kinds of comments shows a lack of leadership. … We shouldn’t see it through the lens of color like the vice president does.” [Fox News, Sunday Night in America, 10/2/22]

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL): “Now is not the time to be talking about who gets what based upon where you started. It's about helping people, making sure they get the resources they need to them as quickly as possible, helping them recover as quickly as possible. That's what matters. That other stuff can wait for another day.” In response to a question about Harris’ equity comments from Sunday Morning Futures host Maria Bartiromo, Republican Florida Rep. Byron Donalds claimed that now was the wrong time to discuss who has access to disaster recovery. “That other stuff can wait for another day. Obviously, we're going to have elections about that stuff in about a month or so,” he said. [Fox News, Sunday Morning Futures, 10/2/22]

Fox host Will Cain: “Unfortunately, for many of those in power, relief isn’t going to be something equally distributed, because of course now our focus is not on equality but is on equity. In other words: racism.” During the October 1 episode of Fox & Friends Saturday, host Will Cain claimed that “equity” is another word for “racism.” Later he expounded upon his understanding of equity: “What she went on to say is we want to distribute funds essentially according to — I don’t know exactly how she defined equity, underprivileged communities. In essence, what she would say — what she is saying — is Brown and Black. What she is saying is hurricane relief needs to be distributed according to the color of your skin.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends Saturday, 10/1/22]

Daily Caller: “Kamala Harris Says Disaster Relief Should Be ‘Based On Equity.’”

The Daily Wire: “Kamala Harris Blasted For Pushing ‘Racist’ Policy In Response To Hurricane Damage.”

FoxNews.com: “VP Kamala Harris says hurricane recovery should take 'equity' into account.”

The New York Post:“VP Harris slammed for saying Hurricane Ian aid will be ‘based on equity.’”

Newsmax.com: “VP Harris: Hurricane Ian Aid 'Based on Equity' and Race.”

One America News’ Caitlin Sinclair:

Conservative media figure Sadanand Dhume:

Right-wing commentator Ian Miles Cheong:

Right-wing personality Ryan Fournier:

Entrepreneur Elon Musk:

===

tucker habit of attack WOC?

an 922

Fox News host Tucker Carlson has a new description for the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. According to HuffPost, Carlson believes the insurrection was more of an “election injustice protest.”

On Monday, September 12, the primetime conservative host made his remarks during the recent segment of "Tucker Carlson Tonight."

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged hundreds of individuals for their involvement in the plot to overturn the presidential election and halt the confirmation of the Electoral College vote.

At one point during the segment, Carlson spoke about Vice President Kamala Harris' recent interview on the anniversary of 9/11 where she also addressed the rising threat of domestic terrorism in the United States.

During the interview, NBC’s Chuck Todd asked Harris how domestic terrorism compares to foreign threats. The vice president, according to Politico, said, “Each are dangerous and extremely harmful, but they’re different."

According to Carlson, Harris compared the insurrectionists to 9/11 plane hijackers. "The threat within? What does that mean? What the hell are you talking about you freaking lunatic? There's no group of Americans anywhere in the United States half as dangerous as the 9/11 hijackers," Carlson ranted. "To suggest otherwise is literally insane. Drawing a parallel between the election injustice protests of January 6th and the fall of the Twin Towers? True lunacy."

He later said, "But Kamala Harris didn't even pause, almost likethe whole question was a set up. She just nodded. This unspecified internal threat, she confirmed, is in fact just like Al-Qaeda -- 'very dangerous and very harmful.' You may be wondering at this point, 'What is this threat?' Since we've just declared a new war on terror, but against whom? Who is this threat? Well, of course, it's you and anyone else in the way of the Biden administration."

“So again, that’s the sitting vice president who they tell us over and over, and you just heard her say it, received more votes than any vice president in history," Carlson said, adding, "And if you don’t believe that ― and there are reasons not to believe that ― if you don’t believe that, you’re like [Sept. 11 hijacker] Mohamed Atta. Your beliefs are acts of terror, you’re comparable to a mass murderer and you need to be pursued by law enforcement.”

Watch the video below or click here.

===

https://washingtonmonthly.com/**2020/12/**30/inside-the-many-conspiracy-theories-about-the-great-reset/

nancy let

Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chair of the World Economic Forum, raised an :{important question}: last December: “What kind of capitalism do we want?” He posited that there were three potential forms:

Shareholder capitalism—which currently dominates Western corporations and is focused on maximizing short-term profits;
State capitalism—otherwise known as “democratic socialism”—which trusts the government with setting the direction of the economy; or
Stakeholder capitalism—a system in which corporations serve the interests of all their stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, and local communities.

Schwab founded the World Economic Forum in part to promote the benefits of stakeholder capitalism. During a speech in July, President-elect Joe Biden :{said that:(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}: “It’s way past time to put the end to the era of shareholder capitalism. The idea [that] the only responsibility a corporation has is its shareholders—that is simply not true …They have a responsibility to their workers, their community, to their country.”

Recognizing that the coronavirus pandemic had exposed “inconsistencies, inadequacies and contradictions of multiple systems—from health and financial to energy and education,” the World Economic Forum launched :{an initiative called:(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}:“The Great Reset” in June 2020 to extol the principles of stakeholder capitalism. Klaus :{wrote}: that the initiative’s goals would have three main components.

Governments should improve coordination (for example, in tax, regulatory, and fiscal policy), upgrade trade arrangements, and create the conditions for a “stakeholder economy.”
Investments should advance shared goals, such as equality and sustainability.
Innovations of the :{Fourth Industrial Revolution:(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}: should be harnessed to support the public good, especially by addressing health and social challenges.

Of course, those on the far left who are :{committed}:to viewing corporations as the enemy have responded to this initiative with derision. But they have a point. For the most part, the Great Reset relies on voluntary efforts from corporations to reform themselves, asking the government to merely “create the conditions” for change. While such efforts may be laudable, they have never been sufficient. Some form of regulatory oversight is necessary.

On the far right, however, the Great Reset has become grist for massive QAnon-like conspiracy theories used by various groups to promote their own self-interests. For example, Justin Haskins is often :{referred}: to as “a leading authority on the Great Reset” in right-wing media. He not only :{writes}: for publications like Breitbart, he is the :{editorial director}: and a research fellow at the Heartland Institute, a libertarian public policy think tank :{founded}: in 1984 to deny the science of climate change. That is the backdrop on which Haskins distorts the message of the Great Reset, transforming it into a socialist plot to implement the Green New Deal, when in fact it is anything but socialist.

In short, the Great Reset is a proposal to completely alter the entire global economy, moving it more toward collectivism and away from capitalism. According to its most ardent supporters, the purpose for the “Great Reset” is three-fold: (1) repairing the global economic damage caused by the coronavirus; (2) stopping a coming climate change catastrophe; and (3) using the two previously mentioned “crises” as an opportunity to advance socialist ideals, including the destruction of capitalism and individual rights.

Another major proponent of a conspiracy theory about the Great Reset is Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò,aformer Vatican ambassador to the United States and an outspoken adversary of Pope Francis. In October, he :{penned a letter}: to Donald Trump warning that “the whole world is being threatened by a global conspiracy against God and humanity.”

A global plan called the Great Reset is underway. Its architect is aglobal élite that wants to subdue all of humanity, imposing coercive measures with which to drastically limit individual freedoms and those of entire populations…

The purpose of the Great Resetis the imposition of a health dictatorship aiming at the imposition of liberticidal measures, hidden behind tempting promises of ensuring a universal income and cancelling individual debt. The price of these concessions from the International Monetary Fund will be the renunciation of private property and adherence to a program of vaccination against Covid-19 and Covid-21 promoted by Bill Gateswith the collaboration of the main pharmaceutical groups…

As is now clear, the one who occupies the Chair of Peter has betrayed his role from the very beginning in order to defend and promote the globalist ideology, supporting the agenda of the deep church, who chose him from its ranks.

According to Viganò, the “deep state” has now been joined by the “deep church,” headed by the Pope he :{attempted}: to unseat.

Tucked away in Viganò’s letter is a reference to another conspiracy theory recently :{promoted:(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}:by televangelist Pat Robertson about Biden merely being a placeholder for a Harris presidency. The archbishop wrote that, “It is obvious that those who manipulate [Biden] already have someone worse than him ready, with whom they will replace him as soon as the opportunity arises.” It should come as no surprise, then, that Christian nationalists have once again joined far right Catholics in spreading lies.

[vid]

if all of this talk about a globalist conspiracy crafted by the elites sounds familiar, that’s because it has always been the foundational message coming from Steve Bannon, who :{joined:(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}: Archbishop Viganò in attempting to undermine Pope Francis. Bannon is now using his Youtube channel :{to promote:(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}: a slightly different, but even more sinister take on the Great Reset.

In Bannon-land, the great reset is an opportunity for the elite cabal to “depopulate” the earth to 500 million, then genetically engineer humankind using “the convergence of artificial intelligence, advances in chip design and bioengineering.” He explains that the Democrats are attempting to “steal this election” because “if they can thwart the will of the people in this country,” they’ll be able to achieve the great reset by taking down populist movements in other countries as well.

As you can see, whether your agenda is to deny climate change, challenge the Pope, or warn of an impending apocalypse, the Great Reset can be twisted into a conspiracy theory to meet your needs, regardless of how many lies that requires.

===

DARK $

UPDATE:April 28 — The legislation passed out of the Ways and Means Committee on a party line vote with all Republicans in support and Democrats in opposition. Prior to the vote, committee members were sent another letter in support of the bill. This letter came from Phillip Ellender, president of Koch Public Sector, the official lobbying and PR arm of the Koch brothers.

PREVIOUSLY:

WASHINGTON — Republicans in Congress are trying to decrease the already scant amount of disclosure for politically-active nonprofits — known as dark money groups. The legislative effort is unsurprisingly supported by the main political arm of the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch.

Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) is expected to introduce a bill in the Ways and Means Committee that would eliminate the requirement for nonprofits to make a non-public disclosure of their donors to the IRS when they file their annual tax forms. The donor disclosures — known as the Schedule B report — are not released to the public, but the list of donation amounts with the donor names redacted are released.

The bill is supported by Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, the dark money donor hub run by the Koch brothers. The Kochs operate a vast political empire that mostly operates through nonprofit organizations that do not disclose their donations.

“This bill is an important first step towardreaffirming Americans’ right to free speech while protecting them from threats and intimidation because of their personal beliefs,” Mark Holden, Freedom Partners chairman and lead lobbyist for Koch Industries, said in a statement.

Roskam’s legislation comes amid a court case involving the donor list of another Koch brothers outfit, Americans for Prosperity Foundation. California attorney general Kamala Harris had sought the donor list of the organization for non-public review to ensure that it was abiding by California laws. A federal court, however, agreed on April 21 with Americans for Prosperity Foundation’s argument that this was a violation of its First Amendment rights.

Campaign finance reform and transparency proponents issued a letter calling on members of the Ways and Means Committee to oppose Roskam’s bill. Those backing the letter include Brennan Center for Justice, Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, CREW, Democracy 21, Public Citizen, Sunlight Foundation and Rootstrikers.

“Eliminating the existing requirement for disclosure to the IRS of donations to 501(c)(4) “social welfare” groups would open the door wide for secret, unaccountable money from foreign governments, foreign corporations and foreign individuals to be illegally laundered into federal elections through 501(c)(4) groups,” the letter reads.

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https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/ralph-nader-loser-pence-bullies-fabrications-through-debate-time-rules/

v President Pence "debated" Senator Kamala Harris in a way that reminded voters of how he and his boss, Donald Trump, have lawlessly misgoverned since 2017. Pence arrogantly and continually broke through the time rules that he and the Republicans agreed to obey.

Again and again, Pence blew through the two minute, one minute, and 30-second limits so he could extend his fabrications and phony promises. Again and again, moderator Susan Page of USA Today would say "Thank you" five or six times to get Pence to stop each infraction. Pence also interrupted Harris in mid-sentence, against the rules.

This boorishness should have been anticipated by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). The CPD has put on presidential debates since its creation by the Republican and Democratic Parties in 1984 to replace the League of Women Voters when they couldn't control the League's independence (See No Debate by George Farah and his website, opendebates.org ).

That said, what about Susan Page, known as an aggressive veteran journalist (especially against Third-Party candidates)? Why did Page allow Pence to run over her repeatedly and violate the time rules? Why after several overtimes by Pence did she not admonish him to stay within the agreed-to time limits?

It was only after an exasperated Harris went briefly overtime twice near the end of the session that Ms. Page told both speakers to follow the rules. Pathetic. She lost control of the debate to abuser Pence and owes the public an explanation.

On the substance of the presentations, Senator Harris used three arrows in her quiver when she had a dozen, well known to her, that went unused.

Most astonishing was Harris not nailing Trump/Pence and Mitch McConnell for blocking the House-passed stimulus and relief bill (last May under Speaker Nancy Pelosi) that is desperately needed by tens of millions of Covid-19 impacted Americans and by hard-pressed millions of small businesses. This callous trio is willing to keep furloughed or laid-off workers from receiving $600 a week until January and stall the delivery of aid to hard-pressed local agencies, schools, healthcare facilities, the Postal Service, and other stimuli to a sagging economy.

As a lawyer and former California Attorney General, Harris avoided calling out Trump/Pence for breaking and bending the law and committing many ongoing impeachable violations of our Constitution. While Pence kept touting "de-regulation," Harris didn't decode that deception by illustrating the many health, safety, and economic protections destroyed by the Trump/Pence regime that favors Wall Street over Main Street. Where was the talk about the "kitchen table" necessities on the minds of Americans daily?

Harris stressed health care, but not full Medicare for All, and let Pence get away with lies about how clean our air and water are and the overall health of the environment. Under Trump – law enforcement has been brazenly abandoned. Protecting our food, drugs, air, water, soil, and controlling greenhouse gases have been left to the whims of greedy corporate outlaws putting profits over safety.

Pence would totally ignore Page's questions and go off on rehearsed and deceptive shout-outs. He used this escape tactic to refuse to answer Page's crucial question about agreeing to a peaceful transition of power should the Republicans lose the presidency. Page chose not to follow up or even say "You didn't answer the question, but we have to move on." Once Harris used this brushoff technique when asked where she and Biden stood on expanding the number of Supreme Court Justices.

After the "debate" ended, it occurred to me that Harris completely ignored the progressive agendas of Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and millions of their supporters. There was no mention of the corporate crime wave and accelerating control over the people by immune global corporations. There was no mention of strengthening union organizing laws (such as the simple "card check" promised and forgotten by Obama/Biden in 2008). There was not even a mention of a federal $15 minimum wage, lifting the stagnant wages of millions of women and men, passed last year in the House and blocked by the Senate Republicans satisfied with the frozen $7.25 per hour

If Bernie Sanders ever thought his massive mobilization of voters for the primaries in 2016 and 2020 was going to move the dominant corporate Democrats, he must be having second thoughts after both Biden and Harris, in two debates before huge audiences, turned their backs on the fast-growing progressive wing of their Party. There was not even a nod to Bernie and his many supporters.

Biden/Harris may not be able to be so dismissive of progressive Democrats and Independents should they take control of Congress next year. But don't bet on it.

===

https://www.alternet.org/2020/09/trump-campaign-to-pivot-s-on-kamala-harris-after-biden-smears-flop-report/

Having failed at painting Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden as a wild-eyed anarchist, Donald Trump’s presidential campaignis making plans to go after his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), in much the same manner, reports Politico.

Labeling it a “fall offensive,” the president’s people hope to portray the former California attorney general as “a serious threat to the working-class voters,” who will push a socialist agenda while serving with Biden.

Serving up a preview of what is to come, Courtney Parella, deputy national press secretary for the Trump campaign, told Politico, “Kamala Harris is a California liberal who has already defined herself as a radical Democrat with her support of the Green New Deal, socialized medicine, fracking bans, tax raises and taxpayer-funded abortions.

The change in strategy comes after the president’s attacks on Biden as a far-left radical have fallen on deaf ears as the former vice president maintains a substantial lead over Trump in national and state polls including those in battleground states Trump needs if he hopes to stay in the Oval Office.

as Politico notes, that assault on Harris may meet the same fate as the Biden attacks.

“Some of those attacks will be dismissed as false or exaggerated. But the move to cast Harris as a socialist sympathizer and progressive stalwart comes as the Trump campaign struggles to deploy a similar playbook against Biden, who has mocked the president’s attempts to paint him as a “helpless puppet” of the radical left,” the report states. “Trump’s standing against Biden in polls has barely budged throughout the year despite nickname after nickname, a flurry of vicious tweets and numerous presidential press conferences that he’s used to assail his opponent.”

“The coming focus on Harris presents some challenges for the Trump camp. The president’s team has repeatedly accused Biden of embracing radical social and economic policies to please left-wing revolutionaries ahead of the November election — a line of attack that could complicate efforts to convince voters he and Harris disagree about the direction of their party and the policies their potential administration should enact,” Politico’s Gabby Orr wrote.

One Trump insider agrees.

“You can’t spend the summer telling voters they should be afraid of electing Joe Biden because he’s a socialist and then suddenly say, ‘Harris is the actual socialist and she would be in charge if Biden wins,’” explained one former Trump campaign official.

You can read more here.

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https://www.alternet.org/2020/08/kamala-harris-rips-into-trumps-failures-in-her-forceful-first-speech-as-bidens-vp-pick/

VEEP

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https://www.mediamatters.org/kamala-harris/diamond-silk-kamala-harris-not-even-black

birther redux kamala

https://www.alternet.org/2020/08/donald-trump-has-a-long-history-of-questioning-the-citizenship-of-non-white-politicians/

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https://www.alternet.org/2020/08/kamala-harris-is-already-making-trump-supporters-lose-it-and-their-s-on-her-are-nonsensical

josh went to 2 ivy l schools and taught at uk one est 1400's? nb i thnink gop has no problem with self-contra args:

...Campaigns can succeed best when they have a simple message to convey about their opponents, but Trump had no defined attack on Harris ready to go. Some Trump-friendly reporters even offered him suggested lines of attack — her supposed hypocrisy on marijuana, for instance — but he largely batted them away.

Yet the real trouble is arising for Trump defenders when attacking Harris on her past as a prosecutor. Harris has rightly come under scrutiny from the left, as many argue that she participated in far too many of the worst aspects of the criminal justice system during her time as a prosecutor and attorney general in California. She defended the death penalty in court, for example, even while saying she personally opposed it. And she fought to keep a man in prison even as evidence was emerging of his innocence. (At other times, though, she did try to push law enforcement in a more progressive direction.)

Katrina Pierson, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, tried to capitalize on the criticisms of her record in a statement.

“Clearly, Phony Kamala will abandon her own morals, as well as try to bury her record as a prosecutor, in order to appease the anti-police extremists controlling the Democrat Party,” she said. “In her failed attempt at running for president, Kamala Harris gleefully embraced the left’s radical manifesto, calling for trillions of dollars in new taxes and backing Bernie Sanders’ government takeover of health care.”

Even in this single statement, though, there were two ideas at play. Does Harris have a dark past as a prosecutor to hide? Or is she a tool of the anti-police left? These ideas are clearly in tension, and it’s not clear if we’re supposed to be afraid that she’ll lock everybody up or fire all the cops.

Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s White House counselor — and, therefore, someone who legally should not be engaging in campaigning for the president — tried to square these conflicting messages in remarks to reporters Wednesday morning.

“She called herself a criminal reformer, and she also called herself a top cop,” Conway said, claiming that Harris “left nobody happy when it came to law and order.”

They’re trying to have it both ways, attacking Harris both from the left and the right on law and order. While this may work for people already inclined to support the president, it’s hard to see how it wins anyone over who’s not already disposed to distrust Harris. These mixed attacks could end up portraying Harris as someone who’s been a moderate on criminal justice with a mixed record, which may not be scary to people at all and may, in fact, sound reasonable.

More broadly, Trump allies are finding it hard to strike a consistent note. Per The Guardian, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) told reporters:

This has completed the leftist takeover of the party and of their radical agenda. Kamala Harris will be the most liberal leftist nominee for VP that our country has ever seen. If you want to find proof of where she has moved left, you can start with looking at her support for Bernie Sanders’ health care takeover.

But Republican Sen. Josh Hawley (MO), on the other hand, warned that this radical leftist socialist is also… beloved of two major capitalist centers of power, Wall Street and big tech:...

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1119 bailed from 2020 race after a series of disarray in campaign (sis vs mgr) but podsave sez typical to reshuffle and recover; ganged up by in press in horse race story? others say she's out but bloomberg and steyer still in b/c pre CU allows self funding

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1219

Kamala Harris leads 27 Senate Dems in call for Trump to fire Stephen Miller

Harris Receives Donations From Big Pharma Executives Despite Claim She Rejects Them

Lee Fang

Campaign finance records show Harris has received thousands of dollars from executives at drug companies and distributors this year; most were not returned.

breakout dem debate v biden on bussing so

https://www.alternet.org/2019/06/right-wing-site-launches-birther-styler-conspiracy-theory-about-kamala-harris-but-cnn-quickly-debunks-it/

Harris gave a showstopping performance Thursday night at the second Democratic debate, making her a prime target for criticism. And as a viral post from the far-right site Gateway Pundit showed, we can expect conservative media to generate more racist conspiracy theories about her, just like it did when Barack Obama rose to prominence.

CNN’s Daniel Dale, the most rigorous fact checker of the president, debunked the conspiracy theory, which will hopefully stop it in its tracks before it gets started. So here’s what we know is true about the facts in question:

Harris was a part of the second class of integrated public elementary schools in Berkeley, California, in 1969
While the elementary schools had been segregated before 1968, the high school in the city was not
The segregation was not formally entrenched in law, but like much of the era’s racial discrimination, it was de facto segregation

Harris brought up her history of being part of early integration efforts in criticizing Joe Biden’s past positions on the issue and his comments about segregationists. It was the most powerful moment in Thursday’s debate.

The viral Gateway Pundit post, which I won’t link to, contested this history. It falsely said she “lied” and that the schools were integrated before she was born. But the evidence for this theory was a picture from the high school yearbook in 1963, which showed both black and white students listed together. As the facts listed above show, though, this is consistent with Harris’ account (which officials confirmed to Dale). She was part of the second integrated class at her elementary school, which had been segregated, even while the sole high school in the city was integrated.

It’s not clear if Gateway Pundit will issue a correction, or if it will just go on attacking Harris baselessly. But as we saw with the birther lie about President Barack Obama, racist smears against Democratic candidates can persist in the right-wing media world without any basis in fact. Indeed, you can spout this nonsense and still become president.

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team blue? but

nader corp crime rept podesta waved kamala harris invest in CA san diego?

announce prez mlk day

---

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https://www.alternet.org/2019/01/maga-troll-behind-plot-to-smear-mueller-flames-new-racist-birther-movement-against-kamala-harris/

Jacob Wohl, an Internet troll who plotted to smear special counsel Robert Muelleras a sexual predator, has launched a new conspiracy theory falsely suggesting that Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is not an American citizen.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Wohl said that Harris should be disqualified from the presidential race because her parents were not born in the U.S. The attack resembled racist “birther” claims that were made against President Barack Obama by President Donald Trump and others.

https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/kamala-harris-blisters-racist-kirstjen-nielsen-fiery-senate-interrogation

https://mic.com/articles/159067/meet-the-three-women-of-color-who-were-just-elected-into-the-u-s-senate

old

Donor Privacy

Washington Free Beacon: Court Strikes Down California Effort to Reveal Donors to Nonprofit

Lachlan Markay

District court judge Manuel Real ruled that attorney general Kamala Harris’ office did not demonstrate a sufficient need for that information when it sought to bar the conservative Americans for Prosperity Foundation from raising money in the state unless it turned over that list.

If upheld, the case could have broad implications for efforts by Democratic politicians to more heavily scrutinize—and, critics say, censor or stifle—nonprofit groups that engage in political speech without advocating for or against specific candidates.

The AFP Foundation “has proven that disclosing its Schedule B to the Attorney General would create a burden on its First Amendment rights,” Real wrote in his decision.

Read more…

Los Angeles Times: Nonprofit backed by Koch brothers won’t have to reveal its donors to Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris

John Myers

The attorney general said that long-standing state law requires charities to submit donor information, and that officials ensure that the information isn’t disclosed to the public. But in his ruling, Real cast doubt on the state Department of Justice’s ability to not publish the donor list by mistake.

“The attorney general’s current approach to confidentiality obviously and profoundly risks disclosure,” he wrote.

The judge also pointed out that the Americans For Prosperity Foundation had routinely made annual charity filings with the state since the early 2000s and was never asked for the donor list from its IRS Form 990 until March 2013…

Thursday’s ruling stands at odds with a lawsuit filed against Harris over disclosure of donors to a similar nonprofit, the Center for Competitive Politics. In that case, however, a federal judge agreed with Harris.

Read more…

Wall Street Journal: Free Speech 1, Kamala Harris 0

Editorial Board

PREVIOUSLY:

“This bill is an important first step toward reaffirming Americans’ right to free speech while protecting them from threats and intimidation because of their personal beliefs,” Mark Holden, Freedom Partners chairman and lead lobbyist for Koch Industries, said in a statement.

Roskam’s legislation comes amid a court case involving the donor list of another Koch brothers outfit, Americans for Prosperity Foundation. California attorney general Kamala Harrishad sought the donor list of the organization for non-public review to ensure that it was abiding by California laws. A federal court, however, agreed on April 21 with Americans for Prosperity Foundation’s argument that this was a violation of its First Amendment rights.

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https://www.propublica.org/article/how-a-for-profit-college-targeted-homeless-and-kids-with-low-self-esteem

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamala_Harris

Kamala Devi Harris (/:{ˈkɑːmələ:(style="border-bottom:1px dotted"):}:/;^[1] born October 20, 1964) is an American attorney, politician and member of the Democratic Party who has been the 32nd and current Attorney General of California since 2011.

Harris graduated from Howard University and University of California, Hastings College of the Law, then worked as a Deputy District Attorney in Alameda County, California from 1990 to 1998. She served as Managing Attorney of the Career Criminal Unit in the San Francisco District Attorney's Office from 1998 to 2000 and as Chief of the Community and Neighborhood Division in the office of San Francisco City Attorney from 2000 to 2003. In 2003, she was elected District Attorney of San Francisco, defeating incumbent Terence Hallinan. She was re-elected in 2007 and served from 2004 to 2011.

Harris was elected Attorney General in 2010 and re-elected in 2014.^[2][3] Harris is the first female,^[4] the first African-American,^{[5][6][7][8][9]} and the first Asian-American attorney general in California.^[10][11] She is running for the United States Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Barbara Boxer in the 2016 election.

4 U.S. Senate candidate
- 4.1 Fundraising
- 4.2 Polling

5 Issues

Early life and education

Harris was born in Oakland, California. She is the daughter of an Indian mother, Dr. Shyamala Gopalan Harris—a breast cancer specialist who emigrated from Chennai, India, to the United States in 1960^[12]—and a Jamaican American father, Stanford University economics professor Donald Harris.^[13] She has one younger sister, Maya, who is now married to Tony West, a former Associate Attorney General of the United States.^[14] Kamala's parents divorced when she was young.^[15] Harris' mother had primary custody of the two girls, and they were raised in Berkeley, Oakland, and Montreal, where their mother took a position doing research at the Jewish General Hospital and teaching at McGill University.^[16] The Harris sisters grew up in a household that combined Hindu and Baptist teachings.^[17] Harris' mother died in 2009.^[18]

Harris attended Howard University in Washington, D.C.,^[19] where she was initiated into Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, and received her Juris Doctor (J.D.) from University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1989.^[20] She was admitted to the California bar in 1990.