Saturday, June 27, 2020

Avenatti


avenatti

From October 7, 2018, that's "Avenatti."  C.I. noted:

Isaiah's latest THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Avenatti."  As Michael Avenatti chases an ambulance, Senator Dianne Feinstein asks, "Who would have guessed that an ambulance chasing, porn actress representing con artist could hurt our party?"  Isaiah archives his comics at THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS.


Michael Avenatti is part of the reason the 'resistance' was nuts from the beginning.  They were an ignorant and uninformed group who thought they were consumers of 'high information' but they were just a bunch of spoiled and entitled people living in a bubble who didn't have the brains to realize when they were being lied to and conned.

If they hadn't gone nutso with the whole Russia conspiracy, I might have become one of them, honestly.  Their goals aren't that different from my own.  

But I do have ethics and I do have standards.  I won't drop them or discard them.  That makes me different from the 'resistance.'  I wish it didn't.

Maybe some day, a section of the left can be as vocal but without the insanity and the nutso conspiracy theories.

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"



Friday, June 26, 2020.  In the US, Howie Hawkins now appears to be the Green Party's presidential nominee, Turkey continues to terrorize northern Iraq as a new death and a video of children playing makes clear. the Iraqi forces arrest some members of a militia, and much more.


Starting in the United States where another party has a presidential nominee.  Until the Democratic Party's national convention formalizes things, Joe Biden is the presumed presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.  By the same token (until the Green Party holds its national convention next month and formalizes it), Howie Hawkins is now the presumed presidential nominee for the Green Party.. Chris Baker (SYRACUSE.COM) reports:

A Syracuse activist and campaign season mainstay has secured enough support to run for president as the Green Party’s candidate.
Howie Hawkins locked up enough Green Party delegates over the weekend to represent the party in November’s election.
His running mate is Angela Walker, an activist from Wisconsin who previously ran for vice president with the Socialist Party USA.
“Mounting unnecessary deaths from Covid-19 and the uprising against racism have revealed how the two governing parties are presiding over a failed state,” Hawkins said in a press release. “The Green Party is the alternative: Medicare for All, the full-strength Green New Deal, an Economic Bill of Rights, and ending militarized policing at home and abroad.”







Howard Gresham Hawkins (born December 8, 1952) is an American trade unionist and environmental activist from New York. A co-founder of the Green Party of the United States, Hawkins is the party's presumptive presidential nominee. His primary campaign issues include enacting an eco-socialist Green New Deal, which he first proposed in 2010, and building a viable, independent working-class political and social movement in opposition to the Democratic and Republican parties and capitalism in general.[2]
Hawkins has played leading roles in anti-war,[3] anti-nuclear,[4] and pro-worker movements since the 1960s. Hawkins is a retired teamster and construction worker; from 2001 until his retirement in 2017, Hawkins worked the night shift unloading trucks for UPS.[5][6]
Hawkins has run for various offices on twenty-four occasions, all unsuccessfully.[7] He was New York's Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2006. In 2010, Hawkins ran as the Green Party's candidate for Governor of New York, which restored ballot status for the party when it received more than the necessary 50,000 votes. In 2014, Hawkins ran again for the same office and received five percent of the vote. Hawkins ran a third time for Governor of New York in 2018, and ran for Mayor of Syracuse in 2017.





"The two governing parties are governing over a failed state," Hawkins said Wednesday in an interview. "Look at the coronavirus. We have four percent of the world's population and 20 percent of the deaths." 
And the Green Party, he said, is still very much relevant even as a debate continues to roil the Democratic Party over how far progressives should carry the platform. Figures like Senator Bernie Sanders retain a sizeable following the party, pushing into the party's mainstream issues like universal access to Medicare. 
But Hawkins believes Sanders's impact falls short.
"He's moved the debate to the left, but not the policy," Hawkins said. "Medicare for all was his signature issue. A lot of the Democratic candidates had to relate to that. But now you've got Biden who said if it crosses my desk, I'll veto it."
Hawkins listed four "life or death issues" he's running on: The pandemic, a Green New Deal to combat climate change, fighting economic inequality through a job guarantee and fighting nuclear proliferation. 
Asked about criminal justice reform in the wake of George Floyd's killing, Hawkins said, "it's good to redistribute" some police funding to aid the homeless or drug addiction. 
He's not, however, in favor of abolishing police departments entirely. 
"You're going to need somebody, I don't care if you call them police or not, to go out and apprehend people who are dangerous," Hawkins said. 

At his Twitter feed yesterday, Howie noted that Senator Bernie Sanders is calling for a 10% reduction in Pentagon spending while the:

Green Party Prez ticket is calling for a 75% cut - not 10% -in military budget. To pay for a #GreenNewDeal that goes to 100% renewable energy by 2030, zero carbon emissions, halt to new fossil fuels, living wage jobs for all, single payer health care. Vote Green for a change.

In this community, Ann and Mike have endorsed Howie -- but they have made clear (read what they wrote) that this is not, "I'm voting Howie regardless!"  If Howie doesn't run a real campaign, they are not voting for him.  Jill Stein's campaign in 2012 was pathetic.   If you're new to that observation, see Ava and my "Let the fun begin (Ava and C.I.)" written the day after the 2012 election:



Jill Stein.

As feminists, we wondered six weeks ago, what do we do?

Roseanne had already imploded.  (Cindy Sheehan has a story to tell and then some.)  She couldn't and wouldn't campaign, she apparently wouldn't pay workers she hired for her campaign, she was an embarrassment.

And so was Jill Stein.

As feminists, do we call it as it is?

We debated that for three days.  Jill wasn't going to win the presidency.  In fact, it was obvious she was running off the limited votes she did have a shot at.

But did we tell the truth on that?  Did we call her out?

We crossed the line on gender with the decision -- a feminist one (not "the" feminist one) -- that she was running for public office and therefore had to be treated the same as anyone else would even if, in the closing weeks, we were going to tear her apart.

But . . .

Having dealt with the feminist issue, we still had the issue of third parties.

Was it really fair to beat up on a third party candidate?

Adding to the problems, one of us (Ava) is involved with a lifelong Green (Jess), has a child by him, has made a home with him.

And Jess was very clear that Jill Stein was "a f**king idiot but the Greens need to be on ballots."  And they were.  Texas, for example.  We heard from Billie who early voted for Jill Stein.  She was so excited because Jill Stein was on the ballot.  She didn't have to write her in.  Right there on the Texas ballot was the Green Party.

What do we do?

In the end, we decided, "We don't promote her.  We don't mention her.  That's true here, that's true at Third."

So we bit our tongues.

As she ran a stupid campaign.  As she made a fool of herself and the Green Party.  (Granted, it's a party that loves to make a fool of itself.)

She -- and others -- did a debate with Larry King.  A debate that did not include all.  A new hurdle was invented.

Green Party members, you know what a hurdle is, right?  It's what keeps your candidate out of the so-called presidential debates every four years.  Why the hell would you take part in a debate that did not invite everyone who made it onto a state's ballot as a presidential candidate?

Because hypocrisy is a charge you live to embrace?

Maybe so.

Supposedly the Green Party is opposed to war.

So when Tim Arango reported the White House was negotiating with Nouri to send more troops back into Iraq, Jill Stein should have led on that.

But she's a politician which is just a whore without the desire to please a customer.

So Jill ignored it.

She ignored a lot.

Six weeks ago, in fact, after Barack cratered in the first debate, she and her campaign began going after Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.

Huh?

You're a Green.  You're on the left.  The high profile left vote getter just imploded on national TV.  It's the perfect time for you to pick up some of his voters.

But you refuse to try.  You rush to go after Romney and Ryan instead.

Why is that?

Because you are not a real party.

Because you will forever be the little sister of the Democratic Party.

Because every four years, you start off with promise and end up revealing just how craven and disgusting you are.

If we are offering commentary four years from now, please note, being a Green will not save you.  Being third party will not save you. 

So if Howie decides that the way to campaign is to come on like the kid sister of the Democratic Party, Mike and Ann are out the door.  

Journalist Chris Hedges has endorsed Howie.  The Green Party of New Jersey issued the following:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25th, 2020
The Green Party of New Jersey is proud to announce that Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author, and activist Chris Hedges endorsed all GPNJ candidate campaigns for 2020. They are: Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker for President and Vice-President, Madelyn Hoffman for U.S. Senate, and Craig Cayetano for Council in Ward 3 in Hawthorne.
In his letter of endorsement, Chris Hedges writes, “I endorse the Green Party campaigns of candidates Howie Hawkins for President and Angela Walker for Vice President; the campaign of Madelyn Hoffman for U.S. Senate; and the special election campaign of Craig Cayetano for town council, Ward 3, in the town of Hawthorne. These candidates embody Green Party values. They know that the mainstream political parties have not, and will not, invest in people rather than corporations. They will never reform the systems of social control embodied in the police, the war industry, and prisons.”
He continued, “These candidates are facing important deadlines for filing petitions to place them on the November ballot. They need our help in obtaining the signatures to meet election requirements…We must step outside the system, to pit power against power, as tens of thousands of courageous men and women are doing in hundreds of American cities. This process of radical change will not be easy. It will not happen quickly or in one election cycle. It is a process, especially given the ecocide and corporate serfdom that confronts us, that we must embrace as a moral imperative. Voting is a small part of this process, but it sends an important signal to the ruling elites that their time is up, or soon to be up. We must stop fearing them. They must start fearing us.”
Madelyn Hoffman faces a July 6th deadline (technically July 7th at 4pm) for submitting signatures. Her petitions can be signed  on-line here: www.hoffmanforsenate.com/petition. Anyone eligible to vote in New Jersey who has not signed another petition for U.S. Senate may sign this petition.
Craig Cayetano faces the same deadline for submitting signatures. His signatures can be submitted on-line here: https://www.cayetano4council.com/candidate_petition  To sign for Cayetano, you must live in the third ward of Hawthorne.
Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker have until July 26th, 2020 (technically July 27th at 4:00pm) to submit their petitions. Anyone in New Jersey eligible to vote who has not signed anyone else’s petition for President, can sign these petitions. Please help these Green Party candidates get on the ballot in November so they can carry this fight to the voting booth.
The link for electronic signatures for the Hawkins for President campaign is: hawkins20.us/njpetition.
Continued Hedges, “Our enemy is the tiny cabal of corporate oligarchs who have seized control of the two ruling parties, the three branches of government, the media, academia, our health services, and the economy. They have usurped our rights to exclusively serve corporate profit. This is especially true in New Jersey, which has one of the most corrupt Democratic Party machines in the nation.”
He concludes, “Thank you for supporting the Green Party. The Green Party and its candidates stand unequivocally with those in the streets fighting institutionalized racism and those organizing strikes and work stoppages among frontline workers. The party seeks to express and honor the aspirations of those leading the current generational and class revolt shaking the foundations of New Jersey, the nation, and the world.”


Gloria La Riva is a presidential nominee.  She's running for the Party for Socialism and Liberation as well as for the Peace and Freedom Party.




There are two other people who have their party's presidential nomination.


Joseph Kishore is the Socialist Equality Party's presidential candidate.


And Jo Jorgesen is the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee.






Turning to Iraq where Turkey continues to terrorize the Iraqi people. 



Call it Operation Claw-Eagle, call it Operation Claw-Tiger, it's terrorism under any name.  Turkey is violating international law and it is violating Iraq's sovereignty.  This morning, ALJAZEERA reports:

On Thursday evening, a Turkish strike hit a pickup truck in a rural area north of the Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah, said local official Kameran Abdallah.
"It killed one man who was in the car," said Abdallah, without being able to specify whether the victim was a civilian or fighter. "The six wounded consisted of two women, two children and two men, all members of the same family."
On Friday, Baghdad issued a statement calling on Turkey to end its breach of Iraqi airspace and sovereignty, in which a number of civilians were killed, according to local media reports. 
"These actions are a flagrant violation of the principle of good neighbourliness, and a clear violation of international agreements," said the statement issued by Iraq's presidential office.
Since "Claw-Tiger" began, at least five civilians have been killed and hundreds of families have fled their homes.


The Socialist Alliance of Australia condemns the Turkish state’s escalation of illegal cross border air strikes against Kurdish and Yezidi communities in northern Iraq and north-east Syria (Rojava).
We call upon the Australian government to immediately convey the strongest objection to these raids to the Turkish Ambassador to Australia and to recall the Australian Ambassador to Turkey as an act of protest. The Australian government should also call upon NATO and the UN Security Council to act immediately to stop this aggression and to terminate all military aid and supply to Turkey.
The Socialist Alliance extends its unconditional solidarity to the victims of this Turkish military aggression and pledges to continue to build solidarity actions in Australia.
June 26, 2020
The Socialist Alliance is not the only one calling out Turkey's actions.  Christian Peacemaker Teams, USCIRF, the Arab League, the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have all condemned the actions of the Turkish government.   RUDAW reports that the PUK political party has also called out the Turkish government:

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party (PUK) has called the Thursday bombing of the Kuna Masi resort a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty, attributing the unclaimed attack to Turkey, and calling on the Iraq’s presidencies to respond “urgently”.

The PUK bloc in Iraqi parliament issued a statement Friday regarding the airstrike of the Kuna Masi resort in Sharbazhir town in northeastern of Sulaimani province, in which one unidentified fighter was killed and six civilians were injured, according to Shaho Osman, head of Sharbazhir town told Rudaw on Thursday.

An unknown warplane conducted an airstrike targeted Kuna Masi tourist resort in northeastern Sulaimani province on Thursday killed at least one unidentified fighter, and wounded six civilians.

“Continuous violation of Turkish warplanes to the Iraqi sovereignty is a clear disrespect to the formal memorandum the Iraqi government handed over to the Turkish ambassador,” the statement reads.

The PUK bloc also called on the Iraqi Foreign Ministry and the Iraqi representative to the United Nations Security Council to request the convening of an emergency Security Council session to suspend the Turkish military operations inside Iraqi territory and issue a resolution to compensate the families of civilians who have been killed by the military operation.



Other news out of Iraq involves a raid.



AFP reports, "Iraqi security forces arrested more than a dozen pro-Iran fighters overnight, in their first raid against those accused of anti-US rocket attacks, Iraqi officials told AFP early Friday.  Elite fighters from Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service raided a headquarters in southern Baghdad used by Kataeb Hezbollah, a pro-Iran faction also identified as Brigade 45 of the Hashed al-Shaabi military forces." Mina Aldroubi (THE NATIONAL) adds:

 Jaber Al Jaberi, an Iraqi member of parliament, told The National that the CTS raid on Kataib Hezbollah was an attempt to exert state authority and a test to see what the reaction might be.
“Indeed the reaction by the so-called axis of resistance was strong, where their armed and hysterical response revealed a lot about them, their capabilities and their non-compliance with the laws of the state,” Mr Al Jaberi said.    



Al Jazeera's Simona Foltyn, reporting from Baghdad, said Iraq's elite Counter Terrorism Service seized at least 10 rockets during the operation, which was "carried out an in effort to pre-empt an impending rocket attack on the Green Zone and Baghdad International Airport, both of which house US troops".
"Subsequently, dozens of armed Kataib Hezbollah fighters arrived in the Green Zone and laid siege to one of the buildings belonging to the Counter Terrorism Service, demanding the release of the detainees, claiming they were arrested illegally without an arrest warrant," she said.


Let's wind down with this:

We are so excited to announce the launch of Ms. magazine's very first podcast, On the Issues with Michele Goodwin! 
You read Ms. online and in print. You follow along on social media. Now, keep up with the feminist movement and even more of Ms.’s substantive, unique reporting with your new favorite podcast. 
Tune in for our premiere episode on Tuesday, June 30 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or MsMagazine.com
Get a sneak peek of the feminist analysis, insightful conversations and exciting guests to come: a trailer is available now! We hope you’ll give it a listen, subscribe and rate the podcast. 
On the Issues is a show where we report, rebel, and tell it like it is. Join host Dr. Michele Goodwin as she and special guests tackle the most compelling issues of our times, centering your concerns about rebuilding our nation and advancing the promise of equality. 
Listen to a trailer for On the Issuewith Michele Goodwin now — on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
And we’d love if you help spread the word, too! The number one thing you can do to help the Ms. magazine podcast reach new listeners? Subscribe and rate the podcast on Apple. Let’s show the power of independent, feminist media! 
Meet Your On the Issues Host: Dr. Michele Goodwin is a frequent contributor to Ms. magazine and on MsMagazine.com. She is a Chancellor’s Professor at the University of California, Irvine and also serves on the executive committee and national board of the ACLU. Dr. Goodwin is a prolific author and an elected member of the American Law Institute, as well as an elected Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Hastings Center. Her most recent book, Policing The Womb: Invisible Women and The Criminalization of Motherhood, is described as a "must read."
Tune in Tuesday, June 30 for the first episode of On the Issues with Michele Goodwin—Policing in America: A Tale of Race, Sex and Violence. Professor Goodwin and her guests will ask critical questions like: where are the women in the field of policing? And why does it matter?
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Saturday, June 20, 2020

Hogwarts

hogwarts

From September 30, 2018, that's "Hogwarts."  C.I. noted:


Isaiah's latest THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Hogwarts."  Rachel Maddow proclaims "Vladimir Putin strikes again.  MSNBC can exclusively report Harry Potter has caught a nasty case of hogwarts.  All evidence points to Putin."  The breaking news crawl reveals "CDC WARNS ANAL HOGWARTS LINKED TO SALISBURY" and the corner TV panel advises 'TONIGHT 10 PM LAWRENCE O'DONNELL LIVE ON THE ANAL HOGWARTS OUTBREAK."  Isaiah archives his comics at THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS.


Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


Friday, June 19, 2020.  Turkey continues its invasion of Iraq, the country's prime minister remains silent even as protests mount in the streets, we look at the US presidential race, and more.



Turkey continues its invasion of Iraq -- it's bombing the country with war planes and has sent foot soldiers into the country.  The Arab League, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have all condemned the actions of the Turkish government. Another country joins them this morning.  EGYPT TODAY reports:


In a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Egypt affirms its complete rejection of any interference affecting the sovereignty of any of the brotherly Arab states.

“Egypt stresses utter rejection of any interferences that may undermine the sovereignty of any of its brotherly Arab countries, taking into account the consequences of these actions in further fueling instability in the region, while calling on all parties to respect the sovereignty of Iraq, and to spare it any international or regional rivalries that would hinder the achievement of the aspirations of the government and people of brotherly Iraq for stability and development,” the statement read.
 


The Turkish government is calling their act of terrorism Operation Tiger-Claw.


The Turkish government insists that they are battling the PKK.  Who?   Aaron Hess (International Socialist Review) described the PKK in 2008, "The PKK emerged in 1984 as a major force in response to Turkey's oppression of its Kurdish population. Since the late 1970s, Turkey has waged a relentless war of attrition that has killed tens of thousands of Kurds and driven millions from their homes. The Kurds are the world's largest stateless population -- whose main population concentration straddles Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria -- and have been the victims of imperialist wars and manipulation since the colonial period. While Turkey has granted limited rights to the Kurds in recent years in order to accommodate the European Union, which it seeks to join, even these are now at risk."


The Turkish government regularly issues statements praising themselves for killing X number of PKK.  They never acknowledge when they kill civilians.  In yesterday's snapshot, we noted Abbas Maghdid, the 30-year-old shepherd that the Turkish government killed in this week's attacks.  Today, ALJAZEERA and ASHARQ AL-AWSAT note Abbas.


Kurdish political sources said that the broad Turkish operation underway in northern Iraq could not have been possible without prior coordination and facilitation with the Kurdish parties, especially the Kurdistan Democratic Party led by Masoud Barzani. The Iraqi government strongly condemned the Turkish incursions and summoned the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad, Fatih Yildiz, twice within the space of 36 hours.
The sources indicated that Kurdish authorities are looking for ways to protect their interests with some Arab countries while Turkey is circulating news that the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is receiving support from countries hostile to Ankara, and especially after reports indicating that Turkey is building military bases in northern Iraq.
Local sources said that the authorities of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq associated with Barzani are still keeping silent about the Turkish military operation, while tracking money transfers directed to support the opposition PKK.
Iraqi-Kurdish political analyst Hoshyar Malu said that “Turkey is violating international law while the Iraqi government is showing a timid reaction” regarding the first Turkish air strikes, a reaction that did not deter a ground operation.

 Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has been prime minister of Iraq since May 7th.  Though he sought media attention last week by taking reporters with him for a for-show tour of Mosul, he's remained silent on the Turkish attack.  This as the Iraqi people are being informed that they're losing jobs.  His silence only makes him look weak.  And his administration already has enough problems.  MEMO reports
The Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq accused the Iraqi government and Shabak militia Thursday of torturing prisoners in jails in Nineveh governorate, Anadolu reports.
“Detainees in the government’s and militia’s prisons in Iraq are subjected to heinous crimes that go against human nature,” the association’s general secretariat said in a statement.
“A report issued Wednesday by the Iraqi Center for Documentation of War Crimes revealed extensive human rights violations that are systematically taking place in intelligence prisons in Nineveh governorate at the hands of intelligence agents and the militia, known as the Shabak militia,” the statement added.
There has been no comment from the Iraqi government.

"No comment" really isn't a position that indicates leadership.  Mustafa replaces a prime minister who couldn't finish his term because the Iraqi people saw him as inept.  Mustafa risks the same route currently.





The fact that protests are already being mounted should indicate to Mustafa that the time for silence has ended and he needs to make some sort of statement.

In the US, the Libertarian Party has selected their nominee for US president: Jo Jorgensen.  May 23rd, she became the party's nominee.  The always ridiculous Dean Obeidallah immediately wrote a column for CNN telling people not to vote for her.  As a Muslim, he insisted, the only choice was Joe Biden.

As a Muslim?  The Drone War is something Lying Dean never heard of?  The Iraq War?  When has Joe Biden ever done anything other than persecute Muslims?

Dean's just another whore trying to tell you who to vote for.  Your vote is your vote.  Use it as you see fit.  That includes not voting if you don't believe in the rigged process.  

Iraq War veteran Adam Kokesh was also seeking that nomination.  We'll again note his interview with Jorgensen from last week.




Gloria La Riva is another candidate for the US president.  She is the presidential nominee for both the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the Peace and Freedom Party.




That's two women who are running for the US presidency.  Meanwhile, despite vowing long ago that he would select a woman as his running mate if he got the nomination, Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden still seems unable or unwilling to choose.  Gretch The Wretch is out -- not just due to her looking the other way as police attacked civilians, but also because of her husband's abuse of office that they tried to play down as a joke.  It wasn't a joke and before Memorial Day ended, Gretch The Wretch was off the list.  Press favorite Amy Klobuchar also took a tumble -- her 'hard on crime' stance turns out to really just be, attack African-Americans.  She was notified late Wednesday that she was eliminated -- no rose from Bachelor Joe -- which is why she gave her interview yesterday pretending she'd made the decision to leave the process and consideration.   Right now, the campaign's leaning towards one of these three: Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Susan Rice.

Susan Rice is the first you can toss out.  Squinty-eyed and untrustworthy, the Biden campaign's polling suggests adding Susan to the ticket does very little.  She's a War Hawk who supported the Iraq War and is little known despite holding prominent positions.  Those who do know of her tend to hold an unfavorable position towards her.  As one of his advisors told me, "We do not have the time to run a presidential campaign and rehabilitate his running mate at the same time.  Susan buried her own career on that fateful Sunday."  He's referring to her going from chat show to chat show insisting that the attack in Benghazi was the result of a YOUTUBE video.  

The same advisor says Kamala polls better than Elizabeth.  (Stanley Greenberg has publicly stated that adding Elizabeth to the ticket would ensure victory for Joe in November.)  Elizabeth has a number of negatives which, the advisor points out, is one of the reasons she didn't end up with the presidential nomination.  Kamala is seen as more of a blank slate that voters can project upon while Elizabeth's previous baggage weighs her down.

Joe has very little to offer so he continues to tease this out.  It's the only remotely interesting thing about his dull and uninspiring campaign.



Another person who would like to be president?  Howie Hawkins.



Howie Hawkins is seeking the Green Party's presidential nomination and he's already selected his running mate: Angela Nicole Walker.  Though he is currently the presidential nominee for the Socialist Party USA, he has not secured the nomination from the Green Party.  

The Green Party  will hold their convention online in July (the ninth through the twelth). Hawkins leads in most polling and his only double-digit contender a month out from the convention is Dario Hunter.  Polling at less than three percent are David Rolde, Sedinam Moyowasitza-Curry, Dennis Lambert, Kent Mesplay, Jesse Ventura (who has done press but has not officially entered the race -- and has stated he will not run for the office but will consider it should the office be offered to him), Susan Buchser Lochocki and Chad Wilson.


Howie Hawkins' campaign issued the following this week:

For Immediate Release: June 18, 2020
Howie Hawkins, howie@howiehawkins.us
Angela Walker, angela@howiehawkins.us
Kevin Zeese, Press Secretary, 301-996-6582, kevin@howiehawkins.us

Hawkins and Walker Call for More Radical Changes to Policing

Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker, the leading candidates for the Green Party nomination for president and vice president, released the following statement today calling for community control of the police, large-scale federal spending to end poverty, and the decriminalization of drugs.
They say the nationwide uprising against police brutality and racism should raise these demands in order to make more fundamental changes in public safety systems than only reforming police practices and shifting some money in police budgets to social services.

Creating a Public Safety System That Really Protects and Serves

By Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker
June 18, 2020
A long menu of policing reforms has been thrust into public debate and legislative consideration by the nationwide uprising against police brutality and racism. Many of the proposed reforms of policing practices at the state, local, and federal levels are good policies.
The movement is also demanding to Defund the Police. Defunding means scaling back what police do and transferring the savings into social services, schools, housing, and community economic development. Defunding means removing police from dealing with many social problems such as homelessness, drug use, sex work, mental health crises, domestic disputes, and school discipline that are better addressed by other trained first responders, including social workers, EMTs, doctors, child protective services, therapists, and legal aid lawyers.
Reforming police practices and reallocating portions of police budgets to the provision of social services are not enough. These reforms do not shift the power to control policing to the people the police are supposed to protect and serve. These reforms do not provide enough resources to resolve the social problems that police are now sent in to contain because the system has criminalized problems like poverty, homelessness, mental health issues, and drug use. These reforms do not decriminalize personal drug use and possession, the largest single category of arrests and imprisonment in the US criminal justice system.
If we are going to truly create a public safety system that serves and protects the people, we must add three critical demands to the our menu of reforms:
1. Community Control of the Police
Police brutality will not stop as long as the police can continue to police themselves and brutalize people with impunity. We need Community Control of the Police to make the police work for the people and be held accountable for misconduct. Community control means police commissions, publicly-elected or randomly-selected like juries, with the power to hire and fire the police chief, to independently investigate and discipline police misconduct, to formulate and oversee police practices and budgets, and to negotiate police union contracts. Community control shifts the power over policing to the people and away from the police and the power structure that created the abusive policing system we now have.
2. Federal Social Investment to End Poverty and Economic Despair
Police budgets do not have enough money with reallocations to pay for the services and economic development that working-class communities of color need. Sending in cops instead of social services and economic resources has been at the center of the public austerity program of the power structure. As part of reimagining public safety, it is time to fight crime by fighting poverty instead of sending in the police for every social problem. That will require a multi-year, multi-trillion federal investment in community-controlled housing, schools, social services, and businesses in the communities of color that have been impoverished by generations of discrimination by racists who exploit these communities.
3. Decriminalize Drugs
Ending the war on drugs will take the single biggest bite out of police budgets. Drug law offenses account for 16% of all arrests and are the single biggest category of arrests. Drug offenses account for about 1 in 5 people in jail or prison, including 46% of federal prisoners. Drug abuse is a health problem, not a criminal problem. Instead of a criminal offense, we must make drug use and possession a violation that refers drug users to medical and social services.
We discuss this approach in more detail in our policy paper on Reimagining Public Safety.
###

Joseph Kishore is the presidential nominee for the Socialist Equality Party and his running mate is Norissa Santa Cruz.



    



This is not the first time the candidates have been noted at this site.  We will continue to note them.  Joe Biden would probably prefer that we not note -- or at least comment -- on him.  If you have a favorite above and don't feel they got enough attention in this snapshot, grasp that this is not the only coverage at this site of the candidates.  Also grasp that with any candidate outside the duopoly, we can only do so much.  Meaning if Dario Hunter, to pick one example, isn't making videos, giving interviews, Tweeting or campaigning regularly, there's not a great deal I can do to note his campaign.




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