Hillary schools Democrats on messaging. Two important views on Ukraine-Russia. Steve Schmidt slams GOP.
Democrats: Learn from Hillary's speech at the NY Democratic Convention. I speak to a foreign affairs journalist in Kyiv on Ukraine Russia & to a progressive publisher. Steve Schmidt on the GOP.
Notes
HEADS UP DEMs: Hillary is the wrong messenger, but she’s doing what Democrats must do immediately!
Norman Solomon discusses America’s misguided Russia/Ukraine policy that all should heed.
Worthwhile reads.
Terrell Jermaine Starr, the perspective of the Ukraine Russia conflict Americans must hear
Steve Schmidt: Cannot let these people back into power until the autocratic faction is underground
Notes
As I watch the cable networks and the local networks in Washington DC — I will be here for a while longer caring for my daughter — I continue to see ads that attack the good progressive policies the Biden administration passed to get us out of this depression faster than any time in our history. Absent are ads touting the reality that the extra money in people’s bank accounts above the sting of inflation is what the administration accomplished.
Democrats and Progressives seem to be waiting till after the primaries to get serious about framing the narrative to shed light on Republicans. Will they ever learn? Republicans are setting the debate on inflation, crime, social issues, and economic resilience. By the time Democrats and Progressives are ready to tell the truth, Republicans would have made their lies the truth in the minds of many irreversibly.
Democrats must tag inflation to corporate greed given that there are no major shortages. The supply chain disruption is a failure of the private sector’s choice of just-in-time-inventory and their choice to offshore American jobs for the profit of the few sanctioned by Republican/Trump policies. The crime rate must be tagged to Republicans for supporting laissez-faire gun policies not supported by most Americans, lousy healthcare policy that drives a drug epidemic, and a lack of programs to support the nuclear family. And last but not least, we must attack their resistance to accepting the Medicaid Expansion to the ACA which is causing hospitals in rural areas to close.
Pointing out the above Republican failures does not require the outcome of the primaries. The Democratic Party and other organizations should be putting this message out. I am trying my best to do this with my blogs, articles, newsletters, videos, and other avenues. We need everyone on board and we need the support of all who cherish our Democracy.Politics Done Right airs two days a week on KPFT 90.1 FM Houston, a Pacifica Network station (kpft.org) on Thursdays at Noon Central and on Fridays at 11:00 AM Central. We continue to stream “LIVE” daily on our internet networks at 3:00 PM Central at http://politicsdoneright.com/tv, Facebook Live, Youtube Live, Twitter, Twitch, among other streaming networks.
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HEADS UP DEMs: Hillary is the wrong messenger, but she’s doing what Democrats must do immediately!
Many want the old guard to chill. But Hillary is on point here as she hits Republicans from a position of strength and not on the defensive.
Hillary hits the nail on the head
Hillary's message at the New York Democratic convention was on point. It was a powerful and truthful attack to put Republicans on the defensive for their ill deeds.
"Republicans will claim they're on the side of parents and family values," Hillary Clinton said. "But they will do nothing for actual parents or families. Nothing on child care, nothing on paid leave, nothing to help working moms and dads get by and get ahead."
Her message is concise, and it is one every parent, irrespective of any party, can understand. There is much more than Democrats need to say. But they must do so from a position of strength.
The crime rate has gone up throughout the country. The media are particularly hyping up the crime rate in Harris County, Texas, which became a very blue county with the election of mostly Democratic judges. Democrats so far are allowing Republicans to define the crime problem as one that Democratic judges created by releasing felons on bail. While a tiny percentage of those released on bail committed crimes, it is minuscule in the second-largest county in the country.
It should drive everyone crazy that Democrats are not assertive in their defense. The Texas legislature made guns accessible to anyone over 18 without a license. It is the wild west that many waned them about repeatedly. Democrats, in addition to the narrative Hillary used above, should be tagging Republicans with creating crime with their gun policies. When doing so, we must not allow the 2nd Amendment defense. We must ignore it and go directly to the sanctity of life and let them defend why they support death.
We must remind Americans that many Republican governors are closing their hospitals in rural areas because of their ideological objection to the ACA. Remind Americans that the death rates and life expectancies under their Red States are far from the pro-life values their politicians preach.
Democrats have a strong message devoid of any specific ideology even as Progressives embrace them. Americans like winners and those who act like winners. With Democrats and Progressives, that message is one of truth.
Norman Solomon discusses America’s misguided Russia/Ukraine policy that all should heed.
Norman Solomon discusses his article “U.S. hypocrisy on Ukraine paralyzes media, Congress – and even progressive Democrats.”
Norman Solomon on Russia/Ukraine
Norman Solomon started his article with an admonishment of the media.
Hidden in plain sight, the extreme hypocrisy of the U.S. position on NATO and Ukraine cries out for journalistic coverage and open debate in major American media outlets. But those outlets, with rare exceptions, have gone into virtually Orwellian mode, only allowing elaboration on the theme of America good, Russia bad.
Solomon accused lawmakers as being complicit as well.
Aiding and abetting a potentially catastrophic — and I do mean catastrophic — confrontation between the world’s two nuclear superpowers are lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Like the media they echo and vice versa, members of Congress, including highly touted progressives, can scarcely manage more than vague comments that they want diplomacy rather than war.
Solomon makes it clear we are not in some black and white event. There are levels of gradation. One observation in the article took me aback.
Imagine if a powerful Russian-led military alliance were asserting the right to be joined by its ally Mexico — and in the meantime was shipping big batches of weapons to that country — can you imagine the response from Washington? Yet we’re supposed to believe that it’s fine for the U.S.-led NATO alliance to assert that it has the prerogative to grant membership to Ukraine — and in the meantime is now shipping large quantities of weaponry to that country.
We discuss all the above and much more.
Norman Solomon is co-founder and national coordinator of RootsAction.org. His books include “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death” and “Made Love, Got War: Close Encounters with America’s Warfare State.”.
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Terrell Jermaine Starr, the perspective of the Ukraine Russia conflict Americans must hear
Terrell Jermaine Starr, a foreign affairs journalist in Kyiv, Ukraine, gives the most detailed story about the Ukraine/Russia conflict.
Terrell Jermaine Starr from Kyiv, Ukraine.
I watched Tifanny Cross’ Cross Connection today. I was pleasantly surprised to hear independent foreign affairs journalist Terrell Jermaine Starr take on the Russia/Ukraine conflict and its geopolitical and local implications. Standard cable programming does not lend itself to more in-depth coverage, which I think Americans need on war & peace issues.
I decided to contact Mr. Starr as soon as the segment was over. He said we could do it right away if we could do just 10 minutes. He immediately postponed to later for a more complete and substantive interview. He did not disappoint with his take, history, and today’s reality.
Mr. Starr first gave a history of Ukraine and its many rulers. He then made it clear that while there are issues with a seemingly NATO encroachment on Russia, an attack on Ukraine would be another power grab by Russia. NATO would never threaten Russia as it would be lousy for business worldwide.
Starr lays out a narrative that the mainstream media never articulate. More importantly, his take is complex and not sympathetic to NATO, the U.S., or Russia.
Listen to the entire interview. It is well worth it.
Who is Terrell Jermaine Starr?
Terrell Jermaine Starr is a Senior Reporter at the Root, where he writes about US-Russia politics and race in America. He is a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. Starr previously worked at Foxtrot Alpha, a blog that focuses on the military, technology, and policy. In 2016, he was FUSION’s national political correspondent covering the 2016 presidential campaign. From a Black perspective, Mr. Starr is the Host of Black Diplomats, a podcast about politics, foreign affairs, and travel. His Twitter handle is @Russian_Starr.
Steve Schmidt: Cannot let these people back into power until the autocratic faction is underground
Former Republican and still conservative Steve Schmidt is a real patriot. He has put country over party with this imploring statement.
Steve Schmidt is a real patriot
I am sure I can't entirely agree with Steve Schmidt on economics and likely many social issues. I am for a government with more power than any corporation or combination thereof. Why? Government is we-the-people. Steve, I am sure, has less faith in the collective and veers more toward the individual. These are policies we can debate and ultimately come out with a solution we can all live with till the next go-round or till we can sell our point to the voting masses.
The problem is when an autocracy is in the making. All of that goes out the door. Unfortunately, one often does not realize a country is on the path to authoritarianism until it is already there. Patriots like Steve Schmidt go the extra mile not solely by allying but becoming part of the only governing party left. He has done that. And his recent statement is not only a warning to anyone contemplating voting for any Republican.
"We have a two-party system. It's an enormous deal," said Steve Schmidt. "It's a threat to the continuation and survival of the republic. And the fact of the matter is, this Republican party is a coalition that includes fascist, proud boy, extremists, neo-Nazis, a people filled with racial animus, and they're all part of a coalition. And, of course, those parts cannot and do not fit together. But nevertheless, it's a convenient coalition because they seek to get back into political power. And you cannot let these people back into political power under any circumstances until the autocratic movement inside that party, which dominates it completely, is underground. In effect, what he's telling is still the good people of America, good Republicans included. At this point in time, a vote for Republicans is a vote to turn the country into a fashion state."
Schmidt has a way with words. One could not make that statement any better than he did.
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