The Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia is going to be sponsored by the worst of the worst. Healthcare lobbyists, proponents of fracking, and even Comcast will be hosting the event, as DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz has decided to lift the convention’s ban on lobbyists. America’s Lawyer Mike Papantonio talks about the fall of the Democratic Party with Thom Hartmann.
Original Version
The most popular take on Donald Trump is that we’ve never seen anything like him before. But here’s the thing: We have seen something like Trump before — we saw it with Ronald Reagan. Now, there are obviously some big surface-level differences between Reagan and Trump. Reagan’s public persona was cool, calm, and collected; Trump’s is well, the exact opposite. Reagan had years of political experience before he ran for president; Trump has none. Reagan also was also deeply religious, or at least “spiritual” (he didn’t go to church); Trump, I don’t think, has ever had a spiritual thought in his life. But if you ignore those obvious differences and focus on how Trump is running and framing his campaign, you’ll see that he’s doing the exact same thing Reagan did, only in a style more appropriate for today.
Kymone Freeman, We Act Radio/Black Lives Matter DC & Max Blumenthal, Alternet/The 51 Day War-Ruin and Resistance in Gaza both join Thom. If Paul Ryan and other Republican leaders are concerned that Trump isn’t conservative enough – and Trump’s supporters are upset that the Republican party isn’t changing its platform according to “the will of the people” – what exactly does the Republican Party stand for anymore?
Virginia’s KKK “Imperial Wizard” endorsed Donald Trump during a sit-down interview with WWBT. According to the Imperial Wizard, “The reason a lot of Klan members like Donald Trump is because a lot of what he believes in, we believe in. We want our country to be safe,” he said. Trump previously received support for former KKK leader David Duke in January. Nik Zecevic, and Melvin Robert take a closer look at Trump’s growing white supremacist following on the Lip News.
Transgender Americans have seen tremendous progress over the past few years. With increasing visibility in mainstream media and politics, more people understand the bigotry that trans people endure, and have seen many examples of people overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds.
But with progress usually comes backlash.
The Republican National Committee passed a resolution encouraging Republican legislators to coordinate a legislative assault on transgender rights, essentially making it criminal, and unsafe for trans people to pee in public.
Transgender people have committed bathroom assault exactly ZERO times.
Steve Hilton, Former Senior Adviser & Director of Strategy to British Prime Minister David Cameron/MORE HUMAN: Designing A World Where People Come First, joins Thom. The Republican party might be having an existential crisis between the establishment and Donald Trump’s supporters. But would a European conservative consider either group “conservative”?
To say Jimmy Carter is a great “former” president is a tremendous understatement. This Nobel Peace Prize recipient is one of the greatest presidents in American history.
Under his leadership, we never dropped a bomb, never fired a bullet, and never went to war. No other president since World War II can say this. In 1978, former President Carter facilitated the Camp David Accords, a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt that still exists today. Countless lives have been spared by this remarkable peacemaker, humanitarian, and world leader.
In addition, former President Carter’s astounding nonprofit work via The Carter Center has helped reduce cases of the Guinea Worm Disease from 3.5 million to less than 30. With his wife, Rosalynn Carter, and Habitat For Humanity, former President Carter has been building homes for families in need since 1994. And his contributions with the late Nelson Mandela and The Elders will resonate for centuries. The 39th U.S. President is not only a national treasure—Jimmy Carter is a world treasure.
h/t: Daily Kos
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