Saturday, June 20, 2020

Shut up, Whitney Cummings

USA TODAY notes:

Comedian, writer and producer Whitney Cummings is speaking out about allegations that her former TV co-star Chris D'Elia inappropriately messaged and groomed underage women over the years.
“It’s taken me a couple days to process the information I have learned about Chris. I’m devastated and enraged by what I’ve read and learned. This is a pattern of predatory behavior," Cummings wrote in a statement posted to Twitter Saturday.
"This abuse of power is enabled by silence. Now that I’m aware, I won’t be silent,” she continued. “Girls should be able to be a fan of a comedian they admire without being a sexual target. It’s the adult’s responsibility to be an adult.”

To which I say: Shut up, Whitney Cummings.

You are the worst.

I used to like Whitney.  She lost me when she turned on Roseanne after that Tweet.  You may remember it didn't take Whitney a few days to figure out where she stood.  

Roseanne lost everything in 24 hours and Whitney was part of the pile on.

She's disgusting.

She's also trash.  Her comments on men's 'junk'?  No one needed to hear it.  It wasn't funny nor it would be funny if a male comic was ripping apart female parts.  It was sexist and made her look like the trash she is.

Days ago, the news about Chris came out -- and I noted it Wednesday in "The rap sheet" -- but she waits until Saturday.

Love her 'caution' with regards to Chris.  Dozens of women step forward and she needs to consider for days.  Roseanne does one Tweet and it's time to rip Roseanne apart instantly.

I used to like Whitney.  I used to respect her.  The nonsense she pulled with Roseanne was the beginning of the end of that.

As a Black woman, Roseanne's Tweet did not bother me.  Roseanne's point was clear to me and it wasn't racism.  She's never stood for racism in her life or her career.  To turn on her and attack her?  They just wanted to destroy her.  

Now Whitney waits on Chris to see if she'll be forced to say something and, after a few days of her silence led to her being called out, she finally surfaces.

We don't need you, Whitney, go back to your non-existent career.



"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
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.




The following sites updated:

Posted by at

Thursday, June 18, 2020

We need new leaders

Matthew MacEgan (WSWS) reports:

 Fulton County District Attorney (DA) Paul Howard announced at a press conference Wednesday afternoon that his office is charging Officer Garrett Rolfe, the white cop who brutally killed Rayshard Brooks, a young African-American father of four, on Friday evening in Atlanta, Georgia, with felony murder. He also provided new, morbid details about the evening in question, including photographic evidence that Rolfe kicked Brooks while he lay on the ground bleeding to death.
The felony murder charge is one of eleven charges being made against Officer Rolfe and is potentially the first time that a police officer in the United States has been threatened with the death penalty for an active duty killing since NYPD lieutenant Charles Becker was convicted and executed in 1915.
Another development which makes the Brooks case remarkable, according to Howard, is that the second officer involved in the incident, Devin Brosnan, has offered to cooperate with the state and testify against Rolfe. The DA an unprecedented development, according to the DA. Howard also related that within a few days Brosnan would make a public statement about the culpability of Officer Rolfe.
However, Howard's remarks were quickly contradicted by Brosnan's attorney, who stated after the press conference that while his client had agree to cooperate with the DA he had not agreed to be a state's witness or testify in the case.
Howard explained that his office was able to review an unusual amount of evidence for this case, including eight different videos, which they were able to enhance; physical evidence, including the Taser and the Chevrolet Trailblazer which was struck by one of the three bullets fired by Rolfe; as well as Brooks’ preliminary autopsy and preliminary ballistics report. Howard reported that this is the fourth time that the Fulton County District Attorney’s office has had to ask that arrest warrants be issued before an indictment and only the fortieth time prosecuting a police officer for misconduct. It marks just the ninth case of alleged homicide by a police officer handled by the office.
Howard began by describing what is apparent in many of the videos which have already gone viral on the internet. “Brooks was calm, even cordial. Even though he was impaired, his demeanor was almost jovial. We noted that he received many instructions from the Atlanta officers, some of which were asked repeatedly. For 41 minutes and 7 seconds, he followed instructions and answered questions.”

According to Howard, “We concluded that Mr. Brooks never presented himself as a threat. He was peacefully sleeping in his car. After he was awakened, he was cooperative. He was directed to move his car, and he calmly moved his car. He was asked whether he had a weapon. He indicated that he did not. Without resistance he passed his license to officers. They then asked for a body search, and he allowed this. It yielded no weapon.”


When do these murders stop?

Maybe when our Congress stops trying to pretend they're Eddie Murphy in COMING TO AMERICA?  That photo op was insulting and racist.

How about they start trying to address the situation and stop posing?

I'm so sick of this do-nothing Congress and this useless Nancy Pelosi.  I'm voting for Shahid.

Here's an interview with Shaid Buttar.



We need change and Nancy's not going to provide it.  She lied that she'd end the Iraq War, after all.  She didn't do that.  US troops remain in Iraq.  They continue to die in Iraq.  She made that promise ahead of the 2006 elections and then she did nothing.  She's worthless and she's a liar.

Niles Niemuth and Joseph Kishore (WSWS) observe:


It is now just over three weeks since the Memorial Day murder of George Floyd set off mass protests throughout the United States and around the world. The political representatives of the ruling class have responded with, on the one hand, brute force and threats of military repression, and, on the other hand, pledges of “reform” and “accountability.”
Yesterday, Trump signed an executive order that would embed more social workers and mental health professionals with the police, create a national database to track officers fired or convicted for using excessive force, and ban chokeholds, with the exception, as the president explained, of “when an officer’s life is at risk.”
Trump announced his executive order in an address before police officers filled with calls for “law and order” and denunciations of protesters. Trump’s caveat on chokeholds leaves the window wide open for the continued use of the deadly practice, since police officers routinely claim that they fear for their lives when they grievously wound or kill someone.
The Democrats have offered up their own slate of cosmetic changes largely mirroring Trump’s, including banning chokeholds and creating a national database of abusive officers, while also explicitly rejecting the demand, popular among protestors, to “defund” the police. Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democrats' presumptive presidential nominee, has called for $300 million in additional federal funding to shore up police departments across the country, while Senator Bernie Sanders has said that cops need to be paid higher salaries.
Such measures will amount to less than nothing. They might as well propose to change the color of police uniforms. Inevitably, “reforms” from these representatives of the ruling class will end up strengthening the police as an oppressive apparatus of the state.
The promise of police reform has repeatedly been offered up by the ruling class as a supposed solution to excessive violence. In the aftermath of the urban rebellions of the 1960s, the Democrats claimed that more black police officers on the beat, more black police chiefs overseeing forces and more black mayors would solve the problem.
Half a century later, African Americans account for more than 13 percent of police officers, a proportional representation compared to the population as a whole. Black police chiefs head departments across the country, and cities large and small have elected black mayors. In the last decade, the introduction of police vehicle dash cams and body cameras has been offered up as yet another panacea.

And yet the killing and abuse continue, and indeed have escalated.

We need new leaders.


"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
Thursday, June 18, 2020.  Turkey continues to terrorize Iraq and a petition is started about Joe Biden.







The Turkish government continues to terrorize the Iraqi people.  XINHUA notes the Turkish government is insisting that the 500 "targets" they have destroyed in Iraq belonged to the PKK.  They are patting themselves on the back for the terrorist operation they have dubbed Operation Claw-Tiger.

Along with bombing northern Iraq, Operation Claw-Tiger has also seen the Turkish government send foot soldiers into Iraq.  That would be an invasion but many in the press try to spruce up the 'news' by using other terms.


Senior Turkish official told Reuters that #Turkey plans to set up more temporary military bases in northern #Iraq after stepping up its strikes against #PKK. He claims that "the effort would ensure border security"


Sundays bombings left dozens of Iraqi children injured and more displaced as Turkey elected to bomb a refugee camp.

Zhelwan Z. Wali (RUDAW) reports that among the 'terrorists' killed so far is Abbas Maghdid, a 30-year-old shepherd who lived in Harir and who, Mayor Ihsan Chalabi states, "had gone out to graze his sheep when Turkish airstrikes hit the spot."  No, he wasn't a terrorist.  He was another civilian killed by the Turkish government while they pretend they are killing PKK fighters.  The Turkish government will, if pattern holds, never mention Abbas Maghdid by name or acknowledge that they murdered an innocent civilian.

Who is the PKK?  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."

 
 Stratfor notes, "The escalation of Turkey’s operations against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq has shown Ankara’s willingness to encroach on Iraqi territory, even if it risks damaging ties with Baghdad."

Turkey has regularly targeted PKK military camps in northern Iraq by ground and air, including in large-scale operations in 2007 and 2018.
The recent assault may be an attempt by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to project power, Bakawan said. “Turkey is deeply engaged in the conflicts of Syria and Libya, and hopes to get involved in Yemen,” he told AFP. “It aims to present itself as an essential power when trying to resolve conflicts in the Middle East — and Iraq forms a part of this,” Bakawan added.

Iraq has objected to the violation of its sovereignty and the violation of international law as a result of Turkey's actions.  RUDAW Tweets:

#Iraq's foreign ministry has summoned #Turkey's ambassador, Faith Yildiz, over the continuing military incursion into northern Iraq for the second time this week : Iraq Foreign Ministry




Baghdad Thursday demanded Ankara immediately halt its assault in northern Iraq, where Turkish special forces and helicopters have been targeting Kurdish rebel hideouts.
Turkey early Wednesday launched a cross-border operation into the mountainous regions of northern Iraq where the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), considered by Ankara to be a "terrorist" group, is thought to be hiding out.
Iraq's foreign ministry summoned the Turkish ambassador on Thursday and handed him a "strongly-worded memorandum calling for a halt to such provocative actions".
"We stress that Turkey must stop its bombardment and withdraw its attacking forces from Iraqi territory," the ministry said in a statement.
"We affirm our categorical rejection of these violations."



The letter called on Turkey to stop such "provocative acts and rejected violations," the statement said.
The letter also demanded Turkey to withdraw its forces from the Iraqi territories, which the Turkish forces entered on Wednesday, as well as its former presence in a military camp in Bashiqa area, some 30 km northeast of Nineveh's provincial capital Mosul.
Iraq "retains its legitimate rights to take all measures that will protect its sovereignty and the safety of its people, including demanding the UN Security Council and the regional and international organizations to assume their responsibility," it added.
On Tuesday, Iraqi Foreign Ministry also summoned the Turkish ambassador to Baghdad and handed him a letter of protest over airstrikes on PKK positions in northern Iraq.
On Monday, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command condemned in a statement a series of airstrikes conducted by 18 Turkish warplanes late on Sunday night on refugee camps in Sinjar, some 100 km west of Mosul, and Makhmour, about 60 km southeast of Mosul.

ARAB NEWS notes, "Saudi Arabia condemned Turkish and Iranian aggression against Iraq in Iraq on Thursday."

We'll again note yesterday's report from TASNIM 

The Arab Parliament -- the legislative arm of the Arab League -- on Tuesday denounced Turkey’s recent raids in Iraq, calling on Ankara to respect the sovereignty of its neighbor and put an end to its unilateral military operations there. 

Arab Parliament Speaker Meshaal bin Fahim al-Salami said in a statement that “these actions are an infringement on the sovereignty of Iraq, a flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations, international law and international norms, and in violation of Security Council resolutions.”
The statement also voiced support for Iraq’s stance against Turkey’s moves.
Iraqi lawmakers also reacted to the latest developments, condemning Ankara’s operations in a statement and calling on the Baghdad government to take action to protect civilians and stop Turkish violations of the country’s sovereignty.


ARAB NEWS reports this morning:

The UAE has deplored the Turkish and Iranian military interventions in the brotherly state of Iraq, a statement from the foreign ministry said Wednesday.
It said it denounces their violations against the state's sovereignty through aritrikes in northern Iraq.
 "UAE denounced the Turkish and Iranian military interventions in brotherly Iraq, through their bombing of areas in northern Iraq, which constituted a violation of the sovereignty of a sisterly Arab country and led to intimidation and the spread of terror among innocent civilians," a foreign ministry statement said.
The statement affirmed the country’s “unwavering principle in rejecting all interference in the affairs of Arab countries." 


 In the US, there is largely silence.  And pretense.  The only one really raising the issue is neocon Michael Rubin which suggests to the world that we on the left don't actually care.  I care.  I have to wonder at the others who are looking the other way instead of doing their usual generic post that they use to rush into any tragedy temporarily?  I guess they don't feel there's enough media attention in it for them?


These attacks from Turkey come as Iraq's new prime minister has only been in office for one month.  May 7th Mustafa al-Kadhimi became prime minister.  He was not the people's choice.  He was especially not the choice of the protesters.  The US government and the Iranian government liked him.  But can they keep him in power?

Grasp that he came into office looking weak.  This was because of his backing from foreign governments.  It was also because he could not form a Cabinet in 30 days. 


Now he can't defend Iraq?  He's not said a word, please note, about the Turkish military being on the ground in northern Iraq or about the bombings.  He looks weak.

And he looks weak as the Iraqi people are angry.  See ALJAZEERA report below.






The previous prime minister, Adil Abdul-Mahdi, please remember, left office because the people wanted him gone.  He was inept and he did nothing.  Mustafa should really be worried about how he's seen by the people he supposedly represents.


Speaking of the way people are seen, we were asked to note this CHANGE.ORG petition started by Avalon Clare about Joe Biden:


JUN 17, 2020 — 
Joe Biden continues to prove that he is both unfit for office and the absolute wrong person to lead our country in this moment in history. Earlier this month he suggested that police could shoot assailants in the leg instead of the heart. There could hardly be a more perfect example of why Biden’s leadership is inept than this quote about shooting people in the leg. We are in the midst of nationwide protests against racism and police brutality, and we’re expected to believe that Joe “shoot em in the leg” Biden is the best the democratic party can do? Indeed, if Biden is our best chance against Trump, it does feel a bit like a shot to the leg. Painful, possibly deadly, and only marginally better than the alternative (if at all). 
In fact, as Branko Marcetic wrote in Jacobin, “There are good reasons to believe passing the baton from Trump to Biden isn’t going to result in any profound change when the next uprising comes — which, between the pandemic, a historic depression, looming food shortages, and the ongoing ravages of climate change, it will certainly do. In fact, if tens of millions of liberals simply switch off and fail to resist the next presidency with the fervor they brought to Trump’s four years, it could end up much worse.”
Between Biden’s role in the 1994 Crime Bill, his opposition to Medicare For All, his record of inappropriate touching, his penchant for lying, and the credible allegation of assault, it could not be more clear that Biden is neither fit for office nor suited for this moment in history. 
I want more from the democratic party, and I know you do, too. In 2016 Nina Turner said, “I’m a democrat, and that’s worth fighting for,” and her words feel more prescient to me now than ever.
After signing and sharing the petition, many of you are wondering what can be done next. First, we must continue talking about Tara Reade and the way she has been smeared by the media. Since my last update, yet another person has come forward corroborating Tara Reade’s story. Joseph Backholm is at least the 8th person to corroborate Reade’s allegations. Additionally, Tracy Clark-Flory has a new piece in Jezebel breaking down the classism in the smear campaign used against Reade. She writes, “Here, facts are not facts, they are selected within a classed frame that implies significance around credibility. That frame reveals the enduring myth of the “perfect victim” and casts histories of abuse and poverty as incriminating evidence.”
I also highly recommend Tracy Clark-Flory’s previous article about Tara Reade, in which she wrote, “Dogged, diligent reporting that seeks relevant corroboration around an allegation is what it looks like for journalists to take sexual assault seriously. But calling up a bunch of landlords and giving them a bullhorn to vent about missed rent payments only contributes to a culture of silence in which the majority of victims never report their assaults (data show that three out of four sexual assaults go unreported). Laura Palumbo, communications director for the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, told Jezebel that there are many reasons victims delay or decide against the disclosure of sexual harassment and assault, among those most relevant here: “fear of not being believed,” “fears of privacy invasions,” and “being made the subject of gossip and slander.” The media is one of the most visible stages on which those fears are exemplified. “Survivors of sexual harassment and assault are often judged by baseless ideas of how ‘real victims’ would or should behave,” said Palumbo. “When harsh judgments and victim-blaming myths play out in media, this has a chilling effect on others speaking up and leaves many survivors feeling triggered and retraumatized.” In this case, it may leave victims to consider just which “aggrieved acquaintances” in their life, whether former landlords or ex-boyfriends, will give a journalist the grabby quote needed for an explosive-sounding headline.”
But aside from sharing articles, what else can we do? I think it is past time to email politicians directly about this. I encourage you to write your own email about why you believe Tara Reade and why you signed this petition. Ask your representatives what they will do to support survivors. Ask them why they have been silent about these allegations. Email the DNC. Email your local representatives. Email the other democratic candidates. We can and must continue to bring attention to this.
Below are a few email addresses of politicians, as well as the DNC, and the websites where you can find contact information for your senators and house representatives:
AOC: us@ocasiocortez.com
Ilhan Omar: Rep.Ilhan.Omar@house.mn
Bernie Sanders: info@berniesanders.com
Elizabeth Warren: info@elizabethwarren.com
In 2016, thirty-six republicans called for Donald Trump to step down and withdraw his campaign for presidency. Although they were unsuccessful, their prominence and numbers are telling. It is deeply embarrassing that there are more republicans who called for Trump to step down in 2016 than democrats who have so much acknowledged that the allegation against Biden even exists. From Jacobin, “While a diverse array of high-ranking Republicans almost immediately denounced Trump and even called for him to step down, Democratic lawmakers refused to respond to questions about the Biden allegation in the days immediately after it went public, and continued to do so for as long as a month after. In contrast to the GOP, not a single Democrat has yet called for Biden to step down or rescinded their endorsement; not one has condemned Biden’s alleged assault.”
It is time to pressure these democrats to condemn Biden's assault and stand with victims of sexual violence. 
I’ll end with this quote from Christine Rosen’s article for Commentary:
“Going forward, can the public expect the standards that so many in the media have embraced with regard to Reade’s allegations about Biden to be the same ones they will embrace in the future if the accused man isn’t a political ally? Is the bar for credibility when it comes to leveling accusations at prominent Washington figures the new one the mainstream media have set for Tara Reade? Will publications such as the Times, which has frequently reminded readers of the allegations against Trump in their coverage of Reade’s claims against Biden, now do the same by mentioning the Biden accusations when they write anything about claims made against Trump?”



The following sites updated:










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