All that is wrong with America’s democracy
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- Date published:
10:46 am, November 10th, 2018 - 40 comments
Categories: articles, Deep stuff, democracy under attack, democratic participation, elections, International, Politics, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, us politics, you couldn't make this shit up -
Tags: brian kemp, stacey abrams
If this was a third world nation the UN would have sent in election observers. Such is the state of American politics and the politicisation of its electoral system as shown by the recent midterm elections.
There are many examples, Texan voting machings flipping votes from Beto to Ted Cruz, the most astounding gerrymandered electorates possible, and the shutting down of polling stations in Democrat strongholds to make it that much more difficult for people to vote. No wonder than even in a good year less than half of eligible voters actual exercise their democratic rights.
But one example really struck a nerve with me. The example was the Georgian governor’s race where the Democrat candidate Stacey Abrams, a black woman, looks like she may have only just fallen short in her attempt to become the first black governor in a state whose history was mired in slavery and where the force of the Voting Rights Act was required to force that state to begrudgingly start to respect that most basic of human rights.
The Republican candidate, Brian Kemp, proudly billed himself as a Trump conservative. He was Georgia’s secretary of state and even though he was a candidate and had so much hanging on the result he continued to oversee the elections in that state. So much for independent and impartial oversight.
Here is the kicker. For the past few years Abrams has been busy doing her best to make sure that as many people as possible could exercise their democratic rights, and for many years Kemp has been doing his best to make sure they couldn’t.
From Carol Anderson in the New Atlantic:
Kemp had no intention of relinquishing a post he has held since 2010, and often wields as a weapon to cull Georgia’s electorate. He understood that he would need every trick in the book because he was up against a woman who, in addition to serving as the minority leader of the state’s House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017, founded a formidable voter-registration organization, the New Georgia Project.
Several years ago, Abrams noticed that the state’s demographics were changing quickly, as minorities made up an increasing share of the age-eligible electorate. Abrams noticed, as well, that more than half a million black Georgians were not registered to vote. In 2013, as the executive director of the New Georgia Project, she set out to “register and civically engage the rising electorate in our state.”
When tens of thousands of voter-registration cards poured into Kemp’s office, he heard warning bells. He told the media that “we’re just not going to put up with fraud,” and launched a highly publicized investigation into Abrams’s organization. While accusations of criminality hung in the air, however, he relayed a very different story to his fellow Republicans. Kemp explained to them in 2014 that “Democrats are working hard, and all these stories about them, you know, registering all these minority voters that are out there and others that are sitting on the sidelines, if they can do that, they can win these elections in November.”
The claim of voter fraud, it seems, was a ruse to try to intimidate the New Georgia Project, Abrams, and black voters with criminal prosecution. It didn’t work. Abrams, a Yale-educated attorney, knew the laws, knew that the New Georgia Project had not broken any, and stood her ground. Kemp was forced to walk away, unable to even charge her or the organization with any violations. (A countersuit by the New Georgia Project alleging voter suppression was thrown out.)
Greg Palast has been doing a lot of work in the area tracking Kemp’s actions including publicising the fact that potentially hundreds of thousands of voters were removed from the electoral rolls. His conclusion?
If you do look at the numbers, it’s impossible to imagine that Abrams wouldn’t have won outright if everyone who is entitled to vote could vote. If all the provisional ballots are counted, if all the absentee ballots are counted, I don’t have any doubt about what the outcome would be or would have been.”
And how he formed this conclusion?
Brian Kemp, Georgia’s secretary of state, purged 550,702 Georgians from the voter rolls in 2016 and 2017 — that is, canceled their registrations. I’m not guessing. After much resistance, Kemp turned over the names and addresses of each one of these purged voters in response to a threat of a federal lawsuit (which I filed in federal court in Atlanta and served on Kemp Friday).
Of these, we are certain that 340,134 were wrongly removed, with no notice that they were purged. I want to thank Salon for your report, which went viral, letting Georgians know my foundation had listed all the names of the purged at GregPalast.com. Unfortunately, there were only a couple of days left to re-register, but it appears that thousands did so.
That still leaves hundreds of thousands disenfranchised. If they show up to vote on Nov. 6 — though they won’t get notices of polling places, nor get absentee ballots if requested — they can only receive “provisional ballots,” with little or no chance they will be counted.
How did Kemp pull off this mass purge? He moved voters from his state’s so-called “inactive” list to “canceled,” based on his assertion they had all moved out of the state or out of their county.
But they hadn’t moved. According to a team of experts led by John Lenzer, CEO of CohereOne, 340,134 had never moved at all. Lenzer led a group of the nation’s top “advanced address hygiene” professionals, who use dozens of databases (including deep post office files) to know exactly where every American lives. Our experts advise companies like American Express to make sure you get your bill (or find you if you don’t pay).
As Lenzer told me of the 340,134 Georgians, “They hadn’t moved, and they should not have been removed from the voter rolls.”
How could Kemp assert these voters had moved? Each one was “guilty” of missing the 2014 and 2016 elections, and they failed to return a postcard. The postcard looks like junk mail; most people throw it away. Kemp argues, correctly, that the Supreme Court said states could use this procedure — but only so long as the state had a good-faith basis to believe voters have moved.
Kemp sent the “inactive-to-canceled” list to counties to check the accuracy of the list, knowing damn well the counties don’t have the experts and resources to do this.
The people disenfranchised included a cousin of Martin Luther King who was involved in the original movement to gain the vote back in the 1960s.
There were other administrative ruses. Like requiring signatures of late enrolees to actually match other recorded signatures. When this decision was made it was clear that Kemp was just mucking around with people’s rights to vote.
These were not the only underhand tactics that Kemp engaged in. When it was discovered that the state’s electoral data had been potentially compromised he accused the Democrats of hacking the site. Wonderful tactics. Deflect attention from the obvious question, how come he sucked so badly at his job to allow this to happen, with an attack on the other side.
From PR Lockhart at Vox:
In the final days of Georgia’s tight governor race between Republican candidate Brian Kemp and Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams, things are heating up.
Kemp, who is Georgia’s secretary of state and also the chief officer overseeing the election, has been repeatedly accused by Democrats and civil rights groups of trying to influence the results. However, on Sunday, Kemp accused Democrats of attempting to hack the state’s voter registration system — a claim that has rankled Democrats.
“While we cannot comment on the specifics of an ongoing investigation, I can confirm that the Democratic Party of Georgia is under investigation for possible cyber crimes,” Candice Broce, a spokesperson for Kemp’s office, said in a statement on Sunday. “We can also confirm that no personal data was breached and our system remains secure.”
And what actually happened? Again from Vox:
When Kemp was made aware of the issue, he released the statement accusing Georgia Democrats of trying to break into the system. Democrats have maintained that the cybersecurity experts simply reviewed the websites and did not attempt to hack the state’s registration system.
Election experts like UC Irvine law professor Richard Hasen criticized the allegations and accused Kemp of voter manipulation and engaging in “some banana republic stuff” in a Slate article published Sunday. Georgia Democrats called the probe “a reckless and unethical ploy,” adding that the FBI was being used to support “false accusations.”
And during a Monday appearance on Good Morning America, Kemp’s opponent Stacey Abrams, who is running to become the first black woman governor in the US, argued that Kemp “cooked up the charge, because he realizes, once again, he left the personal information of six million voters vulnerable,” citing previous data leaks during Kemp’s eight-year tenure. Later in the day, Abrams added that Kemp was “abusing his power” by launching the probe so close to the election.
Apart from baseless smears and the mass disenfranchisement of people of colour what else did Kemp do? He made it as difficult as possible for votes to be recorded in Abrams friendly areas. Like not providing power.
In Georgia, officials did not supply power cords for their voting machines at a polling site in a mostly African-American neighborhood.
The batteries died and people waiter for hours.
This is voter suppression y’all. pic.twitter.com/ePFVem9WoE
— zellie (@zellieimani) November 6, 2018
And keeping voting machines under lock and key so that people had to queue for hours to vote.
From Amy Gardner at the Washington Post:
Another problem was the limited number of voting machines in some locations. More than 1,800 machines sat idle in storage in three of the state’s largest and most heavily Democratic counties. In Fulton County, according to figures provided by elections director Rick Barron, the ratio of machines to registered voters was lower than it had been in 2014, despite predictions that turnout was likely to break records for a midterm election.
While some voters waited in hours-long lines in Fulton County, 700 of those machines sat in stacks in a warehouse in downtown Atlanta, Barron said. The machines were sidelined because they are evidence in a lawsuit alleging the equipment had been exposed to the threat of hacking in 2016.
The federal judge in the case had ordered state and local election officials — including Kemp — and the plaintiffs to weigh the demands of upcoming elections in deciding how many machines to set aside.
In an interview, Barron said more machines “would have made a huge impact on operations yesterday” and acknowledged that “it would have been a good idea” to push for the use of more machines before Election Day.
“The lines were long in the morning and we just didn’t have any machines to throw out there,” he said.
Broce, too, said additional machines “would have really helped with the long lines.”
She blamed the litigation for tying up those machines. One attorney for the plaintiffs, Bruce Brown, called that “rubbish” and said officials could have sequestered fewer machines, or later decided to put some back into service.
Brian Pearce in Esquire called this particular activity election ratf*&king 101 and called Kemp a cheap crook. It is hard to disagree with him.
There was also the problem that the machines that were in use seemed to occasionally have a major operating fault, flipping Abrams votes to Kemp.
Despite everything that the Republicans did, every low down dirty trick, every administrative action taken because it would disenfranchise Black voters Abrams still has a chance. Currently Kemp is on 50.3% of the total vote. If this drops to 50% or below then there has to be a fresh election in a month’s time. The current number of votes needed by her is 25,622 out of nearly 4 million cast and there are still provisional votes to count.
If Kemp wins then clearly it will be because his actions in wrongly suppressing the rights of people of colour to vote. If he loses it will be despite this.
But this is the sort of behaviour you expect from a third world tinpot dictatorship, not the leader of the Western World.
On behalf of the rest of the world can I ask America to sort its democratic system out? There is far too much at stake for the will of the people to be distorted in the way that Kemp and Co so gleefully do.
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- How Long Does It Take to Build a Computer?Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...6 days ago
- How to Put Your Computer to SleepSleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...6 days ago
- What is Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT)?Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...6 days ago
- iPad vs. Tablet Computers A Comprehensive Guide to DifferencesIn today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...6 days ago
- How Are Computers Made?A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...6 days ago
- How to Add Voice Memos from iPhone to ComputerVoice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...6 days ago
- Why My Laptop Screen Has Lines on It: A Comprehensive GuideLaptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...6 days ago
- How to Right-Click on a LaptopRight-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...6 days ago
- Where is the Power Button on an ASUS Laptop?Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...6 days ago
- How to Start a Dell Laptop: A Comprehensive GuideDell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...6 days ago
- Gaza: Aotearoa Must Support Independent Investigation into Mass GravesTe Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...6 hours ago
- Release: Working together on consistent support for veterans this Anzac Day
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...2 days ago - Release: Penny drops – but what about Seymour and Peters?Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...2 days ago
- Another ‘Stolen Generation’ enabled by court ruling on Waitangi Tribunal summonsTonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...2 days ago
- Release: Budget blunder shows Nicola Willis could cut recovery fundingIt appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...3 days ago
- Further environmental mismanagement on the cards
The Government’s resource management reforms will add to the heavy and ever-growing burden this Government is loading on to our environment. ...3 days ago - Release: RMA changes will be a disaster for environmentThe Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...3 days ago
- Release: Labour supports urgent changes to emergency management systemLabour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...3 days ago
- Release: Labour calls for New Zealand to recognise PalestineThe Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...4 days ago
- Release: Three strikes law political posturing of worst kindThe Government is bringing back a law that has little evidential backing just to look tough, Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...4 days ago
- Release: Government cuts unbelievably target child exploitation, violent extremism, ports and airpor...Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...4 days ago
- Three strikes has failed before and will fail againResurrecting the archaic three-strikes legislation is an unwelcome return to a failed American-style approach to justice. ...4 days ago
- Release: Environmental protection vital, not ‘onerous’The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...4 days ago
- Ferris – Three Strikes targets those ‘too brown to be white’The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...4 days ago
- Release: Govt cuts doctors and nurses in hiring freezeCuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...1 week ago
- Fast-track submissions period must be extendedThe Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...1 week ago
- Release: Progress on climate will be undone by GovtNew Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...1 week ago
- Release: Dark day for Kiwi kids as a third of Govt cuts affect themNews that 1000 jobs at the Ministry of Education and Oranga Tamariki could go is devastating for future generations of New Zealanders. ...1 week ago
- Release: Alarm as Government signals further blow to school lunchesMore essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...1 week ago
- Oranga Tamariki cuts commit tamariki to state abuseTe Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...1 week ago
- Release: Quick, submit – stop Govt’s dodgy approvals billThe Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...1 week ago
- Government throws coal on the climate crisis fireThe Government’s policy announced today to ease consenting for coal mining will have a lasting impact across generations. ...1 week ago
- Release: Public transport costs to double as National looks at unaffordable roading project insteadCancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Cost of living in Auckland still not a priorityA laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...2 weeks ago
- Te Pāti Māori to visit Queensland to strengthen ties with Māori in AustraliaTe Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...2 weeks ago
- Greens look to fast-track submissions on harmful lawThe Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Govt should stop making people’s lives harder and build more homesThe National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Melissa Lee missing in action on mediaThe action Melissa Lee promised to protect democracy and the media sector is missing, Media and Communications spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...2 weeks ago
- Landlord Government leaves little hope for rentersThe Government’s announcement on tenancy rules prove that it does not care about renters. ...2 weeks ago
- Opportunity to build a more sustainable economyGreen Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...2 weeks ago
- Significant step forward in fixing cruel and unjust pastA significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...2 weeks ago
- Missed opportunity but NZ will surely one day recognise the right to a sustainable environmentNew Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Don’t cut our lunches – clear message sent to GovernmentTens of thousands of people are demanding the Government commits to fully funding free and healthy school lunches. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Govt makes U-turn on Suicide Prevention OfficeLabour welcomes the Government’s U-turn on the closure of the Suicide Prevention Office, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...2 weeks ago
- CCC issues warning over further climate delayToday’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...3 weeks ago
- Luxon targets lame and lousy example of leadershipIf talk is cheap, Chris Luxon’s “targets” are bankrupt. ...3 weeks ago
- Luxon targets are lousy example of leadershipIf talk is cheap, Chris Luxon’s “targets” are bankrupt. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: Commitment to disability communities missing from Govt prioritiesMinister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...3 weeks ago
- Anzac Commemorative Address, Buttes New British Cemetery Belgium
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...6 hours ago - Anzac Commemorative Address – NZ National Service, Chunuk BairDistinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...1 day ago
- Anzac Commemorative Address – Dawn Service, Gallipoli, TürkiyeMai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...1 day ago
- PM announces changes to portfoliosPaul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...2 days ago
- New catch limits for unique fishery areasRecreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...2 days ago
- Minister welcomes hydrogen milestoneEnergy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...3 days ago
- Urgent changes to system through first RMA Amendment BillThe coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...3 days ago
- Overseas decommissioning models consideredOverseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...3 days ago
- Release of North Island Severe Weather Event InquiryEmergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...3 days ago
- Justice Minister to attend Human Rights CouncilJustice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...4 days ago
- Patterson reopens world’s largest wool scouring facilityAssociate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...4 days ago
- Speech to the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective Summit, 18 April 2024Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...4 days ago
- Government to introduce revised Three Strikes lawThe Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...4 days ago
- New diplomatic appointmentsForeign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...4 days ago
- Humanitarian support for Ethiopia and SomaliaNew Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...4 days ago
- Arts Minister congratulates Mataaho CollectiveMinister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...5 days ago
- Supporting better financial outcomes for KiwisThe Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...6 days ago
- Trade relationship with China remains strong“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...6 days ago
- PM’s South East Asia mission does the businessPrime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...6 days ago
- $41m to support clean energy in South East AsiaNew Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...1 week ago
- Minister releases Fast-track stakeholder listThe Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...1 week ago
- Judicial appointments announcedAttorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...1 week ago
- Education Minister heads to major teaching summit in SingaporeEducation Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...1 week ago
- Value of stopbank project proven during cycloneA stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...1 week ago
- Anzac commemorations, Türkiye relationship focus of visitForeign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...1 week ago
- Minister to Europe for OECD meeting, Anzac DayScience, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...1 week ago
- Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the PhilippinesPrime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...1 week ago
- Government commits $20m to Westport flood protectionThe Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...1 week ago
- Taupō takes pole positionThe Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...1 week ago
- Cost of living support for low-income homeownersLocal Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...1 week ago
- Government backing mussel spat projectThe Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...1 week ago
- Government focused on getting people into workBenefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...1 week ago
- Clean energy key driver to reducing emissionsThe Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...1 week ago
- Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forwardThe Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...1 week ago
- Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic PartnershipPrime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...1 week ago
- Government consults on extending coastal permits for portsRMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...1 week ago
- Inflation coming down, but more work to doToday’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...1 week ago
- School attendance restored as a priority in health adviceRefreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...1 week ago
- Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sectorOceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...1 week ago
- Opinion: It’s time for an arts and creative sector strategyI was initially resistant to the idea often suggested to me that the Government should deliver an arts strategy. The whole point of the arts and creativity is that people should do whatever the hell they want, unbound by the dictates of politicians in Wellington. Peter Jackson, Kiri Te Kanawa, Eleanor ...1 week ago
- Fast-track bill could affect NZ's reputation – Transparency International
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...42 mins ago - We’re all feeling the collective grief and trauma of violence against women – but this is the pr...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...2 hours ago - Species living closely together in symbiosis is far older and way more common than you might thinkSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis. AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...2 hours ago
- What is childhood dementia? And how could new research help?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...3 hours ago
- Jobseekers get about $345 less than pensioners each fortnight. This gap is hurting, and is set to wi...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...3 hours ago
- Does fighting inflation always lead to recession? What NZ data tellsHere is what 60 years of New Zealand data shows us. ...4 hours ago
- The government's 20 trips abroad in AprilThe government appears committed to overseas visits with 14 ministers and MPs in 18 countries this month. ...5 hours ago
- Government unveils fetal alcohol guidelines, plan for diagnosis trainingThe government is promising to step up the response to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, promising to boost diagnoses and raise awareness. ...5 hours ago
- Labor facing heavy defeat in Queensland, but faring better in federal pollsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...5 hours ago
- Why the potential for another Donald Trump presidency is making Iran very nervousSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...5 hours ago
- ‘The worst piece of law proposed since 1979’: Reactions to the Fast-track Approvals Bill
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...6 hours ago - The Friday Poem: ‘Cereal giving’ by Robin PeaceA poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...7 hours ago
- The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending April 26The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38) A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...7 hours ago
- Te Rūnanga O Ngāti Whātua Welcomes Commissioner's Decision Regarding Awataha Marae
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...8 hours ago - We reconstructed landscapes that greeted the first humans in Australia around 65,000 years agoSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes. Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...8 hours ago
- What do we lose when our old suburbs disappear?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, Parramatta Photo: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...8 hours ago
- Does fighting inflation always lead to recession? What 60 years of NZ data can tell usSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImages fatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...8 hours ago
- After spending $700,000 on pins for Covid-19 workers, department now cutting costsA government office that set aside millions for lapel pins for pandemic workers is now looking to cut back on spending. ...9 hours ago
- ‘A hell of a lot of fun’: Our reviews of Chris Isaak’s dazzling Auckland showThe ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...9 hours ago
- The Week in Politics: Days of drama and demotionsAnalysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...9 hours ago
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What a bloody travesty Micky. After the behaviour in Florida to elect Bush, nothing would surprise me about USA elections.
There’s two problems with the US system:
1. It’s a system designed to prevent democracy and leave the power of the state in the hands of the rich. It was designed that way by the Founding Fathers.
2. Despite all this obvious corruption nothing will happen to the rich person doing it or any of the people supporting him. Tough on crime – as long as the crime wasn’t done by rich white people.
Totally agree Micky. I’ve been following this travesty in Georgia and similar situations in other States for sometime now and to my mind the US has lost all pretence of being a democratic nation. Take Texas for example. The requirements for voter registration there are unbelievable!
https://www.thenation.com/article/texass-voter-registration-laws-are-straight-out-of-the-jim-crow-playbook/
Bearing in mind the enormous difficulty for anyone not white and male to actually register to vote in that State the performance of Beto O’Rourke is amazing – and the election of 19 Afro-American women to the judiciary is stunning.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/08/black-women-texas-judge-harris-county
And excellent article I have linked to previously on this very topic of voter suppression and its consequences for democracy:
Rigging the vote: how the American right is on the way to permanent minority rule
And that, of course, is how you bring a country to bloody revolution. I suppose that the RWNJs are expecting to win it because of all their fellows in the NRA.
It seems elementary that the state official supervising the electoral process ought not to be a candidate – it gives them both incentive and opportunity to rig the system in their favour. The voters discriminated against ought to launch a class action against their state, and fight it up to the Supreme Court. I reckon even conservative judges will agree that such legal discrimination is wrong. State-authorised subversion of the democratic process is a travesty of democracy.
Your faith in the ability of American judges, particularly recently appointed ones, to put principle over partisanship, is truly touching.
😎 Not faith as much as you may think though. More a blend with observation of how judicial ideology plus realpolitik operates in the group mind. Sometimes the primadonna motivation will force a judge to dissent, but often groupthink prevails. I agree partisanship is an operational factor in their group, despite the normal pretence of objectivity, but I think a class action would be likely to succeed due to the bias of the supervisor being undeniable.
In other words, the threat of making the Supreme Court overtly partisan by rejecting the suit would bring the entire judiciary into disrepute and rend the fabric of the social contract as well. True conservatives get spooked by just the appearance of anti-establishment behaviour. The prospect of having to actually subvert the democratic process in the eyes of all would deter them.
Unprincipledness. Trump declares if only they carried guns. yeah, that would have helped the security guard at the night club, who was shot by Police. I think it’s truly touching that idiot Americans would get if wrong half the time, and really that’s the point since they have layers of review to weed out stupid. Once Trumps gone, lots of people are going to disrance themselves, and no justice wants to be any Politicians themed judge. Trump only won in red states, in the senate, and lost heaps for Republicians were jerrymandering is two way. I.e six governorship.
The obvious fact the US voting system, mainly in minority areas is rigged to suit the present government!
Disgraceful conduct by US administrators! Corrupt to their filthy rotten core!
Mandatory UN electoral inspectorate monitoring required in future US elections after this.
Shocking how blatant they are now – don’t even half try to hide their behaviour. ffs
Good post Mickey.
I must do one on LBJ in Texas.
Nice piece there Micky, the American electoral system has been a shambles for a long time, which is of course very ironic, as the US seem to be the first to point the finger at other countries real or imagined electoral shortcomings when it suits them
It would be interesting to see how these elections could have turned out if the Democratic Party and their friends in the media had spent even 1/4 of the time/resources and energy on this as they have chasing Russian boogeyman?
It not as if any of this is anything new to the Democrats, they should have been mobilizing and informing the public in a huge way, bringing the eyes of the whole country on to this, shaming the Republicalians, Obama should have been crisscrossing the affected states using his awesome oratory skills as a counter and energizer etc.
Imagine Rachel Maddow crying on air about the injustice Stacey Abrams and her supporters have just suffered, instead of her ridiculous crocodile tears over Russian interference…
‘MSNBC’s Maddow covers Russia more than all other topics combined: analysis’
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/328771-msnbcs-maddow-covers-russia-than-all-other-news-topics-combined-analysis
Media obsession: 55 percent of broadcast news coverage of Trump centered on Russia probe
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jun/27/media-obsession-55-percent-of-broadcast-news-cover/
Great work mickey. It seems odd to me that any candidate, incumbent official or not, should be allowed anywhere near the mechanics of the electoral process. It just invites abuse.
And what has been the Democratic Party’s role in combating all of this? Why is it falling to a private citizen, Greg Palast, to get to the bottom of things?
Also. Am I correct in saying that there is no paper print off in Georgia?
Meaning that if the electronic vote is monkey wrenched in any way, it’s that more difficult to pinpoint and also meaning that a recount simply isn’t an option under any circumstances.
For what it’s worth, if Kemp winds up losing, he’s already resigned as Secretary of State, meaning he’ll be gone from politics. .
Abrams herself has been doing the hard work for years in the area of voter registration.
I guess the basic problem is if only one side does it then they have a permanent advantage.
Sorry. Guess I should have asked the role of the DNC – those upstanding stalwarts of electoral probity – in highlighting and pushing a major issue.
As for only “one side” being involved in election jiggery pokery (if we allow for red and blue being different sides 😉 )…then what about the fiasco around Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s election in 2016 when ballots were unlawfully destroyed?
That not count?
There might be a redder hue to much of the electoral corruption in the US, but it’s by no means all red.
I suppose this Georgia thing examples our present situation in a nutshell. The good nuts have been eaten and gone leaving their broken home.
“If this was a third world nation the UN would have sent in election observers. ”
So true. And think Iraq and the great help USA was to develop their democracy!
All terrifying to we the NZers who have a foolproof Electoral system.
A great post Micky. Thanks.
Not fully foolproof, ianmac. There are still voters to prove us all fools……
Systemically broken = can’t be fixed…both sides are the same entity…
This Blue v Red (it’s all purple) being somehow a worthy narrative, is part of the problem….
Decades upon decades upon decades…
The US interferes with foreign elections, naturally it interferes in local elections…
Keep voting though…maybe the system owners will walk away, eventually…
I did especially like the tweet of Abrams, vowing to count that ballots that were found in a smashed honda civic.
Same is currently going on in Florida.
Nelson vs Scott is going into recount territory, Gillum vs DeSantis might.
Currently ,this tho.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/11/9/1811613/-Republican-Congressman-leads-disturbing-rally-outside-Florida-Board-of-Elections-to-harass-officials?utm_campaign=trending
and this
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/11/9/1811538/-How-widespread-are-efforts-to-invalidate-FL-votes-Former-Congressman-says-his-ballot-was-rejected?utm_campaign=trending
and for a bit of good news
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/11/9/1811618/-On-Election-Day-19-black-women-made-history-in-Texas-by-winning-their-races-for-judicial-seats?utm_campaign=recent
Beto might not win, but he sure helped up the game, help get people on the polls and helped get people to the polls.
Maybe, just maybe the left is not quite as bad as some would like them to be, and maybe just maybe the other side is exactly as bad as they are.
Time to think the unthinkable? That the American Revolution was actually a bad thing, a reactionary movement to entrench the power of wealth, and it made future democracy less likely.
Less headchopping than the French one
Yep – there’s that.
But is seems to me (though I’m no historian) that the loyalists in Canada developed a democracy that, to date, is a superior example to the one created by the revolutionaries in the USA.
Quite a bit of tarring and feathering though, and confiscations.
The US revolution, just like the UK revolution, was taken over by the capitalists who didn’t want democracy and so they put a sham one in place to ensure that the rich maintained power.
You use the term “the capitalists” with such breadth and frequency it is devoid of all meaning.
It would help if you could actually provide a workable definition of what you actually mean by it because as it stands it is just “people Draco doesn’t like”
What a load of bollocks but fully what I expect from you.
Really, if you don’t know what a capitalist is perhaps you should read a friggen dictionary.
I know what capitalist means Draco.
I am asking you to define what it is you mean because the term “the capitalists” lacks any definition in the way you use it. It could literally somewhere in the order of 95% of the NZ population as almost all of us are people who use their wealth to invest in trade and industry for profit in accordance with the principles of capitalism is some form or another (to use the most readily available dictionary definition).
So you need to be more specific. I assume you went to university so can construct an argument instead of using broad terms which lack meaning without specificity.
(BTW – I am very careful to not talk a load of bollocks . Asking you for a meaning when you use a word with a specific meaning, and shades of meaning, in such fell swoop is like me calling you a communist because you are anti-capitalist. Try harder)
DTB hates capitalism as much as Trump hates communism?
But with out capitalism DTB wouldn’t have a soap box or a computer he would scratching out a living on the steeps.
can you see the economic anxiety of the white working female :), so anxious, so worried about jobs, and income and such. Surely, any day now, this anxiety is gonna be all gone, baby gone.
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/11/watch-republican-activists-harass-black-people-see-florida-election-theft-demonstration/
They have so many dirty tricks they use.
I would like to point out my 9 Nov 2018 post #5 on “Disestablish the establishment”
on how even when Republicans lose they try and keep power in any way they can.
https://thestandard.org.nz/disestablish-the-establishment/
I link to a video that discusses how the Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker who failed to win re-election has been conspiring with other Republicans during his last days in office to strip the new Governor of power before he is sworn in leaving the power in the hands of the Republicans.
America is no longer a democratic country. It is in the intermediary stage between what was once a democracy to becoming a totalitarian state. WW3 (ie. nuclear war) is just around the corner if the inmates of that country allow it to continue to progress towards totalitarianism.
This is what frightens me the most, a failed state with a leader who needs a win at all cost and nuclear weapons.
Ain’t it great?
Terrifying.
Well.. I remember George Bernard Shaw writing something like, “The USA is the only country to have passed directly from the state of barbarism directly to decadence without passing through the intermediate phase of civilisation.”
Maybe Shaw was not stupid…
Shaw was definitely not stupid although there was a hint of civilisation early last century.
Federal investigators scrutinized Whitaker’s role in patent company accused of fraud, according to people with knowledge of case
The US government has been bought and paid for.
this was really fun at the time when it happened during the Bush 2 years. Much laughters were had on the interwebs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Gannon
they look like clones. they behave like them.
Jeff Gannon was a strange tale and Whittaker is equally a strange tale.
But But But Trump does even know Matt Whitaker!
Except just 28 days ago he said he knew him and he was a great guy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=130&v=nITGkfOiWCs