thehuffingtonpost--2020-08-28--The Republican Party’s Full Embrace Of Donald Trump Didn’t Come Out Of Nowhere

President Donald Trump opened the 2020 Republican National Convention by requesting party delegates lead a chant ― not for four more years , but for 12 .
He spoke on every single night of the convention .
Three out of four convention nights featured at least two members of the Trump family as prime-time speakers , making “ my dad ” and “ my father ” two of the most uttered phrases .
The Republican Party , meanwhile , adopted no platform .
The only thing that needs to be expressed is seething resentment and disdain for anyone who dares @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And since the GOP has proven it can win presidential elections without support from a majority of voters , the campaign and convention are all about riling up the base and convincing anyone who ’ s on the fence to just stay home .
The New Right conservative movement began as an effort to destroy New Deal liberalism and return to power the ancien régime of Gilded Age economic theories that it wiped away .
But it found its true base of support among white voters of all classes who were frightened and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gender and familial hierarchies .
Those fears were hastened by the advances of democratic and social rights for minorities and women and the increase of college education that began in the 1950s .
Although this movement took over the Republican Party , it was never much interested in it as a political party itself .
Instead , it saw the party simply as a means to the end of securing an electoral majority ― whether that be Silent or Moral .
Building an electoral majority means the party can win .
And if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agenda .
The coalition ’ s marriage of plutocracy and right-wing populism propelled Republicans to smashing success in the second half of the 20th century .
The party came to power by pulling on the strings of an unstable New Deal coalition between Southern segregationists , Black Americans , immigrants , labor unions , university intellectuals and rural farmers .
That coalition collapsed as the end of Jim Crow , the Vietnam War and economic stagnation mixed with rampant inflation , among other events , pulled apart its internal contradictions .
The party @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presidential elections from 1968 through 1988 .
Through this period , conservatives stopped and then rolled back progress toward racial equality , stymied the women ’ s movement by blocking the Equal Rights Amendment and waged a punitive carceral war , with bipartisan support , against the lower classes .
But their most durable success was enacting an economic agenda that slashed taxes and ran up massive deficits in order to redistribute money from the poor and the middle class to the rich , and economic power from small to big business .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the movement and the party than their majority .
It was the fact that the party knew it was the majority that kept the populist base in check as the plutocratic wing got what it wanted .
Just look at Trump .
He won 46 % of the vote in 2016 while losing the popular vote by 3 million votes .
He only won the election through the undemocratic mechanism of the Electoral College .
That made him the second Republican president to win election in such a way after George W. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vote in 2000 .
Before Bush , no president had won the office while losing the popular vote since the 19th century .
When Trump ran in 2016 , the most influential intellectual argument for Republicans to fall in line was “ The Flight 93 Election , ” an openly fascistic screed written by a then-pseudonymous author .
The essay likened voting for Trump to the passengers who stormed the cabin and seized control of the flight hijacked by terrorists on 9/11 to save it from being crashed into the U.S. Capitol building @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and everyone on board died . )
In this analogy , the Democratic Party and then-nominee Hillary Clinton , are the terrorists .
The author — later revealed to be Michael Anton , who went on to serve as a national security aide in the Trump White House — argued that the Democrats were such a threat to the future of the nation that conservatives needed to risk handing an in-flight airplane to Trump , regardless of whether he knew how to fly it .
The risk was too simply too high .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pursuit of a majority .
It ’ s the same majority that Kevin Phillips , the political theorist and former Nixon aide who came up with the Republican Party ’ s Southern Strategy to win racist white voters in the North and South , foresaw in his book ” The Emerging Republican Majority.
” It was a majority built on white voters in the South and North repelled by the advances in democracy and freedom for Black Americans .
A majority that is now a minority in a nation where white people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the population in 25 years .

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President Donald Trump opened the 2020 Republican National Convention by requesting party delegates lead a chant ― not for four more years, but for 12. He spoke on every single night of the convention. Three out of four convention nights featured at least two members of the Trump family as prime-time speakers, making “my dad” and “my father” two of the most uttered phrases. The Republican Party, meanwhile, adopted no platform.
The platform is simply Donald Trump, who embodies all that is good and American. No policies need be explained or, heaven forbid, debated. Trump’s nomination represents them all ― whatever they may be. Any dispute over policy is treated as a personal dispute with the party’s leader and is therefore illegitimate.
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The only thing that needs to be expressed is seething resentment and disdain for anyone who dares oppose the beacon of the people. And since the GOP has proven it can win presidential elections without support from a majority of voters, the campaign and convention are all about riling up the base and convincing anyone who’s on the fence to just stay home.
President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and family members stand to watch fireworks after the president delivered his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention on Thursday night. DOUG MILLS via Getty Images
“Always Remember: they are coming after ME, because I am fighting for YOU,” Trump said Thursday night during his unprecedented acceptance speech from the South Lawn of the White House.
This is a stark change from 2016, when Trump led a hostile takeover of the party and speakers like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) dissented from at the GOP convention in Cleveland. Today, Republicans who may be loyal to the party itself but have not fully bent the knee to Trump are no longer welcome.
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“There’s no semblance of a party in any way that is larger than the president,” Daniel Schlozman, a political scientist at Johns Hopkins University and the author of “When Movements Anchor Parties: Electoral Alignments in American History.” “The party is nothing more than support of Trump.”
Trump’s takeover of the Republican Party follows trends stretching back decades. The conservative movement, rooted in cultural, social and racial resentments, took advantage of the hollowing out of political parties that was the side effect of 1970s liberal reforms and poured itself into the GOP to make it what it is today.
“This didn’t come from nowhere,” Schlozman said.
The movement that took over the party and laid the foundation for Trump did so in order to build a durable electoral majority. But that majority no longer exists. Trump’s dominance of the party after his minority-vote victory in 2016 indicates that this conservative coalition increasingly sees its future in power through anti-democratic means.
From Majority To Minority
Mark and Patricia McCloskey, pictured here confronting protesters with guns outside their St. Louis home this summer, told the RNC that Black Lives Matter activists want to wield power and that if they do, "no matter where you live, your family will not be safe." St. Louis Post-Dispatch via Getty Images
The New Right conservative movement began as an effort to destroy New Deal liberalism and return to power the ancien régime of Gilded Age economic theories that it wiped away. But it found its true base of support among white voters of all classes who were frightened and angered by the collapse of racial, gender and familial hierarchies. Those fears were hastened by the advances of democratic and social rights for minorities and women and the increase of college education that began in the 1950s.
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The conservative movement adopted a pugilistic and win-by-any-means approach to politics with the purpose of “mobilizing cultural and social conflict as a means to majority,” Schlozman and Sam Rosenfeld, a political scientist at Colgate University, write in their 2019 paper, “The Long New Right and the World It Made.”
“The modern Republican Party under the conservative movement’s control represents a continual bargain between a plutocratic public policy agenda and populist social politics,” said Rosenfeld, the author of “The Polarizers: Postwar Architects of Our Partisan Era.”
“Trump is the apotheosis; he’s the reductio ad absurdum; he’s the comical version of that more than he’s a major break,” Rosenfeld said.
While the party pursued plutocratic economic policies, it mollified its voting base by adopting the signature style of Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-Wis.), mimicking the disgraced anti-Communist’s “fervid demonization, the headlong transgression of institutional and behavioral norms, the suffusion of political debate with potent social resentment,” Schlozman and Rosenfeld write.
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Although this movement took over the Republican Party, it was never much interested in it as a political party itself. Instead, it saw the party simply as a means to the end of securing an electoral majority ― whether that be Silent or Moral. Building an electoral majority means the party can win. And if it wins, it can enact its agenda.
Toward Minority Rule
The president and his family standing before the White House — a federal government building they used as a prop for his personal political gain — during the GOP convention. AP Photo/Evan Vucci
The coalition’s marriage of plutocracy and right-wing populism propelled Republicans to smashing success in the second half of the 20th century. The party came to power by pulling on the strings of an unstable New Deal coalition between Southern segregationists, Black Americans, immigrants, labor unions, university intellectuals and rural farmers. That coalition collapsed as the end of Jim Crow, the Vietnam War and economic stagnation mixed with rampant inflation, among other events, pulled apart its internal contradictions. The party went on to win five of six presidential elections from 1968 through 1988.
During this period of dominance, Richard Nixon won 49 states with 61% of the popular vote in his 1972 reelection campaign. Ronald Reagan also won 49 states and 59% in his 1984 reelection campaign. And George H.W. Bush secured 51% in 1988.
Through this period, conservatives stopped and then rolled back progress toward racial equality, stymied the women’s movement by blocking the Equal Rights Amendment and waged a punitive carceral war, with bipartisan support, against the lower classes. But their most durable success was enacting an economic agenda that slashed taxes and ran up massive deficits in order to redistribute money from the poor and the middle class to the rich, and economic power from small to big business.
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Nothing was more important to the marriage of the movement and the party than their majority. It was the fact that the party knew it was the majority that kept the populist base in check as the plutocratic wing got what it wanted.
But now that majority has deteriorated. It is, in fact, a minority.
Just look at Trump. He won 46% of the vote in 2016 while losing the popular vote by 3 million votes. He only won the election through the undemocratic mechanism of the Electoral College. That made him the second Republican president to win election in such a way after George W. Bush did so while losing the popular vote in 2000. Before Bush, no president had won the office while losing the popular vote since the 19th century.
Their agenda and message may not pull together a majority coalition, but it is large enough to win minority victories, as long as enough people don’t vote.
At the root of the anti-democratic turn of the Republican Party is a fear that migration could lead to the nation's white population no longer being a majority. AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
Trump’s shock minority-vote victory in 2016 ― and his appeasement of the party’s donor class by adopting their plutocratic economic agenda ― set the stage for the unquestioned takeover of the party on display at the GOP convention this week. It has also set in motion the party’s increasing lean toward questioning democracy and liberal government.
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When Trump ran in 2016, the most influential intellectual argument for Republicans to fall in line was “The Flight 93 Election,” an openly fascistic screed written by a then-pseudonymous author. The essay likened voting for Trump to the passengers who stormed the cabin and seized control of the flight hijacked by terrorists on 9/11 to save it from being crashed into the U.S. Capitol building. (The plane crashed in Pennsylvania and everyone on board died.)
In this analogy, the Democratic Party and then-nominee Hillary Clinton, are the terrorists. The author — later revealed to be Michael Anton, who went on to serve as a national security aide in the Trump White House — argued that the Democrats were such a threat to the future of the nation that conservatives needed to risk handing an in-flight airplane to Trump, regardless of whether he knew how to fly it. The risk was too simply too high. Why?
“[T]he ceaseless importation of Third World foreigners with no tradition of, taste for, or experience in liberty means that the electorate grows more left, more Democratic, less Republican, less republican, and less traditionally American with every cycle,” Anton wrote.
It always goes back to the pursuit of a majority. It’s the same majority that Kevin Phillips, the political theorist and former Nixon aide who came up with the Republican Party’s Southern Strategy to win racist white voters in the North and South, foresaw in his book ”The Emerging Republican Majority.” It was a majority built on white voters in the South and North repelled by the advances in democracy and freedom for Black Americans. A majority that is now a minority in a nation where white people will make up less than 50% of the population in 25 years.
This explains Charlie Kirk — a Republican youth leader whose organization, Turning Point USA, has repeatedly been found to employ white supremacists — calling Trump “the bodyguard of Western civilization” at the convention.
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Trump’s coronation tilts the party ever further toward the anti-democratic instincts that have always run just beneath the surface. This week, the party nodded in support of Trump’s illiberalism and bet their hopes on another victory through anti-democratic constitutional mechanisms to continue their rule ― majority be damned.
“He has revealed and kicked the tires around to show what it is that [the party’s] elite economic interests and ordinary voters will accept to keep the coalition going,” Rosenfeld said.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-08-28--Actor Chadwick Boseman Dies At 43 After 4-year Fight With Colon Cancer

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Actor Chadwick Boseman, who played Black icons Jackie Robinson and James Brown with searing intensity before finding fame as the regal Black Panther in the Marvel cinematic universe, died Friday of cancer, his representative said. He was 43.
Boseman died at his home in the Los Angeles area with his wife and family by his side, his publicist Nicki Fioravante told The Associated Press.
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Actor Chadwick Boseman, who played Black icons Jackie Robinson and James Brown before finding fame as the regal Black Panther in the Marvel cinematic universe, has died of cancer. Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Boseman was diagnosed with colon cancer four years ago, his family said in a statement.
“A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much,” his family said. “From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods, August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and several more - all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy. It was the honor of his career to bring King T’Challa to life in Black Panther.”
Boseman had not spoken publicly about his diagnosis. He is survived by his wife and a parent and had no children, Fioravante said.
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Born in South Carolina, Boseman graduated from Howard University and had small roles in television before his first star turn in 2013. His striking portrayal of the stoic baseball star Robinson opposite Harrison Ford in 2013′s “42” drew attention in Hollywood and made him a star.
Boseman died on a day that Major League Baseball was celebrating Jackie Robinson day.
“This is a crushing blow” actor and director Jordan Peele said on Twitter, one of many expressing shock as the news spread across social media.
“This broke me,” said actor and writer Issa Rae.
His T’Challa character was first introduced to the blockbuster Marvel movies in 2016′s “Captain America: Civil War,” and his “Wakanda Forever” salute reverberated around the world after the release of “Black Panther” two years ago.
The film’s vision of Afrofuturism and the technologically advanced civilization of Wakanda resonated with audiences, some of whom wore African attire to showings and helped propel “Black Panther” to more than $1.3 billion in global box office. It is the only Marvel Studios film to receive a best picture Oscar nomination.
The character was last seen standing silently dressed in a black suit at Tony Stark’s funeral in last year’s “Avengers: Endgame.” A “Black Panther” sequel had been announced, and was one of the studio’s most anticipated upcoming films.
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Chadwick Boseman shot legendary movie after legendary while fighting for his life.
What a real life superhero. https://t.co/gwY6gr7R4j — Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) August 29, 2020
Even at the outset of his Hollywood career, Boseman was clear-eyed about — and even skeptical of — the industry in which he would become an international star.
“You don’t have the same exact experience as a Black actor as you do as a white actor. You don’t have the same opportunities. That’s evident and true,” he told AP while promoting “42.” “The best way to put it is: How often do you see a movie about a black hero who has a love story ... he has a spirituality. He has an intellect. It’s weird to say it, but it doesn’t happen that often.”
In addition to Robinson and Brown, Boseman portrayed the future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in 2017′s “Marshall.” He humanized the larger-than-life historical figures with the same quiet dignity — interrupted by flashes of sparkling wit — that he would later bring to T’Challa.
He took on his first producing job in last year’s action thriller “21 Bridges,” in which he also starred, and was last seen on-screen in Spike Lee’s film “Da 5 Bloods” as the leader of a group of Black soldiers in the Vietnam War.
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It took some time for Boseman’s moment to come. He first got into theater, acting and writing plays as an undergrad at Howard. Boseman had roles on TV shows like ABC Family’s “Lincoln Heights” and NBC’s “Persons Unknown,” but before “42” he had only acted in one film, 2008’s football drama “The Express.” Boseman attracted notice, but missed out on big parts.
“2011 was a rough year,” he said. “I was up for everything that was happening that year, really good roles. I would get down to the end and then it would go to someone else.”
Boseman completed one last performance, in an adaptation of August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” The Netflix film, in which Boseman stars alongside Viola Davis, finished shooting last summer.
Asked about his own childhood heroes and icons, Boseman cited Black political leaders and musicians: Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Bob Marley, Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest and Prince. Deeply private and often guarded in his public appearances and interviews, he made clear that he understood the significance of his work and its impact on the broader culture.
At the 2019 Screen Actors Guild Award, “Black Panther” won best ensemble, electrifying the room. Before an auditorium full of actors, Chadwick Boseman stepped to the microphone. He quoted Nina Simone: “To be young, gifted and black,” then put the moment in context.
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-08-28--Tenants Say They Weren't Told Interviews Were For RNC Video, Are Anti-Trump

Three New York City tenants who were featured in a video at the Republican National Convention this week said they had no idea their interviews would be used for that purpose — and none of them support President Donald Trump .
Lynne Patton — the Trump-appointed head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development region that includes New York — interviewed residents on video about conditions in their buildings .
Three of those residents said they didn ’ t know their interviews were for the RNC , reported The New York Times .
“ I am not a Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the tenants in the video , told the Times .
The clip , which aired Thursday , criticized New York Mayor Bill de Blasio , Trump ’ s longtime target .
“ I am not a supporter of his racist policies on immigration , ” she added .
“ I am a first-generation Honduran .
It was my people he was sending back.
” It ’ s worth noting that under the Hatch Act , federal officials , such as Patton , are barred from using their taxpayer-funded positions for political activities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ HuffPost ’ s request for comment .
Patton sent a statement to the Times saying she did not lie to the tenants , who knew interviews would play at the convention , and that the video passed muster with the White House over Hatch Act concerns .
NEW : Three NYC public housing tenants said they were tricked into appearing in a Republican National Convention video .
Lynne Patton , a HUD official , interviewed them for the video , which they thought would be used to highlight issues in public housing .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ matthewhaag ) August 28 , 2020 Similarly , two of the immigrants featured in an RNC video on Tuesday showing a naturalization ceremony at the White House told The Wall Street Journal that they didn ’ t know the footage would be shown at the convention .
In this case , the two women — Sudha Narayanan , who is from India , and Neimat Awadelseid , from Sudan — said they didn ’ t mind having it featured at the event .
In another controversial appearance at the RNC , Ann @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of her husband , retired police officer David Dorn , who was killed during anti-racism protests in St. Louis in June .
But David Dorn ’ s daughters had opposed her speaking of their father , a Black man who was a Democrat and didn ’ t support Trump .
They said they didn ’ t want her to “ politicize our father ’ s death for Trump ’ s agenda .
”

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Three New York City tenants who were featured in a video at the Republican National Convention this week said they had no idea their interviews would be used for that purpose — and none of them support President Donald Trump.
Lynne Patton — the Trump-appointed head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development region that includes New York — interviewed residents on video about conditions in their buildings. Three of those residents said they didn’t know their interviews were for the RNC, reported The New York Times.
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“I am not a Trump supporter,” Claudia Perez, one of the tenants in the video, told the Times. The clip, which aired Thursday, criticized New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, Trump’s longtime target.
“I am not a supporter of his racist policies on immigration,” she added. “I am a first-generation Honduran. It was my people he was sending back.”
It’s worth noting that under the Hatch Act, federal officials, such as Patton, are barred from using their taxpayer-funded positions for political activities.
HUD did not immediately reply to HuffPost’s request for comment. Patton sent a statement to the Times saying she did not lie to the tenants, who knew interviews would play at the convention, and that the video passed muster with the White House over Hatch Act concerns.
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NEW: Three NYC public housing tenants said they were tricked into appearing in a Republican National Convention video. Lynne Patton, a HUD official, interviewed them for the video, which they thought would be used to highlight issues in public housing. https://t.co/baZDhVX9BZ — Matthew Haag (@matthewhaag) August 28, 2020
Similarly, two of the immigrants featured in an RNC video on Tuesday showing a naturalization ceremony at the White House told The Wall Street Journal that they didn’t know the footage would be shown at the convention. In this case, the two women — Sudha Narayanan, who is from India, and Neimat Awadelseid, from Sudan — said they didn’t mind having it featured at the event.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-08-28--Jacob Blake No Longer Handcuffed To Hospital Bed: Attorney

MADISON , Wis. ( AP ) — Jacob Blake is no longer shackled to his hospital bed , as he had been following a police shooting in southeastern Wisconsin that left him paralyzed , his attorneys said Friday .
Kenosha Police Officer Rusten Sheskey shot Blake , a Black man , seven times in the back on Sunday while responding to a domestic abuse call .
Protesters have filled Kenosha ’ s streets every night since the shooting in a demonstration against police racism and brutality .
Blake ’ s father told the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday that he was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to his hospital bed in Milwaukee since he ’ s paralyzed and can ’ t go anywhere .
Blake was wanted on suspicion of felony sexual assault when he was shot .
The Milwaukee County Sheriff ’ s Office said in a statement that all hospitalized patients in police custody are restrained unless undergoing medical procedures .
Wisconsin Gov .
Tony Evers responded “ hell , yes , ” when asked during a news conference whether he was concerned about Blake being handcuffed .
The governor said Blake had already paid a “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the sexual assault case said Friday that Blake was no longer in restraints .
He said the arrest warrant in the sexual assault case has been vacated , although charges remain .
The Milwaukee County Sheriff ’ s Department said in a statement that Blake was no longer in custody because he has posted bond and deputies are no longer guarding him at the hospital .
“ Fortunately , a man who is paralyzed and fighting for his life after being shot seven times in the back , will no longer have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his ankles and wrist shackled and the traumatic stress of being under armed guard , ” Blake ’ s attorneys in the shooting case , Ben Crump , Patrick Salvi and B ’ Ivory Lamarr said in a statement .

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Jacob Blake is no longer shackled to his hospital bed, as he had been following a police shooting in southeastern Wisconsin that left him paralyzed, his attorneys said Friday.
Kenosha Police Officer Rusten Sheskey shot Blake, a Black man, seven times in the back on Sunday while responding to a domestic abuse call. Protesters have filled Kenosha’s streets every night since the shooting in a demonstration against police racism and brutality.
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Blake’s father told the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday that he was upset to learn his son was handcuffed to his hospital bed in Milwaukee since he’s paralyzed and can’t go anywhere.
Blake was wanted on suspicion of felony sexual assault when he was shot. The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that all hospitalized patients in police custody are restrained unless undergoing medical procedures. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers responded “hell, yes,” when asked during a news conference whether he was concerned about Blake being handcuffed. The governor said Blake had already paid a “horrific price.”
Blake’s attorney in the sexual assault case said Friday that Blake was no longer in restraints. He said the arrest warrant in the sexual assault case has been vacated, although charges remain. The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that Blake was no longer in custody because he has posted bond and deputies are no longer guarding him at the hospital.
“Fortunately, a man who is paralyzed and fighting for his life after being shot seven times in the back, will no longer have to deal with the pain of having his ankles and wrist shackled and the traumatic stress of being under armed guard,” Blake’s attorneys in the shooting case, Ben Crump, Patrick Salvi and B’Ivory Lamarr said in a statement.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-08-28--Teen Who Organized Black Lives Matter Rally Gets Billed $2500 For Police Overtime

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS , N.J. ( AP ) — A teen who organized a Black Lives Matter rally in her northern New Jersey town said she has been sent a $ 2500 bill from officials for police overtime .
NJ Advance Media reported Friday Emily Gil , 18 , of Englewood Cliffs received a letter earlier this month from Mayor Mario M. Kranjac looking for payment of $ 2,499.26 “ for the police overtime caused by your protest.
” Gil , a recent high school graduate , had organized a protest on July 25 in the town , just across the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
She said she called for action like increasing affordable housing in the town , and chastised Engelwood Cliffs for not implementing it over the years .
The town ’ s letter said she had not met with officials before her protest , requiring them to hastily come up with security plans .
Gil said she didn ’ t meet with them in person over coronavirus concerns , but made an offer to meet via Zoom , which wasn ’ t accepted , and then officials stopped responding to her .
She said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ getting the bill , but has gotten no response .
Kranjac told NJ Advance Media that protesters ’ rights of free speech and assembly were respected , and that Gil was wrong to link affordable housing to her protest .
“ As with any privately-sponsored event that takes place in the borough requiring police safety , an invoice was sent to the organizer for police overtime since it would be unfair to require our residents to financially support a private event , ” he said .
An email was sent to Kranjac by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democratic members of the town ’ s Council issued a statement opposing the Republican mayor ’ s decision , and said they would seek to cancel the bill .
They said he owed the teen an apology .
Jeanne LoCicero , legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey , told The Associated Press , “ the idea of sending a bill to protesters is shocking.
” She said while it ’ s been attempted before , she hadn ’ t heard of any other town trying something similar over @ @ @ @ @ @

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ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. (AP) — A teen who organized a Black Lives Matter rally in her northern New Jersey town said she has been sent a $2500 bill from officials for police overtime.
NJ Advance Media reported Friday Emily Gil, 18, of Englewood Cliffs received a letter earlier this month from Mayor Mario M. Kranjac looking for payment of $2,499.26 “for the police overtime caused by your protest.”
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A civil liberties advocate called the move “shocking.”
Gil, a recent high school graduate, had organized a protest on July 25 in the town, just across the river from the uppermost parts of Manhattan. She said she called for action like increasing affordable housing in the town, and chastised Engelwood Cliffs for not implementing it over the years.
The town’s letter said she had not met with officials before her protest, requiring them to hastily come up with security plans.
Gil said she didn’t meet with them in person over coronavirus concerns, but made an offer to meet via Zoom, which wasn’t accepted, and then officials stopped responding to her.
She said she had reached out to Kranjac after getting the bill, but has gotten no response.
Kranjac told NJ Advance Media that protesters’ rights of free speech and assembly were respected, and that Gil was wrong to link affordable housing to her protest.
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“As with any privately-sponsored event that takes place in the borough requiring police safety, an invoice was sent to the organizer for police overtime since it would be unfair to require our residents to financially support a private event,” he said.
An email was sent to Kranjac by The Associated Press seeking comment.
Four Democratic members of the town’s Council issued a statement opposing the Republican mayor’s decision, and said they would seek to cancel the bill. They said he owed the teen an apology.
Jeanne LoCicero, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, told The Associated Press, “the idea of sending a bill to protesters is shocking.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-08-28--World's Oldest Married Couple Is A Combined 215 Years Old

ASSOCIATED PRESS Married couple Julio Mora Tapia , 110 , and Waldramina Quinteros , 104 , both retired teachers , have been recognized by the Guinness World Records as the oldest married couple in the world , because of their combined ages .
They have been married for 79 years .
QUITO , Ecuador ( AP ) — Julio Mora slipped away from his parents to secretly marry Waldramina Quinteros one Febuary day .
Both families disapproved .
Seventy-nine years later , they ’ re still together — he at 110 years of age , and she at 104 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , though relatives say they ’ re a little depressed because they miss their big family get-togethers due to the pandemic .
There are longer marriages , but at the moment no other between people so old , according to Guinness World Records — just short of a combined 215 years .
Mora was born on March 10 , 1910 , and Quinteros on October 16 , 1915 .
They wed on February 7 , 1941 , in the first church built by the Spanish in Quito : La Iglesia de El Belen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ecuador ’ s capital of Quito , where in mid-August they received the Guinness certification .
Their daughter Cecilia says they ’ re both lucid and active , although they no longer have the agility they had before .
But “ for a month they have been different , more downcast because they miss large family gatherings.
” And they can gather quite a crowd : four surviving children , 11 grandchildren , 21 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild .
“ Since March , we have not had any of that , ” Cecilia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contact ” .
She said her father enjoys watching television and drinking milk and that her mother , who enjoys desserts , likes to read the newspaper every morning .
Previously listed as the oldest were an Austin , Texas , couple , Charlotte Henderson and John Henderson who have a combined age of 212 years and 52 days .

Married couple Julio Mora Tapia, 110, and Waldramina Quinteros, 104, both retired teachers, have been recognized by the Guinness World Records as the oldest married couple in the world, because of their combined ages. They have been married for 79 years. ASSOCIATED PRESS
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Julio Mora slipped away from his parents to secretly marry Waldramina Quinteros one Febuary day. Both families disapproved.
Seventy-nine years later, they’re still together — he at 110 years of age, and she at 104, both lucid and both in good health, though relatives say they’re a little depressed because they miss their big family get-togethers due to the pandemic.
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There are longer marriages, but at the moment no other between people so old, according to Guinness World Records — just short of a combined 215 years.
Mora was born on March 10, 1910, and Quinteros on October 16, 1915. They wed on February 7, 1941, in the first church built by the Spanish in Quito: La Iglesia de El Belen.
The two retired teachers live in Ecuador’s capital of Quito, where in mid-August they received the Guinness certification.
Their daughter Cecilia says they’re both lucid and active, although they no longer have the agility they had before. But “for a month they have been different, more downcast because they miss large family gatherings.”
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And they can gather quite a crowd: four surviving children, 11 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
“Since March, we have not had any of that,” Cecilia said. “My parents need family contact ”.
She said her father enjoys watching television and drinking milk and that her mother, who enjoys desserts, likes to read the newspaper every morning.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-08-28--NBA Pledges To Turn Arenas Into Voting Sites, Announces Resumption Of Playoff Games

Capping off what ’ s already been a historic week for the NBA , the league ’ s commissioner and the National Basketball Players Association issued a joint statement Friday announcing the resumption of the NBA playoffs , as well as plans to promote voting access and address issues around racial injustice .
The plans include transforming NBA arenas into voting sites for the November general election .
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and NBPA Executive Director Michele Roberts said in the statement that playoff games would resume on Saturday — days after the Milwaukee Bucks refused to play in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reaction to the police shooting of Jacob Blake , a Black man , in Kenosha , Wisconsin .
Other NBA teams involved in the playoffs promptly chose to follow in the Bucks ’ footsteps , pledging boycotts of their own .
Athletes in other leagues soon also followed suit .
Silver and Roberts said the boycotts had prompted a “ candid , impassioned and productive conversation ” between the league and teams “ regarding next steps to further our collective efforts and actions in support of social justice and racial equality.
” The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a social justice coalition involving players , coaches and team governors ; and airing ads during NBA playoff games that raise awareness around voter access .
“ In every city where the league franchise owns and controls the arena property , team governors will continue to work with local elections officials to convert the facility into a voting location for the 2020 general election to allow for a safe in-person voting option for communities vulnerable to COVID , ” the statement said .
“ If a deadline has passed , team governors will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ another election-related use for the facility , including but not limited to voter registration and ballot receiving boards.
” As SB Nation noted , there are 29 NBA venues .
It ’ s unclear , however , how many would be involved in the voting initiative .
Several NBA teams had already offered to turn their arenas into voting sites , including the Bucks , Atlanta Hawks , Detroit Pistons and Sacramento Kings .
With their vast size — and potential for better social distancing — sports venues have been touted as particularly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Silver and Roberts said Friday that the new commitments “ follow months of close collaboration around designing a safe and healthy environment to restart the NBA season , providing a platform to promote social justice , as well as creating an NBA Foundation focused on economic empowerment in the Black community , ” referring to a charity established by the league earlier this month .
“ We look forward to the resumption of the playoffs and continuing to work together … to push for meaningful and sustainable change , ” they added .

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Capping off what’s already been a historic week for the NBA, the league’s commissioner and the National Basketball Players Association issued a joint statement Friday announcing the resumption of the NBA playoffs, as well as plans to promote voting access and address issues around racial injustice. The plans include transforming NBA arenas into voting sites for the November general election.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and NBPA Executive Director Michele Roberts said in the statement that playoff games would resume on Saturday — days after the Milwaukee Bucks refused to play in a Wednesday game against the Orlando Magic in reaction to the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
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Other NBA teams involved in the playoffs promptly chose to follow in the Bucks’ footsteps, pledging boycotts of their own. Athletes in other leagues soon also followed suit.
Joint NBA and NBPA statement: pic.twitter.com/EFp6fG9oZs — NBA (@NBA) August 28, 2020
Silver and Roberts said the boycotts had prompted a “candid, impassioned and productive conversation” between the league and teams “regarding next steps to further our collective efforts and actions in support of social justice and racial equality.”
The next steps ultimately agreed upon include establishing a social justice coalition involving players, coaches and team governors; and airing ads during NBA playoff games that raise awareness around voter access.
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The NBA also pledged to convert arenas into voting locations for the November general election.
“In every city where the league franchise owns and controls the arena property, team governors will continue to work with local elections officials to convert the facility into a voting location for the 2020 general election to allow for a safe in-person voting option for communities vulnerable to COVID,” the statement said. “If a deadline has passed, team governors will work with local elections officials to find another election-related use for the facility, including but not limited to voter registration and ballot receiving boards.”
As SB Nation noted, there are 29 NBA venues. It’s unclear, however, how many would be involved in the voting initiative.
Several NBA teams had already offered to turn their arenas into voting sites, including the Bucks, Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons and Sacramento Kings. With their vast size — and potential for better social distancing — sports venues have been touted as particularly useful voting spaces during the pandemic.
Silver and Roberts said Friday that the new commitments “follow months of close collaboration around designing a safe and healthy environment to restart the NBA season, providing a platform to promote social justice, as well as creating an NBA Foundation focused on economic empowerment in the Black community,” referring to a charity established by the league earlier this month.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-08-28--12 Amazing Photos You Missed This Week

12 Amazing Photos You Missed This Week

We ’ re highlighting exceptional photos from around the world for the week of Aug. 22-28 .
Check them out @ @ @ @ @ 4-year-old daughter of Marqueese Alston , who was shot and killed by Washington ’ s @ @ @ @ @ , 2018 , holds a photograph of her father as demonstrators gather at the Lincoln @ @ @ @ @ Your Knee Off Our Necks ” March on Washington in support of racial justice in @ @ @ @ @ 2020 .

We’re highlighting exceptional photos from around the world for the week of Aug. 22-28. Check them out below.
Above: The 4-year-old daughter of Marqueese Alston, who was shot and killed by Washington’s Metropolitan Police on June 12, 2018, holds a photograph of her father as demonstrators gather at the Lincoln Memorial for the “Get Your Knee Off Our Necks” March on Washington in support of racial justice in Washington on Aug. 28, 2020.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-08-28--White Supremacists Were 'On A Hunting Spree' In Kenosha, Says Wisconsin Lawmaker

A Wisconsin lawmaker has accused armed vigilantes in Kenosha of organizing a “ hunting spree ” against protesters with little interference from local police .
“ I literally witnessed firsthand a massive amount of organized white supremacists driving around in pickup trucks , targeting protesters , ” Democratic state Rep. David Bowen of Milwaukee said in an interview Thursday on “ Democracy Now.
” “ They were there not there to try to defend businesses , ” added Bowen , who was at the protest Tuesday night when two demonstrators were fatally shot .
“ They were there to hurt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they were using chemical irritants .
They were harassing protesters.
” A possible vigilante recruit and Donald Trump supporter , 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse , has been charged with homicide in the shooting deaths of two demonstrators and the wounding of a volunteer medic Tuesday night .
He traveled from his home in Illinois armed with a semiautomatic rifle , according to investigators .
The shootings were captured on video .
The protesters were killed as they demonstrated against the Kenosha police shooting of Jacob Blake , a 29-year-old Black father , on Sunday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the back by as he walked to his car , where his three young children were waiting for him .
The vigilante “ Kenosha Guard ” had been recruiting members on Facebook to join the “ Armed Citizens to Protect Our Lives and Property ” in Kenosha .
The call to arms was picked up and distributed by the far-right conspiracy website Infowars .
Bowen said Rittenhouse was seen “ joking around ” with police before the protesters were killed .
“ You don ’ t walk around shooting people away from a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ defend , ” Bowen said .
“ It ’ s very clear that they were on a hunting spree .
This was not the defense of property .
And we should be very clear about that .
”

A Wisconsin lawmaker has accused armed vigilantes in Kenosha of organizing a “hunting spree” against protesters with little interference from local police.
“I literally witnessed firsthand a massive amount of organized white supremacists driving around in pickup trucks, targeting protesters,” Democratic state Rep. David Bowen of Milwaukee said in an interview Thursday on “Democracy Now.”
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“They were there not there to try to defend businesses,” added Bowen, who was at the protest Tuesday night when two demonstrators were fatally shot. “They were there to hurt people. They were armed, and they were using chemical irritants. They were harassing protesters.”
A possible vigilante recruit and Donald Trump supporter, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, has been charged with homicide in the shooting deaths of two demonstrators and the wounding of a volunteer medic Tuesday night. He traveled from his home in Illinois armed with a semiautomatic rifle, according to investigators. The shootings were captured on video.
The protesters were killed as they demonstrated against the Kenosha police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black father, on Sunday. Blake was shot seven times in the back by as he walked to his car, where his three young children were waiting for him.
The vigilante “Kenosha Guard” had been recruiting members on Facebook to join the “Armed Citizens to Protect Our Lives and Property” in Kenosha. The call to arms was picked up and distributed by the far-right conspiracy website Infowars.
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Bowen said Rittenhouse was seen “joking around” with police before the protesters were killed.
“You don’t walk around shooting people away from a property that you supposedly were there to defend,” Bowen said. “It’s very clear that they were on a hunting spree. This was not the defense of property. And we should be very clear about that.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-08-29--Trump's Sister Bashes Callous Ivanka Over Separated Migrant Children In New Recordings

New audio recordings reveal Donald Trump ’ s sister criticizing Ivanka Trump after the president ordered that migrant children be separated from their families at the border .
Maryanne Trump Barry also calls the president ’ s second son , Eric , “ the moron ” in the recording released to MSNBC by Mary L. Trump , the niece of Barry and President Trump .
Barry said she couldn ’ t fault comedian Samantha Bee for her stinging attack on the first daughter as “ oblivious ” — and worse — after Ivanka , who is also a White House @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in May 2018 of her hugging one of her kids while migrant families were suffering in detention facilities .
“ When that damn Ivanka puts this picture of the ‘ Madonna and Child ’ on Instagram when the big news of the day was how children are getting ripped away from their parents .
...
I ’ d never heard of Samantha Bee , but I couldn ’ t blame what she said , ” Barry said in the recording .
“ Eric ’ s become the moron , publicly , ” she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mini-Donald .
He ’ s besotted with her .
He always has been .
She ’ s always been his favorite.
” As for Donald , he was always preening , she recalled .
“ Anything he did , he says , ‘ Look what I ’ ve done !
Aren ’ t I wonderful ?
’ And he ’ s as tight as a duck ’ s ass —just like Dad was , really.
” Mary Trump told Joy Reid after the excerpts were played that “ tight as a duck ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is “ really cheap.
” Mary Trump , the daughter of the president ’ s late brother Fred Trump Jr. , released the first audio excerpts of interviews she conducted with her aunt to The Washington Post last week .
She said the interviews were for her new book , “ Too Much and Never Enough : How My Family Created the World ’ s Most Dangerous Man.
” Barry said of her brother Donald in those excerpts : “ All he wants to do is appeal to his base .
He has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And his base , I mean , my God , if you were a religious person , you want to help people — not do this .
”

New audio recordings reveal Donald Trump’s sister criticizing Ivanka Trump after the president ordered that migrant children be separated from their families at the border.
Maryanne Trump Barry also calls the president’s second son, Eric, “the moron” in the recording released to MSNBC by Mary L. Trump, the niece of Barry and President Trump.
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Barry said she couldn’t fault comedian Samantha Bee for her stinging attack on the first daughter as “oblivious” — and worse — after Ivanka, who is also a White House adviser, posted a photo on Instagram in May 2018 of her hugging one of her kids while migrant families were suffering in detention facilities.
“When that damn Ivanka puts this picture of the ‘Madonna and Child’ on Instagram when the big news of the day was how children are getting ripped away from their parents. ... I’d never heard of Samantha Bee, but I couldn’t blame what she said,” Barry said in the recording.
“Eric’s become the moron, publicly,” she added, while Ivanka is a “mini-Donald. He’s besotted with her. He always has been. She’s always been his favorite.”
As for Donald, he was always preening, she recalled. “Anything he did, he says, ‘Look what I’ve done! Aren’t I wonderful?’ And he’s as tight as a duck’s ass —just like Dad was, really.” Mary Trump told Joy Reid after the excerpts were played that “tight as a duck’s ass” meant that Donald Trump is “really cheap.”
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Mary Trump, the daughter of the president’s late brother Fred Trump Jr., released the first audio excerpts of interviews she conducted with her aunt to The Washington Post last week. She said the interviews were for her new book, “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.”
Barry said of her brother Donald in those excerpts: “All he wants to do is appeal to his base. He has no principles. None. None. And his base, I mean, my God, if you were a religious person, you want to help people — not do this.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-08-28--Actor Chadwick Boseman Dies At 43 After 4-Year Fight With Colon Cancer

Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP Actor Chadwick Boseman , who played Black icons Jackie Robinson and James Brown before finding fame as the regal Black Panther in the Marvel cinematic universe , has died of cancer .
“ A true fighter , Chadwick persevered through it all , and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much , ” his family said .
“ From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods , August Wilson ’ s Ma Rainey ’ s Black Bottom and several more - all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy .
It was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ King T ’ Challa to life in Black Panther.
” Born in South Carolina , Boseman graduated from Howard University and had small roles in television before his first star turn in 2013 .
His striking portrayal of the stoic baseball star Robinson opposite Harrison Ford in 2013′s “ 42 ” drew attention in Hollywood and made him a star .
His T ’ Challa character was first introduced to the blockbuster Marvel movies in 2016′s “ Captain America : Civil War , ” and his “ Wakanda Forever ” salute reverberated around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black Panther ” two years ago .
The film ’ s vision of Afrofuturism and the technologically advanced civilization of Wakanda resonated with audiences , some of whom wore African attire to showings and helped propel “ Black Panther ” to more than $ 1.3 billion in global box office .
It is the only Marvel Studios film to receive a best picture Oscar nomination .
The character was last seen standing silently dressed in a black suit at Tony Stark ’ s funeral in last year ’ s “ Avengers : Endgame.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ had been announced , and was one of the studio ’ s most anticipated upcoming films .
Even at the outset of his Hollywood career , Boseman was clear-eyed about — and even skeptical of — the industry in which he would become an international star .
“ You don ’ t have the same exact experience as a Black actor as you do as a white actor .
You don ’ t have the same opportunities .
That ’ s evident and true , ” he told AP while promoting “ 42.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ it is : How often do you see a movie about a black hero who has a love story ... he has a spirituality .
He has an intellect .
It ’ s weird to say it , but it doesn ’ t happen that often.
” In addition to Robinson and Brown , Boseman portrayed the future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in 2017′s “ Marshall.
” He humanized the larger-than-life historical figures with the same quiet dignity — interrupted by flashes of sparkling wit — that he would later bring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on his first producing job in last year ’ s action thriller “ 21 Bridges , ” in which he also starred , and was last seen on-screen in Spike Lee ’ s film “ Da 5 Bloods ” as the leader of a group of Black soldiers in the Vietnam War .
It took some time for Boseman ’ s moment to come .
He first got into theater , acting and writing plays as an undergrad at Howard .
Boseman had roles on TV shows like ABC Family ’ s “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Persons Unknown , ” but before “ 42 ” he had only acted in one film , 2008 ’ s football drama “ The Express.
” Boseman attracted notice , but missed out on big parts .
“ 2011 was a rough year , ” he said .
“ I was up for everything that was happening that year , really good roles .
I would get down to the end and then it would go to someone else.
” Asked about his own childhood heroes and icons , Boseman cited Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Martin Luther King Jr. , Bob Marley , Public Enemy , A Tribe Called Quest and Prince .
Deeply private and often guarded in his public appearances and interviews , he made clear that he understood the significance of his work and its impact on the broader culture .
“ We know what it ’ s like to be told there isn ’ t a screen for you to be featured on , a stage for you to be featured on .
... We know what ’ s like to be beneath @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what we went to work with every day , ” said Boseman .
“ We knew that we could create a world that exemplified a world we wanted to see .
We knew that we had something to give .
”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-08-29--Leonard Cohen's Estate Slams GOP For Using 'Hallelujah' At RNC

LOS ANGELES , Aug 28 ( Reuters ) - The estate of Leonard Cohen said on Friday it was considering legal action over the use of the Canadian singer ’ s “ Hallelujah ” at the Republican National Convention ( RNC ) , calling it a brazen attempt to politicize the song .
A recording of “ Hallelujah ” by Tori Kelly was played during a fireworks display on Thursday night that followed President Donald Trump ’ s acceptance speech for the Republican nomination .
A second , more operatic version , was performed on camera by American tenor Christopher @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a statement that it was “ surprised and dismayed ” the song had been used , saying it had specifically denied the RNC ’ s request to do so .
In this Thursday , Sept 18 , 2014 , file photo , Leonard Cohen attends a listening party for his new album `` Popular Problems '' in New York .
It said it was exploring legal options and called the RNC ’ s decision a “ rather brazen attempt to politicize and exploit in such an egregious manner ‘ Hallelujah ’ , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Cohen song catalog.
” “ Had the RNC requested another song , ‘ You Want it Darker ’ , for which Leonard won a posthumous Grammy in 2017 , we might have considered approval of that song , ” the statement added .
Cohen died in 2016 at age 82 after a late career revival.
“ Hallelujah , ” first released in 1984 , has become his most-performed song .
The use of the song dismayed Cohen fans on social media and followed a pattern of unauthorized pop songs at Trump events @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Neil Young , Tom Petty , Rihanna , Elton John , Adele , and Queen are among dozens of musicians who have issued cease and desist letters or spoken out against their music being used at Trump rallies .

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LOS ANGELES, Aug 28 (Reuters) - The estate of Leonard Cohen said on Friday it was considering legal action over the use of the Canadian singer’s “Hallelujah” at the Republican National Convention (RNC), calling it a brazen attempt to politicize the song.
A recording of “Hallelujah” by Tori Kelly was played during a fireworks display on Thursday night that followed President Donald Trump’s acceptance speech for the Republican nomination.
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A second, more operatic version, was performed on camera by American tenor Christopher Macchio.
Cohen’s estate said in a statement that it was “surprised and dismayed” the song had been used, saying it had specifically denied the RNC’s request to do so.
In this Thursday, Sept 18, 2014, file photo, Leonard Cohen attends a listening party for his new album "Popular Problems" in New York. Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
It said it was exploring legal options and called the RNC’s decision a “rather brazen attempt to politicize and exploit in such an egregious manner ‘Hallelujah’, one of the most important songs in the Cohen song catalog.”
“Had the RNC requested another song, ‘You Want it Darker’, for which Leonard won a posthumous Grammy in 2017, we might have considered approval of that song,” the statement added.
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Cohen died in 2016 at age 82 after a late career revival.“Hallelujah,” first released in 1984, has become his most-performed song.
The use of the song dismayed Cohen fans on social media and followed a pattern of unauthorized pop songs at Trump events and rallies.
The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Rihanna, Elton John, Adele, and Queen are among dozens of musicians who have issued cease and desist letters or spoken out against their music being used at Trump rallies.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-08-29--Trump's Intel Chief Ends Election Security Briefings To Congress

WASHINGTON ( AP ) — The nation ’ s top intelligence official has informed Congress that his office will no longer give in-person election security briefings on Capitol Hill , a move that raised concern among lawmakers Saturday about the public ’ s right to know about foreign interference in the upcoming presidential election .
“ They leaked the information ... and what ’ s even worse , they leaked the wrong information and we got tired of it , ” Trump told reporters while attending a briefing on Hurricane Laura in Orange , Texas .
He didn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sen. Angus King , I-Maine , said the idea that the national intelligence director ’ s office would stop briefing Congress on foreign threats to the U.S. election is “ an outrage ” and that written updates were “ flatly insufficient.
” “ America ’ s election — indeed , our foundation of democracy itself — is under threat as we face weaponized disinformation from global foes around the planet , ” King , a member of the Senate ’ s intelligence committee , said in a lengthy statement .
“ To stifle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of this fact can not be explained — or allowed.
” Ratcliffe , who oversees the nation ’ s intelligence agencies , sent formal notification letters Saturday to the Senate and House leadership and the chairmen and ranking members of both chambers ’ intelligence committees .
In the letter , Ratcliffe wrote : “ I believe this approach helps ensure , to the maximum extent possible , that the information ODNI provides the Congress in support of your oversight responsibilities on elections security , foreign malign influence , and election interference is not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of staff Mark Meadows , who was with Trump in Texas , said lawmakers will still be sent full written readouts .
Meadows said Ratcliffe is going to make sure there are “ proper tools for their oversight.
” Earlier this month , the nation ’ s counterintelligence chief , William Evanina , issued a statement saying U.S. intelligence officials believe Russia is using various methods to denigrate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and that people linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin are boosting Trump ’ s reelection bid .
U.S. officials also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ win a second term and has accelerated its criticism of the White House , Evanina wrote .
“ This intelligence belongs to the American people , not the agencies which are its custodian , ” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Adam Schiff , the Democrat who chairs the House ’ s intelligence committee , said in a joint statement .
“ The American people have both the right and the need to know that another nation , Russia , is trying to help decide who their president should be.
” Pelosi and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the public ’ s right to know how foreign powers are trying to subvert our democracy.
” An official with the House intelligence committee said the decision was unexpected because Ratcliffe ’ s office earlier had reached out to schedule an in-person briefing to the committee on Sept. 17 .
A room on Capitol Hill had already been reserved , according to the official , who did not have permission to speak about the issue publicly and requested anonymity .

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s top intelligence official has informed Congress that his office will no longer give in-person election security briefings on Capitol Hill, a move that raised concern among lawmakers Saturday about the public’s right to know about foreign interference in the upcoming presidential election.
President Donald Trump said National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe made the decision because the administration “got tired” of intelligence about election security leaking from Congress.
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“They leaked the information ... and what’s even worse, they leaked the wrong information and we got tired of it,” Trump told reporters while attending a briefing on Hurricane Laura in Orange, Texas. He didn’t offer details to support his statement.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said the idea that the national intelligence director’s office would stop briefing Congress on foreign threats to the U.S. election is “an outrage” and that written updates were “flatly insufficient.”
“America’s election — indeed, our foundation of democracy itself — is under threat as we face weaponized disinformation from global foes around the planet,” King, a member of the Senate’s intelligence committee, said in a lengthy statement. “To stifle and limit the American peoples’ awareness of this fact cannot be explained — or allowed.”
Ratcliffe, who oversees the nation’s intelligence agencies, sent formal notification letters Saturday to the Senate and House leadership and the chairmen and ranking members of both chambers’ intelligence committees.
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In the letter, Ratcliffe wrote: “I believe this approach helps ensure, to the maximum extent possible, that the information ODNI provides the Congress in support of your oversight responsibilities on elections security, foreign malign influence, and election interference is not misunderstood nor politicized.”
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who was with Trump in Texas, said lawmakers will still be sent full written readouts. Meadows said Ratcliffe is going to make sure there are “proper tools for their oversight.”
Earlier this month, the nation’s counterintelligence chief, William Evanina, issued a statement saying U.S. intelligence officials believe Russia is using various methods to denigrate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and that people linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin are boosting Trump’s reelection bid. U.S. officials also believe China does not want Trump to win a second term and has accelerated its criticism of the White House, Evanina wrote.
On Saturday, Democratic lawmakers criticized Ratcliffe’s decision.
“This intelligence belongs to the American people, not the agencies which are its custodian,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Adam Schiff, the Democrat who chairs the House’s intelligence committee, said in a joint statement. “The American people have both the right and the need to know that another nation, Russia, is trying to help decide who their president should be.”
Pelosi and Schiff called the decision a “betrayal of the public’s right to know how foreign powers are trying to subvert our democracy.”
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-08-29--Top Democrat Richard Neal Disavows Super PAC Ad Blasting His Opponent

Getty Images Holyoke , Massachusetts , Mayor Alex Morse 's challenge against House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal , right , has prompted millions of dollars in campaign spending .
The 30-second TV ad , funded by American Working Families , a super PAC funded by labor unions and health care industry groups spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to reelect Neal , begins by hitting Morse for a number of alleged failures that Neal himself has brought up .
Neal , 71 , has , among other things , faulted Morse for the state ’ s takeover of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and a police brutality incident in which city cops beat a 12-year-old boy nearly unconscious .
The ad closes , though , by invoking a scandal that broke in early August that , it subsequently became clear , was at least partly the work of a college student plotting to ingratiate himself with Neal by accusing Morse of abusing his power to have sexual relationships with male college students .
Although there was never a specific allegation of misconduct beyond Morse making some students feel uncomfortable , he has apologized for any hurt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to have consenting relationships with adults .
Morse has also said that in keeping with university policy , he never had relations with any of the students he taught .
“ Our campaign has been consistent : There is no place for homophobia in our society , and Richie condemns it , ” Neal campaign manager Peter Panos said in a statement to HuffPost .
“ Voters will make a choice in this race based on both candidates ’ records and issues that actually affect the district .
The outside group should take @ @ @ @ @ @ @ network TV stations in the Springfield-Holyoke media market take down the ad immediately , viewer data obtained by HuffPost showed that it already reached more than 30,000 viewers .
It has aired 10 times as of Saturday afternoon .
“ Richie Neal is the top recipient of corporate money in Congress for a reason — he protects the profits of big corporations , ” the campaign said in a statement .
“ Now Neal ’ s friends are repaying him by spending millions in desperate , last-minute homophobic attack ads against Alex Morse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tuesday .
This is exactly the type of ugly , old-school politics Alex is running to change.
” Morse came under fire on Aug. 7 when The Daily Collegian , the student newspaper of the University of Massachusetts , published a leaked letter from the College Democrats of Massachusetts informing Morse that he was no longer welcome at the group ’ s meetings because he had used “ his position of power for romantic or sexual gain ” with college students .
The letter stated that Morse , who had taught a course @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with college students as young as 18 on the dating apps Tinder and Grindr and that he had “ sexual contact ” with students at the UMass Amherst and other colleges near Holyoke .
Five days after the Daily Collegian article upended the race , The Intercept reported that at least two students active in the UMass Amherst College Democrats chapter sought to ensnare Morse by flirting with him on Instagram .
One of the conspirators explicitly said that he was interested in currying favor with Neal so he could advance professionally .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Massachusetts Democratic Party , which is officially neutral in competitive primaries , referred Democratic power broker and former Neal donor Jim Roosevelt to the student group as an attorney to counsel them on how to handle confronting Morse .
Roosevelt reportedly advised them to publicize the letter , against the students ’ instincts , according to sources close to the College Democrats ; Roosevelt insists that he advised that it be kept private .
Even before The Intercept exposed the claims against Morse as at least partly politically motivated , Morse argued that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ soon before the Sept. 1 primary suggested it was designed to affect the race .
Neal denied any involvement in the letter or the Daily Collegian article covering from the very beginning .
But prior to The Intercept story , his campaign sounded more encouraging of the students who were trying to speak out against Morse .

Holyoke, Massachusetts, Mayor Alex Morse's challenge against House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, right, has prompted millions of dollars in campaign spending. Getty Images
The campaign of Rep. Richard Neal, a Massachusetts Democrat fighting a spirited progressive challenge from Holyoke, Massachusetts, Mayor Alex Morse, called for a pro-Neal group to take down an advertisement using a politically motivated smear to attack Morse.
The 30-second TV ad, funded by American Working Families, a super PAC funded by labor unions and health care industry groups spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to reelect Neal, begins by hitting Morse for a number of alleged failures that Neal himself has brought up. Neal, 71, has, among other things, faulted Morse for the state’s takeover of Holyoke’s schools under his watch and a police brutality incident in which city cops beat a 12-year-old boy nearly unconscious.
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The ad closes, though, by invoking a scandal that broke in early August that, it subsequently became clear, was at least partly the work of a college student plotting to ingratiate himself with Neal by accusing Morse of abusing his power to have sexual relationships with male college students.
“Now Alex Morse admits to sexual relationships with college students ― even while he was a university lecturer,” the ad says. “Alex Morse, terrible judgment, we don’t need in Congress.”
This is the ad they sent to stations with the concluding sentences: “Now Alex Morse admits to sexual relationships with college students -- even while he was a university lecturer. Alex Morse, terrible judgment, we don’t need in Congress.” https://t.co/GcTSzmXBzV pic.twitter.com/6KyGT8p2Xw — Daniel Marans (@danielmarans) August 29, 2020
Although there was never a specific allegation of misconduct beyond Morse making some students feel uncomfortable, he has apologized for any hurt he caused while also defending his right to have consenting relationships with adults. Morse has also said that in keeping with university policy, he never had relations with any of the students he taught.
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Neal has repeatedly said that he had nothing to do with the effort to smear Morse, which LGBTQ community advocates believe exploited homophobic tropes about gay men. (Morse, 31, is Holyoke’s first-ever openly gay mayor.)
“Our campaign has been consistent: There is no place for homophobia in our society, and Richie condemns it,” Neal campaign manager Peter Panos said in a statement to HuffPost. “Voters will make a choice in this race based on both candidates’ records and issues that actually affect the district. The outside group should take this ad down.”
The super PAC preemptively announced that it would be withdrawing the ad before HuffPost published the Neal campaign’s statement. American Working Families said it “accidentally” sent an uncorrected version of the ad to TV stations.
Today an ad from our organization began airing that we never intended to air. It was accidentally sent to stations instead of a corrected version. We regret the error and have asked all station to immediately stop airing the ad. #ma01 — American Working Families (@AmWorkFamilies) August 29, 2020
Neal’s campaign followed up with HuffPost with a statement approving of the super PAC’s comments.
“This ad should not have been aired, and we are glad it’s been taken down,” Panos said.
Even if the network TV stations in the Springfield-Holyoke media market take down the ad immediately, viewer data obtained by HuffPost showed that it already reached more than 30,000 viewers. It has aired 10 times as of Saturday afternoon.
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A representative from the CBS affiliate, WSHM-LD, told HuffPost he did not know if the ad had been removed.
HuffPost reached out to sales departments for local affiliates of NBC and The CW and was awaiting a response.
The Morse campaign reacted by linking the ad to Neal’s ties to corporate special interests such as those contributing to American Working Families.
“Richie Neal is the top recipient of corporate money in Congress for a reason — he protects the profits of big corporations,” the campaign said in a statement. “Now Neal’s friends are repaying him by spending millions in desperate, last-minute homophobic attack ads against Alex Morse because they know Alex can win on Tuesday. This is exactly the type of ugly, old-school politics Alex is running to change.”
The LGBTQ Victory Fund, which backs Morse, tweeted that the ad’s creation in itself was cause for outrage.
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’It aims to perpetuate a false and homophobia-laced narrative against a gay candidate just days before the election,” the group said. “The way to prevent these ugly campaign tactics is to ensure they backfire. Lets get [Alex Morse] elected on [Tuesday].”
Waleed Shahid, a spokesman for Justice Democrats, a left-wing group backing Morse, expressed skepticism of the super PAC’s claim that the ad wasn’t deliberately crafted to harm Morse,
“There is little about these desperate, last-minute smears against Alex Morse that seem like an ‘accident’ at this point,” he said.
A number of poll watchers suspected that broadcasting the ad was no accident because of its timing on the weekend. TV stations typically program their weekend advertisements in advance and use a skeleton staff on the weekend that is less capable of pulling an ad from the air.
“It’s next to impossible to take a spot down ― even if it’s your own spot ― over the weekend,” said Mike Mikus, a veteran Democratic campaign consultant. “It is possible they sent the wrong version, but I’ve never seen that happen.”
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In response to accusations that American Working Families deliberately sent the video referencing Morse’s relations with college students to TV stations and criticism of the video itself as a homophobic, the pro-Neal super PAC provided HuffPost with a statement firmly denying that its actions were intentional.
But the group also pushed back on the idea that the video is homophobic in any way, arguing instead that it had decided against airing the ad on television because it predicted that the criticism it would elicit would “create a distraction caused by people distorting it to suit their own agenda and narrative.”
American Working Families added that the ad was “factually correct,” drawing as it did on Morse’s own admission of consensual relationships with college students and his apology for what Morse called “unacceptable behavior.”
Mikus, the Democratic consultant, told HuffPost that the super PAC’s actions would be less suspicious if it could provide immediate evidence of a video that did not include the segment it said it had sent to TV stations by accident.
A version of American Working Families’ 30-second video that does not mention Morse’s relationships with college students has in fact been on YouTube since Monday.
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Morse came under fire on Aug. 7 when The Daily Collegian, the student newspaper of the University of Massachusetts, published a leaked letter from the College Democrats of Massachusetts informing Morse that he was no longer welcome at the group’s meetings because he had used “his position of power for romantic or sexual gain” with college students.
The letter stated that Morse, who had taught a course at UMass Amherst since 2015, matched with college students as young as 18 on the dating apps Tinder and Grindr and that he had “sexual contact” with students at the UMass Amherst and other colleges near Holyoke.
It also said that Morse “us[ed] College Democrats events to meet college students and add them on Instagram” and that he messaged them in a way that made students “feel uncomfortable.”
Five days after the Daily Collegian article upended the race, The Intercept reported that at least two students active in the UMass Amherst College Democrats chapter sought to ensnare Morse by flirting with him on Instagram. One of the conspirators explicitly said that he was interested in currying favor with Neal so he could advance professionally.
A second Intercept report revealed that the Massachusetts Democratic Party, which is officially neutral in competitive primaries, referred Democratic power broker and former Neal donor Jim Roosevelt to the student group as an attorney to counsel them on how to handle confronting Morse. Roosevelt reportedly advised them to publicize the letter, against the students’ instincts, according to sources close to the College Democrats; Roosevelt insists that he advised that it be kept private.
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Even before The Intercept exposed the claims against Morse as at least partly politically motivated, Morse argued that the timing of the leaked letter so soon before the Sept. 1 primary suggested it was designed to affect the race.
Neal denied any involvement in the letter or the Daily Collegian article covering from the very beginning. But prior to The Intercept story, his campaign sounded more encouraging of the students who were trying to speak out against Morse.
“The College Democrats independently came forward, and our campaign commends these courageous students,” Neal spokesperson Kate Norton said.
By the time Neal met Morse for a televised debate on Aug. 17, 10 days after the Daily Collegian story, Neal said he was content to let a UMass Amherst investigation of Morse’s conduct proceed without any additional comment from his campaign.
“Clearly, unequivocally, no room for homophobia ― and my campaign was not part of this action,” he added.
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Unlike the candidate himself though, American Working Families, the pro-Neal super PAC, still considers Morse’s dating life fair game. Notwithstanding its claim that discussing the matter would create a “distraction,” other parts of the group’s statement on Sunday suggested it wants to revive the mid-August scandal as a topic of interest in the waning days of the campaign.
“We challenge Alex Morse to explain how having relationships with college students while working as a university instructor is good judgment, even when the students are not in his classroom,” the group said.
Democrats of all ideological stripes have been watching the Neal-Morse race closely. Since Neal, a 32-year incumbent, chairs the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, unseating him would be the biggest prize yet for an ascendant activist left that has ousted three incumbent House Democrats so far this cycle.
A poll commissioned by the news site Jewish Insider found Neal leading Morse 49% to 40%, with 12% of voters “not sure” for whom they plan to vote.