Monday, December 12, 2016
Terrified by Trump: Activist groups stoke fears, raise funds on incoming administration
Veteran to anti-Trump protesters: Quit being crybabies |
Some are based on Trump’s mixed signals about illegal immigration, while others seem aimed at a more generalized sense of unease. One effort that launched this week, called “WhatDoIDoAboutTrump.com,” is depicted by its organizers as a non-partisan “website [that] turns Trump angst into action – online and off.”
“Not sure how to protect yourself if some of Trump’s campaign promises become reality?” the San Francisco-based site asks.
It provides links to websites of organizations, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, which advise people about what steps to take or what they may face if Donald Trump follows through on some of his promises. One link leads to “Welcome to the OH CRAP! WHAT NOW? SURVIVAL GUIDE,” which describes itself as “a crowdsourced collection of health, legal, and safety plans and resources + social, digital and economic security related resources urgent now as an outcome of the recent US election.
Hundreds of Rutgers University students march last month to protest some of President-elect Donald Trump's proposed policies.
(The Associated Press)
Corinna Kester, one of the founders, says the group, which includes a former national press secretary for the Democratic National Committee, is not pushing an agenda.
“If people are upset about the election, we encourage them to figure out how to get involved and work with that, from donating to petitions to protests.”
We can say, in one sense, it is intensifying divisions in America.Organizations and, in many cases, lawyers, are urging people and groups they deem at-risk under a Trump presidency to take action now to protect themselves. School administrators are assuring students concerned about immigration raids that they won’t be spirited away, some city officials are vowing to provide a sort-of buffer to any federal attempts to strip benefits or programs. On Monday, the Los Angeles Unified School District announced that it was setting up a hotline and "support sites" in response to the deep anxiety among students about Trump as president.
- Fred Siegel, senior fellow, Manhattan Institute
The Rev. Al Sharpton is organizing a rally of black activists and lawmakers in Washington D.C. days before Trump’s inauguration in mid-January to, as he told The Hill, “put the Democrats on notice to use the confirmation hearings to really go after” Trump’s nominees.
One of the most high-profile efforts aimed at creating preemptive buffers against Trump policies are so-called sanctuaries for immigrants who are here illegally.
Students at various colleges are pushing their campuses to be designated sanctuaries. Some cities are moving toward declaring themselves safe zones for such immigrants, saying they will not report them to immigration authorities if they come across them during the course of providing a service.
On Tuesday, the Santa Ana City Council voted to designate the municipality a sanctuary, a non-binding action that they may make enforceable through an ordinance, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Times noted that “the move is in direct defiance of President-elect Donald Trump, who was critical of illegal immigration and sanctuary cities during his campaign.”
“The day after Donald Trump got elected, our kids were falling apart emotionally,” the Times quoted Councilmember Sal Tinajero, who is a high school teacher, as saying. “They thought their parents would be deported.”
“The reason you’re seeing this push now is that us leaders ... want to tell them they are going to be protected. If they are going to come for them, they have to come through us first.”
Trump has denounced such efforts as divisive and the people who have protested his election as “crybabies.” His supporters, as well as some who voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton or third party candidates, say it behooves everyone to accept the results of the election and work to be united.
“This sounds like a large group therapy session,” said Fred Siegel, a historian who is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and professor at Saint Francis College. “There’s a way in which this is all good and right in democratic terms.”
Siegel said the trend to organize in advance of Trump assuming the presidency is intriguing, and more in line with the kind of actions taken against policies and governments that are seen in Europe, particularly France.
“We can say, in one sense, it is intensifying divisions in American society,” Siegel said to FoxNews.com, “What that represents is President Obama’s success in Europeanizing American politics.”
“In France, the argument has always been when something occurs in Parliament that is unacceptable to you, you take to the streets. These [actions] are occurring in advance of – not in response to – policy being initiated.”
Louis DeSipio, a political science professor at the University of California-Irvine, said that the patchwork efforts to organize against Trump and his expected policies reflect an already-divided nation.
“President-elect Trump set out broad principles, and wasn’t specific about some policies,” DeSipio said. “There will always be people who are unhappy about an election. In any election, you can see a complete reversal of fortunes. The challenge for any president in this situation is to build bridges to some of his former opponents.”
President George W. Bush did so in response to concerns – among those who did not support his election – over how he would handle education and Medicare prescription costs, DeSipio said.
“He worked with Democrats, with Sen. Ted Kennedy, on both of those issues,” he said.
DeSipio expressed misgivings about efforts underpinned by a refusal to accept Trump as president, a movement that has a hashtag -- #notmypresident.
“Philosophically, I don’t accept it,” DeSipio said. “He was accepted by rules in place before the election.”
The approach of some groups to try to influence policy and laws at the local level can be both healthier and more practical in many cases, he added.
“We may get some criticism from Trump supporters,” said Kester. “But we’re all getting involved in a democracy.”
The media call Trump a 'cyberbully,' even when he's punching back
The press has hurled just about every possible charge at Donald Trump. Now there’s a new accusation: cyberbully.
It’s true that Trump picks more public fights than just about anyone who’s ever ascended to the highest office in the land. It’s also true that when punched, he punches back harder.
So it was that the New York Times published a story with this headline: “Trump as Cyberbully-in-Chief? Twitter Attack on Union Boss Draws Fire.”
Now maybe it wasn’t the greatest idea for Trump to unsheathe his Twitter account against Chuck Jones, president of a steelworkers union in Indiana. Such digital assaults tend to generate plenty of online abuse and death threats aimed at the target, as they did in this case.
Therefore, the Times intoned, “Mr. Trump’s decision to single out Mr. Jones for ridicule has drawn condemnation from historians and White House veterans.”
But let’s be clear on the timeline here.
After Trump made the deal with Carrier to use tax breaks to save what he said were 1,100 jobs slated for Mexico, Jones charged that his numbers were overstated by several hundred.
What’s more, he told the Washington Post, Trump “lied his ass off.”
Jones, who voted for Hillary Clinton, said Trump and Mike Pence “pulled a dog and pony show on the numbers…I almost threw up in my mouth.”
Then Jones went on Erin Burnett’s CNN show and said some workers were being betrayed: “So, those folks probably had to think, okay, I'm keeping my job. Only to find out last Friday, well, no, there are 550 being laid off. Now, that never was mentioned by anybody. Trump, Pence or any of them never mentioned about 550 moving to Mexico.”
Minutes later, Trump tweeted this:
“Chuck Jones, who is President of United Steelworkers 1999, has done a terrible job representing workers. No wonder companies flee country!”
Whether that was a good idea or not, he hardly struck the first blow.
Jones now says he takes Trump’s comments with a grain of salt and stresses that he’s just an ordinary working guy.
The transition has produced a whole lot of journalistic tut-tutting about Trump going on offense: Against Boeing and its Air Force One contract. Against another Indiana company threatening to ship jobs to Mexico. Against the media, of course. Even against Alec Baldwin.
I get critics saying that he’s punching down. But every president brings his own style. Trump makes everything personal. He’s been doing that since his feud with Rosie O’Donnell.
Another president-elect might have ordered a review of the Boeing plane deal. Trump says “Cancel the order!” Whether the contract is eventually axed or just negotiated downward isn’t the point. By then he’ll be on to other controversies.
Wall Street Journal columnist Dan Henninger says he’s a performance artist. Kinda like Lady Gaga.
“Anti-Trumpers will say: Precisely. We can't have a performance artist as president of the United States. That's irrelevant now.
“In four years it may be possible to say that making a performance artist president was a mistake. But that will only be true if he fails. If the Trump method succeeds, even reasonably so, it will be important to understand his art from the start. So far, the media and the comedians are stuck in pre-Trump consciousness.”
I worry, in this age of online abuse, about the impact of Trump singling out people, especially if they’re not major public figures. His wife Melania has expressed concern about online bullying.
The Post has a story about an 18-year-old college student who asked Trump a skeptical question at a town hall a year ago, saying she didn’t think he was a “friend to women.” He tweeted that she was an “arrogant young woman” and a “plant” by Jeb Bush, and she now says she was flooded with threats, many of a sexual nature.
That was in the heat of a campaign. Trump is president-elect now, and his every syllable has even more impact.
I don’t have a problem with Trump taking on a big corporation or responding to sharp criticism from a union leader. I do think he ought to measure his words carefully, given the size of his megaphone.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET). He is the author of five books and is based in Washington. Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz.
It’s true that Trump picks more public fights than just about anyone who’s ever ascended to the highest office in the land. It’s also true that when punched, he punches back harder.
So it was that the New York Times published a story with this headline: “Trump as Cyberbully-in-Chief? Twitter Attack on Union Boss Draws Fire.”
Now maybe it wasn’t the greatest idea for Trump to unsheathe his Twitter account against Chuck Jones, president of a steelworkers union in Indiana. Such digital assaults tend to generate plenty of online abuse and death threats aimed at the target, as they did in this case.
Therefore, the Times intoned, “Mr. Trump’s decision to single out Mr. Jones for ridicule has drawn condemnation from historians and White House veterans.”
But let’s be clear on the timeline here.
After Trump made the deal with Carrier to use tax breaks to save what he said were 1,100 jobs slated for Mexico, Jones charged that his numbers were overstated by several hundred.
What’s more, he told the Washington Post, Trump “lied his ass off.”
Jones, who voted for Hillary Clinton, said Trump and Mike Pence “pulled a dog and pony show on the numbers…I almost threw up in my mouth.”
Then Jones went on Erin Burnett’s CNN show and said some workers were being betrayed: “So, those folks probably had to think, okay, I'm keeping my job. Only to find out last Friday, well, no, there are 550 being laid off. Now, that never was mentioned by anybody. Trump, Pence or any of them never mentioned about 550 moving to Mexico.”
Minutes later, Trump tweeted this:
“Chuck Jones, who is President of United Steelworkers 1999, has done a terrible job representing workers. No wonder companies flee country!”
Whether that was a good idea or not, he hardly struck the first blow.
Jones now says he takes Trump’s comments with a grain of salt and stresses that he’s just an ordinary working guy.
The transition has produced a whole lot of journalistic tut-tutting about Trump going on offense: Against Boeing and its Air Force One contract. Against another Indiana company threatening to ship jobs to Mexico. Against the media, of course. Even against Alec Baldwin.
I get critics saying that he’s punching down. But every president brings his own style. Trump makes everything personal. He’s been doing that since his feud with Rosie O’Donnell.
Another president-elect might have ordered a review of the Boeing plane deal. Trump says “Cancel the order!” Whether the contract is eventually axed or just negotiated downward isn’t the point. By then he’ll be on to other controversies.
Wall Street Journal columnist Dan Henninger says he’s a performance artist. Kinda like Lady Gaga.
“Anti-Trumpers will say: Precisely. We can't have a performance artist as president of the United States. That's irrelevant now.
“In four years it may be possible to say that making a performance artist president was a mistake. But that will only be true if he fails. If the Trump method succeeds, even reasonably so, it will be important to understand his art from the start. So far, the media and the comedians are stuck in pre-Trump consciousness.”
I worry, in this age of online abuse, about the impact of Trump singling out people, especially if they’re not major public figures. His wife Melania has expressed concern about online bullying.
The Post has a story about an 18-year-old college student who asked Trump a skeptical question at a town hall a year ago, saying she didn’t think he was a “friend to women.” He tweeted that she was an “arrogant young woman” and a “plant” by Jeb Bush, and she now says she was flooded with threats, many of a sexual nature.
That was in the heat of a campaign. Trump is president-elect now, and his every syllable has even more impact.
I don’t have a problem with Trump taking on a big corporation or responding to sharp criticism from a union leader. I do think he ought to measure his words carefully, given the size of his megaphone.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET). He is the author of five books and is based in Washington. Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz.
Trump vows no ‘wrecking ball’ to Obama legacy – but signals big changes
President-elect Donald Trump left the door open Sunday on how exactly he plans to overhaul the regulation-heavy agenda pursued by the Obama administration, suggesting he wouldn’t dismantle all that his predecessor has done – while making clear the government needs to be more business-friendly.
Asked in an exclusive interview with “Fox News Sunday” whether he’d take a “wrecking ball” to President Obama’s legacy, the construction magnate responded:
“No. I don't want to do that at all. I just want what's right.”
The answer may have surprised those watching Trump’s recent Cabinet selections, which have included: a prominent ObamaCare critic to lead the Health and Human Services Department; a foe of Obama’s overtime pay expansion to lead the Labor Department; and a state attorney general currently suing the Environmental Protection Agency to lead that very agency.
Trump, at the same time, has sent mixed signals about his plans, meeting in recent days with prominent climate change activists Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Asked on “Fox News Sunday” about the implications of those meetings as well as his Cabinet selections, Trump indicated his interest is in making the government more efficient and responsive to business.
TRUMP RIPS CLAIMS OF RUSSIA INTERFERENCE IN 2016 RACE
At the EPA, he said, “You can't get things approved. I mean, people are waiting in line for 15 years before they get rejected, okay? That's why people don't want to invest in this country.”
Trump said: “So we're going to clean it up. We're going to speed it up and, by the way, if somebody is not doing the right thing we're not going to approve. … We can't let all of these permits that take forever to get stop our jobs.”
Trump steered clear of committing to specific actions regarding projects that have pitted environmental interests against the energy industry, while suggesting economic considerations are paramount to him.
On the long-disputed Keystone pipeline that was halted by the Obama administration, Trump said “you’re going to have a decision fairly quickly.”
Asked about the Dakota Access Pipeline, which the Army Corps of Engineers wants to re-route following protests, Trump said he did not want to answer right now.
“But I will tell you, when I get to office, if it's not solved, I'll have it solved very quickly,” Trump said, before adding: “Something will happen. It'll be quick. I think it's very unfair. So, it’ll start, one way or the other.”
Trump, meanwhile, said he is still studying the Paris climate agreement – a pact, backed by the U.S. and dozens of other nations, committing countries to curb the global rise in temperatures – but, “I don't want that agreement to put us at a competitive disadvantage with other countries.”
When asked where he stood on the environment and climate change, Trump would not be pinned down. “I'm very open-minded. I'm still open-minded. Nobody really knows,” Trump said. “Look, I'm somebody that gets it and nobody really knows. It's not something that's so hard and fast. I do know this: other countries are eating our lunch.”
Taken together, Trump’s comments, meetings and appointments speak to an incoming president still weighing his options on how drastically he wants to reverse or halt the Obama regulatory agenda.
In an indication that the incoming administration may be preparing for big changes with regard to energy sector programs and rules, his transition team reportedly has sent around a questionnaire asking the Energy Department for a list of appointees and senior executives – and details on who has spearheaded the agency’s clean energy initiatives.
One unnamed department official described the questionnaire as a hit list, according to an Associated Press report. The memo sparked alarm among some Democrats, as did Trump’s decision last week to name Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the EPA.
Pruitt has been involved in lawsuits against the Obama EPA, including over the controversial Clean Power Plan and waterway regulations. He also has suggested the debate over global warming – and the impact of human activity on global temperatures – is unsettled.
Former Democratic presidential candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders suggested Sunday that the Pruitt pick suggests the meetings with Gore and others are not informing policy decisions.
“I’m glad they reached out to Gore, but apparently they are not hearing what Gore has to say,” he told CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” Sanders said it’s troubling Trump would appoint a climate change “denier” to lead the EPA.
Trump’s first order of Obama legacy business may be the Affordable Care Act, with congressional Republicans eager to send a repeal bill to his desk next year. Trump has said he plans to nominate Georgia Rep. Tom Price to lead HHS, which would put an outspoken ObamaCare critic at the helm of the agency that implemented the law.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that the Obama administration “pushed investment out” with its raft of rules and predicted a shift toward what he called “common-sense regulation,” including with health care.
“Our No. 1 focus is jobs [in the House],” he said. “[ObamaCare] is going to collapse on itself. We have to look at health care in a new form and have a new health care system.”
China official says Trump's Taiwan comments cause 'serious concern'
A China official said Monday that there is “serious concern” about President-elect Donald Trump’s latest comments suggesting he’s reconsidering a relationship with Taiwan.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in a television interview that Trump’s comments over the weekend raised the possibility that U.S.-China relations would be “badly affected.” Geng added that the “one China” policy was the “political foundation” of any Sino-American ties.
“We urge the new U.S. leader and government to fully understand the seriousness of the Taiwan issue, and to continue to stick to the one-China policy," Geng said.
China’s response to Trump’s call with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and critical tweets has mostly been muted. Foreign Minister Wang Yi blamed the call on a Taiwanese "trick," and the ministry has repeatedly reaffirmed that Taiwan is part of China without directly criticizing the president-elect.
Geng’s comments were the strongest public condemnation of Trump’s criticisms since his Dec. 2 remarks.
Trump, though, seemed to have backed off of reports that his call with Tsai was planned well in advance by advisers positioning him to confront China over the island. He said he heard about the call “probably an hour or two before.”
"Why should some other nation be able to say I can't take a call?" he said. "I think it actually would've been very disrespectful, to be honest with you, not taking it."
Trump’s call with Taiwan was the first time an American president or president-elect has publicly spoken to a Taiwanese leader in nearly four decades. China considers the self-governing island to be its territory and any reference to a separate Taiwanese head of state to be a grave insult.
Chinese media went on the attack Sunday after Trump’s latest comments on the U.S. “one-China” policy, calling the president-elect “as ignorant as a child.” The Global Times published a Chinese-language editorial headlined: "Trump, please listen clearly: 'One China' cannot be traded."
"China needs to launch a resolute struggle with him," the editorial said. "Only after he's hit some obstacles and truly understands that China and the rest of the world are not to be bullied will he gain some perception."
"Many people might be surprised at how the new U.S. leader is truly a 'businessman' through-and-through," the paper said, referring to Trump's suggestion of using the "one China" policy as a bargaining chip. "But in the field of diplomacy, he is as ignorant as a child."
The Global Times, which is published by the Communist Party's mouthpiece, the People's Daily, often runs commentaries that target nationalistic sentiment with provocative language.
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Trump campaign manager Conway grand marshal of Christmas parade in New Jersey
President-elect Donald Trump's campaign manager returns to her home state of New Jersey to lead a Christmas parade on Saturday.
Kellyanne Conway was grand marshal of the parade in Hammonton. She also received a key to the city.
Conway asked the parade crowd to "pray for our outgoing president and vice president" and "our new president and vice president." She also asked people to "do something special this holiday season," suggesting the crowd write a thank you note to a soldier or buy a coat for someone in need.
Conway mostly steered clear of politics during her brief remarks.
Conway regularly appears in the media on behalf of Trump and has even been spoofed on "Saturday Night Live."
Louisiana votes to send Republican John Kennedy to U.S. Senate
BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana voters chose Saturday to send Republican state Treasurer John Kennedy to the U.S. Senate, filling the nation's last Senate seat and giving the GOP a 52-48 edge in the chamber when the new term begins in January.
Kennedy had always been the runoff election's front-runner in a state that overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump. He defeated Democrat Foster Campbell, a state utility regulator whose chances were seen as such a long-shot that national Democratic organizations offered little assistance to Campbell's campaign.
As he celebrated the victory, Kennedy said he represented change in Washington.
"I believe that our future can be better than our present, but not if we keep going in the direction the Washington insiders have taken us the last eight years," he said. "That's about to change, folks."
Voters also filled two open U.S. House seats Saturday, choosing Republican Clay Higgins, a former sheriff's captain known as the "Cajun John Wayne," in the 3rd District representing southwest and south central Louisiana and Republican state Rep. Mike Johnson in the 4th District covering northwest Louisiana.
Louisiana has an open primary system in which all candidates run against each other. In the contests for the open congressional seats, the November primary ballots were packed with contenders, so the top two vote-getters advanced to Saturday's runoff.
The Senate runoff drew national attention, with President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence each traveling to Louisiana to rally for Kennedy. The national GOP provided resources and staff to assist Kennedy's campaign, while national Democratic organizations largely abandoned Campbell, assuming an easy Republican win.
Though Campbell's chance appeared slim, donations had poured in from around the country, and several Hollywood celebrities championed his candidacy aiming to bolster resistance to the Trump presidency. Campbell said the support he received across the country was "phenomenal."
"We worked as hard as possible. We left no stone unturned," Campbell said in his concession speech. "I make no excuses. We did everything humanly possible."
The co-chair of the Republican National Committee, Sharon Day, described Kennedy's win as capping "a year of historic Republican wins up and down the ballot.
"With 52 seats in the U.S. Senate, we are excited for Republicans to confirm a conservative Supreme Court justice and begin working with President-elect Trump to pass an agenda of change for the American people," Day said in a statement.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat and ardent Campbell supporter, congratulated Kennedy and pledged to work with him to "deliver great things for the people of Louisiana."
The Senate seat was open because Republican David Vitter decided against running for a third term after losing the governor's race last year. Both men vying for the seat are well-known figures, involved in Louisiana politics for decades.
Kennedy, an Oxford-educated lawyer from south Louisiana, is in his fifth term as treasurer, a role in which he repeatedly drew headlines for his financial clashes with Louisiana's governors.
He sprinkled speeches with examples of government-financed contracts he considered outrageous, like money "to study the effects of Swedish massage on bunny rabbits." In the runoff, he ran a safe, TV-focused effort highlighting his support for Trump and his opposition to the federal health overhaul.
Campbell, a cattle farmer and former state senator from north Louisiana, is a populist who railed against "Big Oil," wanted to increase the minimum wage and talked openly about man-made climate change. He pledged that in Washington he wouldn't "be in anybody's shirt pocket."
He also ran as a Louisiana Democrat — strongly opposed to abortion and supportive of gun rights.
Kennedy hit Campbell for supporting Clinton. Campbell called Kennedy a flip-flopper during prior Senate bids, because the treasurer ran in 2004 as a liberal Democrat and the most recent two times as a conservative Republican.
In the 3rd District race, Higgins traded blistering attacks with his fellow Republican opponent, Scott Angelle, a member of the Public Service Commission and well-known public official for nearly 30 years.
Angelle had been the presumed front-runner. But Higgins — a local celebrity known for attention-grabbing Crime Stoppers videos he filmed when he was a sheriff's captain — capitalized on disenchantment with career politicians to defeat Angelle with only a fraction of his money and a bare-bones organization.
In the 4th District, Johnson defeated Democrat Marshall Jones in a competition that was less attack-laden.
Johnson focused on his work on conservative issues as a constitutional attorney and on his two years as a state lawmaker. Jones, also a lawyer, downplayed his party affiliation, running as an anti-abortion, gun-rights Democrat who could work with Trump.
The House seats were open because Republicans Charles Boustany and John Fleming unsuccessfully sought the Senate seat instead of re-election.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
-
Tit for Tat ? ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — A statue of abolitionist Frederick Douglass was ripped from its base in Rochester on the an...
-
NEW YORK (AP) — As New York City faced one of its darkest days with the death toll from the coronavirus surging past 4,000 — more th...