Mueller fallout: Highest-ranking House Democrat to date calls for Trump impeachment

Rep. Katherine Clark, vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus, backed beginning the process to remove the president from office.

By Alex Moe
WASHINGTON — Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., became the highest-ranking House Democrat to call for opening an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

"I deeply respect the committee work of House Democrats to hold the president accountable, including hearings, subpoenas and lawsuits. All of our efforts to put the facts before the American people, however, have been met with unprecedented stonewalling and obstruction," the sixth-ranking House Democrat said in a statement Thursday evening, adding, "That is why I believe we need to open an impeachment inquiry that will provide us a more formal way to fully uncover the facts."

Clark made her announcement the day after the former special counsel Robert Mueller testified before two House committees about his investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election, possible coordination with the Trump campaign and subsequent efforts by the president to obstruct the probe.


"Since the release of the Mueller report in April, it has been clear that the president committed impeachable offenses by welcoming interference from a hostile foreign power in the 2016 election and then attempting to obstruct the investigation into his unpatriotic actions," Clark said. "Moreover, he said he would do it all again if given the chance."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1034826

Colonial Uprising

The protests that brought down Puerto Rico’s governor are also about the island’s troubled relationship with the mainland.
By JONATHAN M. KATZ

The tidal waves of scandal and public outrage had grown too big to be put off any further. On Wednesday, facing a crowd of clamoring reporters at the Capitol, the speaker of the House made the executive’s options plain: resign or be impeached.

It could have happened in Washington, at nearly the same hour. But it didn’t. Instead, the moment of truth came at the periphery of empire in the territorial capital of San Juan. While the political press was focused on downplaying Robert Mueller’s recounting of his damning report before Congress, Puerto Ricans showed how a leader—dogged by mounting allegations of corruption, illegal campaign activity, and dereliction of office—gets held to account.

Just before midnight, a few hours after the speaker of the Puerto Rican House of Representatives made his threat, Gov. Ricardo Rosselló announced his intention to resign—the island’s first chief executive to do so since the United States began allowing it to elect its own governors in 1947. Toppling him took the diligent work of defiant journalists and public officials willing to do their duty. But above all, it took the tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans massing in the streets and grinding business to a halt to force the hand of those in power.

When he announced his departure, the crowds, who had waited all day to hear his decision, burst into celebration.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/07/puerto-rico-ricardo-rossello-trump.html

Bernie Sanders Is Right: 3 Billionaires Really Do Have More Wealth Than Half of America

And in addition to the 3 billionaires Bernie mentioned, we should also be worried about the expanding fortunes of multi-generational wealth dynasties

byChuck Collins

The wealthiest 3 billionaires in the U.S. – Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett — now have as much wealth as the bottom half of the U.S. population combined.

Those were the first words spoken at last week’s 2020 Democratic Debate, citing a wealth inequality study by the Institute for Policy Studies.

In fact, Sen. Bernie Sanders mentioned the study, Billionaire Bonanza, several times during the debate.

(graph at link)

Fact checkers at The New York Times, the Washington Post and CNN verified Sen. Sanders’ claims.

These extreme levels of wealth inequality are possible, in part, because the bottom fifth of U.S. households are underwater, with zero or negative net worth. And the next fifth has so few assets to fall back on that they live in fear of destitution.

“We’re developing into a plutocracy,” said former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/01/bernie-sanders-right-3-billionaires-really-do-have-more-wealth-half-america#

@a_leesha1 on how racism is being normalised and legitimised from the top down

11 Phoenix Cops in Facebook Database Accused of Killing or Gravely Injuring People

In August 2017, Phoenix police Sergeant Sean Coutts changed his Facebook profile picture to a screenshot of a news story about an anti-Trump protester who police had shot in the genitals with a rubber bullet.

Six years earlier, the family of Tony Arambula settled a lawsuit against Coutts and the city of Phoenix for $1.75 million after one of Coutts' officers shot Arambula in the back six times and Coutts tried to cover it up, according to the lawsuit.

Arambula had called the police for help after an intruder broke into youngest son's bedroom. Arambula was still on the phone with 911 when one Phoenix cop stormed in and shot him six times. That officer can be heard confessing to his mistake on the 911 recording — and Coutts can be heard telling him, "Don't worry about it. I got your back. We clear?" (The officer later told internal affairs Arambula had pointed a gun at him, which was not true.)

Coutts is one of 11 Phoenix police officers whose Facebook posts were included in a database of offensive posts who is also alleged to have been directly involved in either the death or serious injury of people they were called to detain or assist. The database was created by the Plain View Project in an effort to catalog bigotry and racism among police officers nationwide.

https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/11-cops-in-facebook-database-have-killed-or-injured-people-11307904

A continuation of an earlier story
Phoenix Cops Bash Muslims, Call Black People Thugs in Shocking Facebook Posts
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212160128

New Report Suggests 'High Likelihood of Human Civilization Coming to an End' in 2050

The climate change analysis was written by a former fossil fuel executive and backed by the former chief of Australia's military.

A harrowing scenario analysis of how human civilization might collapse in coming decades due to climate change has been endorsed by a former Australian defense chief and senior royal navy commander.

The analysis, published by the Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration, a think-tank in Melbourne, Australia, describes climate change as “a near- to mid-term existential threat to human civilization” and sets out a plausible scenario of where business-as-usual could lead over the next 30 years.

The paper argues that the potentially “extremely serious outcomes” of climate-related security threats are often far more probable than conventionally assumed, but almost impossible to quantify because they “fall outside the human experience of the last thousand years.”

On our current trajectory, the report warns, “planetary and human systems [are] reaching a ‘point of no return’ by mid-century, in which the prospect of a largely uninhabitable Earth leads to the breakdown of nations and the international order.”

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/597kpd/new-report-suggests-high-likelihood-of-human-civilization-coming-to-an-end-in-2050?sfns=mo

Phoenix Cops Bash Muslims, Call Black People Thugs in Shocking Facebook Posts

"CONGRATULATIONS GEORGE ZIMMERMAN!!! Thank you for cleaning up our community one thug at a time," wrote Phoenix police officer Joshua Ankert on July 14, 2013, the day after Zimmerman was acquitted of murder for shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

Salary data available on the city's open data portal shows Ankert made $72,425 for his work with the Phoenix Police Department last year.

Ankert's post is one of hundreds of shocking social media posts made by Phoenix police officers dug up by the Plain View Project, a database launched over the weekend and created by a team of Philadelphia attorneys in an effort to catalog bigotry and racism among police officers nationwide.

The database includes 282 posts from current and former Phoenix police officers. Taken together, the posts reveal a chilling culture of intolerance and prejudice among Phoenix police officers, who frequently referred to black people as "thugs," called for violence against protesters, denounced Muslims as rapists, and joked about refusing to help citizens who criticized the police.

https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/phoenix-cops-bash-muslims-immigrants-and-black-people-online-11306928

He had a D- rating in 2016 from the NRA

Im sure it is even worse now since he co sponsored quite a bit of gun control legislation since 2016.

NFL and players' union to study potential use of marijuana for pain management

The NFL and the NFL Players Association agreed for the first time to cooperate in studying the potential use of marijuana as a pain management tool for players, representing a possible shift in the league’s approach to an issue on which several players have been outspoken.

The exploration will take place as part of two new medical committees formed by the league and union that will provide recommendations on key medical issues. This also will include a review of teams’ policies and practices for the use of prescription medication by players.

In forming the committees, the NFL and NFLPA are addressing topics that were previously divisive for them. In recent years, some players have expressed frustration over the continued punishment of players who test positive for marijuana, even if it’s being used to help manage pain, at a time when more states are legalizing the drug.

“I think it’s a proud day for the NFL and the NFLPA to come together on these issues in a very public way,” Allen Sills, the league’s chief medical officer, said in a phone interview. “I think it demonstrates the spirit of cooperation we have around our health and safety issues. … Both of these committees are about providing the best health care we can to players.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/beta.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/05/20/nfl-players-union-study-potential-use-marijuana-pain-management/%3foutputType=amp

How extremists are reasserting themselves in mainstream GOP politics in Arizona

Russell Pearce stepped up to a podium in Gilbert, one of the more affluent and educated communities in Arizona.

He had bloodshed on his mind.

“We have stupid leaders, stupid politicians,” he told a crowd of Republicans. “And it’s time we start replacing those that refuse to stand up for the values that those have shed blood for. I’m grateful to be an American and I’m grateful to be a patriot. … I believe we owe it to our children and our grandchildren to preserve the freedoms we’ve enjoyed, that have been passed down to us by the shedding of blood. And it may take the shedding of blood to keep this republic, and I, for one, am willing to do whatever it takes.”

His remarks drew applause from Republicans in the crowd, many of whom sat in lawn chairs throughout the day to hear from a parade of conservative speakers who headlined the event.

There was a time not so long ago when Arizona’s Republican leaders would have spurned a grassroots gathering such as this “Patriotism over Socialism” rally, put on by the Tea Party Community.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2019/05/20/how-extremists-reasserting-themselves-into-mainstream-gop-politics-arizona-republican-party/3568202002/