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loudlytransparenttrash · 4 years

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Yesterday marked the 8th anniversary of the death of Trayvon Martin. Oak Park and River Forest High School students walked out of class and marched down the street wearing ‘We are Trayvon’ hoodies before returning to the school where they blocked the main hall’s entrance, chanting they will not leave until their “racial equity” demands were met by the mayor, which included removing police officers from schools and to mark February 26 a day for black victims of police violence. “We don’t need more police or a new police station. We need more resources for the youth of color here. We demand resources go to us.”

Black activist groups and figures such as the The King Center, Black Lives Matter, The Breakfast Club, BET, Common, Kerry Washington, Al Sharpton, along with numerous politicians joined to remind everyone on Twitter that Trayvon Martin was murdered for being black. It blows my mind that even after eight years, nobody seems concerned with the actual facts or the law. It’s obvious how content they are to combine misinformation to reach their own ridiculous conclusion, which is then used to justify their own racism and hatred.

From the very beginning, it was obvious the media and activists were setting up a bad situation by portraying the incident as racially motivated, once that seed was planted, all reasoning was gone. George Zimmerman was already guilty no matter what the evidence showed. Trayvon was black, Zimmerman wasn’t, therefore it just had to be racism and anything that goes against that assertion is further proof of racism. I would bet anything that those high school students and every other race baiting activist using Trayvon’s death as a racial political play haven’t heard the facts that make up their entire misleading narratives. Here they are, make up your own minds.

The Hoodie Narrative

In trying to turn the case into a racial narrative, the initial burst of publicity and activism turned on Trayvon wearing a hoodie. The Hoodie has become the symbol of protests, based on the assertion that Zimmerman found Martin suspicious because he was wearing a hoodie. But transcripts of the 911 call shows Zimmerman mentions a hoodie only once, and only in response to a question by the operator as to what the person was wearing. The dispatcher asks, “Did you see what he was wearing?” which Zimmerman replies, “Yeah a grey hoodie, either jeans or sweatpants and white tennis shoes.” That’s it.

That didn’t stop Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm wearing a hoodie, the “Million Hoodie March,” Harvard law students wearing hoodies with a sign “Do we look suspicious?,” Congressman Bobby Rush appearing on the House floor in a hoodie, the Hoodie March in Washington, the Miami Heat in hoodies. The hoodie has come to symbolize alleged racial profiling by Zimmerman, yet the narrative is not based on any known facts connected to the shooting. While Martin was wearing a hoodie that night, there is only assumption that Martin was considered suspicious by Zimmerman for that reason.

Even if he was, that’s not racial profiling, unless only black people wear hoodies? There had been eight recent burglaries within the gated community and residents reported dozens more attempted break-ins. It was at night and Zimmerman told 911 that Trayvon was acting suspiciously walking around looking at all the houses. Considering a search of Trayvon’s backpack at his school showed it to contain a dozen pieces of women’s jewelry, including silver wedding rings and earrings with diamonds, as well as a screwdriver, why can’t we even consider the possibility that Trayvon was acting suspiciously and the Neighborhood Watch leader was just doing his job?

The Racial Narrative

The only narrative we ever hear from activists is Trayvon was followed and shot because he was black. That’s as far as their logic meter expands. It’s based on multiple falsehoods, most particularly the NBC News doctoring of police audio in which it falsely made it seem as though Zimmerman said he was following Trayvon because Trayvon was black. But that’s not what happened. Zimmerman only mentioned race when the police operator asked about race. The dispatcher asked “Is he white, black or Hispanic?” and Zimmerman replies, “He looks black.” This is the only mention of race.

There also was the claim that Zimmerman used the term “f**king coons” on the police tape. The activists have used the alleged racial epithet endlessly to paint this as a racially motivated hate crime. CNN had to backtrack after the audio was enhanced and experts gave their analysis after CNN originally stated that Zimmerman said “f**king coons.” In the official affidavit by State of Florida investigators, they concluded Zimmerman used the term “f**king punks” when referring to the recent break-ins by teenagers.

The biggest thing that nobody wants to talk about is the FBI investigation that found no history of racism in Zimmerman’s past. Zimmerman had earlier angrily spoken out against the beating of a black homeless man and started a local initiative to help him. Zimmerman and his wife had tutored black children, he was a registered Democrat and voted for Obama. To further push the ‘white supremacy’ narrative, Zimmerman is persistently portrayed as white, even though he’s listed as Hispanic in his voter registration and he’s very clearly Hispanic, have they even seen him? Yet, he is painted as a white supremacist who assassinated an innocent black male for no reason other than Trayvon was black, it’s this myth that's generating all the hate, violence and division.

Oh, and there was also widespread claims in the media that neo-Nazis were patrolling the neighborhood where the shooting took place, but of course Sanford Police ruled this story out immediately.

Zimmerman Disobeyed Police Instructions Narrative

They say George Zimmerman supposedly was told by the police dispatcher not to leave his car, but did so against police instructions. This allegation is used to claim that the entire confrontation was Zimmerman’s fault, and had he merely followed police instructions, nothing would have happened. Zimmerman was not in the car at the time of the comment “we don’t need you to do that.” The 911 transcript proves at no time was Zimmerman ever told to stay in his car. Trayvon had become aware that he was under observation and started circling Zimmerman’s car while Zimmerman was inside talking to the police. At about the two minute mark, Trayvon runs. When Zimmerman did exit the vehicle it was in direct response to the dispatcher asking him the direction of Trayvon’s travel.

When the dispatcher asked if Zimmerman was still following the direction that Trayvon ran, Zimmerman said yes, the dispatcher said, “we don’t need you to do that” and Zimmerman replied, “OK.” There is not a single piece of evidence, none, that Zimmerman continued to follow Trayvon after this point. In fact, in the audio, he continues calmly talking to the dispatcher, telling him his phone number and even saying, “I want to get out of here, I don’t know where this kid is,” all without any sign he was chasing after Trayvon. Trayvon had more than enough time to achieve the safety of his father’s girlfriend’s condo had he truly been fleeing from a frightening Zimmerman. Instead, it was found that Trayvon launched an attack on Zimmerman from behind as Zimmerman was waiting for the police to arrive.

Stand Your Ground Narrative

Despite constant outrage over Florida’s Stand Your Ground law being used in the trial, calling it a “license to kill,” it was never used by Zimmerman’s defense. It made sense for Zimmerman not to rely on SYG, because Stand Your Ground would only be relevant if Zimmerman had a route of exit, but the shooting took place while Zimmerman was on his back on the grass, his head having been pounded on the pavement and being beaten relentlessly by Trayvon. Witnesses say exactly the same thing. Trayvon was on top of Zimmerman, beating his head into the ground as Zimmerman was screaming for help. Activists claim that it was Trayvon calling for help, but it’s been long confirmed that it was indeed Zimmerman crying for help. Zimmerman had a broken nose, two black eyes and cuts to the back of his head where Trayvon slammed Zimmerman’s head repeatedly into the ground. Zimmerman’s back was also wet and covered in soil. Activists argue ‘but Trayvon was just a kid and Zimmerman was an adult,’ that’s why they only ever use photos of Trayvon as a kid, they don’t want you to know that Trayvon (6’2″) was much larger than Zimmerman (5’8″) and was in far better physical shape and condition.

Forensic analysis demonstrated that the trajectory of the single shot fired and burns on Trayvon’s sweatshirt were consistent with Zimmerman being on his back with Trayvon hovering over him at the time of the shot. Since Zimmerman was pinned to the ground, he didn’t need to invoke Stand Your Ground because there was no reasonable means of avoidance. While the jury instructions did contain language similar, the SYG statutory protection itself was never invoked.

Bottom Line - The Jury Got It Right

Every piece of material and evidence was considered in court including crime scene evidence, witness statements, cell phone data, reconstruction analysis, ballistics reports, medical and autopsy reports and depositions. The verdict came as no surprise to those actually following the evidence. It came as a shock to those who bought into the racially charged false narratives, evident by the eruption on social media, the mass rioting, the outbreak of violence and the eventual beginnings of Black Lives Matter who carried these fabrications and deceit into the Michael Brown case and have since continued to glorify and martyr criminals in their efforts to whip up hate against the police, whites and America. At least it takes the attention off the staggering rates of crime and black lives being murdered that activists can’t blame anyone else for. (1, 2)

It’s sad that cases like Trayvon’s is used to teach black children that they must live in fear and anger because racism and white supremacy is everywhere and that at any point they can be killed, all because they’re black. It’s child abuse. Of course we can mourn Trayvon and remember him, but let’s not use him as a radical race movement’s martyr. Protesting against myths ruins the legitimacy and integrity of any future protest against real racism. If we need to keep fabricating and twisting stories to prove that we’re being hunted and oppressed, shouldn’t that be evidence of the opposite? Shouldn’t it be a good thing that Trayvon wasn’t actually killed for being black? Unfortunately, too many will say no, which perfectly sums up the mental imprisonment and why nothing will ever change.

#trayvon martin #Justice For Trayvon #trayvon

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ax100 · 4 years

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Ax’s Promare headcanons - Post-World Blaze (pt3)

Hello, I’m back again with more headcanons! I had fun writing this part because I ended up having to consult with an intellectual property lawyer in my family about how patents and royalties work lmao. What’s crazy is that this is not the first time I’ve had to consult a specialist for fic (I previously consulted with a friend of mine who has a degree in political science and another friend who’s a university professor for this same fic that these headcanons are for). The more you know!

If you are not familiar with what is happening, I’ve been writing a series of posts trying to figure out a more specific timeline / sequence of events before canon events in Promare. An expansion of the literal FIRST FIVE MINUTES of the film, if you will (check the timestamps in the movie, I’m not even kidding). This is the fourth post in the series, and you can read the others here!

Pre-World Blaze

Post-World Blaze (Years 1-10)

Post-World Blaze (Years 11-20, Loosening Grudges)

And here’s the masterpost, for easier access: Ax’s Promare Headcanons (masterpost)

This post zooms in on Promepolis and the rise of Kray Foresight into power. I have a few notes here and there on my interpretation of the character peppered throughout to help you guys understand why I wrote this part the way I did.

Do note that this is just my personal interpretation of things and I am in no way saying that this is actually what happened! Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

HISTORICAL CONTEXT (POST-WORLD BLAZE: YEARS 21-PRESENT, PROMEPOLIS AND KRAY FORESIGHT)

The news of the renowned Dr. Prometh’s death shook the world. Murder. Gunshot, straight to the heart. No evidence had been left; even the CCTV footage had been wiped. To make it even worse, all the data banks of the lab had been purged too. Whatever the professor had been working on was lost to time; he’d been notoriously secretive about his work during his lifetime, and never shared his research with anyone. The culprit was never caught, but the widely-held belief was that it was Mad Burnish’s doing—who else would want the professor dead? The trail eventually went cold, and the case would remain unsolved for the decade to come.

It wasn’t long after Prometh’s death that a local news story gained traction in Promepolis, one of the numerous city-states that had cropped up after the Great World Blaze. A young man by the name of Kray Foresight had saved a young boy from a house fire, losing an arm in the process. What made the story even better was that Foresight was an undergraduate engineering student, working on anti-Burnish tech. The press ate the sweet irony up, and regurgitated the information till it was all Promepolitans could talk about. That Foresight was such a darling too, such a kind-hearted soul—when interviewed about his stance on the Burnish, he was of the opinion that, while they were dangerous, they were victims of circumstance. His research was on anti-Burnish tech, to protect humans from the threat of Burnish fire, but he wanted to find a cure for the Burnish condition too. And wasn’t that a more sustainable solution for everyone involved? The young ones his age celebrated him—this is the kind of face their movement needed (compassion over retribution)—while the older ones, those who hated the Burnish but were charmed by this promising young man, started to think a little more.

Moved by these sentiments and impressed by his research, private and public entities alike lined up to invest in his tech. Almost overnight, Kray Foresight had become a billionaire. His research grew by leaps and bounds with the new lifeblood of steady funds, more money than a college student knew what to do with. Many companies tried to recruit him into their labs; others tried to buy the research from him. But he was steadfast in his refusal. The patents would not go to a corporation; of that, he had been adamant. Instead, a year later, right after his graduation (which had been publicized), he founded the Foresight Foundation, which became the holding entity for the patents of a slew of anti-Burnish tech that would soon become standard issue in all police forces and Counter-Terrorism Units around the world. The royalties from his inventions ensured a steady and impressive flow of funds, big portions of which were generously donated to the Promepolis City Government to fund their projects, while the Foundation worked on setting up its own network of schools, clinics, and social support programs for the citizens of Promepolis. All throughout this, the press kept reminding the public of what he had done in the past—the young man who had saved a boy from a fire, losing his arm in the process, was actively making the world a better place. He was poised for great things, and all eyes were on him for what he’d do next. They didn’t need to wait long. Only a little less than two years after the Foundation’s founding, Foresight made an unprecedented statement: he was going to run as Governor in the upcoming city elections.

There were concerns on Foresight’s intentions to run as Governor—one, he hadn’t served in public office previously, though he did have experience running a large foundation with a wide reach, which had also worked with the City Government closely in the past; and two, he was so damn young. His platform came heavily tinged with wide-eyed idealism, reflective of the new wave of thinking characteristic of the younger generation—“We in Promepolis protect our own, Burnish and human alike. The world has moved past the need for grudges; we must let go of the past and think of the future. At this point, we must strive, more than ever, to maintain peace,” he’d said in a campaign rally. No Promepolitan left behind was his battle cry; Burnish needed help, not anymore punishment, and he promised the establishment of a Burnish rehabilitation program, the first of the world would ever see. To all the Burnish in Promepolis, he’d promised, don’t worry, we’ll make sure you never hurt anyone ever again. And of Mad Burnish, which had largely lost its influence but still remained a thorn in everyone’s side, he promised that they would see their end during his term as Governor.

It made international news when Kray Foresight won as Governor of Promepolis by a landslide; even other city-states had a stake in it, after all. Promepolis was the first to establish a Burnish rehabilitation program in partnership with the Foresight Foundation, with many of the forward-thinking city-states investing huge amounts of money into the program as well. If proven to be a success, if the Foundation could really find a way to rid the world of the Burnish problem once and for all, they were all too happy to throw their money into the project.

(As viewers, ofc we all know this is a front. If Kray had the Parnassus Project in mind since the start, I don’t believe it would have been in his best interest to drive all the Burnish out of the city. So he pushed for a narrative that yes, the Burnish condition does make you violent and a threat to those around you, but we in Promepolis protect our own. We will help you, we will cure you. Many people voluntarily entered themselves or their family members into the program, even though Foresight said it could take years before they would be able to be released. This was fine, as long as they didn’t hurt anyone again. Many of them died, the lucky ones were busted out by Mad Burnish.)

(Any Burnish caught not submitting themselves to the rehabilitation program would be arrested on grounds of being a threat to public safety, and immediately put into the program. Those found complicit in the act of hiding the Burnish would also be arrested and subjected to appropriate jail time or conscripted community service.)

(The money that was being invested in the rehabilitation program was being used to fund the Parnassus, alongside the crazy big money the Foresight Foundation was making off the patents for anti-Burnish tech. The Financial Director of the Foresight Foundation was also the Administrator of the Department of Commerce, Industry, and Trade at the time—more on this in another post)

Kray Foresight was a firebrand of a politician. Promepolis’ Governors before him had largely been passive, but Foresight was a visionary. Though they had been few, being the darling of Promepolis and all, Foresight had shut the naysayers up quite swiftly. He not only proved to be competent in the role, but extraordinary, open to change and innovation in a way the previous Governors had not. With him and his appointed Council of Administrators, Promepolis began to change, developing in a way it could only hope to achieve previously. People attributed it to his age—maybe injecting youth into the politics of this city had been the right decision after all—and he proved to be popular with his constituents again and again, across all demographics. He would remain in his position for the better part of a decade, winning another term before his fall from grace. At his prime, he was seen as benevolent and compassionate, but capable of making hard decisions all the same.

(By the Second Great World Blaze, Kray would have been Governor of Promepolis for 7-8 years already.)

I personally headcanon Kray as someone who pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes. Competent people who are also nice enjoy an almost privileged position in with the general public, and I think he would have capitalized on that. Which means that, in a world where the Burnish are demonized, he would have used it to his advantage by playing the nice guy. Even to the people funding the Parnassus Project, I think he would have kept up that front-- “It is unfortunate, but we have no choice but to do this,” even if inwardly he was just. Really fuckin racist haha. A saint till the end, that Kray Foresight. Or so he would have wanted people to believe. (Support for this: it is apparently so far removed from his public image that he would do bad things to the Burnish that Galo’s immediate reaction to Lio telling him the truth was, “That’s a lie, the Governor would never do that.”)

Anyway, thanks for reading until the end of this post!

(Btw, I have an AO3 account! All these headcanons are going to be put to good use, eventually, in a fic, but I hope you check out what I have so far!)

NEXT UP: ???

#promare #プロメア #promare headcanons #promare analysis #promare meta #kray foresight #promare kray #deus prometh #burnish #promepolis #ax's promare headcanons #ax writes

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ckret2 · 4 years

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Okay, I’m too exhausted to finish this chapter tonight, so this is all I’m getting out today. The first 2.5 scenes of the last chapter of “Basilisk in the Grass” out of what’s a planned 9 scenes. I’m gonna go ahead and post it just so that I get SOMETHING up today for Pentious Week, even though it doesn’t reach the part that answers the prompt lol. The rest of the fic (including the part where Sir Pentious fucking dies) will be finished tomorrow!!

###

Sir Pentious looked down from the airship at the burnt up clearing below.

He and Helena had always maintained two homes. Old habits from England; he'd been too used to the Graces' separate townhouse and country house. His little house in Maine, near the coast and surrounded by trees, was unknown to anyone in the world but the Grace family and a handful of former servants that Sir Pentious had preemptively executed to ensure they never worked out who their former employer was.

He had long ago concluded that if Helena was ever going to try to contact him again, it would be either at their old home in Philadelphia or at this lonely country house. A couple of times a year, he visited this house alone and on foot to search the dusty rooms for any notes that might have been left for him.

When he'd visited a couple of weeks ago, he'd found the house populated by a posse of men waiting with guns and handcuffs.

"So that's that," Chess said, looking down at the pile of burnt lumber. "Now we know."

Sir Pentious nodded grimly. "Now we know." He'd feared for years that Helena might go to law enforcement with her knowledge of Sir Pentious. Sure, there was a slim chance that he'd been followed on a prior visit to the house, or maybe the man who'd sold them the land nearly twenty years ago had suddenly and miraculously realized that the face of the man who'd bought it was the same one he'd seen in the papers... But Sir Pentious was sure that wasn't it. He was sure it was Helena.

And if she wanted to see him stopped so badly that was telling his secrets...

Helena was the only person in the world who knew Sir Pentious's most carefully kept secret. If she ever told that one, it would be over. Many of his lowest laborers were kept in place out of fear, but for many more the narrow-minded resignation of "it's not so bad for me" was all that was keeping them in place. And those who worked for him more directly and held real power in his organization—greedy businessmen, decorated military officers, crooked politicians, sadistic mass murderers, competent middle-managing bandits, wives poached from the powerful—they rallied around him out of a mix of personal ambition and respect. Despite its democratic ideals, America was a true child of the British Empire: full of power-hungry bigots eager to steal from the rest of the world.

There would always be people here willing to follow a megalomaniacal man with his own war machines.

War machines or not, fewer would follow an insane crossdressing woman. That would be what they'd see. It wouldn't completely destroy his empire—not immediately—but it would disgust many into leaving and undermine his authority with a vast majority of the rest. Maybe it could even help rally international furor against him, he didn't know.

How far was Helena willing to go to stop him?

Chess asked, "She wasn't there, was she?"

"No. I made sure." After he'd lured the posse into chasing him into the woods and picked them off one by one (never bring a gunfight to a gunsmith), he'd dragged their bodies back to the house, searched it top to bottom, and called out a warning in every room—and only then had he burned the house to the ground.

Chess nodded. "About ready to give up on them?" He tapped a finger on the ruby brooch pinned to Sir Pentious's ascot. A few months after Helena's disappearance, he'd started wearing her jewelry: her brooch in the center of his chest, her wedding ring beneath his glove, her earrings in his newly-pierced ears.

Sir Pentious slapped Chess's hand away as if the ruby Chess was prodding was a big red self-destruct button. "That's one of the few things I don't have power over," he snapped. Someday he might give up, but he didn't think he could ever move on. Maybe someday he'd love someone else enough to want a life with them, sure, it was possible; but he was never going to love them the same way he would always love Helena.

Chess stepped away from . "Well," he said. "If that ever changes, you know where I am."

As Chess walked away, Sir Pentious wondered what if he'd really meant that the way Sir Pentious thought he had.

There were multiple families of minor British nobility and vaguely wealthy landowners who went by the name "Grace." Most such families could trace their surname back to France, where the surname meant the same thing in French that it does in English.

Tracing Basil Grace's pedigree back, though, one would find that his surname was purely British. A few generations back, the family's surname was instead written "in Grace"—a common enough preposition at the time, back when surnames were place names instead of family names and you'd frequently find people named "in—" or "of—" before the name of the town they hailed from. And so, at one point, it seemed, the family must have come from a place named "Grace."

Or some variation on the word. A few generations before that, their name had used another way to spell Grace in Middle English, "in Gras," before the spelling was standardized.

Except, in this case, it had been standardized the wrong way, because in Middle English gras was a shared way to spell two very different words. Keep following the family tree back, and in Old English the ancestors of what would become the Grace family used "in Græs," and græs does not mean grace. Far enough back, locals of the area were referred to as living "in þæm græse."

Translated directly into modern English, it did not mean "Grace." It meant "in the grass." A reference to the rolling meadow along one side of what was now the Grace estate.

It was also a perfectly fitting name for a man who was indeed turning out to be a snake in the grass.

###

Sir Pentious beamed at the fearful, glowering men filling the rows of desks on front of him. "Gentlemen of the state legislature!" he said, holding out his arms grandly. The young Burmese python draped around his shoulders shifted to keep its balance. "I'm so honored you made time to meet with me on such short notice." Not that they'd had much choice in the matter. Sir Pentious had simply waltzed into the room, and then his gun-wielding followers had filled all the exits.

"What do you think you're doing here?!" A representative in the front row of seats demanded, lunging to his feet.

Ten guns trained on him. He sat back down.

"I'm here to negotiate, of course!" Sir Pentious paced in front of the representatives' seats, enjoying how the sound of his footsteps on the wooden floor echoed in the deathly silent chamber. "I assume you called this secret midnight meeting to discuss the hostage situation I've presented you with? It's not like you're going to get all your little ones back without my participation."

"You're a sick bastard," another of the representatives called from the back of the room—but he had the sense to stay in his seat. "This is beyond the most depraved acts of war! What kind of a man kidnaps thousands of children as a negotiation tactic?!"

"A craven coward, I'm sure," Sir Pentious said, offering a hand to help support his python as it stretched curiously toward one of the representatives. "But a very well-organized one."

A third representative roared, "You'll burn in hell for this!" and pounded on his desk. The thunderous pound set off someone's itchy trigger finger; a bullet hit the representative in the chest. His suit and flaked off in black ashes and greenish vapor rose out of his chest as the chemical compound in the bullet splashed out into his flesh. As the men nearest the dead representative gasped in horror and bolted out of their seats to get away from the corpse, Sir Pentious raised a hand to signal his followers to hold their fire

Wryly, Sir Pentious said, "And when I get there, if the devil's got any common sense, he'll offer me a seat at his court." He laughed wryly. "So about those children?"

#my writing #hazbin hotel

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markoftheasphodel · 4 years

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queenlua said: what exactly uh. happened. in detroit in the mid-2000s? (legitimately ignorant whether there was a Big Thing or if the government/local economy was just real fucked up)

STORY TIME

So, in the year 2000, Detroit MI was the northernmost city in the US with more than 1M people. That was half of its peak population from a few decades earlier and one-quarter of what this sprawling city of mostly single-family homes was built for.

By the year 2010, Detroit officially had lost more than a quarter of those one million residents. This was the Detroit I lived in.

If I wanted to go all the way back, we’d be talking about redlining, about race riots wherein white Detroiters murdered black ones and got away with it, about freeways and projects and the demolition of black and Chinese neighborhoods, about racist cops, about white flight and the suburbs, and about the public perception that Detroit was nonetheless a “Model City” for race relations up until the citizens rebelled in 1967. I could talk about the decades-long war across Eight Mile between Mayor Coleman Young and the neighboring county executive L. Brooks Patterson, about the declining fortunes of the Big 3 and their impact on Michigan generally and Detroit in particular, about Reaganism and union-busting. I could talk about the Detroit tradition of setting buildings on fire on October 30th.

But I moved to Michigan in 2002, and that was the year Detroiters elected Kwame Kilpatrick, the scion of a local dynasty, as mayor. Kwame, like his two immediate predecessors, was black-- proudly, openly, embracing an image of the “hip-hop” mayor-- but he had powerful allies among the white corporate titans and white politicians outside of Detroit. He could talk to the street but had friends in boardrooms. Therefore, in the world of 2002, he was thought of as the guy who could actually move Detroit into the renaissance it yearned for and get things done. When Mayor Kilpatrick told us he was making hard decisions like closing down the century-old Belle Isle Aquarium, we as residents didn’t like it but we were willing to extend him credit for making said hard decisions to ensure a better future.

Mayor Kilpatrick was a crook. Out and out, total crook, one who actually, genuinely played the infamous “race card” to deflect from his crimes, compared his critics to a lynch mob, allowed his 2006 re-election opponent (who was biracial) to be smeared as “too white” to govern Detroit, and did other things that I would assume to be products of a right-wing hate machine if I hadn’t lived through them and experienced them. He’s in federal prison now, perpetually begging for a pardon. Meanwhile Michigan’s own economy was kind of a leading edge for the 2008 recession, and the foreclosures hit us hard and early. We, personally, lost many good neighbors to the foreclosures when their landlords defaulted. We, personally, had to board up and monitor their former homes when the out-state banks that bought them for a song at auction wouldn’t.

Foreclosures, arson culture, underfunded emergency services that couldn’t respond, all made worse by “belt tightening” that closed precincts and firehouses in a downward spiral. Scrappers fueled by sky-high mid-00s copper prices. Absentee landlords. Residents fleeing as their neighborhoods became unlivable. Shrinking property tax bases that gutted the schools. A weak and polarized state government that thought of cutting state jobs as some perverse measure of progress for the economy. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. And at the top of this pyramid of misery, a city government that wasn’t simply inept but willfully, intentionally criminal.

By the end of our stay in Detroit-- after the arsons and the car theft and scrapper plague and the murder on our sidewalk-- we joked to ourselves that we lived in a failed state beyond the rule of law. Only it wasn’t a joke. And this was before the bankruptcy and emergency managers, before Republicans seized state government in 2010, before Flint had its water poisoned for the sake of running government like a business.

Detroit in the 2000s was beyond the comprehension of many outsiders I talked to, people who just didn’t get how houses could burn in neighborhoods where children walked to school and their burned-out shells could collapse onto the sidewalk for 4+ years and nobody cleared the debris away. Even in the wake of the Great Recession, it seems a lot of people, including progressive activists, just don’t GET what was happening, what’s still happening.

What’s all too likely to happen again in a time of plague.

#detroit life #text post #long post

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patriotsnet · 3 years

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How Many Presidents Were Democrats And Republicans

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-many-presidents-were-democrats-and-republicans/

How Many Presidents Were Democrats And Republicans

The Party Thats Actually Best For The Economy

Many analyses look at which party is best for the economy. A study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that Democratic presidents since World War II have performed much better than Republicans. On average, Democratic presidents grew the economy 4.4% each year versus 2.5% for Republicans.

A study by Princeton University economists Alan Blinder and Mark Watson found that the economy performs better when the president is a Democrat. They report that by many measures, the performance gap is startlingly large. Between Truman and Obama, growth was 1.8% higher under Democrats than Republicans.

A Hudson Institute study found that the six years with the best growth were evenly split between Republican and Democrat presidents.

Most of these evaluations measure growth during the presidents term in office. But no president has control over the growth added during his first year. The budget for that fiscal year was already set by the previous president, so you should compare the gross domestic product at the end of the presidents last budget to the end of his predecessors last budget.

For Obama, that would be the fiscal year from October 1, 2009, to September 30, 2018. Thats FY 2010 through FY 2017. During that time, GDP increased from $15.6 trillion to $17.7 trillion, or by 14%. Thats 1.7% a year.

The chart below ranks the presidents since 1929 on the average annual increase in GDP.

President

1.4%

A president would have better growth if he had no recession.

The Issue Of Slavery: Enter Abraham Lincoln

In the mid-nineteenth century, slavery was a widely discussed political issue. The Democratic Partys internal views on this matter differed greatly. Southern Democrats wished for slavery to be expanded and reach into Western parts of the country. Northern Democrats, on the other hand, argued that this issue should be settled on a local level and through popular referendum. Such Democratic infighting eventually led to Abraham Lincoln, who belonged to the Republican Party, winning the presidential election of 1860. This new Republican Party had recently been formed by a group of Whigs, Democrats and other politicians who had broken free from their respective parties in order to form a party based on an anti-slavery platform.

Adams And The Revolution Of 1800

Shortly after Adams took office, he dispatched a group of envoys to seek peaceful relations with France, which had begun attacking American shipping after the ratification of the Jay Treaty. The failure of talks, and the French demand for bribes in what became known as the XYZ Affair, outraged the American public and led to the Quasi-War, an undeclared naval war between France and the United States. The Federalist-controlled Congress passed measures to expand the army and navy and also pushed through the Alien and Sedition Acts. The Alien and Sedition Acts restricted speech that was critical of the government, while also implementing stricter naturalization requirements. Numerous journalists and other individuals aligned with the Democratic-Republicans were prosecuted under the Sedition Act, sparking a backlash against the Federalists. Meanwhile, Jefferson and Madison drafted the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, which held that state legislatures could determine the constitutionality of federal laws.

Confirming The Numbers Who Was Counted And Why

One approach to comparing malfeasance by administration might be to include only positions designated in 28 USC § 591. This section of the US Code lists government officers who are the direct concern of an independent counsel starting with the President and Vice President. We use broader criteria. Other lists likewise dont appear to use this act as their basis for comparison. Further, 28 USC 591 is applicable to the Independent Counsel Law, but not to other special prosecutor or special counsel investigations.

Some sources report 76 Watergate indictments, 55 convictions, and 15 served time. One source had 69 Watergate indictments of government figures. There is no path to that many government figures indicted. We report 26 government and former government figures. We find total 85 Nixon administration indictments, 78 convictions, and 24 with prison time. Figure 4 lists them. Some sources list two indictments for Clinton administration officers. However, we assign to the Clinton administration 5 indictments, counting his impeachment as an indictment, and involving the Departments of Agriculture, and Housing and Urban Development. Other lists show no Obama administration indictees. We include one, General David Petraeus.

To see our criteria for inclusion in the corruption numbers, check out . It is possible and reasonable to arrive at different numbers using different criteria. This article and the tables provide the data to support our conclusions.

Bill Clinton: Impeached In 1998

President Clinton walking to the podium to deliver a short statement on the impeachment inquiry, apologizing to the country for his conduct in the Monica Lewinsky affair and that he would accept a congressional censure or rebuke.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

Clinton was plagued by legal troubles and scandals from the moment he entered the White House. In 1993, Clinton and his First Lady, Hillary, were the subject of a Justice Department investigation into the so-called Whitewater controversy, a botched business deal from their days in Arkansas. And in 1994, Clinton was sued for sexual harassment by Paula Jones, who claimed Clinton exposed himself to her in a hotel room in 1991.

Interestingly, it was a combination of both legal cases that would ultimately lead to Clintons impeachment. Independent counsel Kenneth Starr was appointed by the Justice Department to investigate the Whitewater affair, but he couldnt find any impeachable evidence. Meanwhile, lawyers for Jones got a tip that Clinton had an affair with a 21-year-old White House intern named Monica Lewinsky, a claim that both Lewinsky and Clinton denied under oath.

When the story went public, Clinton was forced to address the accusations on national television.

I want you to listen to me, Clinton famously said. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time, never.

Andrew Johnson: Impeached In 1868

The 1868 impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson.

Johnson was elected as Abraham Lincolns vice president in 1864. The toughest decision facing Lincolns second term was how to reestablish ties with the Confederate states now that the Civil War was over. Lincolns plan for Reconstruction favored leniency while so-called Radical Republicans in his party wanted to punish Southern politicians and extend full civil rights to freed slaves.

Lincoln was assassinated only 42 days into his second term, leaving Johnson in charge of Reconstruction. He immediately clashed with the Radical Republicans in Congress, calling for pardons for Confederate leaders and vetoing political rights for freedmen. In 1867, Congress retaliated by passing the Tenure of Office Act, which barred the president from replacing members of his cabinet without Senate approval.

Believing the law to be unconstitutional, Johnson went ahead and fired his Secretary of War, an ally of the Radical Republicans in Congress. Johnsons political enemies responded by drafting and passing 11 articles of impeachment in the House.

“Sir, the bloody and untilled fields of the ten unreconstructed States, the unsheeted ghosts of the two thousand murdered negroes in Texas, cry for the punishment of Andrew Johnson,” wrote the abolitionist Republican Representative William D. Kelley from Pennsylvania.

READ MORE: 150 Years Ago, a President Could Be Impeached for Firing a Cabinet Member

Acting President Of The United States

An acting president of the United States is an individual who legitimately exercises the powers and duties of the president of the United States even though that person does not hold the office in their own right. There is an established presidential line of succession in which officials of the United States federal government may be called upon to take on presidential responsibilities if the incumbent president becomes incapacitated, dies, resigns, is removed from office during their four-year term of office; or if a president-elect has not been chosen before Inauguration Day or has failed to qualify by that date.

If the president dies, resigns, or is removed from office, the vice president automatically becomes president. Likewise, were a president-elect to die during the transition period, or decline to serve, the vice president-elect would become president on Inauguration Day. A vice president can also become the acting president if the president becomes incapacitated. However, should the presidency and vice presidency both become vacant, the statutory successor called upon would not become president, but would only be acting as president. To date, two vice presidentsGeorge H. W. Bush and Dick Cheney have served as acting president. No one lower in the presidential line of succession has so acted.

C Republicans Vs Democrats

Minneapolis Star-Tribune

It seemed like Bill Clinton had everything going for him. He defeated an incumbent President and became the first Democrat to win the White House since Jimmy Carter defeated Gerald Ford. He had a Democratic House and a Democratic Senate to work with him.

One of the first major initiatives he began was health care reform. Many Americans were concerned about spiraling medical costs. Medicare did not cover prescription drugs and only paid a portion of health care costs. Over 20 million Americans had no health insurance whatsoever. Clinton assembled a task force to study the problem and assigned his wife Hillary to head the committee. She became the most politically active first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt.

Eventually Clinton presented a plan to limit costs and insure each American citizen to the Congress. Powerful interest groups representing doctors and insurance companies opposed Clinton. Many in the Congress thought the program too costly. Conservatives compared the plan to socialized medicine. Despite a “friendly” Democratic Congress, the Clintons’ proposal was defeated.

The Democrats had controlled the House of Representatives since 1954. Many Republicans had gotten used to acting like an opposition party. When the votes were counted, Republicans outscored Democrats in House seats 230-205. Gingrich was rewarded for his efforts by being named Speaker of the House.

The White House Store

Political Gifts Collectibles Republican & Democrat

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Democratic Party:

The democratic party was originally founded in 1792 by anti-federalist sect. At first, the party was created by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and named as Democrat-Republican Party. The first president of Democratic-Republican was Thomas Jefferson elected in the year 1801. By 1820 this party was at its peak and considered as the sole major party. When various states passed legislation in voting rights for the election of presidential electors by voters around 1820s. these legislations lead to separation of the party into different sects. After splitting up the party was dissolved in 1825 which lead to the foundation of the new Democratic party in 1928 with Andrew Jackson as the first Democratic President. Democratic party has deep roots and is the oldest U.S Political Party. Democrats represent a progressive attitude and works for the social and economic equality with in the country. Up to 2018, there are 15 democratic presidents who lived in White House.

Policies of Democratic Presidents:

Republican Party:

Policies of RepublicanPresidents:

The Philosophy Behind Democratic Economic Policy

Democrats gear their economic policies to benefit low-income and middle-income families. They argue that reducing income inequality is the best way to foster economic growth. Low-income families are more likely to spend any extra money on necessities instead of saving or investing it. That directly increases demand and spurs economic growth. Democrats also support a Keynesian economic theory, which says that the government should spend its way out of a recession.

One dollar spent on increased food stamp benefits generates $1.73 in economic output.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt first outlined the Economic Bill of Rights in his 1944 State of the Union address. It included taxes on war profiteering and price controls on food costs. President Harry Trumans 1949 Fair Deal proposed an increase in the minimum wage, civil rights legislation, and national health care. President Barack Obama expanded Medicaid with the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

If Convicted Removal From Office Possible Disqualification From Government Service

If a president is acquitted by the Senate, the impeachment trial is over. But if he or she is found guilty, the Senate trial moves to the sentencing or punishment phase. The Constitution allows for two types of punishments for a president found guilty of an impeachable offense: Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States.

The first punishment, removal from office, is automatically enforced following a two-thirds guilty vote. But the second punishment, disqualification from holding any future government position, requires a separate Senate vote. In this case, only a simple majority is required to ban the impeached president from any future government office for life. That second vote has never been held since no president has been found guilty in the Senate trial.

Political Parties Of The Presidents

Republican

Andrew Johnson

Note: The Republican party was renamed the Union party for the 1864 election. Therefore, Lincoln also served under the Union party label. For Washington’s initial election, political parties were not in existence. He became associated with the Federalist party after he was in office.

The purpose of this site is to provide researchers, students, teachers, politicians, journalists, and citizens a complete resource guide to the US Presidents. You may link to this or any other page on PresidentsUSA.net.

How Did This Switch Happen

Eric Rauchway, professor of American history at the University of California, Davis, pins the transition to the turn of the 20th century, when a highly influential Democrat named William Jennings Bryan blurred party lines by emphasizing the government’s role in ensuring social justice through expansions of federal power traditionally, a Republican stance.

But Republicans didn’t immediately adopt the opposite position of favoring limited government.

Related: 7 great congressional dramas

“Instead, for a couple of decades, both parties are promising an augmented federal government devoted in various ways to the cause of social justice,” Rauchway wrote in an archived 2010 blog post for the Chronicles of Higher Education. Only gradually did Republican rhetoric drift to the counterarguments. The party’s small-government platform cemented in the 1930s with its heated opposition to the New Deal.

But why did Bryan and other turn-of-the-century Democrats start advocating for big government?

According to Rauchway, they, like Republicans, were trying to win the West. The admission of new western states to the union in the post-Civil War era created a new voting bloc, and both parties were vying for its attention.

Related: Busted: 6 Civil War myths

Additional resources:

/11 Terrorist Attack Bill Of Rights

Why did 9/11 occur? The search does not end until the truth is exposed and those that died are allowed to rest. We hold that the lies about Ground Zero are clearly evident and that all victims are created equal, even those forced to lie. Not every victim of September 11th, 2001 died during the collapsing of the twin towers; there are more victims being created everyday.

Gallup: Democrats Now Outnumber Republicans By 9 Percentage Points Thanks To Independents

“I think what we have to do as a party is battle the damage to the Democratic brand,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Jamie Harrison said on The Daily Beast‘s latest New Abnormal podcast. Gallup reported Wednesday that, at least relatively speaking, the Democratic brand is doing pretty good.

In the first quarter of 2021, 49 percent of U.S. adults identified as Democrats or independents with Democratic leanings, versus 40 percent for Republicans and GOP leaders, Gallup said. “The 9-percentage-point Democratic advantage is the largest Gallup has measured since the fourth quarter of 2012. In recent years, Democratic advantages have typically been between 4 and 6 percentage points.”

New Gallup polling finds that in the first quarter of 2021, an average of 49% of Americans identify with/lean toward the Democratic Party, versus 40 percent for Republicans.

That’s the largest gap since 2012:https://t.co/YpUvqBKxLx

Greg Sargent April 7, 2021

Party identification, polled on every Gallup survey, is “something that we think is important to track to give a sense to the relevant strength of the two parties at any one point in time and how party preferences are responding to events,”Gallup senior editor Jeff Jones told USA Today.

More stories from theweek.com

Other Presidents Threatened With Impeachment

A significant number of U.S. presidents have faced calls for impeachment, including five of the past six Republican presidents. But few of those accusations were taken seriously by Congress.

There were even rumblings about impeaching the nation’s first president, George Washington, by those who opposed his policies. Those calls, however, did not reach the point of becoming formal resolutions or charges.

John Tyler was the first president to face impeachment charges. Nicknamed His Accidency for assuming the presidency after William Henry Harrison died after just 30 days in office, Tyler was wildly unpopular with his own Whig party. A House representative from Virginia submitted a petition for Tylers impeachment, but it was never taken up by the House for a vote.

Between 1932 and 1933, a congressman introduced two impeachment resolutions against Herbert Hoover. Both were eventually tabled by large margins.

More recently, both Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush were the subject of impeachment resolutions submitted by Henry B. Gonzales, a Democratic representative from Texas, but none of the resolutions were taken up for a vote in the House Judiciary Committee.

First Elections And First Presidency

On February 4, 1789, electors chose George Washington to be the first president of the United States. Washingtons term would prove to be a critical six decades in American history. Washington, who obtained power after the approval of the Constitution, the oldest written constitution that is still in force. During this period only men over 21 years of age and with certain wealth could vote.

Andrew Jackson was the first frontier president. Unlike previous presidents from wealthy, well-educated families, Andrew Jackson grew up in relative poverty in a log cabin in the Appalachian mountains of Tennessee. He had little formal education, but rose to national fame after leading the US to victory in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. Jackson is the founder of the modern-day Democratic Party. After a bitter loss to John Quincy Adams in the 1824 presidential election, Jackson and his followers broke away from the Republican Party and formed a new party called the Democrats. Republicans who disliked Jackson began to call themselves Whigs. Jackson was a controversial figure, he supported states rights and slaverys expansion into new western territories and used the power of presidential veto more than any previous president. He vetoed 12 bills, more than the first six presidents combined.

How The Democrats Became Liberals And How The Republicans Became Conservatives

February 14, 2016

Once upon a time, the Democratic Party was Americas staunch defender of conservatism, and the Republican Party was the upstart champion of liberalism. And then, one day, they switched.

Seriously.

1860 Presidential Election Results

For the first half of the 19th century, the American political process revolved around the Democratic-Republican and Whig parties, with the Federalists, Know-Nothings and other groups playing smaller roles. The dominant political issue throughout this entire period was of course slavery, and by 1853 most Americans were polarized into the pro- and anti-slavery camps.

In 1824, the Democratic Party was born out of the more conservative elements of the Democratic-Republican Party. Three decades later, the Republic Party was established, with its membership largely made up of former Whigs and the more liberal members of the Democratic-Republic party in the North. The Democrats, especially in the South, became the primary haven of the pro-slavery elements of society, and by extension the states rights party when the federal government became increasingly likely to abolish slavery. The Republicans became the haven of the abolitionists, and by extension the party of strong central government.

2012 Presidential Election Results

Presto-chango, the transformation was complete.

Filed Under: Random Ramblings

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About the Author

Richard Nixon: Resigned In 1974

People read about President Nixon’s resignation outside the gate of the White House in August, 1974.

Despite being complicit in one of the greatest political scandals in U.S. presidential history, Richard Nixon was never impeached. He resigned before the House of Representatives had a chance to impeach him. If he hadnt quit, Nixon would likely have been the first president ever impeached and removed from office, given the crimes he committed to cover up his involvement in the Watergate break-ins.

On July 27, 1974, after seven months of deliberations, the House Judiciary Committee approved the first of five proposed articles of impeachment against Nixon, charging the president with obstruction of justice in an effort to shield himself from the ongoing Watergate investigation. Only a handful of Republicans in the judiciary committee voted to approve the articles of impeachment, and it was unclear at the time if there would be enough votes in the full House to formally impeach the president.

But everything changed on August 5, 1974, when the Supreme Court ordered Nixon to release unedited tapes of his Oval Office conversations with White House staffers during the Watergate investigation. The so-called smoking gun tapes included Nixon proposing the use of the CIA to obstruct the FBI investigation, and paying hush money to the convicted Watergate burglars. The transcript included the following:

NIXON: How much money do you need?

NIXON: We could get that.

The Parties Change Course

After the war, the Republican Party became more and more oriented towards economic growth, industry, and big business in Northern states, and in the beginning of the 20th century it had reached a general status as a party for the more wealthy classes in society. Many Republicans therefore gained financial success in the prosperous 1920s until the stock market crashed in 1929 initiating the era of the Great Depression.

Now, many Americans blamed Republican President Herbert Hoover for the financial damages brought by the crisis. In 1932 the country therefore instead elected Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt to be president.

The Democratic Party largely stayed in power until 1980, when Republican Ronald Reagan was elected as president. Reagans social conservative politics and emphasis on cutting taxes, preserving family values, and increasing military funding were important steps in defining the modern Republican Party platform.

President Of The United States

The president of the United States has been chief of the executive branch of the United States of America since 1789.

Various other countries that are or were known as the United States have or had a presidential system:

President of the United StatesIf an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This page was last edited on 2 January 2021, at 00:59 .

Text is available under the ;additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

List Of Republican Us Presidents

Abraham Lincoln

Ulysses S. Grant

Rutherford B. Hayes

James Garfield

Chester A. Arthur

Benjamin Harrison

William McKinley

Theodore Roosevelt

William H. Taft

Warren G. Harding

Calvin Coolidge

Herbert C. Hoover

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Richard M. Nixon

Gerald R. Ford

Ronald W. Reagan

George H. W. Bush

George W. Bush

Donald Trump

Many More Criminal Indictments Under Trump Reagan And Nixon Than Under Obama Clinton And Carter

A Facebook post claimed that there have been 317 criminal indictments in the administrations of three recent Republican presidents Donald Trump, Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and only three indictments under three recent Democratic presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.

Heres what the post said about those presidents, whose terms date back to 1969 when Nixon was in office:

“Recent administrations with the MOST criminal indictments:

Trump 215

“Recent administrations with the LEAST criminal indictments:

Obama 0

Clinton 2

“Notice a pattern?”

Unless an administration official is charged with a crime for acts while in office, its not always easy to identify which indictments can be connected to a presidential administration; some administration officials have been indicted for acts in the private sector, some indicted people were involved in presidential campaigns but didnt work in the administration, etc.

This claim exaggerates the number of indictments under Trump, in particular, by counting the number of criminal charges filed, rather than the number of people indicted; and it includes the indictments of people who are not part of his administration, such as 25 Russians.

On the whole, however, the indictments under the three GOP presidents do dwarf those under the three Democrats.

An indictment is essentially a two-step process in the federal system:

Featured Fact-check

Only six of the 34 indicated are in Trumps orbit:

Obama: None.

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investmart007 · 6 years

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WASHINGTON| The Latest: Russian official likens Trump to Hitler

New Post has been published on https://goo.gl/J6x8dC

WASHINGTON| The Latest: Russian official likens Trump to Hitler

WASHINGTON | April 13, 2018 (AP)(STL.News) The Latest on U.S.-led missile strikes on Syria (all times local):

10:35 p.m.

A highly placed Russian politician is likening President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler after the launch of airstrikes against Syria, and says he regards the action as a move against Russia.

Alexander Sherin, deputy head of the State Duma’s defense committee, says Trump “can be called Adolf Hitler No. 2 of our time — because, you see, he even chose the time that Hitler attacked the Soviet Union.”

That’s according to state news agency RIA-Novosti. The Nazi forces’ opening attack against the USSR in 1941 was launched around 4 a.m.

10:20 p.m.

The British defense ministry says “initial indications” show that the airstrikes against Syria produced a “successful attack” on a Syrian military facility.

The U.K., U.S. and France launched the attacks near Damascus early Saturday. The U.K. ministry says in a statement that while the effectiveness of the strike is still being analyzed, “initial indications are that the precision of the Storm Shadow weapons and meticulous target planning have resulted in a successful attack.”

British Prime Minister Theresa May is describing the attack as neither “about intervening in a civil war” nor “about regime change,” but a limited and targeted strike that “does not further escalate tensions in the region” and does everything possible to prevent civilian casualties.

May says, “We would have preferred an alternative path. But on this occasion there is none.”

10:17 p.m.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says he is “absolutely confident” that Syrian President Bashar Assad is behind the alleged chemical attack on his people that the U.S. and allies retaliated against Friday night.

Mattis tells reporters he is certain Assad conducted a chemical attack on innocent people.

He says the U.S. is “very much aware of one of the chemical agents used.” And he says there may have been a second.

President Donald Trump announced Friday that the U.S., France and Britain had launched military strikes against Syria to punish Assad for his alleged use of chemical weapons and to deter him from doing it again.

10:15 p.m.

Defense Secretary James Mattis says the U.S. has no reports of suffering any losses during the initial airstrikes on Syria Friday.

Mattis says “right now this is a one-time shot” but is not ruling out further attacks. President Donald Trump had said earlier that the campaign against the regime of Bashar Assad could be “sustained.”

The defense secretary says the airstrikes were launched against several sites that he says helped provide Assad’s ability to create chemical weapons. Mattis says the Syrian government used chemical weapons on its own people last week.

Mattis says the Pentagon will provide more information on the attack Saturday.

10:10 p.m.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says military strikes in Syria are “directed at the Syrian regime” and they have “gone to great lengths to avoid civilians and foreign casualties.”

Mattis spoke Friday night after President Donald Trump announced that the U.S., France and Britain launched military strikes on Syria to punish President Bashar Assad for his alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians and to deter him from doing it again.

Mattis is asking that “responsible nations” join in condemning the Assad regime.

10 p.m.

Defense Secretary James Mattis says the U.S. and its allies have taken “decisive action” against Syrian chemical weapons infrastructure.

Mattis briefed reporters at the Pentagon Friday an hour after President Donald Trump announced the strike.

Mattis says the United States, along with France and the United Kingdom, struck because Syrian President Bashar Assad “did not get the message” when the U.S. launched airstrikes after a chemical attack in 2017.

The defense secretary says Friday’s strikes have “sent a clear message” to Assad and his “murderous lieutenants.”

9:50 p.m.

Explosions are being heard to the east, west and south of Damascus as the U.S., U.K. and France conduct airstrikes in retaliation for an alleged chemical attack by the Syrian government on its own people.

Witnesses saw blasts surrounding much of the Syrian capital and a huge fire could be seen from a distance to the east. An AP reporter in Damascus says the attacks turned the sky orange. Syrian television reported that a scientific research center had been hit.

Syrian media reported that Syrian defenses hit 13 rockets south of Damascus. After the attack ceased and the early morning skies went dark once more, vehicles with loudspeakers roamed the streets of Damascus blaring nationalist songs.

___

9:40 p.m.

French President Emmanuel Macron says his nation, the United States and Britain have launched a military operation against the Syrian government’s “clandestine chemical arsenal.”

Macron says in a statement Saturday that France’s “red line has been crossed” after a suspected chemical attack last week in the Syrian town of Douma.

He says there is “no doubt” that the Syrian government is responsible. President Bashar Assad’s government denies responsibility.

Macron says the operation is limited to Syria’s abilities to produce chemical weapons. He is not giving details about what equipment is involved in the operation or what sites it is targeting.

9:25 p.m.

President Donald Trump is reiterating his call to have other nations take on more of the burden in Syria.

Trump says he has asked U.S. partners “to take greater responsibility for securing their home region, including contributing large amounts of money for the resources, equipment and all of the anti-ISIS effort.”

He says increased engagement from countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Egypt can ensure that Iran does not profit from the defeat of the Islamic State group.

He adds that, “America does not seek an indefinite presence in Syria — under no circumstances” and says that, “As other nations step up our contributions, we look forward to the day when we can bring our warriors home.”

9:20 p.m.

Syria’s capital has been rocked by loud explosions that lit up the sky with heavy smoke as U.S. President Donald Trump announced airstrikes in retaliation for the country’s alleged use of chemical weapons.

Associated Press reporters in Damascus saw smoke rising from east Damascus early Saturday morning local time. Syrian state TV says the attack has begun on the capital, though it wasn’t immediately clear what was targeted.

Trump announced Friday night that the U.S., France and Britain have launched military strikes in Syria to punish President Bashar Assad for his alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians and to deter him from doing it again.

9:15 p.m.

President Donald Trump is warning Russia and Iran about their association with Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad’s government, as he announces the launch of retaliatory strikes after an apparent chemical weapons attack last week.

Speaking from the White House, Trump says, “To Iran and to Russia, I ask: What kind of a nation wants to be associated with the mass murder of innocent men, women and children?”

Trump calls the two countries those “most responsible for supporting, equipping and financing the criminal Assad regime.”

Trump says, “The nations of the world can be judged by the friends they keep.”

He adds ominously, “Hopefully someday we’ll get along with Russia, and maybe even Iran, but maybe not.”

9:10 p.m.

President Donald Trump is asking for a “prayer for our noble warriors” as he concludes his remarks announcing strikes on targets associated with the Syrian chemical weapons program.

Trump announced the strikes, in coordination with France and Britain, from the White House Friday night. He said the three nations have “marshaled their righteous power.”

Trump is also offering prayers for the Middle East and for the United States.

9:05 p.m.

President Donald Trump says he is “prepared to sustain” strikes against Syria until the use of chemical agents stops.

The United States, along with assurance from France and the United Kingdom, launched a response Friday against the regime of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad days after his government allegedly used chemical weapons on its citizens.

But Trump says America does not seek “an indefinite presence” in Syria and will look to pull out its troops once the Islamic State is totally defeated.

Trump has signaled in recent weeks that, despite advice from his national security team, he wanted to accelerate the timetable of the withdrawal of American forces.

9 p.m.

President Donald Trump says the United States has “launched precision strikes” on targets associated with Syrian chemical weapons program.

Trump spoke from the White House Friday night. He says a “combined operation” with France and the United Kingdom is underway.

Trump says that last Saturday, Syrian President Bashar Assad deployed chemical weapons in what was a “significant escalation in a pattern of chemical weapons use by that very terrible regime.”

8:55 p.m.

President Donald Trump is set to address the nation Friday night amid anticipation of a retaliatory strike for an apparent Syrian chemical weapon attack last week.

That’s according to a source familiar with the president’s plans, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Trump has said he will hold the Syrian government, as well as its Russian and Iranian allies, accountable for the suspected attack.

White House spokesman Raj Shah said Friday afternoon that Trump “is going to hold the Syrian government accountable. He’s also going to hold the Russians and the Iranians who are propping up this regime responsible.”

___

5 p.m.

The U.S. Navy was moving an additional Tomahawk missile-armed ship within striking range of Syria as President Donald Trump and his national security aides mulled the scope and timing of an expected military assault in retaliation for a suspected poison gas attack.

Trump’s U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, said the president had not yet made a final decision, two days after he tweeted that Russia should “get ready” because a missile attack “will be coming” at Moscow’s chief Middle East ally.

The presence of Russian troops and air defenses in Syria were among numerous complications weighing on Trump, who must also consider the dangers to roughly 2,000 American troops in the country if Russia were to retaliate for U.S. strikes.

___

By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (Z.S)

___

#Duma defense committee #initial indications #President Donald Trump #Soviet Union #Washington

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patriotsnet · 3 years

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How Many Presidents Were Democrats And Republicans

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-many-presidents-were-democrats-and-republicans/

How Many Presidents Were Democrats And Republicans

The Party Thats Actually Best For The Economy

A Hudson Institute study found that the six years with the best growth were evenly split between Republican and Democrat presidents.

The chart below ranks the presidents since 1929 on the average annual increase in GDP.

President

1.4%

A president would have better growth if he had no recession.

The Issue Of Slavery: Enter Abraham Lincoln

Adams And The Revolution Of 1800

Confirming The Numbers Who Was Counted And Why

Bill Clinton: Impeached In 1998

J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

When the story went public, Clinton was forced to address the accusations on national television.

I want you to listen to me, Clinton famously said. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time, never.

Andrew Johnson: Impeached In 1868

The 1868 impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson.

READ MORE: 150 Years Ago, a President Could Be Impeached for Firing a Cabinet Member

Acting President Of The United States

C Republicans Vs Democrats

Minneapolis Star-Tribune

The White House Store

Political Gifts Collectibles Republican & Democrat

891-8261

Democratic Party:

Policies of Democratic Presidents:

Republican Party:

Policies of RepublicanPresidents:

The Philosophy Behind Democratic Economic Policy

One dollar spent on increased food stamp benefits generates $1.73 in economic output.

If Convicted Removal From Office Possible Disqualification From Government Service

Political Parties Of The Presidents

Republican

Andrew Johnson

How Did This Switch Happen

But Republicans didn’t immediately adopt the opposite position of favoring limited government.

Related: 7 great congressional dramas

But why did Bryan and other turn-of-the-century Democrats start advocating for big government?

Related: Busted: 6 Civil War myths

Additional resources:

/11 Terrorist Attack Bill Of Rights

Gallup: Democrats Now Outnumber Republicans By 9 Percentage Points Thanks To Independents

New Gallup polling finds that in the first quarter of 2021, an average of 49% of Americans identify with/lean toward the Democratic Party, versus 40 percent for Republicans.

That’s the largest gap since 2012:https://t.co/YpUvqBKxLx

Greg Sargent April 7, 2021