monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

The anger against President Donald Trump’s attack on National Football League players who protest during the national anthem has now spread to Congress.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) took a knee on the House floor as she used a special order of the Congressional Black Caucus to condemn Trump on Monday night.
Trump has sparked widespread outrage since Friday, when he asked a crowd in Huntsville, Alabama, if they’d “love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, he’s fired’?”
Although he did not reference Colin Kaepernick by name, Trump’s remarks were an attack on the former San Francisco 49er, who protested police brutality and racial injustice by kneeling before games last season.
“There is no basis in the First Amendment that says you cannot kneel on the national anthem or in front of the flag,” said Jackson Lee. “That is racism. You cannot deny it, you cannot run for it.”

Jackson Lee later dropped to one knee, and said she did so “in honor” of the NFL players who similarly protested Trump’s remarks over the weekend.
“I kneel in front of the flag and on this floor, I kneel in honor of the First Amendment, I kneel because the flag is a symbol for freedom, I kneel because I am going to stand against racism, I kneel because I will stand with those young men and I’ll stand with our soldiers and I’ll stand with America because I kneel,” Jackson Lee said.
Her comments were echoed by a fellow Congressional Black Caucus member, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who said via a series of tweets that there is “nothing wrong with kneeling down to stand up against injustice.”

Paul Waldman speaks to one common political notion/cliche which drives me around the bend. Read the full piece when you get the opportunity.

Quote:

...This is a core part of contemporary Republican philosophy, that whenever possible we should devolve power away from out-of-touch bureaucrats in Washington and send it closer to the people, to those at the state and local level who understand their citizens and can craft the best solutions for them. You've probably heard this idea articulated so many times that you don't even question it. But there are two problems: There's no evidence it's true, and Republicans themselves don't even believe it.

If you listen closely, you'll notice that Republicans always express this belief that states work better than the federal government without getting specific. What you won't hear is anything resembling evidence that on the whole, states actually do things better. It isn't that you can't find innovative state programs or effective state administrators, because you can. But you can find those things on the federal level, too. And there is precisely zero reason to believe that as a group states are more efficient, spend money more wisely, design better programs, or serve citizens better than the federal government does. The next time somebody says that they do, ask them how they know. If they say "It just makes sense," that means they have no evidence.

Waldman

When Trump took over the New Jersey Generals, they were in sorry, sad shape. Losers with just a 6–12 record. For two years he had made them winners, even though they didn't win a championship, which, again, some people still wonder about. Then the next year not only the team but also the whole league had vanished. So give the man two years as president! Just look what he can do!

Donald Trump Fought the NFL Once Before. He Got Crushed.

But things didn’t go Trump’s way. While the USFL technically won the antitrust case, the jury concluded mismanagement was mostly at fault for its problems. There was no merger and no buyouts. By 1986, the USFL was finished.

Trump’s current beef with the NFL has little direct parallel with his USFL days, and most current NFL owners weren’t around back then. But Trump is more than able to hold a grudge, so you can bet the episode is on his mind.

The case ended up in front of a jury; the NFL painted Trump as the villain. Though jurors found that the NFL was a monopoly, they awarded the USFL only $1 in damages — dooming the league.

<snip>

"Even if the league wasn't going to make it, that wasn't the way to go out of business," said Doug Allen, who represented the players' union. "He didn't care if he wrecked the league or what happened to players in the long run."

Before the upstart league, he said, "I was well known, but not really well known. After taxes, I would say I lost $3 million. And I got a billion dollars of free publicity."

<snip>

During the first six months of his ownership, Trump's name appeared 161 times in newspapers — more than it had appeared in the prior four years.

A last-ditch effort by Republicans to repeal Obamacare is in tatters after a key senator came out in opposition.
Despite a call from President Donald Trump and promises of money for her state, Susan Collins said she could not back the "deeply flawed" bill.
It was a major blow for the president and Republican leadership, who have made Obamacare's repeal a top priority.
The party's last attempt to undo former President Barack Obama's 2010 healthcare law collapsed in July.
Ms Collins, a moderate Republican from Maine, said she objected to the Graham-Cassidy bill's sweeping cut in funding to Medicaid.
One in five people in her home state depend on the programme for low income citizens and disabled children.
Ms Collins also said the bill weakened protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
She joins Republican Senators John McCain (Arizona) and Rand Paul (Kentucky) in rejecting the proposal.
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has also withheld his support and demanded changes.
Senators Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy, authors of the bill, had offered to boost federal healthcare funds by 43% in Maine.
They have also dangled sweeteners for other states with wavering senators.
Republicans hold a slim 52-48 majority in the Senate and must pass the bill by more than 50 votes before a 30 September deadline.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wanted to hold a vote this week, but that looks increasingly unlikely.
Ms Collins announced her opposition shortly after a damning assessment from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

Must've been quite a show.

Wondering how to transform this energy into analysis and dismantling of systemic racism...

Newsweek was on this email story back in January
http://www.newsweek.com/trump-emails-rnc-reince-priebus-white-house-server-548191

US President Donald Trump has doubled down on his criticism of NFL players who kneeling during the national anthem, calling them "disgraceful".
Speaking at a White House press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Mr Trump said the NFL should ban players from kneeling.
He denied he had been preoccupied with the issue at the expense of the hurricane disaster in Puerto Rico.
"It's called respect for our country," he told reporters.
Mr Trump said on Tuesday he was "ashamed" of the protests.
He said he recently visited maimed US veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the Washington DC suburbs.
"They were fighting for our country," he said, "they were fighting for our flag, they were fighting for our national anthem.
"For people to disrespect that by kneeling during the playing of our national anthem, I think, is disgraceful."