Daily Kos

Former DACA recipient goes to the border to fight for separated migrant families

Gabe Ortiz

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday July 04, 2018 · 12:00 PM PDT

2018/07/04 · 12:00

Campaign Action

Sandra Sanchez’s summer had already been planned out. The 20-year-old was going to take summer classes at Berea College in Kentucky, where she would be starting her junior year in the fall. But when she “watched the news as children were separated from their families” and then put into cages, she knew where she had to be.

“I wanted to be there,” she writes in Cosmopolitan. “I researched where I could help and ended up getting an opportunity to join up with the Border Angels at the California border as a volunteer.”

Sanchez knows firsthand how vulnerable these children are, because she was one of them. For most of her life, she was undocumented, coming to the U.S. when she was just two. Some of the migrant kids separated from parents at the border today, according to attorneys, have been even younger than that.

“If I was in that situation,” she continued, “I would want someone to fight for me, so that's what I decided to do.”

Sanchez’s days start early, sometimes at five in the morning. When she’s not helping migrants find work or doing water drops at the border, she’s meeting with families who have been separated from their loved ones and are at their most vulnerable.

“One family I spoke to told me they had been separated from their son,” she said. “It was so painful for them to talk about—they couldn't even get out all of the information because they were so physically upset. He was sent back to Mexico without them. They told me he was struggling and no longer the same.”

How progressives talk about July 4 and our national history

Ian Reifowitz

Community

Wednesday July 04, 2018 · 11:00 AM PDT

2018/07/04 · 11:00

I always enjoy Meteor Blades' post (below on the front page) about July 4, which centers on Frederick Douglass' iconic speech, "The Meaning of July 4th for the Negro," delivered in Rochester, New York, in 1852. The speech described the alienation slaves and African Americans in general felt from July 4, and also from America more broadly. Although the most often-quoted section discusses that sense of alienation, it is also important to remember Douglass's conclusion to the speech:

Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented, of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery. "The arm of the Lord is not shortened," and the doom of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from "the Declaration of Independence," the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age.

Douglass remained optimistic about the future, despite the reality that—in 1852—the overwhelming majority of black Americans were enslaved. President Obama gave a speech on June 30, 2008, called "The America We Love." It wasn't about the meaning of America for blacks as a whole, but what America meant to him as an individual. Colbert I. King of the Washington Post compared Obama's remarks with Douglass’. King noted that Obama, even while running for president and having his patriotism questioned, did not whitewash America's history by ignoring its misdeeds. Although as a boy he had expressed a childlike love of our country, his patriotism remained strong even as he learned more about and gained a fuller understanding of our past:

Obama said that as he got older, that instinct, "that America is the greatest country on earth—would survive my growing awareness of our nation's imperfections."

King then neatly summarized the differences between Douglass' and Obama's speeches:

While Douglass noted his estrangement from America's experiment with democracy, Obama claimed America as his own and the Fourth of July as a time to rejoice.

My guess, especially given his hopeful conclusion, is that if Douglass were alive today he would speak about America in a way that resembles Obama's depiction—in the body of his public remarks over 25 years—in the broadest sense. Neither would ignore the horrific crimes of the past, nor the way the legacy of those crimes continues to resonate. Neither would shrink from highlighting the continuing, fresh injustices being visited on African Americans and members of other non-white groups today, those being carried out by the Trump Administration as well as by local authorities. But both would present a nuanced narrative—one full of struggle and loss, yet also one of hope and gradual progress toward a goal for which we continue to reach. In The Audacity of Hope, Obama asserted that on civil rights "things have gotten better," yet added: "better isn‘t good enough."

Frederick Douglass: Lincoln's thorn, and his partner. Here's his fiery speech on July 5, 1852

Meteor Blades

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday July 04, 2018 · 10:00 AM PDT

2018/07/04 · 10:00

Frederick Douglass memorial in Central Park, New York.

Various versions of this post have appeared at Daily Kos since 2008.

We do too much "heroification" in America, according to James W. Loewen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong (one of his several books that ought to be on everybody's shelves).

Loewen thinks the word hero has been cheapened, ending up more often a description for football quarterbacks who throw perfect last-minute passes than for, say, the passerby who risks her own life to pull a child from a flooding river.

Heroification describes what textbooks, many teachers, and the likes of Lynne Cheney have done to a multitude of other notable Americans. The process of heroification not only turns the notorious into role models, but also many people who actually deserve the praise they get are transformed into one-dimensional stereotypes without flaws. It’s as if we can't stand to see our heroes as human beings who don't always get things right, who, in fact, sometimes behave deplorably and hypocritically.

Douglass sometime between 1847-52 — Douglass c. 1847

Despite his flaws, my No. 1 personal hero is—and has been since I was introduced at age 14 to his autobiography—Frederick Douglass, the runaway slave whose persistent eloquence was one of the leading factors persuading Abraham Lincoln to bring black soldiers into the Union Army. Without those 180,000 men who ultimately fought, quite literally, for freedom, it is uncertain that the Union would have survived.

Lincoln and Douglass were perfect exemplars of how to effect change, within the government and without. The former slave could not have come near achieving his aims without a strong (though initially reluctant) ally in the White House. Lincoln might well have not changed his goals in the war from saving to Union to demolishing the “peculiar institution” without Douglass’ relentless criticism and exhortation.

Working on the outside and on the inside were both needed for that big change to happen. We should remember that when assessing the state of our politics today, and the value of critics outside the party process.

It's our flag, too

Joan McCarter

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday July 04, 2018 · 9:00 AM PDT

2018/07/04 · 09:00

WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness—That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security.

This is the 242nd July 4th since those words changed the world. This one, though. This one.

In all of our names, this nation is ripping babies from their parents and putting them in cages. These are parents who have struggled through unimaginable terrors and hardships to reach our border, seeking refuge, seeking safety, trying to save the lives of those children. And our nation is tearing those families apart, with no apparent intent to ever reunite them.

If that were the only evil we’re having to fight. It’s the worst, and it’s far from singular. With all this swirling around us, with a governing Republican party that every single day repudiates the very notion that we are all created equal, this isn’t a day to celebrate.

I bought a new flag last week. My family’s old flag, which eventually found its way to my hall closet, has seen better days. I also bought a bracket to mount it on my porch, since I haven’t had one. Instead, I’ve just hung the flag from the roof every year. But it seemed like a new flag deserved a bit more.

The new flag and its bracket sat on my coffee table for days.

Police chiefs push for humane alternatives for migrant parents and kids, not 'family jails'

Gabe Ortiz

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday July 04, 2018 · 8:00 AM PDT

2018/07/04 · 08:00

Texas has been ground zero in the Trump administration’s fight to separate migrant families, as well as to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. But the state is also home to some of the most vocal opponents of mass deportation policies, like United We Dream (UWD) Houston and Houston police chief Art Acevedo.

Acevedo, along with Storm Lake, Iowa, police chief Mark Prosser, write in a joint op-ed that “simply put, immigrant families are not threats to national security”:”

Even ignoring its questionable legality, detaining entire families does not make our communities safer. What it does is make children suffer.

Over the past few weeks, more than 2,000 migrant kids have been kidnapped from parents due to the administration’s barbaric “zero tolerance” policy, with no plan on how to reunite them. These families should never have been separated in the first place, and Donald Trump’s sham executive order calling for them to be detained together is no solution to the crisis he created either.

As Acevedo and Prosser write, “there are multiple alternatives to family detention” that are not just vastly cheaper—$300 a day for family detention versus $6 a day for alternatives—but far more humane.

Democratic voter turnout is up in Georgia. Let's help Stacey Abrams turn the state blue in 2018

Kelly Macias

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday July 04, 2018 · 7:00 AM PDT

2018/07/04 · 07:00

Stacey Abrams, the Daily Kos endorsed Democratic candidate for governor in Georgia.

With Georgia firmly in the middle of its gubernatorial race, there are some insights from the primaries which suggest things could potentially go well for Democrats in November. As per an analysis by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, black voter turnout in May’s primary increased by 43 percent compared to the 2010 election for governor—the last time there was a competitive race. Most of the black vote in May went to Democrats. At the same time, white voter turnout was down 9 percent when compared to 2010.

There are likely many factors for this increased voter participation. Around the country, many voters are looking at midterms as an opportunity to express their extreme dissatisfaction with Donald Trump and his administration’s policies. But, also, and more importantly, this is an incredibly exciting time in Georgia. Stacey Abrams, the Daily Kos endorsed Democratic candidate for governor has the chance to become the state, and nation’s, first black woman governor. Until the July 24 runoff which will determine her Republican opponent, it’s not yet clear who Abrams will face in November. But her strategy remains the same for November: energize voters of color and white progressives to turn out and close the gap in votes that has long plagued Democrats in Georgia.

In 2014, Republicans outvoted Democrats by around 265,000 votes. But, in May, the GOP advantage was only about 56,000. Abrams is relying on math as the key to securing a victory. She is confident that if Democrats actually come out to vote, they can win the governor’s mansion. Political scientists seem to agree with her. Charles Bullock from the University of Georgia says, “ “If [Abrams] were to replicate the kind of feat she had in the primary, that would provide her with the kind of votes she’ll need [in the general election].”

One thing that Republicans fail to realize is that demographic change is coming to Georgia and the state no longer looks like same. The state is poised to become majority-minority by 2025. But instead of expanding their voter base, they continue to rely solely on the white conservative vote. But, the numbers don’t lie. The total number of non-white voters in the state has increased 46 percent in the last 8 years and they are mainly voting Democrat. At the same time, the number of white voters who vote Republican is decreasing. This has some in the GOP recognizing that their failure to change and appeal to other voters could mean a defeat in November. Republican strategist Chip Lake said about the election, “The greatest problem facing our party right now is complacency.”

Abrams is taking advantage of this complacency. She won all but six of the state’s counties in the primary and turned out Democrats in diverse areas. And she refuses to court the white swing Republican-leaning voters that Democrats have traditionally been obsessed with getting. She knows who her voters are and is working hard to engage with them consistently. As Georgia Democratic strategist Richard McDaniel said, “When you have a solid message and strategy to engage the African-American community, you will increase turnout and also your chances of winning. Abrams is an organizer at heart—and she understands this.”

Please donate $3 today to help Stacey Abrams defeat Republicans in November and become Georgia’s next governor.

Happy Birthday, America, your approval ratings are at a record-low thanks to Trump

Kerry Eleveld

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday July 04, 2018 · 6:00 AM PDT

2018/07/04 · 06:00

Sorry to break this news on July 4, but America's approval ratings among its citizens are currently at record lows. For the first time since Gallup began asking the question, less than half of U.S. adults say they are "extremely proud" to be an American. That's a nearly 20-year low and, yes, another major "win" for Donald Trump.

As one might guess, it's Democrats who are feeling the least prideful about being American (32 percent), with a noticeable dip also occurring among Independents (42 percent) since Trump took office in 2017. Meanwhile, Republicans are gliding along as if the world is their oyster, with 74 percent bursting with pride about being American.

And even more than Democrats, “political liberals” are the least likely to be “extremely proud” to be an American right now at 23 percent. It’s a rough go, folks, but we’re all in this together. Silver lining: Nowhere to go but up?

Anyway, happy birthday, America—let’s work on a makeover this fall!

Cartoon: Independence Donald

Mark Fiore

Community

Wednesday July 04, 2018 · 5:30 AM PDT

2018/07/04 · 05:30

Vimeo Video

With Donald Trump at his golf club in New Jersey and many people headed away for the Fourth of July holiday, there’s no telling what might happen. Maybe a Wednesday Night Massacre? Let’s hope it’s just a calm vacation day that doesn’t have any surprises in store for Democracy.

The President is enjoying asserting his power and luxuriating in those Supreme Court wins. And he never EVER called for anything nasty to happen to journalists, right? He’s just joking about beating up protesters, or maybe not? Trump is a master at trailing off the end of those “joke” statements. Leave it hanging so you can wiggle out of whatever you were saying later if need be. Enjoy the Fourth of July and stop by my Patreon page sometime.

Cheers and Jeers: July 4, 1776

Bill in Portland Maine

Community

Wednesday July 04, 2018 · 4:48 AM PDT

2018/07/04 · 04:48

From the MASSACHUSETTS-ANNEXED FRONTIER TERRITORY OF MAINE

Yaaaay! It’s July 4th honest BBQ time!

YouTube Video

Thanks so much, Republicans, for forcing this year’s July 4th to be on a stupid Wednesday. You don’t think we won’t remember this crap decision in 125 days when we vote in the midterms? Ha.

Our annual posting of the original Cheers and Jeers from July 4, 1776---discovered gathering dust and mold behind some rotten drywall at the farm of Phinneas Pawpatch on July 5, 1776---starts in the Commonwealth of Billeh... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]

Poll

2973 votes Show Results

Have you ever visited Philadelphia to see where all this nation birthin' business happened?

2973 votes Vote Now!

Have you ever visited Philadelphia to see where all this nation birthin' business happened?

Yes

52%

1539 votes

40%

1202 votes

Actually, I live there/used to live there

232 votes

Abbreviated Pundit Round-up: What's a trade war gonna do to my vote? What's threatening Roe?

Greg Dworkin

Community

Wednesday July 04, 2018 · 4:30 AM PDT

2018/07/04 · 04:30

Just ask the soybean farmers. Or a Harley owner.

Happy July 4th! Keep working to make this truly the Land of the Free (whether it ever was or not, it’s an ideal worth fighting for).

The Hill:

Farm group: There’s ‘a lot of anxiety’ over Trump tariffs

A National Farmers Union representative says American farmers are growing even more concerned over President Trump’s new trade tariffs.

Matt Purdue, who is the Government Relations Representative for the organization, thinks there’s “a lot of anxiety” within rural communities across the country over the Trump’s trade policies, which impose steep tariffs on some of America’s closet allies like Canada and China.

“I think a lot of people are willing to take him at his word – that what he’s doing is going to be helpful for farmers and ranchers in rural communities,” Purdue said. “At the same time, there’s a lot of anxiety and I think that anxiety is growing over time.”

Purdue acknowledged that Trump was right to be point out the flaws in U.S. trade policy and make sure that America gets a fair shake on a global scale when it comes to trade agreements. He pointed to one of the main concerns for the National Farmer’s Union – country-of-origin labeling (COOL). This is a consumer labeling law that requires retailers to identify the country of origin where certain foods are processed.

But instead of being able to bring stronger trade agreements to the table, Purdue says the president has sparked a trade war.

CNN:

Dubious Fox News article appears to have sparked Trump attack on Obama

President Donald Trump appeared to rely on a dubious Fox News report Tuesday morning to unleash an attack on his predecessor, accusing President Barack Obama, without any real evidence, of granting citizenship to 2,500 Iranians as part of nuclear deal negotiations.

"Just out that Obama Administration granted citizenship, during the terrible Iran Deal negotiation, to 2,500 Iranians - including to government officials," Trump tweeted. "How big (and bad) is that?"

Jeff Prescott, the former senior director on Obama's National Security Council, called Trump's allegation "absurd and entirely false."

That Trump lied or flat out made stuff up because he heard it on Fox is bad enough. But the next time might be far more serious.

Daily Kos Radio WAS LIVE at 9 AM ET... last year!

David Waldman

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday July 04, 2018 · 4:00 AM PDT

2018/07/04 · 04:00

Have the Happiest July 4th you possibly can! After all, it might be our last, if Putin says so.

I’ll be doing it by re-running a July 4th show from a simpler time: last year. You remember last year, right? That was back when Donald Trump was wary of North Korea. Remember? Ah, the old days!

Now, we’re pals! So if they launch any missiles this July 4th, we’ll just call them fireworks, and thank them with a hearty handshake, and maybe a few salutes to their military brass.

Listen right here at 9:00 AM ET!

PODCAST LISTENERS: There’s a new podcast platform in town, and the big news is: this one pays! RadioPublic pays podcast producers on a CPM basis, for listens on their native app (available for iPhones & Androids), financed by pre- and post-roll ads they insert. Not a bad way to support the show, with somebody else’s money!

So if you’re a podcast listener, please consider downloading the RadioPublic app on your Android or iOS phone. Yes, you can still download directly from their site, or listen to the player embedded here at Daily Kos. But it’s listens in their app that count toward payment.

Nothing changes on our end. It’s still Greg Dworkin, Joan McCarter, and even Armando. Plus also, me. And you! As always, we still want your voice on the air with us. Sit down with your smart phone or other electronic recording device and send us your stories and commentary to share with the audience. There’s no easier way to try your hand at podcasting, without all the hassle!

Of course there’s no substitute for having your support via Patreon, or one-time contributions via Square Cash. (And hey, if you want a cool trick for donating sorta-kinda cost free, get their cash.me app and use this share code to get $5 in your account (plus $5 in mine) when you send your first $5 (to anyone)!

For now, how about one on the house? Here’s what we did last time out, on our LIVE show:

Embedded Content

RadioPublic|LibSyn|YouTube|Patreon|Square Cash (Share code: Send $5, get $5!)

As the old saying goes, if you can’t stand the heat, get out of Virginia and hang out in Iceland. That’s just what David Waldman’s doing, but not before joining Armando on today’s KITM to bring the heat on those that deserve to sweat: More details emerge on the antics of our King of Debt, around the period of his cash-only spending spree a dozen years ago, and his failed attempts to buy the landmark St. Andrews hotel in Scotland. Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley asked to lower American flags in honor of the fatal shooting of five employees of The Capital newspaper. Donald wasn’t feeling it. Donald Trump doesn’t feel empathy or shame, but he did eventually feel the heat, so the flags go to half-staff. Trump never trusted George W. Bush, or Barack Obama, but Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad are two he can always rely upon. Rhode Island Democrats troll the libs by primarying their own representative with an alt-Right Trump supporter. Alan Dershowitz feels the brunt of the anti-Alan Dershowitz sentiment sweeping the country, especially around Martha’s Vineyard. Melania Trump wants you to read only good news about her, and pay her for looking at her. So far that plan is going well. Independent journalist Marcy Wheeler, @emptywheel, puts a human face—her own—to the risk posed to witnesses from the Gop's interference with the DOJ.

(Thanks to Scott Anderson for the show summary! Please help me pay him more!)

Need more info on how to listen? Find it below the fold.

Right-wing Twitter goes ape for #WalkAway bots

Laura Clawson

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday July 03, 2018 · 7:30 PM PDT

2018/07/03 · 19:30

Man urging liberals to #WalkAway — Aspiring actor auditions for Fox News by urging liberals to #WalkAway

The online far right indulged in another epic bout of wishful thinking over the weekend. This time their fantasies were at least less harmful than #Pizzagate, if no more true. With #WalkAway, conservatives tried to convince themselves and one another that there is “a ‘growing movement’ of Democrats—particularly minority Democrats—abandoning their party, and liberalism.”

The whole thing apparently started with a video by an aspiring actor in New York urging other people who had once considered themselves liberals to “walk away” and start a movement. The video has more than a million views on Facebook and is in no way an audition for a paid Fox News gig or some other form of wingnut welfare. (Just kidding—that is 100 percent what it is, and it will probably pay off.)

The Washington Post’s Abby Ohlheiser describes the #WalkAway phenomenon:

A hashtag claiming to capture a movement among liberals has gone viral, in this case, almost exclusively on the right-wing Internet, as a reinforcement of one of its binding ideas.

Supposed liberals are Walking Away from the Democratic Party and somehow the people noticing their social media posts about it are not the other liberals who you might expect to be friends and followers of liberals, but conservatives. Interesting, huh? The hot new viral movement leaned on stuff like this:

Via @placeboasis, here's another fake account trying to make #WalkAway happen. 16k RTs for "Sofia Vargoros," a bot with a profile pic stolen from -- I am not kidding -- a book about getting rich from penny stocks. pic.twitter.com/FHWPjaABaX
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) July 1, 2018

Clap harder, guys.

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