Impressions of Day One of the Democratic National Convention

 

 

Day One - Democratic National Convention

July 26, 2016 - New York, John A. Smith Founder/Editor 

It Looked Like Day One Was Going To Be More Chaotic Than Republicans

     Watching the first day of the Democratic National Convention unfold it looked like it was going to be even more chaotic than the Republicans convention. First, the release of over 20,000 e-mails by Wikileaks showing that the DNC was not only favoring Hillary Rodham-Clinton (D-NY) but actually working against Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) campaign. This did not sit well with supporters of Bernie Sanders and riled up Bernie-or-Bust supporters even more. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL) had to step aside as Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) amid the news. The emails also reveal a close relationship between mainstream media outlets and the DNC. She initially resigned but said her resignation would become effective after the convention, and that she would still gavel the convention open and would close it as well. She addressed delegates from her home state of Florida at a breakfast and was shouted down by Bernie supporters booing her and holding up signs that read "e-mails." Donna Brazile, a veteran Democratic political strategist, adjunct professor, author, and syndicated columnist who was announced as the interim Chair of the DNC. It became clear that Debbie Wasserman Schultz would not be able to appear on stage at the convention without problems so finally she had no choice but to announce that she would not be appearing at the convention. Then it was announced that Marcia Fudge (D-OH) was to be the permanent Chair and would gavel open the proceedings. Bernie Sanders also addressed the Philadelphia delegates early in the day, possibly to allow the "steam-valve" to release some of the pressure and was himself booed by his own supporters when he said they should vote for Hillary Clinton.

The Democratic National Convention Officially Opens

     So the convention was opened by Marcia Fudge with the Bernie-or-bust supporters being quite loud  and the new Chair said she wanted to hear everyone's opinions and that she will "respect everyone and expects to be respected." A MSNBC reporter at one point said that the California delegation, who had the most, and loudest, Bernie-or-bust supporters, planned to rip up the "Stronger Together" signs when speakers asked for supporters to vote for Hillary Clinton or come together in unity. Bernie-or-bust supporters continued to heckle and distract as speakers said to come together and support Hillary Clinton. 

Speakers Who Shined and Turned it Around

     First it must be said that the first relief came in the form of comedy by Al Franken (D-MN) who showed he still has it telling the crowd that "we will have fun this week, but come Monday we must work hard." He said that people with children need to make calls and knock on doors, "the children will be fine." He said "8 year-old children know how to use a microwave, and 8 year-old children can teach 4 year-old children how to use the microwave." "They'll be fine." Then Sarah Silverman, an American stand-up comedian, actress, producer and writer, a strong Bernie Sanders supporter in the primary, from the beginning of his campaign, came out to address the convention and told the crowd "I'm with her," in requesting unity in the party. As Silverman was told to "stretch" meaning Paul Simon an American musician, singer-songwriter and actor. was not quite ready to come out and sing Bridge Over Troubled Water, Al Franken came out and joined her. The California delegation Bernie-or-bust supporters were again getting loud and Sarah Silverman was getting visibly upset and said to those supporters "can I just say to the Bernie-or-bust supporters - "your being ridiculous." A line that will surely be in the reports of the conference. Then came Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) who gave the most energetic and powerful speech of the night, bringing up a lot of history and making former President Bill Clinton smile, a lot. His speech, said Eugene Robinson, a Pulitzer-prize winner and MSNBC contributor was "reminiscent of then Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, the United States of America speech where he said "there's not a blue state America, there's not red states of America, there's only a United States of America". Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) did her part speaking about Donald Trump's (R-NY) many, many, faults and incompetence. First Lady Michelle Obama once again hit it out of the park. Talking about her, and President Barack Obama's, daughters, calling them "two beautiful black young women," and to children "across the nation," she said "don't let anyone ever tell you this country isn't great, that somehow we need to make it great again, this right now is the greatest country on earth." When the first lady came on stage, the heckling, and loud outbursts, stopped, and the arena became quiet. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) did what he needed to do with much grace and intensity. At times sounding like his stump speech he came through and gave good reason to get on board and said "we must elect Hillary Clinton the next President of the United States. He didn't get booed as he did when he spoke to the Philadelphia delegates earlier in the day, or at least it wasn't as noticeable on this broadcast. He did say to his supporters he was looking forward to the 1800+ committed delegates voting for him today, meaning there will be a roll call of all the states voting for their candidates.

What to Expect Tonight

     The roll call votes of delegates may again cause some contention but hopefully it will again end with more unity. The schedule for tonight, reported by Politico is as follows:

Tuesday:
Democratic National Committee Vice Chair of Voter Registration and Participation Donna Brazile
Former State Senator Jason Carter (Georgia)
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (California) and the Democratic Women of the House
Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Cecile Richards
President Bill Clinton
Gavel time expected at 4:30 p.m.
Also scheduled Tuesday are Mothers of the Movement members Gwen Carr, Mother of Eric Garner; Sybrina Fulton, Mother of Trayvon Martin; Maria Hamilton, Mother of Dontré Hamilton; Lucia McBath, Mother of Jordan Davis; Lezley McSpadden, Mother of Michael Brown; Cleopatra Pendleton-Cowley, Mother of Hadiya Pendleton; Geneva Reed-Veal, Mother of Sandra Bland.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/dnc-2016-schedule-of-events-and-speakers-225617#ixzz4FWIRQo00

      The Grand Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police produced a statement yesterday that said in part "We are shocked, angered and saddened the convention planners have invited the survivors of several who have tragically, died as a result of altercations with police officers to speak at the convention, while totally ignoring the survivors of brave officers who were gunned down in ambushes in places like Dallas, and Baton Rouge, and Kansas City.

     It looks like it will be another interesting night. Until then

11 Dallas Police Officers Shot - 5 Dead - 1 Civilian Injured - Enough Is Enough!

July 8, 2016, New York, John A. Smith, Editor and Founder of Get Involved For A Better America blog, and Facebook page Stop The Obstructionist Tea Party    
  
     Working in New York City's Emergency Medical Services I had occasion to come in contact with police officers immediately after they were involved in a shooting. I transported some of them, included one that had shot himself in the foot from the extreme amount of adrenaline released in your body when someone shoots at you. And yes, I transported the body of a dead police officer, Ray Canon of Smithtown, NY. who was killed by four 16 and 17 year old who were robbing Frenchie's Bike Shop on 108th St. and Flatlands Ave.

     My first comments must be that my heart and sincere condolences go out to the families and friends of those officers shot, and killed. We MUST  do some things to try to prevent the things that are happening in this country. The hatred, racism, gun violence, unjust shootings, and a host of other problems that lead to events like what happened in Dallas, Louisiana, and Minnesota.

     I came in contact with, and/or transported, at least 10 police officers immediately after they were involved in a shooting. I can tell you this, not ONE of them were "happy" to be involved in the situation. I had a partner in the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) left to go to the NYPD academy. After 9 months of training he graduated and was put on the streets of New York City (NYC.) After only one month on the streets he found himself in a shoot-out. The massive amount of adrenaline released when he was shot at caused him to draw his weapon and start firing. He missed his foot but emptied the gun BEFORE he was able to raise his arm up to a level position! He quit the next day and returned to EMS.

     The officers I treated and transported were in varying states of shock, one was staring into space and couldn't speak, all were shaking uncontrollably. I was once stopped at a light at Springfield Blvd. in Queens when a car passed by rapidly with an unmarked police car right behind. The first car stopped abruptly about 100' past where we were. The driver got out and started firing at the police officer in the unmarked car. My partner and I realized the bullets had to go by our ambulance really close. That was sobering. The point is no police officer is looking forward to being in a situation where their life is in danger.

     We must ask ourselves the following questions and come up with reasonable and effective solutions. We must be honest with ourselves. Here are some questions I would like discussed along with my beliefs:

1.      Q: Are some Police Officers racist? Yes. In any profession with as many people as the police departments you are bound to have some that are racist.  Action needed: There must be better screening, action taken when an officer does things that are racist and superiors that know of a racist cop must get them out of law enforcement. As a Paramedic I treated every patient as if they were a family member. Once in awhile I would get a partner who was clearly not in the right place as far as how they treated certain patients, I refused outright to ride with them. 
2.      Q: Do police officers perceive people of color to be more dangerous and therefore a bigger treat? Yes. I believe that there are some officers who perceive people of color to be a bigger threat. I think that one reason is that out of all the most dangerous situations officers have been in a majority is with people of color and therefore feel when they are in a dangerous situation with a person of color they are more at risk. But this goes for other people as well. For instance, when PCP ( a hallucinogenic drug) was popular I would encounter someone high on PCP, they were many times presenting with eyes bulging, sweating profusely, and  often would not feel any pain, even when hurting themselves. You can bet that officers who had to deal with people in this state also perceived that the person presented a bigger threat. Action needed: There is no way stop someone from perceptions that they have or get. However, training could help officers recognize their perceptions and try to deal with them. People need to understand that police officers are often confronted with real threats and sometimes only have a split second to react. However, training might suggest that the first thing a police officer does when presented with a threat is to assess whether they have a way to back away, deescalate the situation so that they can process the situation and threat. This won't be the case in some situations. If the officer has a few seconds to assess the threat and situation there may be a different outcome.
3.      Q: Why are officers on the street after they have been recognized to use excessive force on numerous occasions? Action needed: Administration and Supervisors must also be assessed. There are indeed departments that have systemic problems where the administration itself is bad. They, the administrative personnel and Supervisors that  have to be removed if they themselves are racist or have a mentality that is not conducive to good policing.

          These are just a few questions that I have, there are many more.  We must understand that the large majority of police officers go out everyday, putting their lives on the line, deal with the most dangerous and violent people, and have the mentality that they are there to protect and serve their communities. For the families that lost a police officer in Dallas, a father, a husband, a brother, ( I don't know if a female officer was killed, if so, a wife, a mother, a sister, etc.) it's a horribly sad event that happened.

John Oliver Examines the One Proposal that Trump has Actually Shared Anything on "HOW" He would Execute

      "I'm Going To Build A Wall, A GREAT Wall, It's Going To Be So GREAT, The BEST Wall Ever, and Mexico Is Going To Pay For It"  - Donald Trump

John A. Smith, Editor/Founder of this blog "Get Involved For A Better America" March 27, 2016

People Angry At "Bought And Paid For Politicians" and "Establishment"

     Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump has got people into a frenzy, and some have become violent, partly because he "says things the way they really are," according to the supporters. Granted that it has become painfully obvious that people, in general, both Republican and Democrats, are angry that politicians who accept very large donations from 1%er's and large corporations are indeed indebted to those contributors, and therefore laws are made to protect and assist them without any regard for the actual people that those politicians are supposed to be representing. Up to as many as 70% of people in polls have said they are disgusted with 1) Politicians who are bought and paid for by the rich and corporations, and 2) so called "establishment" politicians who "go along to get along" and whom just go through the motions of looking like they are representing their constituents but are actually working for their party and the large contributors. At times the obstructionists in the Republican party have threatened their own members with running someone against them in their next primary if they don't vote the way the party wants them to, which is against anything President Obama supports. With this being a fact, Trump has been able to soar in polls and get followers to vote for him in primaries. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has also inspired a number of young people to get involved in the political process because they want things to change. The number of people that show up at Senator Sanders rallies is astounding, and shows people want someone that is straight talking and for the people, not for the corporations and ultra rich. Sanders also is able to do the straight talk, and tell the truth. He is able to say what is on his mind because he has received over 6 million individual donations which average only $27 per donation. Sanders is not taking the kind of money from Wall Street and 1%er's like other candidates in the Presidential campaigns and does not have a Super PAC like Hillary Clinton (D-NY) whose Super PAC recently raised over $15M. He speaks the truth because he's not a puppet, and not beholden to 1%er's and large corporations. Sanders has been said to be organizing a "revolution" which is bringing a lot of young people into politics. That is why when there is a large voter turn out Bernie Sanders does very well. Hillary Clinton just took 5 days off her campaign for fundraising, fundraising from the 1%er's and corporations which people are unhappy about. This has lead to Trump making outrageous, unrealistic, false, statements and outright lies that he knows will get people riled up. He actually makes fun of his supporters, he has said things like "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any supporters." Not only are his proposals mostly unrealistic but are impossible to execute, unconstitutional, and require others to adhere to his ridiculous ideas  ("Mexico will pay for the wall"), which don't seem likely at all. His proposal to ban any Muslims from entering the country is just ridiculous because 1) every country that has flights to the United States would have to require Custom Agents to screen all passengers by asking them if they are Muslim. It isn't realistic to think that Mr. Trump would be able to get that kind of cooperation from all over the world to go along with his proposal. n if that happened, it never would, you would have to have the "Muslim" say they were Muslim. Who on earth thinks that an actual terrorist that is Muslim would answer "yes" to the question from a customs officer "Are you Muslim?" because the only way to know if someone is Muslim is by asking them; and 2) those passengers that were asked if they were Muslim would have to answer yes knowing that when they did they would be denied boarding! For a Muslim to say yes, he or she is a Muslim when they know they will not be able to board, especially a Muslim terrorist, is just not realistic and in fact absurd. It is truly insane to try to understand why people actually follow, and believe, Donald Trump. Knowing what we do about voters and the fact of why they are truly angry at the way things are we understand why people like to hear things that Trump blurts out, off the cuff, but to believe he could actually do what he proposes when he offers no actual ways of doing them is just dumb. Trump says all these things like his slogan "We will make America GREAT again, "the wall will be a GREAT wall," "Mexico will pay for the wall," "I will make the BEST deals and wipe out the bad deals that our leaders have made," but has rarely ever said HOW he would do any of it. Since one of the first things he said he would do is "build a wall" he has actually gotten pressed enough to give a few specifics about his idea of this wall. He said initially that the wall would cost "about $4B, they say $10B but it would only cost $4B if you know what your doing." And this is where John Oliver on "Last Week Tonight" on HBO Sundays at 10PM ET picks up the story.

John Oliver Examines the One Proposal That Trump has Actually Shared Any Specifics About - THE WALL

     Donald Trump said "the wall will cost about $4B, they say $10B but it will be $4B if you know what your doing." John Oliver started by saying "lets look at a serious proposal by a serious candidate seriously." Trump subsequently changed his estimates of what the wall would cost to: "the wall will cost about $6B; then he said the wall will cost $8B-$10B"; then to "the wall will cost maybe $12B." "Trump's margin of error is equal to the entire GDP of Moldova." said Oliver.

State flag of Moldova

     During a stump speech by Trump a child asked "what will the wall be made of"? Trump said that's a great question and brought the boy up on stage. His answer was "hardened concrete, reinforcement bars (rebar) and steel." Trump has given numerous statements about how tall the wall would be, he has answered anywhere from 35' to 90'. Actual estimates for a 35 foot wall, by experts, put the cost as follows: $10B for the concrete panels, $6B for steel and labor, $1B for footings, $2B to build roads so 20-ton trucks can get the materials to the site, and another 30% for design, engineering, and management. That puts the estimated cost at 2-6 times Trumps estimate, that's $25B. That's not worst thing. Two other factors are worse than the cost estimates, 1) The government has no buffer between the border and where the fence would be built (because a lot of the border is actually the Rio Grande river) causing the government to either have the land signed over by the property owners, or taken away from those property owners. That happened when GWB ordered a 700 mile fence. One couple was told they have to sign over 3/4 of their property, they said no, so the government used eminent domain and took their property. This same scenario happened many, many, times. 2) Studies showed that maintenance would pass the construction costs in seven years meaning the maintenance would cost more than $25B every seven years. In addition there are other problems. GWB signed a law to build the fence and allowed waived 36 laws allowing Homeland Security to ignore those laws. Laws like the "Endangered Species Act" and 35 others. While they were building the 700 mile wall the government unearthed graves, sacred burial grounds. Perhaps the biggest problem with the efficacy of the wall stopping illegal immigration is that more than half of illegal aliens entering the country do so by coming through actual controlled border points. They enter on work, and other visas and simply overstay their visas time. The next problem is that drug cartels build and use tunnels, and actually have devices to simply launch drugs over the wall, like a catapult.  

THIS IS TO RIDICULOUS TO EVEN WASTE MY TIME, THIS POST IS DONE.

If One Party Puts Up a Candidate that is not “Bought and Paid For” the Other Party Better Do the Same

American people are at not only angry about the greedy 1%er’s and corporations but of politicians being bought and paid for, and elections being bought by the same. I google searched “American Greed in Politics” and chose this one, by Magnitsky Act | Voices from Russia.  This became my single image. My fear is that the one constant in all of the polls both Republican and Democratic is that they show, I believe, 70%+ of people don’t want an “establishment” candidate nor one who is indebted to the wealthiest 1% of people in the country, or corporations. They like people who can speak their mind or the truth and their own positions. Hence you get a Donald Trump who certainly fits the bill of saying anything he wants speaking his mind because he owes no one as far as he is not accepting donations from the rich or corporations. What astounds me is that people buy into things like “banning all Muslims” or any of the other racist, narcissistic, hateful, divisive, crap that comes out of his mouth. My real fear is that the DNC is trying to destroy any chance Bernie Sanders has of being the Democratic nominee who is the other candidate drawing large crowds. Hillary, an “establishment” candidate whom has many ties to Wall Street, 1%er’s, corporations, as well as support from Debbie Wassermann-Schultz and the DNC, Super Delegates, and more working to make her the Democratic nominee. Here’s the problem, 70%+ DO NOT WANT someone from the “establishment” or someone who is perceived to be, or actually is, “bought and paid for.” Therefore, if Donald Trump wins the Republican nomination, which it now looks like he has a good chance of doing, and Hillary wins the Democratic nomination, which with “the fix” possibly being in, Trump will get the White House. People are so angry at “establishment” politicians and those who are indebted to the 1%er’s and corporations that they WILL NOT VOTE, or at least will not vote for Hillary Clinton. The Democrats best chance to win the White would be to nominate the person drawing 13,000 people to hear him speak in Arizona. I mention that because John McCain (R-AZ) was on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, (I think it was) last night, and said that Bernie had drawn that many to an event in Arizona and that even though he’s been one of their politicians for 25 years HE could not draw 13,000 people to an event. If Donald Trump wins the Republican nomination then the Democrats better not put up a candidate that has been bought and paid for.  They better make the Republicans #FeelTheBern if they don't want to lose The White House.

Do You Believe Corporations That Move Their Headquarters Overseas to Avoid Paying U.S. Taxes Should Get Gov't Contracts?

Bills in House and Senate to Stop Corporations That Have Moved Headquarters Overseas to Avoid Paying U.S. Taxes From Getting Government Contracts;

NOW is the Time To Act!

Bills in the House and Senate

H.R. 1809 "No Contracts For Corporate Deserters Act of 2015 was introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives (Congress) by Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro on 4/15/2015. It is currently in the Armed Services Committee. That is why it is NOW that you should contact YOUR Congressman or Congresswoman and call or e-mail them and tell them you support H.R. 1809 and want their support. In your call or e-mail ask them directly "will you support this bill" after you tell them you want it passed. To FIND and/or CONTACT YOUR Congressman or Congresswoman simply go to : https://www.congress.gov/ and enter your zip code. You will be given YOUR Congress Representatives name and contact information. If you send an e-mail you will receive a letter (albeit a form letter) stating your Representatives position, of which you can respond to. You will know if your Representatives supports the bill or not. But more importantly your Representative will know that their constituents are tracking this legislation and that it matters in the next election. Please do this now and contact your friends and share this information. The more calls and e-mails, the better to let our Congressman and Congresswoman that we don't want corporations that move their headquarters overseas to avoid paying taxes get government contracts.

S.169 "No Tax Write-Offs For Corporate Wrongdoers Act was introduced on 1/13/2015 by Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT) and is the equivalent of H.R.1809 in the House of Representatives. Please FIND/CONTACT YOUR U.S. Senators by going to http://senate.gov/. It is not write that corporations put a building in another country and call it their "World Headquarters" and therefore are able to not pay taxes on billions of dollars in profits by doing business in America. 

Track These Bills, Track YOUR Representatives

One very easy way to find and let your Representatives know how you feel about a bill is POPVOX located at: https://popvox.com/   Register at this site and it will give you who YOUR Congressman or Congresswoman is and who YOUR 2 U.S. Senators are. Once registered you can search for legislative bills or simply type the number of the bill in. Below I show screenshots of what you can expect once you register. Please click on the link above, register, and put in your information so that POPVOX will show you your Representatives, then one at a time type in H.R. 1809 and follow through the prompts for "I Support This Bill" and it will register your support in the poll and automatically send YOUR Representatives both in Congress and the Senate a message showing you support the bill, and even let you add your personal comments. Take a look at this easy process that I just completed to let MY Congressman and U.S. Senators know how I feel:

STEP ONE: Click on this link, POPVOX then under "It's Your Voice" enter your information to register:

Click on https://popvox.com/ and register under "It's Your Voice

STEP TWO: Type in H.R. 1809 (you'll do this once for the House bill and again for the Senate bill S.169.)

Type H.R. 1809 for the House bill, when finished go back to your Dashboard and type in S.169 to send your message to your U.S. Senators

STEP THREE: Click on the bill you want to respond to:

Just Click on the bill you wish to vote on/Support

STEP FOUR: Click on "I Support This Bill" you will then be given a chance to add your personal information so that POPVOX will figure out who your Congress is and send them your message. The message that will automatically be sent to YOUR Congressman or Congresswoman when you are done:

 STEP FIVE: You will be given an opportunity to add to a message supplied:

If you wish, add your comments to the message already supplied by POPVOX

STEP SIX: Go back to your Dashboard and type in the "Search Bill by Number or Keyword and type in S.169 and repeat above steps to have your message automatically sent to YOUR 2 U.S. Senators. When your done go to your "Profile" and you will see YOUR Congressperson and YOUR two U.S. Senators. You can now "Track" your Representatives and receive information whenever they Sponsor or Co-Sponsor a bill or vote on a bill.

 

Your Profile showing YOUR Representatives

That's it! You have now acted on your position. Thank you for being active in telling our Politicians that we are tired of them acting in the best interests of corporations and the richest of the rich. You should feel that you've accomplished something, because you have!

Another great website to FIND/TRACK YOUR REPRESENTATIVES IS GovTrack. It's another very easy to use site that will help you find, and contact, YOUR Representatives, track voting records and bills, and let your Representatives know that you are paying attention of what they are doing.

GovTrack is another great site to FIND/CONTACT and TRACK YOUR REPRESENTATIVES

Thank you for being an active citizen that cares enough to communicate with you Representatives. If you would like to get important information please "Like" my Facebook page Stop the Obstructionist Tea Party and "Subscribe" to this/my blog: "Get Involved For A Better America" 

 

Get Involved For A Better America

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How to Find and Contact your Representatives

To FIND, and CONTACT, YOUR State

​ and Local Legislators enter your

​Address and ​

Zip Code at:

Open States: http://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/


To FIND, and CONTACT, YOUR U.S. Congressmen/women enter your Zip Code at:

​Congress.gov: https://www.congress.gov/

To FIND, and CONTACT, YOUR U.S. Senators enter your Zip Code at:

​Senate.gov:  http://senate.gov/

     I have provided the links above to assist you in finding and contacting YOUR Representatives simply by typing in your zip code

​ (or address and Zip Code for your local and State politicians)​

at those sites. By contacting them by phone or e-mail you will let them know that you ARE paying attention to what they are doing, and what YOU want them to do.