Barbara Jordan & the Victory for Workers That Almost Was
Source: RealClearPolitics - Homepage · Bias: Center Right
Summary
In 1994, Barbara Jordan emerged into the thick of the immigration debate with a voice, a delivery, and a message of economic justice as powerful as an Old Testament prophet and as job-centered as the legendary trade unionist A. Philip Randolph.
Barbara Jordan & the Victory for Workers That Almost Was
Center Right
In 1994, Barbara Jordan emerged into the thick of the immigration debate with a voice, a delivery, and a message of economic justice as powerful as an Old Testament prophet and as job-centered as the legendary trade unionist A. Philip Randolph.
Dear Democrats, Since too many people are complaining about you without providing any suggestions on what you could be doing better (other than “DO BETTER FFS!”), I’m here to help. We’re all tired of watching Democrats tweet without really doing anything, or getting into dumb flame wars with MAGA Republicans. Let’s fight smarter! Before we dive in, I know nobody likes being criticized or hearing the phrase, “You know what you should do?” When someone tries that with me, my immediate instinct is never to do whatever it is, because I’m a stubborn Taurus woman who hates being told what to do, like most women. But in this case, I must insist on telling you what to do, because it’s what you should do. Not to humblebrag (and yet also to brag like a man with a track record like mine would be allowed to brag about), but I have a long, long history of offering my ideas to people (men) in positions of power who laughed at me, but then made a lot of money from my ideas — but never kicked down any scratch or gave me credit. Non-political examples from my real life include:*Telling my first (male) radio boss in 1994 that Radiohead and Beck weren’t one-hit wonders *Telling my last (male) radio boss in 2006 that creating social media accounts for our station and streaming our signal online were essential for us to stay relevant [I also helped to create and named the station’s annual holiday concert series, which continues to be its biggest annual moneymaker]*Telling Dave Grohl in 2002 that if he wouldn’t cover my favorite song (“Heroes” by David Bowie) with Foo Fighters at Coachella ahead of their impending rumored breakup, then he needed to write me a song just as good. Dave then wrote “Times Like These,” which is just a rewrite of “Heroes,” and while he didn’t laugh at me, the Foo Fighters also never broke up, and I’m pretty sure I’ll never get any credit for it.Then there’s my entire Twitter political history, getting blocked by Trump and so much of MAGA, and all of the things I’ve written about how Democrats need to fight the Trumpublicans better. It led one of my followers to dub me Dublin “NosTARAdamus,” even though I’m more of a Cassandra when it comes to the political side of my predictions.Most importantly, I was a guest of then-DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison at our 2024 convention in Chicago, and I got myself there with all of two days’ notice, because I’m a magical human with amazing connections. I even met Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta and his husband, and Rep. Kenyatta told me he read my tweets. I’m tired of giving away my ideas for free, but I’m equally tired of not getting anywhere when it comes to getting Democrats to listen to me. Short of running for office (never happening, I’d be a nightmare of a candidate), I can either keep screaming my ideas into the abyss, or I can try to get the DNC to at least put me somewhere on the payroll as a consultant. The number one thing I’ve been screaming about (besides never understanding why no one challenged the 2024 election results, but we’ll circle back in a sec) since January 2025 is how much the party needs our own press secretary.A Democratic Press Secretary could easily set themselves up at the Capitol and hold a daily briefing to fact-check whatever KKKaroline Lie-vitt had just lied about. An immediate Democratic response every day, similar to the State of the Union response, would have an impact. Every member of the press would cover it, including the right-wing media, because they’d try to make content with gotcha questions. It would be the party’s best opportunity to get the truth out before the lies can take hold.And it would be a chance to show the American people what Democrats are actually doing to combat the barrage of awful from the Trump regime. Instead of tuning out the way Trump wants us to, more people would tune in because they’re starving for the truth, along with something to hope for.We need to see more Democrats bringing back some dignity to their offices, and we have the perfect model with Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), a new contender for the 2028 ticket. I’m also very proud of my Oregon Democratic delegation, who’ve collectively fought for all of the right things, yet fly under the radar despite their consistently strong performances. We also have an out and proud lesbian Governor, Tina Kotek, who could really use more support from the party right now, as could the record number of women (51!) currently running for Governor in their own states. Here’s the free advice I’m offering right now, but I’m not kidding when I say you need to reward those of us out here trying to keep/put as many Democrats in Congress in November, even as the GOP is doing everything to cheat. Every Democratic candidate needs to frame their Trumpy opponents (Trumpponents? Is that a thing we could make stick?) as willing co-conspirators in the Epstein Files cover-up. Make it as much about Epstein as possible.
CNN anchor Pamela Brown let no inconsistency fly in a Thursday interview with U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).Browns first confrontation involved Jordan’s denial that Trump AG nominee Todd Blanche failed to deliver a death certificate of President Donald Trump’s controversial proposed $1.8 billion slush fund and the immunity it provided Trump’s family.“Well, it seems to be pretty clear that they want assurances that the anti-weaponization fund will not move forward and that they have issues with the agreement that the justice department made to make sure that the trumps are not audited by the IRS. Are you supportive of that settlement? “Well, Todd said it's dead. I think he said that multiple times. So, I don't know what is going on in these negotiations. The guy who's going to be hopefully the next attorney general has said this thing is finished.” Jordan said.“Well, he told a house committee that he wouldn't put it in writing.”“He said it's dead. They're not going to do it. I don't know what else it takes,” Jordan complained.“You're a lawyer,” Brown protested. “I mean, don't you tell any clients you've ever had to ‘get it in writing?’ Isn't that like, Legal 101?”“I'm not a lawyer. Full disclosure: I'm not a lawyer either,” said Jordan. “I went to law school, graduated, didn't take the bar exam. So I don't know.”After that, Brown corrected on the fact that the slush can indeed be used to pay money to people who “hurt cops on January 6.”“No, no, no, no,” said Jordan, getting irritated. “The weaponization fund is set up to help people like [anti-abortionist] Mark Houck, where the [Merrick] Garland FBI kicked in his door in a predawn raid when he told his lawyer said he's happy to turn himself in.”“But they wouldn't rule out that it could go to people who beat cops,” Brown reminded him. “The vice president refused to rule it out.”But things went further downhill from there, after Brown confronted Jorden on his hypocrisy regarding the assault controversies of Democrat candidate Graham Platner and GOP lawmaker Mark Miller, who Jordan refused to ask to resign after assault allegations.“Look, this is the this is a family matter. I know max is a good man. I was up campaigning for him. I hope he wins reelection. He's done a good job as a member of congress, and we should all pray for his family. These are difficult times that they're going through,” said Jordan.“It's just worth noting. I mean, the allegations include that Miller scalded his ex-wife's chest and stomach when he threw hot water at her, that he held a gun to her head, that he pushed her against a wall and hit her in the head, that he fractured their daughter's collarbone and bruised her shoulder. That his two-year-old daughter reportedly told his ex-wife, ‘daddy, kill you.’ I want to play for you. What you said when you were asked about Platner, who faced allegations of abuse.”“Let's watch what you told News Max,” Brown told Jordan before playing him saying Democrats “will take any crazy position as long as it furthers their their ability to win elections and get power and frankly, to go against anyone that goes against President Trump.”“Why does that not apply here to Republicans who want to keep power in the seat?” Brown demanded.“Well, I don't know the context of the question I was asked about Mr. Platner, but my guess is, was it was about all the ridiculous positions he's taken.”“The [NewsMax] banners there says ‘Platner Ex-girlfriend accuses him’” Brown pointed out.“Yeah, well, I don't I don't know, I didn't answer, I don't know that I answered that question. I think I was dealing with just who he was as a candidate,” Jordan said. - YouTube youtu.be
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) was backed into a corner on Thursday during a CNN interview when anchor Kasie Hunt asked him to respond to domestic abuse allegations involving a fellow GOP lawmaker from Jordan's home state.Hunt asked Jordan to comment on Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) after reports that Miller, who was married to Sen. Bernie Moreno's daughter Emily Moreno, had allegedly scalded her with hot water and held a gun to her head.Jordan initially responded to Hunt's question and said "this is a family matter." "I know Max is a good man," Jordan said. "I was up campaigning for him. I hope he wins reelection. He's done a good job as a member of Congress, and we should all pray for his family. These are difficult times that they're going through."But then Hunt pointed to his comments about former Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner. She played a Newsmax interview, showing what Jordan had said when allegations of sexual misconduct against Platner had surfaced."I want to play for you what you said when you were asked about Graham Platner, who faced allegations of abuse," Hunt said.CNN cut to the interview with Jordan — with Hunt urging the Republican to comment on the difference between the two situations."That's always been the case with Democrats," Jordan said. "It's all about maintaining power. They will take any crazy position as long as it furthers their ability to, to win elections and get power and frankly, to go against anyone that goes against President Trump."Hunt pushed back."Why does that not apply here, to Republicans who want to keep power in the seat?" Hunt asked.Jordan tried to dodge the question, claiming he didn't remember the context of the question he was asked."I think I was dealing with just who he was as a candidate, and the crazy, antisemitic, anti-Israel, pro-Nazi positions that he has taken," Jordan said. "I think, is evidenced by the fact that he had a what, a Nazi tattoo on his chest."
The Pentagon on Wednesday evening announced it carried out a fresh round of strikes against Iran after President Donald Trump committed to delivering the Middle Eastern country “a beating” for launching surprise attacks on U.S. troops in Jordan. U.S. Central Command said U.S. forces began launching strikes against Iran at 8 p.m. EDT on Wednesday. […]
Iran’s surprise attack on U.S. forces in Jordan is threatening to blow up the temporary pause in fighting between the two sides. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired ballistic missiles at U.S. forces in Jordan on Tuesday evening, before the U.S. and Saudi Arabia launched strikes on Tehran-backed militias in Iraq hours later, raising…
Iran released video it claimed showed advanced ballistic missiles targeting U.S. forces in Jordan in a surprise attack at the same base where three Americans were killed less than two weeks ago. Charlie D'Agata reports.
