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"No More War": Protesters Disrupt Ex-CIA Director Leon Panetta's DNC Speech
Protests on the floor of the convention continued on Wednesday. They reached a peak when former CIA Director Leon Panetta took the stage. While Panetta was criticizing Donald Trump’s appeal to the Russians to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails, many delegates started chanting "No more war!" We hear Panetta’s remarks and speak to a Bernie Sanders delegate who took part in the protest.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: Protests on the floor of the convention continued on Wednesday. They reached a peak when former CIA Director Leon Panetta took the stage. While Panetta was criticizing Donald Trump’s appeal to the Russians to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails, many delegates started chanting "No more war!"
LEON PANETTA: Donald Trump asks our troops to commit war crimes; endorses torture; spurns our allies, from Europe to Asia; suggests that countries have nuclear weapons; and he praises dictators, from Saddam Hussein to Vladimir Putin.
DELEGATES: No more war! No more war! No more war! No more war! No more war!
LEON PANETTA: Today—
DELEGATES: No more war! No more war! No more war! No more war!
AMY GOODMAN: Just after Leon Panetta stopped speaking, Democracy Now!’s Deena Guzder caught up with one of the delegates who took part in the protest.
ALEXIS EDELSTEIN: My name is Alexis Edelstein. I’m a delegate for California for the District 33. And I’m a Bernie delegate.
DEENA GUZDER: Who was speaking, and what happened here at the DNC right now?
ALEXIS EDELSTEIN: The former director of the CIA, Leon Panetta, was speaking. The Oregon delegation started to chant "No more war!" All the Bernie delegations, all 57 of them, states and territories, chanted "No more war!" with them. As soon as that kept going and going, the DNC shut off the lights to the Oregon delegation, almost as a way of showing that they want to silence them.
DEENA GUZDER: Why did this action happen when Panetta was speaking, in particular?
ALEXIS EDELSTEIN: The "No More War" action, plus, as you know, Leon Panetta is CIA. The CIA, you know, it’s supporting foreign wars nonstop, continuously, also initiating drone wars. Hillary Clinton is a warmonger. Hillary Clinton wants to continue all the wars in the Middle East. Hillary Clinton is with Israel on the Palestinian issue. We are for a free Palestine. Hillary Clinton wants to continue all acts of foreign insurgency. And Hillary Clinton, as the secretary of state, was also responsible in supporting the coup in Honduras. Myself being from Argentina, I’m very sensitive to Latin and South American issues. I was born under a military dictatorship in Argentina that was supported by Henry Kissinger. And Hillary Clinton is a supporter of Henry Kissinger. So, that’s why we’re very antiwar, anti-Hillary Clinton. Half of the budget goes to the war budget, to the defense budget, and that really sacrifices what else we can invest in infrastructure, education, healthcare, all the things that this country is lacking and that—what Bernie Sanders is fighting for.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Bernie Sanders delegate Alexis Edelstein. When we come back, we’ll host a debate between professors Michael Eric Dyson and Eddie Glaude. Stay with us. ... Read More →
Michael Eric Dyson vs. Eddie Glaude on Race, Hillary Clinton and the Legacy of Obama's Presidency
On Wednesday night, President Obama addressed the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia and implored the nation to vote for Hillary Clinton. As Obama seeks to pass the torch to his secretary of state, we host a debate on Hillary Clinton, her rival Donald Trump and President Obama’s legacy between Princeton University professor Eddie Glaude and Georgetown University professor Michael Eric Dyson. Glaude’s most recent book is "Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul," and he recently wrote an article for Time magazine headlined "My Democratic Problem with Voting for Hillary Clinton." Dyson is the author of "The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America" and wrote a cover article for the New Republic titled, "Yes She Can: Why Hillary Clinton Will Do More for Black People Than Obama."
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, our two weeks of two-hour specials daily, "Breaking with Convention: War, Peace and the Presidency." I’m Amy Goodman. We’re broadcasting this week from the Democratic National Convention here in Philadelphia. To talk more about the convention, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and President Obama’s legacy, we’re joined by two guests.
Eddie Glaude is chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University. His most recent book is Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul. He recently wrote an article for Time magazine headlined "My Democratic Problem with Voting for Hillary Clinton."
Also with us, Michael Eric Dyson, a Georgetown University professor, author of many books, including The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America. Last November, he wrote a cover article for the New Republic titled "Yes She Can: Why Hillary Clinton Will Do More for Black People Than Obama."
Professors Michael Eric Dyson and Eddie Glaude, thanks so much for joining us.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Thanks for having us.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Thanks for having us.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, let’s start with you, Professor Dyson, on this issue of why Hillary Clinton, you say, will do more for African Americans than President Obama.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Well, I was making that argument in the context of a host of things, the least—not the least of which is that President Obama, for a variety of reasons, has been hamstrung, has been disinclined to deal with race, has been hesitant and procrastinating about engaging race. And I think that Hillary Clinton, for many of those reasons, will be more forthcoming. She’s spoken, I think, very intelligently about implicit bias. She has asked white people to hold themselves accountable vis-à-vis white privilege. She’s been talking about systemic racism, as well as individual acts of bigotry and violence. So, I think, in the aggregate, when we look at the degree to which she is capable, because of that very white privilege, to speak about race, in a way that Obama, even if he chose to be more forthcoming, would be categorized and put in a black box, in a certain way, that she has both the drive, the intelligence, the ability and the privilege to speak about it in a way that he is perhaps not only disinclined to do so, but maybe restricted, in his own mind.
AMY GOODMAN: Professor Eddie Glaude?
EDDIE GLAUDE: Well, you know, I understand the claim around the limits or the constraints faced—Obama faced, but I think the claims around Hillary Clinton are basically aspirational, because there’s no real—there are no real—there’s no real evidence in her immediate past of any kind of genuine and deep concern about the material conditions of black life. And so, in other words, what I’m suggesting is that part of what—the problem is that we can’t infer from anything that she’s done that when she gets in office, that she’s going to change and address the circumstances of black folk in any substantive way, or the most vulnerable in any substantive way, because at the end of the day, I think, Hillary Clinton is a corporate Democrat, that she is committed to a neoliberal economic philosophy.
AMY GOODMAN: What does "neoliberal philosophy" mean?
EDDIE GLAUDE: Well, a neoliberal economic philosophy involves a kind of understanding that the notion of the public good is kind of undermined by a basic market logic that turns us all into entrepreneurs, where competition and rivalry define who we are, where the state’s principal function—right?—is to secure the efficient functioning of the economy and the defense, and creating the market conditions whereby you and I can pursue our own self-interest. And part of what that does, if we only read it as an economic philosophy and not understand it as a kind of political rationale producing particular kinds of subjects, who are selfish, who are self-interested, who are always in competition with one another, then we lose sight of how neoliberalism attacks the political imagination. So the interesting question that I ask of Hillary Clinton is that, will she fundamentally change the circumstances that are at the heart of the problem facing this country? In fact, I think she’s illustrative of the problem confronting the country.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Well, I mean, that’s interesting.
AMY GOODMAN: Professor Dyson?
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: I mean, obviously, I agree with your analysis of neoliberalism. But in terms of dissecting the constitutive elements that make up what neoliberal vision is, we’d have to—given what you were talking about in terms of self-interest and competition, we’d have to say Bernie Sanders exhibits, in a profound way, some of the same elements, if that becomes the litmus test.
EDDIE GLAUDE: No, we’re all in it, though.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right? So, if we’re all in it, that means then the distinction makes no difference, because, ultimately, if you’re talking about affecting material conditions of black people, I think that not only does she vote 93 percent of the same way that Bernie Sanders voted, say, as one, if you will, lodestar for what a progressive politics might look like, it’s not simply about inference. It’s about the fact that she’s spent her time working with Marian Wright Edelman. It’s about the way in which, as a first lady, she championed causes that black people could not only be concerned about, but were involved with. It’s not only the fact that, as a senator and then as a secretary of state, her awareness of what ethnicity and race and, of course, gender, those differences, might make at least provide the platform for her to articulate that vision. And more especially, in the aftermath of racial crisis in America, she has responded in a way to mobilize the public understanding of those interests.
So, for me, if material interests are the predicate for us determining the legitimacy or efficacy of a particular policy, yeah, it’s aspirational, but I want that aspiration to be about taking black life seriously. I want that aspiration to be about what we can do to transform the fundamental condition of our people. And I know, given the fact that Cory Booker has a prominent blurb on your book that’s supporting you—
EDDIE GLAUDE: Oh, but we disagree.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right, I know you disagree, but I’m saying you disagree with him, but you’re still in league with him in terms of your analysis of what happens, even though—and I’m a fan of Cory Booker, but the devastating analysis of the consequences of neoliberalism in Newark.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Absolutely, absolutely.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: So, I’m saying, so all of us are going to be associated with people who are not perfect—
EDDIE GLAUDE: Nobody—but let’s be—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: —but we’ve got to figure out a way to transform the context.
EDDIE GLAUDE: But let’s be very clear. Nobody’s trying to occupy—
AMY GOODMAN: Professor Glaude.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Nobody’s trying to occupy a pure, pristine space. We all have dirty hands.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right.
EDDIE GLAUDE: But let’s be honest, right? In terms of—we can all do—people have been talking about her work with Marian Wright Edelman. You know, we know about the brother Peter, left the Clinton White House for a reason, right? What did he leave it for? He left because—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right. Her husband. Her husband.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Not only her—no, see, this is what we want to—we want to attribute CHIP to her—right?—when we know Senator Edward Kennedy was leading that charge.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right.
EDDIE GLAUDE: She had to convince the White House in order to support CHIP, right? But we know what welfare reform did. What did it do? It moved all these folk off the rolls, right?
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: I’m with you.
EDDIE GLAUDE: As poverty increased. And it increased extreme, deep, extreme, deep poverty, right?
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: But I have no—I agree with you.
EDDIE GLAUDE: I know. I know you do. So, part of that, we need to understand, right? What do we talk—how do we talk about her response to those babies, those children—right?—who were leaving the violence, who were fleeing the violence of Honduras and Central America? We’ve got to send them back.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Right? How do we respond to an economic philosophy—right?—that holds Wall Street in high regard and Main Street in particular sorts of ways—right?—as secondary, in certain sorts of ways? So, part of what I’m suggesting here—right?—is not that I’m trying to defend Bernie Sanders.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right.
EDDIE GLAUDE: As you say, that’s just one bloom—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right.
EDDIE GLAUDE: —of the blossom of democratic awakening taking place in this country.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: No doubt.
EDDIE GLAUDE: What I’m saying is, we need to understand who Hillary Clinton is, just as we need to understand who Barack Obama is.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: No doubt.
EDDIE GLAUDE: And part of—and what I take it to be is that part of what these folks are, they’re representatives of the corporate wing of the Democratic Party. These folk—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right.
EDDIE GLAUDE: —it’s been on their watch.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Let me say this—
EDDIE GLAUDE: Crime bill, the welfare bill, dismantling Glass-Steagall—it’s been on their watch.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: You ain’t no doubt—ain’t no doubt about that. But here’s the bottom line, and here’s the context.
EDDIE GLAUDE: All right.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: As they say in basketball, you’ve got to deal with what the defense gives you. We are talking about Donald Trump. We’re talking about Hillary Clinton in the context. Let’s bring it back to reality. We’re talking about within the—
EDDIE GLAUDE: We haven’t been in reality, though, Mike?
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: We’ve been in a serious reality that is abstract in considering the philosophical consequences of particular ideologies. What I’m saying, in light of the real-life circumstances we face now, we’re talking about the choice between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton—and, of course, Jill Stein and the Libertarian candidate, but I’m talking about those who’ve got a real chance to win. And when we’re talking about those who’ve got a real chance to win, if we’re concerned about the very people you’re speaking about—you and I are going to be fine whether Donald Trump is president or whether Hillary Clinton is president, in terms of our material conditions, but the people that we claim ostensibly to represent, those whose voices we want to amplify by our visions, by our own reflections upon the conditions they confront, ain’t no doubt in my mind that Hillary Clinton represents the only possibility to at least address the undeniable lethargy of a political system—neoliberalism, in particular; more broadly, the kind of epic sweep and tide of capital and its impact on the conditions of working-class and poor black people. But I’m saying, ain’t nobody got a possibility of doing none of that in a context where Donald Trump is the president. It may mobilize and galvanize grassroots movements that will articulate their resistance against him. What it will not be able to do is leverage the political authority of the state in defense of those vulnerable bodies. It’s not been perfect, but it certainly represents a huge advantage over a possibility of a Donald Trump presidency.
EDDIE GLAUDE: So, let me make this point really quickly, right? So it is the case that we have to keep Donald Trump out of the White House. But it’s also the case that, under current conditions, 38 percent, close to 40 percent, of children in the United States are growing up in poverty. In my home state of Mississippi, 50 percent of black children are living in poverty, right?
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right.
EDDIE GLAUDE: It is the case under these current conditions, with Barack Obama in office.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: I’ve documented—
EDDIE GLAUDE: It is the case that Freddie Gray’s mother is still grieving, right?
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: That’s right.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Rekia Boyd’s mom is still grieving.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: I’m with you.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Right? We can just—we can call the roll.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: I’m with you.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Call the roll. So, part of what we’re saying is that one of the things we have to do—we have to do two things simultaneously. One is keep Donald Trump out of office. And two—right?—announce that business as usual is unacceptable.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Yeah, but—
EDDIE GLAUDE: So, what does that mean?
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Are they competing?
EDDIE GLAUDE: If you’re going—so, no, no. Of course. If it’s going to mean that if the—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: It’s a priority.
EDDIE GLAUDE: No, if it’s going to mean—hold on, let me make the claim.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right.
EDDIE GLAUDE: It’s going to mean that the fear of electing Donald Trump cannot be the principal motivation of how we engage politically. So, part—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Absolutely, right now, it must be the principal motive—
EDDIE GLAUDE: No, no, no. No, no.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: No, no. Let me tell you why.
EDDIE GLAUDE: That’s a very limited conception of what democratic—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: No, no, no, because—because your—
EDDIE GLAUDE: —democratic action—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: —your ideals will be subverted, undermined, marginalized and totally put to the periphery, if Donald Trump—
EDDIE GLAUDE: You have a—you have an anemic conception of demos, brother.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: No, no, no. I’m saying it ain’t the demos, it’s the demon I’m talking about. And the demon right now, in my mind, is Donald Trump. I’m saying, if we don’t make that the priority of preventing the flourishing of an ethic, of a politic and of a conception of the state, much less of the global theaters within which America operates, if we don’t prevent Donald Trump from ascending, so to speak, to that throne, all the legitimate stuff that you and I agree on, any analysis you make—if you read my book on President Obama, I lay all that stuff out there. I lay out the way in which black lives have been decentered in terms of their economic and social stability. And, furthermore, when you talk about the degree to which black life matters, if that is—do you think—in a Donald Trump presidency, not only can we not acknowledge that black lives matter, we can’t even see if black lives can exist on a particular kind of plane that represents anything like democracy. So, I’m saying that’s the priority. And if that is addressed—I don’t want to reduce all of the complicated political energy in America to electoral politics, but electoral politics is a crucial wedge that can be inserted into the contemporary political scene to at least be able to make a change.
EDDIE GLAUDE: So we’ve already agreed on a basic claim, right? The basic claim is that we need to keep Donald Trump out of office.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: No doubt, as a priority.
EDDIE GLAUDE: No, but—as a priority, right?
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right.
EDDIE GLAUDE: And as an additional priority, not a secondary priority—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right, right, right.
EDDIE GLAUDE: —we need to announce that business as usual is unacceptable.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: I’m down with that.
EDDIE GLAUDE: But you seem to be supporting business as usual, because Hillary Clinton, no matter what they—how they try to rebrand her over these next few days, over these—over this last few days—right?—no matter how they try to brand her as a change maker, she is the poster child—right?—of the corporate takeover of the Democratic Party.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right.
EDDIE GLAUDE: She’s the poster child of Blue Dog Democrats, I would even say, of a certain kind of conservative tendency in the Democratic—so, what does it mean—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: No, I would disagree with that. But go on.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Well, I mean, of course, we can—we can debate that. I might have overstated the case there. But what does it mean for us to be committed to a radical conception of democracy?
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: I’m down with the radical conception of democracy.
EDDIE GLAUDE: No, I don’t—I don’t want to—I know, but you seem to be putting forward a kind of Niebuhrian realism here.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: No, what I—
EDDIE GLAUDE: Reinhold Niebuhr.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: No, no, what I’m putting forth is—
EDDIE GLAUDE: But part of what—but hold up. Let me make this point, though.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: —an existential anxiety in the face of—
EDDIE GLAUDE: I know. But it seems to me—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: —creeping demagoguery that renders—that renders our philosophical differences abstract.
EDDIE GLAUDE: It’s not abstract. It’s not abstract.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Because in the real world that you claim to be concerned about, what we are concerned about is how black people and poor people and people of color and people across the board who are vulnerable—
EDDIE GLAUDE: What I’m concerned—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: —get represented in a politics of representation in our democracy.
EDDIE GLAUDE: What I’m concerned about, Mike, is what you know as well as I do, is that political scientists have said that black folk are a captured electorate. That is to say, the Republican Party doesn’t have to care about what we do, and the Democratic Party, every four, two, four, six years, come into our communities—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: I’m with you on that.
EDDIE GLAUDE: —and try to herd us to the polls like we’re cattle chewing cud.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: I’m with you on that.
EDDIE GLAUDE: And then they have no obligation—no obligation—to deliver on policy.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: But so—
EDDIE GLAUDE: So, she shows up—she shows up—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Wait a minute.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Hold up, hold up. She shows up in a church.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right.
EDDIE GLAUDE: They come to churches.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right.
EDDIE GLAUDE: They come into our communities. And when we talk about policy, how are you addressing the legacy of doing—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: But I’m with you on that.
EDDIE GLAUDE: So, point on point on point on point—so, then, if you’re with me on that—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right.
EDDIE GLAUDE: —how is it then that a Democratic candidate can come into our community, come into this moment, where all of this suffering—where you and I have been laid it out in both of our books—all this suffering is engulfing our communities, when we look at the back of Barack Obama’s head, what’s going to be behind it are the ruins of black communities, the ruins of the most vulnerable in this country.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: I agree.
EDDIE GLAUDE: And then we get business as usual, rebranded—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: But what I’m saying, look—
EDDIE GLAUDE: —and only because we’re afraid of Donald Trump and not understanding our power as the demos.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: You know what? But it’s both-and, isn’t it?
AMY GOODMAN: Let me let President Obama weigh in on this.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right, OK.
AMY GOODMAN: On Wednesday night, he said no one is more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as president.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Even in the midst of crisis, she listens to people, and she keeps her cool, and she treats everybody with respect. And no matter how daunting the odds, no matter how much people try to knock her down, she never, ever quits. That is the Hillary I know. That’s the Hillary I’ve come to admire. And that’s why I can say with confidence there has never been a man or a woman—not me, not Bill, nobody—more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as president of the United States of America.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s President Obama on Wednesday night addressing, oh, 17,000, 18,000 people who packed into the Wells Fargo convention center. Professor Dyson?
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Well, first of all, the importance of that statement was to mitigate the vicious, lethal legacy of sexism that has become so normalized that we don’t even pay attention to it.
But let me get back to the point we were making before the break of Obama’s rhetoric. The point is that—why is it that we reduce the complicated legacy of our freedom struggle to present moments? Howard Thurman, the great prophetic mystic, said, refuse the temptation to reduce the level—to reduce your dreams to the level of the event, which is your immediate experience. And what I’m arguing for, Brother Eddie, is that we pull upon the very romantic, in the best sense of that word, conceptions of self-determination and the flourishing of black agency—all those technical terms. In other words, for black people to get stuff done under impossible circumstances.
The reason I can maintain the hopefulness—and Niebuhr, since you brought him up, talked about the difference between optimism and hope. Optimism is a shallow virtue; hope is a deep virtue. Even in the face of impossibility, I happen to believe in a religious and spiritual reality that has been manifest politically, that has motivated black people from the get-go. And what that says is, I don’t care what you put before me, I don’t care what’s going on, I’m not going to give in to what’s happening. If you’re talking about it’s tough now, Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Ella Baker were operating under conditions where black people didn’t even have the franchise.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Right.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: If black people were able to leverage their political authority, and especially their moral compelling arguments, their narratives and their stories in defense of their vulnerable bodies, who are we now, with enormous access to the vote, to lament the impossibility of the situation? As if this choice between maintaining a conception of the flourishing of black people under impossible circumstances versus putting Donald Trump in office—let’s do both. Let’s both acknowledge that Donald Trump is the most immediate priority to be prevented, and then, at the same time, as you say, speak about these other interests. But it doesn’t mean it has to be either-or. Why can’t we do both? Why can’t we put Hillary Clinton in office, the way you have conversation with Cory Booker, the way you have engagements in an elite white institution? You ain’t teaching at Howard, and neither am I.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Right.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: All of our hands are dirty.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Morehouse.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right, but you ain’t—I’m saying—
EDDIE GLAUDE: I know. I got you.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: I got you. My son graduated from there. Marc Hill, what’s up? Professor there. But my point is that it’s not an either-or situation. And I think that what you say, I agree with. But what I don’t agree is deferring the legitimacy of the priority of Donald Trump being stopped from occupying space that will bring—if it’s bad now, it’s going to be—it’s a Bobby Womack ethic. If you think you’re lonely now, wait until the night, until Donald Trump becomes president.
AMY GOODMAN: Professor Eddie Glaude, who do you want to see as president?
EDDIE GLAUDE: With these two choices?
AMY GOODMAN: In this election.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: That’s no choice for you, those three, four.
EDDIE GLAUDE: I have—I have no interest. I have—neither one.
AMY GOODMAN: You don’t think it matters whether—
EDDIE GLAUDE: I don’t want Donald Trump to be in office. I can only put it in the negative.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Well, that’s good enough. That’s good enough.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Right. Yeah, so I’m only going to put it in the negative.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: I’ll run with that.
AMY GOODMAN: And if you don’t want Donald Trump to be in office, how would you prevent that from happening?
EDDIE GLAUDE: So, part of what I’ve been arguing—and I wrote a piece with Fred Harris, a political scientist at Columbia—that we should vote strategically. And that is to say, if you’re an African American or if you’re a person of color or you’re a progressive of conscience, who’s—where the word actually means something, right?—in a swing state, it makes all the sense in the world to me, in a battleground state, that you vote for Hillary Clinton, because one of the objectives is to keep Donald Trump out of office. But if you’re in a red state, like my mom and dad—my mom and daddy are in Mississippi. Right? They’re Democrats, but we know Mississippi is going Trump. Right? What do you do? You can actually blank out. You can leave the presidential ballot blank. You can vote for a third-party interest. Right? Because what will happen? In that moment—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Wow!
EDDIE GLAUDE: —you will actually, 2020, given the turnout of how many people vote for the presidential—the Democratic candidate, will actually impact the number of delegates that come from that state to the convention in 2020. I’m in a blue state.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right.
EDDIE GLAUDE: I’m talking straight, because part of what we have to do is shift the center of gravity of how African Americans engage the political process, because this is what—1924, James Weldon Johnson says it’s almost as if the "Negro vote"—quote—has already been prepackaged and sealed to be delivered before they vote.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: I got you.
EDDIE GLAUDE: In 1956, "Why I Won’t Vote," W. E. B. Du Bois writes this piece and says, "I reject the lesser of two evils."
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: We got all that.
EDDIE GLAUDE: In 1965, Malcolm X said we should treat the ballot like a bullet, and, until we get our targets set, keep our ballot in our pockets. Right? So, part of what I’m saying—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: And all I’m saying—
EDDIE GLAUDE: Hold up, hold up, hold up, Mike. You—no, hold up. You invoked the grandness of the tradition. I’m giving you examples—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: But we ain’t got enough time to give—
EDDIE GLAUDE: —of what does it mean—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right.
EDDIE GLAUDE: —to think strategically about the vote and what does it mean to actually embrace a radical Democratic vision. If you are a centrist liberal, own that.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right. Here’s my point.
EDDIE GLAUDE: If you’re not, then embrace a different kind of politic.
AMY GOODMAN: Professor Michael Eric Dyson?
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: But I’m saying you’re not a centrist liberal, but you’ve got a centrist liberal on your book. You engage with him.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Oh, it’s published by Crown.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Well, let me—let me finish. Let me finish. But what I’m saying to you—making my point even more.
EDDIE GLAUDE: I’m not trying to claim a pure space, Mike.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: But what I’m saying to you—no, no, but if you ain’t claiming a pure space, don’t claim a space that sounds to most black people out there listening—this is the problem with these Negro intellectuals. You’re talking about an abstract articulation—
EDDIE GLAUDE: No, I’m not.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Let me finish—of grand principles and possibilities. When the woman asked you—or, as in our tradition, aksed you—who you’re going to vote for, you’re stumbling and stammering and—
EDDIE GLAUDE: I didn’t stumble.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Hold on. What I’m saying, you had a pregnant pause. It delivered and birthed in us a—
EDDIE GLAUDE: I’m leaving it blank.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: What I’m saying to you—and that is not neutral. As you know more than anybody else, that’s not a neutral thing. And I wish that black people were political scientists who could adjudicate competing claims about rationality, on the one hand, and demagoguery, on the other. I’m telling you, at the end of the day, the black people you’re concerned about, the vulnerable people you’re concerned about, can’t make distinctions—if you’re in a blue state or in a red state—they can’t color-book like that.
What they have to understand is, the junta that is in the offing with Donald Trump coming into office has to be resisted. Go out and vote for Hillary Clinton, because a vote for Hillary Clinton preserves the possibility that the very dialogue that Professor Glaude and I are having, the very possibility of evoking a grand tradition of Du Bois and Malcolm X and James Weldon Johnson—however, none of them got you the vote. Martin Luther King Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Ella Baker, those are the linchpins in the narrative of black resistance to white supremacy, social injustice and economic inequality that have delivered. I agree that we should study this in class, but on your ass, you should go out and vote for Hillary Clinton, who makes a tremendous difference.
EDDIE GLAUDE: See, no, no, no. See, now, this is the thing. You have to have a fundamental faith in everyday, ordinary people.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: I’ve got a people in it.
EDDIE GLAUDE: What you’re—what you’re representing as abstract, it’s actually condescending to them.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Not at all. I preach to them every Sunday.
EDDIE GLAUDE: I can imagine BYP—I can imagine Black Youth Project 100 organizing in Chicago around this particular issue.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: They should. It’s important.
EDDIE GLAUDE: This is what you need to do. Don’t worry about who’s going to—who’s going to be elected at—selected in the Democratic primary. We’re going to get this DA out of office.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Let’s do both. I’m with that.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Let’s do—Dream Defenders—no, you’re trying to say that—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Alvarez, Anita Alvarez.
EDDIE GLAUDE: What you tried to suggest is that everyday, ordinary people can’t distinguish between blue and red. What we’re talking about is organizing.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: No, no, no, no, I did not say that. No, no, I didn’t say that.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Yes, you did suggest that, Mike.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: I said they can’t distinguish the kind of abstract political principles you’re talking about, in terms—
EDDIE GLAUDE: I wasn’t talking about abstract principles.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Wait a minute—in terms of if you’re a red state and a blue state. I’m saying the BYP youth—
EDDIE GLAUDE: I’m saying organizing, organize, organization.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: But wait a minute. But it’s not either-or. It’s not either-or.
EDDIE GLAUDE: But, see, this is the thing.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: But it’s not either-or.
EDDIE GLAUDE: If it’s the case—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: It’s not either-or, Eddie.
EDDIE GLAUDE: If it’s the case, Mike—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Is it either-or?
EDDIE GLAUDE: Let me ask you this question.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: No, I’m asking you, is it either-or?
EDDIE GLAUDE: The strategic plan that I’m suggesting suggests that it isn’t either-or.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: OK, that’s all we’re saying.
EDDIE GLAUDE: No, but you need to give me—but, see, the thing is that you’re out here stumping for Clinton.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: I’m out here stumping for a tradition of black liberation that happens—
EDDIE GLAUDE: Oh, no, do not—
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Hold on. Wait a minute.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Do not link our tradition to this nonsense.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: No, wait a minute. It’s not that—I didn’t have to abstractly link it to it; I am the embodiment of that. When I’m out there on the streets preaching—I don’t know about you, but I’m preaching in churches every Sunday.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Oh, am I in churches?
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: I’m out there helping—I didn’t ask you that.
EDDIE GLAUDE: OK.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: I’m telling you what I’m doing. I’m telling you I’m in churches with black people, preaching every Sunday. I’m talking about the way in which we leverage the political, moral and spiritual authority of ordinary black people, who, when we, you and I, walk out the—when you and I walk out this place, ordinary black people are going to look at me and see me as the embodiment of their dreams. I’m sure it happens to you, as well. They stop me and tell me, "Thank you." They congratulate me for at least having the authority, the courage. I don’t take that seriously, but what I take more seriously is their identification with me as a voice piece for their aspirations and hopes.
And all I’m saying to you, sir, is that I agree with you in the full sweep of your analysis. I’m saying the everyday, ordinary black folk I know, that I’m in contact with, that I’m with at political organizations, and I’m on the front line, when I spoke yesterday for the black caucus of the Democratic National Convention, when those thousand—2,000 people said, "What you say represents that"—all I’m saying to you, Eddie, is that at the end of the day we cannot afford the luxury of engaging in abstract reflections on the conditions of black people, when what’s at stake is a demagogue, that you and I both resist, that you and I both think is problematic, getting into office. Once that happens, then we begin to leverage BYP. We begin to also articulate a countervailing narrative that says it ain’t either-or, it’s both-and. I believe in the spirit of our people to overcome and prevail against the odds.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to break and then come back to this discussion. We are joined by Princeton professor Eddie Glaude. His article in Time magazine, "My Democratic Problem with Voting for Hillary Clinton." And Professor Michael Eric Dyson, who you were just listening to, Georgetown professor and author of The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America. He just wrote a piece in the New Republic headlined "Yes She Can: Why Hillary Clinton Will Do More for Black People Than Obama." This is Democracy Now! Stay with us. ... Read More →
President Obama Implores Nation to Vote for Hillary Clinton: "Carry Her the Same Way You Carried Me"
The Democratic National Convention has entered its final day. Tonight Hillary Clinton will make history when she becomes the first woman to accept a major party’s presidential nomination. On Wednesday, night her running mate Tim Kaine, President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged the nation to back Clinton over Donald Trump in November.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: The Democratic National Convention has entered its final day. Tonight, Hillary Clinton will make history when she becomes the first woman to accept a major party’s presidential nomination. On Wednesday night, her running mate Tim Kaine, President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged the nation to back Clinton over Donald Trump in November. Michael Bloomberg described Trump as a con man.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: Through his career, Donald Trump has left behind a well-documented record of bankruptcies, and thousands of lawsuits, and angry stockholders, and contractors who feel cheated, and disillusioned customers who feel they’ve been ripped off. Trump says he wants to run the nation like he’s running his business? God help us! I’m a New Yorker, and I know a con when I see one.
AMY GOODMAN: The Democrats’ vice-presidential nominee, Tim Kaine, took a stab at impersonating Donald Trump.
SEN. TIM KAINE: You know who I don’t trust? Hmm, I wonder. Donald Trump! Donald Trump. Trump is a guy who promises a lot, but, you might have noticed, he’s got a way of saying the same two words every time he makes his biggest, hugest promises: "Believe me." "It’s going to be great, believe me." "We’re going to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it, believe me." "We’re going to destroy ISIS so fast, believe me." "There’s nothing suspicious in my tax returns, believe me."
AMY GOODMAN: That’s vice-presidential nominee Tim Kaine. Current Vice President Joe Biden warned of Trump’s lack of empathy.
VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: His cynicism is unbounded. His lack of empathy and compassion can be summed up in a phrase I suspect he’s most proud of having made famous: "You’re fired." I mean, really, I’m not joking. Think about that. Think about that. Think about everything you learned as a child, no matter where you were raised. How can there be pleasure in saying "You’re fired"? He’s trying to tell us he cares about the middle class. Give me a break! That’s a bunch of malarkey!
AMY GOODMAN: President Obama implied Trump is a home-grown demagogue who threatens American democracy.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: He’s betting that if he scares enough people, he might score just enough votes to win this election.
DELEGATES: No!
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: And that’s another bet that Donald Trump will lose. And the reason he’ll lose it is because he’s selling the American people short. We’re not a fragile people. We’re not a frightful people. Our power doesn’t come from some self-declared savior promising that he alone can restore order as long as we do things his way. We don’t look to be ruled. Our power—our power comes from those immortal declarations first put to paper right here in Philadelphia all those years ago: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that We the People can form a more perfect union."
AMY GOODMAN: One of the most moving moments of the night occurred in a section focused on gun violence. Former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was wounded in a 2011 shooting, briefly spoke to the crowd.
GABRIELLE GIFFORDS: In Congress, I learned a powerful lesson: Strong women get things done. Hillary is tough. Hillary is courageous. She will fight to make our families safer. In the White House, she will stand up to the gun lobby. That’s why I’m voting for Hillary. Speaking is difficult for me, but come January, I want to say these two words: "Madam President." ... Read More →
Will Hillary Clinton Flip-Flop Again on TPP After Election Day? We Ask Her Adviser Joseph Stiglitz
As President Obama addressed the Democratic National Convention last night, delegates held up signs denouncing the sweeping trade deal called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Obama has been pushing through the TPP, which encompasses 12 Pacific Rim nations, including the United States, and 40 percent of the world’s economy. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have come out opposing the deal amid a wave of public protest by those who say it benefits corporations at the expense of health and environmental regulations. This week, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe told Politico that he believes Hillary Clinton would support the TPP if she were elected president. The trade agreement will be one of the main economic issues the incoming president will have to address. Others include unprecedented levels of inequality, mounting student debt and financial sector reforms. We speak with Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning economist, Columbia University professor and chief economist for the Roosevelt Institute.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re here in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, covering the Democratic National Convention, inside and out, from the streets to the corporate suites to the convention floor. We turn now, right now, to talk about the economic policies that are being put forward. We’re joined by Joe Stiglitz, who is the Nobel Prize-winning economist, to talk about—well, let’s go first to the delegates who held up a banner saying "TPP kills democracy." Hundreds of others held signs denouncing the sweeping trade deal called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. President Obama has been pushing through the agreement, which encompasses 12 Pacific Rim nations, including the U.S., 40 percent of the world’s economy.
Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have come out opposing the deal amidst a wave of public protest by those who say it benefits corporations at the expense of health and environmental regulations. But earlier this week, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe told Politico he believes Hillary Clinton would support the TPP, if she were elected president. He is a close friend of Clintons. When asked by Politico if Clinton would change her position and support the deal, if elected, McAuliffe said, quote, "Yes. Listen, she was in support of it. There were specific things in it she wants fixed," unquote. Speaking to NBC Wednesday, McAuliffe clarified his position.
GOV. TERRY McAULIFFE: There are things in the agreement she does not agree with. Unless she can get those to the point that she’s happy with it, she’s not going to support it, plain and simple. That’s what Senator Kaine said the other day; he said the same thing. If she can’t get the things that she wants changed, then she’s not going to support it.
AMY GOODMAN: One of the major concerns around the TPP is its anticipated impact on the cost of life-saving medicine. This is California delegate Alex White, who took part in the protest on the convention floor Wednesday.
ALEX WHITE: In October, when the full text released and it was made known to the public that there was a death sentence clause in it, that would basically mean that pharmaceutical companies would have a 20-year monopoly on medications, that would cause a single medication to cost anywhere between $50,000 and $100,000 a year. My wife was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer three years ago, and through our—I have to do it for her and everybody who is diagnosed with cancer. I mean, that’s why—I don’t want to mean any disrespect to President Obama, but I’ve got to—I’ve got to stand up for people who are diagnosed with cancer. When they’re fighting for their lives, they shouldn’t have to fight to afford their medications.
AMY GOODMAN: The trade agreement, the TPP, will be one of the main economic issues the incoming president will have to address. Others include unprecedented levels of inequality, mounting student debt, financial sector reforms.
For more, we are joined by Joe Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning economist, Columbia University professor, chief economist for the Roosevelt Institute, author of numerous books. His latest is The Euro: How a Common Currency Threatens the Future of Europe. It’ll be out next month.
Welcome back to Democracy Now!, Joe Stiglitz.
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: Nice to be here.
AMY GOODMAN: It’s great to have you with us. So, you know, I was there on the convention floor yesterday, each day, hundreds of anti-TPP signs. You advise Hillary Clinton. What is her position on the TPP?
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: She’s against it. And she’s against bringing it up to a vote in the lame-duck session, which was allegedly part of the Obama strategy, you know, that they’re not going to present it to Congress until they—the idea was not to do it until the lame-duck. Everybody has come out against the lame-duck. And so, I think it’s dead for Obama’s administration.
AMY GOODMAN: And what will that mean for the next president?
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: I think it makes it very clear that if there is ever to be a TPP, it has to be totally renegotiated. And the interesting thing is, I’ve talked to some of our trading partners, they would welcome that. Some of the worst provisions in there were not because our partners demanded it, it was because we demanded it. When I say "we," it was the corporate interests that, unfortunately, were represented in the negotiations, not we the American people. And, you know, to me, I was an early opponent of TPP. And it’s so heartwarming to see that an issue that I thought would never get raised—you know, I thought it—and I think the Obama strategy was to try to push it through when nobody was looking—to see that it’s now become a mainstream issue. So, to me, this is a real victory for democracy.
AMY GOODMAN: Now, you said you were an early opponent. The person you advise, Hillary Clinton, was not an early opponent. She said it was the gold standard, I think was her term, for trade agreements. She has been immensely pressured by, I think, what has shocked the Clinton juggernaut, and that is the tremendous popularity of Bernie Sanders, even if he doesn’t have much corporate media amplification of his views, like Donald Trump does, and she saw she had to change. I mean, you see it on the floor every single day of the convention.
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: Yeah, I think that’s right, but it’s more than that. I mean, as people started looking at what actually emerged from the negotiations—remember, it was all secret. What we—all we could only figure out was what was coming out of leaks, which turned out to be remarkably accurate. You know, the leaks often do provide some information that, for good reason, the Obama administration didn’t want. And as others have looked at that agreement—even the U.S. government did an estimate of what would be the trade benefit. You know, how would—what would be the benefit to GDP? Negligible. Outside studies, like at Tufts University, said it would actually decrease our GDP. So, the benefits, as the agreement has become out in the open, have clearly—have been seen clearly negative. And the cost—you mentioned, you know, the cost in terms of access to drugs, pricing of drugs. And, to me, the most important aspect, the dampener on regulation, what is called the ISDS provision, the investment agreement, that’s the provision that Elizabeth Warren has really nailed the TPP on, and she’s absolutely right.
AMY GOODMAN: So, what makes you so sure what Hillary Clinton’s stance is? She chooses her running mate, Timothy Kaine. And Tim Kaine, the senator of Virginia, I think as early—as late as Thursday, was hailing the TPP, but then chosen, given the climate, you know, says he is against it. You have McAuliffe, the governor of Virginia, extremely close to the Clintons, who says she’s for it. What do you know that he doesn’t know?
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: Well, I think part of this is that the Democratic platform, which is a commitment of the Democratic Party, came out with a set of principles that any trade agreement, current or past, has to satisfy it. And if you look at those principles, the TPP, in its current form, doesn’t satisfy it. NAFTA doesn’t satisfy it. So, to me, although they didn’t make it explicit—
AMY GOODMAN: But, I mean, that was—a lot of especially the Bernie delegates on that platform committee pushed hard for no TPP, and Clinton campaign pushed very hard back, and she won.
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: Yeah. But, to me, my understanding of that was they didn’t want to embarrass President Obama. But you read those principles, what a trade agreement has to satisfy, and it’s pretty obvious that TPP doesn’t satisfy it, NAFTA doesn’t satisfy it. So, my interpretation, it’s a commitment of Hillary, the next Democratic administration, to renegotiate NAFTA and to renegotiate TPP. The interesting thing is, again, I’ve talked to some of our trade partners in NAFTA, in TPP, and they would welcome that. So, it’s an open door.
AMY GOODMAN: What does Hillary Clinton say privately to you?
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: Well, I haven’t talked to her particularly on this, but I have talked to the policy team on it, and I think they are very aware why there’s such hostility, where TPP went wrong. And that, I think, was a wake-up call. You know, there was this sort of ideology that was very strong—you know, trade is what promotes growth, we’re in favor of growth, we want to create jobs, you know, all that. And now that you actually see the agreement and you look at what the studies say, there’s no GDP coming out of this.
AMY GOODMAN: What does Clinton’s selection of Kaine tell you?
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: Well, I think it’s—she’s looking for somebody that gives her credibility with the middle. And she was trying to make a political judgment about what was the best way to win the election, because, let me say, I believe unambiguously there’s one big issue here. The damage that Trump would inflict in our society, if he were elected, is enormous.
AMY GOODMAN: How?
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: Anywhere from racism to his economic policies. So, to me, there’s no choice. You know, it is really imperative that the Democratic—you know, Hillary wins. And then, if I were in a position, the question is: What is the best vice president to win, consistent with my values? You know, and the vice—
AMY GOODMAN: Would Tim Kaine have been your pick?
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: There are some other candidates that I would have looked at. There’s one other feature that, you know, when I—when you start doing the calculations, some of the best candidates are senators from states where there’s a Republican governor. And if you appoint the Democratic senator, the Republican governor can put a next senator in line. And holding the Senate for the Democrats is extraordinarily important, important for the Supreme Court, one of the really big issues our country faces. So, I guess what I would say is, these are very complicated trade-offs, judgments. You know, the good thing is that in Virginia, I think Kaine will be replaced by another Democratic senator, so that won’t have that negative effect. A lot of the other—well, I’ve met with Kaine. I can understand why she would have a lot of confidence in him. And I do hope he will change his position on TPP. Obviously, if he’s going to support the Democratic platform, he has to change.
AMY GOODMAN: Supported fast track, giving President Obama fast track for pushing through TPP.
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: I think that was a wrong position. But the fact that—
AMY GOODMAN: Also joining with a number of other senators in fighting regulations of large regional banks, this just in the last few weeks.
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: And again, the issue is, once you join on the Democratic platform, I think he’s committed to supporting the Democratic platform. And—
AMY GOODMAN: We’re talking to the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joe Stiglitz. We’ll be back with him in a minute.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: "What the World Needs Now is Love," sung by more than 40 Broadway singers last night at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Yes, this is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. We are "Breaking with Convention: War, Peace and the Presidency." I’m Amy Goodman, broadcasting from the DNC here in Philadelphia. We’re speaking to Hillary Clinton adviser Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning economist, Columbia University professor. I want to ask about how Bernie Sanders has impacted Clinton’s economic policies, but turn first to President Obama, who mentioned the Vermont senator, the former presidential candidate, last night.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: So, if you agree that there’s too much inequality in our economy and too much money in our politics, we all need to be as vocal and as organized and as persistent as Bernie Sanders’ supporters have been during this election. We all need to get out and vote for Democrats up and down the ticket, and then hold them accountable until they get the job done. That’s right. Feel the Bern.
AMY GOODMAN: Wow, so there you have President Obama saying "Feel the Bern," Joe Stiglitz. I think that’s something he certainly felt.
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: I think that’s right. And I think the movement, as actually Sanders has talked about it, is a very important movement, and holding those elected accountable. You know, the Sanders people did have an impact on the Democratic platform, absolutely. And now, we are going to have to hold accountable those people, including Hillary and Kaine. We’re going to have to hold them accountable, so that they actually push for that agenda.
AMY GOODMAN: You advise Hillary Clinton. What is the best way to hold her accountable? Since you don’t agree on a number of issues, what does she respond to?
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: Well, I think, partly, she’s a policy wonk. And so, she does respond to arguments. And, you know, over the last couple years, I’ve been trying to make strong arguments about why TPP is bad, not only in terms of the trade issues, the GDP, but access to health, regulation. I’ve been trying to say it’s not an issue of just dealing with the shadow banking system. It’s not an issue of just dealing with the "too big to fail" banks, the too big to regulate, the too big—we’ve got to do both. So, it wasn’t—you know, Sanders took one position. Hillary took the other. My view has been, look, these banks have done so much damage to our economy, both in terms of the 2008 crisis, but also increasing inequality and changing the focus to a short-term perspective. And that’s one of the areas which she’s picked up very strongly in a couple very powerful speeches about the dangers of short-termism, the kinds of policy that have led to that kind of short-termism. You know, I laid out in a book that we did for the Roosevelt called Rewriting the Rules, showing how, beginning with the Reagan administration, we rewrote the rules of the American economy to promote inequality and short-termism, and what you have to—
AMY GOODMAN: What most damaged the U.S. economy, do you believe, and created, generated the most inequality?
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: The single most important thing, probably, in—the most telling event was obviously the 2008 crisis, which is very linked to the financial sector. But one of the things that I’ve emphasized in my work and in Rewriting the Rules is that there’s no single measure. It’s accumulation of thing after thing after thing. It’s the failure to have inclusion, inclusion of African Americans, inclusion of women, because we are almost the only civilized society that doesn’t have family leave, that makes it more difficult for women to be in the labor force. That’s an important—you know, we don’t have a law that says you can’t discriminate in wages against women. That’s one of the things that Hillary has emphasized a lot. That both creates inequality and damages our economy.
AMY GOODMAN: You—
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: Education, access to education.
AMY GOODMAN: You wrote a piece in Vanity Fair headlined "Donald Trump’s Biggest Vulnerability." What is it?
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: What I emphasize there is the difficulty that he’s going to have of even getting good Republicans to serve, you know, creating the administration. It’s not just one person. I mean, he tries to say, and this is—Kaine gave a very powerful speech, and he said, "Believe me, I’ll do it." Government is not that way. And democratic government is particularly not that way. You need to have hundreds and hundreds of people implementing those policies. You know, you have different agencies. And we are different from other countries, where the president has to appoint not only the secretary, the deputy secretary, the undersecretary, the assistant secretary, the—you know, in many cases, the deputy assistant secretary. That’s a huge number of people. And getting—you know, take just in the area of economics, getting people who are good economists, who will work with Trump, is going to be extraordinarily difficult.
AMY GOODMAN: Donald Trump has called for getting rid of the WTO, the World Trade Organization—certainly, activists on the ground, 1999, the Battle of Seattle, that’s what they were calling for—totally challenging the TPP. Mixed message coming out of the Democrats. Are you concerned about this? And do you think Donald Trump could win? I mean, the polls show, coming out at this point, he’s ahead.
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: He could win. And it’s not just the polls. Remember, Bush did not get a majority of votes; Gore got many more votes than Bush. But the way our electoral system works is that you can become the president even with a minority of votes. So, when we say could Trump be the president, he doesn’t even have to win the majority of votes. He could win in the Electoral College. So, yes, I am very worried. And one of the things that I’ve been writing recently is, he’s already done an enormous amount of damage to the United States.
AMY GOODMAN: Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort said today, "Mr. Trump has said his taxes are under audit, and he will not be releasing them." Why does that matter, Joe Stiglitz?
JOSEPH STIGLITZ: Oh, it matters because there is a good reason why we suspect that he has not been honest about either where his wealth is, what his charitable contributions is, or that he’s paid a fair share of his taxes. Now, even if they’re under audit, he can release the taxes that he claims. You know, the IRS may say, "You’re wrong," but you can still say, "This is what I believed my income was. This is what I believed the taxes that I should have paid." And that will tell an important message. You know, when Mitt Romney released his taxes and it became clear he was keeping his money in the Cayman Islands, not because, the Cayman Islands, money grows stronger in the sunshine in the Cayman Islands, but because there were other reasons, that told Americans a lot, that he was paying under 15 percent of his income. What his taxes were as a fraction of his income were much, much lower than a plumber or some other person who’s working for a living. Something was going on that Americans said was unfair. We would like to know, is Trump paying his fair share? You know, he’s engaged in bad practices in Trump University, stiffed his workers and all kinds of bad practice. We want to know, is he a good citizen? Is he paying his fair share of taxes? So I think it’s really important. And I think it’s really important that his vice president release his taxes, as well.
AMY GOODMAN: Joe Stiglitz, we’re going to have to leave it there. Hillary adviser, Joe Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning economist, Columbia University professor.
That does it for our show. I’ll be doing a report back from the conventions in two talks: Friday, July 29th, at Provincetown Town Hall in Massachusetts; Saturday, July 30th, on Martha’s Vineyard at Old Whaling Church. You can check out the details at democracynow.org.
Very happy birthday to Rob Young. Special thanks to Laura Deutch, Gretjen Clausing and Ryan Saunders, as we broadcast here, the whole crew, at PhillyCAM. ... Read More →
Bill O'Reilly Claims Enslaved Africans Who Built White House Were "Well Fed"; Dyson & Glaude Respond
Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly has sparked widespread condemnation over his comments that enslaved Africans who built the White House were "well fed." He made the comments on Tuesday, after first lady Michelle Obama spoke at the DNC on Monday about "wak[ing] up every morning in a house that was built by slaves." We get reaction from Princeton University professor Eddie Glaude and Georgetown University professor Michael Eric Dyson.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, our two weeks of specials from the Democratic and Republican conventions, "Breaking with Convention: War, Peace and the Presidency." I’m Amy Goodman. We’re broadcasting this week from Philadelphia, the Democratic National Convention. In a minute, we’re going to return to the debate with Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson and Princeton University professor Eddie Glaude. But first I want to turn to first lady Michelle Obama’s address to the DNC Monday night.
MICHELLE OBAMA: I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves, and I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent black young women, playing with their dogs on the White House lawn.
AMY GOODMAN: So, that’s first lady Michelle Obama speaking Monday night here in Philadelphia. Well, Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly responded to Michelle Obama’s comments on Tuesday by claiming the slaves who built the White House were well fed.
BILL O’REILLY: Slaves that worked there were well fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government, which stopped hiring slave labor in 1802. However, the feds did not forbid subcontractors from using slave labor. So Michelle Obama is essentially correct in citing slaves as builders of the White House, but there were others working, as well.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Fox’s Bill O’Reilly. Again, our guests, Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson and Princeton professor Eddie Glaude. Your response to that, Michael?
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Well, it’s, Mike Tyson might say, ludicrous for Bill O’Reilly to deny the fact that slave labor built that institution—in fact, built America, Toni Morrison said, on the backs of blacks. We have erected American society. Democratic projects, institutions and energies all rest on what black people provided, and not just physical labor, whether Benjamin Banneker drafted the plans and extended what had begun with another architect, or the fact that black intellectual and social and moral vision made possible the realization of the very democratic energy that that building embodies and represents, the point that Professor Glaude was making earlier, in terms of taking a brief tour of what black people have done in this country. That White House represents such a powerful moment, a locus of such competing energies.
And the reason Bill O’Reilly is upset and many white people are responding is because Michelle Obama, without saying so, without saying, "I’m engaging in a powerful articulation of blackness in reaction to the rise of white supremacy and a culture that adores whiteness as the norm for America," she was invading that. Her black body invades that. Her talking about her children on the White House lawn is messing with the mindset of these bigots out here who are looking, in the broader scope of things, at just how lethal the presence of Obama and Mrs. Obama and their children represent, beyond any of the politics.
AMY GOODMAN: Professor Glaude?
EDDIE GLAUDE: It’s stupid.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Yeah, what he said.
EDDIE GLAUDE: I mean, it’s just stupid. But it’s revealing in its stupidity, because part of what’s at the heart of the problem in our discussions around race in this country is a fundamental bad faith—right?—that there is a sense in which the ways in which folks engage in the conversation around racial inequality, the beliefs and assumptions—right?—that inform that conversation are never made explicit. And so, people are always evading, sticking their heads in the sand like ostriches, or trying to find—right?—another account of what’s going on. So it’s stupid, and it’s bad—so it’s revealing in its bad faith.
But let me say this about Michelle Obama. It was a powerful speech. But what was so disturbing to me is the way in which the Democratic Party has traded in a kind of insidious American exceptionalism. So, at that moment in which we talk about our beautiful black—my beautiful, intelligent black daughters playing on the lawn of the White House, I understand the symbolic significance of that, but that was deployed in the context of a narrative of America being the greatest country on the planet, the greatest country. I mean, they were, in some ways, replaying, retooling Ronald Reagan’s morning in America, the shining city on the hill, Reagan’s revision of John Winthrop’s, you know, model of Christian charity, right? And so, what do you get? You even get Joe Biden last night talking about the 21st century will be the American century. I almost—I threw my house shoe at the television. Right? Then all this talk about we’re the greatest country, we have the greatest military—that looked like the Republican Party of the 1980s. No wonder Melania Trump could plagiarize Michelle Obama, because it fits perfectly.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Well, the instances of plagiarism of black people by white people are not reduced to that. The appropriation of blackness has been—
EDDIE GLAUDE: Of course.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: —sui generis a response of America. But I’m saying to you, the bigots ain’t got no—made no mistake about what Michelle Obama was saying. We might engage in a kind of philosophical argument about what is going on there, but the bottom line is, they got the message real loud and clear. And it wasn’t about the articulation of American exceptionalism, which I agree should be criticized, or the degree to which Barack Obama is like the other Negroes. What Michelle Obama was saying, "I’m just like the other Negroes." She’s presenting a counternarrative to the hegemony of American exceptionalism by saying the slaves who built that are manifest in their ancestry to the noble lineage that my children represent. So she’s connecting and suturing what has been severed.
AMY GOODMAN: We only have two minutes left. What about Supreme Court justice choices in the next, either, whoever it will be, presidency?
EDDIE GLAUDE: Well, this is—this is critical. This is critical. In some ways, this is part of why I have a dual strategy, really quickly. Right? This is why I say we have to keep Donald Trump out of office, and we have to announce that- business as usual is unacceptable. And we have to begin to shift the center of gravity—right?—of Democratic politics in black communities, right? Part of the thing that I want to suggest—so, I’m conceding your point about the importance of the Supreme Court, and this is why we have to engage in this dual strategy, right? But what’s ultimately at the heart of my understanding here is that we have to understand the rot that’s at the heart of this country. And that is, our current way of living is no longer sustainable, and that the crisis in black communities require a different kind of politics. The black political class has become identical, indecipherable from the Democratic establishment, right? And that—to that extent, people can trade in identity politics, can talk about race and gender and all this stuff, when we know that that’s the currency of neoliberalism.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Right.
EDDIE GLAUDE: But part of what I want to suggest is that we need a radical reimagining of the Democratic politic.
AMY GOODMAN: Michael Eric Dyson?
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Beyond a radical reimagination—I’m down with all that stuff that Eddie said—at the end of the day, I’m with her, he’s with me, we with us. What I’m telling you is that the decision to be made is that we’ve got to keep from getting into office a demagogue who would change the landscape not only of American representational and democratic politics, but the very nature and fabric of the conversation’s possibility, the conditions of emergence. So, I’m saying to you, at the end of the day, Hillary Clinton has to be put into office, because the Supreme Court justices will make a difference, the way in which the landscape of policy recommendations will make a difference, the presence of a person who is open to challenging white supremacy, white hegemony, white dominance and white privilege through her own rhetoric. And if she means it or not is irrelevant, because we can take that rhetoric and do with it what we will.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to have to leave it there. I want to thank you both for being with us. I want to thank Michael Eric Dyson for being with us. Michael Eric Dyson is a professor at Georgetown University, author of many books, including The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America, and Professor Eddie Glaude, who teaches at Princeton University, head of the Department of African American Studies. His most recent book, Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul.
That does it for our show. I’ll be doing a report back from the conventions at two talks: Friday, July 29th, in Provincetown Town Hall in Massachusetts, and Saturday in Martha’s Vineyard Old Whaling Church. Check our website, democracynow.org.
Happy birthday to Rob Young. Special thanks to Laura Deutch, Gretjen Clausing, Ryan Saunders. I’m Amy Goodman. This is Democracy Now!, broadcasting from the Democratic convention. Thanks for joining us. ... Read More →
As All Charges Dropped in Freddie Gray's Death: Baltimore Mayor Says Reform Doesn't Hang on Verdicts
Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced Wednesday she was dropping all charges against the remaining three police officers charged in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray. Gray died in April 2015 of spinal injuries after he was arrested and transported in a police van. Four officers in the case went on trial earlier this year. None were convicted on any of the charges they faced, which included murder. We get reaction from Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is "Breaking with Convention: War, Peace and the Presidency." I’m Amy Goodman. We’re broadcasting from PhillyCAM, Philadelphia’s public access TV station. The Democratic National Convention’s entered its final day. Tonight, Hillary Clinton will make history when she becomes the first woman to accept a major-party presidential nomination. On Wednesday, Vice President Joe Biden warned about the dangers of a Donald Trump presidency.
VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: No major-party nominee in the history of this nation has ever known less or has been less prepared to deal with our national security. We cannot elect a man who exploits our fears of ISIS and other terrorists, who has no plan whatsoever to make us safer, a man who embraces the tactics of our enemies—torture, religious intolerance. You all know. All the Republicans know. That’s not who we are. It betrays our values.
AMY GOODMAN: President Obama also spoke, urging the country to reject Donald Trump’s cynicism and fear.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: He’s betting that if he scares enough people, he might score just enough votes to win this election.
DELEGATES: No!
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: And that’s another bet that Donald Trump will lose. And the reason he’ll lose it is because he’s selling the American people short. We’re not a fragile people. We’re not a frightful people. Our power doesn’t come from some self-declared savior promising that he alone can restore order as long as we do things his way. We don’t look to be ruled. Our power—our power comes from those immortal declarations first put to paper right here in Philadelphia all those years ago: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that We the People can form a more perfect union." That’s who we are. That’s our birthright, the capacity to shape our own destiny. That’s what drove—that’s what drove patriots to choose revolution over tyranny, and our GIs to liberate a continent. It’s what gave women the courage to reach for the ballot, and marchers to cross a bridge in Selma, and workers to organize and fight for collective bargaining and better wages. America has never been about what one person says he’ll do for us. It’s about what can be achieved by us together, through the hard and slow and sometimes frustrating, but ultimately enduring, work of self-government.
AMY GOODMAN: That was President Obama addressing the Democratic National Convention last night, as we turn now to Maryland, where the Baltimore state’s attorney, Marilyn Mosby, has announced she will drop all charges against the remaining three police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray. Gray died in April of 2015 of spinal injuries after he was arrested and transported in a police van. Four officers in the case went on trial earlier this year. None were convicted on any of the charges they faced, which included murder. Mosby announced the dropping of the charges on Wednesday.
MARILYN MOSBY: As the world has witnessed over the past 14 months, the prosecution of on-duty police officers in this country is unsurprisingly rare and blatantly fraught with systemic and inherent complications. Unlike with other cases, where prosecutors work closely with the police to investigate what actually occurred, what we realized very early on in this case was that police investigating police, whether their friends or merely their colleagues, was problematic. There was a reluctance and an obvious bias that was consistently exemplified, not by the entire Baltimore Police Department, but by individuals within the Baltimore Police Department, at every stage of the investigation, which became blatantly apparent in the subsequent trials.
AMY GOODMAN: Joining us now is Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the mayor of Baltimore and the secretary of the Democratic National Convention. She replaced Debbie Wasserman Schultz in opening the Democratic convention.
We welcome you to Democracy Now! We’re going to talk about the convention in a minute. But first, to this breaking news of all of the charges being dropped against the remaining officers, which mean that none of them will be held accountable for the death of Freddie Gray. Your response?
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE: I think it’s interesting that that’s how the question is phrased, that no one is being held accountable. We have a justice system that requires guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. That’s if you’re a police officer, a doctor, a person that’s living with substance abuse or disability. Everyone has that same entitlement, to be a found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. That is how we find people responsible in the court system. And repeatedly, the judge determined that the state’s attorney did not have the evidence to get anywhere near guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. That is the process of justice, period.
AMY GOODMAN: Right. I guess many would say, did Freddie Gray have that choice?
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE: I don’t understand what you’re saying.
AMY GOODMAN: Meaning he died. He died in police custody before—
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE: And that’s why, after taking a look at the facts of the case, taking a look at the information, I reached, very, very promptly, and even taken criticism for it—I reached a settlement with his family, because he did die in police custody, and I wanted to bring closure. There are—there are no guarantees. A verdict is never a guarantee in any case. But I knew that for the sake of the family to have closure and for there to—for them to be able to move forward in the healing process, that’s why we settled the case.
AMY GOODMAN: What is your message to the community around police accountability in Freddie Gray’s death?
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE: The message is that the work to hold the police accountable, to have more transparency and to have a better police department was happening before the tragic death of Freddie Gray, and it’s been happening subsequently. I think that it is a mistake to—for anyone, for a prosecutor, for a mayor, for a member of the public, to hang the—hang their hopes that reform happens or accountability happens because of a verdict. That never is the case. What happens is the hard work of reform that has been happening under my administration.
You know, the Department of Justice collaborative review, I asked the Department of Justice to come in and work with us on bridging the gap between the community and the police, before the tragic and untimely death of Freddie Gray. I asked the state Legislature to take a look at the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights and reform that, before the tragic death of Freddie Gray. And many of the people that you saw in that clip, not a one was there fighting with me, testifying with me, trying to get that done. The Legislative Black Caucus wouldn’t even hold a vote to see whether they should support the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights reform that I put forth.
Now, after the unfortunate and untimely, tragic death of Freddie Gray, everybody wants to be on board with these reforms. You know, that’s not—to live in a reactionary world sets up all types of discord and disappointment in the community. You have to be proactive and continue to work on a consistent basis, and that’s what I’ve done.
AMY GOODMAN: You also called for the Justice Department to open a pattern and practice investigation into the Baltimore Police Department.
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE: And I have been the—and the Department of Justice says I’ve been the most aggressive mayor they’ve ever experienced when it comes to fighting for reforms and transparency in the police department.
AMY GOODMAN: And have they done that? Has the Justice Department this?
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE: Yeah, they’re there now. The investigation is almost complete.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to go back to Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby speaking Wednesday. She said there’s an inherent bias that’s a direct result of when police police themselves.
MARILYN MOSBY: There were individual police officers that were witnesses to the case, yet were part of the investigative team, interrogations that were conducted without asking the most poignant questions, lead detectives that were completely uncooperative and started a counter-investigation to disprove the state’s case, by not executing search warrants pertaining to text messages among the police officers involved in the case, creating videos to disprove the state’s case without our knowledge, creating notes that were drafted after the case was launched to contradict the medical examiner’s conclusion, turning these notes over to defense attorneys months prior to turning them over to the state, and yet doing it in the middle of trial. As you can see, whether investigating, interrogating, testifying, cooperating or even complying with the state, we’ve all bore witness to an inherent bias that is a direct result of when police police themselves.
AMY GOODMAN: So, that’s the state’s attorney. Mayor Rawlings-Blake, your response?
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE: I think it’s important to take a look at what the judge said in the case after hearing the evidence. And none of that—none of those things were clear from the evidence that was put in front of the case. And if any of those things were the case, that’s what you say in a press conference, you know, before the trial, before you bring charges, that you can’t bring charges because of this inherent bias, because of these things. And that’s not what happened. Unfortunately, during the case, what the judge found is that the prosecution withheld exculpatory evidence, that the prosecution violated rules that required evidence to be withheld from consideration.
You know, you can’t have it both ways. The rules have to work on both sides. And when that happens, that’s when justice happens. You know, I don’t—you know I’m an attorney by profession, and I understand the very high moral and ethical and professional standards that we have to have. And I also understand, as an elected official, what it means to impugn the integrity of the process, what it means to impugn the integrity of the judicial—of the judge, the investigators. You can’t say, on one hand, in a press conference, that you had—you did your own independent investigation, and that’s how you came to the conclusion, and then when it doesn’t work out, say that it was because it was flawed. Say that up front. Give people the information up front.
AMY GOODMAN: You called for the resignation of the former police chief, Anthony Batts, in the wake of Freddie Gray’s death. He spoke yesterday and said the state’s attorney, Marilyn Mosby, was immature and incompetent. What is your response to that?
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE: I don’t have a response. He’s a private citizen. He’s entitled to his opinion.
AMY GOODMAN: You mentioned the suit that you arrived at—the settlement with the family. Baltimore has agreed to pay Officer Caesar Goodson more than $87,000 after he was found not guilty of second-degree murder and other charges. Reports are, the trial has cost the city more than $7 million. That doesn’t include the $6 million settlement with the Gray family. Can you talk about all the costs of the Freddie Gray case?
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE: I mean, you outlined some of them. And there would have been more. Every time there’s a trial, every time we have to prepare for a verdict and the potential outcome of that, it costs the city money. And imagine—we know what it cost just for the criminal portion of the trial. If there were then to be a protracted civil case, as there have been in many jurisdictions, the cost would have gone up significantly more.
AMY GOODMAN: Will you be settling with other of the officers, giving money to them, as you did with Officer Caesar Goodson?
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE: I don’t give—I would not and have not given the officers anything that they’re not entitled to by law and by contract. ... Read More →
After Debbie Wasserman Schultz's Ouster, We Speak with Her DNC Replacement Mayor Rawlings-Blake
In Philadelphia, the Democratic National Convention opened only one day after Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned following the release of nearly 20,000 emails revealing how the Democratic Party favored Hillary Clinton and worked behind the scenes to discredit and defeat Bernie Sanders. On Monday morning, protesters booed and heckled Wasserman Schultz at a Florida delegation breakfast. We speak about Wasserman and the DNC’s plans now with Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who replaced Wasserman in gaveling open the convention.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to go to the convention now, to the Democratic convention. You gaveled in the Democratic National Convention—I want to go to that moment—replacing Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE: I hereby call the 47th quadrennial Democratic National Convention to order.
AMY GOODMAN: So, there you were in front of thousands of people. You were not the original person who was going to do this, but that morning, before her own delegation, the Florida delegation, when she was booed after the revelations of the weekend, the 20,000 emails that came out showing the DNC working to subvert the Bernie Sanders campaign—I don’t know if there’s another way to say it, talking about raising his religion, Judaism, and saying, "Well, is it worse to say he’s a Jew or an atheist?" that kind of thing. Debbie Wasserman Schultz—that weekend, Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned, though they said—the Clinton campaign said she absolutely was going to gavel in the convention. But by Monday, they felt the optics were too threatening to the whole convention, with people booing her, as they promised to do, and you were chosen to replace her. What was that moment like?
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE: When I was notified or when I did it? Which moment?
AMY GOODMAN: That moment when you got up on the stage. And how did you feel about the resignation of Debbie Wasserman Schultz and what the DNC did in taking sides in the presidential primary campaign?
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE: I think it is clear that it was not the entire DNC, that it was members of the staff that exhibited behavior and actions that are inconsistent with the policies and practice of the DNC. As a national officer, I took a pledge of neutrality, and I honored that, and I took it very seriously. There’s no one that works for the DNC, the RNC, any independent political organization, that does not come to their desk every day without their own biases and their opinions about politics. That’s why you take those jobs. But as a professional, you’re required to leave your—your personal views at the door and do the work as an even-handed professional. And when it was very clear that that didn’t happen, the leadership of the DNC took action. And I think that what you saw was not—was a clear effort to be transparent and hold people accountable for what happened.
AMY GOODMAN: Was anyone fired for this?
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE: This is an ongoing investigation, so, you know—which started right at the beginning of the convention. So, no one was hired nor fired in the days subsequent to that announcement, because we’ve been in the midst of a convention.
AMY GOODMAN: Many were shocked that after all this was exposed, that President Clinton immediately said, with the resignation of Congressmember Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was head of the DNC—many said that—were shocked when Hillary Clinton said, "I’m hiring her immediately, and she’ll head my 50-state outreach," and said said she’s a dear ,she’s a close friend, which confirmed what many people felt, is that she was extremely close to Hillary Clinton and was doing that very thing at the DNC.
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE: Again, there’s nobody that comes to that job without their own history, their own relationships, their own opinions. But what was very clear is that the actions of the employees were inconsistent with our policies and with our practices and what our—what we believe our moral obligation is to the party. And whatever decision that the Clinton campaign makes, that’s up to them. But as far as a Democratic officer, I took that pledge very seriously. I’ve been in positions—you know, the former governor of our state was a candidate for a bit of time. We run into each other all the time. We’ve been at events together. I remember specifically going to an event—
AMY GOODMAN: You’re talking about Governor O’Malley?
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE: Yes, Governor O’Malley. But I remember thinking that I was going to an event that was just a purely—like a social event, and finding out that it was a political event. And immediately, I was like, this—you know, I cannot participate. You know, I’ve known him since '95. My father—I was very influential in getting him elected, and my father was very influential in getting him elected in ’99. I have, you know, an affinity and a relationship, but I understand, as a national officer, I also have an obligation. That's what all of us have at the DNC. And that, that did not happen.
AMY GOODMAN: I meant to say candidate Hillary Clinton. But how do you think the convention is going?
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE: Oh, it’s amazing. It’s a wonderful—it’s wonderfully produced. I think if you take a look at the—not just the presentations on the stage, but the representation that is in the arena, it is a reflection of the best in our country, unlike what we saw in the Republican convention, where, you know, finding a person of color was like playing "Where’s Waldo?" We have a very diverse group of people from, you know, every part of the country, every race, religion, socioeconomic background. It’s a beautiful thing to see.
AMY GOODMAN: I think there were more African Americans on the stage in the first opening choir than there were delegates in the entire Republican National Convention. I think the number was 18, fewer African-American delegates at the RNC than any time in a century. Finally, I wanted to ask you, Mayor, you announced in the midst of the uprising after the Freddie Gray killing that you would not be running again for mayor. Why not? And what your plans now?
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE: My plans aren’t public, because I’m very focused on the work of being mayor. And I made the decision because it was very clear to me during the midst of a campaign that was gearing up that I had a choice. I had a choice to uphold the pledge that I had to govern, or I could campaign. I didn’t take a pledge to campaign. I don’t—I’m a person that was raised to believe that public service includes making yourself vulnerable and includes significant sacrifice. And when I took the oath of office, it did not include a promise or a guarantee that I would campaign for another term. What I did commit to was doing the work of being the mayor. And when—you know, I got the same 24 hours in any day that anyone else did in the city, and when it was clear that I needed to focus on the Department of Justice patterns and practice investigation and making sure that we had in place meaningful police reform for our community, that we needed to—that I needed to make sure that the city remained calm and did do the work to ensure that the process of these trials from our end was peaceful and was calm and that we increased community engagement, that was the work that needed to be done. And when it was clear that I couldn’t do both, I made the choice to uphold the pledge that I took.
AMY GOODMAN: If you could change anything about what you did after the death of Freddie Gray, what would it be?
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE: I don’t live in that world. You know, we live in a world that does not include hindsight, in a sense that you make the decisions that you make in the moment based on your experience, based on your preparation, based on the information that you have at hand. I don’t think that there’s anything productive about trying to pretend as if you make those decisions with hindsight at the time.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you for being with us. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is the mayor of Baltimore and the secretary of the Democratic National Committee. She replaced Congressmember Debbie Wasserman Schultz in opening the Democratic convention.
This is Democracy Now! When we come back, the Pulitzer Prize-winning economist Joe Stiglitz joins us to talk about the policies of the Democrats and the Republicans. Stay with us. ... Read More →
Headlines:
No Convictions for Any Cops Involved in Arrest and Death of Freddie Gray
Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby has announced she will drop all charges against the remaining three police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray. Gray died in April 2015 of spinal injuries after he was arrested and transported in a police van. This is State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.
Marilyn Mosby: "Without real substantive reforms to the current criminal justice system, we could try this case a hundred times, and cases just like it, and we would still end up with the same result. Accordingly, I have decided not to proceed on the cases against Officer Garrett, Sergeant Alicia White, or to relitigate the case against William Porter. As a mother—as a mother, the decision not to proceed on these trials, on the remaining trials, is agonizing. However, as a chief prosecutor elected by the citizens of Baltimore, I must consider the dismal likelihood of conviction at this point."
Gray’s death set off nationwide protests, but many activists had already lost faith any officers would be convicted. This is Baltimore activist Kwame Rose on Democracy Now! after the acquittal of Lieutenant Brian Rice, the highest-ranking officer to face trial.
Kwame Rose: "Well, you know, my thoughts on the verdict, it’s completely evident at this point that Marilyn Mosby charged these six officers only to stop protest. And what powers that be in Baltimore City feared was unrest that will continue to happen if they did not charge. So this was a crowd control. That’s what this measure was."
Kwame Rose was convicted and fined on charges related to protests last year in favor of charging the officers. On Wednesday, New York Times columnist Charles Blow responded to the news that all charges against officers had been dropped by writing, "I am now incandescent with rage ... I am at the screaming place." We’ll have more from Baltimore later in the broadcast.
TOPICS:
Freddie Gray
Police
Police Brutality
President Obama Calls on Democrats to Support Hillary Clinton
Here in Philadelphia, the Democratic National Convention has entered its final day. Last night at the Wells Fargo Center, President Obama called on Americans to support Hillary Clinton.
President Barack Obama: "Tonight, I ask you to do for Hillary Clinton what you did for me. I ask you to carry her the same way you carried me, because you’re who I was talking about 12 years ago when I talked about hope. It’s been you who fueled my dogged faith in our future, even when the odds were great, even when the road is long—hope in the face of difficulty, hope in the face of uncertainty, the audacity of hope."
TOPICS:
DNC 2016
2016 Election
Hillary Clinton
As Obama Speaks at DNC, Hundreds Protest Against TPP
As Obama spoke, hundreds of people held signs protesting the TPP. Some protesters also unfurled a banner reading "TPP Kills Democracy." This is California delegate Alex White.
Alex White: "In October, when the full text released and it was made known to the public that there was a death sentence clause in it, that would basically mean that pharmaceutical companies would have a 20-year monopoly on medications, that would cause a single medication to cost anywhere between $50,000 and $100,000 a year. My wife was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer three years ago, and I have to do it for her and everybody who is diagnosed with cancer. I mean, I don’t want to mean any disrespect to President Obama, but I’ve got to stand up for people who are diagnosed with cancer. When they’re fighting for their lives, they shouldn’t have to fight to afford their medications."
On Tuesday, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, who is close to Hillary Clinton, told Politico he believed Clinton would change her position and support the TPP, if she is elected. We’ll have more on the TPP and Clinton’s economic policy with Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz later in the broadcast.
TOPICS:
DNC 2016
TPP
2016 Election
Hillary Clinton
Kaine Addresses DNC, Promises "Next Chapter in Great and Proud Story"
Meanwhile, Wednesday night also featured a prime-time speech by Clinton’s running mate, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, who spoke about the historic nature of their ticket.
Sen. Tim Kaine: "My fellow Democrats, this week we start the next chapter in our great and proud story. Thomas declared all men were equal, and Abigail remembered the women. Woodrow brokered the peace, and Eleanor broke down the barriers. Jack—Jack told us what to ask, and Lyndon answered the call. Martin had a dream, and Cesar y Dolores said, 'Sí se puede.' And Harvey gave his life. Bill—Bill built a bridge into the 21st century, and Barack gave us hope. And now Hillary is ready."
During his speech, Senator Kaine also spoke about the nine months he spent with Jesuit missionaries in Honduras in 1980, saying, "I got a firsthand look at a different system: a dictatorship." But what Kaine failed to mention, as professor Greg Grandin notes, is the U.S. role in the installation of that dictatorship and then backing it with millions in military funding. We’ll have more on Senator Kaine with Greg Grandin on Friday on Democracy Now!
TOPICS:
2016 Election
DNC 2016
"No More War": Delegates Interrupt Fmr. CIA Director Panetta at DNC
On Wednesday, delegates also disrupted former CIA Director and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s speech by chanting "No More War!"
Protesters: "No more war! No more war! No more war!"
The arena eventually turned off the lights on the Oregon delegation, where many of the chants were coming from. But delegates shone the lights on their cellphones and continued chanting.
TOPICS:
2016 Election
DNC 2016
Trump Asks Russia to Hack Hillary Clinton's Email
Meanwhile, on the Republican side, Donald Trump called on Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s email.
Donald Trump: "Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press."
The comments come as U.S. intelligence agencies continue to blame Russia for the hack of the 20,000 leaked DNC emails. Speaking at the DNC Wednesday, retired Navy Rear Admiral John Hutson said Trump’s call to hack Clinton’s email was "criminal intent."
TOPICS:
Russia
Donald Trump
Hillary Clinton
Trump Threatens to Abandon NATO Allies If Countries Don't Pay
Meanwhile, Donald Trump also doubled down on his calls to defend NATO allies only if they have spent enough of their GDP on defense.
Donald Trump: "These stupid people, they say, 'But we have a treaty.' They say, 'What would happen if Russia, somebody attacks?' I say, 'I don't know. Have they paid? Have they paid? Have they paid? Tell me: Have they paid?’ 'Well, they haven't paid, but we have a treaty.’ I say, 'They have a treaty, too. They have to pay.'"
Trump’s position squarely contradicts that of his running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, who told PBS NewsHour last week, "We’ll uphold our treaty obligations, including the mutual defense agreement that is NATO."
TOPICS:
Donald Trump
NATO
Trump Adviser Calls for Electronic Tracking of Muslims on Watch List
Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who is now a national security adviser to Donald Trump, has called for measures to force Muslims on the government’s terrorism watch list to wear electronic tracking bracelets. During the same news conference Wednesday, he also boasted about how he sent undercover agents to infiltrate mosques as early as 1994.
TOPICS:
Donald Trump
War on Terror
Bill O'Reilly: Enslaved Africans Who Built White House Were "Well Fed"
Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly has doubled down on his comments that enslaved Africans who built the White House were "well-fed." He made the comments on Tuesday, in response to first lady Michelle Obama’s speech at the DNC Monday night.
Michelle Obama: "I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves, and I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent, black young women, playing with their dogs on the White House lawn."
That was Michelle Obama speaking Monday night at the DNC. This was Bill O’Reilly’s response.
Bill O’Reilly: "Slaves that worked there were well fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government, which stopped hiring slave labor in 1802. However, the feds did not forbid subcontractors from using slave labor. So Michelle Obama is essentially correct in citing slaves as builders of the White House, but there were others working, as well."
Bill O’Reilly’s comments sparked widespread outrage and were seen as a defense of slavery. But on Wednesday, O’Reilly claimed the statements were "just a fact." Actually, primary sources contradict his claims. In a letter from November 28, 1800, first lady Abigail Adams described enslaved Africans forced to labor on the White House’s construction as being "half fed, and destitute of clothing."
TOPICS:
Slavery
Racism
Labor Dept. Awards $1 Million in Back Pay to Workers at U.S. Capitol
The U.S. Labor Department says cafeteria workers who help feed senators at the Capitol will receive back pay totaling more than $1 million, after the department found two private contractors had underpaid them. David Weil of the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division said, "Workers in the restaurant industry are among the lowest-paid workers in our economy. They shouldn’t have to deal with paychecks that don’t accurately reflect their hard work."
TOPICS:
Labor
Turkey: 100+ Media Outlets Shut Down by Gov't Since Failed Coup
Turkey’s government has dismissed nearly 1,700 military personnel and closed more than 130 media outlets since a failed coup earlier this month. That number includes nearly half of all Turkish generals and admirals. Human rights groups have also reported widespread arrests and torture of suspected coup sympathizers.
Pentagon to Investigate U.S. Strike That Killed 100+ Civilians in Syria
The Pentagon says it will open a formal investigation into what Syrian monitoring groups say is the U.S.’s deadliest attack on civilians since the U.S. began bombing Syria nearly two years ago. The strike took place 10 days ago near the city of Manbij. The monitoring group Airwars said the strike killed between 120 and 150 civilians. Until earlier this year, the Pentagon claimed no civilians had been killed in its air campaign against ISIS, while at the same time claiming more than 20,000 ISISfighters had been killed.
TOPICS:
Syria
Charges Dropped Against DN! Producers Arrested Filming Anti-Trump Rally
In New York City, all charges have been dropped against Democracy Now!’s Charina Nadura and Juan Carlos Dávila. The two were arrested in April while filming a protest at an anti-Trump rally in Manhattan. The police grabbed their camera and microphone and slammed them to the ground as they shouted "Press!" They had been charged with disorderly conduct.
TOPICS:
Donald Trump
Police
Kansas AG Sues Defense Dept. for Information on Gitmo Transfers
The state of Kansas has sued the Department of Defense for information on plans for what it calls an "unlawful transfer" of prisoners from Guantánamo to the U.S. The federal prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is one of three sites the Pentagon is considering for possible transfers of some of the remaining 76 prisoners at Guantánamo. Kansas submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Pentagon in December 2015, seeking documents on the surveying of potential sites. The Kansas state attorney general says the request remains unfulfilled.
TOPICS:
Guantanamo
Lawyer for Fmr. Gitmo Prisoner Who Disappeared in Uruguay: He Just Wants to See His Family
A former Guantánamo prisoner who disappeared last month in Uruguay has reappeared in Venezuela. Abu Wa’el Dhiab is one of six former Guantánamo prisoners who were resettled in Uruguay in 2014. A former lawyer for Dhiab said he is concerned about his wife and three children, and he had hoped to travel to Turkey to reunite with them.
TOPICS:
Guantanamo
Report: CIA & Others Funnel Arms to Syria via Eastern European Countries
The Guardian has reported that Eastern European countries have quietly approved the discreet sale of more than $1 billion worth of arms to Syria in the last five years. The CIA and U.S. allies have all made use of this arms pipeline to supply rebels fighting the Syrian government. Last year, the U.S. purchased millions of dollars’ worth of weapons from Bulgaria to train a now-defunct U.S.-backed militia. Some of the weapons have fallen into the hands of al-Qaeda and ISIS. The Syrian government has also made use of the pipeline to supply its own forces.
TOPICS:
CIA
Syria
Venezuela Opposition Demands Decision on Recall Vote for President
Turning now to Venezuela, thousands demonstrated on Wednesday demanding a recall vote for President Nicolás Maduro. The National Electoral Council was expected to announce Tuesday whether the opposition had enough signatures to go into the next phase of the recall process. The council has now postponed the announcement until next week. Wednesday’s march remained peaceful, but there was a heavy police presence as opposition leader Henrique Capriles addressed supporters.
Henrique Capriles: "If there is not a solution, anything could happen. This is a very dangerous situation that no one wants. That’s why we are here asking for a solution that is in the constitution, and we continue fighting for a peaceful solution. But they cannot continue playing with the patience of the people. We want an answer."
TOPICS:
Venezuela
John Hinckley Jr. Free 35 Years After He Tried to Kill Ronald Reagan
And a judge has freed John Hinckley Jr., who attempted to assassinate former President Ronald Reagan in 1981. The now 61-year-old Hinckley wounded Reagan and three other people outside the Washington Hilton Hotel and was declared not guilty by reason of insanity. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman said Hinckley no longer poses a danger to himself or others and will live with his mother upon his release.
TOPICS:
Gun Control
James McPherson, First African American to Win Pulitzer for Fiction, Dies at 72
And the first African-American author to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction has died at the age of 72. James Alan McPherson was awarded the Pulitzer in 1978 for his book "Elbow Room." McPherson grew up attending segregated schools in Georgia. He graduated from Harvard Law School. He pursued fiction instead of law after winning a short story contest. He was professor emeritus at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop at the time of his death.
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Books
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COLUMN
"The Liberty Bell and the Democratic Party: A Tale of Two Fractures in Philadelphia" PHILADELPHIA–The Liberty Bell, on permanent display here at Philadelphia’s Independence Mall, is known for its famous fracture. The bell was cast in London in 1751, and cracked on its first test ring. The bell was molten down and recast in Philadelphia, and rang from the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall, for close to 100 years. A second crack formed years later, and the bell eventually was decommissioned, taking on the symbolic significance it has today, inspiring movements to abolish slavery, for women’s suffrage and others. The Democratic National Convention here this week also is inspiring many, in movements for LGBTQ rights, gun control, and racial and economic justice and beyond. But as the first woman in U.S. history is nominated to be the presidential candidate of a major party, a deep split in the Democratic Party has emerged. Sen. Bernie Sanders conceded to Hillary Clinton and endorsed her candidacy, but many of his supporters have not. Hundreds of them walked out of the convention as Clinton’s nomination was formalized Tuesday night.
No Convictions for Any Cops Involved in Arrest and Death of Freddie Gray
Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby has announced she will drop all charges against the remaining three police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray. Gray died in April 2015 of spinal injuries after he was arrested and transported in a police van. This is State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.
Marilyn Mosby: "Without real substantive reforms to the current criminal justice system, we could try this case a hundred times, and cases just like it, and we would still end up with the same result. Accordingly, I have decided not to proceed on the cases against Officer Garrett, Sergeant Alicia White, or to relitigate the case against William Porter. As a mother—as a mother, the decision not to proceed on these trials, on the remaining trials, is agonizing. However, as a chief prosecutor elected by the citizens of Baltimore, I must consider the dismal likelihood of conviction at this point."
Gray’s death set off nationwide protests, but many activists had already lost faith any officers would be convicted. This is Baltimore activist Kwame Rose on Democracy Now! after the acquittal of Lieutenant Brian Rice, the highest-ranking officer to face trial.
Kwame Rose: "Well, you know, my thoughts on the verdict, it’s completely evident at this point that Marilyn Mosby charged these six officers only to stop protest. And what powers that be in Baltimore City feared was unrest that will continue to happen if they did not charge. So this was a crowd control. That’s what this measure was."
Kwame Rose was convicted and fined on charges related to protests last year in favor of charging the officers. On Wednesday, New York Times columnist Charles Blow responded to the news that all charges against officers had been dropped by writing, "I am now incandescent with rage ... I am at the screaming place." We’ll have more from Baltimore later in the broadcast.
TOPICS:
Freddie Gray
Police
Police Brutality
President Obama Calls on Democrats to Support Hillary Clinton
Here in Philadelphia, the Democratic National Convention has entered its final day. Last night at the Wells Fargo Center, President Obama called on Americans to support Hillary Clinton.
President Barack Obama: "Tonight, I ask you to do for Hillary Clinton what you did for me. I ask you to carry her the same way you carried me, because you’re who I was talking about 12 years ago when I talked about hope. It’s been you who fueled my dogged faith in our future, even when the odds were great, even when the road is long—hope in the face of difficulty, hope in the face of uncertainty, the audacity of hope."
TOPICS:
DNC 2016
2016 Election
Hillary Clinton
As Obama Speaks at DNC, Hundreds Protest Against TPP
As Obama spoke, hundreds of people held signs protesting the TPP. Some protesters also unfurled a banner reading "TPP Kills Democracy." This is California delegate Alex White.
Alex White: "In October, when the full text released and it was made known to the public that there was a death sentence clause in it, that would basically mean that pharmaceutical companies would have a 20-year monopoly on medications, that would cause a single medication to cost anywhere between $50,000 and $100,000 a year. My wife was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer three years ago, and I have to do it for her and everybody who is diagnosed with cancer. I mean, I don’t want to mean any disrespect to President Obama, but I’ve got to stand up for people who are diagnosed with cancer. When they’re fighting for their lives, they shouldn’t have to fight to afford their medications."
On Tuesday, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, who is close to Hillary Clinton, told Politico he believed Clinton would change her position and support the TPP, if she is elected. We’ll have more on the TPP and Clinton’s economic policy with Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz later in the broadcast.
TOPICS:
DNC 2016
TPP
2016 Election
Hillary Clinton
Kaine Addresses DNC, Promises "Next Chapter in Great and Proud Story"
Meanwhile, Wednesday night also featured a prime-time speech by Clinton’s running mate, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, who spoke about the historic nature of their ticket.
Sen. Tim Kaine: "My fellow Democrats, this week we start the next chapter in our great and proud story. Thomas declared all men were equal, and Abigail remembered the women. Woodrow brokered the peace, and Eleanor broke down the barriers. Jack—Jack told us what to ask, and Lyndon answered the call. Martin had a dream, and Cesar y Dolores said, 'Sí se puede.' And Harvey gave his life. Bill—Bill built a bridge into the 21st century, and Barack gave us hope. And now Hillary is ready."
During his speech, Senator Kaine also spoke about the nine months he spent with Jesuit missionaries in Honduras in 1980, saying, "I got a firsthand look at a different system: a dictatorship." But what Kaine failed to mention, as professor Greg Grandin notes, is the U.S. role in the installation of that dictatorship and then backing it with millions in military funding. We’ll have more on Senator Kaine with Greg Grandin on Friday on Democracy Now!
TOPICS:
2016 Election
DNC 2016
"No More War": Delegates Interrupt Fmr. CIA Director Panetta at DNC
On Wednesday, delegates also disrupted former CIA Director and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s speech by chanting "No More War!"
Protesters: "No more war! No more war! No more war!"
The arena eventually turned off the lights on the Oregon delegation, where many of the chants were coming from. But delegates shone the lights on their cellphones and continued chanting.
TOPICS:
2016 Election
DNC 2016
Trump Asks Russia to Hack Hillary Clinton's Email
Meanwhile, on the Republican side, Donald Trump called on Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s email.
Donald Trump: "Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press."
The comments come as U.S. intelligence agencies continue to blame Russia for the hack of the 20,000 leaked DNC emails. Speaking at the DNC Wednesday, retired Navy Rear Admiral John Hutson said Trump’s call to hack Clinton’s email was "criminal intent."
TOPICS:
Russia
Donald Trump
Hillary Clinton
Trump Threatens to Abandon NATO Allies If Countries Don't Pay
Meanwhile, Donald Trump also doubled down on his calls to defend NATO allies only if they have spent enough of their GDP on defense.
Donald Trump: "These stupid people, they say, 'But we have a treaty.' They say, 'What would happen if Russia, somebody attacks?' I say, 'I don't know. Have they paid? Have they paid? Have they paid? Tell me: Have they paid?’ 'Well, they haven't paid, but we have a treaty.’ I say, 'They have a treaty, too. They have to pay.'"
Trump’s position squarely contradicts that of his running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, who told PBS NewsHour last week, "We’ll uphold our treaty obligations, including the mutual defense agreement that is NATO."
TOPICS:
Donald Trump
NATO
Trump Adviser Calls for Electronic Tracking of Muslims on Watch List
Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who is now a national security adviser to Donald Trump, has called for measures to force Muslims on the government’s terrorism watch list to wear electronic tracking bracelets. During the same news conference Wednesday, he also boasted about how he sent undercover agents to infiltrate mosques as early as 1994.
TOPICS:
Donald Trump
War on Terror
Bill O'Reilly: Enslaved Africans Who Built White House Were "Well Fed"
Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly has doubled down on his comments that enslaved Africans who built the White House were "well-fed." He made the comments on Tuesday, in response to first lady Michelle Obama’s speech at the DNC Monday night.
Michelle Obama: "I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves, and I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent, black young women, playing with their dogs on the White House lawn."
That was Michelle Obama speaking Monday night at the DNC. This was Bill O’Reilly’s response.
Bill O’Reilly: "Slaves that worked there were well fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government, which stopped hiring slave labor in 1802. However, the feds did not forbid subcontractors from using slave labor. So Michelle Obama is essentially correct in citing slaves as builders of the White House, but there were others working, as well."
Bill O’Reilly’s comments sparked widespread outrage and were seen as a defense of slavery. But on Wednesday, O’Reilly claimed the statements were "just a fact." Actually, primary sources contradict his claims. In a letter from November 28, 1800, first lady Abigail Adams described enslaved Africans forced to labor on the White House’s construction as being "half fed, and destitute of clothing."
TOPICS:
Slavery
Racism
Labor Dept. Awards $1 Million in Back Pay to Workers at U.S. Capitol
The U.S. Labor Department says cafeteria workers who help feed senators at the Capitol will receive back pay totaling more than $1 million, after the department found two private contractors had underpaid them. David Weil of the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division said, "Workers in the restaurant industry are among the lowest-paid workers in our economy. They shouldn’t have to deal with paychecks that don’t accurately reflect their hard work."
TOPICS:
Labor
Turkey: 100+ Media Outlets Shut Down by Gov't Since Failed Coup
Turkey’s government has dismissed nearly 1,700 military personnel and closed more than 130 media outlets since a failed coup earlier this month. That number includes nearly half of all Turkish generals and admirals. Human rights groups have also reported widespread arrests and torture of suspected coup sympathizers.
Pentagon to Investigate U.S. Strike That Killed 100+ Civilians in Syria
The Pentagon says it will open a formal investigation into what Syrian monitoring groups say is the U.S.’s deadliest attack on civilians since the U.S. began bombing Syria nearly two years ago. The strike took place 10 days ago near the city of Manbij. The monitoring group Airwars said the strike killed between 120 and 150 civilians. Until earlier this year, the Pentagon claimed no civilians had been killed in its air campaign against ISIS, while at the same time claiming more than 20,000 ISISfighters had been killed.
TOPICS:
Syria
Charges Dropped Against DN! Producers Arrested Filming Anti-Trump Rally
In New York City, all charges have been dropped against Democracy Now!’s Charina Nadura and Juan Carlos Dávila. The two were arrested in April while filming a protest at an anti-Trump rally in Manhattan. The police grabbed their camera and microphone and slammed them to the ground as they shouted "Press!" They had been charged with disorderly conduct.
TOPICS:
Donald Trump
Police
Kansas AG Sues Defense Dept. for Information on Gitmo Transfers
The state of Kansas has sued the Department of Defense for information on plans for what it calls an "unlawful transfer" of prisoners from Guantánamo to the U.S. The federal prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is one of three sites the Pentagon is considering for possible transfers of some of the remaining 76 prisoners at Guantánamo. Kansas submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Pentagon in December 2015, seeking documents on the surveying of potential sites. The Kansas state attorney general says the request remains unfulfilled.
TOPICS:
Guantanamo
Lawyer for Fmr. Gitmo Prisoner Who Disappeared in Uruguay: He Just Wants to See His Family
A former Guantánamo prisoner who disappeared last month in Uruguay has reappeared in Venezuela. Abu Wa’el Dhiab is one of six former Guantánamo prisoners who were resettled in Uruguay in 2014. A former lawyer for Dhiab said he is concerned about his wife and three children, and he had hoped to travel to Turkey to reunite with them.
TOPICS:
Guantanamo
Report: CIA & Others Funnel Arms to Syria via Eastern European Countries
The Guardian has reported that Eastern European countries have quietly approved the discreet sale of more than $1 billion worth of arms to Syria in the last five years. The CIA and U.S. allies have all made use of this arms pipeline to supply rebels fighting the Syrian government. Last year, the U.S. purchased millions of dollars’ worth of weapons from Bulgaria to train a now-defunct U.S.-backed militia. Some of the weapons have fallen into the hands of al-Qaeda and ISIS. The Syrian government has also made use of the pipeline to supply its own forces.
TOPICS:
CIA
Syria
Venezuela Opposition Demands Decision on Recall Vote for President
Turning now to Venezuela, thousands demonstrated on Wednesday demanding a recall vote for President Nicolás Maduro. The National Electoral Council was expected to announce Tuesday whether the opposition had enough signatures to go into the next phase of the recall process. The council has now postponed the announcement until next week. Wednesday’s march remained peaceful, but there was a heavy police presence as opposition leader Henrique Capriles addressed supporters.
Henrique Capriles: "If there is not a solution, anything could happen. This is a very dangerous situation that no one wants. That’s why we are here asking for a solution that is in the constitution, and we continue fighting for a peaceful solution. But they cannot continue playing with the patience of the people. We want an answer."
TOPICS:
Venezuela
John Hinckley Jr. Free 35 Years After He Tried to Kill Ronald Reagan
And a judge has freed John Hinckley Jr., who attempted to assassinate former President Ronald Reagan in 1981. The now 61-year-old Hinckley wounded Reagan and three other people outside the Washington Hilton Hotel and was declared not guilty by reason of insanity. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman said Hinckley no longer poses a danger to himself or others and will live with his mother upon his release.
TOPICS:
Gun Control
James McPherson, First African American to Win Pulitzer for Fiction, Dies at 72
And the first African-American author to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction has died at the age of 72. James Alan McPherson was awarded the Pulitzer in 1978 for his book "Elbow Room." McPherson grew up attending segregated schools in Georgia. He graduated from Harvard Law School. He pursued fiction instead of law after winning a short story contest. He was professor emeritus at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop at the time of his death.
TOPICS:
Books
SPEAKING EVENTS
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COLUMN
"The Liberty Bell and the Democratic Party: A Tale of Two Fractures in Philadelphia" PHILADELPHIA–The Liberty Bell, on permanent display here at Philadelphia’s Independence Mall, is known for its famous fracture. The bell was cast in London in 1751, and cracked on its first test ring. The bell was molten down and recast in Philadelphia, and rang from the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall, for close to 100 years. A second crack formed years later, and the bell eventually was decommissioned, taking on the symbolic significance it has today, inspiring movements to abolish slavery, for women’s suffrage and others. The Democratic National Convention here this week also is inspiring many, in movements for LGBTQ rights, gun control, and racial and economic justice and beyond. But as the first woman in U.S. history is nominated to be the presidential candidate of a major party, a deep split in the Democratic Party has emerged. Sen. Bernie Sanders conceded to Hillary Clinton and endorsed her candidacy, but many of his supporters have not. Hundreds of them walked out of the convention as Clinton’s nomination was formalized Tuesday night.
The nomination of Hillary Clinton is historic. She has a significant chance to be the first woman president of the United States. During the roll call at the DNC, the delegation from Vermont, Sanders’ home state, passed, and was thus called on as the last state to report, after Wyoming. The Vermont spokesperson stated the delegate votes, then Bernie Sanders, whose insurgent campaign rocked the Clinton juggernaut to its core, stood and took the microphone:
“Madam Chair, I move that the convention suspend the procedural rules. I move that all votes, all votes cast by delegates be reflected in the official record, and I move that Hillary Clinton be selected as the nominee of the Democratic Party of the United States.” The actual delegate counts of Clinton versus Sanders were dispensed with, and Clinton was nominated “by acclamation.”
Cheers and applause filled the Wells Fargo Center. While thousands went wild, several hundred, well, just went. Chanting “Walk out, walk out” and “This is what democracy looks like,” 300 Sanders delegates, including many from Vermont who were standing with Sanders moments before, marched out of the arena and proceeded to the media tent to demonstrate their disagreement with the process and announce the “No Voice, No Unity” campaign.
“We were never welcome here, we were never wanted here,” Sanders delegate Felicia Teter told the “Democracy Now!” news hour as she walked out. “The people’s voices are not being heard, and still the people’s votes are not being counted. We are going to show the Democratic Party that if they will not have us and they will not welcome us into their party, then we will leave, and they will lose to Trump. And it will not be our fault. It will be their fault, because they did not listen to the people. ... They simply ignored us. They shut us down.”
Many Sanders delegates cited issues on which they strongly differ with Hillary Clinton, from her earlier support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and not knowing where she stands on it today, to her coziness with Wall Street, to her consistent support for ever-widening wars in the Middle East.
The walkout also was fueled by leaked Democratic National Committee emails that were posted online by WikiLeaks just days before the convention. Some of the emails proved that the DNC, and its chairperson, Congressmember Debbie Wasserman Schultz, actively worked to disparage Sanders and his campaign. The emails led the headlines all weekend; by Monday, Wasserman Schultz had announced her resignation as DNC chairperson. Bernie Sanders had for months accused the Democratic National Committee of bias in favor of Clinton throughout the campaign. Now his supporters had proof, and many carried signs that read “Rigged” as they walked out.
The Liberty Bell was decommissioned because of a barely visible hairline fracture. The famous crack in the bell was actually made on purpose, in an attempt to repair it. The Democratic Party has an enormous challenge now, to unify its members to defeat one of the most bigoted and divisive, some say fascistic, presidential candidates in modern U.S. history, Donald Trump. The party has a very deep and visible fracture. The question remains whether they can repair the crack in time to defeat Trump.
WEB EXCLUSIVE
Joseph Stiglitz to Clinton: Don't Repeat Obama Mistakes of Supporting TPP, Failed Financial Reform
NEW BOOK
Democracy Now!: Twenty Years Covering the Movements Changing America
WEB EXCLUSIVE
Former VT Delegate Who Joined Sanders at Roll Call: "How Do We Move Forward Without Compromise?"
WORK WITH DN!
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SPECIAL COVERAGE
Special Expanded 2-Hour Broadcasts from the RNC and DNC—July 18-29
207 West 25th Street, 11th Floor
Joseph Stiglitz to Clinton: Don't Repeat Obama Mistakes of Supporting TPP, Failed Financial Reform
NEW BOOK
Democracy Now!: Twenty Years Covering the Movements Changing America
WEB EXCLUSIVE
Former VT Delegate Who Joined Sanders at Roll Call: "How Do We Move Forward Without Compromise?"
WORK WITH DN!
Senior TV Producer
Development Manager
SPECIAL COVERAGE
Special Expanded 2-Hour Broadcasts from the RNC and DNC—July 18-29
207 West 25th Street, 11th Floor
New York, New York 10001, United States
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