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The 2020 Democratic National Convention

The Recount on Twitter: "AOC goes off on Postmaster DeJoy: "We need to get him under oath on a committee letting us know what is happening and we have to undo the damage that he has already done." https://t.co/VyJK96cNGX" / Twitter

Geoff Bennett on Twitter: "THREAD: Postal Service policy changes are taking a toll on military veterans, whose mail-order medications are delayed. ..." / Twitter
THREAD: Postal Service policy changes are taking a toll on military veterans, whose mail-order medications are delayed. Here's a snapshot of what I've heard:

Florida: Vietnam combat vet ordered COPD prescription 10 days ago and was told it'll "probably" arrive around September 9

Indiana: An Air Force veteran and former U.S. Secret Service agent had to drive two hours round-trip to pick up life-saving heart medication. He's been waiting nearly three weeks for a CPAP mask and tube, which usually takes 3-5 days by mail.

Texas: A 40% disabled veteran has been waiting two weeks for his sleeping medication. His 90-year-old veteran father waited nearly two weeks for his high blood pressure meds.

Tennessee: A former U.S. Army Sgt. says his “prescription should have been here by now.”

California: A retired Air Force veteran received one medication two weeks late and had to personally pick up a second prescription four days late because of delays. "The VA usually does a good job and mails on time."

Michigan: A female former Army MP waited 20 days for her medication. “Females have enough issues as it is with the VA but to have medication arriving late makes it even harder," she says.

#USPS

Missouri: A Vietnam veteran, 100% oxygen dependent, had to wait a week for inhalers and oral medications. He lives roughly 40 miles from his VA hospital, and his family is concerned about COVID-19 exposure if he has to obtain his meds in person. "This should not be happening!"

Maryland: Husband and wife Navy veterans say it normally takes four days for their prescriptions to arrive from the VA.

"This last shipment took two weeks from the day they shipped it to the date it arrived."

They live about 45 minutes from their VA medical center.
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Ayanna Pressley on Twitter: ""In a democracy, we do not elect saviors, we cast our ballots for those who see our struggles and pledge to serve."- @staceyabrams
More truth telling on night 2 of the #DemConvention https://t.co/2IkiRHzHj9" / Twitter

Former Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden's 2020 Democratic National Convention Speech | FULL - YouTube - Joe Biden's wife

Then a lot of drama llama over AOC's endorsement of Bernie Sanders in her speech.

Sarene Leeds on Twitter: "If you were confused by @AOC's endorsement of Bernie Sanders just now, you're not alone. Joe Biden is still getting the nomination." / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "If you were confused, no worries!
Convention rules require roll call & nominations for every candidate that passes the delegate threshold.
I was asked to 2nd the nom for Sen. Sanders for roll call.
I extend my deepest congratulations to @ JoeBiden - let’s go win in November. 🇺🇸" / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Congratulations, @ JoeBiden - I deeply look forward to fighting for our future together and reclaiming our democracy in November.
Thank you @DemConvention for having me deliver Sen. Sanders’ roll call nomination speech.
It’s been an absolute honor.
#NotMeUs & #Biden2020 🇺🇸" / Twitter

Peter Beinart on Twitter: "If you thought @AOC's reference to "colonization" was odd, think about all those delegations in the roll call from territories, not states" / Twitter

Jesús “Chuy” García on Twitter: "“En el espíritu del pueblo”.
Thank you, @AOC." / Twitter
"In the spirit of the people"

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez symbolically nominated Bernie Sanders at the DNC. It was not a sudden endorsement. - Vox - "Ocasio-Cortez called for ambitious progressive solutions to some of the country’s biggest problems."
 
Somewhat earlier:
Gov. Bobby Jindal on Twitter: "Dems only giving @AOC 60 seconds to speak tonight. GOP should give her more time at their convention to show voters how crazy Dem ideas are." / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "If I can regularly roast Trump sycophants in 280 characters or less, I can speak to progressive values in 60 secs (& maybe filibuster a few extra 😉).
Meanwhile, you’re supporting GOP sabatoge of people’s medicine, votes, etc by mail bc apparently democracy means nothing to you." / Twitter

AOC is pissed:

NBC News on Twitter: "Editor's note and clarification (1/2):
This tweet should have included more detail on the nominating process.
We have deleted the tweet to prevent its further spread, but it can be seen here for the record. https://t.co/txXo4CCMOt" / Twitter
In one of the shortest speeches of the DNC, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez did not endorse Joe Biden: "I hereby second the nomination of Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont for president of the United States of America."
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NBC News on Twitter: "Editor's note and clarification (2/2):
Ocasio-Cortez was asked by the DNC to second Sanders' nomination. The nomination is a procedural requirement of the convention.
Ocasio-Cortez has previously endorsed Biden, & her speech was similar in length to other nominating speeches." / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "So @NBCNews how are you going to fix the incredible amount of damage and misinformation that you are now responsible for?
Because a 1:15am tweet to slip under the radar after blowing up a totally false and divisive narrative across networks isn’t it." / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "You waited several hours to correct your obvious and blatantly misleading tweet.
It sparked an enormous amount of hatred and vitriol, & now the misinfo you created is circulating on other networks.
All to generate hate-clicks from a pre-recorded, routine procedural motion." / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "This is completely unacceptable, disappointing, and appalling.
The DNC shared the procedural purpose of my remarks to media WELL in advance. @NBC knew what was going to happen & that it was routine.
How does a headline that malicious & misleading happen w/ that prior knowledge?" / Twitter
 
Greg Sargent on Twitter: "Everyone is talking about @aoc's procedural endorsement, but the much more interesting thing in her speech was the call for "economic rights." If you're curious about the concept, I did a brief explainer on it, drawing on the work of theorist @samuelmoyn: / Twitter
noting
Opinion | Bernie Sanders injects a big idea into the presidential race - The Washington Post - from June 12
From a then-recent speech by him:
In 1944, FDR proposed an economic bill of rights. But he died a year later and was never able to fulfill that vision. Our job, 75 years later, is to complete what Roosevelt started. And that is why today I am proposing a 21st century economic bill of rights.

A bill of rights that establishes once and for all that every American, regardless of his or her income, is entitled to the right to a decent job that pays a living wage. The right to quality health care. The right to a complete education. The right to affordable housing. The right to a clean environment. And the right to a secure retirement.
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This is more than "subsistence" rights, to a bare economic minimum. From 1944 State of the Union Address: FDR's Second Bill of Rights or Economic Bill of Rights Speech is
  • The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the Nation;
  • The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
  • The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
  • The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
  • The right of every family to a decent home;
  • The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
  • The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
  • The right to a good education.
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Bernie Sanders did an update of it to include a right to a clean environment.
And though great strides were made in fortifying the safety net and battling poverty in the 1960s, the basic story has been that in the human rights revolution of the second half of the 20th century, the political and intellectual commitment to economic rights took a back seat.

As Moyn recounts, this was partly because of the human rights movement’s prioritization of basic freedoms and civil liberties against state violence and partly because of the triumph of neoliberal “market fundamentalism.” The result has been that, relative to human rights, far too little work has been done to push for economic rights, conceived as the baseline for a substantially more humane economic distribution as the moral alternative to what Moyn describes as the “decisive” triumph of the super rich and the “obliteration of any constraints on inequality.”
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "En el espíritu del pueblo." / Twitter - she explained in an IG Live video that someone caught: the spirit of the common people.

Julio Ricardo Varela on Twitter: "AOC mentions "colonization" in her remarks. I don't think I have heard that word from a DNC convention primetime set of remarks ever. #DemocraticNationalConvention" / Twitter
then
Julio Ricardo Varela on Twitter: "And as a Puerto Rican born and raised on the island-colony, it is not a "far left" thing to use the words "colonization" and "colony." If there is ONE THING Puerto Ricans of all political stripes agree is that "somos colonia."" / Twitter
"We are a colony."

The responses included a picture of a billboard in PR:
La colonia te mata. Vota estadidad.
The colony kills you. Vote statehood.

Melissa Mark-Viverito on Twitter: "@AOC specifically mentioning colonization in her speech was incredibly powerful. As someone actively engaged in movement to decolonize #PuertoRico, felt seen that's for sure. Gracias Congresista. #DNC2020 #DemocraticConvention" / Twitter

Opinion | AOC’s brief, poetic moment to shine — and plant a big flag - The Washington Post
 
But is AOC being elitist?

Jonathan Chait on Twitter: "I don't think this rhetoric by @AOC is for "millennials" per se. I think it's for products of elite universities. https://t.co/YSP3SMihVp" / Twitter
She talked about "a mass people's movement working to establish 21st century social, economic and human rights." She called for that movement "to recognize and repair the wounds of racial injustice, colonization, misogyny and homophobia" and "reimagine systems of immigration and foreign policy that turn away from the violence and xenophobia of our past." These are all lines that are standard fare on the millennial left but would never get past a Biden speechwriter.
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Then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "If you believe people have to go to an elite university to know what racism, classism and xenophobia are, maybe that is a reflection of *your* class/race experience more than it is anyone else’s.
Working class people are just as perceptive as the privileged. Oftentimes more so." / Twitter

She once got furious at a Republican politician for implying that concern about the environment is elitist -- there's some video of that from a hearing last year.
 
CSPAN on Twitter: ".@GabbyGiffords: "Words once came easily; today I struggle to speak, but I have not lost my voice. America needs all of us to speak out, even when you have to fight to find the words. We are at a crossroads. We can let the shooting continue or we can act." https://t.co/gqRW4fNqqH" / Twitter

Pod Save America on Twitter: ""BLM" spelled out in kid blocks in Sen. Warren's background here. We see you Liz. https://t.co/gDlmH3NTVV" / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Love it. And love her remarks on the crucial role of childcare in economic life and the interwoven threads of our economy.
Thank you, @ewarren!" / Twitter

WATCH: Elizabeth Warren’s full speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention - YouTube

Kamala Harris on Twitter: "I am honored to accept the nomination for Vice President of the United States.
I do so, committed to the values my mother taught me and to a vision that @ JoeBiden shares—where all are welcome, no matter what we ​look​ like, where we ​come​ from, or who we ​love​. #DemConvention" / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Powerful, moving, history in the making. We are going to put in every ounce of work and effort we have to make you our next Vice President, @KamalaHarris. And you will be an incredible one." / Twitter

WATCH: Kamala Harris’ full speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention | 2020 DNC Night 3 - YouTube

David Axelrod on Twitter: ".@BarackObama has given so many moving, meaningful speeches but perhaps none more than his message tonight.
It will be reported as an assault on his successor.
It will be remembered as a heartfelt and urgent plea for our democracy from a POTUS who palpably loves and values it." / Twitter

Former President Barack Obama's 2020 Democratic National Convention Speech | FULL - YouTube
 
Why did the DNC invite that vile Islamist Linda the Cockroach to speak?

They snubbed Tulsi Gabbard even though she won delegates, but they had no problem with this antisemitic piece of shit appearing during the convention? What idiot signed off on that?
 
Good lord, what time is it? Getting on 11PM. I can hardly make it to taps these days and here I am struggling to maintain at this unholy hour.
There he is. President Barack Obama. Beautiful setting. Even the choice of flowers hit the mark. This is what a President looks and sounds like. I had forgotten. More than delivering a speech, he had a personal conversation with each one of us. He is one of those who can.
I was pleased to hear him convey a sense of urgency for our democracy. I wonder if this line landed for all its intended audience. If this line was or will even be heard and appreciated by those who need to hear it most. For those, perhaps it needed to be delivered like a monster truck. But at least it is there. At least it was delivered by he who could deliver it as a genuine concern and not in the least presented as a campaign statement.
If there was a flaw, it was that this opening act upstaged what should have been the main event to follow. Kamala Harris came on and delivered a speech. Heartfelt and disconnected from the audience, this audience, I. I caught half of it and slipped away to sleep.
 
Jay Rosen on Twitter: "It's a mistake to attribute it only to the social media team. Dozens of journalists were on duty for NBC last night. They knew how misguided this was. The account broadcasting this pathetic error speaks in the name of the entire news division. But no one took ownership til 1 am. https://t.co/Glu0Adeth3" / Twitter
then
Soledad O'Brien on Twitter: "Connecting @AOC to some kind of political drama is click-worthy. It was done with intention." / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: ".@NBCNews still hasn’t apologized.
It doesn’t matter how big a “legacy brand” a news division has, this kind of manipulative behavior is dangerous & needs to be checked.
We saw what happened in ‘16. This recklessness will easily extend to the Dem ticket if it doesn’t stop now." / Twitter

It might have seemed like entertaining drama llama to these newsies, even if they were not doing their job very well when they were reporting it.
 
Biden rocks. Even FoxNews commentators said so.

Dana Perrino:"A home run in the nineth. Best speech of his life. ... Congratulations on a pretty good convention."

Carl Rove: Effectively came across as a unifier.

Juan Williams: : Very clear on what he would do about the pandemic. Spoke to all Americans on possibility we will finally do away with racism.
 
Treedbear said:
Biden rocks. Even FoxNews commentators said so.

Dana Perrino:"A home run in the nineth. Best speech of his life. ... Congratulations on a pretty good convention."

Carl Rove: Effectively came across as a unifier.

Juan Williams: : Very clear on what he would do about the pandemic. Spoke to all Americans on possibility we will finally do away with racism.
Click to expand...

I have never been a big fan of Biden, and I rarely watch the conventions, but I watched last night and thought Biden did a great job.
 
funinspace said:
Treedbear said:
Biden rocks. Even FoxNews commentators said so.

Dana Perrino:"A home run in the nineth. Best speech of his life. ... Congratulations on a pretty good convention."

Carl Rove: Effectively came across as a unifier.

Juan Williams: : Very clear on what he would do about the pandemic. Spoke to all Americans on possibility we will finally do away with racism.
Click to expand...

I have never been a big fan of Biden, and I rarely watch the conventions, but I watched last night and thought Biden did a great job.
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I liked this format instead of waiting around watching the chaos between speeches that are hard to hear and are planned around applause lines. I hope it's a model for the future. PBS White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor said the Republicans will have far fewer recorded speeches. And Mitch McConnell has decided he has bigger fish to fry and won't be making an appearance.
 
I only watched bits and pieces of the convention. I especially enjoyed watching so many average people put in their two cents, but this morning I watched Biden as I had recorded the entire convention. He was fantastic. I read that a lot of people who weren't very impressed by him before, totally changed their minds after hearing his speech.

I will confess that I've liked Biden since I was very young. I love his humanity, his warmth and his forgiving nature, his ability to face tragedy without being destroyed, and his willingness to grow and change as time moves forward. He is exactly the type of person who we need right now. He's experienced and willing and he knows how to reach out to all kinds of people. IF he doesn't win the election, our country is doomed. our democracy is dead. I wish everyone who isn't sure about Biden would watch his speech.

Now, let's just hope that people vote! The US has a terrible record when it comes to voting. Voter apathy is what could kill everything positive that's left of our country. Never did I think that one man could do so much damage to the US in less than 4 years, but I see how easily it can happen now.

Biden was idealistic, but maybe we need a little bit of idealism right now.


I just watched Trump's latest insane rants. The way he projects and lies is amazing. :(
 
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