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Georgia Rep. Mike Collins posted a prettier J.D. Vance
Further

An Excellent Impersonation

If you missed it - staying in the cave is so enticing - there was a vice-presidential "debate" Tuesday night. What you missed: Walz did fine, Vance lied about everything - Trump saved Obamacare, we got no abortion ban plans here - working hard not to say anything weird or hateful about women, migrants, children, house pets or cat ladies. Still, he emerged creepy as hell, because "a smooth lie is still a lie." Maddow: Vance was "much slicker," and the other guy won.

Commentators at MSNBC offered a pretty cogent analysis of what was a performance, not an actual policy discussion, and as such marginally useful. Noted Lawrence O'Donnell, "There was one person on stage who's actually capable of dealing with reality, and one who will say anything, whatever is necessary, to thread the Trump needle." Again and again, Vance declined to answer questions, dodging and weaving in service to the historic revisionism his daddy-god-king relishes. Chris Hayes was blown away by Vance's "astounding gaslighting" on health care - Trump allegedly "worked in a bipartisan way" to "salvage" Obamacare," when in fact he did everything he could to kill it and was famously thwarted by John McCain - and on Trump "peacefully handing over power," that is after "the coup failed, the cops’ brains had been bashed in, and there were dead bodies and blood on the Capitol."

Nicole Wallace described Vance “building an intricate and beautiful fort out of toothpicks. And it was perfect. And at the end, he sneezed on it, and the whole thing fell apart." The sneeze was the vital moment Walz asked Vance point-blank if Trump lost the 2020 election, he tried to squirm away by intoning, "I'm focused on the future," and Walz pounded him with, "That is a damning non-answer" - now featured in killer Harris ads. "He lost the election. This is not a debate," Walz declared, and if anyone forgot about the gallows built by rioting yahoos on Jan. 6 he added, "That's why Mike Pence isn't on this stage." Right then, Walz was a Minnesota-nice-dad, straight-talking good guy; Vance was a power-grabbing weirdo who said he was "proud" to have the support of "great leaders" like Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr., a boast, one viewer noted, "so off-the-wall crazy I startled the cat with my laugh."

Still, many felt Vance's most brazen lies came as he tried to white-wash his longstanding opposition to abortion. Thus did the "100% pro-life" guy so obsessed with American birth rates he argues child-car-seats decrease fertility, who's supported a federal ban on abortion after 15 weeks, said he'd "certainly like" abortion to be banned nationally, and charged anyone who disagrees would be "making the United States the most barbaric pro-abortion regime anywhere in the entire world" - this guy dismissed the idea of a national abortion ban as "kind of a ridiculous hypothetical," much like hysterical Dems fear-mongering about the repeal of Roe v Wade, and never mind the women now bleeding out in parking lots. All he wants is a “minimum national standard." Oh, and just ignore the rabid policy declarationappearing on his website, until it was magically scrubbed in July, titled "END ABORTION."

Exacerbating his "smooth bland lies" was Vance's whining, self-righteous indignation on the (rare) occasions he was called out on them. When he persisted in peddling his racist, much-debunked fiction that Haitian "illegals" who'd invaded Springfield, Ohio were eating their neighbors' cats and dogs, CBS moderator Margaret Brennan stepped in to clarify the non-cat-and-dog-eating Haitians are legally there, with "temporary protected status.” At that, a petulant Vance bleated, "The rules were that you guys weren't going to fact-check"; when he tried to gripe and mansplain his point, moderators cut his mic with a curt, "Thank you for explaining the legal process.” Only then did he lose what Steven King called "that snotty little half-smile -the expression of a used-car salesman who just convinced a potential buyer the CHECK ENGINE light on the used Toyota he’s trying to get off the lot is a computer glitch."

Meanwhile, his Orange Highness gave a play-by-play of "the Brilliant J.D. Vance and the Highly Inarticulate ‘Tampon’ Tim Walz," which was mostly random, all-caps shrieking, perhaps with ketchup-throwing: "EVERYONE KNOWS I WOULD NOT SUPPORT A FEDERAL ABORTION BAN, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, AND WOULD, IN FACT, VETO IT,” "FULLY DEBUNKED RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA," "COMPLETE VICTORY FOR 'PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP.'” The next day the rants got even louder - "PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT!" "ELECTION INTERFERENCE!" - after "deranged" Jack Smith's bombshell, 165-page court filing was released with new details of Trump's "increasingly desperate" efforts to stay in office: "The defendant resorted to crimes." Trump also took time out to mock Jimmy Carter on his 100th birthday; Carter has said he's “only trying to make it to vote for (Harris)."

On Wednesday, Vance doubled down, refusing to concede Trump lost the 2020 election - "The media is obsessed with talking about the election of four years ago" - and vowing to uncover all the imaginary “election integrity” issues due to all the imaginary non-citizens, probably black, voting illegally. But alas, he was still weird. Not helping with the whole weird thing was a "perfected" image of Vance posted by totally normal Georgia GOP Rep. Mike Collins on Twitter. It shows the pudgy Vance "yassified" - made more feminine and glamorous - into a chiselled exemplar of a ripped, hot master race, which we don't think is what American pols are supposed to be doing with their time and our money. Responses: "I am weeping" and "Republicans are insane." But slick. Farah Stockman, a NYT editorial board writer, on the slippery truth: “Vance did an excellent job of impersonating a decent man."

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Sunrise Movement protesters at CBS in NYC
News

Youth Arrested Demanding VP Debate Question on Climate Emergency

Just hours away from the U.S. vice presidential debate on Tuesday, six members of the youth-led Sunrise Movement were arrested for blocking the street outside CBS News headquarters in New York City to demand moderator Norah O'Donnell ask both candidates what they would do to take on the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency.

The sit-in and blockade came as the death toll from Hurricane Helene, which left a path of destruction across several southeastern states, hit at least 137. Sunrise has responded to the Category 4 storm with renewed calls to hold fossil fuel giants accountable.

"In North Carolina, I have watched buildings in my hometown be submerged in water, have seen entire towns washed away, trees and power lines covering the streets, people asking for help finding their loved ones, and friends reaching out for aid after losing their homes and livelihoods," Talia Wilson of Asheville said in a Sunrise statement.

"Norah O'Donnell has a huge responsibility to require JD Vance to have a real conversation about the climate crisis on national TV."

Wilson took aim at the Republican ticket of former President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), who will face his Democratic counterpart, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in Tuesday night's debate.

"It couldn't be clearer that we need to act. Big Oil has known for years that its actions would cause disasters like these, but JD Vance and Donald Trump keep promising Big Oil power in exchange for campaign contributions," the 18-year-old campaigner said. "I know my friends and neighbors want to hear from both candidates on how they plan to address the climate crisis and work to prevent even worse disasters from striking our communities in the future."

Sunrise's Jordan Reif said that "my mom sent me pictures from our family in Georgia. Hurricane Helene destroyed roads, yards, and homes. There was damage like we had never seen before."

"The climate crisis is worsening and climate denier politicians like JD Vance are selling out our communities for donations from Big Oil," the 24-year-old added. "CBS News and the media must report Hurricane Helene for what it is—Big Oil's greed destroying our communities."

Sunrise is circulating a petition that notes Big Oil-backed Vance's response to the death and devastation. In a Saturday social media post, the Republican said, "Please say a prayer for everyone affected by the storms."

The petition says, "Sign this letter to demand that CBS News anchor and vice presidential debate moderator Norah O'Donnell add a question to Tuesday's debate asking JD Vance if his prayers outweigh the millions he takes from Big Oil to deny the climate crisis."

The group's letter to O'Donnell highlights Politico's recent reporting that "Vance changed his tune on climate change. Oil cash flowed." As the news outlet detailed:

As recently as 2020, [Vance] spoke at Ohio State University about society's "climate problem" and said using natural gas as a power source "isn't exactly the sort of thing that's gonna take us to a clean energy future."

Vance's climate and energy views took a 180 once he was running for the Senate. The oil and gas industry spent more than $283,000 on Vance's 2022 campaign—more than they gave to all but 18 other members of Congress, according to the campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets.

Trump's selection of Vance as his VP candidate alarmed green groups that are overwhelmingly backing Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz, given the Republican ex-president's pledge to roll back Biden-Harris administration climate policies if Big Oil pours just $1 billion into his campaign, and research showing planet-heating pollution would soar if he returned to the White House.

"Donald Trump and JD Vance are responding to the unimaginable devastation of Helene by tweeting prayers and by doubling down on their climate denial. That's wholly unacceptable," said Sunrise communications director Stevie O'Hanlon, whose group is working to mobilize 1.5 million swing state voters in support of Harris.

"Scientists have been extremely clear: Climate change made Helene stronger and more deadly, and if we don't urgently act, storms like this will become the new normal," O'Hanlon added. "Norah O'Donnell has a huge responsibility to require JD Vance to have a real conversation about the climate crisis on national TV."

The 90-minute debate is set to begin at 9:00 pm ET on Tuesday, airing on the CBS broadcast television station and streaming for free on CBSNews.com, the CBS News TV and smartphone applications, Paramount+, and YouTube.

This post has been updated with additional details from the protest shared after the arrests.

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Cranes and containers photographed at the port of Norfolk, Virginia in 2023.
News

East and Gulf Coast Dockworkers Set to Strike After Rejecting 'Insulting' Wage Offers

Dockworkers at East and Gulf Coast ports are set to go on strike after their contract expires at midnight on Monday as they seek higher pay and better job protections, in what would be the first coordinated walkout at ports from Maine to Texas since 1977.

The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), a union, has reached an impasse with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), the port operators' group, over pay rises and protection against automation of jobs, among other benefits.

The strike is expected to have consequences across the economy: East and Gulf Coast ports bring in about half of the country's containerized goods and send out about two-thirds of them.

President Joe Biden doesn't plan to intervene to force a deal, administration officials have said, following pressure from union officials and advocates who want to ensure the dockworkers keep their right to strike.

An ILA statement on Sunday said USMX "refuses to address a half-century of wage subjugation," and another earlier in the week referred to the wages the port operators were offering as "insulting" and "a joke."

The expiring contract covers 45,000 longshoremen at about three dozen ports, including the Port of New York and New Jersey, which is the third busiest in the country.

The last strike at all of the East and Gulf Coast ports was in 1977; containerized trade is now even more essential to the U.S. economy than it was then.

West Coast dockworkers are covered under a different contract that was reached last year after many months of acrimonious negotiations.

The U.S. president has the authority to suspend a dockworkers strike under the Taft-Hartley Act, anti-union legislation passed in 1947. Presidents Richard Nixon and George W. Bush both used the act to break dockworkers strikes.

Union officials are watching the Biden administration closely in the current labor dispute. AFL-CIO President Elizabeth Shuler last week implored Congress to stay out of the process, warning that even the suggestion of federal intervention could prevent USMX from negotiating in good faith.

"Averting a strike is the responsibility of the employers who refuse to offer ILA members a contract that reflects the dignity and value of their labor," Schuler wrote.

Biden, a Democrat, angered many union members and working class advocates in 2022 by working with Congress to intervene to stop a major railworkers strike.

Some experts believe the president won't want to do that again ahead of the November election, for fear of hurting Democratic turnout.

"They just don't want to have a fight with labor going into the election," Harry Katz, an economist and labor relations expert at Cornell University, toldThe New York Times. "Because you need the unions to get out the vote."

However, the administration will also likely face pressure from certain Democrats and business interests who worry about the economic impact of a strike just before the elections. JPMorgan analysts estimated that the strike would cost the U.S. economy about $5 billion per day, roughly 6% of gross domestic product.

"There is little chance that the administration would risk jeopardizing its recent economic successes less than two months before a tightly-contested election," Bradley Saunders, an economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a note to clients last week, according toThe Washington Post.

The ILA and USMX are negotiating pay increases, healthcare benefits, and the use of automated or semi-automated terminals, which threaten jobs. Pay has reportedly emerged as a central point of contention in recent negotiations. USMX offered an hourly pay rise of $2.50 each year over the course of a six-year contract; the ILA asked for a $5 raise per year, the Times reported.

The current top pay rate for the 45,000 longshoremen is $39 an hour, but the West Coast dockworkers are set to receive just over $60 in 2027, the final year of their contract. The ILA's requested rate would mean the top rate was $69 an hour in the final year of the new contract.

USMX is made up of global shipping companies that made "windfall profits" in 2021 and 2022, according to the Times.

The shutdown, which could begin as early as 12:01 am on Tuesday, won't affect cruise ships or military cargo, which the ILA has pledged to continue transporting.

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Federal agents raid Eric Adams' residence
News

'New Yorkers Deserve Better': Mayor Adams Urged to Resign as Feds Unseal Indictment

Update:

Federal prosecutors on Thursday unsealed a 57-page indictment charging New York City Mayor Eric Adams with wire fraud, bribery, and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations.

The indictment states that Adams "sought and accepted improper valuable benefits, such as luxury international travel, including from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him."

"As Adams' prominence and power grew, his foreign-national benefactors sought to cash in on their corrupt relationships with him, particularly when, in 2021, it became clear that Adams would become New York City's mayor," the document continues. "Adams agreed, providing favorable treatment in exchange for the illicit benefits he received."

Speaking at a press conference after the indictment was unsealed, Adams called it an "unfortunate" and "painful" day for him but rejected calls to resign and said, "I look forward to defending myself."

"From here my attorneys will take care of the case, so I can take care of the city," Adams said. "My day-to-day will not change. I will continue to do the job for 8.3 million New Yorkers that I was elected to do."

Earlier:

Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams faced mounting calls to resign as federal agents raided his official residence in Manhattan early Thursday morning following news that he was indicted in a corruption probe.

Adams, who was under federal investigation for allegedly conspiring with the Turkish government in 2021 to receive unlawful campaign donations, said he would fight the indictment, which remained sealed Thursday morning. Adams is now the first sitting New York City mayor to be charged with a federal crime.

News of the federal grand jury indictment sparked a new flurry of calls for Adams' resignation from New York lawmakers and advocacy groups.

"Mayor Eric Adams can no longer govern," the New York Working Families Party said in a statement. "He has lost the trust of the everyday New Yorkers he was elected to serve. Our city deserves a leader we can trust and who is not engulfed in endless scandals."

In an appearance on Democracy Now! Thursday morning, New York City Councilmember Tiffany Cabán said that "New Yorkers deserve better."

"We need somebody who can take this job seriously," Cabán added, "and [Adams] can no longer do that."

Should Adams ultimately resign or be forced out of office, the city's public advocate, Jumaane Williams, would become mayor.

Chi Ossé, also a member of the New York City Council, called Adams—a former police officer—a "corrupt cop" who "needs to resign."

"This started as a corruption probe into his campaign and now half of the leadership is out of commission," Ossé added. "I'm not going to lie, they look guilty."

News of the Adams indictment came three weeks after the FBI raided the homes and seized the phones of top Adams aides.

The New York Timesreported Thursday that "federal prosecutors investigating whether Mayor Eric Adams conspired with the Turkish government to funnel illegal foreign donations into his campaign have recently sought information about interactions with five other countries."

"The demand for information related to the other countries—Israel, China, Qatar, South Korea, and Uzbekistan—was made in expansive grand jury subpoenas issued in July to City Hall, the mayor, and his campaign," the Times noted, citing unnamed people with knowledge of the matter.

Adams attorney Alex Spiro on Thursday accused federal agents of staging a "spectacle" by raiding the mayor's residence.

"He has not been arrested and looks forward to his day in court," said Spiro. "They send a dozen agents to pick up a phone when we would have happily turned it in."

Shortly before news of the indictment broke, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) wrote that she doesn't "see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City."

"The flood of resignations and vacancies are threatening gov[ernment] function," she added. "Nonstop investigations will make it impossible to recruit and retain a qualified administration. For the good of the city, he should resign."

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Julian Assange gave a speech to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights at the Council of Europe​
News

In First Speech Since Release, Assange Says Imprisonment Set 'Dangerous Precedent'

In his first public statement since being released from prison in June, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Tuesday urged European lawmakers to take action to protect journalists from being prosecuted for their reporting work, warning that his yearslong case is directly tied to self-censorship and the chilling of press freedom.

Assange spoke to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (PACE) at the Council of Europe, which includes members from across the continent, in Strasbourg, France, and warned that current legal protections for journalists and whistleblowers "were not effective in any remotely reasonable time," as evidenced by the 14 years he spent in prison or otherwise in confinement for his work.

"I want to be totally clear," said Assange. "I am not free today because the system worked. I am free today because after years of incarceration I pleaded guilty to journalism. I pleaded guilty to seeking information from a source."

Watch Assange's testimony below:

Assange was released from Belmarsh Prison in London in June after being incarcerated there for five years. His release was secured when he agreed to plead guilty to one felony count of illegally obtaining and disclosing national security materials in a deal with the U.S. government.

He had spent years fighting U.S. efforts to extradite him, threatening him with a sentence of up to 170 years in a federal prison, as punishment for state secrets WikiLeaks published.

The media organization reported on a series of leaks provided by former U.S. Army soldier Chelsea Manning regarding the Army's killing of unarmed civilians in Iraq, as well as publishing diplomatic cables.

"I was formally convicted by a foreign power for asking for receiving and publishing truthful information about that power, while I was in Europe," said Assange, who is Australian, on Tuesday. "The fundamental issue is simple: Journalists should not be prosecuted for doing their jobs."

Assange told PACE members that he had believed that Article 10 of European Convention of Human Rights, which protects the right to freedom of expression and freedom of the media, would protect him from prosecution.

"Similarly, looking at the U.S. First Amendment to its Constitution... No publisher had ever been prosecuted for publishing classified information from the United States," said Assange. "I expected some kind of harassment legal process. I was pre-prepared to fight for that."

He continued:

My naiveté was in believing in the law. When push comes to shove, laws are just pieces of paper and they can be reinterpreted for political expediency.

They are the rules made by the ruling class more broadly. And if those rules don't suit what it wants to do, it reinterprets them or hopefully changes them... In the case of the United States, we angered one of the constituent powers of the United States. The intelligence sector... It was powerful enough to push for a reinterpretation of the U.S. Constitution.

He said he ultimately "chose freedom over unrealizable justice," as the U.S. was intent on imprisoning him for the rest of his life unless he entered the guilty plea.

Assange added that his case set a "dangerous precedent," and that since his arrest he has observed "more impunity, more secrecy, more retaliation for telling the truth, and more self-censorship."

"It is hard not to draw a line from the U.S. government crossing the Rubicon by internationally criminalizing journalism to the chilled climate for freedom of expression now," said Assange.

His comments echoed the findings of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which published its annual press freedom index in May. The group found that "in the Americas, the inability of journalists to cover subjects related to organized crime, corruption, or the environment for fear of reprisals poses a major problem."

The U.S. fell 10 places in the annual ranking, with citing "open antagonism from political officials" such as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, "including calls to jail journalists." RSF also cited the government's pursuit of Assange's extradition.

In Europe, said Assange on Tuesday, "the criminalization of news-gathering activities is a threat to investigative journalism everywhere."

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President Joe Biden speaks to reporters in front of the White House
News

Biden Says US, Israel 'Discussing' Attack on Iran's Oil Infrastructure

After saying Wednesday that he would not back Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday said his administration and Israel are weighing the possibility of an attack on Iran's oil infrastructure in response to this week's missile barrage targeting the key American ally.

Asked by a reporter outside the White House in Washington, D.C. if he supported an Israeli attack on Iran's oil infrastructure following Tuesday's missile attack on Israel, Biden said, "We're discussing that."

"There's nothing that's going to happen today," he added.

The price of crude oil shot up 5% to $77 per barrel on Thursday following Biden's remarks.

Mulling the possible implications of higher oil prices on next month's U.S. presidential election between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and former Republican President Donald Trump, Jacobin's Branko Mercetic said on social media Thursday, "If the president was intentionally trying to help Trump win, what would be the difference between how he's acting now?"

Iran's missile strike, in which no Israelis were killed or seriously harmed, came in response to a series of Israeli assassinations of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in Iran and Lebanon.

Responding to the Iranian attack, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Tuesday that there will be "consequences" and that Israel would "will act in the time and place that we choose."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Iran "will pay a heavy price" for its attack.

Iran, meanwhile, warned that any Israeli attack on its territory would result in a "stronger response" than Tuesday's strike.

Some Republican members of U.S. Congress are pushing Biden to attack Iran.

"It is not enough to issue statements," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Tuesday.

"The Biden administration has repeatedly threatened Iran with 'severe consequences' for its campaign of terror against Israel and the United States, but failed to impose them," he added. "It has pledged 'ironclad' support for Israel, only to delay and withhold the security assistance that would give this pledge any weight."

Biden's comments came as Israel advised residents of 20 towns and villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate, suggesting that Israeli forces could ramp up their invasion of its northern neighbor, from which Hezbollah has been launching rockets in support of Palestinian resistance against Israel's war on Gaza—for which the key U.S. ally is on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice.

Thousands of Lebanese have been killed or wounded by Israeli attacks. More than 148,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured by Israeli forces in Gaza.

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