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Douglas Carpenter

Douglas Carpenter's Journal
Douglas Carpenter's Journal
December 20, 2015

30% Of Republicans Are In Favor Of Bombing Fictional Town In Disney’s Aladdin!



People are so worked up by the GOP’s fear mongering that they are willing to bomb any town that even remotely sounds Middle Eastern.

That is absolutely absurd!

If I didn’t personally know Republicans to be this ignorant, I would think this was satire.

With candidates like Ted Cruz calling for “carpet-bombings” that would cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent Syrians, and Chris Christie trying to start WWIII with Russia and China, Americans are completely petrified.

And rightfully so!

http://aattp.org/new-poll-30-of-republicans-are-in-favor-of-bombing-fictional-town-in-disneys-aladdin/




December 20, 2015

Question submitted by Douglas Carpenter

The text of this question will be publicly available after it has been reviewed and answered by a DU Administrator. Please be aware that sometimes messages are not answered immediately. Thank you for your patience. --The DU Administrators
December 20, 2015

I pledge to support Hillary if she is the nominee? Do you pledge to support Bernie if he is the

nominee?

Douglas Carpenter (19,801 posts)

129. I pledge to support Hillary if she is the nominee? Do you pledge to support Bernie if he is the nominee?


http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=868787

-----------

131. Absolutely not
I'm a Democrat. He is NOT a Democrat. I wouldn't vote for him if you held a gun to my head, just like I would never and have never voted for a republican in my 38 years of voting. In fact in the minuscule chance that he was nominated I would never give another red cent to the party, knock doors, or phone bank for Dems.

Not in a million fucking years. And frankly, at least 50% of that feeling could be credited to his supporters who have spent the last several years smearing the shit out of real Democrats.

So no, never, ever, ever would I vote for him. Never.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=868804

December 17, 2015

700,000-member CWA union just threw their support behind Sanders.

On Wednesday night, Bernie Sanders won the support of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) — one of the largest unions in the US. The union will officially throw their weight behind Sanders at an 11 a.m. press conference Thursday morning.

The announcement isn’t entirely unexpected, given CWA leadership’s support of the Sanders campaign. Former CWA president Larry Cohen serves as Sanders’ labor adviser, joining the campaign after stepping down from the CWA this summer. Sanders also spoke to a group of striking Verizon workers in October, who were affiliated with the CWA.

Sanders is one of the most outspoken advocates for organized labor, having introduced a bill this fall to make it easier for workers to unionize in their workplaces. In a public statement, Sanders said higher unionization rates were necessary to correct the widening income inequality separating America’s wealthiest from the rest of the working class.

http://usuncut.com/politics/bernie-sanders-gains-biggest-endorsement-of-his-campaign/

December 4, 2015

Donald Trump just delivered an anti-Semitic speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition - see video

This is kind of unreal - it almost sounds like something out of the Onion.

The GOP front-runner prattled off a series of offensive stereotypes about Jews before a room full of nothing but

by SCOTT ERIC KAUFMAN

On Thursday, Republican front-runner Donald Trump delivered a speech before the Republican Jewish Coalition in which he essentially praised members of the organization for being a bunch of Shylocks.

“Stupidly, you want to give me money,” he began. But he added that “you’re not going to support me because I don’t want your money,” suggesting that Jews are unwilling to back people whose purse-strings they can’t control, a classic anti-Semitic trope.

In his humble way, he spoke of how much the Jews love him, especially in Israel. “They look at my wall, and it’s loaded up” with awards from Jewish groups, he boasted, before adding that “the Christians are catching up, though, they’re catching up.”

Trump spoke about the infamous $43 million gas station in Afghanistan, asking the crowd, “How many of you think you could have done it for less?” His question was greeted with silence, so he moved on. “I’m a negotiator, like you folks,” he said while discussing what he considers to be the failures of the recent nuclear deal struck with Iran.

..

His most powerful misstep, however, occurred when he waffled on the question of whether Jerusalem should remain undivided and the capital of Israel. “I don’t know if Israel has the commitment to make it,” he said. Time’s Zeke Miller said that at that point, “you could hear a pin drop.”

http://www.salon.com/2015/12/03/one_yuuuuuge_mistake_donald_trump_just_delivered_an_anti_semitic_speech_to_the_republican_jewish_coalition/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

December 4, 2015

Right-Wing Media Attack CAIR For Quickly Denouncing San Bernardino Shootings

Following a December 2 mass shooting in San Bernardino, CA, the Los Angeles office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) was attacked by right-wing media figures for holding a press conference condemning the shootings.

CAIR: "We Unequivocally Condemn" The San Bernardino Attack

Council On American-Islamic Relations' Hussam Ayloush: "We Unequivocally Condemn This Horrific Act." CAIR executive director Hussam Ayloush condemned a mass shooting that left 14 people dead in San Bernardino, CA, on December 2, stating, "We unequivocally condemn the horrific act that occurred today." CAIR organized their press conference after authorities revealed the suspected shooters were Muslim. [Business Insider, 12/2/15]

CAIR Executive Director Explains Organization's Immediate Response

Hussam Ayloush: "There's A Lot Of Anti-Muslim Sentiment" But We Wanted Fellow Americans To Know "We Stand United In Our Sorrow." On the December 3 edition of CNN's New Day, Hussam Ayloush explained why CAIR immediately responded to the San Bernardino shootings. Ayloush noted that, "There's a lot of anti-Muslim sentiment, fueled by pundits," and stated, "We felt there was a need for our fellow Americans to know that all American Muslims share with the rest of the country, our sorrow today, our shock, and our agony for what happened":

JOHN VAUSE: You're very quick to come out and hold a news conference, even had Syed Farook's brother-in-law there to talk about this. Explain to me why you took that action.

HUSSAM AYLOUSH: Well, because we're living in a very difficult time. There's a lot of Islamophobia there. There's a lot of anti-Muslim sentiment, fueled by pundits here and there. Trying to blame a whole community for the acts of a few. You know, again we are just still mourning as a nation after what happened in Colorado Springs, by someone who is also responsible for his act, not the Christian community, not the American community. Same thing, we felt there was a need for our fellow Americans to know that all American Muslims share with the rest of the country our sorrow today, our shock, and our agony for what happened. It was important for the family. They wanted to make sure that people know how they felt, how devastated they are, and they insisted to being here, although they are going through their sorrow as we speak now. But they drove all the way to be at the office and speak to fellow Americans and say, we are today, we are all victims today. We stand united in our sorrow, and the only way we can come through this is through our solidarity. [CNN, New Day, 12/3/15]

Right-Wing Media Responds By Labelling CAIR "Terrorists," Similar To "Pedophile Sending NAMBLA Out"

Rush Limbaugh: "CAIR Is The Muslim Brotherhood, It's Who They Are." On the December 3 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show, Rush Limbaugh claimed that, "CAIR is the Muslim Brotherhood, it's who they are." Limbaugh then attacked Hussam Ayloush for not using the term "religious extremism, because that would have indicted Islam." [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 12/3/15]

Fox News Guest Bo Dietl: CAIR "Ain't The Best ... I've Never Seen Them Come Out So Fast." On the December 3 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, Fox contributor Bo Dietl demanded that "the good Muslims have to come out," and stated, "Last night, that was a little funny, all of a sudden that Muslim group that ain't the best in the world, CAIR, came out and they were all of a sudden - I've never seen them come out so fast -- they're trying to separate themselves." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 12/3/15]

Brad Thor: CAIR Representing American Muslims "Is Like A Pedophile Sending NAMBLA Out To Speak For Them." On the December 2 edition of Fox News' The Kelly File, Fox guest Brad Thor dismissed CAIR's press conference, claiming "I have never seen CAIR jump into action this fast before," speculating "this is spin, this is damage control." Thor continued, stating that CAIR representing American Muslims "is like a pedophile sending NAMBLA out to speak for them":

BRAD THOR: I have never seen CAIR jump into action this fast before.

MEGYN KELLY (HOST): Neither have I.

THOR: This is spin, this is damage control, and I'll tell you that the American Muslim community does not need a group like CAIR representing them. This is like a pedophile sending NAMBLA out to speak for them. CAIR is a very bad organization, with a lot of bad ties to terrorism. These guys, American Muslims, the first thing they need to do in this country, is cut ties with CAIR.

KELLY: They have been designated as a terrorist organization. [Fox News, The Kelly File, 12/2/15]

Fox Guest: CAIR Was "Conduct[ing] A Media Crisis Management Plan" That "Hamper[ed] The Investigation." On the December 3 edition of Fox News' Happening Now, guest Chad Jenkins claimed that in condemning the San Bernardino shootings, CAIR "conduct[ed] a media crisis management plan quite quickly", prompting host Jon Scott to ask if "the crime scene has been sort of tainted." Jenkins continued, claiming that CAIR had "completely delay[ed] the investigation":

CHAD JENKINS: I have to bring up too, how quickly CAIR was able to go ahead and meet with the family members of these subjects, and go ahead, and promote, not promote, but get them out in front of the public and really conduct a media crisis management plan quite quickly. Those family members --

JON SCOTT (HOST): The Council on Arab-Islamic, American-Islamic Relations?

JENKINS: Correct, that CAIR. And my point in telling you this, is those family members would have been key personnel for those FBI agents, and other law enforcement agencies to interview after the immediate fact, to try to find out what the motives were and why this attack took place. Instead, they're doing public appearances with that organization, which officially the FBI does not associate with CAIR.

SCOTT: You're saying that in effect, in one response, in one respect the crime scene has been sort of tainted by the news conference that CAIR put together in California yesterday?

JENKINS: I'm saying that the history of CAIR has been to legally represent these individuals or family members, prior to law enforcement, when it is critical for law enforcement to conduct those associate and family member interviews. And that completely delays the investigation, especially in exigent circumstances like yesterday was playing out. That hampers the investigation, because we don't know as that investigation is going on, the multitude of that threat at that time. [Fox News, Happening Now, 12/3/15]

Fox's Todd Starnes: CAIR Holding Press Event Is "A Pretty Good Indication" Of Attack Investigation. In a December 2 tweet, Fox News Radio host Todd Starnes tweeted, "The fact that CAIR is holding a presser is a pretty good indication of where this investigation is heading":

http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/12/03/right-wing-media-attack-cair-for-quickly-denoun/207228
December 1, 2015

O'Malley called critics of his policy "ideologues on the left.


O'Malley still believes that 100,000 arrests in a city of 600,000 is a great ide.


BALTIMORE —Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Wednesday she will not combat crime by returning to the days of so-called mass arrests of minor offenses.

In an opinion-editorial piece published Wednesday in The Baltimore Sun, Gov. Martin O'Malley stepped up his campaign to get the city to go back to what he did when he was mayor: have a policing policy that led to more than 100,000 arrests per year -- many for minor offenses.

The mayor and governor are widely seen as friends, but they are not on the same page on this issue and the continuing debate, the mayor said, is causing many communities to worry.

"Homicides are going up for the second year in a row, and shootings are up year to date. Why? I believe it has to do with the fact that enforcement levels have fallen to a 13-year low," the governor wrote.

O'Malley called critics of his policy "ideologues on the left." . . .

"Honest minds can differ, but this honest mind is also fact-dependent, and the data show that more arrests didn't lead to a safer city," Rawlings-Blake countered Wednesday.

The mayor's office produced a chart showing a steady decline in violent crime since 2006 -- the year O'Malley left City Hall -- and arrests reached their peak. It was to counter a chart produced by the governor to argue otherwise.

In some communities, the tactic was known as "the bad old days" when so many people got locked up that the line at Central Booking was long.


More: http://www.wbaltv.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/mayor-vows-not-to-return-to-days-of-mass-arrests-in-baltimore/22118078
December 1, 2015

Ted Cruz's 'Transgendered Leftist' Claim About Planned Parenthood Shooter Emerged From Far-Right Web


SUBMITTED BY Brian Tashman on Monday, 11/30/2015 10:40 am

When asked yesterday about reports that the shooter who killed three people at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs said “no more baby parts” to law enforcement officers, Ted Cruz said that he read reports that the shooter was actually “a transgendered leftist activist,” while graciously adding that he wouldn’t blame the “rhetoric of the left” for the attack.

Unsurprisingly, according to a campaign spokesman, Cruz found his information about the shooter’s political and gender identity on a right-wing blog.

Far-right outlets such as The Gateway Pundit, Young Conservatives and WorldNetDaily have been implying that what appears to be a typo on the attacker’s voter registration form may mean that he in fact identified as a woman. Cruz’s campaign spokesman cited a blog post on The Right Scoop by a blogger named “soopermexican,” titled “WAS THE COLORADO SHOOTER A TRANSGENDER PERSON?!?!”

American Family Radio host Bryan Fischer also suggested that a webpage typo was proof that “low info media narrative collapses”:


None of these posts, however, suggested that the shooter was a “leftist,” which seems to be a unique Cruz creation. Family members and friends described the shooter as a conservative who abhorred President Obama.

Cruz seems to be doing whatever it takes to make sure people don’t see an attack on Planned Parenthood, one of several attacks that occurred this year, as an attack on Planned Parenthood.

- See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/ted-cruzs-transgendered-leftist-claim-about-planned-parenthood-shooter-emerged-far-right-web#sthash.5p2DwlD5.dpuf
November 30, 2015

Week After Armed Anti-Islam Protest, Hundreds Show Support for Irving’s Mosque

Posted by Bobby Rodrigo on Nov 29, 2015 in General, Top News Stories

?zoom=1.5&resize=640%2C480

About 200 people lined up outside the Islamic Center of Irving on Saturday afternoon. Cold but mostly dry, they stood for hours with signs of friendship and support for religious freedom, and they hugged worshippers who drifted over from the mosque.

A dozen men and women with long guns stood in the same spot a week earlier, convinced that the Quran preached violence and declaring that Islam must not be allowed to spread.

“It turned my stomach,” said Bob Maryan, one of many in Saturday’s crowd who had never been to a demonstration. He usually spends his days in downtown Dallas, working in corporate business development.

Behind him, a girl in a pink headscarf wandered through the crowd, mouth agape as people thrust flowers toward her.

“Holding guns where little kids study … it’s just being a coward,” said Maleeha Aziz, 22, who emigrated from Pakistan to Dallas about four years ago. Her sign read: “Terrorism, NOT in my name.”

http://www.itakelibertywithmycoffee.com/2015/11/week-after-armed-anti-islam-protest-hundreds-show-support-for-irvings-mosque/
November 29, 2015

When a group of clergy gathered outside of a Cleveland abortion clinic,they did something surprising



They blessed the facility. by Billy Hallowell

A group of 15 Christian ministers and rabbis came together outside of the Preterm clinic, where they conducted a blessing that was possibly the first-ever of its kind in Ohio, The Plain Dealer reported.

Joined by around 30 clinic staff and past patients, they sang together and offered support for the clinic and the women going in.

The gathering was organized by the Rev. Laura Young of the Ohio Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, a pro-choice group.

Young, a United Methodist Minister, told the Plain Dealer that the gathering was put together ”because too many religious people are hurling shame and hate at women seeking abortion, when we should be offering compassion, care and spiritual healing.”

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/10/13/christian-ministers-gather-outside-ohio-abortion-clinic-to-do-something-that-has-reportedly-never-been-done-before/

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Gender: Male
Hometown: Corry (Erie County), Pennsylvania 16407
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Current location: Saipan, U.S. Commonweath of the Northern Mariana Islands
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