Well here's a cheery story! Conservatives melt down as Twitter annihilates fake accounts.

How many DUers are going to March 24 events?

If we want the next generation to get involved and make things better, this is our chance to support them in a way we haven't seen since the Vietnam peace movement. They're speaking in Tallahassee - on CNN now.

Are you going to attend a March?

Would those of you who think Gillibrand should not be re-elected....

...because of her actions re Franken, please explain to me why she is the target, and not any of the other 31 dems who signed on to ask that he resign?

I'm curious. I'm not assuming there are no reasons.

An aha moment!!! The focus on Gillibrand is beginning to feel like...

... someone is fomenting dissension. I sure do disagree with her decision to go after Franken. But I don't see a reason to make her a target of a lot of discussion. Might we be playing into someone's hands here?

I was surprised to see in a post today that 32 democrats signed on with her to ask for Franken's resignation. I knew, of course, that she wasn't the only one, but this does make it look a little strange that her name is so frequently mentioned, even if she was a leader.

NDRC - Let me know if you sign up...

... in response to this post. Also let me know if you had already signed up.

This is an e-mail I got from the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, started by Obama and Holder, and currently run by Holder. I think it's the best thing going to actually turn this government around. Link to sign up/donate is at the bottom.

Were Bernie Bros really Russian trolls???

I haven't been in this group for many, many months, but I do remember coming here for support during the primaries. Is it possible that the Sanders supporters in DU weren't really as awful as they seemed??

It's about time!!!

Major Republican Donor Won’t Support Candidates Who Don’t Back an Assault Weapons Ban.

After seventeen people were killed in a Parkland, Florida school shooting, Republican donor Al Hoffman Jr. announced that he will not donate to electioneering groups or candidates unless they support an assault weapons ban. Hoffman’s ultimatum goes against the conventional GOP stance of considering any new gun control measures anathema.

Alexander Burns of the New York Times reported that the Florida-based donor, a retired real estate developer and former ambassador to Portugal, sent Republican leaders like Jeb Bush and Florida governor Rick Scott an email that read, in part, “I will not write another check unless they all support a ban on assault weapons. Enough is enough!” Hoffman also made clear that he wouldn’t back Scott, who may run for Senate this year and who said, in the wake of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, “The Second Amendment didn’t kill anybody.”

Hoffman has given millions to Republican causes and candidates, including $25,000 to the Mitch McConnell-aligned Senate Leadership Fund in 2017 and more than $1 million to the super PAC Right to Rise, which backed Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign. Hoffman also told the Times that he planned to reach out to “every single donor I know in the Republican party” and ask each one to join his boycott.

Does anyone know what would have happened if tip had been processed properly?

As I understand it, the message never got from the tip line to the FBI office. If it had, it would have been passed on to local authorities. And, actually, the local authorities got multiple messages on their own. But what could they have actually done?

I've heard that some locations (states? municipalities?) have passed laws that allow authorities to take away guns for one year from anyone that a single other person has complained about as a possible threat. That seems like a good move to me, but I don't it's a law in Florida.

If you see something, say something. Then what?

To all of those who think a painting should not have to be explained...

... on the one hand, I agree with you. The response to a painting is very individual, and should be.

But we at DU are interested in Barack and Michelle Obama as people. I think it's very interesting and valuable to try to understand why they liked these artists and chose them for their portraits. Here are two DU posts that I found helpful in getting around my initial less than excited response.

Skinner's post of several other portraits by each of the artists.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210219889

The video of the whole ceremony, where you can hear both Obamas' remarks as well as those of each of the artists.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210219992#post1

Aren't the Obama's worth some empathetic energy????

Maybe the artist discovered that Michelle thinks there are really distressing...

... things going on in our country. And that we need to get to work.