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Maddow: Sanders Formally Demands DNC Disqualify Barney Frank, Dannel Malloy From Platform Committee

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Campaign’s Attorneys Send Formal Letter Threatening Convention Disruption

Rachel Maddow Friday night broke news that attorneys for the Bernie Sanders for President Campaign have just sent a letter to the Democratic National Committee formally demanding the disqualification of two Democratic Party platform committee chairs: former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, and Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy.

Maddow (video above, starting at the 5:30 mark) notes that DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz gave Bernie Sanders a “big concession” by allowing him to choose one-third of the members of the Democratic Platform Committee when the rules state the DNC Chair gets to choose them.

She then shows the letter from Sanders’ lawyers, and says, “the Sanders campaign is lodging a formal credentials challenge against the chair of the platform committee and the chair of the rules committee.”

The letter calls Rep. Frank and Gov. Malloy “self-proclaimed partisans intent on marginalizing” Sanders Campaign supporters.

She adds, “the Sanders Campaign then ends this letter with a threat. If the Committee doesn’t kick Gov. Malloy and Barney Frank out of those leadership positions the Sanders campaign will essentially grind the process of the convention to a halt.”

“They will gum up the works so nothing happens.”

What Maddow doesn’t clearly state is the reason the Sanders Campaign is requesting Frank and Malloy be disqualified is that they have been critical of Bernie Sanders. She also does not note that Sanders appointed Cornel West to the committee, and he has repeatedly been highly critical of Hillary Clinton.

Daily Kos excerpted these sections of the letter:

Mr. Frank’s animosity toward Senator Sanders dates back decades. In 1991, while serving alongside Senator Sanders on the House Financial Service Committee, Mr. Frank accused Senator Sanders of “unduly denigrat[ing] the institution and a lot of the members” of Congress. After Senator Sanders won the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primaries [sic] in February, Mr. Frank wrote an opinion piece in which he professed his “resentment” toward the Senator. And Mr. Frank’s invective against Senator Sanders has only intensified as Senator Sanders has notched additional primary victories. 

Governor Malloy has unfairly ascribed blame for national gun control laws single-handedly to Senator Sanders, referring to the three-day wait provision of the Brady Bill as the “Charleston-Sanders loophole.” Malloy has even ventured that Senator Sanders should be “held accountable” for the “death and destruction” cause [sic] by his “mistakes.”

On Twitter, many were displeased with the Sanders Campaign action:

 Maddow posted the letter to MSNBC’s website, we’re posting it below, with a few added highlights in red:

sandersletter.jpg

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‘Be the Guardrails of Democracy’: Liz Cheney and Other Never-Trumpers Suggest Path Forward

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Never-Trumpers, the conservatives and Republicans who refused to support Donald Trump and his MAGA movement, who chose country over party and, in some cases, have put themselves in possible danger to support Vice President Kamala Harris’s run for the presidency, have some thoughts about the Election Day results—and what, they say, is required of Americans who oppose now President-elect Donald Trump.

At the top of the Never-Trump list is Liz Cheney, the former U.S. Congresswoman who lost her seat after taking one as vice chair of the U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack. The daughter of a former U.S. Vice President and Secretary of Defense, Cheney chose to cross the aisle and put aside her political beliefs to help protect democracy.

She says that battle must continue, and it will take all of us.

READ MORE: Trump Closes Campaign With Misogynistic Slur, Violent Rhetoric Against Women

“Our nation’s democratic system functioned last night and we have a new President-elect,” Cheney wrote on social media. “All Americans are bound, whether we like the outcome or not, to accept the results of our elections. We now have a special responsibility, as citizens of the greatest nation on earth, to do everything we can to support and defend our Constitution, preserve the rule of law, and ensure that our institutions hold over these coming four years. Citizens across this country, our courts, members of the press and those serving in our federal, state and local governments must now be the guardrails of democracy.”

George Conway, an attorney who started the anti-Trump Super PAC named Anti-Psychopath PAC, offered several thoughts.

“We are engulfed by depravity. But it’s more important than ever not to succumb to it,” he wrote.

And he issued this warning: “I’ve always found ‘kakistocracy’ to be an interesting word. I think more and more people will come to appreciate the word in the near future.”

Kakistocracy can be defined as, “government by the least suitable or competent citizens of a state.”

Bill Kristol pointed to his piece today at The Bulwark, “What Will Trump’s Win Mean.”

He wrote: “As Churchill put it: ‘In Defeat: Defiance.’ We’ll have to keep our nerve and our principles…We’ll have to fight politically and to resist lawfully. We’ll have to do our best to limit the damage. And we’ll have to lay the groundwork for future recovery.”

And added: “‘Hope under adverse circumstances.’ That’s what we need. Hope followed by thought and action, all to help bring about a new day for a great nation which has, for now, made a terrible mistake.”

READ MORE: ‘Dire Implications’: Trump’s Possible Vaccine Ban Could Spark US, Global Health Crisis

The Atlantic’s David Frum offered this story, invoking the 1942 classic film, “Casablanca“:

“Eight years ago this night, my son asked me: ‘What do we do now?’ I answered, ‘We walk to the bar, strike up the band, and sing The Marseillaise.’ These past few months, my plan for 2025 was to retire from political journalism. Seems I’ll have to make new plans.”

Joe Walsh, the Tea Party Republican turned independent podcaster who regularly criticizes Republicans and Democrats, offered this: “I was wrong. The people spoke. Donald Trump has won. I’m devastated. I’m sad. But I accept the will of the people. I accept the results of the election. Because I love our democracy. Because I’m an American. That’s what we do.”

“We’re living in a populist moment,” he added. “Trump is a bad populist, a divisive populist, a demagogue, a lying populist. But Democrats have never recognized or understood this populist moment.”

“I’m not surprised because I’ve spoken often on how out of touch Democrats have grown with working class America,” Walsh continued. “But I am surprised because I didn’t think a majority of Americans would put such an utterly horrible human being back in the White House.”

RELATED: ‘She Kills People’: Trump Amps Up Attack on Cheney After Violent ‘Nine Barrels’ Rhetoric

 

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‘They Tried to Kill’: Fox Host Explodes When Pushed on Unity With Left If Harris Wins

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Co-hosts on Fox News’ “The Five” discussed the possibility of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris winning the election, and were asked if they would work with the left for the good of the country. Jeanine Pirro, a former judge and district attorney refused, appeared to suggest Democrats tried to assassinate the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

“And you know,” Pirro said, “wouldn’t it have been better for them to at least spend some time saying, ‘we’re going to do this to better all of us, as opposed to just going after [him or them]?”

“But no, they’re, they’re medically, they’re medically insane,” co-host Greg Gutfeld responded, appearing to talk about Democrats.

“But if Democrats do win tonight, a House or the Senate or even the presidency, can we say we’re all gonna try to work together?” co-host and Democratic former U.S. Congressman Harold Ford Jr. asked.

“If it’ll make you feel better,” one co-host replied, as Gutfeld snarked, “You’re sleeping on the couch.”

Then Pirro interjected:  “You know what? There’s only one guy that they tried to kill,” she said, apparently referring to the two assassination attempts on Donald Trump.

READ MORE: ‘I’m Waving at You’: Kamala Harris Phone Banks, Gets Voter Watching Her Live on TV

Republicans, including Donald Trump, have baselessly tried to blame the attempted assassinations on Democrats’ “rhetoric.” In September Trump said, “I probably took a bullet to the head because of the things they say about me,” referring to Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

One of the attempted assassins, Thomas Matthew Crooks, who bloodied Trump’s ear and shot one audience member to death at a Butler, Pennsylvania rally in July, was a registered Republican who once donated $15 to ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising platform.

Ryan Wesley Routh, an alleged attempted assassin, had been a Trump supporter in 2016 but by 2020 had turned against the Republican president. USA Today reported Routh is an unaffiliated voter who supported Democrats at times but “may have once voted for Trump.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: Trump Closes Campaign With Misogynistic Slur, Violent Rhetoric Against Women

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‘I’m Waving at You’: Kamala Harris Phone Banks, Gets Voter Watching Her Live on TV

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While Donald Trump spent part of Election Day with Melania at the polls, questioning the integrity of the vote, Vice President Kamala Harris took some time to reach out to voters by phone banking at a Democratic National Committee event where she made a surprise entrance to talk with volunteers.

“Are you fired up? Ready to go?” an apparent DNC operative asked volunteers, who cheered both times, “yes!”

“I would like to introduce a very, very special guest who wanted to drop by,” he said.

When the door opened and Vice President Haris walked in, the group cheered.

She brought with her a gift: a big box of her favorite food, Doritos.

RELATED: Trump Pledges to Concede ‘Fair’ Loss Before Quickly Casting Doubt on Election Integrity

Thanking them, Harris said they “truly represent the best of who we are, just reaching out to folks, letting them all know we’re all in it together, reminding them of the power of their vote.”

The Vice President then got on the phone with one woman, telling her she just called to “reach out to our fellow Americans.”

“How are you doing? Have you voted already? You did? Thank you!” Harris said as the roomful of volunteers cheered. After thinking her for taking time out of her day to vote, the Vice President said, “you enjoy your day, OK?”

Harris then spoke to another voter, asked them if they had voted and thanked them for doing so.

Another person on the phone turned out to be an eight-year old girl.

READ MORE: Trump Closes Campaign With Misogynistic Slur, Violent Rhetoric Against Women

“I can tell you’re really smart, and you’re working really hard…You are still a leader at every age,” Harris told the young girl. “OK sweetheart, I thank you, and thanks for the time, please take care.”

She spoke to another caller for several minutes, thanking them and at one point saying, “Oh, I’m so excited about that, oh you are!” Harris said with a big smile before appearing to share what the voter said with a volunteer. She then talked with the voter, saying, “the Milwaukee small business, the community, is just thriving! So I’m looking forward to paying attention to your work…Thank you, we have all these volunteers here…Tell them I said hello.”

Harris was handed another phone, and said, “Carolyn?” apparently having been told the voter’s name. “Hi Carolyn. It’s Kamala—hi, how are you?”

“I’m looking at you and you’re looking at me? Oh, there’s a live camera somewhere here?” the Voce President said, laughing.

“Which camera? OK, I’m waving at you,” Harris said, as she waved.

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘A Lot of Empty Seats’: What Reporters Are Seeing and Saying About Trump’s Final Rallies

 

 

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