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TODAY! Dozens Of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Repeal Groups Rally Against The Senate

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UPDATE 12.10.10: Since the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal bill failed to pass in the Senate yesterday, this rally is more important than ever!

Senator Mitch McConnell set off a firestorm on Sunday’s “Meet The Press” when he lied by stating, “I don’t see how we can possibly finish the defense authorization bill, a two-week bill, wholly aside from these controversial items that are in it … before the end of the year.” Aside from the fact that defense authorization bills rarely take two weeks to debate, Senator McConnell obviously hasn’t seen a calendar. December has twenty-four more days left, and the American people, (to quote the Senator’s favorite phrase,) are quite willing to force the Senate into overtime.

Joe Lieberman was the first to suggest Majority Leader Harry Reid’s date to head home for the Christmas recess, December 17, should change. Then Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), a huge “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal advocate, signed on. Then Mark Udall (D-CO), who released a statement saying, “I’m willing to stay through Christmas and New Year’s, if that’s what it takes” to get work done on NDAA and other issues.

Despite Secretary Gates’ pessimism that the Senate will fail to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and he’ll be stuck at some point soon with no “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” wiggle room in the courts, it seems that forces are rallying.

Calling the protest “Mission Incomplete,” Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, the group orgainzing Friday’s protest, released the follwing press release:

“We call upon the Senate and the President to remain in session and in Washington until the National Defense Authorization Act is passed – which includes the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask.’ The Senate is scheduled to break for holiday vacation; we can’t let them leave.  We must show our rage for repeal and insist the Senate stay in Washington until they have finished the job.  We implore all who support repeal to join us outside the Senate this Friday. As Secretary of Defense  Robert Gates said, ‘If not now, when?’

“The lame-duck vote on repeal was set up and dictated by some of the same Senators – like John McCain and Mitch McConnell — who are now delaying to kill the bill.  They wanted the Pentagon report – now they have it.  They wanted hearings – now they’re done.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he is determined to pass the defense bill with repeal.  Senators must not be allowed to hide any longer behind process, procedure, and tax cuts for the wealthy, while the discrimination continues. We’ve lost 14,000 troops to this antiquated law, and by God, we must not lose another on our watch.

“More Americans than ever are with us in this moment.  We have the Commander in Chief, the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a majority of the service chiefs who support repeal.  We know that 92 percent of service members are just fine working with their gay, lesbian and bisexual colleagues, according to the Pentagon report.  Their attitudes mirror those of nearly 80 percent of Americans.

“With increased pressure – a raised voice – and help from our allies at this key moment, I believe the Senate will stay in session.  We will hit 60 votes.  We will fight back on attempts to kill repeal.  We will send the bill to the President’s desk.  The discharges will end.  And gays and lesbians will keep serving this nation – but this time with the integrity they so deserve,” said Aubrey Sarvis, U.S. Army veteran and executive director for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

WHEN:
Friday, December 10th
12 p.m.

WHERE:
Constitution Ave. & Delaware Ave. at Upper Senate Park
(Near U.S. Capitol)
Washington, DC

Closest Metro: Union Station (Red Line). Nearby: Capitol South (Blue/Orange), Judiciary Square (Red).

The following is a partial list of groups (I’ll keep updating the list as more are added) are descending upon Washington, D.C. this Friday (which, perhaps appropriately happens to be International Human Rights Day,) to show strength in the face of the GOP’s obvious lack of care for our troops.

UPDATED: 12.08.10 10:45 AM:

AmericaBlog

American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER)

Change.org

Courage Campaign

CREDO Action

DOD FED GLOBE

Echo Magazine

Equality Federation

Fairness West Virginia

Get Equal

Human Rights Campaign (HRC)

International Foundation for Gender Education

Kentucky Fairness Alliance

Knights Out

MoveOn PAC

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

National Center for Lesbian Rights

National Stonewall Democrats

Open Left

OutServe

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) National

People For the American Way (PFAW)

PROMO

Proud Ally

Seattle Gay News

Service Academy Gay and Lesbian Alumni Association

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN)

Swish

ThatsSoGayLIVE

VoteVets

Young Democrats of America

Visit SLDN for more info on “Mission Incomplete.”
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‘Disgraceful’: ICE Slammed After Allegedly Pepper-Spraying US Congresswoman

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U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) is accusing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents of pepper-spraying her in her face while she was at a local Tucson, Arizona restaurant.

Rep. Grijalva in a video on social media said she saw about 40 mostly-masked ICE agents at a restaurant she frequents weekly.

The agents were “in several vehicles that the community had stopped right here, right in the middle of the street, because they were afraid that they were taking people without due process, without any kind of notice.”

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She said that the community was “protecting their people” when she was “sprayed in the face by a very aggressive agent,” and “pushed around by others when I literally was not being aggressive.”

“I was asking for clarification, which is my right as a member of Congress,” she continued. “So, once I introduced myself, once I did, I assumed that it would be a little calmer, but there was literally only one person that was trying to speak to me in any kind of civil tone, and everyone else was being rude and disrespectful, and I just can only imagine if they’re going to treat me like that, how they’re treating everybody else.”

Congresswoman Grijalva said she saw “people directly sprayed,” including “members of our press” and staff members.

She blasted President Donald Trump, saying that he “has no regard for any due process, the rule of law, the Constitution — they’re literally disappearing people from the streets.”

Critics slammed the agents’ action.

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U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) wrote that Rep. Grijalva “was doing her job, standing up for her community.”

“Pepper-spraying a sitting member of Congress is disgraceful, unacceptable, and absolutely not what we voted for. Period,” he added.

“This is unacceptable and outrageous,” observed Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. “Enforcing the rule [of] law does not mean pepper spraying a member of Congress for simply asking questions. Effective law enforcement requires restraint and accountability, not unchecked aggression.”

The Bulwark’s Sam Stein noted, “quite the beginning for Grijalva, who wasn’t seated for weeks, [cast] the decisive vote to get the Epstein files, and now has apparently been pepper sprayed in the face by immigration agents.”

Also calling the action “outrageous,” U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) wrote: “We are Members of Congress with oversight authority of ICE. Rep Grijalva was completely within her rights to stand up for her constituents. ICE is completely lawless.”

“First they tackle a sitting Senator,” noted U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY). “Now they’re pepper spraying a Representative. It’s clear ICE is spinning out of control. We will hold the agency accountable.”

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Image via Reuters 

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Warning Signs Flash as Trump Slump Raises Fears of 2018 Blue Wave Rerun: Conservative

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A well-known conservative commentator has a warning for the Republican Party: take action now or face a repeat of the 2018 midterms when the GOP lost 41 House seats in a landslide. And this time, he says, the Senate could go to the Democrats as well.

Award-winning writer and journalist Bernard Goldberg reminded readers at The Hill that in 2018, during President Donald Trump’s first term, “Republicans got walloped … and a good chunk of that had President Trump’s name written all over it.”

Trump’s “approval ratings were in the low 40s, and independents — the folks who usually decide elections — had seen enough. They broke hard for the Democrats,” Goldberg noted. “Now here we are, staring down 2026, and you can almost hear history clearing its throat, getting ready to repeat itself.”

READ MORE: Trump: Democrats Are Plotting ‘Total Obliteration’ of Supreme Court

Goldberg noted that Trump’s approval rating is currently the lowest it’s been this term.

“Among Republicans, his support dropped from 91 percent right after the 2024 election to 84 percent last month. Among independents, it cratered — from 42 percent to just 25 percent.”

“If the trend continues,” he warned, “Republicans could be headed for another blue wave — and this time, it could wash away not just the House majority, but control of the Senate too.”

Why?

“It’s the economy — still,” he wrote.

“Trump is out there saying the economy is humming. Biden said the same thing before him. But voters didn’t buy it then, and they’re not buying it now. Why? Because it’s not GDP numbers that matter. It’s affordability,” Goldberg noted.

READ MORE: Trump’s Ballroom Seen as ‘Key Evidence’ He’s Out of Touch as Cost of Living Spikes

That’s a word that President Trump continues to call a “con job,” while his own administration tries to claim he is focused on.

He pointed to a Karl Rove Wall Street Journal column and wrote: “The Republicans may have ‘avoided disaster’ in Tennessee, but the result should be a wake-up call for Republicans. He’s right.”

Goldberg asked: “will anyone in the Republican Party actually pick up the phone?”

“Because if Republicans don’t wake up — and fast — they’re going to find out the hard way what happens when you keep rerunning the same movie and expecting a different ending. To lose in 2026, all they have to do is nothing. And right now, that’s pretty much what they’re doing.”

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Trump: Democrats Are Plotting ‘Total Obliteration’ of Supreme Court

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President Donald Trump is claiming that the top priority of Democrats is the “total obliteration” of the U.S. Supreme Court. His remarks came just hours after SCOTUS gave Republicans a 6-3 win along partisan lines, in the form of approving Texas’s redrawn mid-decade congressional maps that could help add five GOP-held seats to the U.S. House of Representatives. A lower court had ruled the redrawn Texas maps were likely racially biased.

Although there are different ways to measure, one study by Court Accountability this fall found that the Supreme Court has ruled in Trump’s favor 90% of the time.

“Most of these wins for the president came from the court’s ‘shadow docket’ slate of opinions — where the court has typically, in the past, only ruled on administrative measures,” according to Truthout. “However, in recent years, the Supreme Court has been making announcements on cases, issuing injunctions or allowances of actions to remain in place, that have the same effect, essentially, as a final decision.”

READ MORE: White House Touts Trump’s ‘Track Record’ on Affordability

On Friday, the president declared that the “Democrats number one policy push is the complete and total OBLITERATION of our great United States Supreme Court.”

“They will do this on their very first day in office, through the simple Termination of the Filibuster, SHOULD THEY WIN THE UPCOMING ELECTIONS,” he wrote.

Trump has strongly advocated for Republicans to eliminate the Senate filibuster.

“The Radical Left Democrats are looking at 21 Justices, with immediate ascension,” he wrote, claiming that Democrats would more than double the current size of the court.

“This would be terrible for our Country. Fear not, however, Republicans will not let it, or any of their other catastrophic policies, happen. Our Country is now in very good hands. MAGA!!!”

Some court reform advocates have suggested the Supreme Court be expanded to 13 justices, one for each of the thirteen U.S. Courts of Appeals.

READ MORE: Trump’s Ballroom Seen as ‘Key Evidence’ He’s Out of Touch as Cost of Living Spikes

 

Image via Reuters 

 

 

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