Posted tagged ‘Democratic National Convention’

Obama Compares Donald Trump to Jihadists: ‘They Will Always Fail in the End’

July 28, 2016

Obama Compares Donald Trump to Jihadists: ‘They Will Always Fail in the End’

by Charlie Spiering

27 Jul 2016

Source: Obama Compares Donald Trump to Jihadists: ‘They Will Always Fail in the End’ – Breitbart

President Barack Obama compared Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to terrorists, lumping him and his supporters with the worst elements of society, during his speech at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia Wednesday.

During his speech, Obama spoke about the greatness of democracy and the American people, before insisting that Trump would fail.

“That’s why anyone who threatens our values, whether fascists or communists or jihadis or home-grown demagogues will always fail in the end,” he said.

The president painted Trump as a “self-declared” dictator who preyed on people’s fears and tried to divide the country.

“Our power doesn’t come from some self-declared savior promising that he alone can restore order as long as we do things his way,” he said. “We don’t look to be ruled.”

He also argued that America was still great, after two terms of his presidency.

“America is already great. America is already strong,” Obama said, adding that America’s greatness “does not depend on Donald Trump.”

Obama insisted that Trump had turned the Republican party into something else entirely, insisting that the party convention last week wasn’t Republican and “sure wasn’t conservative.”

Citing illegal immigration, Obama appeared to excuse illegals for flouting immigration laws to come to America.

“The American Dream is something no wall will ever contain,” he said.

The president also dismissed the idea that race relations between African-Americans and police officers were getting worse, citing “festered” problems that had gone on for decades.

He urged Americans to ignore Trump’s message, calling the upcoming election a serious choice.

“This is a more fundamental choice of who we are as a people,” he said.

Obama’s voice was slightly raspy as he spoke about the achievements of his two terms as president, after taking the stage to his old campaign song “City of Blinding Lights” by U2, as delegates shouted “Yes We Can!” recalling when thousands of Democrats chose him over Hillary Clinton in 2008.

He acknowledged that he beat Clinton in 2008 even though she was “doing everything that I was doing, but just like Ginger Rogers, it was backwards, and in heels.”

“I was worn out,” he admitted, pointing out that Clinton kept fighting back throughout the divisive primary.

On foreign policy, Obama admitted that the fight against Islamic State terrorism wasn’t finished, and that Clinton would take over his unfinished work.

“I know Hillary won’t relent until ISIL is destroyed,” he said. “She will finish the job and she will do it without resorting to torture or banning entire religions from entering our country.”

Obama recalled his 2004 speech that catapulted his national rise to power, saying that he was “filled with faith” in the American people.

He championed his legacy, insisting that he had saved the American economy and successfully passed health care reform, and he bragged once again that he killed Osama Bin Laden. Obama also praised his own achievement of the nuclear deal with Iran and opening up relations with Cuba.

Amid chants of “Yes we can!” and “Four more years!” from the Democratic audience, Obama urged them to “carry Hillary to victory.”

“I’m ready to pass the baton and do my part as a private citizen, so this year in this election,” he said, “I’m asking you to join me to reject cynicism and reject fear and to summon what is best in us to elect Hillary Clinton as the next president of the United States,” he concluded.

The Democratic National Convention Reportedly Bars Two Male Delegates From Vermont And Orders The Substitution Of Female Delegates

July 22, 2016

The Democratic National Convention Reportedly Bars Two Male Delegates From Vermont And Orders The Substitution Of Female Delegates, Jonathan Turley’s BlogJonathan Turley, July 22, 2016

(One of the commenters suggested that they would not likely have been removed had they been affiliated with Black Lives Matter. — DM)

DNC

There is a little reported story out of the Democratic National Convention where two Sanders delegates have been barred from attending the event. The problem was not their credentials or their conduct. State Sen. Tim Ashe (right below) and Ken Dean are men and the DNC ruled that there were simply too many of that kind in the delegation. Vermont was ordered to replace them with women, any women, so long as the delegation was equal. Ashe and Dean have filed challenges for good reason.

tashe

Coupled with a growing controversy over the determined effort of the Democrats not to release a list of donors to the media, this is hardly a good story to trigger days before the opening of convention. The national party appears to be imposing a quota system on delegates based on gender despite the fact that such delegates can claim that they are qualified through the democratic process. After all Dean and Ashe were elected as delegates on June 11. Then, on July 5, the state party was ordered to remove them due to their gender deficiency.

Of course, the infamous superdelegates remain untouchable. It is just those elected by the people that can be negated solely on the basis for their gender. Notably, eight of 10 Vermont superdelegates are men.

The Democratic party leadership appears to be moving away from the fight against gender discrimination in guaranteeing equal opportunity to the fight for gender equality with the use of quotas to force gender balance. Ironically, it was Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in United States v. Virginia (1996) who warned that “Today’s skeptical scrutiny of official action denying rights or opportunities based on sex responds to volumes of history.” Not only are these delegates saying that they are being denied position due to their gender, but the DNC is negating the choice of Vermont voters — male and female. There is such a thing as individual achievement and choice. The Vermont voters are allowed to select people on the basis for their individual merits rather than categorical exclusions based on race, gender, religion, or other immutable characteristics.

This point was made by the Supreme Court in University of California v. Bakke (1978):

[R]ace, like gender and illegitimacy, . . . is an immutable characteristic which its possessors are powerless to escape or set aside. While a classification is not per se invalid because it divides classes on the basis of an immutable characteristic, see supra at 355-356, it is nevertheless true that such divisions are contrary to our deep belief that “legal burdens should bear some relationship to individual responsibility or wrongdoing,” . . . and that advancement sanctioned, sponsored, or approved by the State should ideally be based on individual merit or achievement, or at the least on factors within the control of an individual.

Those concerns are heightened in my view when alleged gender discrimination negates the results of a democratic process like delegate selection.

What do you think?