Posts tagged with "Donald Trump"

SCLC FIGHTS FOR POOR

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With all Americans bearing the brunt of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis, Dr. Charles Steele, Jr., president and CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), today called on President Donald Trump and the U.S. Congress to make sure all Americans benefit from the nearly $1 trillion that will be spent to restore the health of citizens and the economy.

“I want to weigh in on behalf of regular people,” said Dr. Steele, who currently heads the civil rights organization co-founded and first led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “We have seen this socialist bailout of corporate America before. As the Trump Administration and Congress prepare to help some corporations, hand out new contracts and create new jobs to address this pandemic, we must ensure that billions ends up in the hands of the people who have been historically left behind. Poor people, black and brown people, must be recipients of these gifts of generosity that normally go to corporations.”

President Trump has said efforts are underway to financially assist corporations that have been hit hard by Convid-19, including the travel and cargo industries. He has announced plans to assist small businesses, but there are no specifics how those disbursements will be handled, and he has announced plans to give all families at least $2,400 to help them through the crisis.

“When it comes to bearing the weight, it is not fair that the corporations get the support when the rest of us starve,” Dr. Steele said. “We saw our government bail out the banks during the housing collapse. We also bailed out the auto industry and Wall Street. Those industries recovered, but we didn’t. Most black and brown people lost their homes. We lost our wealth. Nearly 75 percent of poor people are living from check to check. Many of us have no health insurance. We can’t afford to take a day off work.”

Dr. Steele said the SCLC, which has focused on the plight of the poor and the voiceless since the days of Dr. King, has received calls for individuals and groups who are concerned about how individuals with no jobs and insurance will fair during this pandemic and recover after the crisis is over.

“They are asking, ‘Where are our leaders,’” Dr. Steele said. “They are not seeing them standing up to make sure the real money will flow down to the people most impacted. That is why the SCLC is taking a stand. We must fight to make sure our government does not repeat what has happened in the past. We need more than $1,200 to catch up in America. We will not be left behind this time.”

ABOUT THE SCLC:

Established in 1957, the SCLC, whose first president was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is a now an international organization made up of chapters and affiliates with programs that affect the lives of all Americans: north, south, east, and west. Its sphere of influence and interests has become international in scope because the human rights movement transcends national boundaries. For additional information about the SCLC, visit www.nationalsclc.org.

Equinox Members Feel Bamboozled

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After The Related Companies (parent company of Equinox, SoulCycle, Hudson Yards) Founder/Chairman Stephen M. Ross announced his Trump fundraiser (tickets which will cost up to $250,000) in the Hamptons, all hell broke loose – tons of memberships have been cancelled online, over the telephone and in person. After all, Ross is a ‘passive investor’ for Equinox and SoulCycle which are premier fitness centers for celebrities, political leaders and senior level executives alike whom all seem to be proactively involved within the LGBTQ+ and art communities.

Why are members so infuriated?

Many feel they were a part of a movement of societal justice and equality, not just a fitness institution since its inception twenty years ago. Fast forward to present day, Equinox has popped all over every urbane and metropolitan area’s infrastructure largely in part to real estate mogul, Ross.

Lately, the brand has announced a slew of designer duds, hotel chain and talent agency geared towards their top instructors. Today, more or less of its constituents will gather at the West Hollywood location (8590 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069) at 4PM to protest against Ross’s decision to host such a lavish engagement for one of the most ridiculed US Presidents in modern day times. A man who’s rhetoric has possibly fell upon the ears of young white supremacists like the alleged shooter at El Paso last weekend who gunned down dozens of Hispanic people at a local Walmart.

Maybe after today’s outrage, the Miami Dolphins owner, who was shunned for his actions by some of its players, will renege on tomorrow’s elaborate event. According to the LA Times, the soldout venue may raise close to 12 million dollars for Mr. Ross’s friend of over 40 years.

As of late, Equinox has announced the construction of a 20-story hotel and residential building downtown LA which is scheduled to be completed around 2021.

Donald Trump Is Deliberately Distorting What Ilhan Omar Says About America

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During President Trump’s attack on Rep. Ilhan Omar he said: “And she looks down with contempt on the hard-working Americans, saying that ignorance is pervasive in many parts of this country.” Trump directly quoted an interview Omar did with national affairs correspondent John Nichols on the inaugural episode of Next Left, The Nation’s new podcast where politics gets personal with the next generation of leading progressive politicians.

Nichols is available for comment from Madison, WI, to explain how Omar’s comments were entirely mischaracterized and how, ironically, Trump is reaffirming Omar’s critique.

“It’s an interesting dynamic,” says Nichols. “What Omar was actually talking about was the way in which politicians, in this case Republican politicians, manipulate information to achieve political ends. And about her interest in countering the misinformation. If anything, Omar was putting her faith in the power of information, and dialogue, with people who do not share her views. She’s talking about challenging the politicians who foster misconceptions about refugees, and about presenting information that might counter those misconceptions—not about insulting voters.”

At the time of its airing, Omar’s Next Left episode was widely picked up by conservative media from Breitbart to FOX—with headlines like “Ilhan Omar: ‘Ignorance Is Really Pervasive in Many Parts of This Country’” and “Ilhan Omar on Trump voters: ‘Ignorance really is pervasive in many parts of this country” and “Ilhan Omar insults Republican voters: ‘Ignorance really is pervasive in many parts of this country.’”—which is likely how it came to the attention of the president and/or his staff. Nichols can also speak to how this right-wing echo chamber misinforms the president’s worldview.

In the actual interview, Omar said:

The Republicans are really good at misinformation and sort of really reorganizing facts to sort of paint a picture that really eventually is not rooted in fact…. And so it is not that they might not be knowledgeable about [resettlement programs], but they use it as a tool to stir up hate and division. And ignorance really is pervasive in many parts of, of this country. And as someone who was raised by educators, I really like to inform people about things that they might be ignorant to, willingly or unwillingly.

In that same interview, Omar told Nichols:

There’s a reason that I got elected to be in Congress and it has nothing to do with the fact that I’m a refugee, an immigrant Muslim or woman, or Black woman. It’s because I am someone who has a particular lens about how we approach policy domestically and internationally and to many of the people here my approach is more threatening to them. And I think for them it is more pleasant for me to just be seen as like this person who, you know, is sort of like an example of like hope still being alive, which is wonderful. But I’m someone who is agitated about things, the way things work here. I’m someone who believes that Congress needs to be beholden to the people and not special interests, that we have to be consistent in our values, whether they are domestically or internationally, and that fighting for prosperity shouldn’t be that hard. We don’t have to settle.

ABOUT: From the grassroots to the ballot box, we are witnessing an explosion of progressive political energy. New candidates are running for offices high and low—and they’re winning. In Next Left, a new podcast from The Nation hosted by national-affairs correspondent John Nichols, these insurgent politicians let us into their lives, tell us

their stories, and explain how they plan to change our country for the better. New episodes air every Tuesday.

Founded by abolitionists in 1865, The Nation has chronicled the breadth and depth of political and cultural life from the debut of the telegraph to the rise of Twitter, serving as a critical, independent, and progressive voice in American journalism.

Greg Palast in Mexico Wins Top Journalism Award

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Greg Palast in Mexico is Star Attraction, Wins Top Journalism Award

As 2015 Nobel Peace Prize nominee and multiple award winning journalist Daniel Estulin (who introduced Greg Palast at Mexico’s prestigious award show recently wrote about the event: “ Surrounde4d by journalist celebrities from all over the world, Palast along with the absent Julian Assange was the star attraction. He is admired and respected by so many attendees for his fearless reporting against the deep state he so courageously expose. ”

The Association of Mexican Journalists has awarded Greg Palast their 2019 prize for International Reporter for his exposés on the theft of elections from Georgia to Mexico and his reporting from Venezuela.

Recipients are chosen each year by a panel from throughout Latin America. Palast was presented the award at a ceremony held at the organization’s headquarters in Mexico City on Friday, June 7. The ceremony was covered live by the nation’s television outlets, expecting the President of Mexico to appear to present the award. But President Andreas Manuel Lopez Obrador (universally called AMLO) was in the difficult last minutes of negotiating the agreement that backed down U.S. President Donald Trump from his threat to impose tariffs that could have crushed the economies of both nations.

In a nod to the tense moment, the biggest applause from the audience of Latin America’s top journalists came when Palast said, “Most of us in the U.S. oppose the latest Trump tariff tantrum.”

Palast also acknowledged his fellow award recipient, Julian Assange, now imprisoned in Britain, facing extradition to the U.S.

“Assange is in prison today for the sole crime of letting Americans know the truth about their own government and the deadly crimes of our leaders.”

Palast tried to explain the problems that result from America’s press, which is weaker and more submissive to the viewpoint of the moneyed class than the Latin press.

“If my fellow Americans seem as ignorant and crazy as chihuahuas, foolishly electing people like George Bush and Donald Trump, forgive them, because my countrymen don’t get the truth through their news, only exposure to a torrent of cheap propaganda.”

Palast with fellow honoree Stella Collini.

The third international prize went to Argentine Stella Colloni for a lifetime of investigative scoops, including risking her life to expose “Operation Condor,” the CIA’s program to assassinate Left officials in Chile and throughout Latin America. [Photo at right with Palast.]

Palast concluded by recognizing the astonishing courage of Mexico’s reporters. “I am honored to accept this award — from a courageous nation of journalists far more courageous than me, who have given their lives to report the news. All I can do is commit to honor your award by continuing to fight to uncover the truth, whether in Caracas or Mexico or Washington.”

Palast’s acceptance speech:
[original in Spanish]

My esteemed fellow reporters,

If my fellow Americans seem as ignorant and crazy as chihuahuas, foolishly electing people like George Bush and Donald Trump, forgive them, because my countrymen don’t get the truth through their news, only exposure to a torrent of cheap propaganda.

But let me defend my countrymen.

Americans never elected George Bush. In 2000, I discovered how Bush stole the election in Florida. My story for BBC, The British Broadcasting Corporation, was published all over the world — except in my own nation.

And later, in 2006, they stole another election. Here, in Mexico.

I directed an investigation for The Guardian of England that proved, without any doubt, that AMLO [now President Lopez Obrador] had won. That story was completely disappeared from the media in my country.

Don’t blame Americans. They really believe Donald Trump was elected President.

Let me tell you today that that did not happen

Before the 2016 elections, Trump’s political agents eliminated 1,100,000 Black and Hispanic citizens from the voter rolls. If it were not for the purge of these voters and the disappearance of their ballots, Trump would not be President.

I reported this discovery for Al Jazeera and in Rolling Stone magazine, but the U.S. television news kept Americans in the dark.

I’ve brought some copies of my film, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, which has subtitles in Spanish, which explains how Trump stole the election and how he can steal the next one in 2020. I do this to protect my countrymen from being blamed for electing this spoiled, rich, fanatic, orange-stained baby.

And permit me to add, most of us in the USA oppose the latest Trump tariff tantrum.

Today, as I accept this honor, I am sadly aware of the absence of my fellow journalist, Julian Assange.

Assange is in prison today for the sole crime of letting Americans know the truth about their own government and the deadly crimes of our leaders.

I am honored to accept this award — from a courageous nation of journalists far more courageous than me, who have given their lives to report the news. All I can do is commit to honor your award by continuing to fight to uncover the truth, whether in Caracas or Mexico or Washington.

Thank you so much.

The Mueller Report

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THE MUELLER REPORT: THE COMPLETE AND FINAL FINDINGS AGAINST PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP

The highly controversial, and long-awaited Mueller Report featuring a shocking introduction by Carter Page, Ph.D.

Click here for purchase

Paperback | Ebook

Fifty years from now, American children will read about how The Mueller Report was a, if not the, defining document of our time. Quite often the history books gloss over the “uglier” parts of our past. Let this be one of those times when we choose to collectively remember, rather than forget, in the hopes of forging a brighter, stronger future for the American people.

With an introduction written by Carter Page, former foreign policy advisor to President Donald Trump’s campaign during the 2016 presidential election campaign, this edition frames the findings in a different light than we have previously seen. Some can argue that the investigation primarily targeted Page as a path to President Trump. His private life was utterly disrupted throughout the epic witch hunt by the Mueller investigation, though he ultimately was not accused of any wrongdoing whatsoever.

With only the redacted report available, much is left open to interpretation as our country finds itself on a precipice of serious change. Page frames the report with his unique perspective, calling into question the gross abuse of power by the Democratic party, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the operatives who seek to, ironically, obstruct the Constitution themselves.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The U.S. Department of Justice is the federal government’s justice administration agency, set with the task to defend the interests of the United States according to its laws by securing public safety against domestic and foreign threats, preventing and controlling crime, implementing justice for guilty parties, and guaranteeing unbiased law enforcement for all Americans.

ABOUT CARTER PAGE, Ph.D.

Carter Page, Ph.D. is Founder and Managing Partner of Global Natural Gas Ventures LLC in Oklahoma City and Global Energy Capital LLC in New York. Those businesses have been temporarily derailed due to a multimillion-dollar 2016 smear campaign funded by the Democratic National Committee and their associates, shortly after he volunteered for the Trump campaign’s early foreign policy committee early that year. Following this election interference by political operatives in Washington and abroad, Dr. Page has more recently focused on helping to repair and protect American democracy. His current initiatives include various nationwide legal projects that may eventually assist in restoring the U.S. Constitution, including often forgotten principles such as Due Process and the Rule of Law.

Dr. Page has decades of experience as a foreign policy scholar, including a six-year term as a Fellow at the Center for National Policy where he focused on energy and foreign policy issues. He has lectured extensively worldwide and past teaching experience includes service as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at New York University. Dr. Page is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, where he was a former International Affairs Fellow and Co-Director of the Council’s study group on the Caspian Sea region. In this capacity, he conducted research on economic and investment policy in the former Soviet Union.

In addition to multiple tours in Europe and the Middle East as a U.S. Navy surface warfare officer, Dr. Page previously served as the Navy’s working group representative for nuclear nonproliferation policy issues at the Pentagon where he focused on negotiations with Russia. He also initiated and led weekly meetings following the Navy’s selection as lead service for a Joint Staff issue team during an in-depth Department of Defense strategic counterproliferation review.

An Eagle Scout and previously a Catholic altar boy, Dr. Page graduated with Distinction from the U.S. Naval Academy where he was a Trident Scholar. He holds an M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School of Business, an M.A. in National Security Studies from Georgetown University and a Ph.D. from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.

Follow Carter Page on Twitter.

New Mueller Report Poll

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NEW MUELLER REPORT POLL: Voters Satisfied with Investigation, Divided on Next Steps

(Palo Alto, California) – Change Research released a new poll today showing that voters are largely satisfied with the Mueller investigation, but they are much more divided on what should happen next.

The poll was conducted from April 18th-19th immediately following the public release of the Mueller report to the public. The highlights include:

Voters are satisfied with the investigation.

Overall, voters felt that the investigation was:

Necessary: 52% say it was an “important investigation into a foreign government’s attempts to interfere with our elections”
- 43% say it was a “politically motivated witch hunt from the start”
Fair: 58% say the investigation was conducted fairly
- 26% say it was conducted unfairly
- 51% say President Trump was treated fairly
  - 40% say he was treated unfairly
Impartial: 63% say Mueller was not biased toward either party
Accurate: 57% say it was an “accurate summary of whether there was coordination between Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Russian government”
- Only 14% say it was an inaccurate summary
In addition: Two-thirds of voters (68%) believe that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election

Voters are divided on the next steps following the report.

61% of voters feel that Mueller should be called to testify before Congress
50% feel that Barr should be called to testify
53% of voters say that Trump should not be impeached
- 47% say that he should be
44% of voters believe that Trump was exonerated by the report’s findings,
- 42% believe that he was not

Trump’s re-election prospects are dimming.

Over half of voters (53%) say they would “definitely” vote for someone else besides Trump if the 2020 general election were held today
- 42% say they would vote to re-elect him
- 9% of previous Trump voters are either willing to consider a different candidate or will definitely vote for someone else
When asked how they feel about Trump on a scale of 1-10, where 1 means they strongly oppose him and 10 means they strongly support him:
- 50% of voters selected 1, strongly oppose
- 32% of voters selected 10, strongly support
- 54% selected 1-4, oppose
- 45% selected 6-10, support

Click here to read more about the survey findings.

Alliance for Justice Telebriefing

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Reminder: Briefing Call at 11 am ET TODAY: Leading National Rights Organizations Assess Two Years of Trump’s Harm to Courts

TO CALL IN:

Phone number: 888-224-1121

Confirmation code: 6759700

Please join the conference 5-10 minutes prior to the start time.

Today at 11 am ET, Alliance for Justice and People For the American Way will host a joint telebriefing to discuss their respective studies of the first two years of President Trump’s impact on federal courts and the federal judiciary. The call follows the release earlier today, at 9:30 am ET, of new reports by the organizations: AFJ’s “Trump’s Attacks on Our Justice System: President Trump, the Federal Judiciary and the 115th Congress,” and PFAW’s “Confirmed Judges, Confirmed Fears: The Continuing Harm Caused by Confirmed Trump Federal Judges.”

The AFJ report is a comprehensive look at the disintegration of the judicial nominations process under Trump, which has led to the nomination and confirmation of numerous individuals with histories of opposition to key legal rights and protections for workers, women, people of color, LGBTQ Americans, immigrants, and more. You can read the report here.

An audio recording of the call is available here.

The PFAW report builds on the organization’s ongoing research project, “Confirmed Judges, Confirmed Fears,” and provides compilation and analysis of the rulings of Trump judges following their confirmation. It offers a stark illustration of the ways in which these judges have—as predicted—brought narrow-minded, elitist agendas and views to the federal bench and have harmed people’s rights. You can read the report here.

WHAT: Briefing call with Alliance for Justice and People For the American Way on two years of Trump’s harm to the courts

WHEN: Wednesday, April 3, 11 am ET

WHO: Daniel Goldberg, Legal Director, Alliance for Justice and Elliot Mincberg, Senior Fellow, People For the American Way

Questions?

Please contact Laurie Kinney, Director of Communications, Alliance for Justice, at laurie@afj.org or 202-464-7367, or Derrick Crowe, Press Secretary, People For the American Way, at dcrowe@pfaw.org or 512-516-5067.

About Alliance for Justice

Alliance for Justice believes that all Americans have the right to secure justice in the courts and to have their voices heard when government makes decisions that affect their lives. We are a national association of 130 organizations, representing a broad array of groups committed to progressive values and the creation of an equitable, just, and free society.

TPS Holders Sue Trump Administration

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Six adults with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and two U.S. citizen children of TPS holders filed a class-action lawsuit today seeking to stop the unlawful termination of TPS for over 100,000 TPS holders from Honduras and Nepal and prevent the separation of tens of thousands of U.S. citizen children from their TPS-holder parents. The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Plaintiffs are represented by the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and ACLU Foundation of Northern California in the release, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and Sidley Austin. [Read the filing here]

In October of 2018, the Court enjoined the termination of TPS for Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti, and El Salvador, finding substantial evidence that the terminations were motivated by racism and violated the Administrative Procedure Act. Plaintiffs in Bhattarai v. Nielsen allege that the terminations of TPS for Honduras and Nepal suffer from the same legal flaws and should be set aside. Plaintiffs also allege that the terminations are unconstitutional because they require the U.S. citizen children of TPS holders to choose between their country and their family.

Plaintiff Keshav Raj Bhattarai, a member of Adhikaar and Nepali TPS holder shares, “I am proud to be a part of this lawsuit, for all the other Nepali TPS holders like me. With TPS I have been able to build a new life here with my family and I have a found a stable job. When I see so many people’s lives at risk in losing TPS, I am troubled to see that this country would harm its hardworking workers and people. I wish to continue working to support this country, and also continue supporting the rebuilding of Nepal, which is still recovering from the earthquake.”

The complaint filed today alleges that, in terminating TPS for Honduras and Nepal, political appointees in the Department of Homeland Security deliberately ignored recommendations from U.S. Ambassadors and evidence of conditions on the ground. Instead, they predetermined that TPS must be terminated to further the President’s “America First” policy, which seeks to exclude non-white, non-European immigrants. The complaint recites a litany of racist statements made by President Trump in reference to Latin American and South Asian countries and immigrants, including referring to immigrants as snakes and animals, mispronouncing Nepal as “nipple,” and faking an Indian accent in imitation of Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi.

Plaintiff Donaldo Posadas Caceres, a member of the Painters’ Union (IUPAT DC21) with TPS from Honduras explains, “I’m taking part in this lawsuit not just for myself and my daughter but for everyone who would be hurt by our TPS being taken away. Forcing our children to choose between the life they have here or a country they don’t know is unfair. Sending all of us to danger and instability is unjust. I’m proud to have been a union painter for two decades in this country and it does not feel right to see all of that just cut away.”

Jessica Bansal, NDLON’s Co-Legal Director, said: “The Trump Administration is illegally trying to gut the humanitarian TPS program, but TPS holders are fighting back. They have already won a temporary reprieve for hundreds of thousands of TPS holders. With today’s filing, they seek to protect tens of thousands more.”

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are members of diverse organizations fighting to defend TPS in the courts and in Congress, including Adhikaar, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), AND the National TPS Alliance.

Jenny Zhao, Staff Attorney at Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus, said: “The Trump Administration’s plan to end TPS for Honduras and Nepal must be stopped before it causes immeasurable harm to TPS holders, their families, and their communities.”

Minju Cho, Staff Attorney at Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles said: “TPS holders are valued members of our communities. They are parents to tens and thousands of U.S. citizen children. TPS is vital to people’s ability to work and provide for themselves and their families. We are proud to stand alongside these communities in their fight against the Trump administration’s unconstitutional attempt to take TPS away.”

Ahilan Arulanantham, Senior Counsel at the ACLU of Southern California, said: “We are proud to represent these courageous U.S. citizen children and their parents who held Temporary Protected Status before the Trump Administration unlawfully stripped it away. They ask only that our government respect their due process rights. We hope the Court will uphold the rule of law and grant them the protection they deserve.”

Will Society Grow Angry Enough to Oust Trump? Watch the Stock Market

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By Alan Hall

The political left is busy gathering rationales for impeaching President Trump. The political right is busy crying foul. Both sides may be missing an important indicator of his fate: the stock market.

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to impeach a president twice in history. In both cases, the stock market was rising, and in both cases, the Senate voted for acquittal.

Figure 1

Figure 1 shows the timing of President Andrew Johnson’s impeachment. On March 2, 1868, the House of Representatives formally submitted eleven articles of impeachment against Johnson. Yet the Senate acquitted Johnson on May 26, 1868, during a stock market rally that added to the 250% increase since October 1857.

Figure 2

Figure 2 shows that a substantial rally in the Dow preceded President Bill Clinton’s impeachment in the House and subsequent acquittal in the Senate. Some of the most dramatic events in the Monica Lewinsky scandal occurred during the largest slide in the Dow during Clinton’s presidency. And despite a $70-million prosecution of perjury and obstruction of justice charges, the Senate ultimately acquitted the president as the Dow, Dow/gold and Dow/PPI rose to important peaks.

Figure 3

Figure 3 shows the Dow Jones Industrial Average surrounding President Richard Nixon’s near-impeachment and resignation from office. The Watergate break-in occurred toward the end of a strong 67% rally in the Dow from May 1970-January 1973. That rally preceded Nixon’s landslide re-election. But as the Dow fell, the Watergate investigation ramped up, and Nixon’s fortunes changed. With almost certain impeachment looming, Nixon resigned from office on August 9, 1974.

Why are stocks and presidents’ fates tied so closely together? Socionomic theory posits that society’s mood influences both stock prices and the public’s perceptions of its leaders. Positive social mood makes society feel optimistic, buy stocks and credit leaders for their good feelings. Negative social mood makes society feel pessimistic, sell stocks and blame leaders for their bad feelings.

These tendencies show up in the results of U.S. impeachments and near-impeachments, and they’re also evident in presidential re-election outcomes. My colleagues at the Socionomics Institute demonstrated in a 2012 paper that stock market declines have tended to precede defeats of incumbent U.S. presidents, while stock market advances have tended to precede re-elections of incumbents. In fact, they found that the stock market proved to be a better re-election indicator than inflation, unemployment and GDP growth combined.

Figure 4

So, what does this mean for President Trump? We considered this question in the June 2017 issue of The Socionomist. Figure 4 is a chart from that issue, updated to the present. It depicts the trend of social mood as reflected by the Dow. We left the gray arrows showing our 2017 analysis, and we added red arrows to suggest the possibilities going forward. In July 2017, Congressman Brad Sherman formally introduced an article of impeachment against Trump in the House of Representatives. Yet the impeachment process fizzled as the stock market advanced during 2017. Following the stock market peak on January 26, 2018, however, the tone of the critiques shifted, and even some on the political right became more disapproving of the president.

Since the October 3 stock market peak, criticism of the president has grown more raucous, and the Mueller investigation has implicated more of the president’s inner circle in illegal activities. The Democrats won control of the House in the 2018 midterms. On November 23, A New York judge allowed a lawsuit against the Trump Foundation to move ahead. A November 26 Gallup poll revealed Trump’s disapproval rating had hit an all-time high. By December 17, the Mueller investigation had issued more than 100 criminal counts and charged 34 people, 10 of whom have been found guilty. That same day, Wired published its list of “All 17 (Known) Trump and Russia Investigations” and said, “it’s increasingly clear that, as 2018 winds down, Donald Trump faces a legal assault unlike anything previously seen by any president.”

On December 18, the Trump Foundation agreed to dissolve, accused by the New York attorney general “of engaging in ‘a shocking pattern of illegality’ that included unlawfully coordinating with Mr. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.” On December 20, Secretary of Defense James Mattis resigned, followed closely by diplomat Brett McGurk. Pentagon chief of staff Kevin Sweeney has also resigned. Christmas week, the National Christmas Tree stayed dark due to the government shutdown. Several news organizations ran stories Christmas Eve with versions of The Atlantic’s headline, “President Trump’s Nightmare Before Christmas,” as the stock market plunged. Of course, staunch supporters of the president remain, though it’s worth noting that Nixon had an approval rating among Republicans of approximately 50 percent when he resigned. Yet the number of critics of Trump is rising. According to a December 19 NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, 41% of Americans favor impeachment hearings.

What the Mueller investigation will ultimately reveal remains a big question. But social mood may play a bigger role in Trump’s fate than the facts. For that, watch the stock market closely, our best reflection of the trend of social mood.

TRIGGER WARNING: New Kavanaugh Video

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***WARNING: This video is a dramatization of alleged events. It contains violent images that may be disturbing to some viewers. Caution is strongly advised.***

WATCH THE AGENDA PROJECT’S NEW VIDEO: TRIGGER WARNING

The Agenda Project released a new video featuring a dramatization of the alleged attempted rape several years ago by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as described by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. As the text above warns, the footage may be disturbing for some. This is a delicate subject matter for many, but with the future of our nation at stake, we felt this video was an important one to make. If you feel up to it, we encourage you to watch, then act.

The video ends by providing the number to the US Senate switchboard. If you are as outraged as we are that a man credibly accused of attempted rape is being considered for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, please take a minute to call your Senators and demand that they vote against confirming Kavanaugh.

The video was released in conjunction with a piece written by Agenda Project Founder Erica Payne explaining the rationale behind putting out such potentially disturbing footage. In it, she writes:

“Senator Dean Heller called it “a little hiccup.” For Senator Lindsay Graham, it was “a smear.” The Honorable Orrin Hatch said, “This woman, whoever she is, is mixed up.” The X chromosome knows exactly what the Y chromosome means when it says things like that. It means we are nothing. Our claims to our bodies are NOTHING. Like a little hiccup, we will pass.

So it’s come to this. To showing them – showing as many men who have and would do this, and the ones who dismiss it when it’s done – what we’re actually talking about here.”

For more information on why we felt this video was so important for us to release, you can read more in the rest of her article HERE