Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich ordered all state agencies to stop doing business with Bank of America. Blagojevich hopes the move will pressure Bank of America to assist workers staging a sit-in at a Chicago factory. Republic Windows & Doors company ceased operations after the bank ended its line of credit.
This video is from CNN.com, broadcast Dec. 8, 2008.
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While Tucker Carlson has drawn heavy criticism for doubling down on supporting the "great replacement" conspiracy theory, one group of Americans absolutely loved what the Fox News host had to say during his lengthy Monday night monologue: White nationalists.
Via Media Matters' Eric Hananoki, white nationalist website VDare heaped gushing praise on Carlson's defense of the "great replacement" conspiracy theory that claims Democrats are trying to "replace" white people in the United States to achieve permanent electoral dominance.
"This segment was one of the best things Fox News has ever aired and was filled with ideas and talking points VDARE.com pioneered many years ago," the website informed its viewers. "You should watch the whole thing."
White nationalist Nick Fuentes was similarly enthusiastic about Carlson's monologue, which he claimed "redeemed" the Fox News host for some unspecified failing.
"This is precisely what needs to be said," he wrote on Twitter. "It's perfect."
The Anti-Defamation League has called on Fox News to fire Carlson for his continued promotion of racist conspiracy theories that have been used as justification for multiple mass murders, including at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue in 2018.
Republican lawmakers returning to the Capitol after a break are about to be confronted with working with -- and questions about -- Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) this week, reports CNN.
During Congress's Spring break, the controversial Florida lawmaker became even more controversial after it was leaked that he is under multiple investigations related to sex trafficking and allegedly paying women for sex. Now as lawmakers return, they can expect to be inundated with questions from the press as to whether the Gaetz should resign.
As CNN notes, to date, most Republicans have been silent on Gaetz's legal problems.
"When it was first revealed that Gaetz was under investigation by the FBI, the House was in a two-week recess, allowing Republican leaders to largely ignore the scandal and its political implications. Now the House is returning Tuesday to major debates on President Joe Biden's massive infrastructure plan and the record number of unaccompanied minors on the southern border, but questions about Gaetz threaten to distract from Republicans' messaging," CNN reports. "But even before the allegations surfaced, Gaetz didn't have many friends in the House Republican Conference. He quickly rose to prominence through conservative cable television by tying his fortunes to former President Donald Trump and openly challenging Republican establishment leaders like House GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney of Wyoming."
With reports stating that even Donald Trump has been keeping his distance from Gaetz, who is one of his most rabid supporters, one person close to the ex-president said things aren't looking good for the conservative lawmaker.
"With his political future under threat, Gaetz has received only tepid support from Trump. The former President issued a statement saying Gaetz had not asked him for a pardon, adding, 'It must also be remembered that he has totally denied the accusations against him,'" the report states with the former Trump campaign official stating, "I think everyone's trying to keep it off their plate right now. I think everyone thinks that this is going the wrong direction for him."
The report goes on to note that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is set to speak with Gaetz upon his return after telling reporters the allegations about the lawmaker are "serious" as he also faces a House Ethics Committee inquiry.
CNN reports, "One question looming is whether Gaetz returns to Washington on Tuesday for House votes. He submitted a letter to the House clerk last month allowing him to vote by proxy -- which is allowed under House rules due to the pandemic -- but it's not clear if he will use it. Rep. Michael Waltz, the Florida Republican designated as his proxy, had not been asked to cast votes on Gaetz's behalf as of Sunday evening, according to Waltz's office."
You can read more here.
On Tuesday, writing for The Atlantic, former George W. Bush speechwriter and conservative Republican David Frum outlined why the GOP's newest round of voter restrictions is a catastrophic mistake for them — and that not only will it undermine democracy, it could actually prevent their own base from turning out to vote.
"Almost all the new laws raise new barriers to voting by mail. Republican officials dislike postal voting in 2021 because in 2020 Biden voters were much more likely than Trump voters to use a postal ballot," wrote Frum. "But that pro-Biden tilt in postal voting looks like a once-in-a-lifetime event, driven more by divergent reactions to the threat of the coronavirus than by ordinary voting behavior ... In previous elections, constituencies that have generally supported Democrats in recent years, including younger voters and members of racial minority groups, have tended to use postal ballots less frequently than do Republican-leaning constituencies, including older, white, and military voters."
Another problem with the GOP strategy, noted Frum, is that their panic about racial minorities, like Tucker Carlson's embrace of the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory, is at odds with the fact that the GOP actually made gains with Latino voters in 2020 — and their redoubled attacks could undo all that progress for them.
"Donald Trump lost in 2020 in great part because his support collapsed among white voters, especially among white men," wrote Frum. "Meanwhile, Trump's share of the vote among Latino Americans actually improved from 2016 to 2020. The clear pattern, instead, is that conservatives are being outvoted by a coalition built around Black voters and white, college-educated voters. For a right-wing newscaster to look at recent elections and conclude 'We multi-generation Americans are being outvoted by newcomers' is a triumph of ideology over reality."
Ultimately, Frum wrote, the GOP's voter suppression tactics may adversely impact their own base, while enraging Democrats to greater turnout, and pressuring Congress and the courts to police voting laws more aggressively.
"Would a wiser use of political resources not be to compete to keep their votes in 2022 rather than engineer the voting system to thwart their votes?" concluded Frum. "Republicans would be smarter to switch off the race-baiters on cable news, read the precinct reports, and do the solid work necessary to earn and secure votes from voters who are ready to vote Republican if only the party will allow them to vote at all."
You can read more here.
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