Tired of ads? Want to support our progressive journalism? Click to learn more.LEARN MORE
Enjoy good journalism?
… then let us make a small request. The COVID crisis has slashed advertising rates, and we need your help. Like you, we here at Raw Story believe in the power of progressive journalism. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and legal efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. And unlike other news outlets, we’ve decided to make our original content free. But we need your support to do what we do.
Raw Story is independent. Unhinged from corporate overlords, we fight to ensure no one is forgotten.
We need your support in this difficult time. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click to donate by check.
Value Raw Story?
… then let us make a small request. The COVID crisis has slashed advertising rates, and we need your help. Like you, we believe in the power of progressive journalism — and we’re investing in investigative reporting as other publications give it the ax. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. We need your support to do what we do.
Raw Story is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us in the future. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you.
  |  |
Report typos and corrections to: corrections@rawstory.com.
President Donald Trump left Washington Wednesday morning while most of his former aides were still asleep. But he's going to need some help moving forward.
CNBC reported Thursday that as the Senate readies to take up the impeachment trial, the ex-president doesn't have a legal team or a strategy for dealing with it.
<p>"The failure to prepare for the trial is consistent with Trump's behavior this month, where he did little actual work related to the presidency," the report said. </p><p>Among his final acts in office, he reportedly instructed staff <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/14/trump-refusing-to-pay-rudy-giuliani-legal-fees-after-falling-out" target="_blank">not to pay Rudy Giuliani for legal services</a>, which included months of attempts to overthrow the 2020 election. Giuliani has already said that he can't be on the legal team for Trump since he's named as being part of the case. </p><p>"Senate Democratic leaders as of Thursday morning said that they did not know when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will send them the article of impeachment passed last week by the House," the report said. "Ten GOP House members joined all Democratic members in approving the impeachment."</p><p>Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said that he hopes there is a legitimate trial this time, as opposed to the previous impeachment where Republicans refused to allow witnesses to be called and evidence to be submitted. </p><p>"You know, it isn't like, oh, did somebody come into the Capitol," Durbin said. "We know the Capitol policeman was killed, and we saw the damage that was done."</p><p><span></span>"In that respect, it isn't like what in the hell was going on in that telephone conversation with the Ukrainian president?" he also said of the trial. </p><p><span></span>Democrats hold control of the Senate in a 50/50 split, but there are Republicans who indicated they opposed the insurrection attempt on the Capitol and the attempt to overthrow the 2020 election. Americans overwhelmingly oppose the insurrection and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/nbc-news-poll-voters-are-split-trump-s-impeachment-removal-n1254314" target="_blank">last week, 57 percent of respondents</a> said that it was an act of terrorism. </p><p>A Trump impeachment may seem useless since he is no longer in office, but if convicted Trump couldn't run for office again in 2024 and he would lose up to $1 million annually in pension, health care and staff. It would take 17 Republicans and all Democrats to convict Trump. For Republicans hoping to run for office in 2024, getting Trump out of the way would be helpful but it would kill them with Trump's voters. </p><p><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/21/trump-not-prepared-for-senate-impeachment-trial-for-capitol-riots.html" target="_blank">Read the full report. </a></p>
CONTINUE READING
Show less
'Are we on another planet right now?' Liberal pundit laughs in Fox News host's face over Biden complaints
January 21, 2021
Left-leaning activist Nomiki Konst pushed back against Fox News host Harris Faulkner after she complained that the press has not been tough enough on Joe Biden during his first 24 hours in office.
"President Biden's White House press secretary is facing mostly friendly questioning," Faulkner said. "A stark contrast for what we were seeing for President Trump's press secretaries."
<p>
Conservative pundit Matt Schlapp argued that Trump was never given a "honeymoon" period by members of the press.
</p><p>
"Half of this country adores what President Trump had to put up with," Schlapp opined. "The persecution of Trump and his supporters with impeachment, it is terrible politics for Joe Biden. If he wants healing, stop the madness."
</p><p>
Konst responded: "I'm not sure how [White House Press Secretary] Jen Psaki treating the press like they are actual reporters has to do with not healing the country. I lost the logic there."
</p><p>
"Nomiki, let me just step in," Faulkner interrupted. "Are you honestly saying that you don't see the percentage being higher of negativity in terms of coverage for President Trump than already we have seen with Biden?"
</p><p>
At that point, Konst burst out in laughter.
</p><p>
"It really is obvious," Faulkner continued. "So the question is, doesn't the country deserve to see transparency at this point, which is what Jen Psaki offered? So it does further divide the country if we're not getting the truth."
</p><p>
Schlapp agreed that Faulkner's assessment was "exactly right."
</p><p>
"Being a press secretary for a Democratic president is night and day between being a press secretary for a Republican president," Schlapp said. "They just are against our policies! And what's funny about the Trump policies is they're very popular."
</p><p>
"Matt, Trump should have hired you to be press secretary," Konst chimed in before laughing involuntarily. "Again, this is day one and I can't believe -- I'm like, are we on another planet right now? She's had one press conference where she literally just introduced herself to the press corps. And we're suddenly saying that there's a double standard!"
</p><p>
Faulkner, however, was not convinced.
</p><p>
"They asked Jen Psaki about the preferred colors inside the White House," the Fox News host noted. "Shots in arms! We were promised a million a day by the new president. Might have started there."
</p><p>
Watch the video below from Fox News.
</p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_kSDJZ7AKB8" width="560"></iframe>
CONTINUE READING
Show less
From crowing roosters to the whiff of barnyard animals, the "sensory heritage" of France's countryside will now be protected by law from attempts to stifle the everyday aspects of rural life from newcomers looking for peace and quiet.
French senators on Thursday gave final approval to a law proposed in the wake of several high-profile conflicts by village residents and vacationers, or recent arrivals derided as "neo-rurals".
<p>A rowdy rooster named Maurice in particular made headlines in 2019 after a court in western France rejected a bid to have him silenced by neighbours who had purchased a holiday home nearby.</p><p>"Living in the countryside implies accepting some nuisances," Joel Giraud, the government's minister in charge of rural life, told lawmakers.</p><p>Cow bells (and cow droppings), grasshopper chirps and noisy early-morning tractors are also now considered part of France's natural heritage that will be codified in its environmental legislation.</p><p>"It sends a strong message," said Pierre-Antoine Levi, the senator who acted as rapporteur for the bill.</p><p>"It can act as a useful tool for local officials as they carry out their educational and mediation duties," he said.</p><p>The law is emblematic of growing tensions in the countryside between longtime residents and outsiders whose bucolic expectations often clash with everyday realities.</p><p>Corinne Fesseau and her rooster Maurice became the image of the fight when she was brought to court by pensioners next door over the animal's shrill wake-up calls.</p><p>Critics saw the lawsuit as part of a broader threat to France's hallowed rural heritage by outsiders and city dwellers unable or unwilling to understand the realities of country life.</p><p>Thousands of people signed a "Save Maurice" petition, and a judge eventually upheld the cock-a-doodle-doos.</p><p>In another case from 2019, a woman in the duck-breeding heartland of the Landes region was brought to court by a newcomer neighbour fed up with the babbling of the ducks and geese in her back garden.</p><p>A court in southwest France also threw out that case.</p><p>© 2021 AFP</p>
CONTINUE READING
Show less
Trending
Latest
Videos
Copyright © 2021 Raw Story Media, Inc. PO Box 21050, Washington, D.C. 20009 | Masthead | Privacy Policy | For corrections or concerns, please email corrections@rawstory.com.