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Democrats told to end era in which 'only the bad guys understand they're in a fight'
January 21, 2021
In an appearance on MSNBC Thursday morning in the wake of President Joe Biden's inauguration, author and political analyst Anand Giridharadas implored Democratic lawmakers to bring to an end a "dangerous" state of affairs in which the enemies of democracy, multiculturalism, and progress are the only ones who recognize—and act as if—they are in a fight.
"There is nothing wrong with bringing a sense of fight to politics when you're fighting for justice and a better future."
—Anand Giridharadas
<p>
"I actually think there is a huge problem in this country of only the bad guys having fight in them. You don't actually want a society in which only the people who want to do harm understand themselves to be in a battle," said Giridharadas, who cited as a telling example Sen. Dick Durbin's (D-Ill.) refusal to demand the expulsion of Republican lawmakers who incited the deadly January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
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Appearing on <em>MSNBC</em> just before Giridharadas, Durbin—the number two Democrat in the Senate—said any disciplinary action against seditionist GOP lawmakers such as <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/07/ocasio-cortez-says-cruz-and-hawley-must-resign-or-be-expelled-senate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)</a> for their role in the violent insurrection will be "initiated by the Ethics Committee."
</p><p>
Giridharadas argued that the Illinois Democrat's remarks did not contain anything resembling the "sense of fight" necessary to overcome the threat to democracy posed by Republicans in Congress and the right-wing forces that took part in the assault on the Capitol earlier this month.
</p><p>
"You... are inviting him to expel colleagues who are seditionists, and he says it's a matter for the Ethics Committee," Giridharadas said. "That's what it looks like when you don't have a sense of fight."
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WATCH:
</p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FnvmlmYnH9E" width="560"></iframe><p>Giridharadas' remarks came just hours after Democrats officially took control of the U.S. Senate, giving the party unified control over the federal government for the first time in a decade amid a devastating pandemic and economic collapse.</p><p>In a <a href="https://twitter.com/AnandWrites/status/1352266472626810884" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">series of tweets</a> Thursday expanding on the points he raised during his <em>MSNBC </em>appearance, Giridharadas argued that while former President Donald Trump's effort to subvert the democratic process and overturn the results of the 2020 election was ultimately defeated, "the revolt against the future will go on, and everyone who believes in democracy must recognize that they're in a fight for the very soul of America."</p><p>"There is nothing wrong with bringing a sense of fight to politics when you're fighting for justice and a better future," Giridharadas <a href="https://twitter.com/AnandWrites/status/1352255371205890049" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">wrote</a>. "There is nothing wrong with bringing a sense of fight to politics when you're fighting for justice and a better future. We cannot afford a politics in which only the bad guys understand they're in a fight."</p><p>"The difference between Republicans and Democrats so often is that Republicans know they're in a fight," Giridharadas added. "Democrats are in a fight; they just often don't act like they know it. That has to change if this country is to be saved and Biden is to have a shot."</p>
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By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House Oversight and Reform Committee on Thursday asked the FBI to investigate the role Parler, a social media website and app popular with the American far right, played a role in the violence at the U.S. Capitol. Representative Carolyn Maloney, who chairs the panel, cited press reports that detailed violent threats on Parler against state elected officials for their role in certifying the election results before the Jan. 6 attack that left five dead. She also noted numerous Parler users have been arrested and charged with threatening violence aga...
Its been one day since former President Donald Trump departed the White House and Scotland is already taking aggressive actions to ensure his "toxic brand" does not thrive in the country.
According to People World, on Jan. 20, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was urged to launch an unexplained wealth order (UWO) to look into Trump's 2014 purchase of Ayrshire's Turnberry golf resort and "kick his 'toxic brand out of Scotland.'"
<p>Although the resort has undergone renovations that cost the Trump Organization more than $250 million, it has been reported that that the resort has suffered substantial losses for the last six consecutive years.</p><p>The latest call for a UWO comes two years after previous calls for investigations into Trump's financial dealings in Scotland. In April of 2019, a campaign group known as Avaaz appealed to the First Minister claimed that "any application for such an order is a decision for the Crown Office."</p><p>On Jan. 21, members of the Scottish Greens shared their concerns with the First Minister as they urged her yet again to refrain from "hiding behind officials" and move forward with an investigation.</p><p>"One of the biggest proponents globally of dangerous misinformation – from Covid to climate and more – has been kicked off Twitter and Facebook, today is being kicked out of the White House," the party's co-leader Patrick Harvie said, adding, "And it's time we kicked his toxic brand out of Scotland too."</p><p>He added, "From today, Donald Trump will no longer be the US President, and his business activities are under criminal investigation in the US. Yet his purchases in Scotland have still not been investigated, despite serious concerns about how they were funded."</p><p>"This advice was sent to the First Minister at the weekend. It's long past time the Scottish government demonstrated that Scotland cannot be a country where anyone with the money can buy whatever land and property they want, no questions asked."</p><p>He also argued that Trump's resort has not lived up to the expectations his organization promised when the property was initially purchased. "Trump's business in Scotland has never generated the number of jobs promised," Harvie said, adding, "But even if it had there is no reason to ignore the damage to Scotland's international reputation through being associated with this toxic brand."</p>
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