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With President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris sworn in, it would be remiss to forget that an unfortunate 75 million individuals voted for former President Donald J. Trump. And with Biden now attempting to reach out to these voters by undertaking a centrist platform emphasizing bipartisanship, we see prominent national Democrats misunderstanding and misapplying the concept of identity politics to their political agendas. In doing so, another Trump-era presidency and far-right politicians regaining their power are at risk.

In 1977, Barbara Smith co-authored the Combahee River Collective Statement, a document that spotlighted the economic and social oppression uniquely faced by Black women. The statement first coined the term identity politics and advocated for intersectionality in the feminist movement of the late 20th century a movement that had the tendency to exclude women of color from its demands. Smiths intention in creating the concept of identity politics focused on calling attention to a groups specific identity and, in turn, forcing individuals to acknowledge the struggles faced by people of those identities. However, the support for this movement today has been increasingly minimized to buzzwords and insincere pushes for diversity that border on performative activism.

For example, the Clinton campaign and prominent Democrats in 2016 hedged their bets on building a coalition of young people, minorities and single women to serve as the backbone for the party for years to come. However, this rising American electorate failed to push Clinton into the White House. As the Democratic Party and the Clintons shifted away from working-class people and New Deal principles, the Bernie Sanders campaign pushed a true economic populist narrative that gave rise to a diverse coalition for those under 30, despite the medias narrative and common caricature of the Bernie bro.

Additionally, the leak of the Podesta emails revealed that Neera Tanden, former advisor to Hillary Clinton, spoke of the Clinton campaigns cozy press relationship. As such, one must wonder if the mainstream medias demonization of true progressives like Sanders is partially due to the influence of establishment Democrats. And so it came at no surprise that former White House Chief strategist Steve Bannon said: The longer they talk about identity politics, I got em. I want them to talk about racism every day. If the left is focused on race and identity, and we go with economic nationalism, we can crush the Democrats.

Ultimately, reducing people and groups of people to set identities that will always vote one way or another advances the development of tribalism in this country. Identity politics should instead be about advocating for a particular group related to public policy. As philosopher Dr. Cornel West states, Identity itself is a rationalization of trying to fit into a system thats driven by greed, rot and corruption. Hence, when prominent Democrats like Rep. Clyburn speak strongly for voting rights and civil rights, they begin to lose voters when they fail to speak on class and economic issues such as income inequality which is partly due to their ties to corporate donors.

When the Biden campaign attempted to win the Black vote by announcing Harris as its choice for vice president during the election, some raised concerns due to her label as top cop and history as a prosecutor. Indeed, some of these concerns materialized in the 2020 election: The percentage of Black people who voted for the Democratic presidential candidate decreased in 2020 when compared to 2016. Hence, reducing people to a single world or identity will not be sufficient in maintaining a coalition in 2024 if their policies do not provide real tangible results for people with those identities. For example, even though the $1.9 trillion stimulus package passed in the Senate without the attachment of a minimum wage increase, the majority of Americans support an increase in the minimum wage including a majority of Republicans. And Bidens lack of sincerity in fighting for working class Americans was ultimately proven when the administration chose not to simply overrule the Senate parliamentarian, an unelected official, and decided to [respect] the parliamentarians decision and the Senate process, dealing a critical blow to his promise to increase the federal minimum wage to $15.

These failures will not go unnoticed by the minority communities that have historically supported the Democratic Party, as minorities make up a disproportionate percentage of the countrys poor. Ultimately, establishment Democrats like Biden should take note of Bernies progressive economic policies that garnered real support in truly building a diverse coalition, for it is these policies that are truly representative of identity politics.

Sanjana Sanghani is a first-year economics and psychology major. She can be reached at [emailprotected]

Excerpt from:
Op-ed: Issues with Identity Politics - The Huntington News

WASHINGTON U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, a Brownsville Democrat, announced Monday he is retiring from Congress at the end of this term.

Vela was first elected in 2012 and represents much of the South Texas Gulf Coast. News of his retirement was first reported by Axios.

"It has been an honor to represent the citizens of the 34th District of Texas in the United States House of Representatives for the last eight years," he said in a text to The Texas Tribune. "I will not be seeking reelection to the House of Representatives in 2022. I will continue to focus on maintaining a Democratic House and Senate Majority in my capacity as a member of Congress and Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee, while working diligently for the people I am so grateful to represent.

"It is now time to allow other residents of South Texas the opportunity to fulfill this wonderful privilege for which I will be forever grateful," he added.

Jose Borjon, a former senior adviser to Vela and a longtime confidant, said Vela never meant to overstay his time in Congress and felt now was the time to move on.

"Filemon was extremely dedicated to the people of South Texas during the time he has served in Congress," Borjon added. "I will expect he will continue to do that as he closes out his term. ... Whoever replaces him has big shoes to fill."

Vela won reelection in 2020 by nearly 14 percentage points in a district that has generally been considered safe for Democrats. But national Republicans identified him as a target in 2022 after the GOP performed surprisingly well along the Texas-Mexico border in 2020, and this year's redistricting process gives the party an opportunity to redraw the district in a more favorable manner for the party.

Moreover, the district saw a dramatic swing on the presidential ballot. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton carried the district by a 22-point margin. Four years later, President Joe Biden won the seat by 4 points.

Filemon Vela knows Bidens border crisis will cost him his seat and Democrats their House majority," said House GOP campaign arm spokesperson Torunn Sinclair. "Texans deserve a congressman who is going to stand up to Bidens open border agenda, not defend it."

Vela has unique name identification as both an incumbent and as a member of a prominent local political family. Borjon acknowledged that the race to replace him will likely be tougher than in the past, given Republicans' performance in South Texas.

"Obviously, that's something on our mind given the situation in the past election, but we're certain there'll be a number of good candidates on the Democratic side ... and we are confident that the seat will remain Democratic in then end."

During his time in Congress, Vela has focused on agriculture and defense issues, and he is a popular member of the Democratic caucus. He frequently brought colleagues for fundraisers in Texas and used the opportunity to show powerful members his districts infrastructure needs.

He was also an early support of Biden's campaign for president, and he urged his fellow Texans and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to get behind Biden's bid for the Democratic nomination.

Vela was best known in his time for firing off a missive at then-candidate Donald Trump, telling him to take your border wall and shove it up your ass.

Patrick Svitek contributed reporting.

Excerpt from:
Texas Rep. Filemon Vela will not seek reelection in 2022 - The Texas Tribune

Followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory trying to find meaning behind the blocking of the Suez Canal by a cargo ship claim that the vessel is being used by Hillary Clinton for child sex trafficking.

Some supporters of the radical movement are suggesting the 400-meter-long Ever Given currently stuck in Egypt is being used to abuse children on behalf of the cabal of pedophiles that they believe runs the U.S.

Others claim the children held captive on the ship will be revealed to the world live on camera, justifying their beliefs.

In order to jump to this wild conclusion, QAnon supporters point to the vessel's operator, a Taiwan-based shipping company called Evergreen Marine Corporation. Clinton was given the Secret Service codename "Evergreen" when her husband Bill Clinton was president.

The ship's call sign is H3RCthe same three letters as the initials of the 2016 presidential candidate.

On the Telegram encrypted messaging app, a QAnon account with more than 106,000 subscribers wrote: "Suez Canal blocked by huge container ship named Evergreen. Evergreen shipping is most likely a cover for human and sex trafficking.

"HRC = Hillary Rodham Clinton. Evergreen = Hillary's Secret Service name. Evergreen Call Sign: H3RC."

Another influential QAnon advocate with more than 53,000 subscribers on the "free speech" social network Gab wrote: "Evergreen is HRC's Secret Service name. It has also been speculated that Evergreen shipping is a front for human trafficking.

"Theory: ship gets stuck, International aid offered, containers opened on live TV."

QAnon supporters often twist world events to suit their theories or claim they have been predicted by the mysterious figure known as "Q."

For years, "Q" would leave cryptic messages on messageboard sites, which were deciphered to form the basis of the conspiracy theorists' beliefs. These include the notion that leading Democrats and members of the Hollywood elite are child-eating pedophiles.

The first of these so-called "Qdrops" appeared on 4chan in October 2017, claiming that Clinton would soon be arrested.

For the next few years, thousands of the posts appeared online, often using phrases that became QAnon slogans.

No new messages have been posted for months, however, with their frequency slowing down considerably since former President Donald Trump, a savior-like figure for QAnon, lost the election in November.

The conspiracy theorists do not necessarily need new posts to guide the movement, however. They simply reinterpret the existing catalog of messages to suit their purpose.

In this case, the attempt to move the ship from the Suez Canal was predicted because "Q" had previously mentioned Evergreen and the words "when do you need a plumber?" in an April 2018 post.

"When do you call a plumber? When something's maybe 'blocked'?" one widely shared Telegram by some of the biggest QAnon channels read. "WE HAVE IT ALL."

This is not the first time an Evergreen vessel has been roped into a QAnon child trafficking conspiracy.

In August 2020, a similar rumor was spread after the explosion at the port of Beirut, which killed more than 200 people.

One widely shared Facebook image from the scene contained the caption: "Evergreen Shipping Container. Human Trafficking by HRC."

Fact-checking website Politifact labeled the claim "false."

Follow this link:
QAnon Claims Stuck Suez Canal Ship Used by Hillary Clinton ...

What do the Suez Canal, Hillary Clinton and a Taiwanese shipping company have in common?

Conspiracy theorists on Facebook insist theyre all part of an international human trafficking scheme.

Egyptian authorities are working to remove a 1,300-foot cargo ship that got stuck March 23 in the Suez Canal, a critical shipping route that connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The boat is operated by the Evergreen Group, a Taiwan shipping conglomerate.

Some Facebook users took that as a signal of Clintons involvement.

"HRC = Hillary Rodham Clinton. Evergreen = Hillarys Secret Service name. Evergreen Call Sign: H3RC," a March 24 post about the shipping accident says.

The post was flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

(Screenshot from Facebook)

Similar false claims about Clinton, "evergreen" and human trafficking surfaced after the Beirut port explosion in August. The newest example is similarly bogus and traces back to a baseless conspiracy theory thats been circulating since 2016.

First, lets review some facts about Evergreen.

Evergreen Line is the trade name for the five shipping companies owned by the Evergreen Group. The companies comprise the fourth largest container fleet in the world, according to the JOC Group, a logistics intelligence firm.

An Evergreen ship got stuck in a bank of the Suez Canal during a dust storm with high winds, the Wall Street Journal reported. The incident involves an Ever Given ship, which is one of the largest ocean vessels in the world. More than 100 ships are waiting to traverse the canal, dealing a blow to global shipping.

The story turns into fiction with the added elements of Clinton and human trafficking. The conspiracy theory goes like this: Clinton is part of a global child sex trafficking cabal, and her Secret Service codename was "Evergreen." (She confirmed the codename during the 2016 campaign.) Therefore, Clinton is using Evergreen to transport children.

That baseless line is related to the broader Pizzagate and QAnon conspiracy theories about prominent Democrats and child victims.

After the Ever Given ship got stuck in the Suez Canal, QAnon supporters on Telegram and Gab, social media platforms that are popular among conservatives, pointed to the boats call sign, H3RC, as evidence to support their theory. Clintons initials are HRC.

Its unclear what cargo the Evergreen ship is carrying, but theres no evidence that its people. We reached out to Evergreen through its website for a comment, but we havent heard back.

The post is inaccurate, ridiculous and free of proof. We rate it Pants on Fire!

Read the original:
The Evergreen ship blocking the Suez Canal is not linked to Hillary Clinton - PolitiFact

In an interview on Monday, the former Secretary of State said she was intrigued and a little saddened by the fact that both Russia and China are pushing their vaccines in a way the US has not.

So this is the kind of leadership that the United States has historically been known for which frankly we should be lifting up and doing more of, she said.

The former presidential candidate said that the countries were demonstrating vaccine diplomacy in sharing their coronavirus vaccine candidates with other countries.

They are going into countries and saying well take care of you, she said, adding that their strides in doing so leaves the United States playing catch up.

Now, of course, we have to vaccinate our whole population but from what Im told were going to have more than enough supply to do that, she said.

Last week, Mr Biden announced that his administration would reach his pledge of 100 million vaccine doses within his first 100 days of office 42 days ahead of schedule.

The president said earlier in March that the country would have enough Covid vaccine doses for every American adult by the end of May, a revision of his earlier timeline to have enough by the end of July.

However, poorer countries across the world are encountering shortages of Covid-19 vaccines as richer nations scoop up the Western-made versions or manufacturers struggle with limited production capacity.

Not only will poorer countries be forced to wait for shots, possibly for years to come, but many are already being charged much higher prices for every dose.

The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned in January that unfair vaccine distribution would risk a catastrophic moral failure saying it would also prolong the pandemic."

"Not only does this me-first approach leave the worlds poorest and most vulnerable at risk, it is also self-defeating," Dr Tedros said at the opening of the bodys annual executive board meeting.

As Covid continues to spread globally, there are more opportunities for the virus to mutate over time and create new variants, such as the more transmissible B117 variant detected in the United Kingdom.

Ms Clinton stressed during the interview that we dont know yet whether these variants are going to cause a big problem in some parts of the world, whether theyre going to cause some of the vaccines not to be effective.

We still have a lot to learn and were not at the end of this, she said. When the vast majority of the world is not yet vaccinated, that is like a petri dish for more variants to develop.

Ms Clinton concluded by warning: We are walking a fine line here. Let's vaccinate us but at the same time let's do everything we can to try to provide as much vaccination support to the rest of the world as possible.

The US has recorded more than 29.9 million cases of the novel coronavirus and over 534,000 deaths since the pandemic gripped the country last March.

Go here to see the original:
Hillary Clinton calls on Biden to share vaccines with poorer nations - The Independent