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Trump supporters wave flags and signs on the Ketcher Road bridge over I-25 on Presidents Day, Monday, February 20, 2017. Wochit

U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner speaks at a press conference at Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch on Wednesday, December 14, 2016. Colorado will receive $252 million in federal funding for Highway 34 repairs.(Photo: Valerie Mosley/The Coloradoan)Buy Photo

A group of Fort Collins progressives plan to answer a question Tuesday night that few would have thought of six months ago: What happens when you throw a town hall for a senator and he doesn't show up?

There's enough interest in what a U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner-less town hall looks likethat IndivisibleNOCO, the organizing group, closed registration for attendance due to space concerns, member Tara Morton said. The Colorado Republican's Fort Collins office has played a front-and-center role in the spate of protests that erupted here since the inauguration of President Donald Trump. His staff here and in Washington, D.C., have also grappledwith an explosion of emails, phone calls and social media messages.

How EPA's first big moves could play out in Colorado

The groupdoesn't feel Gardner is paying enough attention to their concerns, Morton said. They acknowledgethe event is political theaterbutsay they invited Gardner himself or staff. The event will be structured like a town hall, with pointed questions, and plans to turn to Gardner's record and previous statements to suss out how he might respond, she said.

"If he's not here, we'll let his own words and talking points speak for themselves," Morton said, adding, "If we can't have a conversation, how are we going to move forward?"

IndivisibleNOCO plans to submit the questions to Gardner's office as well and hopes for responses. They'll also stream the town hall and submit video to Gardner's office.

Morton noted how some other town halls or constituent meetings have turned rowdy and joked that she doesn't necessarily blame Gardner for avoiding it. Even so, the groups wants some avenue to make sure its concerns are heardand demonstrate it can hold a town hall that maintains order.

"How do you hold your elected leaders accountable when they still have four years to go?" Morton asked, noting that it applies to both Gardner, elected in 2014, and Trump. "We need Cory Gardner to respond to why he's voting lockstep with Trump."

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Morton said this is the first of four planned town halls for Gardner, with the other three set forDenver, Boulder and Colorado Springs.

Alex Siciliano, a spokesperson for Gardner, said the senator has been using the in-state work period while Congress is in recess to hold meetings and roundtables focused on specific topics, such as small business growth and controlling health care costs. Gardner has also held telephone town halls with constituents in the state. People who call his offices can ask to be included on the tele-town hall lists when they happen in their districts.

His office did not respond to questions about if staff plans to attend the town hall Tuesday night. It is planning to hold a tele-town hall soon, with future plans to stream them online and allow constituents to sign-up online to participate.

Colo. senators still slammed with calls, emails

Morton said her group has also asked for town halls with U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Jared Polis, both Democrats. Laurie Cipriano, a spokesperson for Bennet, said he will have a tele-town hall sometime in March, though the date is still being decided.

Like Gardner, Bennet hasmetwith constituents on specific topics. Bennet spent the recess traveling to Cuba and Colombia to discuss trade, human rights, migration and more, Cipriano said in an email.

She said his office has also met with some of the groups that organized protests to better understand their concerns.

"Michael views the recent surge in protest activity across the country as a sign that people care deeply about America and democracy," she said.

Polis is planning to host a March 12 town hall in the Fort Collins-Loveland area, though the location hasn't been determined yet. Polis also held two tele-town halls in the past week, as well as a digital roundtablevia YouTube Liveon the Affordable Care Act, his spokesperson, Jessica Bralish, said.

Clarification: A previous version stated Gardner's office did not respond to questions about future town halls. Gardner's office is planning a telephone town hall, but hasn't hashed out the details.

IndvisibleNOCO, a Fort Collins progressive group, organized a town hall for U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, in lieu of unmet requests for one in Northern Colorado. The venue will be full, but it can be streamed online.

When: 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

More information: indivisibleNOCO.com

Read or Share this story: http://noconow.co/2loVr2B

Link:
Progressives host town hall for Cory Gardner, without him - The Coloradoan

On Tuesday, February 21, the Tishaura O. Jones campaign released a list of more than 50 local progressive activists and organizers that endorsed Jones for St. Louis mayor.

They include activist attorneys Thomas Harvey, Brendan Roediger, Blake Strode and Maggie Ellinger-Locke; education advocates Brittany Packnett and Faith Sandler; activist clergy Rev. Mike Kinman and Rev. Cassandra Gould; community organizers and activists Kayla Reed, Kristian Blackmon, John Chasnoff, Mustafa Abdullah and Brittany Ferrell; 15th Ward Alderwoman Megan Ellyia Green; and 5th Ward Committeeman Rasheen Aldridge.

At a time of dangerously regressive trends on the state and national level, St. Louis cannot afford to engage in business as usual, they said in a collective statement.

Joness bold vision and moral clarity speak to the urgency of this moment and offer precisely the type of leadership that our city needs to embark on a path toward equity, justice and opportunity for all of St. Louiss residents.

The statement continues:

We know that this moment requires the fresh new approach that Tishaura Jones offers. As individuals and organizations whose work centers on marginalized and historically underserved communities, we also know the difference between true commitment and empty promises. We are neither persuaded by those who speak of divisions between the haves and have nots, but stand as obstacles to living wages for workers; nor by those who claim to represent a challenge to the status quo while using the power of their office to penalize those who speak out in protest; nor by those who promise a commitment to economic justice while criminalizing the homeless and increasing public funding for a failed police-and-incarcerate model of criminal justice. Such equivocation and doublespeak is not, and never has been, good enough.

Ultimately, we are invested in the outcome of this race not because we are invested in the individual candidates themselves, but because we are invested in the crucial issues facing St. Louis. We are invested in eradicating poverty and homelessness in our city. We are invested in ensuring worker justice. We are invested in providing a quality education to every child. We are invested in dismantling all manifestations of systemic racism. As Jones herself wrote in her much-discussed letter to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial Board, St. Louis needs to change. We know this as truth, and we believe Jones is the right woman to lead the city in bringing this change.

The municipal primary election is Tuesday, March 7. Absentee voting is underway.

Read this article:
More than 50 local progressives endorse Tishaura Jones for St. Louis mayor - St. Louis American

Local progressives werent expecting Rep. Tom Reed to radically change his views on issues like health care, abortion and President Donald Trump at his town hall sessions throughout the Southern Tier Saturday, and the Republican congressman didnt surprise.

Although some felt Reed sidestepped their questions, they appreciated Reed holding the public meetings at all especially amid turmoil at other similar GOP sessions held across the country recently and were moderately optimistic about pushing their agendas in the future.

While he certainly said a lot of things that were troubling and problematic his regular talking points on a lot of issues he did say some things that led me to believe we might have some room for dialogue and lobbying and maybe coming to some places of agreement, said Chris Stanley, a St. Bonaventure University professor whose organized recent meetings for local progressives.

Reeds four town halls Saturday, which were attended by several hundred people, often turned into wide-ranging discussions with several moments of shouting and even confrontations between attendees with opposing views. Reed told the Times Herald after his Great Valley town hall that he felt the session, while chaotic at times, included real conversation.

While Reeds mostly fit Stanleys expectations, the professor said he was glad to hear Reed say prescription drug costs are a problem, that social security tax receipts should not be used for anything other than paying social security benefits, and that he supports refinancing student loans at lower rates.

Sometimes he simply stated his viewpoint and that was that, but there were a couple points where he tried to engage in more dialogue, particularly over social security and student loan issues, and I respected him for that, Stanley said.

Holly Scordo, an Olean resident who attended Reeds Great Valley town hall, said while she doesnt agree with the congressman, she was impressed he tried to discuss agreeable issues.

He certainly has some ideas hes not going to shift on and compromise on, his core beliefs, and that's OK, but I did feel he was trying to find the things most people could agree on, she said.

However some felt Reed was unwilling to have discussions on other issues, like abortion. Jennifer Greenidge, a town of Olean resident who attended Reeds Great Valley session because she feels womens reproductive rights are being eroded, said Reed dodged a question about what hed do to ensure women can make personal reproductive health care decisions.

He turned it into why hes pro-life, which did not answer the question, Greenidge said.

Still, with some Republican congressmen refusing to hold town halls amid the testy political climate since Trumps inauguration, Greenidge said she gives Reed credit for showing up.

Jil St. Ledger-Roty, of Franklinville, left disappointed there wasnt enough time at the Great Valley town hall for other topics shes concerned about, like race relations, nuclear tensions, and potential threats to public education and the Environmental Protection Agency.

You cant do that kind of thing in an hour. There are just too many questions people had, she said.

Stanley wished for a more orderly discussion, rather than some resorting to yelling. The nature of the crowd led Reed to forgo answering written questions attendees filled out beforehand so he could speak with those who raised their hands or, in some cases, shouted out.

Perhaps some of the people, who are not as vocal and whose thoughts and questions might have had good points, didnt get to be heard or answered, Stanley said.

However progressives were encouraged by the participation this weekend. Many said they and others had never before attended a town hall because, in a heavily conservative county like Cattaraugus, they feared they would be in the minority. They said something has changed locally since Trumps election, with a number of residents speaking out politically for the first time.

I cant tell you how many people I have met and spoke to in the last three months who have never done anything politically (but now) because they're just horrified they cant keep quiet anymore, said St. Ledger-Roty, who resolved after Election Day to do something political, like attending rallies, making phone calls and writing letters, once a day.

Stanley joked Trump was the best thing that ever happened to progressives in our area. Stanley, who organized anti-war meetings during the Iraq War, said the response to Trump tops anything hes seen in his 17 years in the Olean area.

I think it does give a sense of hope and empowerment to those of us who clearly seem to be of a numerical minority in this county and a sense that we can work together for good and not simply have to sit back and feel weak and powerless, he said.

Stanley said he hopes to work with local conservatives by appealing to their needs, admitting he feels the Democratic Party has for years neglected the working class and the poor.

Both progressives and conservatives, he said, need to stop making assumptions about each other and look past their ideological blinders. At Saturdays town hall in Great Valley, Stanley was approached by a Trump supporter who accused him of being a baby killer because hes a progressive.

I said, No, not at all. Im anti-abortion. I really support Catholic social teachings. Im not a Catholic, but I really agree down the board with Catholic social teachings. He said, You do? Stanley recalled. I think one of the problems with our current system is people on both sides speak this kind of way about each other of being mindless people following their leaders. I said, Im a thoughtful person and youre a thoughtful person. We dont need to talk about each other that way.

Although conservatives were in the minority at the town halls, he was glad a few of them spoke up Saturday, he added.

I think it was right and courageous for them to speak up when they were the minority, just like in the past its been some of us whove needed to be courageous to speak up, he said.

Scordo said although shed like a progressive to beat Reed in the 2018 election, she likes that Reed is willing to listen to people and she hopes he becomes a part of a more moderate GOP.

I really hope this empowers people on both sides to become more involved with politics, she said. We need to question the people who are hired to represent us. We hire them, pay their salaries. We need to be making sure they do what they're supposed to do.

Local progressives next public meeting will be at 10 a.m. Saturday in the John Ash Community Center in Olean.

(Contact reporter Tom Dinki at tdinki@oleantimesherald.com. Follow him on Twitter, @tomdinki)

Excerpt from:
Progressives moderately optimistic after Reed town hall - Olean Times Herald

posted at 1:21 pm on February 20, 2017 by John Sexton

Today is Presidents Day so naturally the progressive left is holding rallies to protest President Trump. These Not My Presidents Day rallies are scheduled to take place around the country, including New York, LA, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and a dozen or so other cities. In New York, 15,000 people have said they plan to attend. In LA the figure is just over 4,000 and in Chicago its just under that. Around 1,000 people have said they will attend the Washington, D.C. rally.A description posted on the Facebook page for the New York rallyreads in part:

Donald Trump is literally our President, but figuratively, he has attacked every value New Yorkers embody and does not represent our interests

Donald Trump stands against the progress we have worked hard to enact. He does not represent our interests. He was voted in by a minority of the American public but governs as if theres no resistance. But there is and on February 20th, we will honor previous presidents by exercising our constitutional right to assemble and peacefully protest everything Donald Trump stands for.

The organizers for the New York rally also included 3 hashtags associated with the rally. They are #Impeach, #Resist, and #NotMyPresident. Many of the rallies started a short time ago so pictures are already appearing on Twitter. From NYC:

From LA:

Atlanta:

These rallies are just getting started. Ill update this post with some video as it becomes available.

The rest is here:
Progressives holding #NotMyPresidentsDay rallies around the country - Hot Air

HBD aggregator par excellence M.G., over at her blog Those Who Can See, has a good post on the theme Progressives: The New Race Realists.

The rhetoric and the actions emanating from the left as of late show that they have perhaps taken a U-turn a salutary one. People of Color, they are now saying, in fact have little agency, are near-prisoners of their instincts, and thus cant be held to the same standards as other ethnies.

In other words, todays progressives have become de facto race realists.

On what do we base such a claim?

M.G. breaks it down into headings and subheadings:

1. Education

1a) White Liberal Flight

1b) Lower expectations

1c) Educationcollege

2. Employment

3. Crime

3a) Blacks lack agency

3b) White victims and battered wife syndrome

3c) Europe: Our new Diversity has no agency

4. Governance

5. Historical Accomplishment

6. Athletics

7. White Privilege

7a) Doctrine: Whites are Blessed

7b) More than skin deep?Skating close to the truth

Definitely one to bookmark when you need an HBD graph or fact-source.

View post:
Progressives: The New Race Realists - VDARE.com