Mediaboss Marketing

About 60 people participated in the fourth annual Awake The State rally of political progressives Wednesday in West Palm Beach.

The gathering, organized by Tom Conboy, met to draw attention to a series of liberal platform issues as the Florida Legislature gets started in Tallahassee.

Those at the rally outlined a five-point platform they want lawmakers to pass, including:

-expanded access to health care

-more efforts to protect water quality

-expanded use of alternative energy sources

-raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour

-pass anti-corruption legislation.

Of course, a group of progressives arent likely to gather without tossing a few shots in the direction of the conservatives who reign in Tallahassee.

Under Gov. Rick Scott, Florida has only worked for the wealthy and the well-connected, Conboy said. Its important that we make our voices heard in Tallahassee.

See the rest here:
Dozens attend Awake the State rally of progressives in WPB

Illustration: John Spooner

In trendy cafes across the nation people are talking about Malcolm Turnbull. They talk mostly in whispers, eyes darting round the room, palms sweating. "I'd do it for Malcolm," the hipsters confess.

Should Turnbull become prime minister - a scenario that even after Monday's spill is poised somewhere between dead certain and entirely likely - these once diehard lefties seem prepared to do what was previously unthinkable: defect, turn, bat for the other team. Vote 1 for the Liberal Party.

I've heard the sentiment expressed frequently during the past week, and the polls are saying it too; progressives adore Turnbull, conservatives do not. For years left-leaning voters have harboured a fantasy of flipping Turnbull to lead the ALP, figuring it wasn't so far-fetched given he had briefly contemplated joining the party when he was young. That fantasy shelved, these voters now contemplate flipping themselves: embracing the man, even as they throw a metaphorical paper bag over his party.

In this cynical age, how can one man inspire such messianic faith? Many people want to believe Turnbull can steer the Coalition back to the political centre. And it's true the Liberals are a broad church. But unlike Labor which has largely purged its caucus of ideologues and replaced them with pragmatic careerists the Coalition has a bedrock of true believers. People who truly believe global warming is a myth, for instance. And that wealth always trickles down.

Advertisement

In the progressives' wet dream Turnbull rides in as a saviour. He not only abolishes knights and dames but ushers in the republic. He not only exposes the climate sceptics, but restores the price on carbon. Not only repudiates the idea that women are responsible for the household ironing, but introduces same-sex marriage. Not only arrests the march to a surveillance state, but guarantees for evermore our freedom to illegally download Game of Thrones- a reference to which he need never drop into his public statements because in contrast to the Prime Minister, noone would doubt Malcolm's pop culture cred.

To some extent, Turnbull's mystique is bound up with his background. The self-made man brought up by a single father in a rented flat; who overcame loss and tragedy to become a Rhodes scholar, journalist, corporate lawyer, investment banker and politician; who is so ruggedly urbane he even boasts the late art critic Robert Hughes as an in-law; who has a touch of Gatsby, projecting a restless hunger for affirmation despite his Point Piper mansion with its breathtaking harbour view.

Most intriguing about the faith in Turnbull is that it rests on a paradox. He seems to be popular despite even because of the various contradictions he's been forced to straddle, especially since losing the Liberal leadership in 2009.

Climate change is the big one, having declared before he was ousted: "I will not lead a party that is not as committed to effective action on climate change as I am." During the intervening years it became apparent that this declaration is no longer sacrosanct. This week he reportedly confirmed that if elected leader he would not change the Coalition's climate change policy unless the world's major polluters changed theirs.

See more here:
Turnbull: why the left is so in love with him

The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign on Sunday described as felonious, claims by the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign, which seems to call to question Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buharis commitment to Nigeria.

The APC campaign dismissed questions raised about the civil war role and commitment to the nation of its Presidential candidate.

This was contained in a statement by the Directorate of Media and Publicity of the APC Campaign, Mallam Garba Shehu.

Shehu described the PDP as questioning the the continued existence of Nigeria as single entity.

He added, This is nothing short of treason. It rocks the foundation of the oneness of Nigeria, its constitution, its flag and desecrates the blood of fellow citizens, who fought on both sides of the war as part of their commitment to one, united nation.

He dismissed the PDPs attack on Buharis illustrious war record and inspiring patriotism as a grim pointer to the desperation by the President to return even if in the process, he causes a permanent damage to the well being and continued existence of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Shehu accused the PDP of riding roughshod over the emotions of the Nigerian peoples, saying the latest statement beamed an unflattering light on the PDP and its government and lent credence to those who accused the ruling party of having lost interest in the unity of Nigeria.

The APC noted in the statement that the world history had shown that in the process of the development of any nation, challenges bordering on national unity always crop up.

The statement added, This is the case with most developed nations. Take the United States of America for example, the civil war they fought did not decimate the nation but rather set up the base for unified development. Today, we all know how great the United States is.

So, as it happened there, we, Nigeria as a nation, equally faced this type of challenge. We had to take actions, difficult as they were, to ensure peace, unity and progress. As a soldier of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Buharis participation in efforts to keep the country together was not because he loved the Igbos less but because it was imperative that we develop as a unified nation.

Read more:
PDPs war accusation against Buhari felonious APC campaigners

The All Progressives Congress has described as too little, too late the recent election-propelled pretend acts of governance by President Goodluck Jonathan to convince Nigerians to vote for him and his party in the forthcoming polls.

Mr. President, you cannot undo, in six weeks, the glaring instances of cluelessness, incompetence and near total lack of governance that your administration has exhibited in the past six years, even if you move Aso Rock to the South-West or bribe every Nigerian with the proceeds of corruption, the party said in a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

Your Administration-sanctioned smear campaigns against APC leaders, your obscenity-laden meeting with youths, your offer of jobs to 167 out of over 40 million unemployed youths, and your temporary relocation to the South-West where you believe your Naira and Dollar rain will translate to votes are all belated and of no effect, it said.

APC said all the Presidents latter-day efforts went up in smokes on Saturday when over one million Nigerians marched through the streets of Lagos in support of change, even as a hurriedly-organized, pretend march led by the President in Abuja failed to distract from the success of the Lagos march, as envisaged by the organisers.

The party said its latest opinion poll on the forthcoming elections shows that Nigerians have already made up their minds regarding which party they will vote for, even before the six-week postponement of the elections, which was orchestrated to allow the sinking PDP and its candidates at all levels to recover from the dizzying effect of the daily blows being dealt on them by Nigerians.

It said a President who was playing dirty politics while over 15,000 Nigerians were being murdered by the Boko Haram cannot now expect to reap from a sudden resurgence in the fight against the terrorists.

Mr. President, you had all of six years to secure the lives and property of Nigerians, provide jobs, improve the economy, give Nigerians constant power supply and curb corruption, but you did none of those things.

Under your watch, Mr. President, the economy has virtually collapsed with the US Dollar now exchanging for over 220 Naira, the highest ever. Millions of youths are roaming the streets even as your government fleeces them from time to time over phantom jobs, industries are collapsing in droves, Nigerians are more divided than ever, many states and even the FG cant pay workers salaries and corruption is at an all-time high as the looting of the public treasury has become the order of the day while Nigerians have never felt so insecure.

It is amazing, therefore, how you can even think that six weeks of unprecedented bribery of individuals, pretend governance, and cash-induced occult-like prayer sessions, among others, will turn the tide in your favour. Nigerians are not fooled by your antics, Mr. President. Your efforts are too little, too late, APC said.

The party said it is now glaring that the missing 20 billion dollars, the multi-billion-Naira pension scam and the multi-trillion oil subsidy fraud, just to mention a few, all fed into the massive bribery that the Jonathan Administration has engaged in over the past few weeks, hoping to buy the votes of Nigerians.

Read more:
Jonathans actions, election motivated, too late APC

Taiwo Kuye

The Financial Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos State, Mr. Taiwo Kuye, tells BAYO AKINLOYE that the allegation that the party rented a crowd to protest against the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, is not true

Did the Peoples Democratic Party rent a crowd to protest against the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, at Chatham House in London?

How could the largest party in Africa rent a crowd to protest a personality like Muhammadu Buhari? Who doesnt know him as a former despot? Buhari is well known in London as someone who once truncated a democratic process in Nigeria. The Peoples Democratic Party did not need to rent a crowd to protest against the opposition partys presidential candidate. People all over the world know about the transformational leadership of the PDP presidential candidate, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. His works speak for him. The protesters against Buhari know a pretender had come into their midst.

But a journalist and London resident, Rose Graham, alleged that the crowd protesting against the APC was likely paid to do so?

The people protesting against Buhari were London residents. They knew very well what they were doing. Our party, the PDP, does not pay people to attend rally or pay people to protest against our opponents. We are not like the opposition, the All Progressives Congress, that will take a crowd from Osun to Sokoto; that will rent a crowd in Lagos and take to Ekiti. We dont rent crowds. That is what the APC does all the time; they want to tell the people that they have a large following. Its a lie and lying has always been their propaganda. PDP doesnt do that. We are a strong party with a strong base nationwide. Our presence is felt anywhere and everywhere. We are a stable party the most stable party in the country. Look at the so-called leading opposition party, how stable is it?

What about Grahams claim that the PDP was trying to buy her over to campaign for President Goodluck Jonathan?

Who will offer her money to campaign for the President? She is obviously a Buhari and APC apologist. What she said was not true. Everyone knows what havoc Buhari wreaked on this country as a dictatorial former head of state. The PDP did not need to offer anyone money to protest against someone who overthrew a democratically elected government. In the APC, there are plenty of scavengers who are moving from London to America to the Emirates looking for banks to grant them loan to execute their presidential election ambition. They left the shore of Nigeria seeking for money to expend during the election. Even their candidate, I learnt, had to be flown to London and California for medical attention. These are scavengers moving around the globe theyre unsteady. All they do is lie against the PDP and the President.

Are you saying that your party doesnt hire crowd for its rallies or sponsor a crowd to protest against its opponents?

Every crowd you see at a PDP gathering is never a hired throng. The people who come out to participate in our rallies are those who are in love with the ruling party. In all of our gatherings these ones come out not because of the handouts they will get but because of their genuine love for the PDP. They know and understand that the PDP is a performer. People troop out in their thousands to attend our programmes. We dont hire crowds. All the people who support us are our bona fide members. It is never the practice of the PDP to hire a crowd. For what? Any crowd you see are people who are committed to the ideals of the party. This is not APC. Renting crowds is what they do the best. They can ferry people from Lagos to Sokoto to campaign. In the Lagos State governorship race, Jimi Agbaje is a governor-in-waiting. Theres no chance this time around for the APC to win the governorship election in Lagos. If an independent opinion poll is conducted today, you will find out that the PDP is fully on ground in all the 20 Local Government Areas. And if you look at the forthcoming presidential election, its going to be a walk-over for Mr. President. I have that conviction.

View post:
Rose Graham is an APC apologist Kuye