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Trump’s Triumph: The Gut & the Butt Won vs the Head & the Heart

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Like many of you, I’m feeling shocked and scared this morning. Donald Trump is going to be the next President of the United States. Let’s work together to make sense of this looming reality. (I’ll write at another time in the near future about state and local contests, and there was much good news there.)

The people Trump villainized in his campaign have every right to be terrified. His win was a victory for authoritarianism, nativism, misogyny, and racism. Those who support cultural reaction will feel and act empowered by his victory.

But this is not why Trump won. His victory came for economic reasons in addition to those aforementioned causes. He promised prosperity after getting people’s attention by playing to their fears. His ultimate appeal came down to ‘a chicken in every pot.’   [Read more…]

2016 Elections: And The Loser Is….The News Media

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It’s mid-morning on November 8, 2016, and I have a solid gut feeling about how this election will turn out. Nobody will get everything they want, but the forces of light will stave off darkness, at least for another few years.

I am reminded of Unitarian reformer and abolitionist Theodore Parker’s quote, later modified by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.:

“I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.”   [Read more…]

A Note To Those of You Who Think There is No Difference Between Clinton and Trump

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By Raul Carranza

It’s election day and I am terrified. Are you?

I know a lot of you aren’t. I know a lot of you see little to no difference between HRC and Trump, or at least you say you don’t. For the life of me, I don’t understand why.

You have one candidate who you have policy differences with and another who you have major policy differences with and would never leave alone with any of your relatives, let alone the nuclear codes. One candidate who’ll probably appoint a moderate supreme court justice versus a candidate who’ll definitely appoint a far right justice that will finish unraveling every civil right victory in the past 50 years. Not to mention all the lower courts, which create significantly more policy than the Supreme Court.   [Read more…]

What Bob Marley Can Teach Us About Donald Trump

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If he were alive, the Honorable Robert Nesta “Bob” Marley, O.M. (Order of Merit), would have celebrated his 71st birthday on February 6. Even with the thirty-fifth anniversary of his tragic death from cancer last May, Bob remains the most recognizable ambassador of reggae music the world over.

Marley’s timeless appeal and continued relevance stems in no small part from the stirring political, racial, and social consciousness painstakingly infused in his songbook. From tracks like One Love to War (adopted from Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I’s historic speech before the United Nations General Assembly in 1963), Them Belly Full (But They Hungry), Get Up, Stand Up, Concrete Jungle – and many, many more of his songs – Bob Marley used the bully pulpit of international music stardom to disseminate the treasure of his accumulated moral wisdom.   [Read more…]

CCR President, Herman Baca, Alleges Voter Suppression in National City

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The Committee on Chicano Rights President asks if National City is ‘chopped liver’

On November 3rd, Herman Baca, President of the Committee on Chicano Rights (CCR), wrote a letter to Michael Vu at the San Diego County Registrar of Voters asking: Why doesn’t National City have a Mail Ballot Drop-Off Location?

Imperial Beach has a population of 26,324 and offers one drop-off location. Meanwhile, National City—with a population of 58,582—has none. Baca explained that National City has a 63% hispanic population and a media household income of $38,849. (By comparison, Imperial Beach’s median household income is $52,148.) What’s more, National City has one of the highest sales tax rates in the county —— at 9%.   [Read more…]

Campaign 2016: Almost Over & Your Vote Still Matters

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The emotional and political roller coaster otherwise known as the 2016 elections is coming to an end. This may be hard to believe but, like the amusement park ride, we’re ending up just about where we started.

The American people knew where they stood on the final two major party candidates in January and statistically speaking that view hasn’t changed one iota ten months later.

MSNBC’s Rachael Maddow pointed this out: 40% of the electorate had a positive view about Hillary Clinton in January, and the name percentage holds true as of October. Donald Trump’s numbers are 29%(January) and 29%(October).   [Read more…]

Do I need a California ID to vote? Where is my Polling Place? The SDFP Quick and Easy Guide to Election Day

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/>INFORMATION FOR JUNE 5 2018 PRIMARY HERE.

Here are some frequently asked questions about election day voting in San Diego County. In order to vote, you must be a U.S. citizen and you must already be registered to vote. There is no same day registration in CA.

  [Read more…]

Some Good Things Procrastinating Progressives Can Do Down Ballot

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Greetings procrastinating progressive poll voters! After you are done voting against Donald Trump and attending to all the high profile races that have received plenty of attention elsewhere, there are a myriad of other issues to decide. Here is my list of good things progressives can do down ballot:

*Vote to Fund Education and Elect Actual Educators to School and College Boards: Of course, the central statewide ballot measure to vote for is Proposition 55, which extends Proposition 30’s taxes on the wealthiest Californians while leaving the sales tax behind. If you value public education, this is an obvious vote.

And while you are at it, vote for actual educators for education board seats, not corporate education reformers or political opportunists with no real education experience or expertise. There are several key races in our region where you have a chance to really make a difference on this front.   [Read more…]

An Attempted Coup D’état by FBI Trumpland?

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Hearing all the recent news accounts about how elements in the highest reaches of our top national law enforcement agency – the FBI – have worked to flip the Presidential election in Donald Trump’s favor, made me pull up a definition of “coup d’etat“.

Wow, you might say, how extreme, how hyperbolic – how over the top you’re getting these last few days of the election campaign.

But isn’t it a significant intervention into this election when James Comey, the head of the FBI, announces that the agency is reopening its investigation into a new batch of emails that may involve Hillary Clinton – a bombshell meant to disparage her certainly? And isn’t it intervention when sources within the FBI leak damaging and false information about Clinton to both right-wing media and the Trump campaign?

And when an anchor and reporter on Fox News announced that according to his FBI “sources”, Clinton is likely to be criminally indicted, and this is supposedly confirmed by others close to the agency, and when Trump surrogate and former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani brags that the Trump campaign knew all about this -including the Comey letter to Congress – weeks before it was made public – this in intervention.

Now all this was retracted and apologies made by the Fox reporter, but the damage to Clinton was done.

So, is all of this an attempted coup d’etat by FBI agents immersed in Trumpland to throw the election to their favorite candidate?   [Read more…]

The Russians Are Coming! And Other Last Minute Election Tales

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The 2016 election season is almost over. And even for a guy like myself who considers himself a political junkie, it’s been too much.

I wish the campaigns would be over come November 9th, but there’s increasing evidence to suggest that isn’t going to be the case.

Here are today’s rumors, planted stories and breaking news.   [Read more…]

What’s in Our Mailbag?

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Welcome to the San Diego Free Press’ newest column! We don’t make a habit of publishing press releases and, because we are all-volunteer run, we simply don’t have the resources to cover every event or topic of interest. What’s in our Mailbag? is a consolidation of information we’ve been sent from organizations or individuals we think is important to share.

Inside:

Police Presence in School Has Negative Effect on Students

Vote No on Measure B, a letter to the editor from the League of Women Voters

Legislative Hearing on Progress of Law Allowing Community Colleges to Offer B.A. Degrees

  [Read more…]

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