Nathan Dahm (Sen.OK) vs. Jon Stewart: On Gunz

"The 'woke' screen is a smokescreen."

I love Sheldon Whitehouse.

The Billionaires Sabotaging Student Debt Relief

Cliff Notes version of The New Jim Crow

TikTok: “What did I see that changed my perspective on our criminal justice system? …So a person of color in the United States during the (post-slavery) Jim Crow era faced: disenfranchisement, second class citizenship, barriers to: voting … education … employment and … housing. Then the United states passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act that said that we can no longer discriminate (regarding the barriers) based on skin color.

In 2021 what is the only label that we can legally discriminate … legally disenfranchise, relegate to second class citizenship and erect (supposedly removed) barriers to voting … education … employment ... housing? … convicted felons are the only people we are allowed to legally disenfranchise.

Now do you believe it's a coincidence that one in three African Americans males now carry this label of convicted felon as opposed to one and 17 white males?

… between the Jim Crow era and 2021 we've had a 700% increase in US prison population … from 300,000 inmates in 1970 to 1.8 million today and as high as 2.3 million. In spite of crime rates dropping, our prison population skyrocketed and it was because we had the Law and Order Agenda … increased police spending but decreased education funding … we created this school to prison pipeline. The war on drugs we now know was a war on people. In 1986 the Anti Drug Abuse Act differentiated between powder cocaine and hard cocaine which we now know disproportionately impacted people of color. We also had the 94 Crime Bill with the Truth In Sentencing Act which led to higher incarceration rates and harsher sentences for people of color.

Once I saw all this my perspective changed because I know the Jim Crow era never ended, racism never ended, it just evolved. It's … the new Jim Crow, modern day slavery.”

Non-ancient History That Might Cause "Discomfort"

Worth a chuckle*

They won't let go

About Paul Vallas

If you have friends or family inclined to vote for him, please pass this info on to them.

The Truth About Paul Vallas

With several progressive candidates in the race for Mayor of Chicago, Indivisible Chicago Alliance has not made an endorsement. However, our leadership across the city is unified in opposition to Paul Vallas, who we believe would be a dangerous choice for our city. A close look at his track record reveals Vallas to be a failed administrator who blows up budgets, promotes plans to eviscerate public education, and welcomes the embrace of right-wing extremists.

Leaving a trail of higher taxes, surprise budget deficits.

From Chicago to New Orleans and Philadelphia, Vallas’ budget disasters left taxpayers holding the bag. In Chicago, Vallas fostered the pension crisis taxpayers are paying for today. He won legislative approval to delay payments into the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) teachers’ pension fund. Pushing those payments into the future, he proclaimed himself a hero for ending with a $1 billion surplus. Vallas traded CPS and pension fund stability for his short-term bragging rights. Today, that reckless bargain means Chicago homeowners shovel more than a half-billion dollars a year in property taxes into the pension fund hole Vallas created.

Vallas continued smoke-and-mirrors budgeting as he moved to head school districts around the country. Four months after he told the Philadelphia City Council he created a balanced school budget (and a month after his contract was renewed), the district suddenly revealed a $73 million deficit. Vallas was soon fired. In New Orleans, four consecutive years of audit failures under Vallas’s watch revealed “sloppy record keeping” and millions of dollars unaccounted for.

This “education expert” backs vouchers and charters.

Vallas calls for “100% choice” in Chicago through a combination of vouchers and unlimited charter schools, a threat to public education for many because they limit inclusion. It’s a failed strategy that’s wrong for Chicago. Vallas gave unprecedented independence to charter schools in New Orleans, where top-performing students were prioritized to boost test scores, experienced black educators were squeezed out in favor of younger, mostly white teachers willing to work 12-14 hour days, and disadvantaged kids fell farther behind. He left New Orleans in 2012; by 2016 the State Legislature of Louisiana reined in the charters and returned them to local oversight.

Vallas aligns himself with right wing extremists.

No one should trust a conservative tightly aligned with and endorsed by the MAGA leadership of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) to make our city safer. Vallas continues to campaign side-by-side with disgraced FOP President John Catanzara, an apologist for the January 6 insurrectionists. He stood with Catanzara at the 2021 rally where the FOP boss compared COVID vaccine mandates to Nazi extermination showers. Catanzara even rebuked cops who knelt in solidarity with Black Lives Matter protesters, mocking their actions as “ridiculous” and threatening to expel them from the union. All of this spells danger for those too often victimized by police violence and for everyone in our City who understands the complexity of crime prevention.

Just as troubling: Vallas was a featured speaker at an Awake Illinois fundraiser. This group leads the mostly suburban, homophobic and transphobic movement to censor books in school libraries and take over local school boards. They even called Illinois Governor JB Pritzker “a groomer.” First downplaying the controversy, Vallas eventually denounced Awake Illinois – but only after helping raise money for their cause. Vallas has a pattern of aligning with extremists–backing off only if controversy makes the association too hot.

How can you help Chicago voters see through the Paul Vallas myth? Spread the truth.

Now that you know Vallas’ real record, make sure your friends and family know too. Forward this email, share the link on our website, retweet our social media posts and create your own. To choose a more responsible candidate for Mayor, start from your own values and seek the candidate that can best implement those values in City Hall. These are the guidelines Indivisible Chicago developed to help voters evaluate the platforms of all candidates for public office, both citywide and at the ward level. Against these standards, Paul Vallas doesn’t make the grade.

This is the election that can move our city forward or further tear it down. Make sure your vote is based on fact

Ohio factory explosion today kills 1 injures 13

Biden's message this morning is powerful

“Autocrats only understand one word: NO …. NO! NO! NO! …”