Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders is too far left for Sweden's ruling Social Democrats, official says

Johan Hassel, the international secretary for Sweden's ruling Social Democrats, visited Iowa before the caucuses, and he wasn't impressed with American's standard bearer for democratic socialism, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). "We were at a Sanders event, and it was like being at a Left Party meeting," he told Sweden's Svenska Dagbladet newspaper, according to one translation. "It was a mixture of very young people and old Marxists, who think they were right all along. There were no ordinary people there, simply."

Hassel was most "impressed" with Pete Buttigieg, though he also liked Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Eric Kleefeld, assiduous student of foreign politics, provides some context on Sweden's Social Democrats:

https://twitter.com/EricKleefeld/status/1229601705475571712

Why would a Swedish Social Democrat favor Buttigieg over Sanders? Well, democratic socialism is different than Sweden's social democracy — the "Nordic model" Sanders touts — "and, unfortunately, Sanders has contributed to this confusion," writes MIT political economist Daron Acemoglu. Democratic socialism seeks to fix the iniquities of the market economy by handing control of the means of production to a company's workers or "an administrative structure operated by the state," he explains. "European social democracy is a system for regulating the market economy, not for supplanting it."

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https://theweek.com/speedreads/896948/democratic-socialist-bernie-sanders-far-left-swedens-ruling-social-democrats-official-says

"Any understanding of this nation has to be based and I mean really based on the understanding of Civil War. I believe that firmly, it defined us. The revolution did what it did. Our involvement in European wars began with the first World War did what it did, but the Civil War defined us as what we are and it opened us to being what we became — good and bad things.

And it is very necessary if you're going to understand the American character in the 20th Century, to learn about this enormous catastrophe in the mid-19th Century. It was the crossroads of our being and it was a hell of a crossroads."

--Shelby Foote

Trump Breaks The Law With Campaign Stunt At Daytona 500

SUN, FEB 16TH, 2020 BY JASON EASLEY

Donald Trump used the taxpayer-owned and funded presidential limousine to take a lap at the Daytona 500 in a presidential campaign stunt.

Here is Trump riding around the track:

https://twitter.com/KellyO/status/1229111900383956996

As Maggie Haberman pointed out Trump is using taxpayers resources for his reelection campaign:

https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1229128575988699136

It is illegal for elected officials to use taxpayer resources for personal political events. The presidential limo is not owned by Trump. It is owned by the taxpayers. Trump went to the Daytona 500 as part of his presidential election campaign. It wasn’t an official presidential event.

Trump had no public events listed on the presidential schedule for Sunday.

The reason why no other president has taken a lap in the presidential limo at Daytona before is that it is illegal.

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https://www.politicususa.com/2020/02/16/trump-illegal-lap-daytona-500.html

Black college swimmer on team trip had gun pointed at his head by police

Jaylan Butler of Eastern Illinois University said officers threatened to blow his head off before it became clear they mistook him for a suspect.

Feb. 14, 2020, 2:21 PM CST / Updated Feb. 15, 2020, 9:42 AM CST
By Minyvonne Burke

A black student at Eastern Illinois University returning from an out-of-state tournament with his teammates and coaches said several police officers handcuffed him, pointed a gun at his head and threatened to blow his head off in what turned out to be their search for a wanted suspect.

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According to the lawsuit, the officers shouted at Butler to put his hands up and get down. He complied and did not resist, the suit states.

Several officers forced Butler to the snowy ground as he was handcuffed, with one putting his knee on the student's back and another pressing on his neck. One of the officers squatted down in front of him, put a gun to his forehead and said, "If you keep moving, I'm going to blow your f------ head off," the suit says.

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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/black-college-swimmer-team-trip-had-gun-pointed-his-head-n1137126

Border Patrol Will Deploy Elite Tactical Agents to Sanctuary Cities
Agents from a special tactical team that normally confronts smugglers on the border are being sent to sanctuary cities across the country.


By Caitlin Dickerson and Zolan Kanno-Youngs
Feb. 14, 2020
Updated 5:05 p.m. ET

The Trump administration is deploying law enforcement tactical units from the southern border as part of a supercharged arrest operation in sanctuary cities across the country, an escalation in the president’s battle against localities that refuse to participate in immigration enforcement.

The specially trained officers are being sent to cities including Chicago and New York to boost the enforcement power of local ICE officers, according to two officials who are familiar with the secret operation. Additional agents are expected to be sent to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, New Orleans, Detroit and Newark, N.J.

The move reflects President Trump’s persistence in cracking down on sanctuary cities, localities that have refused to cooperate in handing over immigrants targeted for deportation to federal authorities. It comes soon after the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security announced a series of measures that will affect both American citizens and immigrants living in those places.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/14/us/Border-Patrol-ICE-Sanctuary-Cities.html