02b U.S. Politics – Progressive

Pentagon official denies report of Charlie Kirk military recruitment drive | Gun Violence News– www.aljazeera.com

pgnewser September 22, 2025 0

Pentagon official denies report of Charlie Kirk military recruitment drive | Gun Violence News– www.aljazeera.com
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An NBC news report said the military planned to invoke the activist’s memory to recruit a ‘generation of warriors’.

US network NBC first reported the news on Thursday, citing two officials familiar with the matter, but a Pentagon spokesperson quickly dispelled the report to Fox News.

NBC said the Pentagon was debating slogans such as “Charlie has awakened a generation of warriors” as part of its campaign drive, although Kirk himself was not a military veteran.

The military also hoped to work with Kirk’s political organisation, Turning Point USA, as part of its recruitment drive, the story said.

Turning Point was credited with helping US President Donald Trump win at the polls in 2024 through its work with young voters on high school and university campuses.

“This is not happening,” Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told Fox News later on Thursday.

Wilson blasted NBC for using anonymous sources to publish “false claims” that were “100 percent wrong”, according to the Fox News report.

The two unnamed Pentagon officials in the NBC report said the recruitment plan had been met with resistance from “some Pentagon leaders” who feared they would be seen as capitalising on Kirk’s murder.

Together For Palestine: ‘How can we live with ourselves and stand by and do nothing?’– www.glamourmagazine.co.uk

pgnewser September 19, 2025 0

Together For Palestine: ‘How can we live with ourselves and stand by and do nothing?’– www.glamourmagazine.co.uk
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It was exactly 11 years ago that I first joined a protest in support of Palestine. In 2014, tens of thousands of ordinary people took to the streets of London to protest the Gaza War – a 50-day conflict during which 2,251 Palestinians, including 1,462 civilians and 551 children, as well as 66 Israeli soldiers and five civilians, including one child, were killed (per the UN).

Where many might not remember the 2014 conflict, few can escape the current horror in Gaza. Since the Hamas attack on Israel, on October 7th 2023, the Israeli military response has killed nearly 65,000 Palestinians (per the Palestinian Ministry of Health), although real figures could be much higher. Many human rights organisations, charities and genocide scholars have described the situation as a genocide.

But while there were politicians such as Diane Abbott speaking out at that first rally I attended back in 2014, many celebrities stayed silent. Those who did show support, such as Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Selena Gomez and Rihanna, were lambasted or ordered to backtrack by industry peers. Speaking out against the injustices in Palestine has always come at a price, but finally, more and more artists are stepping away from silence.

Are GMOs Safe? A Molecular Geneticist Speaks Out– www.truthdig.com

pgnewser September 19, 2025 0

Are GMOs Safe? A Molecular Geneticist Speaks Out– www.truthdig.com
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Are genetically engineered foods safe? In an interview with a leading molecular genetics expert, we discuss the scientific evidence behind health concerns tied to genetically modified corn and pesticides, how genetically modified organisms are changing in ways that increase health risks and how regulatory systems have failed to keep pace with modern genetics.

Professor Michael Antoniou, head of the Gene Expression and Therapy Group at King’s College London, has studied for more than 35 years how genes function and how they are disrupted. His decades of rigorous independent research into the risks of GM foods and glyphosate-based herbicides have raised serious concerns about the safety of these technologies.

In a report he prepared for the Mexican government, as the country attempted to restrict GMO corn imports for health reasons, Antoniou cited “a large body of evidence from well-controlled laboratory animal toxicity studies that show evidence of harm to multiple physiological systems” from toxic agents found in GM corn.

GOP’s new Jan. 6 panel sends letters to DOJ, University of Virginia and others– www.politico.com

pgnewser September 19, 2025 0

GOP’s new Jan. 6 panel sends letters to DOJ, University of Virginia and others– www.politico.com
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The new GOP-led committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack is asking Attorney General Pam Bondi, the University of Virginia and other businesses for information from the previous Democratic-led panel that investigated the Capitol attack.

The Republican leaders claim the information they’re pursuing was never disclosed by the previous panel.

“This is an important first step in unraveling the predetermined narrative the former January 6th Select Committee crafted to hurt President Donald J. Trump,” Chair Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) said in a statement. “Why else would their committee delete or fail to properly archive more than a terabyte of data?”

Many materials in the previous panel’s possession ultimately became public. But some were never released, including footage of witness interviews.

Loudermilk and other Republicans have maintained that the previous panel’s probe was politically motivated. In creating the new GOP investigation, Loudermilk intends to rewrite the record of the Capitol attack.

Post-Kimmel, Dems could change the cancel culture narrative– www.politico.com

pgnewser September 19, 2025 0

Post-Kimmel, Dems could change the cancel culture narrative– www.politico.com
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Democrats opened investigations, filed motions to subpoena and demanded the resignation of the Federal Communications Commission chair Thursday — a response to the suspension of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel that represented unusually swift pushback from a party struggling to find its footing.

But it’s not clear how Democrats will translate this relatively united front into an electoral strategy, as the party remains divided over how and how much to talk about threats to democracy ahead of next year’s pivotal midterm elections.

That tension began playing out in their descriptions of Kimmel’s suspension, as some Democrats urged their party to retool its messaging.

At a press conference on Capitol Hill to announce legislation to protect free speech, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) attacked President Donald Trump for “trying to destroy our democracy” and acting like “many would-be despots.” Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) cautioned “fascism is not on the way, it is here.” But Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who is running for the U.S. Senate in a high-profile primary, warned that language may be “too abstract for people” and urged Democrats to “distill it down to something people get in their everyday life.”

“This is what we saw in 2024: When you talk about ‘fascism’ and ‘democracy’ and ‘oligarchy,’ it’s too big a concept,” McMorrow said. “People are so overwhelmed and when it’s too big, people just wonder, ‘well, what can I possibly do about it?’”

New Yorkers have been betrayed': can Zohran Mamdani become the ...

Mayor to Mayor: A Conversation Between Bernie Sanders and Zohran Mamdani– www.thenation.com

pgnewser September 18, 2025 0

New Yorkers have been betrayed': can Zohran Mamdani become the ...

Mayor to Mayor: A Conversation Between Bernie Sanders and Zohran Mamdani– www.thenation.com
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Excerpt:

US Senator Bernie Sanders started his career in electoral office in 1981, as the democratic socialist mayor of Burlington, Vermont. His surprise election victory attracted national attention and considerable skepticism among political insiders during what was the first year of Republican Ronald Reagan’s presidency. But Sanders proved to be a highly successful municipal leader, winning three reelection bids before his eventual election to the US House.

Now, 44 years after Sanders won his first mayoral term, Zohran Mamdani seeks to become the democratic socialist mayor of New York City. As the Democratic nominee in an overwhelmingly Democratic town, Mamdani leads in the polls and was just endorsed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

Sanders endorsed Mamdani before New York City’s June Democratic primary and has been an enthusiastic supporter ever since. When the senator from Vermont came to New York in early September to campaign with Mamdani, they had a few spare minutes to talk. A conversation about municipal politics and governance ensued, as the 33-year-old mayoral candidate quizzed the 84-year-old former mayor about campaigning in very different cities in very different times—and about the challenges, and the possibilities, that go with leading an American city in an era when the White House is anything but friendly. Mamdani and Sanders shared their conversation with The Nation, and we present it here.

Democrats unveil funding alternative to counter GOP in shutdown brawl– www.politico.com

pgnewser September 18, 2025 0

Democrats unveil funding alternative to counter GOP in shutdown brawl– www.politico.com
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Congressional Democrats released bill text Wednesday night for their own stopgap spending proposal as they dig in against a House Republican-backed measure that would fund the government until late November.

The new Democratic proposal links funding the government through Oct. 31 to two of the party’s other priorities: health care assistance and placing limits on President Donald Trump’s ability to unilaterally roll back funds previously approved by Congress.

The Democratic stopgap bill has virtually no chance of passing the Senate — much less getting to Trump’s desk before the end-of-the-month deadline to avert a shutdown. But it allows Democrats to rally behind a plan that will win a broad swath of support among their members in the House and Senate.

“We invite Republican leadership to finally join Democratic leadership at the negotiating table, which they have refused for weeks to do, to prevent a shutdown and begin bipartisan negotiations to keep the government funded,” Congress’ top Democratic appropriators, Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro and Washington Sen. Patty Murray, said in a joint statement.

The Democrats’ bill would extend boosted Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies that will otherwise expire on Dec. 31. It also would reverse cuts to Medicaid and other health programs that Republicans enacted as part of their party-line megabill this summer.

ABC Disgracefully Caves To Trump And Suspends Jimmy Kimmel– www.politicususa.com

pgnewser September 18, 2025 0

ABC Disgracefully Caves To Trump And Suspends Jimmy Kimmel– www.politicususa.com
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Excerpt:

First, Stephen Colbert, and now Jimmy Kimmel. There is a clear pattern at work here.

ABC has announced that late-night host Jimmy Kimmel has been suspended, and his show has been taken off the air indefinitely, all because Kimmel made a remark during his program on Monday.

Kimmel said, “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

FCC Chair Brendon Carr went on a right-wing podcast and threatened ABC by saying:

This appears to be an action by Jimmy Kimmel to play into the narrative that this was somehow a MAGA or Republican-motivated person. What people don’t understand is that the broadcasters … have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest. When we see stuff like this, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.

ABC affiliates announced that they would be replacing Kimmel’s show after the Carr threat, and the network responded by announcing that Kimmel was indefinitely suspended.”

Trump UK Visit: Anti-Trump Protesters Flood London Streets– crooksandliars.com

pgnewser September 18, 2025 0

Trump UK Visit: Anti-Trump Protesters Flood London Streets– crooksandliars.com
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Thousands of protesters flooded the London streets today protesting Donald Trump’s visit to the UK.

The protests followed after the Brits welcomed Trump with Epstein photos projected onto Windsor Castle.

CBC reported:

“Protesters filled London streets, calling Trump a fascist and a racist.”

UK Anti-Trump Protests

The new photos and video of the British protesting Trump are something else, considering the UK is America’s strongest ally.

COVID-19 is still a threat, but getting a vaccine is harder for many people– www.sciencenews.org

pgnewser September 17, 2025 0

COVID-19 is still a threat, but getting a vaccine is harder for many people– www.sciencenews.org

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Traveling across state lines in search of an available shot. Scrambling to get a doctor’s prescription. Showing up for a pharmacy vaccination appointment only to be denied. Those are some of the stories people have been describing to journalists and on social media as they share whether or not they could get the latest COVID-19 vaccine, updated to better match coronavirus strains in circulation.

This reality contradicts Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.’s testimony in a Sept. 4 congressional hearing that everybody can get the vaccine. In May, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration placed restrictions on who is eligible for the COVID-19 shot. Previously, the Moderna and Pfizer formulations were available for anyone 6 months and older, with Novavax OK’d for those 12 and up. Now, the FDA has stated, those 6 months to 64 years old can receive the vaccine only if they have a medical condition that increases the risk of severe COVID-19 disease.

House passes two bills overhauling DC sentencing policies– thehill.com

pgnewser September 17, 2025 0

House passes two bills overhauling DC sentencing policies– thehill.com
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Excerpt:

 

The House passed two bills on Tuesday to assert congressional control over the District of Columbia’s sentencing policies, the first portion of a slate of legislation coming to a vote this week aimed at overhauling Washington, D.C.’s criminal justice system.

The first bill is the D.C. Criminal Reforms to Immediately Make Everyone Safe Act, or DC CRIMES Act, which would prohibit the District’s local officials from changing sentencing laws and restrict the ability of local judges to be more lenient with younger criminals.

And the second bill, H.R. 5140, lowers the age for which youth offenders can be tried as an adult for certain criminal offenses, changing the threshold to 14 years of age.

The DC CRIMES Act passed 240-179, while H.R. 5140 passed 225-203.

Republicans are set to vote on several other bills relating to D.C. crime later this week as they carry on Trump’s crusade against crime in the nation’s capital after his 30-day takeover of the city’s police force expired.

The DC CRIMES Act amends the D.C. Home Rule Act to prohibit the council from enacting any changes to sentencing laws, as well as changing a provision that allows for lighter sentences for some convicts younger than 25 — lowering the threshold to 18.

Schumer And Jeffries Flat Out Reject Mike Johnson’s Partisan CR– www.politicususa.com

pgnewser September 17, 2025 0

Schumer And Jeffries Flat Out Reject Mike Johnson’s Partisan CR– www.politicususa.com
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Excerpt:

House Republicans offered up a seven-week CR that would keep the government open until November 21 and contains some funding for additional security for lawmakers, but did nothing to restore Obamacare subsidies or replace planned Medicaid cuts.

Johnson is planning a vote in the House on Friday on his CR.

The lack of anything in the CR to address healthcare meant that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer outright rejected it.

Schumer and Jeffries said in a joint statement:

The House Republican-only spending bill fails to meet the needs of the American people and does nothing to stop the looming healthcare crisis. At a time when families are already being squeezed by higher costs, Republicans refuse to stop Americans from facing double-digit hikes in their health insurance premiums.

By refusing to work with Democrats, Republicans are steering our country straight toward a shutdown. President Trump called the play last week when he told Congressional Republicans to jam a partisan spending bill down the throats of the American people without Democratic support.

Instead of governing, Republicans are once again taking orders from Donald Trump, hurting the American people and recklessly marching our nation to the brink of a shutdown.

Sen. John Fetterman Calls Out Democrat Party Over Violent Rhetoric– wltreport.com

pgnewser September 17, 2025 0

Sen. John Fetterman Calls Out Democrat Party Over Violent Rhetoric– wltreport.com
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Excerpt:

Democrat Sen. John Fetterman is calling out his own party for spewing out hateful propaganda that incites violence.

During an appearance with Fox News‘s Bret Baier and Republican Sen. Dave McCormick, Fetterman took aim at the radical left’s dangerous rhetoric.

“Do not ever, ever, ever compare anyone to Hitler,” Fetterman warned.

He went on, “If you do, then you will incite somebody to say, well, now I feel like I have to stop, to stop that and take them out.”

Watch:

Transcript from RealClearPolitics:

BRET BAIER: Well tonight, in our Common Ground segment, a conversation on bringing the nation together, or trying to, to restore civility in politics. Joining me, Pennsylvania Senators Dave McCormick and John Fetterman. Pennsylvania, by the way, is one of only three states with a Democrat and Republican split in the U.S. Senate. Senators, thanks for being here. You all called me. Usually we reach out. You wanted to do this together. Why?

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): Well, I mean, we thought it was just a great idea. I think it’s an important idea right now. I mean, the trauma after the Charlie Kirk assassination, and now, as things continue now, it’s like, I feel like it’s important that people can witness, you know, a Democrat and a Republican having a conversation after this. It’s absolutely horrific, and it’s entirely necessary to allow people to grieve for that. I mean, everyone’s seen the video.

SEN. DAVE MCCORMICK (R-PA): Yeah, it’s just the, the heartbreak, you feel for Charlie Kirk’s family, Eric and their children, and all the students across the country, the people across the country that were huge followers. And I think the Senator and I agreed that, and we, we do agree that there, there’s just no place in this country, for political violence. It, it’s absolutely something, it runs counter to the very idea of free, free speech and freedom, and that when you see, dangerous rhetoric, like fascist and Nazism and authoritarianism, that’s a, and, and the end of democracy, that’s a, that’s a permission. That takes us down a path where the inevitable next step is, is violence, and, and that’s what we see.

BRET BAIER: And Senator Fetterman, you’ve talked about that recently, calling somebody Hitler, calling somebody Nazis.

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): Exactly, this idea, it’s like, do not ever, ever, ever compare anyone to Hitler. If not, go online and you can read up on exactly what he’s responsible for, you know, 75 to 80 million lives lost in World War II, and you don’t compare him to anyone. And if you do, then you will incite somebody to say, well, now I feel like I have to stop, to stop that and take them out.

Fox News Hosts: Universities Turn Students Against Christians– crooksandliars.com

pgnewser September 17, 2025 0

Fox News Hosts: Universities Turn Students Against Christians– crooksandliars.com
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Excerpt:

Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy spread false information about Charlie Kirk’s shooter and then blamed college education for making students hate Christians and conservatives.

Rachel Campos-Duffy is one of the most prolific spreader of lies and hyperbolic conspiracies on Fox News. Her husband has been taking a page out of her book as Demented Donald’s Transportation Secretary.

I want to point something else out. You heard the family members say that this man became more political, this young man became more political in recent years.

What did he do in recent years?

He went to college. That’s where kids are getting radicalized, it’s not just online. Our campuses are where a lot of radicalization, hate and intolerance starts from.

And so when he says it’s an attack on all of us, I’m going to say this, no, it’s an attack on conservatives.

It’s an attack on Christians.

Man in custody after allegedly damaging Charlie Kirk memorial at Turning Point USA headquarters in Phoenix– boingboing.net

pgnewser September 17, 2025 0

Man in custody after allegedly damaging Charlie Kirk memorial at Turning Point USA headquarters in Phoenix– boingboing.net
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Excerpt:

I recently ventured to the Charlie Kirk memorial at the Turning Point USA headquarters in Phoenix Arizona. I was there on Sunday afternoon, so I missed the arrest that happened earlier in the day. While I was there I did see some presence of officers and cars from the Phoenix Police Department, but hadn’t yet heard about the events that happened earlier Sunday morning. — Read the rest

Both the Left and the Right are Targeted by Political Violence. Who Perpetrates It? – Mother Jones– www.motherjones.com

pgnewser September 17, 2025 0

Both the Left and the Right are Targeted by Political Violence. Who Perpetrates It? – Mother Jones– www.motherjones.com
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Excerpt:

Conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s gruesome killing last week was both a striking visual of our nation’s intensifying polarization and, by some counts, a catalyst for it to intensify more. Even before a suspect had been identified, there was a knee-jerk reaction among some Republicans to blame the Democratic Party for his death. Some even called for retribution.

Importantly, we do not yet—and may never—know the motive, or constellation of motivations, that drove Kirk’s alleged shooter, who has been identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson. But we do know that targets of political violence exist across the political spectrum.

Consider some of the recent events of political violence:

  • Just three months ago, Democratic Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were assassinated in their home. Another member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and his wife were also repeatedly shot and wounded; the suspect apprehended for these crimes had a list of dozens of potential targets, including other Democrats and abortion rights advocates.
  • In August, a law enforcement officer died amid a shooting that was directed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the shooter had blamed his depression on the Covid vaccine.
  • In May, two staffers of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC, were fatally shot; the suspect in that case previously expressed strong opposition to Israel’s aggression in Palestine.
  • In April, the residence of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro was set on fire in what prosecutors are calling an attempted murder. The fire took place a few hours after Shapiro, a Jewish Democrat, celebrated Passover.