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Common Sense, Current Affairs, Liberal Logic, Man-made Climate Change Isn't Real 03.02.2020 No Comments
Protesting students get a personal lesson about fossil fuels.
St John’s College, Oxford PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES When most people think of Oxford, what comes to mind are images of bright minds debating quantum physics or the existence of God. But even the brainiest sometimes need a lesson in common sense.
That’s exactly what the bursar at St. John’s College—the most richly endowed college at Oxford—delivered when he responded to students occupying his 15th-century quadrangle and refusing to leave until the college divested its oil-company shares. The students want the college to sell the more than $10 million of its endowment now invested in Shell and BP, and they want it now.
The Times of London reports that bursar Andrew Parker made them a counteroffer. “I am not able to arrange any divestment at short notice,” he wrote. “But I can arrange for the gas central heating in college to be switched off with immediate effect. Please let me know if you support this proposal.”
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I was proud to serve for over six years as Attorney General under President Barack Obama, when we fought to protect voting rights, expand marriage rights for same-sex couples, protect the environment, and make our criminal justice system more just. We can return to the path of that kind of progress, but the next president can’t do it alone. We also need to flip the Senate, secure our House majority, and win back state legislatures across the country.
Doing so depends on whether we can come together to give Democrats up and down the ballot the resources they’ll need to win from Colorado all of the way to Washington, D.C.
We know one thing for sure: Donald Trump cannot be trusted with another four years in office. Any one of our Democratic candidates would put our country on a better path, and it’s important that we as a party do everything we can to lift our future nominee to victory once that person receives our party’s nomination in July.
The DNC is putting grassroots organizers in key battleground states, building tech and data systems to mobilize voters, and running a 24/7 voter protection hotline — all things that are critical to winning down-ballot races and the presidency this year. We may not know who our candidate will be yet, but we know that she or he — as well as all Democrats down-ballot — will depend on the infrastructure the DNC is building right now.
Sincerely,
Eric
Eric H. Holder, Jr.
82nd Attorney General of the United States
Chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee -
Mr. Lemon then invited comment from two CNN regulars named Rick Wilson and Wajahat Ali. Much laughter ensued on the set as the CNN pundits took turns pretending to be Trump voters. Here’s an excerpt from the transcript:
WILSON: [Mr. Pompeo] also knows deep in his heart that Donald Trump couldn’t find Ukraine on a map if you had the letter U and a picture of an actual physical crane next to it. He knows that this is, you know, an administration defined by ignorance of the world, and so that’s partly him playing to their base and playing to their audience, you know, credulous boomer rube demo that back Donald Trump, that wants to think that Donald Trump’s a smart one, and y’all — y’all elitists are dumb.
ALI: You elitists with your geography and your maps and your spelling even though —
WILSON: Your math, your reading.
ALI: Yes, your reading, you know. Your geography knowing other countries. Sipping your latte.
WILSON: All those lines on the map.
ALI: Only them elitists know where Ukraine is. Sorry. I apologize.
LEMON: Oh my God.
ALI: But you know what — it was Rick’s fault. I blame Rick.
LEMON: Oh my God.
ALI: But in all honesty —
WILSON: Blame Rick, why not.
ALI: — you know what NPR should do.
LEMON: Sorry, hold on. Wait, wait. Give me a second. Hold on. Hold on. That was good. Sorry. Rick, that was a good one. I needed that. OK, so listen let’s go back to business here.
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If she’s going to forgive student debt, this voter wants a tuition refund.
Presidential campaigns always try to stay on script, but the handshake game in early states still offers interesting spontaneity. Case in point: After an Elizabeth Warren event this week in Grimes, Iowa, a voter challenged her plan to forgive student debt.
It’s all captured on tape. As C-Span’s camera rolls, a man approaches Ms. Warren and says hello: “I just wanted to ask one question. My daughter’s getting out of school. I’ve saved all my money. She doesn’t have any student loans.” Ms. Warren nods and says, “God bless you.”
Then the shoe drops.
“Am I going to get my money back?” the man asks.
Ms. Warren has proposed to cancel $640 billion in student loans, up to $50,000 a person. She says this would help 42 million Americans. But there’s no provision to reimburse the millions of others who worked hard, saved money, and put themselves or their children through college.
“Of course not,” Ms. Warren replies.
The man gets agitated. “So you’re going to pay for people who didn’t save any money,” he says, “and those of us who did the right thing get screwed.” He continues: “My buddy had fun, bought a car, went on vacations. I saved my money. He made more than I did, but I worked a double shift, worked extra. My daughter’s worked since she was 10.”
