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White House Shares Doctored Acosta Video

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Suspension of Reporter Justified by ‘Lie,’ CNN Says

Fox Rebukes Hannity, Pirro for Rally Appearance

News Outlets Collaborate to Report Issues at Polls

Getting Rid of Bad District Attorneys

. . . Nonwhite Turnout Highest of Any Midterm

Fla. Approves Restoring Felons’ Voting Rights

Voters Want More Rights, Not More Suppression

Brazile Wants Pelosi to Address Voting

Wisconsin Vote Shows Value of Courts as Check

. . . And Also

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Suspension of Reporter Justified by ‘Lie,’ CNN Says

“The White House suspended the press credentials of CNN reporter Jim Acosta on Wednesday, hours after President Trump took issue with questions Acosta asked at a news conference,” Amy B Wang and Paul Farhi reported Wednesday for the Washington Post.

In an update on Thursday, Post reporter Drew Harwell added, “White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on Wednesday night shared a video of CNN reporter Jim Acosta that appeared to have been altered to make his actions at a news conference look more aggressive toward a White House intern.

“The edited video looks authentic: Acosta appeared to swiftly chop down on the arm of an aide as he held onto a microphone while questioning President Trump. But in the original video, Acosta’s arm appears to move only as a response to a tussle for the microphone. His statement, ‘Pardon me, ma’am,’ is not included in the video Sanders shared.

“Critics said that video — which sped up the movement of Acosta’s arms in a way that dramatically changed the journalist’s response — was deceptively edited to score political points. . .  That edited video was first shared by Paul Joseph Watson, known for his conspiracy-theory videos on the far-right website Infowars. . . .”

The White House Correspondents’ Association, the Reporters Committee on Freedom of the Press and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, among other journalists, defended Acosta after Wang and Farhi noted Wednesday, “The move to punish Acosta by removing his access to the White House is believed to be unprecedented. The Trump administration barred another CNN reporter from attending an open media event in July but until now has not gone as far as removing a credential, known as a ‘hard pass,’ which enables a journalist to enter the White House grounds.

“Press secretary Sarah Sanders cited Acosta’s brief physical confrontation with a White House press aide during Trump’s news conference as the reason for suspending his press pass ‘until further notice.’

“During the 90-minute session at the White House, Trump snapped at Acosta after the reporter asked whether the president had ‘demonized immigrants’ by calling a caravan of Central American migrants ‘an invasion.’ After a lengthy and tense back-and-forth, a female White House intern tried to take the microphone from Acosta.

“Acosta held onto it and raised an arm to shield it, in the process making contact with the aide. ‘Pardon me, ma’am,’ he told the woman.

“After their exchange at the news conference, Trump told Acosta: ‘CNN should be ashamed of itself having you working for them. You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn’t be working for CNN. You’re a very rude person. The way you treat Sarah Huckabee is horrible. And the way you treat other people are horrible. You shouldn’t treat people that way.’

“On Wednesday night, Sanders accused Acosta of ‘placing his hands on a young woman’ and said it was on those grounds that Acosta’s press pass was being suspended. . . .”

The story also said, “In a statement Wednesday night, CNN accused the White House of retaliating against Acosta because of his questions.

Yamiche Alcindor

“ ‘In an explanation, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders lied,’ the network stated. ‘She provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened. This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better. Jim Acosta has our full support.’

“The network also tweeted a video of the interaction ‘for the world to see.’ . . . ”

Ted Johnson added for Variety, “Trump’s press conference, coming after Tuesday’s midterm results in which Democrats won back control of the House, was particularly confrontational with the news media.

“Trump also sparred with Yamiche Alcindor, a reporter for PBS Newshour, after she asked a question about Trump’s characterization of himself as a nationalist and how that relates to white nationalism. ‘That’s such a racist question,’ Trump scolded her. . . .”

Jeremy Barr wrote in the Hollywood Reporter, “Trump also lashed out at another frequent White House foe, reporter April Ryan, preventing her from asking a question. . . .”

Fox Rebukes Hannity, Pirro for Rally Appearance

“Fox News issued a rebuke of on-air hosts Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro for appearing onstage Monday night at President Trump’s Missouri rally in support of Republican candidates,” Stephen Battaglio reported Tuesday for the Los Angeles Times.

“ ‘Fox News does not condone any talent participating in campaign events,’ a spokesperson said in a statement. ‘We have an extraordinary team of journalists helming our coverage tonight and we are extremely proud of their work. This was an unfortunate distraction and has been addressed.’

“The network did not reveal whether Hannity or Pirro faced any disciplinary action for taking the stage at the event in Cape Girardeau the night before the midterm election, a major breach of standards for a news organization.

“Hannity issued a statement claiming he did not know Trump would call him onstage. He said in a tweet Monday that he was at the rally only to interview the president for his program. . . . However, the explanation is at odds with a news release issued by the Trump campaign Sunday that promoted the appearances of Hannity and conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh. . . .”

Rolanda Anthony, pictured with the Rev. E.A. Deckard, reported that an alternate election judge made racist remarks and assaulted her as she tried to vote Tuesday at Iglesia Bautista Libre in north Houston. (Credit: Gabrielle Banks/Houston Chronicle)

News Outlets Collaborate to Report Issues at Polls

“An Election Day poll worker was relieved of her duties and charged with misdemeanor criminal assault after she allegedly bumped into a black voter and made a remark about ‘blackface’ following some confusion over the woman’s voter registration,“ Gabrielle Banks reported on Tuesday, Election Day, for the Houston Chronicle.

“One poll worker walked off the job at the Iglesia Bautista Libre polling location in north Houston after the incident, and another was left in tears as she gave a statement to a Harris County sheriff’s deputy about the altercation.

“A team from the Harris County Attorney’s office arrived at the polling site and has launched an investigation. The voter, Rolanda Anthony, said she believed the incident was a flagrant attempt to suppress her vote.

” ‘I feel like my vote today is more important than ever,’ Anthony said. . . .”

At the end of the story was this tagline: “The Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News participated in Electionland, a ProPublica project [that] is covering access to the ballot and problems that prevent people from exercising their right to vote during the 2018 election. This story is part of that project.”

Posted on ProPublica’s “Electionland” site were stories Tuesday from the Tampa Bay Times, HuffPost, Quartz, Snellville (Ga.) Patch, WMAQ-TV Chicago; the  Plain Dealer in Cleveland, al.com, the Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald and others.

ProPublica explained in May, “In the run-up to the 2016 election, ProPublica organized a project called Electionland to cover voting, nationally and in real time. Along with a coalition of news organizations and tech companies, we brought together more than 1,100 journalists around the country to cover impediments like restrictive voting laws, allegations of voter fraud, voter harassment, equipment failures and long lines — all of which can effectively disenfranchise eligible voters and erode the integrity of the vote.

“Today we’re announcing that we’re relaunching Electionland to cover the 2018 midterm elections.  . . . Thanks to our coverage in 2016, New York restored access to its elections hotline during early voting, a Texas poll worker misinterpreting the state’s voter ID law was set straight, and two women denied the ability to vote were able to cast their ballots. . . .”

Getting Rid of Bad District Attorneys

The NAACP’s Derrick Johnson (Credit: Sharon Farmer/ sfphotoworks)

In April, Derrick Johnson, then newly named president and CEO of the NAACP, told Washington journalists that while reporters and politicians may be focusing on whether the Democrats can “take back the House” of Representatives, state and local elections should be more of a priority for African Americans.

Johnson told the Journal-isms Roundtable that the NAACP wants compulsory voting, abolition of voter registration and an end to voting restrictions at the local level.

The key to achieving greater political power for African Americans, he said, is increased voter participation and resistance to efforts to dilute the black vote.

“It’s less about Congress than state and local,” Johnson said. “Eighty-eight state legislative bodies are on the ballot.” It is locally where voters have an opportunity to get rid of bad district attorneys and to influence spending on health and education, he said.

If those are the criteria, then African Americans made gains Tuesday. Most are Democrats, and Democrats “pulled out big victories across state legislatures, flipping six chambers, turning others purple, and shoring up its supermajorities in still more,” Emma Green reported Wednesday for the Atlantic.

Nathalie Baptiste wrote Wednesday for Mother Jones, “district attorneys who want to try new, progressive methods that can offer rehabilitation instead of punishment are winning races. On the state-level, a number of reformers have won some competitive races for district attorney, and they will be joining reformers like Larry Krasner in Philadelphia and Kimberly Foxx in Chicago, in bringing progressive policies to their districts. . . .”

The Marshall Project, devoted to criminal justice issues, concurred, citing these specifics Wednesday in its daily news summary: “In Suffolk County, Massachusetts (home to Boston), Democrat Rachael Rollins, running on a platform that included a vow to not prosecute low-level nonviolent crimes like shoplifting, was elected in an 80-20 sweep. BOSTON MAGAZINE

“In Dallas County, a challenger vowing to treat drug crimes ‘more as a public health problem rather than a criminal justice problem’ also won handily against the GOP-appointed incumbent DALLAS NEWS

“Elsewhere in Texas, in Bexar County, a defense attorney who advocated bail reform will be the new District Attorney. SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

“The sweep was not universal. In Hennepin County (home to Minneapolis), in a race marked by anger over police shootings and racial inequality, a reform-minded DA candidate was behind with the first round of ballots counted — although an upstart candidate for Sheriff there, who promised to cut ties with federal immigration officials, is leading. MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNE. . . .”

. . . Nonwhite Turnout Highest of Any Midterm

“Preliminary exit poll results can change, but in these early results nonwhites account for 29 percent of voters nationally; as noted, the highest in any midterm was 25 percent in 2014, (scroll down)” Gary Langer and Benjamin Siu reported Wednesday for ABC News.

“That nonwhite total includes 12 percent blacks and 12 percent Hispanics. The previous highs in midterm elections were 13 percent for blacks, in 2014; and 8 percent for Hispanics, in 2006, 2012 and 2014 alike.

“With black candidates in several high-profile races, voters nationally by 71-24 percent say it’s important to elect more racial and ethnic minorities to public office; 44 percent say it’s very important. It’s very important to 61 percent of nonwhites, compared with 38 percent of whites.

“There’s also a sharp division — as much political as racial and ethnic — in whether voters think whites are favored over minorities, minorities are favored over whites, or no group is favored. Among Democrats, 71 percent think whites are favored over minorities. Among Republicans, just 10 percent agree. . . .”

 

 

(Credit: Miami Herald)

Fla. Approves Restoring Felons’ Voting Rights

“About 1.2 million convicted felons in Florida will automatically have their right to vote restored, thanks to a ballot measure that received about 65 percent of the vote Tuesday.

“At least 60 percent of voters had to approve it for Amendment 4 to become law.

“For the past seven years, felons have had to wait five years after completing their sentence to even apply to have their voting rights restored.

“[O]nly two other states ban felons from the polls for life. . . .”

The Sentencing Project reported in October, “More than 6 million citizens will be ineligible to vote in the midterm elections in November 2018 because of a felony conviction. Nearly 4.7 million of them are not incarcerated but live in one of 34 states that prohibit voting by people on probation, parole, or who have completed their sentence. Racial disparities in the criminal justice system also translate into higher rates of disenfranchisement in communities of color, resulting in one of every thirteen African American adults being ineligible to vote. . . .”

Such laws were founded in racism.

Dale E. Ho, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project, wrote in 2016 for the New York Times, “Virginia’s 1870 Constitution, passed during  Reconstruction, banned voting by all felons. Then, delegates to Virginia’s 1902 constitutional convention adopted expanded voting restrictions, adding requirements for poll taxes and a literacy test.

“They were not shy about their intentions. Virginia’s new constitution would ‘eliminate the darkey as a political factor,’ explained Carter Glass, a convention delegate and, later as a United States senator, an author of the Glass-Steagall banking law. Their goal was to ensure ‘complete supremacy of the white race in the affairs of government.’ ”

Separately, “Louisiana voted Tuesday (Nov. 6) to require unanimous juries for all felony convictions involving crimes that take place after 2018. The voters approved a state constitutional amendment ending a Jim-Crow era law that has dominated the state’s legal system,” Julia O’Donoghue and Heather Nolan reported Tuesday, updated Wednesday, for NOLA.com | the Times-Picayune.

Voters Want More Rights, Not More Suppression

“In a huge victory for voting rights, voters in a half dozen states approved ballot initiatives on Tuesday that will restore the franchise to ex-felons, make it easier to register to vote, and curb partisan gerrymandering,” Ari Berman wrote Wednesday for Mother Jones. “Despite aggressive voter suppression efforts across the country, these initiatives passed easily in both red and blue states, indicating broad support across partisan and ideological lines for expanding voting rights.

“Florida passed a historic ballot initiative that will restore voting rights to up to 1.4 million ex-felons. Voters in Michigan dramatically modernized their election system by approving Election Day registration, automatic registration, no-excuse absentee ballots, and straight-ticket voting. Nevada passed automatic registration, and Maryland adopted Election Day registration. These measures will make it easier for tens of thousands of people to register in these states.

“In addition, Michigan, Colorado, and Missouri approved initiatives to rein in gerrymandering by drawing political districts in a non-partisan way. All of these initiatives received at least 60 percent of the vote, reflecting broad support for a pro-voting rights agenda. (A seventh initiative, to create an independent redistricting commission in Utah, was narrowly ahead with 50 percent of the vote as of Wednesday morning, but it remains too close to call until all the mail-in ballots are counted.)

“ ‘It’s a reaffirmation that voting rights are popular,’ says Faiz Shakir, political director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which put a combined $10 million behind initiatives in Florida, Michigan, Nevada, and Utah. “They obtain support across ideological grounds, which in these tribal times is an astounding feat. People understand that we can and should play on offense. For years, we’ve been playing on defense when it comes to voter ID and other issues.”

“For years, Republicans like Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who lost his bid for governor on Tuesday, have spread false claims of widespread voter fraud, leading 24 states to adopt new restrictions on voting since 2010. . . .”

Brazile Wants Pelosi to Address Voting

Citing long lines at polling places and continued voting roadblocks, Donna Brazile, the veteran Democratic Party strategist, commentator and former Democratic National Committee chair, says she wants to talk with Nancy Pelosi about a “21st Century Voting Rights Act.”

Julianne Malveaux, left, and Donna Brazile (Credit: Pearl Stewart)

With the Democrats taking control of the House of Representatives, Pelosi, D-Calif., is the presumed once and future speaker of the House. Brazile appeared in a Washington restaurant Wednesday night with three other co-authors of their new “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics” — Yolanda Caraway, Leah Doughtry and Minyon Moore — in a forum moderated by economist and columnist Julianne Malveaux.

It was one of the first of several sessions planned around the capital to assess the midterm election results.

Since 2013, when the Supreme Court nullified sections of the Voting Rights Act that provided for oversight of changes in voting laws in designated states, those states have been allowed to close polling places and implement other voting restrictions without federal challenge.

“We don’t have the Justice Department,” Brazile said. “For those of us in the struggle, that’s why I can’t retire. As this country gets blacker and browner, we are going to get more hurdles.”

Brazile was adamant in declaring that Stacey Abrams was correct not to concede the Georgia’s governor’s race with so many votes left uncounted, although Secretary of State Brian Kemp declared victory. Abrams would become the nation’s first black female governor.

“The good news is that she had lawyers,” Brazile said.

Wisconsin Governor-elect Tony Evers, left, speaks with Lt. Gov.-elect Mandela Barnes at their watch party in Madison while they are still candidates. (Credit: Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Wisconsin Vote Shows Value of Courts as Check

In 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton lost to Republican Donald Trump in Wisconsin by fewer than 23,000 votes. A study by University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist Ken Mayer concluded that 16,800 to 23,250 voters in two counties — the Democratic strongholds of Wisconsin — did not vote because of the state’s voter ID law, one of the strictest in the nation.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who pushed for the law, was defeated on Tuesday.

David D. Haynes, editorial page editor of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, told Journal-isms Wednesday that the courts’ loosening of voter restrictions had much to do with Walker’s loss.

“Wisconsin does have strict Voter ID, and GOP in recent years reduced polling hours, early voting, etc.,” Haynes messaged.

“But the most significant limits on early voting were overturned by a federal court. The view of our political reporters is that Wisconsin would not have hit the turnout record this year without the court order loosening the rules. That order lengthened the period of early voting and said cities could hold early voting at multiple locations (they had been limited to one location – the clerk’s office). Turnout in the urban areas was incredible yesterday. In Madison, for example, Walker lost by more than 150K votes — compared with 102K in 2012, the last time he ran.

“In the end, overwhelming turnout in the state’s urban areas, likely spurred by a court order that loosened voting rules, played a role in Governor Walker’s loss.”

. . . And Also

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