Helen H. Moore's Blog, page 753
June 10, 2016
Lawyer: Suit settled in Chicago teen’s fatal police shooting
CHICAGO (AP) — The city of Chicago has settled a federal wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of an unarmed black teenager whose fatal shooting in 2013 by a white police officer was caught on video, the family’s lawyer announced Friday.
Attorney Brian Coffman said the two sides followed the advice of U.S. District Judge Brian Gettleman and resolved the issues involving the death of 17-year-old Cedrick Chatman. Coffman didn’t release details of the settlement because it must be approved by the Chicago City Council. However, he said Chatman’s mother is looking forward to finally getting “some closure and moving on.” The case was scheduled for trial later this month.
“This will be another expensive lesson for the city,” Coffman said. “If they don’t change how they do things, well, there’s a bigger societal issue that needs to be discussed.”
Chatman had been suspected in a carjacking.
Chicago Law Department spokesman Bill McCaffrey declined to comment.
The settlement is the latest the city of Chicago has entered in relation to police misconduct cases, resulting in the payout of more than $500 million in the last decade.
Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez chose not to file charges against officers Kevin Fry and Lou Toth after reviewing an investigation by the Independent Police Review Authority. Lorenzo Davis, a former investigator for IPRA who was assigned to the case, has said he was dismissed for refusing to clear the officers in the case. He contended Chatman’s fatal shooting was murder.
Like the video of the 2014 shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, city lawyers fought to keep video of Chatman’s shooting under wraps.
The video released in January was taken by several surveillance cameras and from various angles. It captured at least parts of the incident in a South Shore neighborhood during daylight hours.
A blue-light police camera shows Chatman bolt out of a car and across a street with Toth on his heels. Chatman scoots through parked cars and toward an intersection. Less than 10 seconds pass from the time Chatman jumped out of the car to the fatal shots.
Fry can be seen trailing behind Toth, aiming his gun at Chatman from a crosswalk and firing as the teen began rounding the corner in front of a bodega. One video from a camera that pans back and forth is grainy and it doesn’t show Chatman fall; another is clearer and shows Chatman fall, but it is taken from farther away and doesn’t show definitively if Chatman ever turned.
Toth was originally named in the lawsuit, which claimed he could have prevented Fry from shooting the teen. Gettleman removed Toth from the lawsuit, citing video showing the officer didn’t fire a shot and couldn’t have stopped his partner from firing the fatal shots.
Donald Trump is no fool: The dangerous demagogue knows exactly what he’s saying
Donald Trump (Credit: Reuters/Jim Bourg)
Donald Trump’s speaking style is said to be off the cuff and spontaneous. Far from it. He’s actually using a very sophisticated doublespeak.
One of the obligations of a candidate is to commit to policy solutions. You review a public problem, decide what you will do when in office, and report in detail how you will address the problem. You make yourself accountable for your position.
Instead of doing this, Trump practices what one might call “multiple-choice communication.” Whenever he speaks on a given topic, he gives multiple options on what he might mean.
For instance, at a recent rally in Fresno, Trump stated that, despite five years of low rainfall in California, “There is no drought. They turn the water into the ocean. If I win, believe me, we’re going to start opening up the water so that you can have your farmers survive.”
Now, this is a very confusing statement. What could he mean? Go ahead and choose your answer to this multiple-choice problem. Does Trump mean that:
1. There never was a drought (perhaps the drought was a myth?)
2.There was a drought, but it has ended naturally.
3.There was a drought, but somebody’s fixed it.
4. There is no drought, because what others call a drought is simply their inability to drain the Sacramento River Delta and use its water for farming.
5. There is drought, but as president of the United States, Trump will singlehandedly change California water policy. The fact that a huge engineering project, like draining the Sacramento River Delta, is theoretically possible, is the same as there never having been a drought in the first place.
Do you see how many options Trump gives us to believe? Which answer did you choose?
Now imagine some attendees at Trump’s rally. They get to choose their own answers, just like you. Some people simply feel reassured by Trump’s words there is no drought. Whew! What a relief.
Some are farmers who hear Trump say he will send them water. Thank you, Donald Trump!
Some are anti-government and are happy that climate change is a myth. No further government intervention needed. Amen!
Some are pro-government and welcome a huge engineering project. This would destabilize the ecology, the water table, real estate values, and would have countless other consequences. If you want this option, you want heavy government intervention.
These different listeners at the Trump rally are not in agreement on what needs to be done. However, because the speech is given in multiple-choice format, each hears a different promise. It may seem they’re cheering together, but they’re cheering for different results.
Back in the Republican primaries, Trump got massive media coverage by making extreme promises about immigration, trade and religious discrimination. This won him the loyalty of political extremists such as anti-foreigners and white supremacists. At this point in the campaign, Trump needs to expand his share of the American voter base by appealing to more moderate voters.
How does he appeal to moderates without losing his early extremist fans? Multiple-choice communication. This enables him to speak separately to the different listeners without changing his tune. He still speaks to the racists. But he now he’s also speaking to the moderates.
Here’s how it works.
At a rally in San Diego Trump spoke publicly about a judge presiding over a lawsuit against Trump University. After calling him a “very hostile judge” and a “hater,” Trump adds, “What happens is the judge, who happens to be, we believe, Mexican, which is great. I think that’s fine.”
In fact, the judge, Gonzalo Curiel, was born in Indiana.
So let’s do the multiple-choice. Which of these is Trump saying?
Anyone who gets in my way, I can single them out in a speech and focus the crowd’s hate on them.
I can single out any American at any time and bring public focus on their ethnic or religious heritage.
I can describe any American as foreign (as “Mexican”) rather than as an American.
My racist fans may follow my lead and also single out other Americans based on their ethnic, cultural or religious heritage.
Judge Curiel’s professional behavior may be based on his being Mexican.
Judge Curiel’s ethnic heritage is up to my approval, and I think it’s great that he is Mexican (even though he’s not Mexican).
Let’s imagine how this sounds to the different listeners.
Say one of the people in the audience is a man named Tim, who is a white supremacist. As he listens, he hears Trump say that this American-born judge is essentially a “Mexican.” Tim thinks, “I can’t believe Trump can say this out loud! A candidate after my own heart.”
Another listener, Maria, hears this: Anyone who gets in Trump’s way might suddenly be singled out and labeled as a non-American. Especially if you’re “Mexican.” You could lose your citizenship rights. Scary! Keep your head down.
A third listener, Steve, is a moderate independent who came because he was curious. When he hears Trump saying, “it’s great to be Mexican” he thinks “Gosh, I was worried Trump was a racist. But he says Mexicans are great. I guess he’s not racist.”
You see, if Trump communicated his proposed policies (build the wall, deport, ban Muslims) like a normal candidate, we would be seeing him as an extremist and as a cruel man. That would not be very fun and would not win more voters. It’s smarter for Trump to court moderates and undecided voters by confusing them with multiple-choice statements.
Multiple-choice communication is not unique to Donald Trump. You may also have seen it in advertisements, especially when the advertiser doesn’t intend to deliver on their promises. For instance, you may see shampoos that promise men “thicker hair.” Men buy it thinking they will solve their hair loss. Nope. The shampoos make your individual hairs thicker, but don’t stop hair from falling out. The shampoo maker knows customers will make this mistake, but it’s not false advertising. You simply heard the wrong option.
The problem, of course, is that people at a Trump rally each leave having heard a different promise. And if Trump should become president, there is no way he can fulfill all of those different expectations. Which reminds us that the people who would be most let down by a Trump presidency are the people who believe in what he says.
June 9, 2016
Obama’s daughter Malia set to graduate from high school
WASHINGTON (AP) — A milestone has arrived for President Barack Obama: Daughter Malia is graduating from high school.
The 17-year-old is receiving her diploma from the private Sidwell Friends School on Friday. Malia Obama was just 10 years old and longing for a promised puppy when her family moved into the White House. During seven years of growing up in the public eye, she has gotten and shed braces, learned to drive and even spent brief stints away from her family.
Presidents are parents, too, and it hasn’t been easy for Obama to watch as his daughter — “one of my best friends” — has grown up fast, and in front of the world.
“I’m not going to talk about the fact that my daughter leaving me is just breaking my heart,” he said last week.
Months ago, the president blamed his emotions for declining an invitation to deliver the commencement address at the elite school where Malia is among 127 members of the Class of 2016. Younger sister Sasha, who turned 15 on Friday, attends Sidwell, too.
What’s next? Malia is taking a year for herself before enrolling at Harvard in the fall of 2017.
Neither Obama nor his wife, Michelle, has said what Malia has on tap for her “gap year.” But delaying the start of college could keep her close to her tight-knit family as it prepares for another big transition next year: the end of Obama’s ground-breaking presidency. The Obamas plan to stick around Washington for several years after the president leaves office so Sasha can finish high school here.
Both parents often praise Malia and her sister for being normal, happy kids despite living lives that are anything but normal.
Start with calling the White House home. They were the youngest kids to do so since President John F. Kennedy’s children, Caroline and John Jr., and they were trailed in public by Secret Service agents. Obama has joked that it was comforting to know that when his girls were out and about they were being watched over by “men with guns.”
Malia has traveled to Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and the Caribbean with her parents, and taken a school trip to Mexico. She’s met celebrities and high-powered people, including two popes.
The first lady has said her daughter wants to be a filmmaker. Malia has had summer internships on the New York set of HBO’s “Girls” and in Los Angeles on a CBS sci-fi drama, since canceled, that starred Halle Berry. The experiences allowed her to sample life on her own, though not outside the reach of her Secret Service protectors.
Three months into her new White House life, Malia got the long-awaited puppy: Bo, a Portuguese water dog that was less likely than other breeds to aggravate her allergies. Obama had promised his kids a dog after the November 2008 election.
The young girl whose swing set still sits just outside the Oval Office is now taller than her 6-foot-1 dad, and turns heads whenever she’s spotted around town — including driving her car.
At school, Malia played soccer and tennis, the flute and piano. In a house with 132 rooms, she opted not to share one with her sister. Both girls get themselves up early every day to get ready for school, the first lady has said. They also make their own beds and handle their laundry.
Braces appeared when Malia was 12. Secret Service agents taught her how to drive.
Malia turns 18 on July 4, in time to cast her first vote for president — and for her father’s successor.
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Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com. Her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/author/darlene...
WHO says delaying pregnancy option for women in Zika areas
WASHINGTON (AP) — The World Health Organization says women who live in areas where Zika is spreading should consider delaying pregnancy, since there’s no other sure way to avoid the virus’ devastating birth defects.
The WHO stopped short of recommending that couples put pregnancy on hold.
“It’s not saying they should delay. They should be given the information about it and offered that as an option,” WHO spokeswoman Nyka Alexander said Thursday.
Zika is rapidly spreading through Latin America and the Caribbean, and health officials in several affected countries have made similar recommendations. But the WHO’s guidelines, updated last week, could affect millions of couples who live in outbreak areas.
Zika causes only a mild and brief illness, at worst, in most people. But it can cause fetal death and severe brain defects in the children of women infected during pregnancy.
There is no vaccine. In outbreak areas, the main defense is to avoid mosquito bites. But Zika also can be spread through unprotected sex with a man who was infected.
Around the world, health officials have advised pregnant women not to travel to areas where Zika is spreading. And the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has additional advice for non-pregnant travelers: Women should wait at least eight weeks after a Zika illness, or possible exposure to the virus, before trying to conceive. Men who had symptoms should wait at least six months before trying, the CDC recommends.
In response to the WHO’s new guidelines, the CDC said health care providers should discuss Zika’s risks and how to prevent infection, and provide information about contraception.
“As part of their pregnancy planning and counseling with their health care providers, some women and their partners residing in areas with active Zika virus transmission might decide to delay pregnancy,” the agency said in a statement.
Zika also can be a hazard to the scientists studying it. The University of Pittsburgh said Thursday one of its researchers accidentally stuck herself with a needle during a Zika experiment and went on to develop symptoms. Pitt officials said the lab accident occurred last month and the researcher has recovered and returned to work.
Nearly 700 infections have been reported in U.S. states. All were people who had traveled abroad, or who had sex with someone who did.
The virus is spreading in Puerto Rico and health officials say clusters of illnesses are likely in the mainland U.S. as mosquito season heats up. On Thursday, CDC Director Tom Frieden made another plea for Congress to quickly provide funding needed to battle Zika.
“Give us the money so we can work with American women and children and families to monitor the effects of Zika, so we can do a better job at killing mosquitoes to protect American women, and so we can develop better tools to diagnose Zika, to control mosquitoes and ultimately, with NIH in the lead, to find a vaccine to protect women,” Frieden said.
The White House on Thursday hosted a video teleconference involving administration officials, the CDC and Southern governors such as Rick Scott of Florida to go over Zika response planning as the likelihood of Zika cases is increasing with the summer heat.
“We are likely to see single cases of transmission and we could certainly see clusters in some at-risk communities, and we want to make sure we do everything possible to get ahead of them,” Frieden told reporters later.
Frieden said a key element of the federal response is CDC rapid response teams when cases arise.
The Obama administration requested $1.9 billion in February, to allow officials to continue Zika prevention efforts and begin studying long-term effects of people infected by the disease.
In Congress, the House and Senate each passed Zika bills that would provide funding at levels lower than the administration’s request. The Senate voted late Wednesday to begin talks with the House on compromise legislation.
The Senate proposal includes $1.1 billion without spending cuts to offset the expense, while the House has backed a $622 million measure with cuts elsewhere.
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Associated Press writers Mike Stobbe in New York, Kathleen Foody in Atlanta and Andrew Taylor in Washington contributed to this report.
Officials: White House OKs expanded Afghanistan airstrikes
WASHINGTON (AP) — After months of debate, the White House has approved plans to expand the military’s authority to conduct airstrikes against the Taliban when necessary, as the violence in Afghanistan escalates, senior U.S. and defense officials said Thursday.
Several officials said the decision was made in recent days to expand the authority of U.S. commanders to strike the Taliban and better support and assist the Afghan forces when needed in critical operations, using the U.S. troops already in the country. There is a broad desire across the Obama administration to give the military greater ability to help the Afghans fight and win the war.
The 9,800 U.S. troops still in Afghanistan, however, would still not be involved in direct combat.
The officials were not authorized to talk publicly about the discussions so spoke on condition of anonymity.
The decision comes as the Afghans struggle with a resurgent Taliban, particularly in the south. But it is fraught with political sensitivities because President Barack Obama had made clear his commitment to get U.S. forces out of Afghanistan. That effort, however, has been stalled by the slow pace of the development of the Afghan military and the resilience of the Taliban.
The decision will give U.S. forces greater flexibility in how they partner with Afghan forces, but the new authorities must be used in selective operations that are deemed to have a strategic and important effect on the fight.
The Taliban are refocusing their attention mostly on the southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan, according to U.S. and Afghan military officials, although the insurgents also have struck elsewhere, such as in Kunduz province in the north, where they overran and held the provincial capital for a few days last fall.
The results have been daunting: The U.N. says 3,545 Afghan civilians were killed and 7,457 wounded in 2015, most of them by the Taliban.
The U.S. has continued to conduct counterterrorism strikes against al-Qaida and Islamic State militants in Afghanistan. But strikes against the Taliban were largely halted at the end of 2014, when the U.S.-led coalition’s combat role ended. Limited strikes have been allowed in cases of self-defense or when Afghan forces were in danger of being overrun.
Gen. John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, has discussed with Defense Secretary Ash Carter his recommendations for moves the U.S. can make to further assist the Afghans. And there have been repeated conversations with the White House in recent weeks.
Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook, asked Thursday whether the administration was looking at expanding the U.S. military’s authorities to strike the Taliban more broadly, said: “In every step of our review of Afghanistan, the question of what’s the best way to use our forces is something we’re constantly looking at. It’s also in the same sense that we’re looking at the number of troops. We are always looking at the authorities question and the best use of our troops.”
Nicholson’s predecessor, Gen. John Campbell, made it known before he left Kabul in March that he believed Carter should consider expanding U.S. military authorities to take on the Taliban.
As an example, U.S. troops are able to partner with Afghan special operations forces, but this new decision would allow commanders to have U.S. troops work more closely with conventional Afghan units in critical battles, including providing close air support or helping to call in strikes. Officials stressed that this will not allow routine U.S. airstrikes against the Taliban, just provide authority to take those actions when commanders believe they are vital to the fight.
Also under discussion is whether the U.S. should reduce the number of American troops in Afghanistan to 5,500 as planned by the end of this year, or if a higher number is needed. Campbell favored keeping the troop level at the current total of 9,800 into next year.
U.S. officials have insisted they are encouraged by the Afghan forces’ resilience, despite their high rate of battlefield casualties. And they point to the Taliban’s loss of its leader, Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansour, who was killed by a U.S. drone strike in late May in Pakistan.
The U.S. and NATO formally ended their combat mission in Afghanistan at the end of 2014, but have continued to provide support and assistance as the Afghan forces struggle to grow and gain greater capabilities, including in their air operations.
Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland said last week that Nicholson was sending his assessment of the ongoing security threat there and the needs of the Afghan military to U.S. Central Command and to the Pentagon, and was expected to brief senior military leaders soon afterward.
Mobile Messenger Line to go public in New York, Tokyo
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Line Corp., the Japan-based operator of the namesake mobile messenger, will list its shares in New York and Tokyo next month.
Naver, the South Korean Internet company that wholly owns Line, said Friday that the move will help the iconic mobile messenger to better compete against global companies backed by big brand and capital. The proceeds from the initial public offering will be used to acquiring new companies and other strategies for global expansion.
With 215 million active global users, Line is hugely popular in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia where many users regularly spend money on cute digital stickers and merchandised dolls. They also use the app to search music and job.
But it faces competition from Facebook, which has its own messenger and is gaining popularity in Asia.
Moniak goes No. 1 to Phillies, buddy loses tattoo bet
SECAUCUS, N.J. (AP) — Mickey Moniak made his mark in the Major League Baseball draft — and his buddy could soon be getting a permanent reminder.
Moniak, a high school outfielder from California, was selected first overall by the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night. Long before the draft, he bet La Costa Canyon High School teammate Ethan Abrams that he’d go in the top 10.
At stake: Moniak’s signature tattooed on Abrams’ rear end.
Just a few minutes after Commissioner Rob Manfred announced at MLB Network studios that the Phillies were on the clock, Moniak didn’t have to wait long for his friend’s fresh-ink fate to be sealed.
“That is very true,” a smiling Moniak said in an interview on MLB Network. “I’m holding him to that, too.”
Abrams, a freshman pitcher at Columbia this season, can return the favor by getting picked in the first 20 rounds someday, Moniak said.
Moniak became the first prep outfielder chosen No. 1 since Tampa Bay drafted Delmon Young in 2003. The selection marked the first time the Phillies led off the draft since they took Miami slugger Pat Burrell in 1998.
“I definitely wouldn’t say there’s pressure,” the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Moniak said. “I’m excited to hopefully prove the Phillies right.”
With no consensus No. 1 talent this year, there was plenty of suspense right up until the pick was announced. At least five players were considered in the mix for the top spot.
“Collectively, we believe Mickey was the best player available in the draft,” Phillies scouting director Johnny Almaraz said in a statement. “He’s a true center fielder with incredible offensive ability and the potential to be a perennial All-Star.”
Tennessee third baseman Nick Senzel went second to Cincinnati, giving the Reds a slugger who might someday provide pop in the middle of their lineup.
“This is the guy we wanted,” scouting director Chris Buckley said. “He’s a very polished player, one of the better hitters, if not the best hitter, in the draft.”
With the third pick, Atlanta took high school right-hander Ian Anderson. At No. 4, Colorado went with fireballing Kansas high school righty Riley Pint. Milwaukee selected Louisville outfielder Corey Ray to cap the first five picks.
Here are some other things to know about the first day of the draft:
SHOWING UP
Two prospects were in attendance at the draft site: Anderson and Georgia high school outfielder Will Benson, who went 14th to Cleveland.
Anderson, from Shenendehowa High School in upstate New York, slipped on a Braves home jersey and cap, and his mother, sitting with his father in a makeshift dugout in the studio, wiped away tears as her son shook hands with Manfred and placed his own name on the draft board.
“You never know going into the draft where you’re going to go, and going into the season you don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Anderson, who was projected to be picked later in the opening round. “I’m happy with the way it played out.”
The 6-6, 220-pound Benson, who was also with his parents, was a standout in both baseball and basketball at The Westminster Schools in Georgia.
“I love basketball, but baseball is my calling. It’s my future,” Benson said. “So I think I’m obligated to the Cleveland Indians to kind of just put my full focus on being great at baseball.”
He added that he will “definitely” sign with the Indians rather than go to Duke.
SLIPPING
Two players who were mentioned as possibilities for the No. 1 pick dropped out of the top 10.
Mercer outfielder Kyle Lewis went to Seattle with the 11th overall pick, and New Jersey high school left-hander Jason Groome was selected by Boston, his favorite team growing up, at No. 12.
Lewis is a two-time Southern Conference player of the year.
“We thought he was going to be picked before us,” Mariners scouting director Tom McNamara said. “We’re very excited that he made it to us.”
Groome, from Barnegat High School, fell over some concerns about his makeup despite a low-to-mid-90s (mph) fastball, nasty curve and solid changeup. He threw a no-hitter with 19 strikeouts early in the spring, but was suspended three weeks by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association over transfer rules after spending his junior season at IMG Academy in Florida.
Delvin Perez, a shortstop from the International Baseball Academy in Puerto Rico, also dropped after being mentioned as a possible top-5 pick. He went 23rd to St. Louis after reports surfaced a few days before the draft that he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
FAMILIAR NAMES
Stanford right-hander Cal Quantrill, the son of former big league pitcher Paul Quantrill, was taken at No. 8 by San Diego despite missing this season after having Tommy John surgery last year. He still easily got family bragging rights: his father was a sixth-rounder by Boston in 1989.
Detroit also picked a player with pro bloodlines, selecting California high school righty Matt Manning, the son of former NBA forward Rich Manning.
At 20th overall, the Los Angeles Dodgers selected Wisconsin high school shortstop Gavin Lux, the nephew of Augie Schmidt — the No. 2 pick in 1982 by Toronto.
CALLING AN AUDIBLE
Miami took Alabama high school left-hander Braxton Garrett with the seventh overall pick. He played quarterback and wide receiver before quitting football after his sophomore year to focus on baseball.
So, how did that decision go down in SEC country?
“Oh, goodness,” he said. “I was pretty good, so it was a pretty big deal. But it was a decision I had to make, and it was the right one.”
ON DECK
After the first two rounds and compensatory picks were made Thursday night, the draft continues with rounds 3-10 on Friday and 11-40 on Saturday — all via conference calls with teams.
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AP Baseball Writer Mike Fitzpatrick, and AP Sports Writers Tim Booth, Pat Graham, Beth Harris, Rob Maaddi, Steve Megargee and Steven Wine contributed to this report.
ADB Oks 1st co-financing with China’s AIIB for Pakistan road
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Asian Development Bank has approved a $100 million loan for a highway project in Pakistan, marking its first co-financing with the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
The Manila-based ADB announced Friday that AIIB will provide the loan subject to its board’s approval later this month. The United Kingdom’s Department of International Development is extending a $34 million grant, with ADB serving as lead financier and administrator for the AIIB loan and the grant. AIIB is viewed by some as a rival to the U.S.-led World Bank and the Japan-led ADB, with suspicions China may use it to advance its economic and political interests.
ADB President Takehiko Nakao called the co-financing “a historic milestone” for the ADB and AIIB as they work to meet Asia’s pressing infrastructure needs.
AP Interview: Billionaire Koch fed up with politics as usual
WASHINGTON (AP) — Billionaire Charles Koch, one of America’s most influential conservative donors, said he is fed up with the vitriol of the presidential race and will air national TV ads that call on citizens to work together to fix a “rigged” economy that leaves behind the poor.
Koch, in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, described Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton as part of personality politics at its worst. He said that’s why neither he nor the political and policy groups he controls are playing much of a role in the presidential election. Instead, in an unusual strategy, the ads will be paid for by his private company, Koch Industries.
“Both the primaries and the general (election) seems it’s more, ‘You’re the enemy, you’re evil, or you’re stupid,’ or whatever ad hominem attacks on each other,” Koch said, “rather than trying to find common ground so different opposing views can learn from each other and we can find better solutions.”
Democrats, who have spent years vilifying Charles and David Koch, are unlikely to see them as unifiers. The brothers steer hundreds of millions of dollars — their own money and from like-minded donors whose identities are largely kept private — into electoral politics and mostly Republican efforts at all levels of government.
While the Kochs have supported most of the previous GOP presidential nominees, they have a far less favorable view of Trump. A billionaire himself, Trump wrote on Twitter last year that most of his GOP rivals were “puppets” of the Kochs. The bad blood reflects the tensions between Trump and some of the Republicans’ biggest donors, which could hurt his fundraising efforts.
Still, Charles Koch said his policy team plans to meet with Trump’s policy team, at the request of the Trump campaign. He added he’d be happy to arrange the same sort of chat with Clinton’s camp. Koch said he’d “love to get them on board” with any of his political ideas, the same feeling he has about Trump.
With a campaign they’re calling “End the Divide,” the Kochs are taking a page from the playbook of other Republican leaders eager to talk about something other than their party’s flame-throwing nominee.
They’re plowing ahead with recommendations from a study the Republican Party made after its 2012 nominee, Mitt Romney, lost to President Barack Obama. It found the party has been harmed by a perception “that the GOP does not care about people.”
Also offering a kinder, gentler Republican counterweight to Trump: House Speaker Paul Ryan. On Tuesday, he held forth at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinic in Washington to outline House Republicans’ plan to reduce poverty.
The Koch ads are part of a branding strategy for their multibillion-dollar conglomerate, based in Wichita, Kansas. But their long-time political activism means the campaign doubles, in a way, as a Republican effort.
The 60-second ad has the feel of something coming from a political candidate, with language that might appeal to supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
It shows Americans in contrasting neighborhoods and homes, and some people who look content and others who appear stressed. A narrator says: “Look around: America is divided. Between success and failure. With government and corporations picking winners and losers. Rigging the system against the people. Creating a two-tiered society.”
Before directing viewers to an “End the Divide” website hosted by Koch Industries, the narrator says, “It’s time to remove the barriers, to end the divide, to replace winner-take-all with a system where we all can win.”
Many of Koch’s policy prescriptions on issues such as education reform, government regulation and reducing poverty align more closely with Republicans. Yet Koch says he could find common ground with Democrats on some things, pointing to his partnership with the White House and Democratic senators on efforts to reduce incarceration.
It’s not a comfortable fit. Obama and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid are among those who have called out the Kochs by name, with Reid denouncing them from the Senate floor as “un-American.”
Koch said those sorts of attacks “are not about to stop me.”
Koch said that because he’s not a politician worried about the next election, he has the flexibility to make an issues-based appeal to Americans through ads, which will air starting Friday on national networks, cable channels and online.
“We’re not running a popularity contest. We’re not promising people things that can’t be delivered,” Koch said. “We’re trying to encourage people to think about how do I succeed by helping others improve their lives” even if it involves doing things that “may not win me votes or get me a lot of money.”
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Follow Julie Bykowicz on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/bykowicz
Unlikely path for foes hoping to dump Trump at convention
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s exceedingly improbable, but not completely farfetched: Dismayed Republicans could still dump Donald Trump and find a different presidential nominee at their national convention next month.
Once viewed as a political joke, the blunt-spoken billionaire has stormed to the cusp of becoming the GOP nominee. He has more than enough delegates to be formally anointed at the party’s gathering in Cleveland.
But Trump’s recent disparagement of a judge, claiming he was incapable of impartially hearing a Trump lawsuit because he is Mexican-American, has triggered talk of replacing Trump. Republicans were already divided over his past comments about Hispanics, women and others, and some leaders like House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., are backing Trump but labeling his remark “racist.”
Here’s the scenario for derailing Trump and why it’s unlikely — at least now:
THE MATH
Trump has 1,542 delegates, according to The Associated Press’ count, including 1,447 required by current GOP rules to vote for him at the convention. That’s well above the 1,237 delegates needed for the nomination and more than double the 559 of his nearest rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
Measured another way, Trump has amassed 13.4 million votes in primaries, well above Cruz’ 7.7 million.
Those numbers add up to one word: Winner.
THE PROBLEM
Some Republicans think Trump can’t win and will drag down the party’s congressional and other candidates with him. Senate control, and less likely the House, are at also stake in November’s election.
Such talk is limited, at least publicly. But it’s out there.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said this week that Trump’s denigration of the judge “might spur” talk of finding a different nominee. He noted that Trump’s 70th birthday is approaching and said, “It’s tough to change. And he certainly hasn’t shown any signs that he’s going to.”
“What does Trump have to do or say for the party to disassociate itself from him?” asked Rory Cooper, senior adviser to the Never Trump political committee.
And conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt said on his show that Trump should be dropped because “the plane is headed toward the mountain.”
THE CURE
One way to stop someone from winning a game is to change the rules.
Mechanically, if not politically, that’s possible in Cleveland next month. The procedures governing the convention will be whatever a majority of its 2,472 delegates approve.
Current rules, which they seem likely to adopt, give the nomination to whoever wins a majority of their votes.
GOP rules experts say that to block Trump, one option is to set a higher threshold than he currently can reach, such as requiring a two-thirds margin.
That would only be needed for the first ballot. If no candidate wins the nomination by then, most delegates are free to vote for anyone in the second and succeeding rounds of voting.
Another option: Let all delegates immediately support whoever they’d like.
Though it’s widely disputed, some say current rules already let delegates support whomever they please. That would mean no changes would be needed.
“The primaries are baloney” and award candidates “bragging rights,” not committed delegates, said Curly Haugland of North Dakota, a member of the Republican National Committee.
THE PROBLEM WITH BLOCKING TRUMP
As torn as the GOP is, many believe booting him is politically unrealistic because it would intensify the party’s rifts and is probably impossible.
“It’s too late,” said Trump detractor and former presidential contender Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. James Bopp Jr., an Indiana convention delegate and rules expert, says disregarding Trump’s primary victory and naming a different nominee would mean “the destruction of the Republican Party.”
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said talk of ditching Trump at the convention was a “Washington fantasy” that would look like the party was “trying to undo the will of the Republican electorate” and pull off “some sort of coup.”
BUT WAIT
If Trump has a majority of delegates, does he really have to worry about rules changes that could deny him the nomination?
Probably not. But maybe.
That’s because by party bylaws, delegates are free to vote however they want on the rules, platform and challenges to delegates’ credentials. The only thing most must do is support the candidate they are pledged to, and only on the first round of votes.
The danger for Trump: Many of his delegates — the numbers are unclear — actually prefer Cruz or perhaps other alternatives. If they’re persuaded to do so, perhaps by additional intemperate Trump comments, they can vote for rules changes that would open the door for a replacement.
But many say Trump has the delegates needed to prevail.
“It’s just not going to happen,” said Randy Evans, a GOP national committeeman from Georgia.
Trump aides did not respond to emails and phone messages requesting comment.
Asked Thursday if he was open to the convention picking a different candidate than Trump, Cruz said, “I’m going to leave political punditry to the people who get paid to do it.”
Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said the senator did not favor a challenge to Trump, saying, “The voters made their decision.”
