July 25, 2024

Thursday, July 25, 2024. Annette’s News Roundup.

Kamala is always busy.

On the road yesterday.

Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted the Biden administration’s accomplishments, while arguing that a Trump presidency would return the United States to a “dark past,”

“We are not playing around”: Addressing a black sorority, Kamala Harris promised to build on President Biden’s record.

Vice President Kamala Harris made an appeal on Wednesday to the Democratic Party’s most loyal voting bloc, Black women, telling an audience of several thousand in Indianapolis that Donald J. Trump’s agenda represented “an outright attack on our children, our families and our future.”

Ms. Harris’s pointed speech, delivered at a convention of Zeta Phi Beta, one of the nation’s most prominent Black sororities, laid out a “choice between two different visions for our nation.”

One vision — hers — would build on a series of what she described as the Biden administration’s biggest accomplishments: expanding access to health care, lowering the cost of prescription drugs like insulin, reducing child poverty and creating an economy that “works for working people.”

The other, she warned, would return the United States to a “dark past,” with cuts to Medicare and the elimination of the Department of Education and popular programs like Head Start.

“These extremists want to take us back, but we are not going back. We are not going back,” Ms. Harris, a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, said again with emphasis, in a banquet hall filled almost exclusively by Black women. “Ours is a fight for the future, and ours is a fight for freedom.”

If she is to rejuvenate the Democratic coalition that powered her and Mr. Biden to the White House in 2020, Ms. Harris must inspire audiences like the one she faced on Wednesday.

Although the vice president barely mentioned Mr. Trump by name, her speech was a clear effort to do what Democrats had hoped for months President Biden would be able to: make the election a referendum on the former president.

Repeatedly, Ms. Harris, 59, articulated the idea that the choice between herself and Mr. Trump, 78, amounted to one between the “future” and the “past” — an argument that the 81-year-old incumbent president could not make.

If she is to rejuvenate the Democratic coalition that powered her and Mr. Biden to the White House in 2020, Ms. Harris must inspire audiences like the one she faced on Wednesday. African-American voters are a key Democratic constituency but their enthusiasm for Mr. Biden had fallen drastically during his term in office. Many Black voters, especially younger ones, have expressed dissatisfaction with challenges like rising prices, and Mr. Trump has tried to take advantage.

Now, Black sororities and fraternities, with more than two million members nationwide, can offer her a ready-made coalition to fight back.

Even before Mr. Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed her, the heads of the “Divine Nine,” the country’s nine most notable Black Greek-letter organizations, were planning a giant voter organization effort.

Ms. Harris’s almost-certain ascent to the top of the ticket has fueled their excitement. On the evening of her decision to seek the Democratic nomination, the advocacy group Win with Black Women held a call that drew tens of thousands of attendees and raised more than $1.5 million for her campaign, organizers said.

“There’s so much at stake,” Ms. Harris told her audience of sorority sisters on Wednesday. “In this moment, our nation, as it always has, is counting on you to energize, to organize and to mobilize.”

LaBeatrix Wright, an attendee from Hueytown, Ala., said she was moved to tears, adding that she was inspired by the historic nature of Ms. Harris’s candidacy. When Ms. Harris took to the stage, the crowd gave her a standing ovation. Some attendees raised their hands in the air in celebration.

“She really moved the needle for the women in the room,” Ms. Wright, 61, said. “If you weren’t supporting her before, you are now.”

In demonstrating the election’s significance to women, Ms. Harris also highlighted the value of providing Americans with paid family leave and affordable child and elder care, as well as combating the relatively high rate of maternal mortality in the United States.

And she promised to restore nationwide abortion rights, one of the Democrats’ most popular policy positions with women. She ended her speech with what felt like a warning to Republicans.

“We are not playing around,” she said. (NY Times)

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The woman who almost beat Trump writes to help the woman who will.

Hillary Clinton: How Kamala Harris Can Win and Make History.

History has its eye on us. President Biden’s decision to end his campaign was as pure an act of patriotism as I have seen in my lifetime. It should also be a call to action to the rest of us to continue his fight for the soul of our nation. The next 15 weeks will be like nothing this country has ever experienced politically, but have no doubt: This is a race Democrats can and must win.

Mr. Biden has done a hard and rare thing. Serving as president was a lifelong dream. And when he finally got there, he was exceptionally good at it. To give that up, to accept that finishing the job meant passing the baton, took real moral clarity. The country mattered more. As one who shared that dream and has had to make peace with letting it go, I know this wasn’t easy. But it was the right thing to do.

Elections are about the future. That’s why I am excited about Vice President Kamala Harris. She represents a fresh start for American politics. She can offer a hopeful, unifying vision. She is talented, experienced and ready to be president. And I know she can defeat Donald Trump.

There is now an even sharper, clearer choice in this election. On one side is a convicted criminal who cares only about himself and is trying to turn back the clock on our rights and our country. On the other is a savvy former prosecutor and successful vice president who embodies our faith that America’s best days are still ahead. It’s old grievances versus new solutions.

Ms. Harris’s record and character will be distorted and disparaged by a flood of disinformation and the kind of ugly prejudice we’re already hearing from MAGA mouthpieces. She and the campaign will have to cut through the noise, and all of us as voters must be thoughtful about what we read, believe and share.

I know a thing or two about how hard it can be for strong women candidates to fight through the sexism and double standards of American politics. I’ve been called a witch, a “nasty woman” and much worse. I was even burned in effigy. As a candidate, I sometimes shied away from talking about making history. I wasn’t sure voters were ready for that. And I wasn’t running to break a barrier; I was running because I thought I was the most qualified to do the job. While it still pains me that I couldn’t break that highest, hardest glass ceiling, I’m proud that my two presidential campaigns made it seem normal to have a woman at the top of the ticket.

Ms. Harris will face unique additional challenges as the first Black and South Asian woman to be at the top of a major party’s ticket. That’s real, but we shouldn’t be afraid. It is a trap to believe that progress is impossible. After all, I won the national popular vote by nearly three million in 2016, and it’s not so long ago that Americans overwhelmingly elected our first Black president. As we saw in the 2022 midterms, abortion bans and attacks on democracy are galvanizing women voters like never before. With Ms. Harris at the top of the ticket leading the way, this movement may become an unstoppable wave.

Time is short to organize the campaign on her behalf, but the Labour Party in Britain and a broad left-wing coalition in France recently won big victories with even less time. Ms. Harris will have to reach out to voters who have been skeptical of Democrats and mobilize young voters who need convincing. But she can run on a strong record and ambitious plans to further reduce costs for families, enact common-sense gun safety laws and restore and protect our rights and freedoms.

She has a great story to tell about the accomplishments of this administration. Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris led America’s comeback after Mr. Trump bungled the pandemic and left our economy in free fall. Under their leadership, the United States has created more than 15 million jobs, and unemployment is near a 50-year low.

When inflation spiked around the globe, many economists said the only way to tame it would be a painful recession with major job losses. But Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris kept Americans working as inflation fell back toward normal levels and real incomes for working people rose.

When many thought bipartisanship was dead, Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris brought Republicans and Democrats together to pass major legislation on infrastructure and clean energy, microchips and national security. From drug prices to student debt, they’ve delivered results that have made our country stronger and people’s lives better.

Ms. Harris is chronically underestimated, as are so many women in politics, but she is well prepared for this moment. As a prosecutor and attorney general in California, she took on drug traffickers, polluters and predatory lenders. As a U.S. senator, she rigorously questioned squirming Trump administration officials and nominees and was inspiring to watch. As vice president, Ms. Harris has sat with the president in the Situation Room, helping make the hardest decisions a leader can make. And when the extremist Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, she became the administration’s most passionate and effective advocate for restoring women’s reproductive rights.

I look forward to hearing her prosecute a compelling case against Mr. Trump, who failed as a president the first time and is running on a dangerous agenda. A second Trump term would be much worse than the first. Mr. Trump’s plans are more extreme, he is more unhinged, and the guardrails that constrained some of his worst instincts are gone.

Ms. Harris can explain to the American people that inflation would surge again under Mr. Trump, thanks to his proposed across-the-board tariffs, sweeping tax cuts for the rich and mass deportations. The policies outlined by Mr. Trump’s allies in Project 2025, from further restricting abortion rights to dismantling the Department of Education, are a recipe for a weaker, poorer, more divided America.

The vice president’s law enforcement experience gives her the credibility to rebut Mr. Trump’s lies about crime and immigration. The facts are on her side: After spiking under Mr. Trump, the murder rate is plummeting under the Biden-Harris administration. Illegal border crossings are also dropping fast and are now the lowest they’ve been since 2020, thanks in part to Mr. Biden’s recent executive order. We’d be making even more progress if Mr. Trump hadn’t killed a bipartisan immigration compromise in Congress this year for his own selfish political purposes.

As a friend and supporter of Mr. Biden, I find this a bittersweet moment. He is a wise and decent man who served our country well. We have lost our standard-bearer, and we will miss his steady leadership, deep empathy and fighting spirit. Yet we have gained much as well: a new champion, an invigorated campaign and a renewed sense of purpose.

The time for hand-wringing is over. Now it’s time to organize, mobilize and win. (New York Times).

“[Ours] is a fight for the future,” [Democratic Presidential Nominee Harris] said “And it is a fight for freedom…. Generations of Americans before us led the fight for freedom. And now…the baton is in our hands.”
Milwaukee July 22, 2024.

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Last night, President Biden spoke to the nation from the Oval Office, defending his legacy and passing the torch to protect our Democracy.

He was surrounded by family and aides in the Oval Office during what proved to be a very emotional address.
11 minutes.

Full Transcript of Biden’s Speech on Ending His Run for Re-election

President Biden was greeted by applause from hundreds of enthusiastic White House Staffers in the Rose Garden after his historic address.

Touch to watch Joe’s staff arrive.👇

The First Lady “spoke” after the President’s address as well.

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People with Disabilities were the sub-text of some conversations in America today.

Yesterday in his valedictory speech from the Oval Office,

the President boldly named his disability, while praising the uniqueness of America:

“Nowhere else on Earth could a kid with a stutter from modest beginnings in Scranton, Pa., and in Claymont, Del., one day sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as the president of the United States, but here I am.”

BTW, this didn’t stop the New York Times from analyzing the President’s speech as a failure, because he occasionally stutters or stammers. I read the critique but then I couldn’t find it. Maybe the editors recognized that people were emotional about the President’s speech, and weren’t analyzing whether Joe was or was not stammering last night.

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Mattel Unveils Blind Barbie

In the decades since Barbie debuted in 1959, the doll’s plastic perfections have generated criticism for their promotion of unrealistic beauty standards. In response, Mattel has tried to create versions that are more representative of a broader range of people.

On Tuesday, the company released a Barbie designed in partnership with the American Foundation for the Blind.

The doll, which comes in a pink box with Braille lettering, has its own special accessories, including a red-and-white cane with a marshmallow roller tip and sunglasses suited for light-sensitive eyes. Its satin blouse and ruffled skirt were selected after Mattel tested them for tactile satisfaction with blind and low-vision children. The doll also has bendable arms for cane use.

The Blind Barbie has a cane.

She was introduced at the same time as the black Barbie with Down Syndrome.

Lucy Edwards, a social media influencer and disability activist who lost her sight when she was 17, called the doll “gorgeous” and “glam” in an online video that showed her taking it out of the box.

“I know when I’m picking clothes as a blind woman, I just love to feel my best in different textures, just like Blind Barbie,” said Ms. Edwards, a Mattel brand ambassador.

Tameka Simmons, a disability activist in Greenville, S.C., took her blind 8-year-old daughter, Evely, to a Target store on Tuesday to pick up one of the dolls.

“As a mom who has a blind child that has faced numerous challenges, this Barbie holds significance for my family,” Ms. Simmons said. “We were overwhelmed with excitement when we heard about the doll’s release. We’re so glad she’s here.”

“My two other daughters also love Barbie so she’s always hearing her sisters play with their Barbies,” she added. “They came along with us in the car ride and they were telling Evely that the doll has a cane just like you. That now she has a Barbie of her own.”

The blind doll was released alongside Mattel’s first Black Barbie with Down syndrome, which was developed with input from the National Down Syndrome Society.

Barbie partnered with the National Down Syndrome Society to design a Barbie doll with Down syndrome that celebrates this community.

Mattel noted that the doll’s palms “include a single line, a characteristic often associated with those with Down syndrome.” Some of the hearts on its dress have three arrows that “represent the third 21st chromosome that individuals with Down syndrome have,” the company said.

Krista Berger, a senior vice president at Mattel, said the new dolls reinforced the company’s “commitment to creating products that represent global belonging and inclusivity.”

Both Barbies join the Fashionistas line, which Mattel launched in 2009. It features dolls with different skin tones, body types and disabilities, including a Barbie that uses a wheelchair, a Barbie with vitiligo and a Ken with a prosthetic leg.

Though the blind Barbie is the first blind doll in the Fashionistas line, Mattel introduced a blind Barbie in the form of Helen Keller as part of its Inspiring Women Series in 2021.

Debbie Miller, a spokesperson with the Royal National Institute of Blind People in Britain, shared her feelings about the release of the blind Barbie in a video.

“The impact of this for me when I was younger would have been incredible,” she said. “I didn’t know anyone else like me, so I felt really, really different, and if anything I wanted to try and hide the fact that I was developing sight loss.” She continued, “It would have made me feel more confident to own it and talk to other people about it.”

“It’s cool to have a cane,” she said. “Barbie’s got one.” (NY Times).

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My Uncle Donald Trump Told Me Disabled Americans Like My Son ‘Should Just Die’

When my uncle was elected President, I recognized what a highly privileged position I would be in. I would have some access to the White House. And as long as that was true, I wanted to make sure I used that access for something positive. I was eager to champion something my wife, Lisa, and I were deeply passionate about, something we lived every day: the challenges for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.

Our son William, our third child, was born on June 30, 1999. Within 24 hours, he went from seemingly healthy to fighting for his life in the NICU. Raising him was different from the start. William was diagnosed at three months with infantile spasms, a rare seizure disorder which in William's case altered his development physically and cognitively. We had so many questions: What would the future hold for someone like William? How far could he go? How much could he learn? Would he ever have the chance to do the things that other children do?

We just didn’t know. It took 15 years before his medical team could accurately pinpoint the cause of his condition: a KCNQ2 mutation, a genetic misfire that the doctors called a potassium channel deletion.

In our journey with William, Lisa and I had become close to some truly inspiring parents and dedicated advocates who were doing amazing work to improve the day-to-day reality for families like ours. It’s a huge lift for caregivers, not to mention the constant need to mitigate expenses. There are so many different demands and challenges. But there are things that the government can do—some things that can only be done by the government, both federal and state. We wanted to bring knowledgeable people to the White House, to see if we could make a difference.

Lisa reached out to my cousin Ivanka, who was working in the White House as an advisor to the President. Ivanka got right back to her and said she’d be happy to help. She provided a contact for Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who was secretary of housing and urban development. We brought several talented advocates with us for a meeting with Carson and members of his senior staff in April 2017. “Look,” I said as we got started, “I’m the least important person in the room.” I wanted the focus to be on the others, who knew a lot more than I did. They immediately started floating ideas, which was exactly why we were there. Our collective voice was being heard. It was a start.

In January 2020, just before COVID hit, Lisa, myself, and a team of advocates met with Chris Neeley, who headed the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities, a much-needed federal advisory committee that promotes policies and initiatives that support independent and lifelong inclusion. We discussed the need for all medical schools to include courses that focus on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We emphasized how crucial it was for hospitals and other acute-care facilities to help patients transition from pediatric to adult services. We emphasized the importance of collecting sufficient data to explain medically complex disorders. This was not about more government spending. It was about smarter investing and greater efficiency.

We spent the next few months making calls and talking with officials and gathering our own recommendations, giving special attention to the critical need for housing support for people with disabilities. We were back in Washington in May.

By this time, COVID was raging. We were all masked up and COVID tested on the way into the White House Cabinet Room. Once we got inside, we sat down with Alex Azar, the administration’s secretary of health and human services, and Brett Giroir, the assistant secretary for health, both of whom served on the White House Coronavirus Task Force. The promising agency motto stated: HHS: Enhancing the Health and Well-Being of All Americans.

I made a brief introduction. Our group included a leading doctor and several highly qualified advocates. What followed was a great discussion. Something clicked with Giroir—an idea for a program everyone could agree on that would cut through the bureaucracy and control costs and also yield better and more efficient medical outcomes.

Excellent. We were making progress.

“Really appreciate your coming in,” Azar finally said, more warmly than he had sounded at the start. “I know we’re going to see the President.”

The meeting I had assumed would be a quick handshake hello with Donald had turned into a 45-minute discussion in the Oval Office with all of us—Azar, Giroir, the advocates, and me. I never expected to be there so long. Donald seemed engaged, especially when several people in our group spoke about the heart-wrenching and expensive efforts they’d made to care for their profoundly disabled family members, who were constantly in and out of the hospital and living with complex arrays of challenges.

Donald was still Donald, of course. He bounced from subject to subject—disability to the stock market and back to disability. But promisingly, Donald seemed genuinely curious regarding the depth of medical needs across the U.S. and the individual challenges these families faced. He told the secretary and the assistant secretary to stay in touch with our group and to be supportive.

After I left the office, I was standing with the others near the side entrance to the West Wing when Donald’s assistant caught up with me. “Your uncle would like to see you,” she said.

Azar was still in the Oval Office when I walked back in.
“Hey, pal,” Donald said. “How’s everything going?”
“Good,” I said. “I appreciate your meeting with us.”
“Sure, happy to do it.”

He sounded interested and even concerned. I thought he had been touched by what the doctor and advocates in the meeting had just shared about their journey with their patients and their own family members. But I was wrong.

“Those people . . . ” Donald said, trailing off. “The shape they’re in, all the expenses, maybe those kinds of people should just die.”

I truly did not know what to say. He was talking about expenses. We were talking about human lives. For Donald, I think it really was about the expenses, even though we were there to talk about efficiencies, smarter investments, and human dignity.

I turned and walked away. (Time mag).

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Your Daily Reminder.

Trump is a convicted felon.

On May 30th, he was found guilty on 34 felony counts by the unanimous vote of 12 ordinary citizens.

The Convicted Felon Donald J. Trump was scheduled to be sentenced on July 11. He will now be sentenced sometime around September 18th.

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Georgia may become blue once again.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “More than 1,000 volunteers sign up as Harris’ Georgia campaign gets going.”

And this happened. Touch to watch. 👇

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Hey, how is Kamala affecting voters?

The Hill reports.

Almost 40,000 people registered to vote in the 48 hours after President Biden announced he was suspending his reelection campaign and endorsing Vice President Harris, Vote.org said.

Vote.org said 38,500 new voters registered, representing the largest number of registrations in a 48-hour period this election cycle.

Of the new voter registrations, 83 percent were from people aged 18-34, according to the voting registration nonprofit group.

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Sorry, but travel and a family gathering will stop me from producing a Roundup tomorrow. See you on Saturday.

Keep your eye on Kamala. She will address the American Federation of Teachers today.

Joy and laughter will follow.💃🏽

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