Mediaboss Marketing

U.S. Rep. Keith Rothfus, R-Sewickley took a verbal beating at a public meeting Thursday on Main Street in Johnstown.

The congressman was in Johnstown for Showcase for Commerce but was a no-show at the town hall meeting sponsored by the progressive group Indivisible Johnstown.

Where is he? Why isnt he here? said Linda Bishop, of Pittsburgh, a member of PA District 12 Progressives.

Indivisible Johnstown was formed in February after Donald Trump was swept into the White House.

We cried from November through January and decided now we have to do something, said Mary Lou Davis, one of the groups organizers.

We knew we wanted this town hall at the time they had Showcase for Commerce because all of our representatives were in town, she said.

Rothfus and staff members declined the invitation, Davis said.

A spokeswoman for Rothfus did not immediately respond to an email.

Attendees discussed their concerns while standing before an empty gray suit that represented the absent congressman.

Some wore Planned Parenthood and Bernie Sanders T-shirts.

Taxes, abortion, health care and the environment were some of their concerns.

Daniel Kane, retired secretary-treasurer of the United Mine Workers of America, drew applause when he called for a single- payer health care system.

Workers in Canada have no need to negotiate for health care because they have a publicly funded plan, he said.

Im getting tired of telling people in this country that we need single-payer health care, Kane said. They say, Well how are you going to pay for it?

Guess what, were already paying for it, he said. Were already paying more per patient than anywhere else.

Patrick Buchnowski is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 532-5061. Follow him on Twitter@PatBuchnowskiTD.

Visit link:
'Where is he?': Progressives chide absent congressman - TribDem.com

CALGARY -- Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says the NDP would welcome anyone who feels like they wouldn't have a political home in the United Conservative Party.

The province's two right-leaning parties recently signed a deal to merge, but the union needs approval from both Progressive Conservative and Wildrose Party members this summer to go ahead.

If that hurdle is cleared, there is to be a leadership race on Oct. 28.

In a speech at an NDP fundraising cocktail reception in Calgary on Thursday, Notley took numerous digs at PC Leader Jason Kenney and Wildrose Leader Brian Jean, who both want to run the new merged party.

She said both Kenney and Jean are getting more extreme in their views, and some long-time members may be feeling underwhelmed, frustrated and disgusted by their tactics.

Notley's speech made no mention of Calgary lawyer Doug Schweitzer, who announced earlier in the day he plans to seek the UCP leadership if the merger goes ahead.

"I know I'm not alone in believing Albertans deserve better -- much better," Notley said.

"And to those Albertans who are feeling like they don't have a political home... I ask you to take another look at our government, our party and our record."

She said the economy is recovering, pipelines have been approved and infrastructure is being built.

"Regular Albertans, for once, have a government that's in their corner, working to make life better. So if you feel without a political home, we would welcome you."

Read the original here:
Notley pitches NDP to progressives put off by United Conservative Party - CTV News

For a guy who boasts of his Mixed Martial Arts fixation, his firearms training and just general tough-guy bona fides, Sean Hannity hurts his image when whining. But thats the activity he undertook last night in a 10-minute monologue. A well-hyped monologue, at that:

Heres a snippet from that important tract: Theres not a single liberal cable host in American that I know of that has spoken out against the effort to get me fired, said Hannity last night. Not one. For example, theres people like Bill Maher well, they say they stand up for freedom of speech and they have in the past, but why is he, why are others so eerily silent? In this case, nobody came to the defense of me, defending me and my rights here. Theres a massive double standard when it comes to the First Amendment and the left in this country. Lefties, says Hannity, get to say and do pretty much anything they want when it comes to smearing and attacking conservatives, and 99 percent of the time they get away with it. They dont have to face any backlash, no outrage, no uproar, no boycotts trying to silence them.

Then he cited the example of Kathy Griffin, who earlier this week was shown to have posed with a decapitated head of President Trump. Of course, Griffin faced backlash, outrage, uproar and, yes, she was silenced by CNN, which has pulled her from future New Years Eve specials. But Hannity said, Did you hear me call for her firing? No, you did not.

What has Hannity so upset? Media Matters in May posted a list of Hannity advertisers on its website. Though the post didnt call for an advertiser boycott of the cable veteran, its message wasnt larded with subtlety. Sean Hannity is a professional propagandist for President Donald Trump, as well as a bigot, a sexist, and a conspiracy theorist, started the post. The post landed on a raw backdrop, as Hannity for the previous week had been hyping an evidence-free theory about Seth Rich, a Democratic National Committee aide who was killed in July 2016. Though police thought that it was a robbery attempt gone awry, Rich was left with his wallet and watch and credit cards and so some people concluded that it was he and not the Russians who had leaked all those DNC emails to WikiLeaks.

On his program and Twitter, Hannity in May gave wind to this school of thought, based on reports from Fox News and Fox5 (D.C.s WTTG) that cited a break in the case. Even though the reports turned out to be bogus, Hannity kept going with the madness. Why? Because a good Seth Rich conspiracy would be good news for Trump. If this is true and Seth Rich gave WikiLeaks the DNC emails which ultimately led to the firing remember Debbie Wasserman Schultz on the eve of the DNC convention? this blows the whole Russia collusion narrative completely out of the water, Hannity said on his program. Also, Twitter:

A great deal of pressure from the media, social media and Richs parents forced Hannity to eventually bag the story for now, as he said on his show. Disgust with his shenanigans, however, had reached such a level that some advertisers bailed, though the snowball effect that dethroned ex-King of Cable News Bill OReilly and his multiple sexual-harassment settlements didnt materialize.

And so heres Hannity, railing about adherence to the First Amendment. Should Hannity care to consult his pocket Constitution, hed come to grips with the Civics 101 reality that this business about advertisers and his show doesnt pertain to the First Amendment, which outlaws only government abridgment of free speech.

If people want to abridge the rancid speech that Hannity spreads across the Fox News airwaves, well, thats their right their First Amendment right. That doesnt mean its a constructive use of that right. Writing in Politico Magazine, Jack Shafer in April railed against boycotts on the grounds that they turn corporations into content arbiters always a bad choice, he argues.

In the particular case of Hannity, however, the push to separate advertisers from his show isnt precisely what he claims. In his phrasing, its about crushing conservative voices. Whats so conservative, though, about far-flung conjecture about the slaying of a promising young man? Whats conservative about ignoring signpost after signpost indicating that this Seth Rich notion is a loser? Whats conservative about making statements without evidence? Its not as if the backlash against Hannity is pegged to his advocacy of lower taxes, a strong military and deregulation. The backlash isnt even linked to his offer to fly Barack Obama to Kenya!

Pressed on his behavior, Hannity told the Huffington Posts Michael Calderone: Nobody tells me what to say on my show. They never have and frankly they never will. Im not that type of person you can say, Go on air and say this. Thats been the beauty of Fox News all these years. They leave me alone.

Everyone needs editors, especially Sean Hannity. Since theyre nowhere to be found at his workplace, he is encountering them in the public realm.

Read this article:
Sean Hannity whines: Why aren't liberals defending me? - Washington Post (blog)

President Donald Trumps decision to pull America out of the Paris climate accord was one of the most consequential of his presidency. This was evident in the fact that so many individuals tried to persuade him to stay in the deal and that their efforts often wound up having the opposite of their intended effect.

As counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway told The Washington Post, Hes stayed where hes always been, and not for a lack of trying by those who have an opposite opinion. He started with a conclusion, and the evidence brought him to the same conclusion.

Trump actually seemed pleased when he could upset European allies who were trying to change his mind, with a senior White House official telling the Post that Trump felt disappointing them was a secondary benefit of withdrawing. European leaders even avoided directly rebuking Trumps decision to scold them for their defense spending onNATO so that they could instead focus on persuading him to reconsider his climate change stance.

French President Emmanuel Macron didnt help matters by bragging about his prolonged handshake with the president, arguing that he did this as a moment of truth to demonstrate that he was Trumps masculine equal. This apparently upset Trump and may have influenced his decision to reference Paris in his public statement on withdrawing from the climate accord.

There was another target for Trumps change on the climate: liberals. Asone White House aide told Axios, This is religion for the political left, and our supporters are constantly being asked to change their behavior.

From Trumps perspective, as Amy Harder of Axios noted, the Paris climate deal has nothing to do with climate change. Its an economic issue. To Trump, withdrawing from the accord represents a triumph of populist America over greedy globalism.

Original post:
Liberals and Europeans like the Paris deal, and that's why Trump wanted to get rid of it - Salon

Comedian Kathy Griffins anti-Trump beheading art has worked its way into Georgias June 20 special election.

A battle between Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff for Georgias 6th Congressional District heated up this week with an Islamic State-like execution photo shoot by Ms. Griffin. A Republican super PAC, Congressional Leadership Fund, released an ad Thursday tying Mr. Ossoff to his celebrity supporter.

These angry liberals will go to any extreme to elect Jon Ossoff, a narrator in the ad says. Theres a reason 95 percent of Ossoffs campaign donors are out-of-state liberals.

The Ossoff campaign issued a statement demanding the ad, which airs in Atlanta, be taken down. CLF rebuffed the Democrat.

The more Jon Ossoff complains about the [Griffin] ad, the more money well spend broadcasting it across Georgia 6, Corry Bliss, CLFs executive director, told The Washington Examiner on Thursday.

The Democrats campaign called Ms. Griffins actions despicable and CFLs ad a disgrace.

Ms. Griffin apologized for her photo shoot on Tuesday, but she claimed on Friday that President Trump is trying to destroy her career.

A sitting president of the U.S. is personally trying to ruin my life forever, she said at a press conference. The death threats that Im getting are serious. This is a woman thing.

See the original post here:
Kathy Griffin's 'Trump' beheading in PAC ad for special election: 'Liberals will go to any extreme' - Washington Times