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SPRINGFIELD At the funeral Tuesday of city councilor, Democratic activist and civil rights pioneer E. Henry Twiggs, the biblical words from the Second Epistle to Timothy reminded mourners of the man who has run his race and fought the good fight.

And I have kept the faith, the Apostle Paul wrote so long ago.

And on Tuesday, longtime friend of Twiggs, U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal had a slight turn on the familiar verse.

You have run your last campaign, Neal said.

Twiggs, 80, died Thursday, Nov. 21, at Mercy Medical Center due to complications from surgery. A native of Georgia who moved to Springfield in 1958, Twiggs returned to the South and marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in the famous March on Washington in 1963 and the Selma to Montgomery March two years later.

His funeral was marked by a look back, and a call to continue Twiggs work.

Facing tear gas, police truncheons, and attack dogs, E. Henry was one of those who crossed the Edmund Pettis Bridge during the Selma to Montgomery, Alabama march, his family wrote in his obituary. He worked with Dr. Martin Luther King and many other prominent activists helping organize voter registration drives, sit-ins, marches, and other actions throughout the region. He was an active participant in the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom and strove to keep Dr. Kings dream alive as the Northeast Coordinator of the 1968 Poor Peoples Campaign March on Washington.

Twiggs served as manager of Riverview Projects during the late 1960s and developed housing through his work with Inner City Rehab. He was state Rep. Ben Swans chief of staff and a a longtime member of, and chairman, of the city Democratic Committee who campaigned for tirelessly for Democratic candidates.

Neal said he and Twiggs spent so much time campaigning together they could finish each others sentences.

The congressman recalled Twiggs humor. One day as the two were campaigning for Al Gore in the bitter New Hampshire cold, they found house after house with the lights on and a television blaring but no one answered the door.

Neal said he wondered why they were being turned away

Twiggs said it was because folks thought Neal was campaigning with the Rev. Al Sharpton, who shared a passing resemblance to Twiggs.

Neal said they eventually found someone to answer a door. And that Twiggs loved the work in precincts, the knocking on doors.

There would be no Deval Patrick, no Barack Obama without the paths that were paved by Henry Twiggs, Neal said.

Patrick, who is running for president, didnt attend Tuesdays funeral. But the former governor did share his sentiments with The Republican and MassLive at the time of Twiggs passing.

Henry was a source of encouragement, guidance and wisdom when I was first a candidate and throughout my years as governor, Patrick said. His high-pitched calls to action fired me and others up more than once.

Neals line about Obama and Patrick garnered applause from the scores of friends, family and political associates at St. Johns Congregational Church on 45 Hancock Ave.

As did Councilor Jesse Lederman when he asked current and former council members to stand and said its now their job to carry on with Twiggs work.

One of many councilors who considered Twiggs a mentor, Lederman said it had been hard for Twiggs in recent months to attend meetings and play his role facilitating difficult discussions.

In those late nights in the Council Chamber, we could see you struggling, Lederman said. You could have just gone home. But you stayed and did the job youd been elected to do.

Twiggs announced in April that he would not run for another term after a decade on the City Council.

Lederman said Twiggs wife, Karen, earned the title of 14th councilor on the 13-member board for her work in helping Henry through his last term.

In his remarks, Twiggs son Antonio Delesline recalled asking his father why he ran for council as a 70-year-old in 2009. Twiggs couldnt bear it, he told his son at the time, if someone else ended up as councilor for his neighborhood in Ward 4.

Delesline also recalled the words of King, words he said apply to his father, when King observed that everyone can be great because everyone can serve.

Twiggs casket Tuesday was surrounded by flowers and by the symbols of his Masonic involvement and also present was one of his fedoras. He was known in life for always being well-dressed and for his outfits to always include a natty fedora.

Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno referred to this habit, and to the fact that both he and Twiggs are the sons of barbers.

From one son of a barber to another, Sarno said. A tip of the hat.

Twiggs is survived by his wife, Karen R. Twiggs; his sister, Laverne Sparkman of Florida; daughter Cynthia Frazier Twiggs of North Charleston, South Carolina; son Antonio L. Delesine, daughter Dawana S. Twiggs of Fairfield, Alabama; and daughter Sonia Twiggs Richards of Cartersville, Georgia. He is also survived by two nieces and two nephews: Constance Twiggs Rowe, Demetra Lynn Twiggs, David Twiggs and Keith Sparkman, 13 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his parents, brother David, daughter Leatrice and her son Damiun, niece Laverne, nephew Chris and niece Tanya.

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Springfield says goodbye to E. Henry Twiggs; Youve run your last campaign - MassLive.com

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If youre a political junkie whos been watching every twist and turn in the Democratic primary race since the day after the 2018 midterm results cameand if those in your social media circle are the same wayyouve probably grown weary of the drawn-out campaign and wish people would start voting already. But keep in mind that many less engaged voters are just now beginning to tune in. Historically, early-state primary polls have only begun to have predictive value after Thanksgiving. That make sense when you consider that most people dont pick out their Halloween costumes in May or June.

Surveys show that theres an unusual degree of interest in the 2020 election, so its possible that normies started paying close attention earlier than usual this cycle, but its also possible that this post-holiday week marks an unofficial start of the contest for the Democratic nomination.

With that in mind, here are a few things that a political junkie should keep in mind about how the primary race stands among the broader Democratic electorate.

National polls dont mean much this far out

The latestQuinnipiac pollgot a lot of attention this week. It found that former VEEP Joe Biden had retaken the lead from Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Many people think Bidens persistent lead in the national polling averages indicates that hes very likely to become the Democratic nominee. But while a candidate would prefer to be ahead than behind, keep in mind that inQuinnipiacs Oct 29, 2003 release, Wesley Clark led the field with 17 percent, trailed by Howard Dean and Joe Lieberman.Dick Gephardt followed and then came John Kerry, the eventual nominee, sitting in 5th place.

In theirDecember 10, 2003 poll, Dean had jumped ahead of Clark with the support of 22 percent of likely primary voters. Kerrys support, meanwhile, had dropped from 10 to 8 percent, and while he was still in 5th place, that survey found him tied with Al Sharpton.

They never will

Polling can tell you something about a candidates appeal, but it cant shed much light on whats under the hood of their campaignson the quality of their field organizations. When people start casting ballots, some will overperform expectations and others will disappoint. Momentum is a creation of the political press, but its effects are realresults in early states influence the media coverage and that in turns shapes the perceptions of voters in later states.

So its quite likely that the race will be reshaped as voting moves first from lily-white Iowa and quirky New Hampshire to South Carolina and Nevada, and then when February turns to March, when a huge chunk of delegates will be awarded on Super Tuesday.

And of course unforeseeable events could also restructure the campaign entirely. Howard Dean was flying high early in 2004 after he won the Iowa Caucuses. Adam Mordecai, a Dean staffer in Iowa, would later recall, We felt like we were invincible. He just kept winning poll after poll. He was on every magazine cover. But then Dean gave a speech with a rousing finish that would become known as the Dean Scream, whichfascinated our superficial political pressand ultimately created a path for John Kerry.

Its a very fluid race

According tothe latest Quinnipiac poll, only 11 percent of Democratic primary voters are undecided. But that figure is misleading, because another 57 percent of respondents said that while they are backing a candidate now, they might change their minds. This means that when you read, candidate X is at 35 percent in poll Y, over half of those supporters areleaningtowards that candidate at this point.

Thats as true of the establishment as it is rank-and-file voters

Whenever a prominent Democrat endorses or criticizes a candidate or a pundit with a big platform declares that a campaign is either surging or lagging, some people will conclude that its proof that the establishment is coalescing around one campaign or another. Sensitivities about Democratic elites putting their collective thumb on the scale linger from 2016.

But 2020 is a very different race. AsI wrote back in August, in 2016, Hillary Clinton racked up amomentouslead in endorsements from elected officials and prominent party activists. But so far in this cycle, most of those influential voices have waited to see how things will shake out. And the endorsements that have come in so farare distributed much more broadly among the candidates. (More generally, its better to think of the partys establishment as a cluster of power centers that come to a consensus at times, rather than as a monolithic creature.)

Ideological lanes are a pundits fallacy (with a caveat)

A lot of faulty analysis is based on the idea that moderate candidates are battling each other to win the moderate lane and progressives are similarly vying for a discrete group of consistently progressive voters. This ubiquitous narrative is contradicted byresearch undertaken by political scientistsand by voters second choices in the polls. Among Biden supporters in the Morning Consult poll, for example, 26 percent cite Bernie Sanders as their second choice, 19 percent name Elizabeth Warren and only 12 percent say its Pete Buttigieg, who is frequently said to be the moderate alternative to Biden.

On average, primary voters arent very ideological. They select candidates based on all sorts of criteriacharisma, experience, oratory skills, perceived electability, etc.

But theres a caveat: the fact that theres so much lane-based analysis may signal to voters that a candidate is or isnt aligned with their political identity. (Also,Nate Silver arguesthe lanes are real when you account for ideology along [with] other dimensions.)

Most voters arent persuaded by policy (with a big caveat)

Studies find that a small share of the electorate base their votes primarily on whether a candidate agrees with them on a few hot-button issues likeabortionandguns. And there issome evidencethat marijuana legalization boosts turnout among younger voters andmay discourage third-party votingwhen its embraced by a Democratic candidate.

Buta growing body of researchsuggests that most voters align themselves with a candidate (or a faction or party), and then work backwards to support that candidates policy proposals.

But here, again, we have to acknowledge that the way the media covers an issue also shapes how voters perceive it, and possibly how they think about candidates who support or oppose it. (I will write more about this issue soon in relation to Medicare for All.)

Most polling of demographic subgroups is misleading

You might hear that Mayor Pete Buttigieg is polling at zero percent with African-Americans, for example, or that voters over age 65 in South Carolina hold this or that opinion. Keep in mind that in most polls, these results are based on small sub-samples from a larger survey and as a result, tend to have a lot of room for error.

Speaking of Buttigieg

Last month, when Pete Buttigieg was in fourth place in New Hampshire,I arguedthat despite enjoying a flurry of favorable media coverage, the South Bend, Indiana mayor had not yet broken into the top tier of candidates. Now that hes leading in both Iowa and New Hampshire, its probably safe to say that he has.

But Buttigieg still differs from the other top candidates in one important way: According toMorning Consult, more than a third of Democratic primary voters have either never heard of the guy (18 percent) or dont yet know enough about him to have formed an opinion (18 percent).

That means he has room to grow, but it also means that as more voters get to know him better he could prove to be a flash in the pan. How he does in the first two contests relative to his polling, and the results of South Carolina and Nevadathe other, more diverse February stateswill probably go further toward determining which how his candidacy proceeds than it might with a more established figure.

Electability is only ever clear in hindsight

Back in June,I arguedthat 2020 will be first and foremost a battle over Donald Trump and the political movement he has inspired. Polls show that both parties basesare fired up to a degree thats unprecedentedin the modern era.

The Democratic coalition is bigger, and Republicans know that.So while the quality of the Dems nominee matters at least at the margins, the outcome will probably come down to whether the backlash against Trump that led to Democratic wins in the off-year elections of 2017, 2018 and 2019 can overcome an enormous amount of voter suppression, targeted disinformation and other measures to curb turnout among Trumps opposition.

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then let us make a small request. Like you, we here at Raw Story believe in the power of progressive journalism and were investing in investigative reporting as other publications give it the ax. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnstons DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. Weve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. Weve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. We need your support to do what we do.

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Here are 9 things you absolutely need to know about the 2020 Democratic primary race - Raw Story

Vice President Mike Pence will visit Rochester, Beaver County

Pence scheduled for meet-and-greet event at Rochester VFW on Dec. 10

Updated: 12:34 PM EST Dec 6, 2019

Vice President Mike Pence is coming to Beaver County for a campaign event -- his fourth visit to Pennsylvania this year.Pence is scheduled to participate in a Veterans for Trump meet-and-greet on Tuesday morning at VFW Post 128 in Rochester.Later in the day, Pence will travel to Hershey and join President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Giant Center.Pence has already made trips to Pennsylvania this year to visit manufacturers and make the case for Congress to pass the Trump administration's rewrite of a trade pact with Canada and Mexico.Pennsylvania is important to Trump's re-election campaign. It's a state where he scored a surprise win in the 2016 election.The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Vice President Mike Pence is coming to Beaver County for a campaign event -- his fourth visit to Pennsylvania this year.

Pence is scheduled to participate in a Veterans for Trump meet-and-greet on Tuesday morning at VFW Post 128 in Rochester.

Later in the day, Pence will travel to Hershey and join President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Giant Center.

Pence has already made trips to Pennsylvania this year to visit manufacturers and make the case for Congress to pass the Trump administration's rewrite of a trade pact with Canada and Mexico.

Pennsylvania is important to Trump's re-election campaign. It's a state where he scored a surprise win in the 2016 election.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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Vice President Mike Pence will visit Rochester, Beaver County - WTAE Pittsburgh

PENSACOLA (KRON) A total of four people are dead following an active shooter situation at NAS Pensacola, a Naval Air Station in Florida.

Three victims have been confirmed dead.

The shooter also died, according to the Escambia County Sheriffs Office.

Vice President Mike Pence sent his condolences to the victims and their families via Twitter.

Saddened to hear of the horrible shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola & continuing to monitor the situation. Praying for the victims & their families & we commend the first responders for their swift action in taking down the shooter & getting those on base to safety.

Praying for the victims & their families & we commend the first responders for their swift action in taking down the shooter & get those on base to safety, Pence tweeted, in part.

The tweet came in between a variety of tweets and retweets from President Donald Trump talking about the economy.

The president has been active on Twitter this morning, as expected.

But as of 8:28 a.m., hasnt mentioned anything about the shooting yet.

Stock Markets Up Record Numbers. For this year alone, Dow up 18.65%, S&P up 24.36%, Nasdaq Composite up 29.17%. Its the economy, stupid.

Without the horror show that is the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats, the Stock Markets and Economy would be even better, if that is possible, and the Border would be closed to the evil of Drugs, Gangs and all other problems! #2020

At 10:16 a.m., President Trump tweeted about the tragic event.

He said he had just received a full briefing on the shooting.

My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families during this difficult time. We are continuing to monitor the situation as the investigation is ongoing, he tweeted.

Just received a full briefing on the tragic shooting at NAS Pensacola in Florida, and spoke to @GovRonDeSantis. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families during this difficult time. We are continuing to monitor the situation as the investigation is ongoing.

News had just broke out that the shooting suspect was an aviation student from Saudi Arabia, and that authorities are investigating if the shooting was terrorism-related.

Trump also tweeted that he spoke to King Salman from Saudi Arabia, who expressed his sincere condolences and wanted to make it clear that the incident doesnt reflect the Saudi people.

.The King said that the Saudi people are greatly angered by the barbaric actions of the shooter, and that this person in no way shape or form represents the feelings of the Saudi people who love the American people, the tweet read.

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Trump, Pence send thoughts and prayers to victims, families of Pensacola naval base shooting - KRON4

Claim

In 1999, Mike Pence wrote an op-ed criticizing the inclusion of women in the military, citing the animated film "Mulan."

Reporting

Hours before Disney released the first trailer for a live-action adaptation of the film Mulan, social media users marked the occasion by recallingUnited States Vice President Mike Pences attack on the movie during his days as a member of the media.

As Buzzfeed reported in July 2016, Pence was a radio talk show host in Indiana when he wrote an op-ed in 1999 slamming the animated movie and using it as proof that allowing women to enlist in the U.S. armed forces was wrong. In doing so, he seemingly also made light of a sexual assault investigation the year before at Aberdeen Proving Ground, a United States Army base in Maryland:

When Indiana Congressman Steve Buyer was appointed to investigate the Aberdeen mess, he shocked the public with the revelation that young, nubile, 18 year old men and women were actually being HOUSED together during basic training. Whatever bone head came up with this idea should be run out of this mans Army before sundown. Housing, in close quarters, young men and women (in some cases married to non-military personnel) at the height of their physical and sexual potential is the height of stupidity.

Pences flippant remark regarding young, nubile service members made no mention of the fact that twelves drill instructors at Aberdeen had been charged following the investigation, with ended with four of them imprisoned including Sgt. Delmar Simpson, who was sentenced to 25 years in a military prison after being convicted of 18 counts of rape and 29 other offenses.

Before all of this, sexual harassment was never an issue, and now they stress it a lot, Pfc. Lorre Hendricks told the Washington Post in 1997 regarding the ripple effects of the scandal. Its made the Army safer.

Pence also mistakenly called the original Mulana fictional account of a delicate girl. In reality, the movie is an adaptation of The Ballad of Hua Mulan, an epic poem about the legendary figure Hua Mulan, who reputedly not only joined the Chinese army after posing as a man, but who served for twelve years before finally revealing herself to her comrades. According to the state-run China Internet Information Center:

It is not known whether Mulan was a real or fictional character. Scholars have deliberated her existence for centuries, but no one has been able to determine if she actually lived. The earliest accounts of the legend state that she lived during the Northern Wei dynasty (386534); later accounts place her in different time periods.

Nonetheless, her story has become a parable, as it sets forth many honored aspects of Chinese culture, such as filial piety (devotion to ones elders), bravery and modesty (shown through Mulans character, when she declines rewards from the emperor in favor of returning home to her family).

In his op-ed, Pence said he suspected whether some mischievous liberal at Disney hoped the original movie would change attitudes regarding womens military service. However, he argued, the movies subplot about Mulan falling for her superior officer only proved his point.

You see, now stay with me on this, many young men find many young women to be attractive sexually. Many young women find many young men to be attractive sexually, he wrote. Put them together, in close quarters, for long periods of time, and things will get interesting. Just like they eventually did for young Mulan. Moral of story: women in military, bad idea.

The rediscovery of Pences frankly sexist op-ed produced not only a spate of articles covering his remarks but a response published in the Washington Post in August 2016 by Kate Germano, who retired from the United States Marine Corps that year as a lieutenant colonel.

Pences op-ed reminds us of how radical it once was to think women could fight alongside men, she wrote. Indeed, in 1999, the idea that women would ever be fully capable of competing with men for ground combat jobs would have been considered nothing short of ridiculous.

But in 2016, Germano pointed out, three women graduated from the U.S. Army Ranger school; two more women Brig. Gens. Diana Holland and Cindy Jebb were selected as the commandant of cadets and dean of the academic board, respectively, at the U.S. Military Academy; and two 2nd Lts. in the Marine Corps, Virginia Brodie and Katherine Boy, graduated in high standing from the Basic Officer Leader Artillery Course.

As the military has evolved to develop an appreciation for the potential of women to serve in the most challenging of positions, it is also time for the American public to see these women for what they bring to the fight: brains, strength and courage, Germano wrote. They are not victims and they are not to be sheltered from the grim realities of war because of the myth of female frailty. Their service matters.

At the time of her op-eds publication, Germano was the chief operating officer of the advocacy group the Service Womens Action Network. In 2018 she released Fight Like A Girl, a first-person account of her own experiences in the corps.

Originally posted here:
Did Mike Pence Use 'Mulan' to 'Prove' Women Should Not Be in the... - Truth or Fiction