FAIL: North Carolina GOP Mocks Tim Kaine For Lapel Pin Honoring His U.S. Marine Son

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Careful with that Twitter finger. 

The North Carolina Republican Party, which boasts on Facebook of its “digital know how,” took to Twitter to call Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine “shameful” for wearing “a Honduras flag pin on his jacket but no American flag” during his speech on Wednesday night.

Just one problem: It wasn’t the flag of Honduras, but rather the symbol recognized by the Department of Defense for Blue Star Families ― the families of those who serve in the military.

Kaine’s son, Nat, is serving in the U.S. Marines with the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, and was just deployed to eastern Europe, according to the Marine Corps Times.

The gaffe was spotted by reporter Ben Amey of WNYT in Albany, New York, who saved an image of the tweet:

The state GOP thanked Amey and deleted the tweet. However, they offered no apology to Kaine.

The Blue Star pin features a blue star on a field of white with a red border, as seen on Kaine’s lapel:

The flag of Honduras is a three-striped flag. Two blue stripes are separated by a white stripe with five blue stars in it: 

Fort Bragg, the largest military base in the world, is located in North Carolina. The state also ranks third in military population, behind only California and Texas. 

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BigScreen adds audio sharing to fulfill its 'Virtual LAN' promise

BigScreen launched in beta back in April as a software solution to run conventional apps or films on a “screen” within VR for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift headsets. But one of its coolest features, sharing your digital monitor with friends, was hampered…

Abortion Rights Advocates At Democratic Convention Are Optimistic — Kind Of

PHILADELPHIA ― In June, the abortion rights movement was handed its first major victory in years. After eight years of steady and successful Republican efforts to roll back access to abortion, after states passed hundreds of anti-choice laws, finally, a win: The Supreme Court struck down Texas restrictions on abortion providers.

The law, HB2 ― filibustered by then-state Sen. Wendy Davis (D) and heavily protested by pro-choice Texans, put harsh restrictions on freestanding abortion clinics and on doctors who provide abortions.

Republican proponents say the law was intended to protect women’s health. Most Texas clinics could not meet the law’s standards for buildings, and many had to close. Texas was left with only 19 abortion clinics to serve 5.4 million women of reproductive age. Clinic closings also cost millions of people access to low-cost mammograms, STI testing, and contraception. By the time the Supreme Court stepped in, Republicans in other states had begun to follow Texas’s lead.

The Supreme Court ruling declaring the Texas law unconstitutional said it placed an undue burden on people who wanted to exercise a right to a medical procedure that is 14 times safer than giving birth. The decision was a win not just for pro-choicers in Texas, but for abortion rights advocates all over the nation.

At the Democratic National Convention this week, the relief and hope inspired by that victory was palpable. For the first time in years, some abortion rights advocates in Philadelphia said, they don’t feel like they’re up against an unassailable foe. For the first time since the anti-abortion onslaught began, shortly after the 2010 midterm elections, pro-abortion rights advocates said they were optimistic about the future of reproductive rights.

Celia Morgan, president of Texas Young Democrats, recalled how she found out that she was pregnant at a Planned Parenthood center in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Now, she’s a single mom ― her 5-year-old daughter is at home in Texas with Morgan’s mother “getting spoiled.”

“It’s a huge relief that the Supreme Court decided the strike down the law,” Morgan said. “It’s really relieving to have the court uphold our feelings on this: that these are our decisions, that these are health care decisions.”

Morgan said she’s looking ahead to the next reproductive justice challenge. “Next is having a comprehensive conversation about what reproductive equality means,” she said. “We’ve seen some really interesting science and research about birth control for all genders. So that’s exciting.”

But pro-choicers, she said, can’t afford to relax.

“In my state, they’re not going to give up on this,” Morgan said. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has ordered that aborted fetuses be buried or cremated ― a rule similar to one GOP vice presidential nominee Mike Pence signed as governor of Indiana.

And it’s not just abortion access; it’s other forms of reproductive health care, too.

“What I’m looking at in Texas is the consistently more extreme values that are coming from our legislators ― our Republican and tea party legislators,” Morgan said. “We’re really creating an environment for unhealthy families.”

Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice, said she harbors no illusions that the Supreme Court ruling will end a more than 40-year fight.

“It was a victory for women, absolutely,” Hogue said in an interview with HuffPost on Wednesday. “It was a victory for evidence-based decision-making, because what the justices said is that there is still room in our country to research, do data, demonstrate impact on vulnerable women.”

Hogue said she’s delighted by the “energy, optimism and excitement” in the Clinton campaign’s embrace of abortion rights, and she recalled that June day on the steps of the Supreme Court.

“What I felt most viscerally,” Hogue said, “is a movement that was on the march. … Relief, absolutely, but you weren’t going to stop this movement, win or lose at the Supreme Court.”

But Hogue said she’s braced for a backlash from anti-abortion activists and legislators. “It freaked our opponents out that this court would actually decide in our favor,” she said, “and it makes them even more aggressive about winning the White House in November.”

As the general election approaches, and with Pence on the GOP ticket, “the stakes are incredibly high” for proponents of abortion rights, Hogue said.

“It is probably a defensible statement that Mike Pence is the most anti-woman governor ever,” Hogue said. “Everything Donald Trump has said he’s going to do, Mike Pence has actually done,” she said, pointing to Pence’s record of signing legislation to jail abortion providers and defund Planned Parenthood.

Two Indiana delegates chatting and smoking outside Wells Fargo Center Wednesday with similarly buttoned and lanyarded convention attendees condemned their governor’s fetus funeral rule and spoke with horror about a “huge outbreak” of HIV in Clark County, where Planned Parenthood clinics and needle drop facilities have closed. They said they hoped the Supreme Court decision would allow Planned Parenthood clinics to reopen and would curb Republican efforts to undermine abortion access.

“I feel optimistic about reproductive rights once Pence is gone,” one of them said.

Hogue said an elderly woman told her Wednesday the stakes have never been higher. But after the first win in what seems forever, it feels like some of the undue burden has at last been lifted.

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Democratic Delegates Applaud President Obama's Legacy

PHILADELPHIA ― President Barack Obama, who began his presidential career as the victor of a divisive primary, may be ending it this year as the Democratic Party’s greatest unifier.

While the divisions between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporters are still healing, few Democratic delegates in either camp had all that much negative to say about their outgoing president, who addressed the Democratic National Convention in an optimistic speech Wednesday night.

“I think he’s already made his mark on America,” said Percy Johnson, a Hillary Clinton delegate from Florida, who predicted Obama would be remembered as one of history’s most well-regarded presidents. “His legacy of course will be health care, LGBT rights, marriage equality. I think the other thing will be his footprint on the world ― that we don’t necessarily have to be the policeman of the world, that we can engage people through diplomacy.”

Jerome Thompson, a Sanders delegate from New York, pronounced himself “a big supporter of Obama.”

“There’s only a couple of things I’m not happy with, like the TPP,” he said, referring to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. “But, you know, he brought health care to millions of Americans, and that’s a powerful accomplishment. He’s been keeping us safe from terror for the most part. He’s a very intelligent man, and he was up against a mighty brick wall. He accepted the challenge, and he did well. Wish we could have another four years.”

Obama acknowledged in his remarks that “we still have more work to do … for everyone who hasn’t yet felt the progress of these past seven and a half years.”

But he defended his legacy as a positive one, painting the upcoming election as a choice between “deeply pessimistic vision of a country” and an America “full of courage, and optimism and ingenuity.”

Democrats largely believe in the latter. While Americans as a whole are split on Obama’s record, members of his party say that his tenure has left the nation stronger internationally and improved economically. More than 80 percent of Democrats approve of Obama’s job performance, a number that has varied relatively little during his years as president. 

Some of his supporters struggled to think of ways Clinton could improve on his legacy.

“Maybe she can do some things that he wasn’t able to with Congress blocking him at every turn,” said Helen Kyle, a Clinton backer from Virginia who lauded Obama’s expansion of health care.

Asked what specifically that might be, she said she “can’t honestly think of what that is.”  

Does that mean he’s checked off everything on the list? “My list, anyway,” she said.

Others who felt Obama had fallen short in some way blamed it largely on Republican intransigence.

“Clearly he hasn’t been able to accomplish everything he wanted to do,” said Boyd Walker, a Sanders delegate from northern Virginia. “Close Guantanamo Bay, pull all the troops out of Afghanistan, I’m sure one of his biggest regrets is not being able to reform police departments … but it’s all because we have a Republican Congress.”

“I’d like to have seen him accomplish single-payer [health care], but the votes just weren’t there,” said Will T. Cheek, a superdelegate from Tennessee. 

But outside the convention hall, not everyone is so unflaggingly enthusiastic about the state of the nation. Although positive views of Obama are on the rise, fewer than a quarter of Americans think that the country is on the right track, and the majority of voters expect that disaffection with the current government will benefit Donald Trump in November.

Mike Schweinsburg, a Sanders delegate, said that while he’d been “delighted” by Obama’s eight years in office, he didn’t want to see Clinton’s campaign paint her candidacy as a continuation of his presidency.

“That’s my biggest worry. The ascendancy of Bernie, and the only thing you can attribute the popularity of Donald Trump to is that the country wants change,” he said. “They do not want more of the same. They also don’t want anybody who’s establishment. She can’t get away from that. But she can get away from, oh, ‘This is a third term for Obama.’ She should herald his accomplishments and acknowledge his defeats, and say how she is going to make that difference.”

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Michelle Obama Shows Us How Proud She Is Of Her Husband After His DNC Speech

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First lady Michelle Obama tweeted how proud she was of her husband on Wednesday after he spoke emotionally about the optimism he still has for America and made the case for why Hillary Clinton should be the next president.

The first lady, who gave a remarkably moving speech Monday at the convention, tweeted that Obama’s speech showed what real leadership looks like.

Obama tweeted his own praise for Michelle after her speech earlier this week.

Read more about President Obama’s DNC speech here and more about Michelle Obama’s speech here.

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Read President Obama's Full Speech To The DNC

President Barack Obama offered a moving vision of optimism for the United States on Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention and made it clear why he believes Hillary Clinton is the person best-suited to carry on his legacy in the White House.

Read the text of Obama’s speech, as prepared for delivery, below:

Hello, America.

Twelve years ago tonight, I addressed this convention for the very first time.

You met my two little girls, Malia and Sasha – now two amazing young women who just fill me with pride.  You fell for my brilliant wife and partner Michelle, who’s made me a better father and a better man; who’s gone on to inspire our nation as First Lady; and who somehow hasn’t aged a day. 

I know the same can’t be said for me.  My girls remind me all the time.  Wow, you’ve changed so much, daddy. 

And it’s true – I was so young that first time in Boston.  Maybe a little nervous addressing such a big crowd.  But I was filled with faith; faith in America – the generous, bighearted, hopeful country that made my story – indeed, all of our stories – possible.

A lot’s happened over the years.  And while this nation has been tested by war and recession and all manner of challenge – I stand before you again tonight, after almost two terms as your President, to tell you I am even more optimistic about the future of America.

How could I not be – after all we’ve achieved together?

After the worst recession in 80 years, we’ve fought our way back.  We’ve seen deficits come down, 401(k)s recover, an auto industry set new records, unemployment reach eight-year lows, and our businesses create 15 million new jobs.

After a century of trying, we declared that health care in America is not a privilege for a few, but a right for everybody.  After decades of talk, we finally began to wean ourselves off foreign oil, and doubled our production of clean energy.

We brought more of our troops home to their families, and delivered justice to Osama bin Laden.  Through diplomacy, we shut down Iran’s nuclear weapons program, opened up a new chapter with the people of Cuba, and brought nearly 200 nations together around a climate agreement that could save this planet for our kids.

We put policies in place to help students with loans; protect consumers from fraud; and cut veteran homelessness almost in half.  And through countless acts of quiet courage, America learned that love has no limits, and marriage equality is now a reality across the land.

By so many measures, our country is stronger and more prosperous than it was when we started. 

And through every victory and every setback, I’ve insisted that change is never easy, and never quick; that we wouldn’t meet all of our challenges in one term, or one presidency, or even in one lifetime. 

So tonight, I’m here to tell you that yes, we still have more work to do.  More work to do for every American still in need of a good job or a raise, paid leave or a decent retirement; for every child who needs a sturdier ladder out of poverty or a world-class education; for everyone who hasn’t yet felt the progress of these past seven and a half years.  We need to keep making our streets safer and our criminal justice system fairer; our homeland more secure, and our world more peaceful and sustainable for the next generation.  We’re not done perfecting our union, or living up to our founding creed – that all of us are created equal and free in the eyes of God.

That work involves a big choice this November.  Fair to say, this is not your typical election.  It’s not just a choice between parties or policies; the usual debates between left and right.  This is a more fundamental choice – about who we are as a people, and whether we stay true to this great American experiment in self-government.

Look, we Democrats have always had plenty of differences with the Republican Party, and there’s nothing wrong with that; it’s precisely this contest of ideas that pushes our country forward. 

But what we heard in Cleveland last week wasn’t particularly Republican – and it sure wasn’t conservative.  What we heard was a deeply pessimistic vision of a country where we turn against each other, and turn away from the rest of the world.  There were no serious solutions to pressing problems – just the fanning of resentment, and blame, and anger, and hate.

And that is not the America I know. 

The America I know is full of courage, and optimism, and ingenuity.  The America I know is decent and generous.  Sure, we have real anxieties – about paying the bills, protecting our kids, caring for a sick parent.  We get frustrated with political gridlock, worry about racial divisions; are shocked and saddened by the madness of Orlando or Nice.  There are pockets of America that never recovered from factory closures; men who took pride in hard work and providing for their families who now feel forgotten; parents who wonder whether their kids will have the same opportunities we had. 

All that is real.  We’re challenged to do better; to be better.  But as I’ve traveled this country, through all fifty states; as I’ve rejoiced with you and mourned with you, what I’ve also seen, more than anything, is what is right with America.  I see people working hard and starting businesses; people teaching kids and serving our country.  I see engineers inventing stuff, and doctors coming up with new cures.  I see a younger generation full of energy and new ideas, not constrained by what is, ready to seize what ought to be.

Most of all, I see Americans of every party, every background, every faith who believe that we are stronger together – black,white, Latino, Asian, Native American; young and old; gay, straight, men, women, folks with disabilities, all pledging allegiance, under the same proud flag, to this big, bold country that we love. 

That’s the America I know.  And there is only one candidate in this race who believes in that future, and has devoted her life to it; a mother and grandmother who’d do anything to help our children thrive; a leader with real plans to break down barriers, blast through glass ceilings, and widen the circle of opportunity to every single American – the next President of the United States, Hillary Clinton.

Now, eight years ago, Hillary and I were rivals for the Democratic nomination.  We battled for a year and a half.  Let me tell you, it was tough, because Hillary’s tough.  Every time I thought I might have that race won, Hillary just came back stronger.

But after it was all over, I asked Hillary to join my team.  She was a little surprised, but ultimately said yes – because she knew that what was at stake was bigger than either of us.  And for four years, I had a front-row seat to her intelligence, her judgment, and her discipline.  I came to realize that her unbelievable work ethic wasn’t for praise or attention – that she was in this for everyone who needs a champion.  I understood that after all these years, she has never forgotten just who she’s fighting for.

Hillary’s still got the tenacity she had as a young woman working at the Children’s Defense Fund, going door to door to ultimately make sure kids with disabilities could get a quality education. 

She’s still got the heart she showed as our First Lady, working with Congress to help push through a Children’s Health Insurance Program that to this day protects millions of kids. 

She’s still seared with the memory of every American she met who lost loved ones on 9/11, which is why, as a Senator from New York, she fought so hard for funding to help first responders; why, as Secretary of State, she sat with me in the Situation Room and forcefully argued in favor of the mission that took out bin Laden.

You know, nothing truly prepares you for the demands of the Oval Office.  Until you’ve sat at that desk, you don’t know what it’s like to manage a global crisis, or send young people to war.  But Hillary’s been in the room; she’s been part of those decisions.  She knows what’s at stake in the decisions our government makes for the working family, the senior citizen, the small business owner, the soldier, and the veteran.  Even in the middle of crisis, she listens to people, and keeps her cool, and treats everybody with respect.  And no matter how daunting the odds; no matter how much people try to knock her down, she never, ever quits. 

That’s the Hillary I know.  That’s the Hillary I’ve come to admire.  And that’s why I can say with confidence there has never been a man or a woman more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as President of the United States of America.

And, by the way, in case you were wondering about her judgment, look at her choice of running mate.  Tim Kaine is as good a man, as humble and committed a public servant, as anyone I know.  He will be a great Vice President, and he’ll make Hillary a better President.  Just like my dear friend and brother Joe Biden has made me a better President.

Now, Hillary has real plans to address the concerns she’s heard from you on the campaign trail. She’s got specific ideas to invest in new jobs, to help workers share in their company’s profits, to help put kids in preschool, and put students through college without taking on a ton of debt.  That’s what leaders do. 

And then there’s Donald Trump.  He’s not really a plans guy.  Not really a facts guy, either.  He calls himself a business guy, which is true, but I have to say, I know plenty of businessmen and women who’ve achieved success without leaving a trail of lawsuits, and unpaid workers, and people feeling like they got cheated.

Does anyone really believe that a guy who’s spent his 70 years on this Earth showing no regard for working people is suddenly going to be your champion?  Your voice?  If so, you should vote for him.  But if you’re someone who’s truly concerned about paying your bills, and seeing the economy grow, and creating more opportunity for everybody, then the choice isn’t even close.  If you want someone with a lifelong track record of fighting for higher wages, better benefits, a fairer tax code, a bigger voice for workers, and stronger regulations on Wall Street, then you should vote for Hillary Clinton. 

And if you’re concerned about who’s going to keep you and your family safe in a dangerous world – well, the choice is even clearer.  Hillary Clinton is respected around the world not just by leaders, but by the people they serve.  She’s worked closely with our intelligence teams, our diplomats, our military. And she has the judgment, the experience, and the temperament to meet the threat from terrorism.  It’s not new to her.  Our troops have pounded ISIL without mercy, taking out leaders, taking back territory.  I know Hillary won’t relent until ISIL is destroyed.  She’ll finish the job – and she’ll do it without resorting to torture, or banning entire religions from entering our country.  She is fit to be the next Commander-in-Chief.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump calls our military a disaster.  Apparently, he doesn’t know the men and women who make up the strongest fighting force the world has ever known.  He suggests America is weak.  He must not hear the billions of men, women, and children, from the Baltics to Burma, who still look to America to be the light of freedom, dignity, and human rights.  He cozies up to Putin, praises Saddam Hussein, and tells the NATO allies that stood by our side after 9/11 that they have to pay up if they want our protection.  Well, America’s promises do not come with a price tag.  We meet our commitments.  And that’s one reason why almost every country on Earth sees America as stronger and more respected today than they did eight years ago.

America is already great.  America is already strong.  And I promise you, our strength, our greatness, does not depend on Donald Trump. 

In fact, it doesn’t depend on any one person.  And that, in the end, may be the biggest difference in this election – the meaning of our democracy. 

Ronald Reagan called America “a shining city on a hill.”  Donald Trump calls it “a divided crime scene” that only he can fix.  It doesn’t matter to him that illegal immigration and the crime rate are as low as they’ve been in decades, because he’s not offering any real solutions to those issues.  He’s just offering slogans, and he’s offering fear.  He’s betting that if he scares enough people, he might score just enough votes to win this election. 

That is another bet that Donald Trump will lose.  Because he’s selling the American people short.  We are not a fragile or frightful people.  Our power doesn’t come from some self-declared savior promising that he alone can restore order.  We don’t look to be ruled.  Our power comes from those immortal declarations first put to paper right here in Philadelphia all those years ago; We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that together, We, the People, can form a more perfect union. 

That’s who we are.  That’s our birthright – the capacity to shape our own destiny.  That’s what drove patriots to choose revolution over tyranny and our GIs to liberate a continent.  It’s what gave women the courage to reach for the ballot, and marchers to cross a bridge in Selma, and workers to organize and fight for better wages.

America has never been about what one person says he’ll do for us.  It’s always been about what can be achieved by us, together, through the hard, slow, sometimes frustrating, but ultimately enduring work of self-government.

And that’s what Hillary Clinton understands.  She knows that this is a big, diverse country, and that most issues are rarely black and white.  That even when you’re 100 percent right, getting things done requires compromise.  That democracy doesn’t work if we constantly demonize each other.  She knows that for progress to happen, we have to listen to each other, see ourselves in each other, fight for our principles but also fight to find common ground, no matter how elusive that may seem.

Hillary knows we can work through racial divides in this country when we realize the worry black parents feel when their son leaves the house isn’t so different than what a brave cop’s family feels when he puts on the blue and goes to work; that we can honor police and treat every community fairly.  She knows that acknowledging problems that have festered for decades isn’t making race relations worse – it’s creating the possibility for people of good will to join and make things better.

Hillary knows we can insist on a lawful and orderly immigration system while still seeing striving students and their toiling parents as loving families, not criminals or rapists; families that came here for the same reasons our forebears came – to work, and study, and make a better life, in a place where we can talk and worship and love as we please.  She knows their dream is quintessentially American, and the American Dream is something no wall will ever contain.

It can be frustrating, this business of democracy.  Trust me, I know.  Hillary knows, too.  When the other side refuses to compromise, progress can stall.  Supporters can grow impatient, and worry that you’re not trying hard enough; that you’ve maybe sold out.

But I promise you, when we keep at it; when we change enough minds; when we deliver enough votes, then progress does happen.  Just ask the twenty million more people who have health care today.  Just ask the Marine who proudly serves his country without hiding the husband he loves.  Democracy works, but we gotta want it – not just during an election year, but all the days in between. 

So if you agree that there’s too much inequality in our economy, and too much money in our politics, we all need to be as vocal and as organized and as persistent as Bernie Sanders’ supporters have been.  We all need to get out and vote for Democrats up and down the ticket, and then hold them accountable until they get the job done.

If you want more justice in the justice system, then we’ve all got to vote – not just for a President, but for mayors, and sheriffs, and state’s attorneys, and state legislators.  And we’ve got to work with police and protesters until laws and practices are changed.

If you want to fight climate change, we’ve got to engage not only young people on college campuses, but reach out to the coal miner who’s worried about taking care of his family, the single mom worried about gas prices.

If you want to protect our kids and our cops from gun violence, we’ve got to get the vast majority of Americans, including gun owners, who agree on background checks to be just as vocal and determined as the gun lobby that blocks change through every funeral we hold.  That’s how change will happen.

Look, Hillary’s got her share of critics.  She’s been caricatured by the right and by some folks on the left; accused of everything you can imagine – and some things you can’t.  But she knows that’s what happens when you’re under a microscope for 40 years.  She knows she’s made mistakes, just like I have; just like we all do.  That’s what happens when we try.  That’s what happens when you’re the kind of citizen Teddy Roosevelt once described – not the timid souls who criticize from the sidelines, but someone “who is actually in the arena…who strives valiantly; who errs…[but] who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement.”

Hillary Clinton is that woman in the arena.  She’s been there for us – even if we haven’t always noticed.  And if you’re serious about our democracy, you can’t afford to stay home just because she might not align with you on every issue.  You’ve got to get in the arena with her, because democracy isn’t a spectator sport.  America isn’t about “yes he will.”  It’s about “yes we can.”  And we’re going to carry Hillary to victory this fall, because that’s what the moment demands. 

You know, there’s been a lot of talk in this campaign about what America’s lost – people who tell us that our way of life is being undermined by pernicious changes and dark forces beyond our control.  They tell voters there’s a “real America” out there that must be restored.  This isn’t an idea that started with Donald Trump.  It’s been peddled by politicians for a long time – probably from the start of our Republic.

And it’s got me thinking about the story I told you twelve years ago tonight, about my Kansas grandparents and the things they taught me when I was growing up.  They came from the heartland; their ancestors began settling there about 200 years ago.  They were Scotch-Irish mostly, farmers, teachers, ranch hands, pharmacists, oil rig workers.  Hardy, small town folks.  Some were Democrats, but a lot of them were Republicans.  My grandparents explained that they didn’t like show-offs.  They didn’t admire braggarts or bullies.  They didn’t respect mean-spiritedness, or folks who were always looking for shortcuts in life.  Instead, they valued traits like honesty and hard work.  Kindness and courtesy.  Humility; responsibility; helping each other out.

That’s what they believed in.  True things.  Things that last.  The things we try to teach our kids. 

And what my grandparents understood was that these values weren’t limited to Kansas.  They weren’t limited to small towns.  These values could travel to Hawaii; even the other side of the world, where my mother would end up working to help poor women get a better life.  They knew these values weren’t reserved for one race; they could be passed down to a half-Kenyan grandson, or a half-Asian granddaughter; in fact, they were the same values Michelle’s parents, the descendants of slaves, taught their own kids living in a bungalow on the South Side of Chicago.  They knew these values were exactly what drew immigrants here, and they believed that the children of those immigrants were just as American as their own, whether they wore a cowboy hat or a yarmulke; a baseball cap or a hijab.

America has changed over the years.  But these values my grandparents taught me – they haven’t gone anywhere.  They’re as strong as ever; still cherished by people of every party, every race, and every faith.  They live on in each of us.  What makes us American, what makes us patriots, is what’s in here.  That’s what matters.  That’s why we can take the food and music and holidays and styles of other countries, and blend it into something uniquely our own.  That’s why we can attract strivers and entrepreneurs from around the globe to build new factories and create new industries here.  That’s why our military can look the way it does, every shade of humanity, forged into common service.  That’s why anyone who threatens our values, whether fascists or communists or jihadists or homegrown demagogues, will always fail in the end.

That’s America.  Those bonds of affection; that common creed.  We don’t fear the future; we shape it, embrace it, as one people, stronger together than we are on our own.  That’s what Hillary Clinton understands – this fighter, this stateswoman, this mother and grandmother, this public servant, this patriot – that’s the America she’s fighting for.

And that’s why I have confidence, as I leave this stage tonight, that the Democratic Party is in good hands.  My time in thisoffice hasn’t fixed everything; as much as we’ve done, there’s still so much I want to do.  But for all the tough lessons I’ve had to learn; for all the places I’ve fallen short; I’ve told Hillary, and I’ll tell you what’s picked me back up, every single time.

It’s been you.  The American people.

It’s the letter I keep on my wall from a survivor in Ohio who twice almost lost everything to cancer, but urged me to keep fighting for health care reform, even when the battle seemed lost.  Do not quit.

It’s the painting I keep in my private office, a big-eyed, green owl, made by a seven year-old girl who was taken from us in Newtown, given to me by her parents so I wouldn’t forget – a reminder of all the parents who have turned their grief into action.

It’s the small business owner in Colorado who cut most of his own salary so he wouldn’t have to lay off any of his workers in the recession – because, he said, “that wouldn’t have been in the spirit of America.”

It’s the conservative in Texas who said he disagreed with me on everything, but appreciated that, like him, I try to be a good dad.

It’s the courage of the young soldier from Arizona who nearly died on the battlefield in Afghanistan, but who’s learned to speak and walk again – and earlier this year, stepped through the door of the Oval Office on his own power, to salute and shake my hand.

It’s every American who believed we could change this country for the better, so many of you who’d never been involved in politics, who picked up phones, and hit the streets, and used the internet in amazing new ways to make change happen.  You are the best organizers on the planet, and I’m so proud of all the change you’ve made possible.

Time and again, you’ve picked me up.  I hope, sometimes, I picked you up, too.  Tonight, I ask you to do for Hillary Clinton what you did for me.  I ask you to carry her the same way you carried me.  Because you’re who I was talking about twelve years ago, when I talked about hope – it’s been you who’ve fueled my dogged faith in our future, even when the odds are great; even when the road is long.  Hope in the face of difficulty; hope in the face of uncertainty; the audacity of hope!

America, you have vindicated that hope these past eight years.  And now I’m ready to pass the baton and do my part as a private citizen.  This year, in this election, I’m asking you to join me – to reject cynicism, reject fear, to summon what’s best in us; to elect Hillary Clinton as the next President of the United States, and show the world we still believe in the promise of this great nation.

Thank you for this incredible journey.  Let’s keep it going.  God bless the United States of America.

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GOP's Approach to Reducing College Debt is Wrong-Headed

A recent study by the Bookings Institution raised questions about the extent to which students who graduate from college are actually facing the kind of crushing debt that is typically presented with anecdotal evidence by the media and politicians. The report indicates that only 7 percent of young-adult households with education debt have $50,000 or more, while 58 percent have less than $10,000 in debt, and an additional 18 percent have debts between $10,000 and $20,000. Clearly, there are still a lot of people in debt, but we should be wary of those who make broad generalizations from anecdotal evidence.

Without question, the cost of some colleges is very high. My son attends a private university and the total annual package is around $60,000/year. That’s a lot of money, but we chose to send him to that particular school and are prepared to pay for it. We could have easily chosen other schools: the total cost at the university where I teach (assuming my son were to live on campus rather than at home) would be less than half of the university he attends. In fact, there are a variety of levels of cost for college in the US, some of which are quite reasonable and some of which are incredibly expensive.

If you believe in a free market being applied to everything (I don’t, by the way), then you are going to get some colleges that charge absurd tuitions and fees. Why can Stanford, Harvard, Yale, etc. charge so much? Because with acceptance rates around 6%, they can. People are willing to pay pretty much whatever these schools charge. In other words, if you believe in a free market economy, don’t complain that universities charge too much. They are simply doing what conservatives have encouraged everyone to do for years–let the market control everything.

Interestingly, the 2016 GOP platform states that public policy should support affordability, innovation and transparency in technical institutions and online universities, but a “four-year degree from a brick-and-mortar institution is not the only path toward a prosperous and fulfilling career.” I think this is right. Not everyone needs to attend college, nor is the traditional college experience right for everyone who pursues higher education.

However, the GOP’s “solution” to the problem of high college costs and student debt is to eliminate college loans originated by the federal government in favor of only insuring private loans. In other words, the GOP wants private companies to profit from the educational needs of students while taxpayers eliminate any risk involved with providing loans.

This is not the solution to the problem. In fact, providing government originated or insured loans to pay tuition at for-profit institutions, at least, is only likely to increase costs as those institutions will be encouraged to gouge students with increased rates, since they know they will get paid regardless of how the amount of debt affects students.

Instead of the GOP’s approach, which is really just intended to help banks make more money, we should change the way we deal with federal loans and also the way we fund higher education. If people want very low tuition for college, then they are going to have to pay for that through tax dollars that support public colleges and universities. With the exception of Wyoming and North Dakota, state governments have retreated dramatically from support of higher education since the 1970s. All other states have reduced their support to higher education by anywhere from 15 percent to 70 percent between fiscal 1980 and fiscal 2011. And some have argued that if trends since 1980 continue, the average public funding for higher education will be zero by 2060.

This defunding of public higher education is one of the main reasons tuitions at state colleges and universities have risen considerably in the past decades and, therefore, is one of the primary reasons for increasing debt among college graduates.

We need to support public institutions that can provide access to higher education to all who are qualified to attend. And public institutions need to be funded well through tax dollars in order to keep tuition costs down and to provide loans that will help students do well in school without a heavy financial burden after graduation. These loans should not be provided by private businesses profiting off of those who are less financially advantaged.

We don’t need to eliminate federally originated loans, but enhance them as a way of making a college education available to anyone who is qualified. How?

  1. Federal loans should be interest-free for those students who graduate.
  2. Students who fail to graduate from college (perhaps within a specified period of time such as six years) should be required to pay back their loans with interest to the federal government. This would help to underwrite the administrative costs to the government associated with originating loans.
  3. To encourage high performance at public universities–all students who graduate with honors from a public college or university should have their loans forgiven. When tax dollars are used wisely, that use should be rewarded.
  4. Government originated loans should not be available to for-profit educational businesses, because their primary goal is making money, not educating the public. If students choose to attend a for-profit educational business, then their loans should come from banks, just as they would if they were buying a car.

Steps like these would promote high performance among students who receive loans from the federal government and improve access for lower income students who seek the learning, advancement, and opportunity available through a college education. When combined with solid state funding to public higher education (yes, tax dollars), it would make college an affordable option for lower and middle-income families and for the government.

The GOP’s plan to use college loans as just another way for banks to profit off of people with limited means is not the solution to the problem.

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Obama Tells Voters What They Can Do To Push Criminal Justice Reform

President Barack Obama issued a call to action on criminal justice reform on Wednesday during his speech at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

In an optimistic address that focused on the power of democracy to affect change and positively shape the future, Obama told the nation that it will take more than a vote for Hillary Clinton to correct longstanding inequalities in the U.S. legal system.

“If you want more justice in the justice system, then we’ve all got to vote not just for a president, but for mayors, and sheriffs, and state’s attorneys and state legislators,” said Obama. “That’s where the criminal laws are made, and we’ve got to work with police and protesters until laws and practices are changed. That’s how democracy works.”

Indeed, while presidents and congressional lawmakers often get blamed for failing to reform the criminal justice system ― and also for breaking it ― state and local officials have huge sway over the policies that guide our approach to policing, incarceration, sentencing and other critical issues in this arena. This is true for the state legislatures that helped drive mass incarceration in the 1980s, all the way on down to the county prosecutors who refuse to hold police officers accountable for misconduct.

But in a campaign that will likely feature heated debate about which candidate cares the most about law and order, Obama made sure to bolster his former secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s credentials on justice, law enforcement and race issues as well.

“Hillary knows we can work through racial divides in this country when we realize the worry black parents feel when their son leaves the house isn’t so different than what a brave cop’s family feels when he puts on the blue and goes to work; that we can honor police and treat every community fairly,” he said.

“She knows that acknowledging problems that have festered for decades isn’t making race relations worse, it’s creating the possibility for people of good will to join and make things better,” Obama added.

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ISKRA – Ep.3

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Updated every Thursday

Copyright ⓒ 2015 RollingStory Inc.

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Study identifies two new carcinogens in e-cigarette vapor

Most people won’t dispute the claim that e-cigarettes are less harmful than traditional smokes, but evidence is rapidly mounting that vaping isn’t exactly good for you, either. Numerous studies have found toxic chemicals and carcinogens in e-cigarett…