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No Spin News Summary – October 11, 2018

What Should Happen With Sen. Feinstein? 

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she was “surprised” that President Trump singled her out during a rally in Iowa but called it part of his “technique of division.”

Feinstein added that she was “surprised” that Trump “singled me out for a personal letter I received. This wasn’t anything that was covert or classified.” 

Republicans have criticized Feinstein on two fronts: first, for waiting weeks to hand the letter over to the FBI. Feinstein says she was trying to honor Ford’s request for privacy. And second, for the Ford letter being leaked, something both Feinstein has said neither she nor her staff were responsible for. But Trump ratcheted up the criticism on Tuesday, appearing to encourage his supporters after they began chanting “lock her up” about Feinstein.

“'Did you leak the documents?'” he added, portraying an exaggerated denial from Feinstein. The crowd broke into chants of "lock her up," prompting laughter from Trump. "I think they’re talking about Feinstein," Trump said.

Hurricane Michael Update

Damages (Florida):

Panama City through Mexico Beach and into Apalachicola, houses were swamped or blown apart, roofs were ripped off, boats sank and trees toppled in the high winds. Major damage reported at Tyndall Air Force Base: The base, which sits across the bay from Panama City. A wind gust of 129 mph was measured at the base. No injuries were reported. Devastation reported in Mexico Beach: Images from Mexico Beach showed widespread devastation with homes reduced to kindling and roofs lying in the middle of U.S. 98. Storm surge lapped at roof eaves.

Storm tracker shocked by damage: "It's hard to convey in words the scale of the catastrophe in Panama City. The whole city looks like a nuke was dropped on it. I'm literally shocked at the scale of the destruction," tweeted chaser Josh Morgerman.

Trees downed across capital city: Officials in Tallahassee tweeted that initial assessments of storm damage were showing lots of downed power lines, power poles, and trees. Virtually the entire city was without power on Thursday. No major injuries were reported in the city. 

Damages (Georgia):

Early Thursday morning, about 350,000 homes and business were without power. Numerous tornadoes reported: Crawford County officials say a possible tornado damaged five homes near Roberta, the AP said, but no injuries were reported. Tornadoes might have also been spawned near Roberta, Perry and Fort Valley in central Georgia. Farther north, a reported tornado touched down Wednesday evening in the Atlanta area.

No reports of injuries or damage were immediately available. 

Damages (Alabama):

Injuries reported in Dothan: At least three people were injured in Dothan when a tree fell on a home Wednesday afternoon, WSFA.com reported. One of the victims was in critical condition, the report added.

Widespread power outages: More than 60,000 homes and businesses in southern Alabama were without power early Thursday.

Damages (The Carolina’s):

On Thursday morning, flooding was reported in parts of western North Carolina after hours of heavy rain overwhelmed rivers and streams. Several roads in Boone, North Carolina, were impacted the floodwaters Thursday morning, the city's police department tweeted.

Cost estimate:

Early projections have put private property damages at between $13 billion and $19 billion.

Loss of life:

2 deaths have been confirmed, 1 in Florida and 1 in Georgia. One death was reported in the Panhandle. A Greensboro man was killed when a tree crashed on his home, Gadsden County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Anglie Hightower told the Associated Press. In southern Georgia, an 11-year-old girl was killed when a carport hit her home in Seminole County.

Washington & Lee University Replaces Portraits of Washington and Lee, Renames Buildings

Washington & Lee University, in Lexington, Virginia, is replacing prominent portraits of George Washington and Robert E. Lee in military uniform with versions of them in civilian clothing, and will be closing the doors to Lee’s tomb during university events, the school announced last Tuesday.

“Portraits of Robert E. Lee and George Washington in civilian clothing will replace the portraits of Lee and Washington in military uniforms that currently hang in Lee Chapel,” the university reported. 

The commission also recommended renaming some buildings to honor more diverse demographics, for which reason the school is renaming Robinson Hall after its first African-American graduate, John Chavis. It is also renaming the Jackson-Lee House after Pamela Hemenway Simpson, who was the school’s first female tenured professor.

Despite calls from some that Washington & Lee change its name entirely, the commission concluded that it would be best “that the university not change its name at this time.”

Following the Charlottesville riots in summer 2017, Washington & Lee President William Dudley assembled a commission to “examine how our history — and the ways that we teach, discuss and represent it — shapes our community.”

After “[canvassing] the views of university constituencies,” the group of 12 faculty, staff, students and alumni issued a list of 31 recommendations by which the school might “set a national example by demonstrating how the divisive issues can be addressed thoughtfully and effectively.” 

San Francisco School Board President Drops Pledge of Allegiance

The San Francisco school board bypassed the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of its meeting Tuesday night October 9, a purposeful omission by the board’s new president. Stevon Cook, presiding over his first meeting, said he had been mulling over the idea of replacing the recitation of the pledge after he was elected to lead the board.

He told only a few board members prior to Tuesday’s meeting, and instead of asking people to stand and recite the pledge, he read a quote from poet Maya Angelou: “When you learn, teach. When you get, give.”

“There are a lot of ways to express gratitude and appreciation for the country and its citizens,” Cook said Wednesday morning. “This is how I plan to do that.”

State education code requires schools to conduct a daily patriotic exercise, although no one is required to participate, and many schools skip it because it is rarely if ever enforced. But that law doesn’t extend to public meetings, district officials said. Not all public bodies recite the pledge before meetings, but many do.

The reason for replacing the pledge, Cook said the national political climate is disappointing and the current presidential administration “has been attacking our liberties.” In addition, he said he believes the historical context for the pledge has been lost on most people.

“If you ask 10 Americans who wrote it, or when it was implemented, or why it is how we start our meetings, a lot of us would be hard pressed (to answer),” he said.

Replacing the pledge wasn’t an act of protest, Cook added, but rather an acknowledgment that the words of great Americans can equally express U.S. values, like inclusion and social justice.

“I'm not doing it as a way to seek attention,” he said. “I really think that these people are a great testament to our values and who we should aspire to be as Americans.”

“I’m no Colin Kaepernick,” he said, referring to the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who started kneeling during the national anthem before National Football League games in 2016. “I’m Stevon Cook.” 

Mail Time!

• Bill, in reality Brett Kavanaugh will not be impeached, and neither Trump. To impeach in the senate and find them guilty you need 66 senators to vote to convict. There are only 9 Republican Senators up for re-election and even if they all lost, the republicans would still have 42 senators left in the senate, you couldn't get the 66 to convict. It is just the democratic spin to get the vote out. They know both men will not be impeached.

• Hi Bill, you & the GOP keep harping on "due process", yet you run the "LOCK HER UP" video clips of Hillary & Dianne Feinstein, when there has been no due process for them. We can see this crap on FOX. We expect fairer play from you. What say you?

• Bill, Just wondering what can be done to stop/control people like billionaires Tom Steyer and George Soros from having such overwhelming influence over this country's politics. With all the PACs and super PACs ordinary people don't stand a chance of being heard. Any thoughts/words of wisdom would be appreciated. 

• Hi Bill! I love reading your books and I'm very excited about Killing the SS. I've read excerpts of Killing Lincoln to my 9-year-old son and he enjoys it very much. Do you believe Killing SS would be appropriate to read aloud to him entirely? 

Word of the Day: Codswallop