CNN Commentator Calls Republicans Racist And Sexist For Interrupting Kamala Harris

Below is a perfect example of why civilized political discourse is no longer possible in the United States. 

Twice in the past two weeks, first with deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and then again yesterday with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the freshman Senator from California, Kamala Harris, chose to pursue an aggressive series of questions that many have interpreted simply as an effort to patronize, mock and/or embarrass witnesses before the Senate Intelligence Committee. 

But the questions asked by Harris, are not the real issue.  She has the right, and frankly the obligation, to ask tough and probing questions. 

The issue is that after asking those tough/probing questions Harris seems to have forgotten that witnesses are supposed to be given an opportunity to respond.  Moreover, when witnesses are not allowed to respond, it"s the duty of the committee chair, who happens to be Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) in the case of the Senate Intelligence Committee, to maintain order and assure that "questioning" of a witness doesn"t morph into "badgering" of a witness.

And that is exactly what happened yesterday when Harris once again decided to interrupt Jeff Sessions nearly 20 times in just over 6 minutes of testimony.  Here"s the full interview with a convenient "interruption counter":

Of course, as soon as Chairman Burr interrupted to remind Harris of the rules of the Senate Intelligence Committee and her obligation to allow witnesses an opportunity to respond, something he"s also done with other colleagues as well, the Twittersphere erupted with accusations of racism and misogyny.  Perhaps the most egregious, irresponsible accusation came from none other than CNN"s very own political commentator Keith Boykin.

Why do Republican senators only interrupt when Kamala Harris is asking questions? A black woman can"t question a white attorney general? pic.twitter.com/0zD59hVH7E

— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) June 13, 2017

But CNN wasn"t the only one to blast Burr"s interruption as sexist and/or racist...here are just a couple of other examples:

Kamala Harris Once Again Interrupted By Male Colleagues During Senate Hearing - Huffington Post https://t.co/FJsW5Tkht7 via @nuzzel

— b. insights (@BarbaraRacek) June 13, 2017

NBC News: Sen. Kamala Harris Again Interrupted by Male Colleagues https://t.co/GMvB8Da0fb

— Willis Ransom (@4Ransomm) June 14, 2017

Silencing @SenKamalaHarris for not being “courteous” enough is just unbelievable. Keep fighting, Kamala! #NeverthelessShePersisted https://t.co/58y15qWVzU

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) June 7, 2017

Let me just say the fact that Jeff Sessions would tell @KamalaHarris, a Black woman that she makes him nervous, is a racist dog whistle.

— Lynn V. (@lynnv378) June 13, 2017

Of course, Harris has had a distinguished legal career going back to 1990 when she served as the Deputy District Attorney in Alameda County, California and culminating with two terms as California"s Attorney General before being elected to the Senate last year.  Given that, perhaps someone could explain why it"s not supremely insulting and condescending to suggest that Kamala Harris should be given special treatment and exempted from committee rules simply because of her race and/or sex...that suggestion would seem to be more racist and/or sexist.

The Benefits Of Kamala

Kamala (also known as Kamcela, Spoonwood, or Mallotus philippinensis) is a well-known plant coming from the humid tropical forests of Australia, the Philippines, India, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Africa, Southern Arabia, and southern China. First mentioned in the ancient Indian text, The Kurma Purana, kamala’s health-supportive properties have been highly revered the world over for thousands of years.

Kamala is a firm staple in India’s traditional Ayurvedic practices and is currently still being used as a natural and potent herb in the developing world. The narrow-stemmed kamala tree grows up to twenty meters high, although smaller evergreen versions grow wild in India. The most used component of kamala is the reddish-brown fruit. The fruit is crushed and dried and processed into a fine herbal powder. ^[1]

The Health Benefits of Kamala

Although kamala has a number of potential health benefits, many traditional societies have valued the plant as an aid for combating harmful organisms, particularly those involving the skin and the GI tract. While the fruit and its hairs are most often used for internal cleansing purposes, the bark of kamala is also an excellent anti-microbial agent. Studies have found that the glands and hairs of the kamala fruit are a useful anthelmintic, possibly effective for reducing fascioliasis, a condition related to liver flukes and other forms of intestinal worms. Several studies have reported that kamala resin can offer significant purgative action in the GI tract. In animal trials, the resin was able to eliminate infestation of tapeworms in the small intestines by 78.21%. ^[2]

Kamala may also offer the following health benefits and actions:

• 
  
  • A quick and effective purgative for elimination of any toxic activity in the GI tract.
  
  
  • A cutaneous purifier, often used to prevent scabies, ringworm, skin pustules, leprosy, and other cutaneous eruptions.
  
  
  • Potent taenifuge for expelling tapeworms. Kamala is ranked second only to male fern root in its ability to eliminate intestinal worms.
  
  
  • Potent anthelmintic, expelling parasites, especially the Taenia solium variety.
  
  
  • Excellent general digestive support and laxative, promoting increased bowel action and powerful detoxification.
  
  
  • Remedy for various ocular diseases in traditional forms of medicine.^[3]
  
  

Chemical Components and Actions

The active constituents of kamala are associated with the tannic acids and volatile oils of the fruit and hairs. Kamala is also composed of health-boosting resins, crystallines, flemingin, and homoflemingin. These plant-based chemical constituents eradicate worms in the body through a mechanism of creating a harsh intestinal environment that is toxic to harmful organisms. The resins, acids, and oils cause worms to become immobile, preventing the worms’ larvae from attaching themselves to the interior lining of human intestine walls. Not only does this cleanse the system of parasitic organisms, it also promotes overall digestive health.

Other Uses of Kamala

Kamala can be used as a natural oil for cosmetic preparations. It has also been used traditionally as a natural dye for silks and wool, beverages and foods, and its pulp has been used to make tools, paper, and brushware.

References:

1. Thomas S. Blair. Botanic Drugs Their Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics. The Therapeutic Digest Publishing Company.


2. Gupta SS, Verma P, Hishikar K. Purgative and anthelmintic effects of Mallotus philippinensis in rats against tape worm. Indian J Physiol Pharmacol. 1984 Jan-Mar;28(1):63-6.


3. Verma P, & Hishikar K. Experimental Evaluation of Anthelmintic and Purgative Activity of Myrsine Africana Fruits. Anc Sci Life. 1983 Oct-Dec; 3(2): 82-84.

Steven Mnuchin Donated To One Democrat In 2016 – The Woman Who Declined To Prosecute His Bank

Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,

Wednesday’s post, Donald Trump Has an Enormous and Very Dangerous Wall Street Blind Spot, highlighted the fact that the bank run by Trump’s Treasury Secretary nominee, Steven Mnuchin, was given a pass by California attorney general Kamala Harris, despite the discovery of over a thousand legal violations. Kamala Harris has since been (s)elected to the U.S. Senate.

Let’s recap some of what we learned:

In the memo, the leaders of the state attorney general’s Consumer Law Section said they had “uncovered evidence suggestive of widespread misconduct” in a yearlong investigation. In a detailed 22-page request, they identified over a thousand legal violations in the small subsection of OneWest loans they were able to examine, and they recommended that Attorney General Kamala Harris file a civil enforcement action against the Pasadena-based bank. They even wrote up a sample legal complaint, seeking injunctive relief and millions of dollars in penalties.

But Harris’s office, without any explanation, declined to prosecute the case.

Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, warned: “Given Mr. Mnuchin’s history of profiting off the victims of predatory lending, I look forward to asking him how his Treasury Department would work for Americans who are still waiting for the economic recovery to show up in their communities.”

The consistent violations of California foreclosure processes outlined in the memo would indicate that Mnuchin’s bank didn’t merely act callously, but did so with blatant disregard for the law.

According to the memo, OneWest also obstructed the investigation by ordering third parties to refuse to comply with state subpoenas.

The memo also raises questions about then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who was sworn in as a U.S. senator on Tuesday, and who will soon have to vote on Mnuchin’s appointment.

Why did her office close the case, deciding not to “conduct a full investigation of a national bank’s misconduct and provide a public accounting of what happened,” as her own investigators had urged?

In the days since this story broke, there’s been a lot of well deserved scrutiny pointed in the direction of Ms. Harris, yet she’s failed to provide a satisfactory answer as to why her office failed to prosecute. Which got me thinking about another paragraph from the above article:

Harris’s prodigious fundraising also raises questions about how attentive she is to the needs of campaign contributors. Prior to signing on with Trump, Mnuchin donated to members of both parties. He gave $2,000 to Harris’ Senate campaign in February 2016. Among the investors in OneWest Bank was major Democratic donor George Soros, who maxed out to Harris’ campaign in 2015.

Did he really “donate to members of both parties.” Technically, yes, but it appears Kamala Harris was the only Democrat he donated to in 2016. Which raises all sorts of obvious questions. As the Sacramento Bee noted last month in its article, Kamala Harris Won Over Many Californians, Steve Mnuchin Included:

Donald Trump, promising to drain the swamp, picked former Goldman Sachs executive and Hollywood financier Steven Mnuchin to be his Treasury secretary, fitting because Mnuchin helped fatten Trump’s campaign treasury as his campaign finance chairman. Mnuchin donated $592,600 to Republicans in 2016, including $430,000 to Trump, Federal Election Commission records show. A onetime Hillary Clinton donor, Mnuchin gave one donation this year to a Democrat, $2,000 to help elect Attorney General Kamala Harris to the U.S. Senate.

Well isn’t that interesting. Mnuchin gives one donation to a Democrat, and it just so happens to be the woman who inexplicably protected his bank from prosecution. Click here to see his 2016 donations.

While $2,000 is a small amount of money, the entire thing stinks. Kamala Harris should resign from her Senate seat immediately unless she can provide a reasonable explanation of why she let OneWest off the hook. Likewise, Steven Mnuchin should be replaced by Trump as Treasury Secretary nominee. Both are swamp creatures, and we should demand better than these two.