3 Stories You Should Read 4/3/2019: Biden, Florida Law Makers, Putin

May 3, 2019 Confluence

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In the category of: Code words – white/male

The ‘electability’ claim is swallowing up the Democratic primaries. But it’s nonsense.

Joe Biden has a bunch of advantages as he starts his campaign for president: universal name ID, a network of donors built up over decades in politics, the ability to take advantage of affection for Barack Obama, to name a few.

But it has quickly become clear that no factor is benefiting him more than the perception that he’s “electable.” In other words, there are lots of Democratic voters who may or may not like him, but they think that Republicans will like him, for a very particular set of reasons.

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In the category of: All the bad ideas in one

Florida lawmakers pass bill that allows more teachers to arm themselves

The Florida House passed a controversial school safety bill that would allow teachers to carry guns on campus.

The bill passed Wednesday, and is headed to the desk of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

It is based on recommendations made by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission after the Parkland massacre last year.

The bill expands on the measure signed last year that imposed new restrictions on firearm sales and allowed some teachers and staff to carry guns in school, CNN affiliate WFOR reported.

The measure headed to the governor’s desk allows school districts to opt-in to the program and is not a requirement for teachers or districts, CNN affiliate WFOR reported. Teachers from districts that choose to join the program will have to undergo police-style training, psychiatric evaluation and drug screening.

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In the category of: Besties

Trump says he spoke with Putin about ‘Russian hoax,’ didn’t warn him against Russian meddling

President Donald Trump said he briefly discussed special counsel Robert Mueller’s report with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, but didn’t warn his Russian counterpart to not meddle in the next US election.

“We didn’t discuss that. Really, we didn’t discuss it. We discussed five or six things. We also went into great detail on various things,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. He added, “(Putin) sort of smiled when he said something to the effect that it started up as a mountain and ended up as a mouse. But he knew that because he knew that there was no collusion. Pretty much that’s what it was.”

The phone call comes amid intense scrutiny of the public release of the Mueller report — which found that members of the Trump campaign expected they would benefit from Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election, but didn’t find that they conspired with the Kremlin — and US intelligence agencies’ belief that attempted Russian interference in US public affairs has continued. Earlier this week, Trump claimed that former President Barack Obama “did nothing” to stop Russian interference, though his predecessor told Putin “to cut it out” and vowed “serious consequences” if he did not.

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