The Women in White, Seated Together At Trump's State of the Union Address

Agencies
February 6, 2019

Washington, Feb 6: The women in white -- several dozen Democratic lawmakers -- sat en bloc Tuesday in unmistakable defiance of President Donald Trump while he delivered his State of the Union address.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Trump's arch rival in Washington who sat behind him on the dais, led many in her caucus in wearing white to honor the fight for suffrage rights, which women earned 100 years ago in the United States.

Seated together, the bloc of women lawmakers sent a striking visual message, a challenge to Trump and how he and his administration have addressed issues important to women, such as equal pay, health care, and the treatment of the immigrant families.

"Tonight the @HouseDemWomen are wearing suffragette white to remind the president that we -- and the rights our ancestors fought for -- aren't going anywhere," tweeted House Democrat Val Demings.

Early in the speech, as Trump declared the state of the union to be "strong" and said the country was enjoying an "unprecedented economic boom," some Democrats in white sat on their hands.

When Trump spoke of the "boundless potential of cooperation, compromise, and the common good," it drew Republicans and some Democrats to their feet, but lawmakers including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the 29-year-old liberal rising star from New York, sat stone-faced.

When he called on Congress to pass legislation to ban late-term abortions, again there was stillness among the women in white.

But the silent treatment did not last long.

After the president noted that women filled 58 percent of all new jobs last year, and then congratulated them for having broken the record for the most women in Congress, they jumped to their feet and erupted in applause, some pumping their fists and cheering.

"You weren't supposed to do that!" Trump quipped, visibly amused.

'Incredible Moment'

Before Trump began his speech, many of the women gathered in the aisle on the Democratic side of the House chamber, posing for photographs and celebrating their record strength in numbers: 102 women in the 435-seat House of Representatives, and 25 women in the 100-member Senate.

When Trump congratulated their achievement, it appeared to lighten the air.

"I think there was an incredible moment when he acknowledged the new wave of women, the historic number of women elected to Congress, and I think a lot of us were celebrating that," Rashida Tlaib, one of the first two Muslim women members of Congress, told AFP.

Pelosi wore a cream blazer. Ocasio-Cortez donned a stylish white cape. And at least one male congressman, Dean Phillips of Minnesota, wore a white suit in solidarity.

No Republican female lawmakers appeared in white, although Trump's youngest daughter Tiffany wore a form-fitting white suit. First Lady Melania Trump was clad in stately black.

Trump gave shout outs to several guests in the upper gallery, including Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who in July will celebrate 50 years since setting foot on the Moon.

He also welcomed 10-year-old Grace Eline, who was diagnosed with brain cancer last year and raised money for the fight against cancer.

The women in white rose as one to salute her.

"Grace, you are an inspiration to us all," Trump said. The beaming young girl waved back.

Also in the chamber Tuesday was Holocaust survivor Joshua Kaufman, a prisoner at Dachau concentration camp. Seated next to him was Herman Zeitchik, who stormed the beaches of Normandy in World War II and helped liberate Dachau.

"He was one of the Americans who helped rescue Joshua from that hell on earth," Trump said, as the chamber broke into applause.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 2,2020

Washington, Jun 2: US President Donald Trump said that peaceful protests following the death of African-American man George Floyd in police custody were derailed by acts of domestic terrorism.

"These are not acts of peaceful protests, these are acts of domestic terror - the destruction of innocent life, and the spilling of innocent blood is an offence to humanity and a crime against God," Trump said during a press briefing on Monday.

Trump also added that the chaos is the work of professional agitators and provocateurs - anarchists and the far-left movement Antifa, among others - and put them on notice, vowing to enforce law and order.

He further said, "Those who threaten innocent life and property will be arrested, detained and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I want the organizers of this terror to be on notice that you will face severe criminal penalties and lengthy sentences in jail. This includes Antifa and others who are leading instigators."

The US president also that he is invoking an 1807 law to mobilize the military around the country to "quickly solve the problem."

"I am also taking swift and decisive action to protect our capital Washington DC. As we speak, I am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldier, military personnel and enforcement officers to stop the rioting," Trump said during a press briefing.

"I am mobilizing all available federal resources, civilian and military, to stop the rioting and looting, to end the destruction and arson. And to protect the rights of law-abiding Americans, including your Second Amendment rights," he added.

Trump said mayors and governors must establish an "overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled." If the city or state refuses to take the actions, Trump said he would deploy the US military.

Trump on Monday also said that all Americans are rightly 'sickened by the brutal death' of George Floyd and his administration is fully committed to providing justice to George and his family.

"All Americans were rightly sickened and revolted by the brutal death of George Floyd. My administration is fully committed, the justice will be fully served for George and his family and He will not have died in vain," Trump said.

"My first and highest duty as president is to defend and protect the great country and the American people. I have sworn an oath to uphold the laws of our nation and that is exactly what I will do," he added.

After the media address, Trump made a surprise visit to the damaged St Johns church near White House, walking through park violently cleared of protesters. He walked to the church across the street from the White House after tear gas was fired at protesters in the area.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 9,2020

Islamabad, May 9: A female doctor posted at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) Mother and Child Hospital (MCH), who was tested Covid-19 positive, has exposed Pakistan's mismanagement in handling the patients affected with the deadly virus.

Identified herself as Dr. Sharbat, she made a video of herself locked in an isolated room when the authorities failed to provide any medical assistance to her.

According to Pakistani media, the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) Mother and Child Hospital (MCH) and the operating theatre in the Children's Hospital were sealed on Tuesday after 15 people from both facilities were diagnosed with Covid-19.

Dr. Sharbat said that despite having Covid-19 symptoms after her colleague doctor was tested positive, she was forced to perform duty by the hospital authorities.

After she tested positive, Dr. Sharbat has isolated herself in a room and has requested the hospital authorities to provide her a bed in the hospital.

She said, "I am isolated in a small room. There is no toilet and other facilities at this place. I have requested the authorities several times to provide me proper bed because I cannot go home as my son and father is there. I have no other place to go. Its been several hours now and the administration is busy doing meetings. They have no idea about my location. I have called the concerned officials several times and requested for a room in the hospital, but they said that they are looking for it. This is the kind of arrangements we have that a doctor, who was serving the patients, is not able to get proper care".

Dr Sharbat said that she is feeling depressed after seeing the response of authorities tackling with Covid-19 crisis in the country.

She added, "It is unfortunate that the government salutes [health professionals] but is not willing to provide isolation rooms."

Pakistan's position in the global ranking in respect of Covid-19 dropped from 24th to 22nd after the number of positive cases increased to 26,806 (till May 08) with the addition of 1,791 new cases.

However, the National Coordination Committee (NCC), chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, had decided to substantially ease the lockdown from Saturday after detailed deliberations and consultations with the provinces.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 9,2020

Jun 9: The World Health Organization says it still believes the spread of the coronavirus from people without symptoms is “rare,” despite warnings from numerous experts worldwide that such transmission is more frequent and likely explains why the pandemic has been so hard to contain.

Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO''s technical lead on COVID-19 said at a press briefing on Monday that many countries are reporting cases of spread from people who are asymptomatic, or those with no clinical symptoms.

But when questioned in more detail about these cases, Van Kerkhove said many of them turn out to have mild disease, or unusual symptoms.

Although health officials in countries including Britain, the U.S. and elsewhere have warned that COVID-19 is spreading from people without symptoms, WHO has maintained that this type of spread is not a driver of the pandemic and is probably accounts for about 6 per cent of spread, at most.

Numerous studies have suggested that the virus is spreading from people without symptoms, but many of those are either anecdotal reports or based on modeling.

Van Kerkhove said that based on data from countries, when people with no symptoms of COVID-19 are tracked over a long period to see if they spread the disease, there are very few cases of spread.

“We are constantly looking at this data and we''re trying to get more information from countries to truly answer this question,” she said. “It still appears to be rare that asymptomatic individuals actually transmit onward.”

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.