Russell Simmons Demands an Apology From Bill Clinton Over Black Lives Matter Comments

[Ichingcarpenter]

“The small drug users who were diseased and locked away deserve it? Bill Clinton u owe the black community and black lives matter an apology,” Def Jam Recordings co-founder says in a tweet

Russell Simmons was not impressed with Bill Clinton’s comments about the Black Lives Matter movement — and let the former president know it.

“The small drug users who were diseased and locked away deserve it? Bill Clinton u owe the black community and black lives matter an apology,” the Def Jam Recordings co-founder and Phat Farm founder tweeted Thursday night.

Simmons also linked out to a report on NPR detailing the former president’s heated exchange with Black Lives Matter protesters earlier in the day at a Hillary Clinton campaign event in Philadelphia, where he was forced to defend his 1994 crime bill and his wife’s past statements regarding race.

Simmons has long been an outspoken supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement. In December 2014, he joined thousands of protesters in the “Millions March NYC” event to speak out against police brutality.


See Simmons’ tweet below.


http://www.thewrap.com/russell-simmons-demands-an-apology-from-bill-clinton-over-black-lives-matter-comments/

[Scuba]

1. In fairness, Bill and Hillary need the private prison industry backing so his comments make sense ..

... if you're a uncaring bastard.

[kristopher]

2. This is interesting.

Recall Simmons made a big show of visiting Sanders to talk about an endorsement if Sanders would do something about factory farming of beef (iirc). When Bernie said he couldn't do anything about that, Simmons went to see Hillary and ended up giving her his endorsement.

Note that Simmons is vested in a large prepaid card business and that business is integrated with payday lending. What happened next is what's interesting - DWS suddenly and uncharacteristically took up the charge to obstruct Elizabeth Warren's effort on new CFPA regulations for payday lenders.

Now this.

ETA:

Warren and Wasserman Schultz Clash Over Payday Lenders

by Zachary Roth, Apr 6 2016

The head of the Democratic Party and one of its most popular figures are at odds over the Obama administration's plans to regulate the payday lending industry.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Florida, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, is co-sponsoring a bill along with several other Florida lawmakers that would water down a forthcoming effort to regulate payday lenders, whose high-interest loans, consumer advocates say, often trap the poor in a cycle of debt. The Floridians want the federal government to instead use an approach tried in their state, which consumer advocates say has done little to protect borrowers.

The new rules are being drawn up by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the government agency that was established in 2010 thanks in large part to the efforts of Elizabeth Warren.

The controversy has put Wasserman Schultz in the left's cross-hairs. In a series of tweets last month, Warren, now a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, called on lawmakers not to mess with the CFPB's attempt to rein in the industry. In recent years, Warren has emerged as a powerful spokesperson for progressive economic issues, and as arguably the most popular Democrat in the country.

It's not just Warren. A liberal group paid for electronic billboards in Wasserman Schultz's south Florida district that say she's on the side of payday lenders, not President Obama, and label her "Debt Trap Debbie."

more...

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/warren-wasserman-schultz-clash-over-payday-lenders-n551681

[2naSalit]

3. Hmm

I don't think one is necessary, Bill was telling them the atmosphere of the times, which many of the younger people may not recall; it wasn't a term they made up, it was actually a term that came from the social science community (for whatever that was worth at the time); it was Bill's policy and it was his to defend yet is not something for which Hillary should be held accountable - First Ladies regularly publicly support the policies of their husband's admin. and that's what that was all about.

And I would like to say something about what I have been observing in the election realm of late... steadfast clinging to the past for the sake of insisting that everything change while the candidates themselves are not allowed to grow and learn along with the rest of us as if they and their views are like stone statues. I would much rather have a leader who can recognize mistakes, admit them and find a new solution set based on the lesson(s) learned from the past mistake(s) than someone who wants to just make stuff up as they stumble along while dragging the rest of the planet with them.

[Bluenorthwest]

4. Learning from mistakes involves knowing and saying they were mistakes, not pretending 'the times'

called for a bunch of racist bullshit. People who were wrong and know they were wrong say things like 'Man, I was so wrong about that, and what I learned is....' and what they do not say is 'You don't get what it was like, crack babies and such'.

[roguevalley]

7. slavery was once the times. the times is an awful excuse for this horror

[SamKnause]

5. You will get more of the same with Hillary.

Why did you endorse Hillary, Russell ???

[bigwillq]

6. Kick (nt)

[awoke_in_2003]

8. Off topic...

but when did it become such a trend to say the same thing twice in an article?

"The small drug users who were diseased and locked away deserve it? Bill Clinton u owe the black community and black lives matter an apology,” Def Jam Recordings co-founder says in a tweet

Russell Simmons was not impressed with Bill Clinton’s comments about the Black Lives Matter movement — and let the former president know it.

“The small drug users who were diseased and locked away deserve it? Bill Clinton u owe the black community and black lives matter an apology,” the Def Jam Recordings co-founder and Phat Farm founder tweeted Thursday night."

Every time I see that happen, I feel like deja vu.