;)
The Commentariat -- April 21, 2021
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Carrie Johnson of NPR: "One day after a jury convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on murder charges, the U.S. Justice Department launched an investigation into possible patterns of discrimination and excessive force among the police department there. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the new civil inquiry on Wednesday, the first such 'pattern or practice' investigation in the Biden administration, which has pledged to build trust between police and communities."
Jeremy Herb of CNN: "The Senate narrowly voted to advance the nomination of President Joe Biden's nominee to be associate attorney general, Vanita Gupta, setting up a final vote expected later Wednesday despite fierce opposition from most Republican senators. Vice President Kamala Harris was on hand in case she was needed for a possible 50-50 tie on the procedural vote for Gupta's nomination Wednesday, but Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a moderate Republican from Alaska, broke with her Republican colleagues and joined all Democratic senators to advance the nomination 51-49."
Reid Epstein & Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: "Republican legislators in Oklahoma and Iowa have passed bills granting immunity to drivers whose vehicles strike and injure protesters in public streets. A Republican proposal in Indiana would bar anyone convicted of unlawful assembly from holding state employment, including elected office. A Minnesota bill would prohibit those convicted of unlawful protesting from receiving student loans, unemployment benefits or housing assistance. And in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed sweeping legislation this week that toughened existing laws governing public disorder and created a harsh new level of infractions.... The measures are part of a wave of new anti-protest legislation, sponsored and supported by Republicans, in the 11 months since Black Lives Matter protests swept the country following the death of George Floyd.... G.O.P. lawmakers in 34 states have introduced 81 anti-protest bills during the 2021 legislative session -- more than twice as many proposals as in any other year...."
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The Verdict
Amy Forliti, et al., of the AP: "Former Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted Tuesday of murder and manslaughter for pinning George Floyd to the pavement with his knee on the Black man's neck in a case that triggered worldwide protests, violence and a furious reexamination of racism and policing in the U.S. Chauvin, 45, was immediately led away with his hands cuffed behind his back and could be sent to prison for decades." The New York Times report is here. ~~~
Jonathan Lemire, et al., of the AP: "President Joe Biden said Tuesday the conviction of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd 'can be a giant step forward' for the nation in the fight against systemic racism. But he declared that 'it's not enough.' Biden spoke from the White House hours after the verdict alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, with the pair saying the country's work is far from finished with the verdict. 'We can't stop here,' Biden declared." The Washington Post's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Here's a transcript of remarks by President Biden & Vice President Harris, via the New York Times. ~~~
~~~ AP: "Before Tuesday's guilty verdicts were read out [MB: and after the jury was sequestered, President] Biden said he was praying for 'the right verdict.' Telephoning [George] Floyd's family later, he said of himself and [Vice President] Harris: 'We're all so relieved.'... Biden said he hoped the verdict would give momentum to congressional police reform efforts. Floyd family attorney Ben Crump posted video on Twitter of a phone call from Biden and Harris to the family. Asked by a family member how he was doing, Biden said, 'Feeling better now. Nothing is going to make it all better, but at least now there is some justice.' 'This is a day of justice,' Harris told the family after joining Biden to watch the verdict in the private dining room off the Oval Office." ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE. David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Tuesday blasted President Joe Biden for speaking out about the Derek Chauvin trial even though her former boss, Donald Trump, often expressed his opinion on similar events.... '... I think it's the role of the president of the United States to stay back, to not inflame the tensions,' she [said]. 'I think he should have just reserved comment and said he's praying for the family as we all are.'... After Kyle Rittenhouse was charged with homicide for shootings that left two protesters in Wisconsin dead last August, Trump offered a defense of the suspect. 'He was trying to get away from them, I guess, it looks like,' Trump opined at the time. 'I guess he was in very big trouble. He probably would have been killed.'"
From the New York Times' liveblog of the trial: "Derek Chauvin was found guilty of two counts of murder on Tuesday in the death of George Floyd, whose final breaths last May under the knee of Mr. Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, were captured on video, setting off months of protests against the police abuse of Black people. After deliberating for about 10 hours over two days following an emotional trial that lasted three weeks, the jury found Mr. Chauvin, who is white, guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter for the killing of Mr. Floyd, a Black man, on a street corner last year on Memorial Day." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Marty Johnson of the Hill: "Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been found guilty on all charges in the murder trial of George Floyd, whose death led to months of demonstrations against police brutality last summer." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Chauvin Trial Verdicts. Count 1, unintentional 2nd-degree murder: guilty. Count 2, 3rd-degree murder, guilty. Count 3, 2nd-degree manslaugter, guilty. The judge polled the jury and sent them out; he will consult with them. Bail is revoked & defendant is remanded. Court adjourned.
Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post: "After so many previous instances in which police officers were acquitted of what looked to many people like murder, this time was different. And it was different, in some significant portion, because of a teenager's sense of right and wrong.... On May 25, [2020,] while taking her younger cousin on a stroll to get a snack..., [17-year-old Darnella Frazier] observed a struggle between a Black man and White police officer. After ushering the child into the convenience store, Cup Foods, Frazier stayed on the sidewalk and started recording.... Later, she posted a video clip of about 10 minutes to Facebook. That video clip, now seen millions of times around the world, was a powerful, irrefutable act of bearing witness.... 'The world needed to see what I was seeing,' she [told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune last year]." MB: If not for Frazier, ~~~
~~~ ** Another Cop Would Have Got Away with Murder. Josh Marcus of Yahoo! News: "An early-stage police report describing George Floyd's death as a vague 'medical incident' went viral on Tuesday.... In the original police bulletin that went out to the public, here's how the Minneapolis police department categorised the gruesome murder millions of people would later see on social media video:
"'He was ordered to step from his car. After he got out, he physically resisted officers. Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress. Officers called for an ambulance. He was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center by ambulance where he died a short time later.'...
"John Elder, the Minneapolis Police Department's director of public information, authored the bulletin. He told The Los AngelesTimes last summer he was working from information he got from officers on the ground, who didn't log any use of force initially." ~~~
~~~ Update. Azi Paybarah of the New York Times reports on the contrast between the police narrative and fact. MB: I can see where people are going to start writing "police report"-style parodies on everything: describing football games, for instance, in terms reminiscent of society-page reports on afternoon tea parties.
Karen Attaih of the Washington Post: "At the heart of this story will always lie a criminally fatal encounter between two individuals. But its boundaries came to stretch far beyond two men. In a sense, by the time the verdict was read, White America itself was on trial for the violent subjugation of Black peoples -- the original sin it has escaped accountability for more than 400 years. Chauvin was found guilty, but that is a low bar in a minutely documented, open-and-shut case. The sobering truth is that instances of White accountability for Black bloodshed are all too rare in the United States.... A few arrests and convictions of officers do not add up to justice.... Full justice for George Floyd ... will only come when policing as we know it is done away with. In the meantime, those who imagine a better and safer America must keep speaking, writing and marching these dreams into existence."
Audra Burch, et al., of the New York Times: "The verdict brought some solace to activists for racial justice who had been riveted to the courtroom drama for the past several weeks. But for many Black Americans, real change feels elusive, particularly given how relentlessly the killing of Black men by the police has continued on.... In the months after Mr. Floyd's death, some change has been concrete. Scores of policing reform laws were introduced at the state level. Corporations pledged billions to racial equity causes, and the N.F.L. apologized for its failure to support protests against police violence by its Black players. Even the backlash was different. Racist statements by dozens of public officials, from mayors to fire chiefs, related to Mr. Floyd's death -- perhaps tolerated before -- cost them their jobs.... There are also signs of backlash: Legislation that would reduce voting access, protect the police and effectively criminalize public protests have sprung up in Republican-controlled state legislatures."
Let's Ask Tucker! Tim Elfrink of the Washington Post: Fox "News" star Tucker "Carlson argued, the jurors were intimidated into the guilty verdict by the months of racial justice protests that followed [George] Floyd's death. 'The jurors in the Derek Chauvin trial came to a unanimous and unequivocal verdict this afternoon: "Please don't hurt us,"' Carlson said on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.' Carlson added, 'Everyone understood perfectly well the consequences of an acquittal in this case. After nearly a year of burning and looting and murder by BLM, that was never in doubt.' Carlson's show, which was devoted entirely to attacking the trial as unfair because of protests and statements by Democrats urging a guilty verdict, stood in stark contrast to several prominent colleagues on Fox News who celebrated the result." MB: How convenient to be able to get the white supremacist view, right on national TV. ~~~
.@tuckercarlson is in full cry tonight about Biden's comments today, asking: "When was the last time a sitting president weighed in on a jury decision before it was made? Never!" Really? https://t.co/QyjNEHNpgJ
— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) April 21, 2021
Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "The nomination of Vanita Gupta, an exceptionally well-qualified nominee for the No. 3 spot at the Justice Department and the recipient of numerous endorsements from law enforcement, moved ahead by a 50-to-49 margin in the Senate on Monday despite the hysterical allegations from Republicans that she is 'radical,' 'extreme' or 'anti-police.' That move comes after Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee attacked Kristen Clarke, another immensely qualified civil rights lawyer who was nominated to head the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. Republicans' spurious claims against Clarke included that she is antisemitic (roundly rejected by Jewish organizations), that she supports defunding the police (she doesn't) and, again, that she is radical.... The Republican Party, as it morphs into a party of white supremacy and grievance (including embracing 'replacement' theory), is increasingly using women of color (e.g., Gupta, Clarke, Neera Tanden, California Rep. Maxine Waters) to frighten and anger its White, male base.... They remain emphatic that Whites are the real victims.... Republicans have endeavored for years to turn the meaning of 'civil rights' upside down and to dismantle the Justice Department's role in enforcing it.... An effective civil rights division would prosecute the White supremacist groups whom Republicans have increasingly attempted to normalize and defend...."
Jerry Nadler (N.Y.) tries to modulate a shouting match between Val Demings (Fla.) & Jim Jordan (Ohio):
~~~ Jaclyn Peiser of the Washington Post: "Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.) was midway through an impassioned speech on Tuesday accusing Republicans of using police officers as 'pawns' in their efforts to amend a hate-crime bill when Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) interrupted to object. 'I have the floor, Mr. Jordan,' Demings exclaimed, banging her open palm on the table. 'Did I strike a nerve?'... The exchange underscores the deep divisions in Congress over attempts to change policing in the wake of Floyd's death, with the Democrats facing a steep battle in the Senate to overcome GOP opposition to an expansive law enforcement overhaul package named for Floyd.... Demings took her Republican colleagues to task over a proposed amendment [to another bill (the Covid-19 Hate Crime Act)] that would prevent efforts to defund police.... Demings called the amendment 'completely irrelevant' because the bill makes no mention of defunding law enforcement."
Marianna Sotomayor of the Washington Post: "The House rejected a Republican attempt Tuesday to censure Rep. Maxine Waters for calling on protesters to 'get more active' and 'get more confrontational' if a jury voted to acquit former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd. House Democratic leaders quickly came to Waters's defense and denounced the resolution as a cynical political ploy to draw attention away from inflammatory and extremist remarks made by Republicans in recent months, including former president Donald Trump. They argued that Waters (D-Calif.) was calling for peaceful protests, not violence.... Democrats held firm in their support for Waters, with all party members voting to 'table,' or kill, the censure resolution introduced by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). The resolution failed, 216 to 210. 'I'm not celebrating,' Waters said after the vote. 'I&'m relieved.'"
An Immigration Promise Broken. Tyler Page, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden overruled his top foreign policy and national security aides, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, when he kept in place the Trump administration's record low cap on the number of refugees admitted to the United States, according to three people familiar with the matter, a decision that was reversed after a public outcry. Biden harbored concerns about what the sharp increase in migrants at the southern border meant for the government's capacity to handle an influx of refugees from elsewhere, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private deliberations. In the end, the president's own misgivings fueled the decision more than anything else, the people said." The New York Times story is here.
Paul Sonne, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Defense Department is focusing on how to weed out possible extremists from the active-duty ranks in the wake of the Capitol riot, with a recent, military-wide 'stand down' for troops to discuss the issue ahead of policy decisions on the matter by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. But the arrest data from the riot shows that allegedly criminal participation in the insurrection on Jan. 6 was far more prevalent among veterans than active-duty forces, a more difficult problem for the U.S. government to address.... So far veterans do not appear to be getting much targeted attention. The Department of Veterans Affairs has no dedicated program to combat extremism among former members of the military and has resisted calls to address other factors that contribute to domestic radicalization, such as online disinformation that targets veterans to inflame political tensions.... The Department of Homeland Security is stepping up its efforts to prevent domestic extremism under the Biden administration but hasn't announced any initiatives specific to veterans." ~~~
~~~ Marie: The only way to guarantee that veterans will receive instruction on "how to tell fact from fiction" would be to condition veterans' benefits on taking the training. What chance do you think there is that Republicans would okay that?
Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post: "Federal authorities arrested a suspect in the U.S. Capitol riot in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, on Tuesday after they used facial recognition programs to find an image of him on his girlfriend's Instagram page. Stephen Chase Randolph, federal authorities say, knocked over a U.S. Capitol Police officer manning the barriers at the building, 'causing [Officer-1]'s head to hit the stairs behind her, resulting in a loss of consciousness.' He then 'continued to assault two other USCP officers by physically pushing, shoving, grabbing, and generally resisting the officers and interfering with their official duties,' the federal officials said. The FBI released images of Randolph in late January.... At some point, the FBI ran an image of Randolph through an 'open source facial comparison tool' that had been 'known to provide reliable results in the past.'... On April 13, the federal authorities said, two FBI special agents went undercover at Randolph's workplace and talked to him about the Capitol riot. Randolph, the feds said, said 'shit went crazy' at the Capitol and that 'it was fucking fun' to be a part of the mob.&" MB: You probably won't find the consequences "fucking fun," Steve-o.
** Thanks, Supremes! Battle of the Billionaires. Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "A dozen megadonors and their spouses contributed a combined $3.4 billion to federal candidates and political groups since 2009, accounting for nearly one out of every 13 dollars raised, according to a new report. The report, produced by Issue One, a nonpartisan group that seeks to reduce the influence of money in politics, shows the top 12 donors split equally between six Democrats and six Republicans. The list includes multiple Wall Street billionaires and investors, a Facebook co-founder, a shipping magnate and the heir to a family fortune dating back to the Gilded Age. The study quantifies the intensifying concentration and increasing role of the super rich in American politics following the loosening of restrictions on political spending by the U.S. Supreme Court more than a decade ago." (Also linked yesterday.)
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here: "New York City health officials estimate that nearly a quarter of adult New Yorkers were infected with the coronavirus during the catastrophic wave of last spring, and that the toll was even higher among Black and Hispanic residents. The estimates, based on antibody test results for more than 45,000 city residents last year, suggest that Black and Hispanic New Yorkers were twice as likely as white New Yorkers to have had antibodies to the coronavirus -- evidence of prior infection. Hispanic New Yorkers had the highest rate, with about 35 percent testing positive for antibodies...."
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here: "The United States has come a long way since Covid-19 vaccines first arrived at hospitals and long-term care facilities in December. More than 209 million doses have been administered. But the next phase of the rollout will bring new challenges, and some scientists and health officials worry that some of the most vulnerable people -- including those 65 and older -- may have trouble competing for a shot now that all adults are eligible for inoculation.... As it stands, older adults are the most vaccinated age group in the country. Yet about a fifth of those 65 and older, a group that is particularly vulnerable to serious complications and death from the virus, have not received even one shot." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here: "The coronavirus pandemic has contributed to a 'dramatic deterioration' in people's access to information around the globe, helping governments block news coverage and criminalizing reports critical of authorities' response to the crisis, Reporters Without Borders said Tuesday.... Some of the most egregious moves to silence journalists reporting on the pandemic took place in Brazil, Egypt, Iran, Venezuela and Zimbabwe, the group said." (Also linked yesterday.)
Michael Birnbaum & Loveday Morris of the Washington Post: "European regulators on Tuesday said the coronavirus vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson should carry a warning about rare blood clots, but they placed no restrictions on the use of the vaccine inside the European Union. The decision by the European Medicines Agency was based on the same U.S. data that led American regulators last week to pause the use of the vaccine inside the United States. Johnson & Johnson said after Tuesday's announcement that it would resume distribution in Europe. But the U.S. hold remains in place as American authorities make an independent evaluation. New guidance is expected as early as Friday, and top officials, including Anthony S. Fauci, say they expect the vaccine will also be given a green light."
DIY Covid Testing Now! Ken Alltucker of USA Today: "Consumers will be able to buy rapid coronavirus tests without a prescription this week at three national chain retailers, an expansion that comes as the nation's vaccination effort accelerates and states relax distancing requirements and mask mandates. Abbott Laboratories' BinaxNOW coronavirus self-test kits will be shipped to CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens and Walmart locations, and also will be sold online. The two-test kit, which last month received Food and Drug Administration emergency-use authorization for serial screening, will cost $23.99, the company said. Another rapid test made by Australia-based Ellume will be sold at CVS stores in Rhode Island and Massachusetts for $38.99. It also can be purchased online or at most CVS stores in other states by the end of May. These retail tests eliminate another barrier for people who want to test themselves without visiting a doctor or a telehealth provider. Both tests deliver results in about 15 minutes and don't require a lab." (Also linked yesterday.)
Joanne Kenen & Meredith McGraw of Politico: "... Trump supporters remain stubbornly resistant to vaccination -- and it's sparking a new round of questions over what role, if any, the former president could play to move those efforts along.... Donald Trump's unwillingness to pitch his voters on getting the jab has become the source of frustration for former aides, who lament the political benefits that would have come had he done so. It has also worried health officials from his own administration, who told Politico about a monthslong effort to get him to publicly take the lead; and medical experts, who say a full-throated endorsement could sway vaccine skeptics on the right and get the country closer to herd immunity." On Hannity's show Monday night, Trump scoffed at the idea of doing an ad promoting vaccinations.
Beyond the Beltway
MEANWHILE in Ohio. Blake Montgomery & Chris Bornea of the Daily Beast: "A Columbus police officer shot and killed a Black teenage girl on Tuesday afternoon just as a guilty verdict was being handed down in the Derek Chauvin murder case, a family member said. The shooting victim has not been officially identified, but was named as 15-year-old Makiyah Bryant by a relative early Tuesday evening. [Makiyah's aunt Hazel] Bryant said her niece has been living in a foster home on the east side of Columbus where the fatal shooting took place. She said several adult women had come to the foster home and started an altercation with the teenager, who called police and her biological father and grandmother for help. She grabbed a knife to defend herself, Bryant said. According to Bryant..., Makiyah was in front of the house fending off a physical assault when police arrived, and she had already dropped the knife in the yard. But police shot her four times without any warning, she said." MB: Bearing in mind that initial stories are not always accurate, the story still raises alarms. ~~~
~~~ Update. Here's the New York Times account, which is markedly different from the Daily Beast report. The Times report relies heavily on police statements.
Virginia. Jonathan Edwards of the Virginian-Pilot: "The second in command of the Norfolk Police Department's internal affairs unit [-- Lt. William K. Kelly III --] has been fired after he made what the city manager called 'egregious' comments praising Kyle Rittenhouse, the white man accused of shooting and killing protestors last year. Those comments violated departmental policies and 'erode the trust between the Norfolk Police Department and those they are sworn to serve,' City Manager Chip Filer said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.... An anonymous donor in September gave $25 to the legal defense of Kyle Rittenhouse, but the donation came from Kelly's official email address, according to data from the Christian crowdfunding website GiveSendGo that was hacked." The Washington Post's report is here.
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Reader Comments (21)
As NPR reported, President Biden said he made he’s feelings about the verdict known while the jury was deliberating only because he knew the jury was sequestered and would not hear his opinion.
Thought this a good summary of current Republican "thought."
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/04/marjorie-taylor-greene-anglo-saxon-america-first-caucus-represented-republican-party-well.html
Shall we say, inchoate?
A Tale of Two Worlds
The murderer Derek Chauvin is going to prison. Good. But the score now is Justice: 1, White Supremacy: 23,l65. Nonetheless, white supremacists are outraged that they lost one. Fukkker Kkkarslon is outraged. No doubt the haters in Congress are outraged. Outraged that they lost a single battle.
But it ain't over. Not by a long shot. Just consider how cops in this country treat white kids vs. kids of color.
Kyle Rittenhouse. 17 year old struts down the street during a protest over the shooting of yet another black man. He is underage. The weapon he carries illegally* is in full view. Cops throw him a water bottle. They thank him for his "service". Then he murders two protesters and wounds another. He walks away. Witnesses shout to the cops that this kid just murdered some people. No cops tase him. No cops shoot him. No cops even stop him for questioning. He goes home to his own bed and gets his story straight. Fatty declares him a hero. Says he was in fear of his life, so, ya know. No biggie. Later on, a cop donates money to Rittenhouse's defense fund!!
Adam Toledo. 13 year old who didn't shoot anyone. Is stopped by a cop because he has a hand gun (not a semi-automatic military style long rifle), which is perfectly reasonable. Cop tells Toledo to drop the gun and put his hands up. Still reasonable. He drops the gun and puts his hands up. Cop kills him anyway. Not reasonable. Not at all. What, no water bottle? No "thanks for your service"? No being allowed to go home and sleep soundly in his own bed?
Nope. It's off to the morgue.
This ain't bad apples anymore. The whole fucking tree is poisoned.
My guess is that the murderer Kyle Rittenhouse will walk. The white supremacists and Tukkker Kkkarlson will cheer. All will be right again with their world.
But our world sucks. President Biden calls George Floyd's family? How dare he! Impeach! But Fatty promotes lies and carnage and it's all A-fucking OK.
That's their world. Ours might suck, but theirs is pure evil. And this is a long way from over. Synchronize your watches, kids. Countdown to the next shooting of an unarmed black man. Or child. Hey, it happens almost every day.
*Just imagine a scenario in which a black kid is strutting down a street carrying a weapon that looks like an assault rifle. Now imagine that cops cheer him on, toss him a water bottle, thank him for his service and DON'T stop or SHOOT him. Can't do it, can you? How 'bout for twenty bucks? A hundred? A thousand? Nope. Can't do it, no how. Now imagine a scenario in which a militia thug wannabe white kid does the same thing and isn't stopped or shot. Even after he murders two people in cold blood. Oops. That already happened. Never mind.
It's taken decades for the party of Lincoln to become the party of white supremacists, but here we are. The civil rights legislation of the 1960s would never have passed without Republican support because Dixiecrats. But that began to change with Nixon, and continued to worsen under Reagan & Newt Gingrich. Now the only difference between Republicans is that some of them speak out in overt racist terms and other are still whistling to dogs.
I've tried to figure out what's "conservative" about racism, and I guess what it is is that "conserving" the status quo means conserving discrimination against non-white people. That means allowing a narrow slice of white people access to all the privileges: good schools, top jobs, swell neighborhoods, etc. And any measures that help non-white people -- even if they also help white people -- are nonstarters.
Don't kid yourself; the South won the Civil War, the surrender at Appomattox notwithstanding.
GOOD TROUBLE:
The verdict: Finally a reckoning and acknowledgement of a broken system; perhaps now we can move forward in a whole different direction. Yet–––after watching PBS's Independent Lens –-an eight-part docu-series that began last night, the climb upward may just encounter that bolder time and again. The series follows Lawrence Krasner, the Philadelphia D.A., in his crusade to remake the culture and practices in his office. He desperately wants to transform the justice system. We watch his frustration when trying to work ( and hold accountable) the police brutality. We hear the head of the police dept. and union––an obese, red faced, bully boy go on a rant against Krasner. When he is asked to respond to this tirade, Krasner tells us exactly who this bloke is: A Trump lover, a QAnon follower, and sympathetic to that whiter shade of pale group who want to keep it that way.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-04-20/philly-da-larry-krasner-pbs-review
And just a word about Jim Jordan: I have watched this guy operate for years and once thought he must be "on something"–-a sniff of that white powder to power that angst of his–-but nary a whiff of that has been heard so one must conclude he's just one giant ball of bull who would word wrestle with the 95 year old Queen if he felt the need. Val Demmings reached her tether with this guy as many have before but this time it was like a brawl–-fun to watch but sooooo unprofessional she says with her left pinkie in the air.
"Don't kid yourself; the South won the Civil War, the surrender at Appomattox notwithstanding."
YOU GOT THAT RIGHT!
@Akhilleus: What you're describing is a tacit conspiracy between local police departments and Republican-controlled state legislatures. The legislatures pass permissive open-carry laws, and the police ensure that only white people can take advantage of those laws. As Black people know, carrying-a-firearm-while-Black can be an instant death sentence. But carrying-while-White is a Second Amendment freeeedumb thang.
Carrying a toy firearm (bb gun) while black inside the store (WalMart, Ohio, August 2014) on the way to purchase it was fatal.
@Nisky Guy: And if you're Black, you don't even have to look an adult to get killed while carrying a toy gun. Tamir Rice was 12 years old when a white Cleveland cop killed him for brandishing a toy gun in a playground. The 911 caller had twice alerted the dispatcher that the "gun" was probably "a fake gun."
BB guns and pellet guns have an orange dayglow end where the
BB exits the gun. Unless it's a really old one you can't miss it.
And let’s not forget that if it wasn’t for that video of George Floyd being brutalized until dead, Derek Chauvin would be walking around today, looking for more black “enemies of the state” (all of them) to kneel on. Then think of all the cops who have gotten away, literally, with murder because it’s their word against anyone else.
Here is a pretty good article by Thomas Edsall: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/21/opinion/trump-republicans.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage#commentsContainer. Loss of status and consequent grievance has been played as well by the overly white police forces. BTW: that asshole union police union president in Minneapolis conveniently "retired" before the trial. A mid 50s shlep and we pay him to sit on his fat ass the rest of his life.
I wonder how long it will be until "police statement" is in all of our vocabulary?
"Where have you been young man, and don't give me no police statement I know you weren't at John's house like you said you'd be"
Accountability for criminal Republican presidents can't happen soon enough. by Thom Hartmann
"America must stop giving criminal Republican presidents a pass. Every GOP president since Dwight Eisenhower used treason or deception to come to office (or inherited office from one who did), and it needs to end. It's a truly astonishing and horrifying story.
One can only wonder how much better off America would be if six Republican presidents hadn't stolen or inherited a stolen White House and used it to put right-wing cranks on the Supreme Court and other federal benches."
"Over the past two decades, as Big Tech has boomed, news organizations have been going bust. Between 2004 and 2019, one in every four U.S. newspapers shut down, and almost all the rest cut staff, for a total of 36,000 jobs lost between 2008 and 2019 alone. Local newspapers have been particularly devastated, making it ever more difficult for people to know what is happening in their communities.
Many factors contributed to this economic collapse, but none more so than the cornering of the digital advertising market by the duopoly of Facebook and Google. Facebook’s threat to a free press—and, by extension, to democracy—is especially pernicious. The social media company is financially asphyxiating the news industry even as it gives oxygen to conspiracy theories and lies. As a result of its many roles in degrading our democracy, it faces mounting scrutiny by politicians and regulators.
Facebook has responded to the negative attention by creating a highly sophisticated public relations effort, which includes becoming the number one corporate spender on federal lobbying and engaging in a massive advertising blitz aimed at the D.C. policy audience. Less well known, and potentially far more dangerous, is a secretive, multimillion-dollar-a-year payout scheme aimed at the most influential news outlets in America. Under the cover of launching a feature called Facebook News, Facebook has been funneling money to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, ABC News, Bloomberg, and other select paid partners since late 2019."
“It’s like you’re a kept person,” he [Ingram] said. “You’re Facebook’s mistress.”
It seems to me "police statements" like the original on the cause of George Floyd's death show consciousness of guilt.
If the officers really thought they did nothing wrong, the statement would have said, "Officer Chauvin kept his knee pressed in to Mr. Floyd's neck for nearly 10 minutes & for about three minutes after Mr. Floyd stopped breathing. All the while unruly bystanders, most of whom were not medically trained, falsely shouted 'You're killing him.' During this time, one certified EMT among the passersby said she would render live-saving measures to Mr. Floyd, but the officers declined her assistance because it wasn't necessary. Later, at the hospital, Mr. Floyd died of unknown causes."
I'm glad that Chauvin is going away for an unknown number of years, starting yesterday, but the fact that police departments and the military and judicial systems are riddled with winger people and legislatures, criminals, white supremacists, and brain-dead politicians doesn't bode well for the future reform of these bodies. They really do hate black and brown people, women and others, such as trans people, gays and Asian-Americans, and they will do anything to hurt or damage or kill all of us. We can never look on the police, military, statewide pols or incompetent judges in quite the same way, as they, as a group or genre, do NOT protect and serve. Sad. Really sad.
Jeanne, one of the goals of the radical Republicans is to undermine your faith and trust in government and the people who work there, all levels. If they can make you and 80 million voters believe that those people and institutions don't work for you, they can get your acceptance to dismantle and defund and deregulate.
Be careful of dismissing the value of public servants "as a group or genre." There are exceptions, but most of those people want to do a good job. We should reserve our most critical attention to the people elected to "lead" them, and specifically NOT elect people who believe leadership means "tax cuts."
I could go on. I won't.
Patrick: you are absolutely correct. I don't want to do without those institutions, but I want those inappropriate people to NOT be in those entities. You are right, of course-- it's the leaders. Or "leaders." I have never before been a cynic about government, but reading about what these hare-brained legislatures (and legislators--) are doing is driving me nuts. I don't know how it came to be that the minority party runs circles around those of us who have watched it for so long. (Well, I do know, but I hate it...) When someone with a crazy streak a mile wide and a belief in his/her power is permitted to jerk around the congress (marjorie, gym, etc) and grabs all the oxygen, I really wonder how we survive these people's nastiness. Don't worry, I am a second generation liberal and unlikely to ever change that... I don't feel I am alone in feeling powerless, but jeez louise, it is wearing... (Thanks for the boost--)
A question.
Is there no difference between shooting to kill and shooting to wound someone severely enough to make him (or her) stop in their tracks?
I really don't know.
One more thought about the Chauvin verdict. Everyone (at least those who aren’t white supremacists and Trump supporters, which really are the same thing...) has been on pins and needles about the outcome. But why? This should have been open and shut. Chauvin murdered George Floyd. End of story. A handcuffed man, on the ground, begged for his life. The cop with a knee on his neck said “no”. He killed George Floyd. Likely he thought that he was immune from any culpability because of his badge, and because he’s gotten away with plenty before.
But why should this guilty verdict be cause for surprise or, if not celebration, then at least relief?
It’s because something is seriously fucked up out there.
This should have been a stress-free, no problem decision. It wasn’t. And something is very wrong about that.