DL Open Thread: Tues., June 2, 2020
Trump Declares War Against America, Sends In Troops To Quash Peaceful Demonstration…For A ‘Fascist Photo-Op’. At St. John’s Episcopal Church. Here is the Reverend’s response:
“I am the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and was not given even a courtesy call, that they would be clearing [the area] with tear gas so they could use one of our churches as a prop,” Budde said.
She excoriated the president for standing in front of the church — its windows boarded up with plywood — holding up a Bible, which Budde said “declares that God is love.”
“Everything he has said and done is to inflame violence,” Budde of the president. “We need moral leadership, and he’s done everything to divide us.”
Trump Pledges To Invoke Insurrection Act And Send The Military To The States. Has Unhinged Conversation With Governors. Listen to the audio here. BTW, the criminals in the White House are happy this tape leaked.
Everything Falls Apart, Police Brutality Edition. Louisville Cops Kill Cook Who Fed Them For Free. BTW, this is as good a place as any to call out our feckless congressional delegation. Tom Carper was reportedly delayed on I-95 for the peaceful protest. He couldn’t get out of his car to meet the protesters? Chris Coons has been too busy getting endorsements from Big Pharma to carve out a little time on his schedule? Phony piety becomes him. And, as for the ‘first woman of color’ to be elected as US Representative from Delaware, Lisa is doing what, exactly? The milk carton meme is perfect. Biden has met with protesters and victims. What are the excuses of these poor excuses for public servants?
Defense Secretary Calls American Streets A ‘Battlespace To Dominate’. Yep. A ‘battlespace’ full of protesters who must be dominated. The language is downright Orwellian.
Trump And Sessions Ended Federal Oversight Of Police Departments:
When Trump finally fired Sessions in November 2018, the outgoing attorney general had one final trick up his sleeve. Before leaving the Justice Department, he quietly signed a memorandum in one of his last official acts all but ending the department’s oversight of police departments. The memorandum made the Trump administration’s de facto policy against new consent decrees official, while extending the same hands-off policy to other areas of federal enforcement involving state responsibilities in areas like pollution and voting rights. Experts predicted that even departments already under current federal oversight might once again act with impunity because the memo undercut the authority of civil rights attorneys to enforce them. Sessions’ memo set policy, but it also sent a message to police departments that they would no longer have to answer to the federal government—not even when when officer shootings draw national attention.
Paul Krugman Puts It All In Context:
How did we get here? The core story of U.S. politics over the past four decades is that wealthy elites weaponized white racism to gain political power, which they used to pursue policies that enriched the already wealthy at workers’ expense.
Until Trump’s rise it was possible — barely — for people to deny this reality with a straight face. At this point, however, it requires willful blindness not to see what’s going on.
So what has Trump really offered to the white working class that makes up most of his base? Basically, he has provided affirmation and cover for racial hostility.
And nowhere is this clearer than in his relationship with the police.
Treasury Official Benefits From Bailout. Boy, do he and his family business benefit. I know the unrest and COVID has diverted everybody’s attention, but the blatant criminal behavior of members of this administration goes on and on. Read it.
Trump Has Reached The ‘Mad Emperor’ Stage. Yes, it’s terrifying.
Everything Falls Apart, Ctd. The latest carnage: 1,811,277 confirmed cases and 105,147 deaths in America.
AG Kathleen Jennings Calls For Increased Public Oversight Of Police. It’s a thin line that’s she’s walking. This is a good first step. This would be a better step: putting an end to some ‘use-of-force’ laws.
BTW, this from my daughter out in Portland. She says that the cops have been better at just letting protesters protest. Her greater concern? The Proud Boys, who have a large following in the Pacific Northwest, and who are hovering around the protests.
What do you want to talk about?
I hate to pop the bubble here, but…
https://images.app.goo.gl/scMY1Mj6p91fFMng9
https://images.app.goo.gl/2hXAjefsA3gXrFHb6
I mentioned that Biden had taken the time to meet with protesters and victims.
Thanks for the rare Lisa sighting. Don’t you think she should be a little more–vocal and visible?
My point is that she has been glued to Biden’s side. She does appear to be talking at the church and she spoke on Market St. on Sunday.
Perhaps that hasn’t been enough to meet your bar, but this seems unfair:
OK, so she’s a loyal friend of Joe. But what does she have to say?
And, what job does she want in his administration? She’s been a cabinet secretary at the state level.
https://twitter.com/MereNewman/status/1267085354793947141
I don’t see any video of what she said at the church yesterday, but we are certainly a long way away from the missing-in-action caricature presented above.
If you ignore her virtually complete lack of engagement in DC as an elected representative, you’re correct.
Moving the goalposts now? Gotcha.
She ended up on the proverbial milk carton b/c she hasn’t done a bleeping thing of note in four years.
We would have to move the goal posts to each team’s 30-yard line to capture the narrow scope of whatever it is she does. Which appears to be nothing but self-promotion.
Hey, she went to a black church w/ Biden, though. Good. Point taken.
Didn’t see any mention of Carper or Coons in your critique. I’m sure they’re doing great work behind the scenes…
I was offended by the attack on her because it would take a profound lack of attention to NOT see her engaged in the past few days.
With regard to the highest profile African American politician in Delaware, I didn’t appreciate the uninformed cheap shot from a supposedly progressive source.
You call it a cheap shot. I call it four years of self-promotion. It’s nice that she went with Biden to a black church. That literally is the least she can do.
Please keep me apprised of any other leadership that she might deign to show during this time of crisis. You’re right. I’m not out there following her every move. I DO pay a lot of attention, though. Even watch the local news and read the local papers.
And, as the highest-elected ‘woman of color’ in the state, she has not taken anything approaching a leadership role in this crisis.
If you know, please tell us what she has been doing on this, other than accompanying Biden to a black church.
Here’s her website. She ‘implores’ her R colleagues to speak out. Other than that, crickets:
https://bluntrochester.house.gov/
I call it a cheap shot because it is. And I’m not going to allow people on the left to diminish the voices of our elected African-american officials while we have shitheads on the right trying to do the same thing to EVERY African-American voice.
But you should be embarrassed by the cheap shot. But you are so locked-in to your own narrative that you can’t accommodate new information. And you don’t seem to have a desire to access the new information using new methods, so maybe that’s your blind spot. I don’t know, but you have a goddamn plank in your eye on this one.
heh – from Doug Rainey this morning –
Shupe, DuPont and Kenny roll out website designed to combat a ‘national takeover of Delaware news’
A state legislator and publisher has joined with DuPont Country Club co-owner Ben duPont and grocery store executive Chris Kenny to form a statewide news website with an electronic Sunday newspaper. DelawareLive was launched today. Its co-founder and CEO is Bryan Shupe of Milford. A decade ago, Shupe co-founded MilfordLive, the state’s first hyperlocal news
Good catch. The news is always better for a politician if he controls the source.
Bryant Richardson has done the same thing with some downstate rags.
BTW, he filed. The name listed on the DOE website is Byrant Richardson. Catch it before DOE does. (DAMN, they beat me to it. I was gonna let it ride until the next Political Weekly.)
CNN Via WDEL :
Delaware Nat’l Guard heads to DC
https://www.wdel.com/news/trump-declares-himself-president-of-law-and-order-amid-protests-threatens-military-force-in-states/article_d9045208-a45a-11ea-8d09-6b8a822ea188.html
Hmmm, can’t seem to reply to LG’s last post. LBR’s voice is diminished b/c she’s CHOSEN to sink into the background. We’ve seen mayors and legislators of color taking the lead on the ongoing police brutality. We’ve seen nothing of the sort from LBR. I’ve been calling for her to be a leader on these issues since she’s been elected, but she’s opted to follow the lead of Carper and Coons. And this: ‘I’m not going to allow people on the left to diminish the voices of our elected African-american officials while we have shitheads on the right trying to do the same thing to EVERY African-American voice’ is utterly disingenuous. My problem is that she CHOOSES not to use her voice.
As to accessing ‘the new information using new methods’, please enlighten me. And, yes, I do look at social media, but that’s one zoo I leave to others for participation.
BTW, here’s what Lisa’s doing today during the crisis. Holding a Town Hall with the Self-Insurance Institute of America. Police brutality is not on the agenda:
https://www.captiveinternational.com/news/siia-to-hold-virtual-town-hall-with-delaware-congresswoman-3527
You’re the one that said you read the local papers and watch the local news. Both are well past their prime and in the case of local newspapers, TNJ is dead but just doesn’t know it.
The picture of her and Biden on Market St. 12 hours after the damage was inflicted on it was published nationally. But it must’ve been in some paper that you don’t read.
This crisis has unfolded in real time on social media, but I guess zoos are outside of your comfort zone. Perhaps someone will send you a newsletter with updates.
As for the town hall event, 1) it is virtual so it’s not like it’s the whole day, probably an hour, 2) town halls have question/answer periods and presenters may diverge from an agenda set perhaps weeks ago and 3) it is her actual job to speak to various groups. I’m doing my job today and correcting your poor ally behavior in-between meetings.
Maybe our expectations for LBR are too high. I’m serious. Even Delaware’s un-historic white Congressmen have been milquetoasts; I don’t see why we should expect more from LBR.
I do. Maybe she will rise to the occasion. If she does, I’ll give her props. She hasn’t yet.
I really appreciate LG cleaning up my imaginary mess. Pardon me for thinking that her ‘actual job’ at a time like this is not to address a group of lobbyists, which is what the SIIA is. Its mission?:
“The Self-Insurance Institute of America, Inc. (SIIA) is a member-based association dedicated to protecting and promoting the business interests of companies involved in the self-insurance and captive insurance industry. Members include, self-insurance entities, TPAs, Captive Managers, Excess/Stop-Loss Carriers and other industry service providers.”
Would I be a cynic were I to see some contributions from this in her future?
I’m more than disappointed in her. She does, however, have the chance to rise to the occasion. It’s not like she’s incapable of being a leader. Far from it. She has the intellect and the charisma to lead. She’s not a hack, and doesn’t have to be a Carper/Coons clone. Maybe this will be her time to grow in office. But if she doesn’t, LG and, I suspect a few others, will still have this forum to express their disagreement with me.
Delaware is the number 3 state for captive insurance. I only know this because of the work I did to expose the last insurance commissioner. (Vermont is #1).
Perhaps Bernie will be talking to them next.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-one-corporate-tax-shelter-bernie-sanders-supported-is-vermonts
You are certainly correct about the relationship between KWS and that industry. You did good work there in helping to get that ethical sewer out of state government.
Twitter Bans White Nationalist Group Masquerading As Antifa. But not before Eric Trump and others link to it as proof of Antifa’s radicalism, which, of course, was the point:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/02/tech/antifa-fake-twitter-account/index.html
I’m of two minds. I don’t really need/want to see a fire-and-brimstone Carper, Coons, or LBR. Biden’s low-key. dignified, and Presidential approach seems best and is working for now. Maybe it’s best for our delegation to follow Biden’s lead, as much as it grates on me.
And in the back of my mind, maybe a bunch of liberal white boomers don’t need to be telling a black politician how to behave in a race riot.
Not looking for fire-and-brimstone. Just looking for leadership, not, um, followership. LBR has the skills to be much more than she has shown so far. I know her. Had the chance to work with her when she was a cabinet secretary.
I’ve seen elected officials make the successful transition from just wanting to BE something to wanting to DO something. If she didn’t have that capacity, I’d be less frustrated.
And, and you know this, my critique has extended back for far longer than our current situation. I am a liberal white boomer, though…
“And in the back of my mind, maybe a bunch of liberal white boomers don’t need to be telling a black politician how to behave in a race riot.”
Uh ya, Bingo.
How about this. Other than writing flowery, cringey facebook posts that read like an 11th grader trying too hard, what has Jennings done? Meaningless dribble after spending her entire life building, supporting and executing a system that she now – when it is most politically convenient – seems to have a lot of “Thoughts and Prayers” about.
How about meaningful police reform? Or anything other than stupid posts? But she won’t because she’s a cop and historically, very close to them.
That’s the fundamental problem with this blog. You are just so wrong all of the time and ignore the wrongs of anyone who blows smoke up your ass.
We, um, didn’t endorse Kathleen Jennings. We endorsed Cris Johnson.
Having said that, and I’m only speaking for myself, I think she’s done a good job so far as AG.
The minimum mandatories that put so many minorities behind bars was the collective work of Tom Sharp, Jim Vaughn, Wayne Smith, and the AG at the time, who was Jane Brady. Brady is the current chair of the State Rethuglican PRTY.
I agree. Kathleen Jennings is one of our best Democrats. Granted, not a super high bar but she is doing great.
I was more supportive of her than anyone here, and she’s been about what I expected — more independent of the police than any AG in memory.
Your mileage obviously varies, but given the extent to which police control what they want in this state, it’s more than you were going to get from any of the other candidates, because she knows where some of the bodies are buried.