DL Open Thread: Friday, June 19, 2020
Top State Department Official–An African-American–Resigns Due To Trump’s Ongoing Racism. A Trump appointee who previously worked for Moscow Mitch. Here’s what she said in her resignation letter:
“Moments of upheaval can change you, shift the trajectory of your life, and mold your character. The President’s comments and actions surrounding racial injustice and Black Americans cut sharply against my core values and convictions,” Taylor wrote in her resignation letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “I must follow the dictates of my conscience and resign as Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs.”
Face Masks Make A Comeback. In response to increased cases of COVID-19. California. Arizona. Texas. Orlando, FL. More of the latest hot spots: Orange County, FL (Orlando’s home county) with a huge surge; Payne County, OK, home to Stillwater; Greenbrier County, WV; Sevier County, TN, a Trump County if ever there was one; and Lee County, AR, a county with an utterly disgraceful history of disenfranchising blacks. You also see a lot more red in Texas and, yes, Oklahoma, on the map than yesterday.
Klobuchar Out Of Veepstakes. Why not? She wasn’t going to get it. Probably angling for something in the would-be Biden Administration, though.
Another Senseless Killing–This Time In LA. Every bleeping day.
Trump Administration Bought Shitloads Of Test Tubes They Can’t Use. Yet another contract given to a firm with no track record. Instead of test tubes, they end up with…mini soda bottles. Maybe they can store those 60 million doses of Trump’s miracle cure in them. Of course, the firm’s track record was stellar:
The Federal Emergency Management Agency signed its first deal with Fillakit on May 7, just six days after the company was formed by an ex-telemarketer repeatedly accused of fraudulent practices over the past two decades. Fillakit has supplied a total of more than 3 million tubes, which FEMA then approved and sent to all 50 states. If the company fulfills its contractual obligation to provide 4 million tubes, it will receive a total of $10.16 million.
Wexler, Fillakit’s owner, has a background in law and real estate, not medical supplies. In 2012, the Federal Trade Commission accused Wexler and his telemarketing firm of illegal robocalling, making unauthorized charges to consumers’ bank accounts and falsely claiming to be a nonprofit organization. Wexler’s firm allegedly misrepresented itself as a credit counseling service for several years, charging customers for work it did not do, according to court records.
Wexler, who denied the charges, settled the case a year later. The settlement banned him from offering debt relief services — but not from being a federal contractor — and imposed a $2.7 million judgment.
That’s a Trump contractor right there.
The True Meaning Of Juneteenth. Read it, you’ll learn something.
Delaware House Expands Vote-By Mail For 2020. I apologize for basically deep-sixing the Pre-Game/Post-Game pieces. It’s just too–piecemeal–for pieces.
What do you want to talk about?
