DL Open Thread: Friday, August 13, 2021

House ‘Can’t Say’ Whether Ethics Complaint Has Been Filed Against Brady.  Gee, you know they’d just love to tell you, but, unfortunately, their very own rules preclude them from doing so:

But the public may not get confirmation for some time because the process of investigating an ethics complaint in the House is so shrouded in secrecy that all House members are barred from even confirming a complaint has been filed, until the committee reaches a certain point in the investigation…

…until the Committee delivers a report to the full House, no House member can comment on whether a complaint has officially been filed and an investigation is even happening.

“House Rules prohibit us from disclosing any matters that come before the committee prior to the conclusion of several preliminary steps,” House Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst said through a spokesman when asked if anyone had filed an ethics complaint about Brady. Longhurst serves as chair of the House Ethics Committee. “Therefore, we cannot comment further at this time.”

However, when asked if anyone had filed an ethics complaint in the weeks prior, the House’s answer had simply been “no.”

I’ll take that as confirmation that a complaint has been filed.  Here’s what you need to know: The House Rules are voted on by the House at the beginning of each two-year legislative session, generally rubber-stamped after leadership appoints a Rules Committee to write them to spec. As is so often the case with the General Assembly, the House has traditionally voted to exempt themselves from FOIA requirements that other state agencies routinely must conform with.  Gee, it’s kinda like the State Police, who routinely bury information that might portray them (or legislators like, for example, Andria Bennett) in an unfavorable light.

The ironic Bizarro World possibility is that a legislator confirming that they had filed a complaint would likely be in more ‘ethical’ trouble than Gerald Brady. Which is bullshit.  This is what happens when ‘everybody knows the cops run the place.’

BTW, News-Journal reporter Natalia Alamdari is proving herself to be a worthy foe to this blatant obfuscation.  Good work here.

The ‘Warrior Mindset’ And ‘Killology’.  How cops were trained to be prepared to use their weapons at a moment’s notice.  Without sussing out the circumstances.  The training is/was part of the problem:

The term “killology” was coined by Dave Grossman, a former Army Ranger and U.S. Military Academy psychology professor who has zigzagged the country to bring his police seminars to thousands of officers. His 1995 book, “On Killing,” explores the psychological reaction to extreme violence. It asserts that people need, in a sense, to be trained to have a healthy emotional reaction to killing. It is on the Marine Corps Commandant’s Professional Reading List and has been part of the curriculum at the FBI and the nation’s service academies.

“Another human being attacking you, violating you, attempting to steal away your life and beat you and harm you — this is the most psychologically toxic and corrosive thing any human being will ever face, violent crime,” Grossman said in an interview with The Post last week. “And this is what our police face.”

There you have it: Indoctrinate the cops to have a ‘healthy emotional reaction to killing’, and loose them upon the citizens they’re sworn to protect and serve. Turn ’em into Marines. What could possibly go wrong?

‘Pile Of Nothing’. Watch Mike Lindell Lose It.

‘Restorative Justice’: If There’s Buy-In, Will It Work?  Early indications are that yes, yes it will. With this particular piece:

Without a guarantee that statements made in restorative justice wouldn’t be used against the kids who opted in, Katz’s program fell apart in 2012. Now, a new law might make programs like Katz’s possible again. In July, Illinois lawmakers attempted to solve the problem that plagued it by barring any statements made in a restorative justice process from being used later in lawsuits, prosecutions, or other court proceedings. The “privilege” now granted to restorative justice in Illinois resembles the same protections afforded to conversations between doctors and patients; therapists and clients; or in legal mediation. It doesn’t prohibit participants in restorative justice from disclosing what’s said in the process. But it prevents those disclosures from being used later to prove a legal case. “It really is about evidence—what can come into a court of law from those sanctioned relationships,” says Keenan-Devlin, the law’s co-author.

It appears that Delaware has such a program. Anybody out there who can fill us in on it?

It’s Official: Majority White Hegemony In US Is Indeed Imperiled.  No wonder America’s White Party doubles down on voter suppression and armed insurrection:

Overall, the white-alone population fell by 8.6% since 2010, the bureau said on Thursday. Non-hispanic whites now account for around 58% of America’s population, a drop from 2010 when they made up 63.7% of the population. It was the first time that the non-Hispanic white population has fallen below 60% since the census began.

Meanwhile, there was significant growth among minority groups over the last decade. The Hispanic or Latino population grew by 23%, while the Asian alone population surged by over 35%. The Black population also increased by more than 5.6%.

“The US population is much more multiracial and much more racially and ethnically diverse than we have measured in the past,” said Nicholas Jones, a Census Bureau official.

What do you want to talk about?