DL Open Thread For May 29, 2021
DOJ Asks Judge To Toss Lawsuit Against Trump And Barr For Violent Clearing Of Lafayette Square. Seriously, WTF?
Trump and other U.S. officials are immune from civil lawsuits over police actions taken to protect a president and to secure his movements, government lawyers said of the actions taken ahead of a photo op of Trump holding a Bible in front of the historic St. John’s Church…
The American Civil Liberties Union of D.C., Black Lives Matter, other civil liberties groups and individual protesters accuse Trump and senior officials of driving the June 1 events. Military, federal and local police forcibly cleared the square using batons, clubs, horses, pepper spray, smoke and fired projectiles 30 minutes before a citywide curfew began. Images of violence drew a national backlash against Trump’s calls for “overwhelming force” to put down those he called “THUGS” and domestic terrorists. The nation’s top military official later apologized for walking with Trump before television cameras that day.
Lawyers for the ACLU said that despite legal precedents, the government’s defense would “authorize brutality with impunity” in the heart of Washington at one of the most symbolic spaces within the seat of the federal government.
Pandemic Raging Among Unvaccinated, Unwashed. OK, don’t get vaccinated, I don’t care:
“The people who are not vaccinated are the ones who are not wearing a mask or washing their hands. Those are the very people who often times will socialize and be around similar like-minded people. You’re going to have the pandemic continue in those clusters.”
Democracy Must Fail For Rethuglicanism To Survive. It’s that simple. If you take a look at the key states that Biden won narrowly, every single one of them faces some sort of R voter suppression. In two of them, Rethugs are looking to strip the powers of the Secretary Of State. We can cite examples every single day. In order to forestall totalitarianism, the Republican Party must be soundly defeated ASAP. Before legit elections are a thing of the past. If they aren’t already.
‘Bipartisanship’ Is Dead. Good:
You should reach for your wallet every time a politician makes a plea for bipartisanism in the name of seeking “common ground” or “rising above politics” or to “reject cynicism.” There’s nothing more political than asserting that your position is above politics and that your foes’ positions are drenched in it. As you do, keep a watch on self-proclaimed “centrists” who claim, as keepers of compromise, to be the guiding spirit of bipartisanship.
Remind you of anybody?
How Ethanol Plant Made An Entire Community Sick. It wasn’t the corn, it was the pesticides on the corn.
The Press FINALLY Recognizes Disparity Between Coverage Of Arrests Of Brown And Bennett. This is a direct reaction to coverage by the REV and others:
On Wednesday, Delaware State Police issued a press release about Brown’s arrest with a picture of his mugshot. They did not issue any release or mugshot pertaining to Bennett’s arrest in December.
Because arrest reports are not public records in Delaware, releases from police are sometimes the only way the public learns of arrests.
When asked about the lack of a press release for Bennett’s arrest, Delaware State Police spokesperson Gary Fournier said the agency “attempts to make provisions for consistent, timely and documented responses.”
“There are and will be cases where an inquiry may precede a release based on the timing of the event and subsequent investigative steps,” Fournier wrote. “Although no official press release was sent about Ms. Bennett’s arrest, the information was released to the media upon inquiry.”
In other words, yes, there is/was a double standard.
What do you want to talk about?
So rushing a press release out with a mug shot of a dark skinned person, is just the same as… just like a forced, begrudging acknowledgment of an arrest a Caucasian?
Fournier, you are fucking disgusting.
So if you hear about it somehow and ask about it, then they’ll tell you?
This is all part of the state government resistance to open government. Before the FOIA laws were passed, police reports were public record.
Making them public record again would be helpful for police reform.
I really liked that Washington Post article about unvaccinated people and the risk they face. That’s some compelling data I’ll bring to the medical providers in my office.
Pretty sure we all knew the people who are not vaccinated would be the first to stop wearing masks, and I agree with ‘bulo: Fuck ’em. You can’t help fools who won’t help themselves. As for bipartisanship it always been more of a myth then a fact, and if we can stop pretending it’s possible that’s a much needed reality check. Chris Coons excepted.