All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[Vic Vega]

You aren't going to see any Police accountability until you have both A) Obama era DOJ investigations of entire Police Departments and B) laws on the books providing things like Federal guidelines on Rules of Engagement for the Police.

BTW, B) will never happen with a Republican Senate and A) ended when Trump got rid of Obama D.O.J.

All this is a direct result of that. Police Unions were yelling for the investigations to stop, Trump gave them what they asked for and there hasn't been a single Federal investigation of the Police in Trump's tenure.

No wonder Cops are acting like they can do whatever they want. They have been effectively told exactly that.

[XPac]

Some are doing that crap on purpose.

I think some know that they are out the door once this is over as police sacrifice them to save thier jobs.



Well if you are Trump and think only democrat voters are out-a few of them getting killed means fewer voters in November.

The dumb part of that is all those bad actors who might be his supporters getting taken out too.

I mean if it was ME-I would tell my supporters STAY HOME. I need you at the polls more than fighting so called liberals and BLM. Because that group didn't go to the polls and some like Nick cannon & Kaep encouraged NOT voting.

And I am already seeing folks being discouraged to vote even now by some of the folks who claim to be protesting.

I might also tell my supporters to stay at home to avoid the coronovirus. If that second wave hits hard, the person with the most votes might be the person who had more voters who properly sheltered in place during the pandemic.

[MiddleMan]

You aren't going to see any Police accountability until you have both A) Obama era DOJ investigations of entire Police Departments and B) laws on the books providing things like Federal guidelines on Rules of Engagement for the Police.

BTW, B) will never happen with a Republican Senate and A) ended when Trump got rid of Obama D.O.J.

All this is a direct result of that. Police Unions were yelling for the investigations to stop, Trump gave them what they asked for and there hasn't been a single Federal investigation of the Police in Trump's tenure.

No wonder Cops are acting like they can do whatever they want. They have been effectively told exactly that.

BINGO

Obama alluded to that in his remarks yesterday

his administration built a framework to start addressing these issues and that was all swept away by the current administration

[skyvolt2000]

It seems Floyd tested positive for Covid 19.

[Electricmastro]

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, City Officials Cutting $100-$150 Million From LAPD Budget, Funds To Be Reinvested In Communities Of Color: https://deadline.com/2020/06/los-ang...or-1202950811/

[godisawesome]

I guess the question there is whether that's a matter of procedure or just stupid cops making mistakes. If it's the former, then yeah ... I'm sure people are going to take a hard look at this issue. This will be an aspect on any and every politician's platform for the next couple years. Hopefully that will make all this worthwhile in the long run.

There’s a lot of procedural forces in law enforcement that fuel this tendency towards over-reaction, an inability to de-escalate a situation, and the “enforcer” mentality of policing. Training has been emphasizing “neutralizing the threat” far more than de-escalation and communication for decades; it’s actually kind of a fascinating to contrast the increasing militarization and uncompromising philosophy of police work with the growth in diplomatic “win hearts and minds” objectives that soldiers have received during the Iraq War. You can kind if see this with the case of a Marine who had a more diplomatic approach as an officer than his compatriots... and got fired for it. https://taskandpurpose.com/news/mari...der-settlement

A lot of it is also the result of legal aspects of their job arguably having the wrong people designated to be in charge of them, and with the wrong motivations. I mean, police unions serve a good purpose... but shouldn’t really be the main guys trying to ensure cops don’t get held liable for their more questionable actions - considering that police work is given a series freedoms and responsibilities beyond normal labor.

[Tami]

White House Security Blocks Washington’s Episcopalian Bishop from Holding a Vigil at Her Church

On Monday, President Donald Trump tear-gassed an assembly of peaceful demonstrators just outside the White House so he could awkwardly struggle to hold a bible during a photo op in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church.

On Wednesday, Trump-authorized federal police closed off a portion of 16th Street just north of the church, about a block from the White House, which kept clergy from being able to use their house of worship.

Bishop Mariann Budde, who had assailed Trump’s Monday visit as a “symbolic misuse of the most sacred texts of our tradition,” planned to hold a vigil in front of the church to to show solidarity with protestors. But a new security perimeter, extending almost a quarter of a mile out from the front of the White House, blocked her access and forced her into the street. A crowd still gathered, but away from its envisioned location and with it being difficult for most of the crowd to see or hear, the event lost momentum.

Protestors on the scene voiced frustrations with how they believed Budde and her church have overshadowed their demonstration, saying she and the Episcopalianism did not speak for them. Budde rejected this, to which they responded by asking “Then why are the cameras focused on you?”

[worstblogever]

White House Security Blocks Washington’s Episcopalian Bishop from Holding a Vigil at Her Church

But remember, Republicans insist it's Democrats' agenda that's attacking their right to practice their religion.

[Overhazard]

Trump held that bible like he's never held a book in his life, all awkward, upside down, didn't even open it to his favorite book, Corinthians two.

[Tami]

Ah, uh?

Texas GOP official claims George Floyd’s death was ‘staged’ to hurt Trump in rant about mind control experiments

I'd suggest her mind was being controlled, but I doubt she has enough of a mind for that if she really believes what she is saying.

A follow up to this

Texas Republicans: Coronavirus is Democrat plot against Trump — ‘so take off your masks’

[Tami]

Biden begins to map out ‘revolutionary’ agenda, reimagining his presidency amid national upheaval

Now, in virtual town hall meetings, media interviews, his own podcast and in a rare formal address Tuesday, Biden has pointed toward a transformational era in which government would play a bigger role in curing the country’s public health, economic and racial woes. Far from the incremental administration he promised on the primary campaign trail, Biden now offers President Franklin D. Roosevelt, architect of the post-Great Depression New Deal, as a role model for tackling the damage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 100,000 Americans and put millions out of work as well as the enduring effects of systemic racism being challenged by a newly energized protest movement.

“The history of this nation teaches us that it’s in some of our darkest moments of despair that we’ve made some of our greatest progress,” Biden said in his Tuesday speech in Philadelphia. He added: “The moment has come for our nation to deal with systemic racism. To deal with the growing economic inequity that exists in our nation, to deal with the denial of the promise of this nation.”

Prakash and several other prominent liberals, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), have joined policy discussions with the Biden campaign as members of newly formed policy task forces designed to forge an agenda that would help win over the pro-Sanders wing of the party.

“I’m hopeful,” Prakash said of Biden’s rhetorical shifts and the work being done on the climate task force. “But it’s too soon to say whether it’s real or not.”

Aides and allies say Biden’s rethinking reflects the deepening troubles enveloping the country and a growing sense among the former vice president’s team that they would take power at a perilous moment — with tens of millions of Americans out of work, a coronavirus vaccine still in the testing phase and the country emerging from what will no doubt be as bitter and polarizing a campaign as it has ever experienced.

[williamtheday]

In other news, Rand Paul is holding up anti-lynching legislation, of course.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The Republicans have basically deteriorated into three camps. First are those who know Trump will end their careers if they defy him. Second are those who don't care what he does as long as he continues to allow them to reshape regulation, tax law and the judiciary to their donors' liking. The last, and perhaps scariest, are those who want him to destroy the power-balancing institutions so there are no limits on their power when they eventually move to supplant him.

Anyone that believes Trump is going to obligingly fade away if defeated in November is almost as delusional as Trump himself. Even if he doesn't attempt to leverage Blackwater, white supremacist militias, and war criminals like Gallagher to either prevent or overturn an electoral defeat (and I do not regard that as an impossibility), he's not just going to slink away to Mar-a-lago to golf away his remaining years.

We've had ample evidence that any embarrassment sends Trump into a vengeful hysteria. I'd expect something that he'd find as humiliating as an electoral defeat to compel him to run again in 2024 (the 22nd Amendment does not bar non-consecutive terms). As part of this effort, I anticipate Trump launching an excoriating stream of propaganda aimed at Biden, and anyone else he envisions as having played a role in his defeat. Even if it's hopeless (and that's by no means certain), Trump will need to feel that he has shaped the narrative to how he was defrauded or cheated out of his "rightful" claim on the presidency.

Trump's already floated the idea of starting his own "news" network. A loss in November, on top social media sites beginning to fact check, or minimize his platform, is almost guaranteed to push him into trying it. And his followers WILL patronize it.

No, the only two things apt to silence Trump are death, or imprisonment.

Even though the stress of the presidency physically ages even the healthiest of men, Trump, despite being patently obese and possessing a horrible diet somehow avoided suffering a life threatening incident. Perhaps he made a deal with the Devil for perfect health to spite the world. As for imprisonment, that's what Trump fears most, knowing a court date for his dirty dealings from the Mueller Report is waiting for him right after he leaves office, thus his obsession to be reelected.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Ah, uh?

Texas GOP official claims George Floyd’s death was ‘staged’ to hurt Trump in rant about mind control experiments

I'd suggest her mind was being controlled, but I doubt she has enough of a mind for that if she really believes what she is saying.

A follow up to this

Texas Republicans: Coronavirus is Democrat plot against Trump — ‘so take off your masks’

Oh, WBEEEEEEEE....!

[XPac]

But remember, Republicans insist it's Democrats' agenda that's attacking their right to practice their religion.

There is a double standard as far gathering. They don't allow you to go to church because of social distancing, unless it's a protest. Preventing a bishop holding a vigil would actually be more consistant. Either let people gather or don't.