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

[numberthirty]

From the piece that actually involved interviewing Sanders himself...

https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-n...-done-fighting

Bernie Sanders Is Not Done Fighting

And how about now? Especially given what we’re seeing at the moment, do you feel the need to—

Well, we are—I have been speaking out, and we will continue to speak out. Look, I think everybody knows that the police murder of George Floyd is part of a very, very long pattern, and, because of groups like Black Lives Matter and the A.C.L.U. and others, we have been discussing those murders a lot more in recent years than we have in the past, when it was really quite common practice. So this has gone on for decades, and I think the major transformation that’s coming now is a result of cell phones and video cameras. People are seeing what’s actually happening, which was not the case decades ago. But this has gone on, and it’s got to end. It has absolutely got to end. Last week, I sent a letter to Chuck Schumer with a rather detailed set of proposals which I think are very bold in terms of police-department reform on top of over-all criminal-justice reform.

So this is an area that we have got to address in a very, very aggressive way. We cannot continue to have African-American mothers worried about sending their kids out to the playground because their kid might run into a racist police officer. We cannot continue to have more people in jail—disproportionately African-American, Latino, and Native American—than any other country on earth. We’ve got to start investing in education and jobs, not more jails, not more incarceration, and we have to hold every police officer in this country accountable for what he or she does. And when those police officers break the law and commit acts of murder or violence, they have got to be held accountable.

In that letter to Schumer, you got some pushback from some of your supporters for a proposal to give better resources to police departments. [The letter argued for “ensuring that the resources are available to pay wages that will attract the top tier officers.”] The criticism was that a lot of people in the progressive movement now are calling for defunding or abolishing the police. Do you—

Do I think we should not have police departments in America? No, I don’t. There’s no city in the world that does not have police departments. What you need are—I didn’t call for more money for police departments. I called for police departments that have well-educated, well-trained, well-paid professionals. And, too often around this country right now, you have police officers who take the job at very low payment, don’t have much education, don’t have much training—and I want to change that. I also called for the transformation of police departments into—understanding that many police departments and cops deal every day with issues of mental illness, deal with issues of addiction, and all kinds of issues which should be dealt with by mental-health professionals or others, and not just by police officers.

I think we want to redefine what police departments do, give them the support they need to make their jobs better defined. So I do believe that we need well-trained, well-educated, and well-paid professionals in police departments. Anyone who thinks that we should abolish all police departments in America, I don’t agree.

[JackDaw]

Not to make any assumptions about CTTT, but I have a feeling that a lot of white people who say they have Black friends, really just mean that there are a few Black people at work who they talk to at the water cooler about the previous night's sporting event. In order to prove that the Black people they know are indeed their friends, ask them, "He's your friend? All right, what's his wife's name? Have you ever had him over your house for dinner? Who's his favorite music performer?" If he doesn't know the answer to any of those questions, then he's not really friends with any Black person. He's just friendly enough to get along with a co-worker.

And, full disclosure, I say this as a white man who wishes I were better acquainted with the Black people I've worked with and gotten to know in my life.

You’re right...peoples definition of friend varies widely. Years ago I tended to use it to mean anyone who I had amicable relations with.

I first found our other people used it more stringently back when I was 13 when guy I sat next to in class...who was amazing good company...explained to me that although we got on well that we weren’t really friends because we never socialised together outside class.

And it’s certainly possible to be genuine friends with some one of another race and still be a racist. My best friend at uni “ticked that box”. (He was admirable in many ways. One day he amazed me by going into a rant about a particular race group. Let’s call the race group “X”. After he calmed down I said something like “But Tony is X”...to be met by reply “But Tony’s not a proper “X”.)

But on other hand...if some one can be genuine friends with some one from another race doesn’t it say something positive about that person?

I think it does.

[4saken1]

Ok, so saying I understand why some are upset about GF being shot, I understand the protesting, the police brutality and all that. So by saying that All Lives Matter including Black Lives, that means I don't care or am not empathetic to the situation of blacks or anyone being assaulted? Why is the assumption being made that "Ok person A says All Lives Matter, so that means he/she is ignorant of what goes on with police brutality black violence and needs to be educated?" By saying ALM, I personally am saying that I feel for GF's brother and it's terrible he has that pain to bear losing his brother. No person should have to go through that. Losing a loved one is something that anyone can go through. All Lives DO and SHOULD matter.

So then do you preach ALM whenever anybody is unjustly killed by police or just when somebody of African descent is? It's kinda like saying 'All Trees Matter' when somebody is campaigning to save the rain forests. You cited how white people are shot at a rate of 2x more frequently than blacks, but failed to acknowledge the mathematical fallacy concerning the fact that they make up 6x the population. Sounds like a case of intellectual dishonesty to me!

btw are you aware that black people are more likely to be pulled over by police than their white counterparts, more likely to have their cars searched when they are pulled over, more likely to be charged with an offence that whites tend to get off with a warning for, more likely to be charged with a higher class of crime for the exact same crime than whites, more likely to be convicted, more likely to serve a harsher sentence, less likely to get parole, more likely to get the death sentence, etc?

[Steel Inquisitor]

Ok, so saying I understand why some are upset about GF being shot, I understand the protesting, the police brutality and all that. So by saying that All Lives Matter including Black Lives, that means I don't care or am not empathetic to the situation of blacks or anyone being assaulted? Why is the assumption being made that "Ok person A says All Lives Matter, so that means he/she is ignorant of what goes on with police brutality black violence and needs to be educated?" By saying ALM, I personally am saying that I feel for GF's brother and it's terrible he has that pain to bear losing his brother. No person should have to go through that. Losing a loved one is something that anyone can go through. All Lives DO and SHOULD matter.

"All Lives Matter" is a weaponised mantra meant to silence the Black Lives Matter movement. It's rooted in white supremacy and protecting power structures which put down minorities so they're not given the rights they should have but aren't by institutionalised racism. "Black Lives matter" is not about saying other people don't matter, it simply explains that their lives matter, too. Nothing should be controversial about this stance but America is very racist and that racism needs to end.

[JackDaw]

"All Lives Matter" is a weaponised mantra meant to silence the Black Lives Matter movement. It's rooted in white supremacy and protecting power structures which put down minorities so they're not given the rights they should have but aren't by institutionalised racism. "Black Lives matter" is not about saying other people don't matter, it simply explains that their lives matter, too. Nothing should be controversial about this stance but America is very racist and that racism needs to end.

Unfortunately that’s true (it has become a weaponised mantra, designed to do damage.)

But if anyone is using the term in goodwill (as I believe CTT is doing)...then they need to add one word so that mantra becomes “All lives matter equally”, and then ask themselves what measures they can support to achieve that utopian vision.

[Tendrin]

Ok, so saying I understand why some are upset about GF being shot.

He wasn't shot. An officer strangled him to death by kneeling on his neck for almost ten minutes.

[Gray Lensman]

From the piece that actually involved interviewing Sanders himself...

https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-n...-done-fighting

As a friend of mine loved to say about jobs that offered low wages and then complained about the low motivation of the workforce - "Pay peanuts, get chimps."

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Trump Defends Racist Phrase By Citing Philadelphia’s Infamous ‘Vote White’ Mayor

The president defended his use of the phrase “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Jesus H. Christ. Now Trump is slurping Frank Rizzo, THE most polarizing politician in Philadelphia's history....and an outright fucking racist to boot.

**********

The Black Lives Matter Protests Are Working. Here’s Proof.

From cities defunding police departments to monuments to racists coming down, significant changes have already emerged from the nationwide anti-racism protests.

**********

NYPD Cop Who Kneeled At Protest Apologizes To Fellow Officers

Lt. Robert Cattani said his decision to kneel “goes against every principle and value I stand for.” This miserable mouthbreather is living proof of the crying need for police reform.

**********

Tennessee Lawmakers Vote To Keep KKK Leader’s Bust In Capitol, Igniting Protests

The bust of Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest was likened to a monument to Adolf Hitler. Supporters said removing it would erase history. Disgusting!

**********

Louisville City Council Bans No-Knock Warrants After Breonna Taylor’s Death

“Metro Council’s passage of Breonna’s Law is a small bit of justice for Breonna’s mourning family and our angry, heartbroken city,” the ACLU of Kentucky said.

**********

Supercut Exposes The Ugly Truth Of Donald Trump’s Protests Rhetoric

“None of this is beautiful. End this ugly presidency,” ends the montage released by a new progressive PAC.

[Mister Mets]

I'm surprised anyone was surprised. Socialists tend to like strong police forces.

He wasn't shot. An officer strangled him to death by kneeling on his neck for almost ten minutes.

To be fair, Senate candidates have got this one wrong.

https://coloradopeakpolitics.com/202...loyd-was-shot/

[Tendrin]

I'm surprised anyone was surprised. Socialists tend to like strong police forces.


To be fair, Senate candidates have got this one wrong.

https://coloradopeakpolitics.com/202...loyd-was-shot/

I guess that's what happens when we're so used to unarmed black men being shot dead by cops. To be fair. Oh, I'm sorry, were you just trying to take a cheap shot at Hickenlooper?

[InformationGeek]

More bs from Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, this time getting into some racism.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos blamed the culture of immigrant populations for a coronavirus outbreak in Racine County, according to a secret recording of his meeting last month with Gov. Tony Evers.

“I know the reason at least in my region is because of a large immigrant population where it’s just a difference in culture where people are living much closer and working much closer,” the Rochester Republican said of an outbreak in Racine County.

In an interview Thursday, Vos said he was referring to an outbreak affecting the Latino community that had just occurred in Burlington.

"There’s no need to apologize," Vos said. "This is once again people trying to look and make something out of a conversation that was 'how do we deal with the coronavirus?'"

Later, he wrote on Twitter, "Listen to what was said and not the sensationalist headline. Facts show communities of color are disproportionally impacted. That's science."

[Kirby101]

I'm surprised anyone was surprised. Socialists tend to like strong police forces.


To be fair, Senate candidates have got this one wrong.

https://coloradopeakpolitics.com/202...loyd-was-shot/

Nice unbiased link you gave us Mets. "Colorado's CONSERVATIVE Bully Pulpit" (the article takes short out of context clips mixed with slanted editorializing)

And Sanders is a DEMOCRATIC Socialist not a Socialist. Like most of Europe. Amazing how conservatives just can't understand the difference. (not really, your confusing the two is an obvious tactic)

[Surf]

Tennessee Lawmakers Vote To Keep KKK LeaderÂ’s Bust In Capitol, Igniting Protests

The bust of Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest was likened to a monument to Adolf Hitler. Supporters said removing it would erase history. Disgusting!

**********

Hoo-boy, that **** runs deeeep in Tennessee. Starts and Bars novelties are pretty big business, any Stop and Go truck stop at or after the border of Indiana all the way to Florida you can get that **** slapped on products in a thousand places. I don't know what's worse about this is- the fact that his bust still stands in a government building for his role in the Confederacy or his role as the first Grand Wizard of the KKK.

Also anyone bringing up 'history' as a context for keeping these things is at best a fucking liar. Monuments are for reverence, books and museums are for documenting history. A monument can stand as historic but call it what it is, when it is.

As you can see, virtually all of the memorials were erected after the Confederacy lost the Civil War. And dozens alone have been erected since the civil rights movement in the 1960s. This dramatically weakens the common argument that the memorials are historically significant as many of them are much less than a century old.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90515618...as-racist-past

Most of these were focused and direct blowback from the Civil Rights movements alone. The killing part is how many, soooo many, poor white folks benefit from equality measures spearheaded by the sacrifices of Black Americans during that time through today. There are millions of poor white folks, whose perceived identity, means more than their health.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqceHviNBC4

This banning of the confederate flag at NASCAR races is a tough one. I've lived in Indianapolis my whole life, the house I'm in currently I can go less than a mile in either direction and I can show you the 4 houses, I know of, that fly confederate flags right out front, prominently. One of them houses fly both flags... Sure, when I see that flag first thing comes to mind is treason but these folks ultimately don't have much else and we're talking a generational dearth. They are going to resist, Tennessee legislature already is, pulling up the carpet in the country we're all going to see how ugly the pad is beneath.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Hoo-boy, that **** runs deeeep in Tennessee. Starts and Bars novelties are pretty big business, any Stop and Go truck stop at or after the border of Indiana all the way to Florida you can get that **** slapped on products in a thousand places. I don't know what's worse about this is- the fact that his bust still stands in a government building for his role in the Confederacy or his role as the first Grand Wizard of the KKK.

Also anyone bringing up 'history' as a context for keeping these things is at best a fucking liar. Monuments are for reverence, books and museums are for documenting history. A monument can stand as historic but call it what it is, when it is.



Most of these were focused and direct blowback from the Civil Rights movements alone. The killing part is how many, soooo many, poor white folks benefit from equality measures spearheaded by the sacrifices of Black Americans during that time through today. There are millions of poor white folks, whose perceived identity, means more than their health.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqceHviNBC4

This banning of the confederate flag at NASCAR races is a tough one. I've lived in Indianapolis my whole life, the house I'm in currently I can go less than a mile in either direction and I can show you the 4 houses, I know of, that fly confederate flags right out front, prominently. One of them houses fly both flags... Sure, when I see that flag first thing comes to mind is treason but these folks ultimately don't have much else and we're talking a generational dearth. They are going to resist, Tennessee legislature already is, pulling up the carpet in the country we're all going to see how ugly the pad is beneath.

Never mind that the Stars and Bars represents treason and racism, it's also the flag from the LOSING SIDE IN THE CIVIL WAR. Who wants to be associated with something like that shameful?

[Steel Inquisitor]

Never mind that the Stars and Bars represents treason and racism, it's also the flag from the LOSING SIDE IN THE CIVIL WAR. Who wants to be associated with something like that shameful?

Trump has a talent of being a magnet of every white supremacist in Washington, he may not be book smart but he attract them all the same. Because, obviously, he's a white supremacist.