George Floyd

Lyv

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The op-ed is printed in its entirety at the Washington Post link I posted, which I should have said. I agree about NYT. I won't give them a click.

I'm in the "too little, too late" camp regarding Mattis' op-ed, but still, am hopeful that it encourages others.
 

CWatts

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I'm in the "too little, too late" camp regarding Mattis' op-ed, but still, am hopeful that it encourages others.

I think the most important thing about Mattis's op-ed is the clear message it sends to those currently in uniform.
 

frimble3

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The op-ed is printed in its entirety at the Washington Post link I posted, which I should have said. I agree about NYT. I won't give them a click.

I'm in the "too little, too late" camp regarding Mattis' op-ed, but still, am hopeful that it encourages others.
It may be 'too little, too late', but it's better than 'nothing, never'. I imagine it's hard for a career general, spending a lifetime trained to respect the President and follow orders, to change directions. His resignation was kind of a private thing, but I imagine speaking up publicly was a challenge.
Particularly when it might have been considered 'sour grapes'.
So, Trump has ticked off the Marines, offended the Navy (COVID ships), how long before he loses the trust of the Airforce and the Army?
 

Ari Meermans

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It may be 'too little, too late', but it's better than 'nothing, never'. I imagine it's hard for a career general, spending a lifetime trained to respect the President and follow orders, to change directions. His resignation was kind of a private thing, but I imagine speaking up publicly was a challenge.
Particularly when it might have been considered 'sour grapes'.
So, Trump has ticked off the Marines, offended the Navy (COVID ships), how long before he loses the trust of the Airforce and the Army?

The cracks are starting: "A message to the Army community about civil unrest"

Every Soldier and Department of the Army Civilian swears an oath to support and defend the Constitution. That includes the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. We will continue to support and defend those rights, and we will continue to protect Americans, whether from enemies of the United States overseas, from COVID-19 at home, or from violence in our communities that threatens to drown out the voices begging us to listen.

ETA: The three signatories of that letter/memo are being put on notice by people all over social media that we're watching to see how well they live up to that last part no matter who perpetrates the violence.
 
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cbenoi1

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Awwww. I got warm fuzzies from this.

Some more news this morning. The thief is 20 years old. Suffering from Tourette syndrome, so has been marginalized all his life. His urge to belong to a group trumped everything else that night. The store owner dropped the thieving charges, but the guy is still on the hook for breaking and entering. The police didn't say if he gave them a long list of his newfound "friends"; odds are that he did.

Here's the outlook: he's young, no criminal record, prone to peer influence due to his condition, did not break anything, regrets what he did, attempted to return the goods, collaborated with the police.

There is always a story behind a story.

-cb
 

Lyv

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Last night, I watched the virtual town hall "Reimagining Policing in the Wake of Continued Police Violence” with President Obama, Eric Holder, Brittany Packnett Cunningham, Rashad Robinson, and others. They outlined specific, concrete actions we can take in our community to reduce police violence. I am currently asking locally for others to join me in asking our city councilors and (awful) mayor to commit to the below action items, but it's something that everyone in the US can do. At the links you can see if your city is already following these policies and if your city's mayor has taken the pledge to reduce police violence.

Action items:

Campaign Zero created 8cantwait, a collection of “ use-of-force policies that can decrease police violence by 72%.” They are:

*Ban Chokeholds and Strangleholds

*Require De-escalation

*Require Warning Before Shooting

*Require Exhausting Other Means Before Shooting

*Duty to Intervene

*Ban Shooting at Moving Vehicles

*Have Use of Force Continuum

*Require Comprehensive Reporting


The Obama Foundation has a pledge mayors can sign to commit to taking actions to reduce police violence:

1. REVIEW your police use of force policies.

2. ENGAGE your communities by including a diverse range of input, experiences, and stories in your review.

3. REPORT the findings of your review to your community and seek feedback.

4. REFORM your community’s police use of force policies.
 

MaeZe

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Trump's gaslighting is in classic form. First Trump claims he didn't really hide in the bunker, he was inspecting it and was only there for a few minutes during the day.

Then we have McEnany claiming the DC law enforcement only pushed the protesters back to protect the church, it was only two blocks, they didn't use tear gas, the protesters were throwing bricks and bottles at police and none of those things we all saw in the news feed happened, they were mis-reported. Asked again by one reporter what about the Australian news crew that was clobbered by police, McEnany just repeated reading her script, protesters were throwing bottles and bricks.

Now Barr is on in a news conference claiming it was only one block they were moved and he claims he witnessed the bottles and bricks being thrown. He claims there was rioting preventing the POTUS from walking outside the White House. Barr is claiming moving the perimeter had nothing to do with Trump's photo op (photo op not Barr;s words of course).

Now Barr's blaming the "enemies of the US" for fomenting the discord. Just like my dad telling me it was the communists behind the student protests against the war. That was in response to a question about the Boogaloo Group (white supremacists) pretending to be Antifa. He acknowledged the group then downplayed them and quickly went to the 'it's the foreigners who are our enemies.'
 
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MaeZe

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Apparently in lieu of that evil tear gas, police are using smoke canisters and pepper balls. I'd link to the article but it's Fox News and is full of other questionable claims about the evil protesters.
 

Bufty

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Or check out Dwayne Johnson's speech on Instagram/therock. He never mentions Trump by name but it's a darned good speech. "Where are you? Our Leader. Where are you?"
 
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Roxxsmom

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This is lovely. Clarinetist Anthony McGill, who is the first African American musician to hold a principle chair at the New York Philharmonic, plays America The Beautiful, shifted into a minor key.

https://www.npr.org/sections/decept...ny-mcgill-kneels-pleads-and-plays-for-justice

This is what people mistake about protest in general: Some people who protest really do love their countries a lot. I grew up singing that song. I know the words to the song. It's a beautiful, beautiful song. But sometimes we get a little off. Sometimes it's not all in a major key. And we shouldn't pretend like life and the world is always major because we want it to be. Sometimes life is minor. It goes off its true melody. It goes off of that simple, beautiful melody that we all expect it to be. Most of my life, I appreciate how beautiful this country is from sea to shining sea. I don't think I'd be able to have the opportunity I have in this country anywhere, possibly, in the world. That's how I feel about America. America has given me more opportunity and more gifts than any place I could ever imagine living. And yet, the melody can go off, and we need to acknowledge that we can hear it. We can't pretend like it hasn't turned to something darker.
 

cbenoi1

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Another day. Another clusterfuck.

White House ‘frustrated’ with Esper but ‘nobody wants a Cabinet-level shakeup’: sources
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/es...r-opposing-trump-protest-response-sources-say

Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s job may be secure, at least for the time being, despite his press briefing Wednesday in which he pushed back against President Trump’s suggestion that the military be considered to quell violent protests following George Floyd's death.
Two senior administration officials told Fox News that Trump was “frustrated” by Esper’s remarks, but that now is not the time to make any major changes.

My bets are on Matt Gaetz. In trying times like this, Trump needs a shameless loyalist.

-cb
 

Introversion

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My bets are on Matt Gaetz. In trying times like this, Trump needs a shameless loyalist.

I'd go with Tom Cotton for this position, actually. Especially after the "good" Senator's recent fascist opinion-piece in the NYT.
 

Lyv

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This is beautiful.

In giant yellow letters, D.C. mayor sends message to protesters, and to Trump


D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser renamed the street in front of the White House “Black Lives Matter Plaza” on Friday and emblazoned the slogan in massive yellow letters on the road, a pointed salvo in her escalating dispute with President Trump over control of D.C. streets.

The actions are meant to honor demonstrators who are urging changes in police practices after the killing in police custody of George Floyd in Minneapolis, city officials said.


They come after several days in which the mayor strongly objected to the escalation of federal law enforcement and a military response to days of protests and unrest in the nation’s capital.

The words span two blocks.

The police brutality videos keep coming.

The Portland Press Herald published this on the day Trump's visiting Maine.

Our View: To President Trump: You should resign now

You have never been a good president, but today your shortcomings are unleashing historic levels of suffering on the American people.

Your slow response to the coronavirus pandemic has spun a manageable crisis into the worst public health emergency since 1918.


We are also in the middle of the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. There is no national strategy to recover from the shock that is disproportionately affecting people who were already struggling to make it.


And in the face of the worst civic unrest since 1968, with millions of Americans in the streets protesting systemic racism, you fan the flames.


In just the last week you gleefully tweeted about shooting fellow citizens; you goaded governors into escalating violent situations so they don’t “look like jerks;” and you authorized the use of rubber bullets and tear gas to clear peaceful protesters out of a public space so you could pose for a Bible-waving photo-op.


These are just a few examples of why you lack the character, maturity and judgment to lead our country in this perilous time. You should resign.

And the police brutality videos keep coming. Two of the police officers in this one are suspended but the dozens who walked past the man bleeding from the head are still on the job.

Shortly after Buffalo’s curfew started Thursday evening, city police and State Police swept through the area of Niagara Square directly in front of City Hall to clear the area where a protest was finishing. An unidentified, 75-year-old man was shoved by two officers wearing tactical gear. The man lost his balance and fell to the pavement, audibly hitting his head with blood running out from under his head.
 

cbenoi1

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Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.

Trump invokes George Floyd's name while taking economic victory lap
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/05/politics/donald-trump-george-floyd-rose-garden/index.html

President Donald Trump invoked George Floyd's name during a Friday bill signing ceremony touting the latest jobs report, which exceeded economists' expectations.

"We all saw what happened last week. We can't let that happen. Hopefully George is looking down and saying this is a great thing that's happening for our country. (It's) a great day for him. It's a great day for everybody," Trump said during a White House Rose Garden event before signing a piece of legislation devoted to small business loan flexibility.
"This is a great, great day in terms of equality," Trump added.

CNN lacks a bit of context here. Trump lauded the employment numbers and then - out whack and unscripted as usual - he referenced Floyd, implying the poor lad would be happy about those numbers.

When Trump sat down to sign the bill, the PPP Flexibility Act, he shushed reporters trying to ask him questions.
"What's happened to our country and what you now see, it's been happening, is the greatest thing that can happen for race relations, for the African American community, for the Asian American (community), for the Hispanic American community, for women, for everything -- because our country is so strong and that's what my plan is," Trump said before signing the bill.
The President did not answer questions about Asian American and African American unemployment, which was less robust than other minority groups.
For the second month in a row, fewer than half of black Americans were working, with only 49.6% of the population employed, up less than 1 percentage point from April. The last time such a small share were working was in 1983.
Asked by PBS' Yamiche Alcindor how those job numbers were a victory, Trump tossed his hand and remarked: "You are something."

The summary: Great numbers. Floyd happy. Systemic racism. Woot. No pointy questions.

-cb
 
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RedRajah

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In horrifying news

[h=1]57 members of Buffalo police riot response team resign[/h]
"Our position is these officers were simply following orders from Deputy Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia to clear the square," said Buffalo Police Benevolent Association President John Evans. "It doesn't specify clear the square of men, 50 and under or 15 to 40. They were simply doing their job. I don't know how much contact was made. He did slip in my estimation. He fell backwards."
 

Brightdreamer

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"Simply following orders"... heard that song before.

And anyone who still insists it's just a few "bad apples" can officially go to heck. When the whole barrel is willing to embrace the bad apples rather than hold their own accountable, they're all rotten and need to go.
 

MaeZe

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There's a video of the man being pushed and the police walking right by him as he lay there bleeding and apparently unconscious. Gawd I hope they tell them farewell, the department needs cleaning out apparently.

These cops are so used to lying for each other and never being challenged. It's time to challenge them. Let them walk and let them know they will not be getting good references for their next job.

The Emergency Response Team members have not quit the police department, but have stepped down from the tactical unit, according to the sources.
Wimps. Fire them or at least suspend them without pay.


Just re-watched the video. There is no way anyone can look at that and say the man tripped. The officers telling that lie should be disciplined.
 
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mccardey

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They likely were following orders. The City of Buffalo absolutely should pay damages and change their policies. Anyhow, I have worked for government agencies myself for 28 years. Believe me, it is not uncommon to receive unreasonable directions from management that put you between a rock and a hard place.
Some orders should not be followed.
 

mccardey

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Yes. True. But where and when do you draw the line?
Well - that's what laws are for. And when they don't work, there's conscience.

ETA: Just to be clear, it would seem to me that the laws of policing stopped working some time ago - at least as far as race and minorities are concerned. Same thing in Australia, just by the way. So the laws of policing need to change - because conscience dictates that they must.
 
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Lyv

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Anyway, in the specific situation at hand, I'd want to know what exactly the cops were told to do. What were their precise orders? Also, what was said by the victim and the cops involved right before the attack?
What words from the victim would justify that shove and then walking past him, giving no aid. One cop started to check on him and another stopped him. What justifies that? I want to know what they were told, too, because if they were told to use excessive force, that should be another, at the minimum, suspension.

It's not Buffalo but in one of the threads with police brutality there's a video of a state trooper instructing his team to "Don't kill them, but hit 'em hard." And they did.

A friend who accused me of being anti-cop a few years ago over my support of Black Lives Matter sent me a photo of him out protesting. He has seen what the police have been doing and it woke him up. I'm going to nurture his activism (and baking him his favorite pie--blueberry sour cream--can't hurt).
 
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