Quite early this morning Omar Jimenez, a black-Latino CNN reporter, was arrested by Minnesota state police, while his crew’s camera filmed the arrest. Of course, being filmed didn’t stop the city police from killing the black man. Those who have seen the film say it could only be deliberate. CNN reporter Josh Campbell, who is white and working just a couple blocks away, was treated with respect.
The officer with the deadly knee was fired within a day of the incident. He has now been charged with murder and manslaughter.
The nasty guy jumped into the fray, tweeting that the protesters are “THUGS” (a loaded term). Twitter hid the tweet because the language fed the violence. That (and a couple instances of Twitter flagging his lies) has the nasty guy now raging at big tech and trying to use an executive order to attack them. Kerry Eleveld of Daily Kos says the white supremacy the nasty guy is spewing is official White House policy.
Leslie Mac tweeted a call to take a stand against police brutality. She included in her thread a chart of some of the tactics in the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and how those tactics are still being used in 2015 law enforcement. For example, a tactic from the 1850 act “monitored the rigid pass requirements for black traversing the countryside.” It still lives as “disproportionate search of vehicles driven by POC despite all reports showing this to be ineffective.”
The nasty guy administration has announced a new policy – non profit groups, such as the NRA, that make campaign contributions no longer need to disclose who their biggest donors are. This had been a way to keep foreign money out of our elections. The NRA, Americans for Prosperity, and other big conservative funders have been asking for this shield for a long time and are delighted with the announcement. The nasty guy has, of course, snatched up any foreign coin that comes anywhere near his palm.
The coronavirus task force used to stage daily propaganda events to show the nasty guy is doing everything he can to … something. Joan McCarter of Kos reports the task force, headed by the vice nasty guy, now meets once a week. It’s been sidelined by the nasty guy. That health care workers still don’t have enough protection equipment apparently doesn’t interest him anymore. It seems likely “he's just ending the federal government's response so that he can blame the states for the next 100,000 deaths.”
A while back I had written that Moscow Mitch wants limits to corporate liability from workers who get sick on the job from companies (like meat packers) who don’t provide enough protection. Joan McCarter reports nursing home companies, whose facilities are virus hotspots, are also clamoring for liability protection. So far 20 state governments have provided liability (and, alas, they’re not all GOP-led). The industry is spending millions for this protection – millions not being spent on hiring enough staff to properly care for and protect their residents.
And it leaves a high-risk population even more vulnerable. This is at a time where family can’t check up on the care their loved ones are getting (or not). Wrote McCarter:
Nursing homes account for about 40% of deaths in this pandemic in the U.S.—as far as we know. Some states simply don't release the data, and some states just have terrible reporting overall. The idea that they could have complete immunity from being held accountable for those deaths is horrifying.
Katherine Cross tweeted a thread:
You are being set up to blame each other for the spread of COVID-19 to distract you from the deliberate failures of governments and corporations who've contributed far more to the pandemic.We shouldn’t get distracted by “shaming porn.” Some people are not going to follow the rules. Allow for that. And governments that have controlled the virus have developed policy that accounts for some people not following the rules. However,
In the US and UK, you're looking at governments steadily abdicating all responsibility, building none of the infrastructure required to manage this crisis over the short and medium-terms. That's what's actually going to get us into trouble.
And this will come full circle. If and when another wave comes, these governments will turn around and say it's *your* fault for not following their instructions, not theirs for failing to develop proper policies. Bear that in mind.
In response to Cross, Eric Loewe linked to an article in The Atlantic titled The Coronavirus Was an Emergency Until Trump Found Out Who Was Dying – as in a lot more black people than white people.
Benjamin Franklin tweeted:
You have been the target of an advanced psychological warfare operation meant to convince you that an imminent solution that will take Trump down is right around the corner. The goal is to pacify you into inaction. This has been going on for four years.Examples include the Mueller Report, that the federal court in the Southern District of New York would act, that Pelosi had it covered with her ten dimensional chess.
Once you accept that the resistance has been filled with plants whose job it is to tell you we're winning everyday (we have not been winning everyday) to minimize any sense of danger or urgency, you can get out of the trap that has been set for you.
…
I think we have to be prepared for real protests after the election that are sustained and open ended, no such protests have taken place.
…
I don't know, a lot of people seem to have a lot of faith in this election. Trump will either cheat to win or reject the election results and if we don't mobilize in response to that on 11/4, he might steal the election and get away with it.
After writing that I went looking through Benjamin Franklin’s Twitter feed. It includes several videos of protests that are happening this evening around the country in sympathy to the protesters in Minneapolis. It also includes several videos of battling cops, described as “out of control.” Alas, they’re not in a thread for me to link to them all.
This might be the excuse the nasty guy is looking for to call in the military.
Franklin included a thread from Garry Kasparov:
Chaos favors power and those with the ability to wield power quickly and ruthlessly. It is why dictators stoke chaos and why democracies prefer stability.
It's a trusted technique. Trump wants to fan the literal and figurative flames because he can promise action, look big and central. Others who think first about complex issues, who consider other views and consequences, look weak, indecisive.
It doesn't matter that Trump's promises are fake or that his proposals are immoral or impossible. It makes the autocrat sound like they have answers, or at least that they recognize the problem.
After all that we need some good news. Michael Ely and James Tayler had been a couple for 43 years. As soon as same-sex marriage was legal they got married. But six months later Taylor died. Social Security refused spousal benefits because they had not been married for at least nine months. That they weren’t allowed to get married before they did wasn’t considered. Last year Ely and Lambda Legal sued Social Security. And a federal judge has now agreed.
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