Other messages were spray painted along the front porch, but the rest of
McConnell's home appeared to be untouched. As of Saturday morning,
Louisville Metro Police said it does not know who is responsible for the
damage.
"I’ve spent my career fighting for the First Amendment and defending
peaceful protest. I appreciate every Kentuckian who has engaged in the
democratic process whether they agree with me or not," McConnell said in
a statement responding to the vandalism. "This is different. Vandalism
and the politics of fear have no place in our society. My wife and I
have never been intimidated by this toxic playbook. We just hope our
neighbors in Louisville aren’t too inconvenienced by this radical
tantrum."
counterpunch | In effect, the governor used his authority to pull us into an alternative narrative in which we were people who watched out for each other, not only for ourselves as we ordinarily do, when chips are not down.
Just as on the Right, people follow their talk-radio-supplied narrative
of Big Government and elites out for themselves, people on the Left
must have a larger narrative; in our case one that can authorize for us
the Truth (I capitalize in order to designate the highest, most
inclusive Truth) of interdependence – unless our aim, like that on the
Right, is to keep capitalism going no matter what.
I still just can’t. First, can we mandate education on the Holocaust and actual genocides? Wearing masks indoors at suburban stores ain’t it.
But there’s something more insidious here about the callousness around us these days, outnumbering the rest of us in some states. https://t.co/uH6BzFqRqI
Long ago, we lost the unifying myth of religion that now is replaced
in liberal reality with unchecked anti-authoritarianism and its
correlative, cancel culture. The function of myth is to unify, to
provide a kind of “immunity” that allows people to hold contrary
realities in imagination, without having to cancel the other or oneself.
Contrarily, with no persuasive reason to “stick together,”
each existing in our frail “micro-realities,” like catty girls on the
playground we have to make objectionable people not exist. A
healthy immunity that could allow us to stop reflexively fending off
“otherness,” will not come from Big Pharma, but only from expanded
imaginations.
Without a narrative of inclusion, a narrative of hate is all our
imaginations are left with to feed on exuberantly. Last week I read one
of those smug editorial pieces in the NYTimes that serves to keep
divisiveness alive and well in stunted liberal hearts, rather than to
encourage healing (that doesn’t sell papers!). Columnist Frank Bruni
took on Ivanka and Jarrod, seeming to delight in imagining their being
friendless in NYC, and “getting theirs” after Trump’s loss. And it
works! As I read, delicious feelings of sweet revenge rose up in me: Yes! Bring them down into the mud! Let them see what it feels like!
Whether or not our leaders can resist politicizing it, and despite
the massive anti-mask rebellions going on across the country, feeding on
Fox news, talk radio and social media-spread theories, the pandemic
crisis calls us unambiguously to that Truth of interdependence that not
only makes an injury to one an injury to all; it makes one’s own good and the good for all the same,
not artificially kept separate as they are in “normal” liberal reality.
That people must fend off the Truth that puts the common good first is
due as much to liberalism’s unchecked, reflexive anti-authoritarianism,
based at its core in deep wounds inflicted by a rudderless,
profits-driven zeitgeist that rewards individuals with the emblems of
success (NY Times columnist!), as to uneducated Trump-followers’
resentments.
Though one could be forgiven for thinking liberals had just recently
heard of it, the Truth of interdependence is not new, even in western
civilization. Religious tradition gives us beautiful phrases like the
“Kingdom of God,” the “brotherhood of man,” the “body of Christ” that
point to this all-embracing inclusivity. The words are metaphors for
realities only imagination can grasp, but not beyond the capacity of the
heart to experience and to hunger after. Scripture, after all, is
poetry put to the use of the institution. Western societies, sacrificing
poetry for power, failed to attain the inclusiveness that was basis for
their own religions. We became top-down missionizers, conquerors,
colonial settlers and exploiters, always capable of exclusion and
cruelty in the name of a higher, civilizing purpose.
Contrary to popular “wisdom,” surrender to the truth of the “Kingdom
of God” is not sacrifice of individual freedom. It’s not simply the
opposite of selfish egoism. Rather, this highest most inclusive truth
favors individuality as the expression of freedom. Under its
uncompromising terms of wholeness and interrelatedness, action one takes
on behalf of genuinely “selfish” concerns, say, for personal meaning
and occasional joy, is not egoistic; serving soul it serves the
whole. Equally, action on behalf of oppressed others follows naturally
from the prior liberation of one’s personal soul, that, in liberal
reality has been deemed inferior and goes undefended (i.e., the
“original injustice” that impels us to forsake our creative spirit for
bourgeois rewards).
Antonio Mugica said results recorded by his systems and those
reported by Venezuela's National Electoral Council indicate "without any
doubt" that official turnout figures were inflated.
Smartmatic was created by Venezuelans and began providing electronic voting machines in 2004 during the presidency of the late Hugo Chavez.
"Even in moments of deep political conflict and division we have been
satisfied with the voting process and the count has been completely
accurate," Mugica told reporters in London. "It is, therefore, with the
deepest regret that we have to report that the turnout figures on
Sunday, 30 July, for the Constituent Assembly in Venezuela were tampered
with."
President Nicolas Maduro's government announced late Sunday that more than 8 million Venezuelans had participated in the election
for constituent assembly that will be granted virtually unlimited
powers. His count was put into question by at least one independent exit
poll, showing turnout was less than half that number.
The claim is certain to fuel further discord over the assembly, which
Maduro has vowed to utilize to target his foes. Opposition leaders
boycotted the election, arguing voting terms were rigged to favor the
ruling socialist party. Nearly 7.6 million people voted in a symbolic
referendum rejecting the assembly two weeks before the vote.
The assembly is expected to be sworn into office Thursday and the opposition is calling on Venezuelans to protest.
hackingdemocracy | "Hacking Democracy" has been broadcast many times on HBO,
exposing the dangers of the voting machines used in America's mid-term
and presidential elections. Electronic voting machines count almost 100%
of America's votes in county, state and federal elections. The Diebold
voting machines and their hackable software are still used today in
twenty eight states. The security holes and complete lack of
transparency still pose an extraordinary risk to US elections.
"Hacking
Democracy" uncovers incendiary evidence from the trash cans of Texas to
the ballot boxes of Ohio, exposing secrecy, votes in the trash,
hackable software and election officials rigging the presidential
recount.
"Hacking Democracy" takes a clear eyed, non partisan look
at the secrecy, cronyism and privatisation of elections in America as
it captures a citizen's movement intent on taking back elections, and
democracy itself.
Ultimately proving our votes can be stolen
without a trace "Hacking Democracy" culminates in the famous 'Hursti
Hack'; a duel between the Diebold voting machines and a computer hacker
from Finland – with America's democracy at stake.
Our
expert hacker, Harri Hursti, shocked the nation when he successfully
hacked the entire Diebold voting system, in Leon County, Florida. He did
it using just one memory card and he changed all the votes, virtually
undetectably.
The memory cards are America's electronic ballot
boxes – they contain the votes. Diebold Election Systems went on the
record, making the claim that there is "no executable program" in their memory cards. Harri Hursti suspected that their claim was false, and we set out to prove it.
Florida's
courageous Election Supervisor, Ion Sancho, gave us permission to prove
that Diebold was lying about their machine's security. A mini election
was held, with our hacker excluded from the county's computer room. Not
only did Harri change all the votes, he even made the machine print out a false 'Zero Tape' – the paper safeguard that is supposed to show that there are no votes pre-loaded inside the voting machine.
Following
our hack California's Secretary of State ordered an investigation by
the top computer scientists at UC Berkeley. Their report confirms that, "Mr Hursti's attack on the AV-OS is definitely real."
Watch Hacking Democracy and see how the 'Hursti Hack' was done.
NYMag | On
September 10, Nora Dannehy resigned as the deputy to John Durham, the
federal prosecutor investigating the government’s probe into the Trump
campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. Dannehy left her post and
the Justice Department in part because of Attorney General William Barr’s
pressure on Durham to release a report on his investigation’s findings
before Election Day, according to a person familiar with her thinking.
Trump had long been hoping a report out this fall would damage
Democrats, including Joe Biden, and help him win reelection. In Trump’s
terminology, Durham’s report would reveal an “attempted overthrow” of
his administration by Democratic insiders. But Justice Department
guidelines restrict prosecutors from taking such actions within 60 days
of an election because they might affect the outcome of the election.
Both Durham and Dannehy believed that if they complied with Barr’s
demands they would be violating this doctrine, according to two people
familiar with their thinking.
Durham,
who is the U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, and Dannehy were also
troubled that Barr had purposely misrepresented their work in numerous
public comments, the two people said. According to two sources familiar
with the probe, there has been no evidence found, after 18 months of
investigation, to support Barr’s claims that Trump was targeted by
politically biased Obama officials to prevent his election. (The probe
remains ongoing.) In fact, the sources said, the Durham investigation
has so far uncovered no evidence of any wrongdoing by Biden or Barack
Obama, or that they were even involved with the Russia investigation.
There “was no evidence … not even remotely … indicating Obama or Biden
did anything wrong,” as one person put it.
Shortly
after the resignation of his prized deputy and with the election
looming on the horizon, Durham phoned Barr. He forcefully told the
attorney general that his office would not be releasing a report or
taking any other significant public actions before Election Day,
according to a person with knowledge of the phone call. Dannehy’s
resignation constituted an implied but unspoken threat to Barr that
Durham or others on his team might resign if the attorney general
attempted to force the issue, according to a person familiar with
Durham’s thinking.
After hearing from Durham in September, Barr informed the president and allies that there would be no October surprise,
causing Trump to lash out. “Unless Bill Barr indicts these people for
crimes — the greatest political crimes in the history of our country —
then we’re going to get little satisfaction unless I win,” he told Fox
Business last month. “[These] people should be indicted, this was the
greatest political crime in the history of our country. And that
includes Obama and it includes Biden.”
Every public school district in America should be planning for in person school next semester. It can be done safely, *even in places with pretty high community transmission*. We now have pretty good data to show that. https://t.co/4fCs2tqVHa
economicprism | One of the absurdities of the coronavirus era is the purported faith
in science by the political class; in particular, the left. Joe Biden,
for instance, said he would shut the country down if recommended by scientists. Nancy Pelosi, this week, with respect to coronavirus stimulus, told Wolf Blitzer, that “…the science should call the shot and when they do, we should all trust it.”
“Trust, but verify,” counseled Ronald Reagan. No doubt, the Gipper, didn’t envision the ridiculous science behind coronavirus containment policy.
President Trump, taking the advice of Reagan, recently verified the
effects of coronavirus himself. His findings, following a three day
bout with the illness, revealed the science based policies that have
been applied are not to be trusted. Trump tweeted these conclusions:
“One thing that’s for certain: Don’t let it dominate you. Don’t be afraid of it. You’re going to beat it.”
According to Science magazine, “[Trump’s]
repeated public dismissals of scientific expertise, and his disdain for
evidence have prompted many researchers to label him the most
antiscience president in living memory.”
Maybe so. But when science is being used by policy makers to do
stupid and destructive things, like locking down the economy, being
antiscience is the intelligent choice. What’s more, the World Health
Organization now says it’s opposed to lockdowns, and told world leaders: “stop using lockdowns as your primary control method.”
We have a hunch that the science of lockdowns has little to do with
stemming the spread of coronavirus. We’ll have more on this in a
moment. But first, we must make an important distinction. And to do
so, we must take a brief diversion…
President Obama had the house and a supermajority in the senate. He passed an insurance giveaway health care bill w no public option, failed to break up the banks, failed to rescue homeowners, and then has the audacity to blame progressives for his administration’s failures. Wow. https://t.co/QRZH9jzbHP
CTH | With 30-days left before the election
perhaps it’s worthwhile remembering what all of this opposition is
about…. Something 99% of American voters do not quite understand.
Congress doesn’t actually write
legislation. The last item of legislation written by congress was
sometime around the mid 1990’s. Modern legislation is sub-contracted to a
segment of DC operations known as K-Street. That’s where the lobbyists
reside.
Lobbyists write the laws; congress sells
the laws; lobbyists then pay congress lucrative commissions for passing
their laws. That’s the modern legislative business in DC.
When we talk about paying-off politicians
in third-world countries we call it bribery. However, when we undertake
the same process in the U.S. we call it “lobbying”.
CTH often describes the system with the
phrase: “There are Trillions at Stake.” The process of creating
legislation is behind that phrase. DC politics is not quite based on the
ideas that frame most voter’s reference points.
With people taking notice of DC politics
for the first time; and with people not as familiar with the purpose of
DC politics; perhaps it is valuable to provide clarity.
Most people think when they vote for a
federal politician -a House or Senate representative- they are voting
for a person who will go to Washington DC and write or enact
legislation. This is the old-fashioned “schoolhouse rock” perspective
based on decades past. There is not a single person in congress writing
legislation or laws.
In modern politics not a single member of
the House of Representatives or Senator writes a law, or puts pen to
paper to write out a legislative construct. This simply doesn’t happen.
Over the past several decades a system of constructing legislation has taken over Washington DC that more resembles a business operation than a legislative body. Here’s how it works right now.
Outside groups, often called “special
interest groups”, are entities that represent their interests in
legislative constructs. These groups are often representing foreign
governments, Wall Street multinational corporations, banks, financial
groups or businesses; or smaller groups of people with a similar
connection who come together and form a larger group under an umbrella
of interest specific to their affiliation.
Sometimes the groups are social interest
groups; activists, climate groups, environmental interests etc. The
social interest groups are usually non-profit constructs who depend on
the expenditures of government to sustain their cause or need.
The for-profit groups (mostly business)
have a purpose in Washington DC to shape policy, legislation and laws
favorable to their interests. They have fully staffed offices just like
any business would – only their ‘business‘ is getting legislation for their unique interests.
These groups are filled with highly-paid
lawyers who represent the interests of the entity and actually write
laws and legislation briefs.
realclearinvestigations | Former CIA Director John Brennan personally edited a crucial section of
the intelligence report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and
assigned a political ally to take a lead role in writing it after
career analysts disputed Brennan's take that Russian leader Vladimir
Putin intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump clinch the
White House, according to two senior U.S. intelligence officials who
have seen classified materials detailing Brennan’s role in drafting the
document.
The explosive conclusion Brennan inserted into the report was used to
help justify continuing the Trump-Russia “collusion” investigation,
which had been launched by the FBI in 2016. It was picked up after the
election by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who in the end found no
proof that Trump or his campaign conspired with Moscow.
The Obama administration publicly released a declassified version of
the report — known as the "Intelligence Community Assessment on Russian
Activities and Intentions in Recent Elections (ICA)” — just two weeks
before Trump took office, casting a cloud of suspicion over his
presidency. Democrats and national media have cited the report to
suggest Russia influenced the 2016 outcome and warn that Putin is likely
meddling again to reelect Trump.
The ICA is a key focus of U.S. Attorney John Durham’s ongoing
investigation into the origins of the “collusion” probe. He wants to
know if the intelligence findings were juiced for political purposes.
RealClearInvestigations has learned that one of the CIA operatives
who helped Brennan draft the ICA, Andrea Kendall-Taylor, financially
supported Hillary Clinton during the campaign and is a close colleague
of Eric Ciaramella, identified last year by RCI
as the Democratic national security “whistleblower" whose complaint led
to Trump’s impeachment, ending in Senate acquittal in January.
The two officials said Brennan, who openly supported Clinton during
the campaign, excluded conflicting evidence about Putin’s motives from
the report, despite objections from some intelligence analysts who
argued Putin counted on Clinton winning the election and viewed Trump as
a “wild card.”
The dissenting analysts found that Moscow preferred Clinton because
it judged she would work with its leaders, whereas it worried Trump
would be too unpredictable. As secretary of state, Clinton tried to
“reset” relations with Moscow to move them to a more positive and
cooperative stage, while Trump campaigned on expanding the U.S.
military, which Moscow perceived as a threat.
These same analysts argued the Kremlin was generally trying to sow
discord and disrupt the American democratic process during the 2016
election cycle. They also noted that Russia tried to interfere in the
2008 and 2012 races, many years before Trump threw his hat in the ring.
NYTimes |You performed at one of Chappelle’s live shows in July. What was that like for you?
When
you’re in the clubs, you learn the rain crowd is the best crowd. Any
time it’s raining, they really want to be there. The pandemic crowd is really good. “Dude, not only do we want to be here, there is nothing else to do. There’s nothing else to watch. Thank you.”
What did you talk about?
I
talked about our political whatever. America. Part of the reason we’re
in the predicament we’re in is, the president’s a landlord. No one has
less compassion for humans than a landlord. [Laughs.] And we’re shocked
he’s not engaged.
Did you ever see that movie “The Last Emperor,” where
like a 5-year-old is the emperor of China? There’s a kid and he’s the
king. So I’m like, it’s all the Democrats’ fault. Because you knew that
the emperor was 5 years old. And when the emperor’s 5 years old, they
only lead in theory. There’s usually an adult who’s like, “OK, this is
what we’re really going to do.”
And it was totally up to Pelosi and the Democrats. Their thing was,
“We’re going to get him impeached,” which was never going to happen. You
let the pandemic come in. Yes, we can blame Trump, but he’s really the
5-year-old.
Put it this way:
Republicans tell outright lies. Democrats leave out key pieces of the
truth that would lead to a more nuanced argument. In a sense, it’s all
fake news.
summit |GOP Senator John Kennedy used a startling cultural reference
to portray his belief that believes Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is
crazy, saying that he often thinks she has ‘is one of those people who
tried Tide Pods’ laundry detergent.
Appearing with Sean Hannity, Kennedy was addressing Pelosi’s obsession with the $3.4 trillion coronavirus bill.
“Sean, with respect, there are times, particularly recently, when I
think Speaker Pelosi is one of those people who tried Tide pods,”
Kennedy hilariously stated.
“I want you to think about what she proposed today, this is what the
speaker is threatening to do,” he continued, adding “She is threatening
to keep the House Democrats in session and prevent them from going home
and running for reelection unless the Senate Republicans agree to the
speaker’s $3.4 trillion coronavirus bill.”
“On the one hand we can vote for Pelosi’s $3.4 trillion bill or we
can agree to allow her to put the House Democratic majority into
jeopardy. That’s just bone deep down to the marrow foolish,” Kennedy
urged.
Kennedy further emphasised that Nothing is going to get done while
the Democrats refuse to back down over something that is never going to
come to fruition.
“Senator Schumer and Speaker Pelosi aren’t going to agree to anything
until we agree to spend a trillion dollars bailing out New York and
California and that’s not going to happen in your or my natural life,”
Kennedy added.
libcom | Coexisting with this egalitarian ideology was the Civil Rights
movement's appeal to a functionalist conception of social rationality.
To the extent that it blocked individual aspirations, segregation was
seen as restricting artificially social growth and progress. Similarly,
by raising artificial barriers such as the construction of blacks'
consumer power through Jim Crow legislation and, indirectly, through low
black wages, segregation impeded, so the argument went, the free
functioning of the market. Consequently, segregation was seen not only
as detrimental to the blacks who suffered under it, but also to economic
progress as such. Needless to say, the two lines of argument were met
with approval by corporate liberals.[31]
......
Outside the South, rebellion arose from different conditions. Racial
segregation was not rigidly codified and the management sub-systems in
the black community were correspondingly more fluidly integrated within
the local administrative apparatus. Yet, structural, generational and
ideological pressures, broadly similar to those in the South, existed
within the black elite in the Northern, Western, and Midwestern cities
that had gained large black populations in the first half of the 20th
century. In non-segregated urban contexts, formal political
participation and democratized consumption had long since been achieved:
there the salient political issue was the extension of the
administrative purview of the elite within the black community. The
centrality of the administrative nexus in the "revolt of the cities" is
evident from the ideological programs it generated.
Black Power came about as a call for indigenous control of economic and political institutions in the black community.[33]
Because one of the early slogans of Black Power was a vague demand for
"community control," the emancipatory character of the rebellion was
open to considerable misinterpretation. Moreover, the diversity and
"militance" of its rhetoric encouraged extravagance in assessing the
movement's depth. It soon became clear, however, that "community
control" called not for direction of pertinent institutions — schools,
hospitals, police, retail businesses, etc. — by their black
constituents, but for administration of those institutions by alleged
representatives in the name of a black community. Given an existing
elite structure whose legitimacy had already been certified by federal
social-welfare agencies, the selection of "appropriate" representatives
was predictable. Indeed, as Robert Allen has shown,[34]
the empowerment of this elite was actively assisted by corporate-state
elements. Thus, "black liberation" quickly turned into black "equity,"
"community control" became simply "black control" and the Nixon
"blackonomics" strategy was readily able to "coopt" the most rebellious
tendency of 1960s black activism. Ironically, Black Power's supersession
of the Civil Rights program led to further consolidation of the
management elite's hegemony within the black community. The black elite
broadened its administrative control by uncritically assuming the
legitimacy of the social context within which that elite operated. Black
control was by no means equivalent to democratization.
There are now, in my view, at least seven fairly distinct camps among
Black political figures — concentrated in the Democratic Party but also
stretching into the GOP. These groupings — which come from my own
reporting and talking to experts, rather than any specific data set —
are mostly informal. But the idea is to explain some common patterns and
themes we are seeing, not necessarily to perfectly describe the
politics of any particular person or faction in the party. I should also
emphasize that these camps do not correspond exactly to rank-and-file
Black voters, although I will talk about some places where there is overlap between activists and voters.
I have tried to order the camps by size, from largest to smallest. They are:
tatler | The news comes following a public back and forth between the US
Department of Justice and Prince Andrew’s legal team over the royal’s
alleged lack of cooperation in the ongoing investigations into Epstein.
But one of the US prosecutors leading the enquiries, Geoffrey Berman,
has now been sacked from his role as Attorney for the Southern District
of New York by Donald Trump after refusing to stand down.
According to the Times, the US Attorney General,
William Barr, asked President Trump to remove Berman – who had also
overseen the prosecution of a number of Trump’s associates. Berman
initially responded by stating that he had ‘no intention of resigning’
after Trump ally Barr unexpectedly announced that Berman was ‘stepping
down’.
Earlier in June it was reported that the US Department
of Justice had asked the Home Office to help it question Andrew over his
links to Epstein. The Duke of York’s legal team accused the DoJ of
‘breaching their own confidentiality rules’, claiming that the royal had
‘offered his assistance as a witness’ on at least three occasions this
year.
Berman retaliated by stating that Andrew had
‘yet again sought to falsely portray himself to the public as eager and
willing to cooperate.’ He added that in fact, the Duke ‘has not given an
interview to federal authorities, has repeatedly declined our request
to schedule such an interview, and nearly four months ago informed us
unequivocally – through the very same counsel who issued today's release
– that he would not come in for such an interview… If Prince Andrew is,
in fact, serious about cooperating with the ongoing federal
investigation, our doors remain open, and we await word of when we
should expect him.’
It was subsequently reported that
Andrew would not cooperate with the Epstein investigation unless
American investigators offer him ‘an olive branch’. The Duke of York has
consistently denied any wrongdoing in regards to his links with his
former friend.
nakedcapitalism | The
racial categories of white and black were developed around 1600.
Probably a little after by wealthy Americans who used it to keep divided
Black slaves, poor often indentured Whites, and the often enslaved
Indians. These people were
not disposable because they were useful as workers, but who often
worked and even socialized frequently. As a group they had potentially
considerable political power during the 1600s. This was deliberately
dealt with. The Blacks were brutally suppress with
(the category of Black indentured was eliminated. There was no Southern
style chattel slavery for Blacks at first). The Whites were placated
with some very modest reforms. The Indians (labeled as savages) were
just driven off at gunpoint. This is also where
the Southern Slave Patrols started to terrorize and keep down the slave
population as well as keep down any poor whites. Where they started
asking for people’s papers.
When my Irish great whatever grandfather stepped off the Coffin Ship around 1850, he was barely considered human, never mind white, and about on par with the black community. This was true for decades as were the “Irish need not
apply signs” and the creation of the Paddy Wagons. Would you consider him having White Privilege?
It was only after the development of political
power over multiple generations that the Irish-Americans were given the
status of being both human and white, which only really happened during
the early 20th century. Similarly with the Italians,
Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Italians, Greeks, and so on.
Then there are the
Jews. The Italians only finally became real whites after the Second
World War although I do not think that they were quite as abused
as the Irish. Going up to an individual in these
groups at anytime before the 1960s and saying that they have White
Privilege would have had them laugh at you in your very face. Today,
they have been giving the category of White with its very real privilege
of being treated like a human being, so long as
you are not poor. But in the past?
During the Antebellum South and after
Reconstruction when a poor white farmer or laborer even got friendly
with a black person, the local wealthy white landowner and his hired
goons would often beat up the offending white man. After Reconstruction,
the allied white and black reformists in the South were literally
extirpated via guns and the rope. If they were lucky and in the
government, they were merely deposed, and run out of town by armed white
supremacists during actual coups. Much like the American
led coups in the Americas and elsewhere.
When a leader, especially a black one, becomes
successful in his leadership and starts to bring up class and poverty,
to suggest crossing class and race as well as mentioning our common
humanity they often wind up dead like MLK and Fred
Hampton. Working just on racism is much less dangerous.
Actually in the South and Southwest during the 19th
century Blacks, Hispanics, and the very, very occasional White who were
too successful as business owners were sometimes lynched for just that
reason. To destroy the opposition.
There are a number of ways to destroy reformists
movements besides murder especially those that threaten the power and
money of the elites. Hell, you can find elite co-option, police and goon
squad assassinations in the labor movement,
equal rights movement, even in feminism (no murders, but plenty of
false arrests and beatings). All of these movements were captured by
elitists who expunged first the non-whites, then the socialists, then
the working class from what became their movement.
Any economic benefits from these “reforms” only accrued to the Upper
Class Whites.
Why do cries of racism become so strident and the
very real problem of racism become something that must be solves right
now, today when cries of poverty and want are also raised. Every single
time? Do you think that the current debates
about racism just happened right after Bernie Sanders near success and
the rise of an actual American Left fifty years after it was destroyed
is a coincidence? Really?
If this was really and truly about racism or even
poverty, why are the Native Americans, trapped on their Reservations
with the highest poverty, drug use, rape and murder statistics of any
group of Americans, bar none, not mentioned. They
have the most police brutality as well and some of the reservations,
due to legal loopholes, are happy hunting grounds for rapists coming
from outside of some of the reservations. Their leaders usually do not
have political power and wealth and they are isolated
and beaten down at least compared to the national political leadership.
So just under three million people are ignored and targeted.]
People are finally taking some notice of the
shrinking middle class and of the increasing homeless population. If you
wanted, I can take to some of the skosh less then fifteen thousand
homeless in San Francisco. Or the over one hundred
thousand throughout the state. At least half of whom are White. Are
there any real protest over them? We can look at the millions wasted
every year by San Francisco with cushy jobs being created, but not much
progress. However, there are fine demonstrations
on racism, which is good because racism and also police brutality with
no mention of the increasing poverty in this country. Even now large
sums of cash are used to “deal” with the problems, nationally. Problems
that always get worse.
So cui bono? At least half of any negative
statistic one could name, with the possible exception of prison, which
IIRC only one-third are White. Unemployment, poverty, drug use, police
brutality and police murders. Poor and struggling people
are much easier to manipulate, aren’t they?
However, when there are protests about those issues
it very often morphs into one about just racism. Let’s tear down some
statues. Yah! When ever there is smart, hardworking, talented, and
dedicated reformist or a successful non-profit
making progress dealing with those issues, including racism, money from
somewhere drops from the sky like manna. So long as small concessions
are made. Or a slick person applies for a job there. Always has money
somehow and eventually takes over or at least
co-opts the organization. Or cushy jobs are offered elsewhere to
certain people. In the old days like the 1960s and before, if that
didn’t work s*** would happen, sometimes fatally. Sometimes nothing
needs be done because often college educated are already
brainwashed into uselessness by Neoliberal propaganda. The wealth and
power of the Haves remain protected.
As an aside, Social Darwinism and Eugenics were
created and spread by very wealthy people and foundations in the United
States. Much like racism. If one doubts this, I can recommend some books
I have. A good start would be War Against
the Weak by Edwin Black.
So, in two part harmony, the Black Misleadership
Class starts it latest performance along with the Backup of the White
Misleadership Class (what else should I label Pelosi, Schumer, and
McConnell? Or the leaders of the entire state of California?).
Racism, the horror! And the police, oh my! Screaming, shouting (a
whisper about poverty, homelessness, hunger, unemployment.) Perhaps
Obama pops out and says some soaring nonsense or some very poor white
fool is interviewed. A fantastic tempest in a teapot
with nothing every actually getting done.
Then some Alt-Right creeps pop out and start saying
you are White or not, and that’s all that matters! There is no American
nationalism, only White Nationalism. White Power! Join us! (and don’t
forget the Jews!) Finally, lies like the 1619
Project or propaganda like White Fragility are published.
Yes, racism does exist, and as a percentage of all
the ills of our American nation, Blacks get it the worse excepting the
Native Americans, of course. White Privilege is a real thing. But just
as the categories of White and Black, of racism
were deliberately created in the 17th century, for benefiting the
powers that be, I wonder about Identity Politics and Cancelling. That
blend of Nazi racialism and Maoist thought control. I wonder how racism
and its pernicious child Identity Politics has been
created, nurtured, fed a steady diet of hate, and then used as a weapon
upon those who would care about everyone regardless of there supposed
identity. I also wonder what would happen if I approached the man
sleeping on cardboard, perhaps in the usually three
month rainy season, or that family living in their car/van/RV on some
out of the way road, that the do have White Privilege, which the do and
usually means being treated as a human being. I also wonder about my
nose.
cnbc | House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
on Sunday said that a federal mandate on wearing masks is “long
overdue,” as state governors call for a consistent national message on
the issue amid a surge in coronavirus cases across the nation.
Pelosi
said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended
the use of masks to reduce the spread of the virus but never mandated it
as to “not offend” President Donald Trump.
The
president has repeatedly flouted public health guidelines by refusing
to wear a mask in public since the start of the outbreak.
“The
president should be an example. Real men wear masks, be an example to
the country, wear a mask,” Pelosi said in an interview on ABC’s “This
Week.” “It’s not about protecting yourself, it’s about protecting
others.”
Mask wearing has become a point of contention across the U.S.,
despite research showing that face coverings prevent coronavirus
transmission.
U.S. coronavirus cases surged by more than 45,000 in one day on
Friday, a record breaking spike that brought the nation’s total to more
than 2.5 million cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins
University.
Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday deflected a
question about a federal mandate requiring Americans to wear masks, and
said people should listen to what state and local officials are saying
about wearing masks in public.
The
vice president said in an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that
“every state has a unique situation” and “we believe people should wear
masks wherever social distancing is not possible.”
facebook | Today, the public was made aware of the misconduct of Missouri State Representative District 36, Mark A. Sharp. After an investigation was conducted by the Texas Education Agency, Representative Mark Sharp was terminated from his teaching position by the Caddo Mills Independent School District for searching for firearms using school resources when the district asked him not to and for sharing inappropriate videos with students in 2017 (link below). Not only that, Representative Sharp exhibits homophobic, antisemitic, and sexist ideals in remarks/posts still on his social media (link below). Words cannot describe how embarrassed and insulted I am as a Kansas Citian that this individual represents the great people of District 36.
Out of respect for the office, Missouri State Representative Mark Sharp must resign and suspend his re-election campaign effective immediatley. If he fails to do so, I call on the Missouri Democratic Party, Missouri House Democrats, Missouri Senate Democrats, and the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus, Inc. to step in because this inappropriate behavior is simply not acceptable for a state representative to exhibit. I have great respect for leaders of color, but make no mistake, homophobia, sexism, antisemitism, and predatory behavior have no place in the Missouri Democratic Party.
Not even a tempest in a teapot among grown folks, but for the ruthlessly amoral sock-puppet cancel culture, it's conceivable that this "tea" might actually sting.
kansascity | Sharp, who faces one challenger in the Aug. 4 primary, was nominated
by local Democrats and won a special election last year to replace state
Rep. Daron McGee. McGee resigned while being investigated by a bipartisan House committee for alleged sexual harassment of a former staffer.
Sharp’s
past came to light Tuesday through multiple posts by an anonymous
Twitter account titled “Time’s Up - Missouri,” which was created this
month and has tweeted exclusively about Sharp.
The anonymous
Twitter posts were shared by several, including Rachel Gonzalez, a
Kansas City activist and member of state party executive committee.
The Facebook posts tweeted by the anonymous account still exists on
Sharp’s personal page and date back to posts Sharp made in 2011 and
2012.
Two posts objectified women as “meat.”
“Question:
women are you a piece of meat that any stray dog has a chance at, or
are you a lady that only an established man has a shot at?” Sharp
posted.
“Dogs need meat...MEN need a lady in the streets and u kno the rest,” he posted.
In
talking about national news about coaches being accused of molesting
young men, Sharp posted in 2011, “sports used to be a sure way to get
away from that homo shyt.”
“When I was 24-25, I said things on Facebook that were stupid, dumb, uninformed and politically incorrect,” Sharp said.
Sharp said the posts do not reflect who he is now and didn’t know the posts still existed.
Read more here: https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article243766872.html#storylink=cpy
Read more here: https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article243766872.html#storylink=cpy
kcur | Kansas City currently has a highly unusual setup for its police
department. The department gets its funding largely from the city of
Kansas City, but it is not directly controlled by the mayor or city
council as other departments are.
Instead, since the late 1930s,
it has been under state control and the governor appoints a five-member
board to oversee it. Mayor Quinton Lucas is part of that board. The
police chief reports to the board, not to the city council or to the
city manager.
Over
the years there have been periodic calls to return the department to
local control, in line with the way most big-city police departments are
governed.
Supporters say local control would be one way to hold
the police department accountable and more directly address the city’s
serious violent crime and homicide problem.
Emanuel Cleaver III,
who was among several local Black leaders who stood behind Lucas as he
spoke, said he hadn't seen a movement like this in his lifetime.
"I'm extremely hopeful and believe that we're going to see significant change," Cleaver said.
Cleaver
said local control could open the door to other reforms — particularly
the establishment of an independent police review board that would
handle police complaints.
Pastor Ronald Lindsay of Concord
Fortress of Hope Church in south Kansas City said it's time for Kansas
City residents to have a voice in the debate.
"I think that this
is a transformative moment to rethink what community is and what being
engaged in a health community and culture really looks like," Lindsay
said. "It's hard work, it's ugly, but it's absolutely necessary."
Still, local control remains a controversial proposal.
Opponents
fear that it would make the police department vulnerable to political
interference. And local control has often been opposed by the Fraternal
Order of Police in Kansas City.
Lucas said while Kansas City
Police Chief Rick Smith was informed of Thursday's announcement, they
had yet to sit down and talk about it.
On Thursday, several groups applauded the mayor’s announcement. The Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equity, or MORE2, said it was pleased with Lucas’ support of a ballot measure this year to garner voter support.
jimmycsays | Is Quinton Lucas up to this challenge? Does he have the intestinal
fortitude to stand up to the two most important unions that supported
him? In his letter to police officers, is he sticking a finger up to see
how the wind is blowing, or is he laying the groundwork for the most
important initiative he could take as long as he is mayor?
Those are open and nagging questions. I think he is certainly the
best person to have in the mayor’s office now, with race relations and
racial injustice at the hands of law enforcement having thrust itself
head, shoulders and chest above all other issues.
Yet Lucas has a lot to prove, and not just to me.
Another skeptic is my friend Clinton Adams Jr., perhaps the shrewdest and most unblinking City Hall analyst around.
In a series of text exchanges yesterday, Adams called Lucas
“feckless” and “duplicitous” and said that while he was “a better option
than Jolie (Justus), he’s no Kay Barnes or Emanuel Cleaver.”
Adams, former attorney for Freedom Inc., went on to say…
Some people find the pandering to police offensive. He’s waffling
on local control. The F.O.P. supported him because privately he is
opposed or will not fight for it…He can’t be in both camps. Rank and
file officers (who comprise the largest of two police unions) are the
ones who abuse and brutalize; who harass and stop for driving while
black; who use excessive force. It’s generally not commanders.
Now, there’s a tough and clear-eyed assessment; there’s a challenge laid down.
On June 2, in the wake of Lucas’ role as a peacemaker in the
protests, a Kansas City Star editorial was headlined, “KC Mayor Quinton
Lucas has met this moment. Will Police Chief Rick Smith join him there?”
I think a bigger question by far is, “Does Quinton Lucas have the
heart to lead an all-out battle against the General Assembly and the
governor over control the Kansas City Police Department?”
This is his best opportunity to take a stand on behalf of the public
at the risk of losing the support of the F.O.P. and maybe Local 42. He’s
less than a year into his first term. If he fails, all could be
forgiven by 2023. If he wins, he never loses an election in Kansas City
or Jackson County, and he could even go on to compete for a statewide
office.
kansascity | Kansas City’s police force remains firmly in the grip of the governor’s office, as it has for more than 80 years. Why?
Here’s a dirty secret: Kansas City hasn’t really
worked for local control. Mayors, City Council members and civic leaders
have paid lip service to the idea but have done little to actually make
it happen. They like it when someone else is responsible for the
police.
Others, including police officers and leadership, have actively opposed local control for decades.
Examples abound, but one will do. In 2011, rich
guy Rex Sinquefield wanted to pour millions into a petition campaign to
give both St. Louis and Kansas City control of their departments,
through a statewide vote. Officials in St. Louis embraced the idea.
Kansas City? No, the city mumbled. We’re not
ready. So the measure went to the 2012 ballot, without Kansas City.
Missourians overwhelmingly gave St. Louis its police department back.
The next year, then-Mayor Sly James appointed a task force — a bold move, right? — which eventually decided, by a one-vote margin, to recommend continued state control.
Four members missed the final vote.
Defenders of state control insist it keeps
politics out of the department. It’s a silly claim on many levels, but
consider this: Six lobbyists represent the Kansas City police board in
Jefferson City. Kansas City’s Fraternal Order of Police has 10
registered lobbyists.
The people in the streets have zero lobbyists, which means protests are important, but not enough.
Last week, likely Democratic nominee for governor, Nicole Galloway,
endorsed local police control in Kansas City. “The closer government is
to the people the more accountable it is,” she said. And she’s right.
Gov. Mike Parson? Asked about local control last
week, his knees buckled. “It takes legislative action,” he muttered,
pointing out the obvious but not answering the question.
Elections matter, Kansas City. If local control
is important — and it is — the choice seems clear. In fact, every
legislative and statewide candidate in Missouri this year should answer a
simple question: Local control, yes or no?
But voting is just one part of the equation. In February, the City Council approved a committee
to study local control. “There are likely advantages and disadvantages …
if local control of the Kansas City Police Department were returned to
the City,” the resolution says.
No. Local control has been studied for decades,
and the case is now absolutely clear, and irrefutable: It will bring
accountability and responsibility to a department that too often acts as
if it’s immune to meaningful citizen oversight.
On Thursday, the council updated the committee’s
task, telling it to “develop options” for local control. It’s an
important start. Quinton Lucas, who was endorsed by the Kansas City
Fraternal Order of Police, will play a critical role. If he slow-walks
local control, we’ll know what’s going on.
Read more here: https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/dave-helling/article243359256.html#storylink=cpy
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