Whoa: The White House is circulating a video which it claims shows a cache of antifa bricks, but the image is actually just a year-old security barrier set up by the Chabad Jewish center in Sherman Oaks to prevent anti-Semitic car ramming attacks. https://t.co/hTjTErAHXm
— (((Yair Rosenberg))) (@Yair_Rosenberg) June 3, 2020
Anna Merlan, who’s something of an expert on these topics, at Vice:
… There’s absolutely no evidence to suggest that cop car was “planted,” or that demonstrators or their supposed Jewish overlords or even the cops were helpfully pre-arranging bricks, but there’s no doubt that suspicion was in the streets, and, more concerningly, in the White House. Donald Trump claimed that the protests were perpetrated by “ANTIFA and the Radical Left,” then announced that the government would be “designating ANTIFA as a terror organization.” There is no domestic terror list that “ANTIFA,” which is not an organization, can magically be placed on through the power of Twitter. The point was nevertheless made.
The discourse around this weekend’s protests was fueled, in other words, by misinformation. Bad, fractured, and partial information has raced through the marches, social media, and the Oval Office. It is being used to cynically frame what has been and will be happening, and in the hands of the powerful, it will serve specific political interests…
Whether the purported culprit is antifa, Soros, or Russian murderbots, the narratives here—all of which went wildly, worryingly viral—converge on a trope common among conspiracy theorists of all stripes: What is happening was caused, more or less, by the crisis actor participating in a false-flag operation. What you think you see is not what there is to see, and it is not caused by what you think it is caused by. Really, something else is happening, and someone else is to blame…
Taken together, this all feels like a frightening escalation in how we talk about protests, peaceful and otherwise. One of the main projects of authoritarian regimes all over the world is to paint popular uprisings as illegitimate. It’s a roadmap we’ve seen many times: A claim that a revolt is led by the CIA, perhaps, as Russia claimed of the 2014 Ukranian revolution, a baseless accusation aided by the fact that the CIA has backed many coups, primarily in South and Central America. Or maybe the unrest or discontent is a product of media manipulation, as Rodrigo Duterte claimed before the midterm elections that could have ended his regime. (That didn’t happen: amid accusations of voting machine “irregularities” and accusations of vote-buying, Duterte swept to a resounding victory that also saw three of his children elected to public office.)
And the accusations of paid carpetbagging agitators, old as they are, look different on social media. The claims about antifa armies, Soros “rent-a-riots”—another phrase that made the rounds—and Russian contract killers don’t just smear the protesters. They seek to make every social justice campaign, every effort at peaceful regime change, and every call to conscience look unreal. They turn hashtags into disinformation breeding grounds, activists’ Facebook groups into halls of mirrors, and every ally into a potential cop, informant, or agent provocateur. They could sap power and momentum from what looks, at this moment, to be a turning point in a long and shameful history of racist, violent policing…
After Trump and Barr blame antifa groups for violent unrest, the guy who wrote the book on antifa says: “If antifa on its own could orchestrate a national campaign of burning down police stations and burning down malls, they would have done it years ago”
— Mark Berman (@markberman) June 1, 2020
For people quibbling w “actual protesters” – the black bloc types aren’t attached to a cause. Anti-war rally? They’ll smash windows. Animal liberation? Sounds like window-smashing time. Renew “Billions”? Better smash some windows https://t.co/0M9t8clEVX
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) May 31, 2020
A synagogue posted Monday to debunk false rumors that its rock-filled anti-terror barrier had been put there by rioters. The AP, BuzzFeed also ran debunkings.
Today the official White House account tweeted the conspiracy nonsense to 23 million followers: https://t.co/nFHLRkRTrp
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 4, 2020
tybee
have brick
will travel
raven
The chief of police in Athens claimed part of the reason they used tear gas on the crowd (not many people) at midnight was because the protesters had bricks in their tents. It was water and medical supplies.
rp
Putting aside the accuracy, is this a helpful argument for trump? I’d rather have people blaming antifa for the looting than actual AA protestors. He’s implicitly conceding that most of the protestors are behaving lawfully.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
dmsilev
Want to watch Kamala Harris rip out what passes for Rand Paul’s heart? Of course you do:
joel hanes
some cops drop untraceable guns at crime scenes and then lie about it in court.
it is known, khaleesi
Miss Bianca
“Suspicious Bricks”. Band name, or stupidest conspiracy theory ever?
gwangung
@dmsilev: Yeah, that was cigarette time, even for non-smokers.
Bill Arnold
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:
Lisa Murkowski won a election with write in votes. She’s safe, electorally. Wonder what “Health” Trump is asserting that she voted against.
HumboldtBlue
You damn libtards and Antifa-lickers can just shut the hell up because this dude is going Antifa hunting this weekend and you don’t want to be in his sights!
Today it seems to never stop. This Denver man who said he would be “Antifa hunting” in downtown Denver… is of course also a QAnon believer.
John Revolta
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: She voted against HealthCare,
??Is this some Republican-backed program of which I have been unaware? I should surely love to hear more about Donald Trump’s HealthCare Plan!
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
Imagine the “Dems in Disarray” articles/hysteria if a life long liberal Senator from Hawaii or Oregon said they couldn’t vote for the sitting Dem president.
Amir Khalid
@Bill Arnold:
Also too, I don’t recall Trump having anything to do with ANWR, Alaska’s highway system, or “more” (whatever that is).
Emma from FL
Purging the GOP? Yes, please!
Bill Arnold
The buzzfeednews piece is worth a scan. They do some debunking on many such claims.
People Say Pallets Of Bricks Are Showing Up Near Protests All Over The US. The Truth Is More Complicated. As of now, there’s no evidence to support claims of coordinated brick placements at protests. (Craig Silverman, BuzzFeed, Last updated on June 3, 2020)
lamh36
OMG!!
There’s a video on my twitter TL of the Buffalo PD pushing this elderly man during a protest. The man fell to the ground, you can see him hit his head and looks like he’s bleeding. The PD walk over the man and left him on the damn ground!
When pushed about it the PD claimed the man “tripped and fell”!
Didn’t want to post the video, but you can check out the link here to find it
twitter.com/jonswaine/status/1268724800542986240
HumboldtBlue
Following up from downstairs on the Drew Brees discussion, this is why white folks anywhere but especially with deep roots in the deep south should remember that there are receipts, the paperwork is there.
Anne Laurie
IIRC, Murkowski was a critical vote against the first big Trump-era push to ‘end Obamacare’. Because, among other things, her constituents liked being able to go to the doctor without worrying about going bankrupt.
Obviously someone in the Trump Crime Cartel has been keeping a list, but I doubt Trump himself can remember that far back, even if he really cared about ‘Obamacare’ outside of its name.
NotMax
Sill trying to figure out “professional anarchists.”
Must be sheer hell to collect the membership dues. Is there an IRS code for the profession?
Anne Laurie
Maybe we should use that nym when we want to discuss QAnon without attracting the crazies. Did you see? — the Suspicious Bricks are buzzing about Tom Cotton being JFK Jr after botched plastic surgery…
WaterGirl
@Bill Arnold: My speculation is that she voted AGAINST TRUMP on those issues.
WaterGirl
@lamh36: There is no word for how out of control some of these police departments are. That they are doubling down so publicly is incomprehensible to me.
patrick Il
The Vietnam anti-war demonstrators had a logical end point; the end of the war. What event can cause the end of these? Perhaps a new president? Can they last that long? We certainly aren’t going to get police departments under control anytime soon.
NotMax
Four Pinocchios for this latest inept propaganda posturing at WaPo.
M. Bouffant
Ah, that’s what this was about.
HumboldtBlue
Twitter on Thursday removed a video tribute to George Floyd posted by President Trump’s reelection campaign, claiming it had run afoul of the website’s policy on copyrighted material.
Yutsano
@NotMax:
It’s probably the “other” code.
@Anne Laurie: Murkowski was one of three Republican no votes to repeal the ACA. I’m sure that’s it. President Toadface does keep his grudges.
Miss Bianca
@Anne Laurie: LOL, I like it!
lamh36
@lamh36:
HumboldtBlue
@lamh36:
Don Cheadle and Joe Biden held a town hall today with young folks and I had not heard about it but here it is.
HRA
@lamh36: The local news has it on FB. They are trying to pass this of as someone who was with a group of unruly protesters. Mayor Brown is not going to like this at all.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
So, provided Biden wins this fall and we sweep the Senate (and I hope we do. I’m cautiously optimistic), what do you all think the foreign policy of unified Dem government will be?
Specifically, what issues do you think will need immediate attention? What will relations between the US be like between nations that have gone far-right such as Brazil, the UK, Hungary, the Philippines? How can the US government combat the rise of global authoritarianism?
Laura Too
Honestly, being in the belly of the beast is getting exhausting. Today was going so well. My friend and I went to the memorial spot for George Floyd at 38th and Chicago to bear witness to his life and humanity. I witnessed so much beauty. Free flowers you could make an arrangement to leave at any of his murals, free food prepared for anyone who needed it, free food & supplies as most of our stores are gone. Black, white, brown all together in peace. There was music and poetry, silence and grief. It was powerful. Before I went I had biked to get bread and came across a brand new pickup with a 3% sticker in the back window. (III) Last night after curfew an old car came through blasting 45 and right after a motorcycle with a storm trooper helmet on the sissy bar went through. I reported the latter to neighbor on her post about another suspicious vehicle. Tonight someone posted a really chilling comment about my being paranoid and so I googled him. I reported right away his fake name, and another poster emailed me to let me reported as well. This is his email:Marvin Dorfler is a character from the Robert De Niro movie “Midnight Run.” So, having never seen it WTH? And the person who also reported him let me know his friend has pictures of 3% stickers on vehicles she’s seen.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Laura Too:
What was so chilling about it, if you don’t mind my asking? Was it on nextdoor.com or something?
lamh36
@lamh36:
lamh36
@HumboldtBlue: Yes. I saw that. Not a fan of ShadeRoom though, I hear it went well.
Mary G
I saw a few lefties on Twitter claim that some of the same random pallets of bricks, (though not the ones at Chabad,) were stockpiled by Boogaloo or Proud Boys or cops to throw at other cops in order to frame the protesters so the cops would start killing black people. Of course they had plans to station cameras nearby so they could document it, rather than just alleging a conspiracy. Racists must hate cell phones. So much inconvenient truth.
Ruckus
@lamh36:
It is absolutely inhuman. I saw it on twitter before coming here.
I’d say something I’ve felt for a very long time, the police are completely out of control. Now there are good cops and decent departments. But how would you know if you needed one or came upon one during your normal day, would they help you or hurt you? I used to ride the LA metro system a lot because I’ve had to get across town to the VA hospital and it’s faster than driving. Also easier and cheaper. Often there are cops riding along and I’ve always been kind of wondering if they would be helpful or not if needed. Some have answered questions for passengers, most of the time no one talks to them. Now? How can anyone trust them now? I have only a bit of an idea how a black person might feel, having grown up around south central, working, owning a business there. And I don’t trust cops at all any more. My position is that unless their job is beating and killing people who could possibly trust them to actually do their job? Protect and serve? My ass.
Cameron
@Miss Bianca: Wasn’t that an Elvis Presley song?
TS (the original)
Probably already posted, but I just saw this
And my reaction was exactly as per Jennifer Rubin’s response
Another Scott
@Laura Too: Thanks for the report. Continue to speak out about the cowards who are trying to intimidate good people. Good luck.
Cheers,
Scott.
Mary G
@Yutsano: Lisa Murkowski has a grudge, too. Moscow Mitch treats her with kid gloves.
joel hanes
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
foreign policy
Stop extorting and bullying and lying. Quietly. Appoint competent diplomats, and listen to them. Rejoin and fully fund organizations such as the World Health Organization, if they’ll have us back.
Since we’ve proved incapable of governing ourselves responsibly, and our government has consistently shown its ass on the international stage for four critical and interminable years, the US should STFU about the affairs of other nations for a while.
Reinstate any and all sanctions on Russia that may have been dropped or ignored by the Trump crime syndicate.
Join, quietly, any international climate change response, realizing that we have forfeited any credibility we may have had, and thus should have no expectation of leading.
Invite in international observers to evaluate the 2022 and 2024 elections.
If we’re still in Afghanistan, get out.
Close Gitmo.
Kay
Barr is so bad. Just the consistent, malicious, planned dishonesty. Every single day the attorney general of the United States lies to the public. It’s sickening.
I read that some of the people they gassed at that church are suing. Good. Maybe if it somehow gets to a court we’ll have verification that Barr ordered the attack. It’s outrageous that they have to sue though- they are paying every single lawyer in the justice department, and in order to get some answers that are not ass-covering lies they have to hire private attorneys.
a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio
@NotMax: It’s been suggested on Twitter that “ANTIFA” is in fact a pro-cat organization: Anti-Neutering Tomcats’ International Feline Alliance
(link: twitter.com/pasturespolitic/status/1267181045163704320?s=21 )
Laura Too
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): ”
Marvin Dorfler
The Trump stuff could just be on the news right? It’s summer so people have windows down. It could have been people up to no good, but let’s not get paranoid and report people for normal things. That’s not safe either”
Fairly innocuous right? But I have seen this post or worded slightly differently repeatedly the last few days. And the fact that it was 10 hours past when I posted just creeped me out. So I googled him. Maybe I am getting paranoid???
Amir Khalid
@a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio:
I bet this ANTIFA is only pro-feline life until the kittens are born.
sanjeevs
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I don’t know about Hungary or Brazil, but the Philippines is lost.
Duterte was installed by the Chinese using the same methods the Russians used with Trump. He is a complete Chinese toady.
SiubhanDuinne
@dmsilev:
I so hope Joe chooses her as his VP. That was simply magnificent.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@joel hanes:
So have nations like Brazil, the UK, etc. They’ve gone absolutely bonkers. Somehow, though I doubt they’ll STFU. I agree with much of what you say, but we need to reclaim our leadership role and live up to it. We also have to use the full power of the federal government to make the world safe for democracy again by removing far-right leaders from power through soft power means. We also have to join with our traditional allies and stand united against the Russians and the Chinese
Laura Too
@Another Scott: Thanks! This is from the guy who contacted me to let me know he reported the guy:
“My neighborhood watch stopped a car from being stolen/set on fire 2 nights ago just east off Minnehaha on 41st. Within an hour, a different car came back and were going to try again.” They are trying o steal vehicles for damage and so they aren’t caught. It is crazy. We are just lucky that so many of them are fucking inept.
Achrachno
@M. Bouffant: ACME bricks, they’re the best!, used exclusively by Wiley E. Coyote.
Note they were delivered into the middle of nowhere, where coyotes lurk. Wiley is up to something!
Bill Arnold
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I’ve heard that the CIA has some skills related to the overthrow of foreign governments deemed undesirable by the U.S..
But we could start by simply not gleefully collaborating with them on the global authoritarianism project. :-)
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Laura Too:
You’re right it does seem fairly innocuous. But if they’re not using their real name on nextdoor.com that is suspicious. I don’t think you’re paranoid
joel hanes
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
We have forfeited the respect that formerly made us suitable for a leadership role.
Respect cannot be gotten by demanding it; it must be earned.
If we want to ever again be regarded as leaders, we must hew wood and draw water for a long while. Quietly funding a huge vaccination campaign with the eventual SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in the poorest nations would be a good start.
What the Brazilians do is no longer our responsibility, if it ever was, nor are we responsible for what they say. Nor do we any longer have the moral credibility to set expectations for any nation, nor even expect that they will listen to our government with anything but scorn and disbelief.
The US needs to admit, repent, and atone.
Benw
@raven: protests in NYC have been overwhelmingly peaceful the last few days. However, police in NYC tonight closed off roads in the Bronx before curfew, then charged and beat peaceful protestors who couldn’t leave at curfew because there were no exits. Stretchers needed for at least one protestor. The police are the problem
NYT link: nytimes.com/2020/06/04/nyregion/nyc-protests-george-floyd.html
LAO
Holy crap, I’m losing my shit tonight.
Krope, the Formerly Dope
Interesting dialogue I heard playing Mortal Kombat today:
Shao Khan: Sektor was a better Grandmaster.
Sub-Zero: He led through fear and deceit.
Shao Khan: Those are the pillars of order.
HumboldtBlue
This is a discussion outside of my experience, but there seems to be some movement on outing a prominent Senator. Am I trafficking in tawdry rumor?
BBA
Me a week ago: “abolish police” is a hopelessly naive, empty slogan
Me today: if you’re not a police abolitionist, you’re not paying attention
lamh36
I’m off to bed, but I couldn’t go without throwing in my 2cents on Drew Brees and his foot in mouth disease.
Drew shoulda just sat and ate his food. I said yesterday, that Brees got away w/that BS three years ago so he doubled down and had no real blowback. Fast forward and 3 years of Chump (and Brees game day photo-op all cheesed out with Chump last year), and the times are different & he shoulda read the room!
lamh36
@lamh36:
Exhibit B: Earlier today Brees issued a “sorry if I offended” apology! He doesn’t have a racist bone in his body he said. He was just thinking abou this grandfather.
Welp, Black twitter detectives done found Bree’s slave owning great, great grandfather WITH receipts
twitter.com/BombayK2/status/1268519724561895434?s=20
Brantl
@rp: But Bill Barr has likely told him Antifa is UUUUUGE!
cmorenc
@rp:
The whole point of Trump’s antifa remarks is to associate antifa (and its allegedly thuggish methods) inextricably with the protests (esp AA participants) in the minds of his target audience of Fox Viewers – a perception and connection many in his audience are receptive to believe. This taps feelings, not logic – and in receptive persons such logical, factual sorting of actions and actors as you describe simply doesn’t happen, instead their minds are steered by very strong confirmation bias.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@joel hanes:
Trump was illegitimately elected by the Russians. It’s the GOP (and their supporters) that is a threat to global stability, not us.
I never mentioned anywhere about making demands. My point was that the right-wing “populism” that Trump embodies is a worldwide phenomenon being boosted by autocrats. This is a new Cold War that demands decisive leadership. It’s NOT just the US that has gone wacky over the past few years and I don’t appreciate the US being singled out as if we’re the only ones.
The Russians and their puppets are a Transnational Criminal Syndicate masquerading as governments.
The fate of humanity is at stake. We can’t allow the world to be run by murderous madmen like Trump, Putin, Bolsonaro, or Xi
lamh36
@lamh36:
I had a speech teacher in high school who said:
“SAY WHAT YOU MEAN AND MEAN WHAT YOU SAY” that way there is NO confusion! I have taken that advice with me ever since.
Exhibit #C that the times are different and Brees coulda read the room and save himself the dragging he’s deservedly getting!! Times are different Drew!
Some of the biggest stars in the league!!
Calouste
@Ruckus: I might agree with Tom Cotton that we need to send in the troops. I just think we need to send them in to dismantle a number of police departments.
Bill Arnold
@Kay:
FWIW, W. Barr is now acknowledging that the simplistic ANTIFA!!! attribution is false, i.e. grudgingly admitting that their narrative is falling to pieces. The headline however skips this part.
Evidence that antifa, ‘foreign actors’ involved in sowing unrest and violence: AG Barr (Alexander Mallin, 4 June 2020)
Laura Too
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I have a pretty good spidey sense but since I am sleep deprived? My greatest fear is these assholes become the focus and not Mr. Floyd. As I said, I saw so much beauty today. I listened to his funeral service. He sounded like such a lovely man. There have been so many lovely men, and women. We (white people) have so much work to do and for the first time in my lifetime I am seeing people step back and reassess things. I am seeing posts on FB from white friends to other white friends regarding why focusing on the riots is wrong. People who would never call themselves woke, or ally. Some who don’t even have a black friend (it’s MN, it is possible) coming out and saying this isn’t right, we have to do something. I am encouraging them. May seem like baby steps to some but it is an opening we (white people) all have to take.
different-church-lady
Remember Orwell’s warning: the point is not to lie — the point is to destroy the idea that there’s such a thing as objective truth.
lamh36
@lamh36:
Fox news and Laura Ingraham, told LeBron James to “shut up and dribble”, but now got the nerver to tsay Drew Brees should be able to speak his mind.
Fuq em.
Glad to see Lebron calling her azz and Fox news out.
lamh36
@lamh36:
Next time Drew Brees may learn to read a room before talking shit! But he’s probably just preparing for his next gig as sportscaster or conservative politican…IJS
Eunicecycle
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): The first thing I want to see is the detention centers on the border closed and every family reunited in a safe place while they wait for their hearings. Change the criteria for asylum back to BT (before Trump). Bring the families here from Mexico that have been waiting. And yes I will host a family in my home!
Immanentize
@LAO: Don’t. That shit has value!
I am so glad to see you(r nym).
Peace.
lamh36
@lamh36: Final thoughts on Brees for the night:
Amir Khalid
@HumboldtBlue:
I think this sort of outing is better avoided, unless the senator was abusive to gay sex workers, or consorted with trafficked minors, or something similarly heinous. I would also consider publicly speculating about the senator’s identity a bad idea.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Eunicecycle:
Yes. They need to be closed down. That will demonstrate to the world that we are not like Trump and making an effort to change
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Laura Too:
All of that is very encouraging!
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Bill Arnold:
That would be a good start : )
@sanjeevs:
That’s sad. Perhaps we could support and foster domestic civil rights movements there?
Kay
@Bill Arnold:
I don’t believe a word he says. Maybe we’ll find out who ordered it if/when it gets to a court. I know it was Barr. They gassed those people because they needed a photo op and then they all lied about it. The whole thing is a photo op. There was no reason to put 7000 soldiers in DC. They did it to make Trump look tough.
lamh36
75!!! They could have fuq’n killed that man. It’s not over yet though…he’s in stable but “serous condition”
HumboldtBlue
@Amir Khalid:
Thanks for the feedback. I linked only because it appears these people are serious and apparently have the information.
Elsewhere:
I don’t believe in god but Thor was throwing passes today while Drew Brees was backpedaling.
hueyplong
@HumboldtBlue: It doesn’t really matter. If this is for real and Graham is outed, how much worse for him will that be than the endlessly escalated degradation Trump/Putin are putting him through? How does he really think the Trump lackey path ends? If Trump were to lose he’d just burn Graham on his way out the door for the sadistic buzz arising from doing so.
And no, I don’t feel sorry for the schmuck.
NotMax
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Take issue with the tacit assumption the world is “unsafe.” As for the rest, dangerous ground to tread as it appears to be calling for instituting hegemony as the primary driver of policy, a turn fundamentally incompatible with democracy.
Big difference between leadership and paternalism. Democracy as an effective standard can be encouraged and nurtured, it can neither be imposed by fiat nor exported as an all-in-one panacea. The single best procedure is to provide an example by positively reclaiming and strengthening democratic principles either in eclipse or teetering here, including bulwarks against the genesis of erosion.
The U.S. history of ramping up political interference in Central and South America is far from being laudatory or prideful. As for Brazil, its history of governments since independence shows similar intervals of varied severity and duration, which they have weathered.
Put simplistically, the body politic of any nation is not immune to fever.
lamh36
Just came across my timeline.
Micheal Harriot from The Root was arrested during a protest tonight in Birmingham!
Just passing it along before I head to bed.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
They’ve certainly done that in their own minds, but that’s why the Trump admin is a mess, they don’t know what is true and what is their own lies anymore.
MisterForkbeard
@Krope, the Formerly Dope: Well, now I want to know what Shao Kahn says to Robocop.
Kent
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. They packaged opening ANWR to oil drilling into the GOP Tax Cut bill in 2017.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
“Middle Management”
HumboldtBlue
@hueyplong:
He gets no sympathy but it may have an impact on the makeup of the Senate that’s why I think it matters.
As for shame, I sense there is a generation of people who aren’t ashamed of who they are and who they want to be he has to deal with.
Krope, the Formerly Dope
Was going to listen to all to see what was most pertinent, but I liked the first I got.
Shao Khan: My actions are not your concern.
Robocop: Even you must follow the law.
Shao Khan: I am the law, fool.
Kent
There’s nothing shameful about being gay. I have a gay daughter. This is 2020. I don’t know why anyone needs to hide it anymore. Or why we would need to do it for them.
Benw
@lamh36: the video is disgusting. Every one of the cops who leave him bleeding on the ground should be fired, and the one who shoved him charged.
Prayers for Mr. Harriot. We can’t afford to lose his voice.
sdhays
@Amir Khalid: I’m also not one to encourage this kind of outing (and I don’t believe it’s anything more than a random Twitizen until reputable journalists investigate), but the person who wrote that isn’t leaving much to speculate with those initials.
lamh36
WHAT IN DE ENTIRE FUQQQ!!
Krope, the Formerly Dope
Because people should be in control of major life decisions like this. Also, outing people can put them in danger. Yes, Lindsay Graham is likely an exception to the latter. But, yeah, “don’t out people” is a good rule.
SectionH
@Laura Too: I don’t think you’re remotely paranoid. Glad there are friends ‘n neighbors also paying attention. You and your family and all are in my thoughts.
randy khan
@lamh36:
That jail has a pretty good pedigree (although at this point it may not be the same building as the one MLK wrote the letter from).
Ruckus
@NotMax:
Well said.
Jackie
@lamh36: I caught the news on tv, that two Buffalo police officers have been suspended w/o pay regarding this incident. Gov Coumo is PISSED.
Origuy
As though there isn’t enough going on, three men have been seen setting fires in a park in south San Jose around the Almaden Valley. One has apparently been apprehended. The area is a rugged, hilly area surrounded by homes. Many people have been evacuated. The fire-fighting choppers were grounded for a while because of a drone flying around the area. The local agencies are posting on Twitter and Facebook using the tag #ColleenFire because it’s close to Colleen Drive.
lamh36
@lamh36:Alright, Harriott is out of jail.
Can’t wait to see his write up on this!
HumboldtBlue
@Kent:
You, I and everyone else here agree, but for others the shame is real.
I brought this up because it seems gay folks aren’t going to abide anymore.
Served
@BBA: the speed and intensity of the radicalization I have seen on police issues is… Inspiring. They have no right to any authority in any jurisdiction at this point. We need a reboot in every community
Kent
I of course agree with you but I’m just being a little bit facetious. Of course he’s gay. So what? Pretending that it is a big deal just empowers the bigots.
Long ago I had an old aunt who was “not comfortable around black people” Was I supposed to coddle her prejudice by pretending I didn’t have a black girlfriend?
I know all the arguments. I have had students who were thrown out of their homes at teenagers after they came out. I know what it means. But I’m also tired of coddling the bigots and pretending that gay people don’t exist just to make them “comfortable”
lamh36
@lamh36: who wants to bet they try to claim BLM as a “terrorist” org as reason why they confiscated the masks. Bullshit of course…but watch!
Ruckus
@Kent:
Because it’s no one else’s business. Even he has the right to be who he is. None of us has the right to take that away from him.
I had a gay sister, her first partner was a friend of mine for 40 yrs. That woman had a partner who still is my friend and several gay men that I’ve met through them. At my friend of 40 yrs service most of the 35-40 people there were gay. It’s not my place to name or out any of them. Some of them are in relatively powerful positions and while it may not hurt them to be outed, who’s to say and why do you need to do that? It serves no purpose other than to quite possibly hurt that person.
Krope, the Formerly Dope
What I’m thinking in your scenario would look a little more like her going to your grandmother before you were ready. But also she knows you make racially problematic statements yourself when talking to your grandmother.
oatler.
Can’t we just tear each other to pieces like civilized Kilkenny cats?
cain
@HumboldtBlue:
OMG the comments are hilarious :-)
cain
My plan is to go protesting – this will be the first one where I might be subjected to violence and tear gas. But I’m bringing goggles and the like – water, snacks, and Indian food.
It seems though that the Portland Police Dept has learned not to engage and they are probably been getting yelled at repeatedly by the mayor who probably wants to get re-elected and the chief probably wants to keep her job.
Never been to a protest where shit goes down. I’m definitely bringing gloves and masks though. I’m not fucking around here.
ETA:
I wish John was my curmudgeon co-pilot.
Krope, the Formerly Dope
I like your plan. Expose yourself to weaker, more delicious, eye-watering chemical agents to inure yourself. Genius.
HumboldtBlue
Bruce Hornsby amplifies the sound of protest
cain
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
there is no foreign policy – maybe we get back on the WHO, work with our partners on the pandemic.
Otherwise, it’s going to be rooting out traitors and putting them in jail. That is in fact the foreign policy because the world is watching and if we want to be leader of the free world or even a consequential adult actor, we need to clean up house – otherwise Americans are worth shit in the world stage.
cain
@Laura Too:
Can you believe that they interviewed his 2nd grade teacher? The woman held up a drawing of him wanting to be supreme court judge. I was wrecked.
NotMax
@cain
Comfortable and supportive footwear. Trust me on this.
cain
That only last so long.. the CIA has put many leaders in charge that was U.S. friendly all of them backfired. They should learn about the colonial shit that the west did. They will be doomed to repeat it.
Kent
I agree with you. I’m just playing devil’s advocate. On the other hand, someone doesn’t get “outed” just because there are random rumors that he/she is gay. There have been rumors swirling around Lindsey Graham for years. Just like there were rumors swirling around say…J. Edgar Hoover.
Someone gets outed in this day an age when one of their sexual partners goes public. And if someone wants to go public with their relationship with Graham I’m not sure if I care one way or the other. The sex partners of politicians has been fair game for decades. It certainly was for Clinton and John Edwards and Gary Hart and and certainly has been for Trump and a bazillion other politicians who have had their relationships outed. I’m not sure why gay politicians are entitled to any more of a veil of privacy than we afford straight politicians.
cain
Batman has entered the chat.
JWR
@WaterGirl:
Not to me. I think it’s a sign that their stranglehold on local politicians is slipping a wee bit more than usual. (ETA So their grip is tightening.)
Now back to catching up on all these damn recent threads. ;)
joel hanes
@Krope, the Formerly Dope:
more delicious
One thing I miss from pre-pandemic days is boxes of cashews caked in Indian chili powder, from my local Indian sweets/samosa/snack emporium. The pain is addictive.
Mary G
FSM speaks on what Twitler’s doing to our beloved country:
cain
@NotMax:
Cheers – thanks. I’ll get some tennis shoes with good arch support. Thank you.
cain
@Kent:
I think that asshole has had no sexual experiences since he was young. He’s been living a lie and he has no sexual partners. The man lives a shitty life.. only made worse by a licksplittle to a wanna be, low quality authoritarian.
This man has lived the poorest life he can ever live and we all should be grateful that we are not Lindsey Graham.
joel hanes
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
We can’t allow
That worked out really well in Viet Nam, ne?
And in Iran, Chile, Iraq. Cuba.
The Monroe Doctrine
El Salvador. Guatemala.
cain
@Mary G:
Dang – so it seems like another immortal has lost their head and we are close to the time of the Gathering.
joel hanes
@Immanentize:
[re LAO]
I am so glad to see you(r nym).
So say we all.
NotMax
Interesting.
Prime streaming as of now showing listings in a category labeled Black History, Hardship & Hope above the Watch Next queue, which normally gets pride of place.
Also a prominent banner where there’s usually a promotional programming ad reading:
Black lives matter
Amazon stands in solidarity with the Black community
Mandarama
@HumboldtBlue:
@lamh36:
Lauderdale Co, MS is where I was born and raised—the last of six generations, if I’m counting correctly. (I say the last bc my siblings and I ran like hell.) I recognize some familiar names on that census manifest, and my own would probably appear five pages back or so. If Brees’ people were respectable Lauderdale County citizens, ain’t nothing for him to be proud of. He ought to be given a 50-gallon drum of STFU and a straw.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@NotMax:
@joel hanes:
Fair enough. Perhaps you’re right
Krope, the Formerly Dope
I’ll keep my eye out because that sounds amazing. I don’t know anywhere near me that has a good Indian food selection.
Calouste
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: George Conway replied to that first tweet from the shitgibbon about being in Alaska in two years with “I don’t think you’ll be eligible for parole just yet”.
HumboldtBlue
@Mandarama:
This is why I read here.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mary G: The Washington Monument is designed to be hit by lightning, it’s got aluminum(which very expensive at the time it was built) lightning rods at the top. It’s also the tallest structure in the area.
Sister Golden Bear
@Amir Khalid: I’m generally against outing people, but being a quisling who’s actively working to hurt members of the LGBTQ communities via legalized discrimination definitely justifies it in my book.
Amir Khalid
@Kent:
No matter how okay it is to be gay, outing people without their consent will always be wrong. It is, at the very least, invading their privacy; at worst, it could also endanger them.
Amir Khalid
@Sister Golden Bear:
The baseless hostile speculation that Hillary Clinton faced for years and years would be just as wrong if it were inflicted on a Republican. I think it best that those with direct knowledge and/or proof of this senator’s hypocrisy be the ones to expose it.
Chetan Murthy
@Amir Khalid:
I have to disagree. GrOPers are traitors and enemies of our Republic. We are engaged in a cold civil war, and while maybe we shouldn’t break the law, anything that’s legal, should be fair game. Out Lindsey Graham? YES! YES! This is a fucking civil war we’re fighting, and he’s a leader of the enemies of our nation. As Driftglass says: “no half-measures!”
ETA: And to the riposte “what if the shoe were on the other foot?” the answer is “they’d fuck us up every way they could, just like they always do.”
Darkrose
In this case, that’s the point. Lindsey Graham has done material harm to queer people by his actions in supporting Trump,(allegedly) taking advantage of rights other people fought and died for while he hides a secret that would make his GOP voting constituents shocked and might keep him from getting re-elected.
I feel about him the same way I feel about the black cop in Sacramento who shot Stephon Clark in the back: all skinfolk ain’t kinfolk. I’ve been hoping for years that someone would out that toadying little hypocrite. I want him to lose his Senate seat, to have no one return his calls, and for him to curl up alone in a ball and cry himself to sleep every night like all the queer people who have been hurt by the policies he’s gladly promoted. I’d say fuck him, but he doesn’t deserve it.
Chris Johnson
@Mary G: Absolutely. You have to understand that they are playing it on that level, just like planting drugs or guns at a crime scene which is a classic old school cop maneuver, and it’s escalation. Same thing, but ramped up and more aggressive.
You have to understand it’s possible to be evil and intelligent at the same time. If they’re already thinking in terms of faking evidence to get their way, and they’re confronted with much bigger ‘enemies’, they’ll be thinking of new and bigger angles on the same old tactics. Expect it.