Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

This fight is for everything.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

Not all heroes wear capes.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Joe Lieberman disappointingly reemerged to remind us that he’s still alive.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Just a Few Bad Apples

Just a Few Bad Apples

by | 79 Comments

This post is in: 

Rotten to the core:

Four current and former Louisville officers are facing federal charges in connection with the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor — including excessive force, falsifying information on the search warrant and staging a coverup, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday.

Kelly Goodlett and Joshua Jaynes are accused of falsifying information on a search warrant before and after Taylor, 26, was killed in March 2020, sparking a wave of racial justice protests across the country. Garland said that the officers not only violated Taylor’s Fourth Amendment rights but also knew the falsification would lead to a dangerous situation — one that “resulted in Ms. Taylor’s death.” The attorney general said Goodlett and Jaynes allegedly met in a garage after the killing and conspired to lie to investigators about the circumstances that led to it.

[…]

Former police officer Brett Hankison is charged with two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law. He is accused of willfully using unconstitutional force for firing 10 shots through Taylor’s patio door during the raid. Hankison faced three state charges of wanton endangerment for firing those shots without a clear target, but was acquitted at trial in March.

Reader Interactions

79Comments

  2. 2.

    trollhattan

    Figured that if there were to be consequences, they would come out of the falsification to obtain the warrant.

    Good.

  3. 3.

    lollipopguild

    The whole thing was a cluster from the get-go then they really screw up and kill an innocent bystander.

  4. 4.

    Scout211

    And in Foriduh, DeSantis is on the move again.

     

    TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday suspended Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren for not prosecuting certain crimes, removing him from office and naming his replacement.
    At a news conference flanked by police from around Tampa Bay, DeSantis said Warren has “put himself publicly above the law” by signing letters saying he would not enforce laws prohibiting gender-affirming care for minors or laws limiting abortion.
    “Our government is a government of laws, not a government of men,” DeSantis said.
    READ THE GOVERNOR’S ORDER HERE
    The suspension, which stunned observers, removed one of the state’s most outspoken prosecutors. Warren, a Democrat, has been a frequent critic of DeSantis, including calling the governor’s 2021 “anti-riot” legislation a misguided “solution in search of a problem” and questioning the need for an election security force proposed by DeSantis.

  8. 8.

    p.a.

    This is historically typical police brutality and corruption and I hope they are punished to the fullest extent, but what we’re seeing with the Secret Service, DoD etc shows that de-Nazification needs to be from the highest structures down to street level.  And I’m afraid the political will and popular support for a thorough housecleaning isn’t here.  Yet.

  12. 12.

    Kropacetic

    @Scout211: “Our government is a government of laws, not a government of men,” DeSantis said.

    These laws are in conflict with our highest ideals and arguably the constitution. Warren should wear this as a badge of honor. Honor don’t pay the bills, though. I hope a sympathetic lucrative organization is ready to scoop him up.

  14. 14.

    Redshift

    @Baud: Hell, state attorneys are elected officials. I’m surprised either one would have the authority to do that without some kind of misconduct proceeding.

  15. 15.

    Redshift

    @trollhattan: Since everything he’s doing is in the service of a presidential run and making him a wingnut star, rather than for the benefit of the people of Florida, I’m guessing not until his presidential campaign.

  17. 17.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Scout211: This was the thing DeSantis was bragging would “trigger the lib media” yesterday, I think.

    And yeah, it’s bad and stupid. Let’s go all in on attacking women, and his base will eat it up.

  18. 18.

    Scout211

    @Baud: I tried to copy and paste an excerpt of the executive order, but could not.  Just look at the first page and you will learn just how powerful the Governor really is.  Or he thinks he is.  There are many “whereases” that claim that the governor indeed,  has this power.  In fact, he claims “supreme executive power.”

    Executive Order

  19. 19.

    Roger Moore

    @Redshift:

    That was my thought as well.  I don’t think DeSantis is the kind of person who would let a little thing like an election stop him.  Besides, the state supreme court would undoubtedly perform legal gymnastics to rule he has the power to do whatever he damn well pleases.

  20. 20.

    lowtechcyclist

    @trollhattan:

    DeSantis will bore of the whole governor thing, only question is how soon?

    About five seconds after the election’s decided.

    If he wins, he’ll start running for President right away.  If he loses, why keep working?

  21. 21.

    patrick II

    @Baud:

    If that is so, it would mean that DeSantis fired Warren illegally to uphold the principle of following the law.

  22. 22.

    coin operated

    I hope this ends Dan Cameron’s political career.  He was the KY AG that declined to charge the officers and is making a run for KY Governor next year.

  23. 23.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Roger Moore:

    Besides, the state supreme court would undoubtedly perform legal gymnastics to rule he has the power to do whatever he damn well pleases.

    I’m sure Warren knows whether or not DeSantis has the legal authority to remove him, and it’s hard to see someone in Warren’s position not contesting it if DeSantis doesn’t have that power.

  26. 26.

    Roger Moore

    @lowtechcyclist:

    If he loses, why keep working?

    If he loses, you can bet the Republicans will follow the North Carolina gambit and do everything they can to strip the governor of power while DeSantis is still around to sign the legislation.

  27. 27.

    FelonyGovt

    Open thread- repeated from the thread below:

    Question for the hive mind: my postcard group is writing postcards to women (“likely Democrats”) ages 18-45 years in Macon, GA to encourage them to vote for Dems. There are two options for the postcard script: one about abortion, birth control, etc. and the other about mass shootings. Which would you choose?

  29. 29.

    Roger Moore

    @patrick II:

    If that is so, it would mean that DeSantis fired Warren illegally to uphold the principle of following the law.

    Makes sense to me.  You just have to remember that “following the law” means “letting Ron DeSantis do as he pleases” and everything makes sense.

  31. 31.

    ian

    @Ten Bears:

    Well, usually there is a thing called a trial.  This happens before the punishment stage, but after the charging stage.  Calling for punishments before the trial is kind of a ‘lock um up’ vibe, but worse because you moved straight into the ‘murder those people I don’t approve of’.

  32. 32.

    Kropacetic

    @Roger Moore: Law isn’t what our elected representatives decided together. It flows naturally from a big daddy figure on top. Having legislative approval is a bonus, not necessary.

  35. 35.

    The Golux

    Regarding the title of this post, I find it morbidly amusing at the use of that phrase, since it blithely misunderstands the point of the original saying: “One bad apple spoils the bunch.”  Which is certainly true regarding police departments.

  36. 36.

    TheOtherHank

    The “just a few bad apples” thing drives me nuts. As I recall, a popular version of the bad apples metaphor goes, “One bad apple spoils the barrel.” So if the cops just have a few bad apples they need to get rid of them before they ruin everyone. But it seems we’re way to late for that. What we’ve got here is barrel of rotten apples.​
     

    Edit: It looks like The Golux got in just before me.

  42. 42.

    Ken

    @Frankensteinbeck: Garland is silent and methodical.

    Yes, the Jason Voorhees approach.  But it appears some people would prefer Freddy Krueger, making wisecracks while he works.

  43. 43.

    Central Planning

    I saw a sticker on a car here in upstate NY the other day that said “Make US like FL” with a picture of the US flag and what I can only assume is the Florida flag. I will not be looking that up.

    That was underneath a thin blue line sticker.

    If NY is so horrible for them, why are they still here?

  45. 45.

    Captain C

    @Ken: Or possibly the Geraldo in Iraq approach:  “Here’s where we’re gonna ambush them, right here.  This is how we’re gonna do it.  They’ll never figure it out.”

  46. 46.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Open thread update (seeing as I promised).  Had my needle biopsy today which was I will admit thoroughly unpleasant. Into ctscan, out again, needle with local anasthetic inserted in the top part of my left booby to the edge of the lung. Back in ctscan, out again, pokey bigger needle into the lung, back in ctscan, out again, slender needle down tubey thing into lung, more anasthetic, (squeeze ctscan tech hand). Back in ctscan, out again bigger needle with clippy thing on the end of it  into the lung (doctor “this is going to nip a bit”) resist the urge to scream while cutting off entire bloodflow to ctscan tech’s hand, and grit teeth.  Click, click, needle clippy thing out, rinse and repeat.  Doctor says “okay that’s it, we got two samples, well done you tolerated that very well, me:(fighting the urge to rip his face off) Ha that’s nothing you should try a gas chamber with a leaky gas mask ha ha (internally sobbing).  Anyway tea and biscuits, cheese sandwich, more tea, chest x-ray to make sure my lung wasn’t deflating and released.  I have to admit bits of me are very sore, (particularly now that the drugs are wearing off) but the deed is done and now we just have to wait for the results and if worse comes to the worse the treatment plan.   I am now drinking a well deserved glass of wine and looking forward to the next adventure in 12 days, Edinburgh for the Tattoo and then up to Loch Ness to look for Nessy.

  47. 47.

    Han

    @Scout211: There are many “whereases” that claim that the governor indeed,  has this power.  In fact, he claims “supreme executive power.”

    I thought supreme executive power derived from a mandate from the masses, not some farcical executive order.

  48. 48.

    patrick II

    If Warren is a democratically elected official, and a Democrat to boot, who replaces him? Who decides — DeSantis?  Do they hold new elections?  Doesn’t this make it too easy to fire elected state officials of a different party?

  52. 52.

    Ken

    @Han: But the elegance of it!  What powers does the governor have? Whatever powers he has granted himself via executive order. Avoids all the complexity of having a constitution or laws.

  55. 55.

    Ohio Mom

    @FelonyGovt: Abortion. It is finally dawning on normies that ending abortion is a big deal and must be avoided.

    What it will take for enough of them to be similarly panicked about guns hasn’t been discovered yet.

  57. 57.

    Han

    @Ken: If he wants supreme executive power, I’d be happy to go down there, throw on a dress, and lob a scimitar at him. It’s Floriduh. Probably won’t even make the news.

  60. 60.

    Ohio Mom

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Oh yeah, the clip to mark where the biopsy was taken from, I had forgotten that part — I had a breast biopsy not quite ten years ago. Your description brought back many memories, lots of similarities between the two procedures.

    Still crossing my fingers and toes for you. Enjoy your trip!

  62. 62.

    Bugboy

    Just a Few Bad Apples

    Isn’t the English language just beautiful?  “Just a Few Bad Apples” leaves out the important part: “Just a Few Bad Apples Spoils the Bunch”…

  63. 63.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Litlebritdifrnt: chest x-ray to make sure my lung wasn’t deflating and released

    Be aware of any abnormal feelings that develop in the chest. When I collapsed my lung it was 4 hours from time of injury to the point where I knew something wasn’t right, and a couple hours more before I felt actual pain. Chances are you are what the chest X ray says you are, but every now and again…

  70. 70.

    oatler

    He’d be elected president during a period of unrest, and that means “to preserve order in Democrat zones I must reluctantly…”

  71. 71.

    Another Scott

    @Redshift:

    DeSantis seems to be in hot water about an issue that he can’t MAGA away. RollCall:

    (Leads with horrible picture of Crist)

    Florida’s long-simmering property insurance crisis is reaching a boiling point ahead of a closely watched gubernatorial race that could test the mettle of Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Republican with presidential aspirations.

    DeSantis is the frontrunner in Florida’s gubernatorial race, but in recent weeks has faced attacks from Democratic challengers, who have sought to persuade primary voters that the incumbent is responsible for the state’s failing property insurance market.

    Rep. Charlie Crist is set to face Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried in the Democratic gubernatorial primary on Aug. 23 and both have seized on the issue.

    “Florida is facing a property insurance crisis and Governor DeSantis has ignored it,” Crist said in an email. “Florida deserves a governor who actually gives a damn and will work to fix problems, not flame culture wars.”

    […]

    Crist’s accusations come after more than a dozen property insurers have left Florida since the start of the year amid rampant litigation, fraud and surging reinsurance rates. More departures could soon follow, pushing Floridians to Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state’s insurer of last resort. Citizens will soon eclipse 1 million policies for the first time since 2014; it had fewer than 420,000 in October 2019.

    Tumult in the market has driven up average premiums by 55 percent in the last three years, according to Insurify, an online insurance marketplace, and made property insurance a flashpoint as hurricane season and election season converge.

    DeSantis and his Republican allies in the state legislature have been too consumed with national culture war issues and ignored problems closer to home, Fried told CQ Roll Call. Their failure to pass legislation on property insurance during the general session, which ended in March, forced DeSantis to call a May special session that was an added public expense, Fried noted.

    […]

    He’s beatable. Here’s hoping that Florida finishes off his political career.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  72. 72.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Ohio Mom: Yes it’s strange isn’t it.  However has to be done, ignoring it isn’t going to make it go away (as we all know) still my respitory doc tells me we shall address it after my hols and so we shall.

  78. 78.

    Kirk Spencer

    @FelonyGovt: Late to the party but add another vote for abortion etc. Dorothy mentioned timeliness, but for me it’s the fact that pretty close to 100% of your target range has a vested interest in the birth control and abortion issue (even if opposed), while mass shootings are “horrible but happening to others”.

Comments are closed.