Weekend Open Thread

Good Morning. I hope that you are enjoying this weekend, fully vaccinated and boosted, with family and friends. That new booster shot is out…be sure to get it.

Congratulations to these two brilliant young women👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

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Posted in Black Excellence, Weekend Open Thread | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Open Thread | Georgia Governor Signs Election Changes Into Law…Uh huh…Uh huh

Uh huh….

Georgia governor signs election changes into law
The bill signed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp will implement new rules in the battleground state. less than six months before Election Day.
May 7, 2024, 9:40 PM CDT / Source: The Associated Press
By The Associated Press

ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation Tuesday that makes additional changes to Georgia’s election laws ahead of the 2024 presidential contest in the battleground state, including defining probable causes for removing voters from the rolls when their eligibility is challenged.

Republican activists — fueled by debunked theories of a stolen election — have challenged more than 100,000 voters in the state in recent years. The activists say they are rooting out duplicate records and removing voters who have moved out of state.

The bill Kemp signed into law — SB 189 — lists death, evidence of voting or registering in another jurisdiction, a tax exemption indicating a primary residence elsewhere, or a nonresidential address as probable causes for removing voters from the rolls. Most controversially, it says the National Change of Address list can be considered, though not exclusively.

Supporters have said the probable cause definition would make the challenge process more difficult. Opponents have disputed that, saying the changes would enable more baseless attacks on voters that would overwhelm election administrators and disenfranchise legitimate voters. For example, people sometimes live at a place of business, which would be considered a nonresidential address. Officials with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office say there are more reliable types of information, such as driver’s license data, to confirm a voter’s eligibility.

The Georgia bill also allows challenges to be accepted and voters removed from the rolls up until 45 days before an election. That provision in part has prompted the threat of lawsuits from liberal groups because federal law says states and counties can’t make systematic changes to voting rolls within 90 days of a federal election.

The measure also says homeless people must use the county voter registration office as their address instead of where they live. Opponents have said that could make it harder for homeless citizens to cast ballots because their registered polling place might be far away.

Let’s get to the more than 100,000 voters challenged.
I want people to completely understand this.
These people were not at the polls and someone challenged their voter status based on their signature doesn’t match the official signature on the voter rolls.
No, these people were challenged – THOUSANDS AT A TIME, by people who didn’t know them. Based on ‘ just cause’.
It’s one of the most outrageous forms of Voter Suppression.

I also want to point out the fallability of using the NCOA registry. People go to the Post Office and fill out a Change of Address form for whatever reason. You could be leaving for a short time, and want your mail sent to another address. You still live at your address, but for this snapshot of moment in time, you are leaving. They want to use that registry, with notorious holes in it, to be a way of justifying their voter suppression tactic of challenging voters.

Posted in 2024 Elections, Black Voter Suppression, Breaking News, Current Events, Elections, GOP, Open Thread, Politics, Voter Suppression | Tagged , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Open Thread | To Those Who Are Going to ‘Punish’ Joe Biden by Voting Third Party Because of Palestine…Think On This

Just want for those who are these ‘ one issue voters’….and Palestine is that issue…

I Shot Up With Lysol (@BlackKnight10k) posted at 11:39 AM on Thu, May 02, 2024:

Here’s how “Genocide Joe” lost the support of people protesting the Israel/Hamas war:

He’s negotiating a deal to end the war that includes:
• rebuilding Gaza
• a Palestinian state
•normalization between Israel, Saudi Arabia, and other Arab states

He successfully negotiated the only ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which ended because Hamas wouldn’t abide by the terms

He’s responsible for the only instance of hostages being released by Hamas

He sent billions in foreign aid to Gaza including:
• food
• medical supplies
• clean water

Building a pier off the shore of Gaza to get them more aid (which terrorists have already attacked to delay the aid)

He’s stated over and over that the war against Hamas should be fought with the intent of minimizing civilian casualties

He helped prevent a single casualty from Iran’s attack which included hundreds of drones and missiles

He’s encouraged and supported peaceful protests

He’s condemned Islamophobia

He’s condemned antisemitism

He’s condemned his opponent’s plan to ban Muslims that includes a ban on any refugees from Gaza

(https://x.com/BlackKnight10k/status/1786073003383521335?t=FAdQwJ3ph2WjOaN-EixmCQ&s=03)

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Posted in 2024 Elections, Breaking News, Democratic Party, Donald Trump, GOP, Open Thread, Politics, President Joe Biden | Tagged , , , , , | 24 Comments

Open Thread | Update on the Continued Threats on Body Autonomy

Have to keep you updated on what’s going on in Red State America that I know they want to export elsewhere around the country.

No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) posted at 0:12 PM on Thu, May 02, 2024:
Louisiana Republicans are moving to pass a law that will charge women with criminal felonies and throw them in prison if they are caught in possession of abortion pills.

https://t.co/f3bWasgwXn https://t.co/rrjzMnFSBi
(https://x.com/NoLieWithBTC/status/1786081419061522805?s=02)

From Jessica Valenti:

In the States
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed legislation today that will repeal the state’s 1864 abortion ban. It was just yesterday that the state Senate voted to reverse the 160-year-old law, crafted in a time before women had the right to vote. At a ceremony today, Gov. Hobbs said she would “do everything in my power to protect our reproductive freedoms, because I trust women to make the decisions that are best for them.”

This means that Arizona’s 15-week abortion ban will go back into effect—at least until November, when voters could restore abortion rights by supporting a pro-choice ballot measure.

As Florida’s 6 week abortion ban goes into effect:

Florida Agency Releases Dangerous Abortion ‘Rules’
Guidelines mandate abortion reports, tell doctors how to end pregnancies
JESSICA VALENTI
MAY 02, 2024
With Florida’s 6-week abortion ban now in effect, a state agency has issued guidelines for doctors that they say will ensure women get the care they need. In truth, the rules are a political move that will further endanger women’s health and lives.

Guidelines from Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) not only require doctors to send the state detailed abortion reports, a tactic Abortion, Every Day has been raising the alarm about, but also dictate how doctors should end pregnancies. The guideline’s language could even force physicians to give women c-sections rather than abortions—another nightmare tactic that AED has been tracking.

Consider one of the most common post-Roe horror stories we’ve seen: women who were denied treatment after their water broke too early for the fetus to survive. (Also called preterm premature rupture of membranes, or PPROM.) In a section about how doctors should treat patients with PPROM, the agency does not tell doctors that they can give women abortions. Instead, they say the patient should “be admitted for observation.”

Florida’s new ban is important because Florida was a state where women in the South could go . Now, those women have to travel to North Carolina or Virginia.

The increased numbers for those states:
Abortion providers in states like North Carolina are bracing for an onslaught of patients who otherwise would have traveled to Florida for care. The same is true for clinics in Virginia; HuffPost reports that Virginia League for Planned Parenthood has increased staff and hours, and ramped up tele-health services. In 2022, only 3% of the group’s patients were from out of state. As of April, that number jumped to 20%, and as of this week, more than 30% of patients making abortion appointments were from other states.
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Posted in 2024 Elections, Abortion, Abortion Rights, Body Autonomy, Breaking News, Current Events, Democratic Party, Donald Trump, GOP, President Joe Biden, Vice-President Kamala D. Harris | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Weekend Open Thread

Good Morning. I hope that you are enjoying this weekend, fully vaccinated and boosted, with family and friends. That new booster shot is out…be sure to get it.

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Posted in Weekend Open Thread | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Open Thread | Black People Are NOT the Mules for Everyone Else

Really enjoyed this thread. Completely related to it.

I enjoyed the back and forth in this thread. I completely agree. We are not their mules.

Started off with these two:

Soul Operation (@NegroNihilist) posted at 10:53 AM on Fri, Apr 26, 2024:
On the Intramural 🧵
As we sit here in the midst of LZs and pro-Palestinian/anti-imperial protest the Black Harvard undergrad populations has been eerily silent and unseen. BSA, BMF, ABHW, HCC, GAASA, NSA, HASA, BCL and others your silence will not protect you when fascism comes
(https://x.com/NegroNihilist/status/1783887076695454035?t=Jo7Fmzjutnl-NcC9ZS60NA&s=03)

local angry blk man (@afropessimistic) posted at 2:31 PM on Sat, Apr 27, 2024:
The same thing is happening on my campus and I truly don’t understand it. Black undergrads having cookouts, potlucks, beach days etc while one of the biggest student movements in 40 years is taking place. Nowhere to be found. It’s perplexing and incredibly disappointing.
(https://x.com/afropessimistic/status/1784304446002106666?t=r2Xh7z4_pnqszIh2_0aotQ&s=03)

Definitely thought these responses were on point:
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Posted in Breaking News, Current Events, Open Thread, Politics | Tagged , , , , | 15 Comments

Open Thread | More Food for Thought About Ukraine

Found this thanks to Balloon Juice.
Thought it was interesting commentary about Ukraine.

Angry Staffer 🌻 (@Angry_Staffer) posted at 11:47 AM on Fri, Apr 26, 2024:
Let’s talk Ukraine.

There’s a lot of analysis out there that I believe is driven by a fundamental misunderstanding of the way Russia fights wars.

Bottom line up front: Russia’s current goals in Ukraine aren’t necessarily victory, at least not in the traditional military…
(https://x.com/Angry_Staffer/status/1783900824432697713?t=gqJzXIjC5cwmGfvkXf70-g&s=03)

Angry Staffer
11:47 AM · Apr 26, 2024

Let’s talk Ukraine.

There’s a lot of analysis out there that I believe is driven by a fundamental misunderstanding of the way Russia fights wars.

Bottom line up front: Russia’s current goals in Ukraine aren’t necessarily victory, at least not in the traditional military sense.

We’ve seen evidence of this since even before Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. More on that later.

Would Putin like to “get the gang back together” and continue rebuilding his sphere of influence in the former Soviet states? Absolutely. Is that his primary goal? Not even close.

Putin’s stated goal for decades has been preventing NATO expansion, which he views as an existential threat to the Russian Federation’s survival. His “special military operation” obviously failed spectacularly in this regard.

Putin was furious when Estonia and Latvia joined NATO; he’s clearly not happy about Finland and Sweden joining either, but Ukraine? Ukraine would be the ultimate insult.

So what’s the best way to keep Ukraine from joining NATO?

– You could corrupt their electoral process and install a puppet. They tried that and failed.

– You could conquer the whole country. They tried that and failed.

– You could keep them in a perpetual state of warfare—a stalemate and a war of attrition—knowing that NATO won’t allow them in while they’re tied up in a hot war. That’s where we’re at now.

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Posted in 2024 Elections, Breaking News, Current Events, Democracy, Elections, Foreign policy, Open Thread, Politics, President Joe Biden, Ukraine | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Open Thread | Never Forget….January 6th Was An Attempted COUP …As Were Those Fake Elector Schemes

This cannot be allowed to be whitewashed.
January 6th was an ATTEMPTED COUP…and part of that was the Fake Elector Schemes. It had always bothered me the way that the states, initially, didn’t take them seriously for what they were.

Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) posted at 0:59 PM on Tue, Jul 26, 2022:
BREAKING: THREAD: smoking gun emails reviewed by the Times show a trump lawyer named Wilenchik referring to the fraudulent slates of electors as “FAKE” in emails to Epshteyn. “‘Alternative’ votes is probably a better term than ‘fake’ votes.” 1/ https://t.co/L31kquEpMm
(https://x.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1551990536705228800?t=ofWFrqdqPP3hSOx6_iLFsw&s=03)

Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) posted at 0:59 PM on Tue, Jul 26, 2022:
Participants also reported their activities to Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows, and Meadows emailed a campaign advisor saying “We just need to have someone coordinating the electors for states.” 2/
(https://x.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1551990538521305088?t=zf6981QYoo5R2STzafna_Q&s=03)

Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) posted at 0:59 PM on Tue, Jul 26, 2022:
Epshteyn acted as a conduit for people inside and outside the trump campaign and the White House, and was a point of contact for Eastman. He also coordinated Eastman’s pay AND the arrangements for the 1/4 meeting with Short, Jacob, Trump, Pence, and Eastman. 3/
(https://x.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1551990540081586176?t=ea9mghwjWJloX0jG8pC-UA&s=03)

Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) posted at 0:59 PM on Tue, Jul 26, 2022:
Wilenchik also advised Kelli Ward – who was recently subpoenaed by the DoJ to keep the plan a secret. 4
(https://x.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1551990541595750402?t=vqigEclnaXuS4xWAoSCtFg&s=03)

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Posted in 2020 Elections, Breaking News, Conspiracy, Corruption, Current Events, Democracy, Democracy vs Fascism, Elections, Open Thread, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , | 42 Comments

Weekend Open Thread

Good Morning. I hope that you are enjoying this weekend, fully vaccinated and boosted, with family and friends. That new booster shot is out…be sure to get it.

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Open Thread | The Right-Wing of the Supreme Court Showed Their Corrupt Azzes Yesterday😠

They were absolutely ridiculous with The Orange Menace’s Presidential Immunity case.😠😠

Laurence Tribe 🇺🇦 ⚖️ (@tribelaw) posted at 4:35 PM on Thu, Apr 25, 2024:
Today’s SCOTUS argument was more like a hearing in Congress to design an immunity law for future presidents, with Justice Kavanaugh saying “We’re not taking about the present case” and Justice Gorsuch saying “We’re writing rules for the ages” and Justice Alito joining in (cont’d)

Only Justice Jackson reminded her colleagues that deciding this case was the Court’s task and that it might not be cool to use it as a vehicle for “answering in advance all these abstract questions”!

So much for the idea of each branch staying in its constitutional lane!

(https://x.com/tribelaw/status/1783610736511525148?s=02)

John W. Dean (@JohnWDean) posted at 5:48 PM on Thu, Apr 25, 2024:

Today’s SCOTUS argument on Trump’s criminal immunity revealed an activist conservative majority that wants to provide presidential immunity. To do so, they must get around Nixon v Fitzgerald (1982), which clearly states there is no criminal immunity for presidents. For example, as stated in Nixon v Fitzgerald, in Chief Justice Burger’s concurring ruling in the 5-4 decision creating civil immunity:

“… there is no contention that the President is immune from criminal prosecution in the courts under the criminal laws enacted by Congress, or by the States, for that matter. Nor would such a claim be credible. The Constitution itself provides that impeachment shall not bar ‘Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.’ Art. I, § 3, cl. 7. Similarly, our cases indicate that immunity from damages actions carries no protection from criminal prosecution.”
(https://x.com/JohnWDean/status/1783629149418270896?t=3lMiua89sg-L0IcfiBA32w&s=03)

John W. Dean (@JohnWDean) posted at 11:32 PM on Thu, Apr 25, 2024:

The refusal of the GOP Justices (sans ACB) to address the Trump indictment before them as they rushed to explore in arguments how to immunize him was appalling. They should address the case before them and deny immunity for it was never part of the Constitution and totally unnecessary for a POTUS who does not seek to be a dictator. Donald will empty Fort Knox of our gold reserves after he orders the coup!

(https://x.com/JohnWDean/status/1783715691927134613?s=02)

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Posted in 2024 Elections, Breaking News, Corruption, Current Events, Democracy, Democracy vs Fascism, Donald Trump, Elections, Open Thread, Politics, Supreme Court | Tagged , , , , , , | 65 Comments