Death and destruction, poverty, pain and hopelessness, terrorism and traitors — Donald Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention was a particularly horrific timeline of the United States under President Barack Obama.
Trump’s acceptance speech at the convention garnered a lot of criticism on Twitter for being a notably gloomy worldview — and for deliberately misrepresenting the facts.
Former President George H.W. Bush’s speechwriter called it “dark” and “frightening.”
This is a very dark and frightening speech.
— Mary Kate Cary (@mkcary) July 22, 2016
Others pointed to its fearmongering, like Wall Street Journal reporter Bret Stephens:
https://twitter.com/StephensWSJ/status/756325910303965184
With a dark tone, Trump portrayed the U.S. as a diminished nation and offered himself as an all-powerful savior https://t.co/UdmZApB7Cc
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 22, 2016
Trump's dark vision of America https://t.co/7fSZwypixN
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) July 22, 2016
Donald Trump's fiery RNC speech carries too many echoes of the past to ignorehttps://t.co/EI4xIYRZjU
— The Guardian (@guardian) July 22, 2016
https://twitter.com/CharlesMBlow/status/756903409014476800
Listening to “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and then seeing Hillary & Kaine walk out……..it’s not fitting. They make the song boring. Hillary speech is boring me to tears.
https://twitter.com/CuteOverloads/status/756013891876945920
https://twitter.com/CuteEmergency/status/756616088679485440
Ari Berman @AriBerman 1h1 hour ago
Tim Kaine was fighting housing discrimination as a civil rights lawyer in VA while Trump was refusing to rent to African-Americans in NYC
LOL..
I do believe I recall John Edwards being touted as also too a defender of the down and out ‘blacks’…
Can all these people please stop with all this crap…it’s so insulting to black folks’ intelligence..
Another ‘firewall bamboozling faux-sweetener’ dropped in the nick of time by the oh so caring, black folks rights ensuring Ari Berman who just couldn’t figure how dead, rightfully suspicious nobody Freddie Gray’s rights could trump that of the ‘innocent’ upright Baltimore police officers ..
Funny how all these folks just know when to tell us..and just what we should care about – even when it’s just another bit of gratuitous crap from the ever-fluid and forever darting and changing fluffed up and embellished curriculum vitae of another politician – cv’s specifically designed and massaged to appease and lure votes in support of a run for political office, and chock full of half-truths, overstatements and outright lies…
Let’s not fall for the okey-doke…
Besides, the fake forced smiles on everyone’s face – including the Clinton surrogates who are determined to plaster a happy face on this odd Tim Kaine pick – is a dead give away that the Clinton paranoia and instruction trumped all..
I apologize for ruining the sweet pillow talk of those trying to lull us to sleep and lure us into voting for them with ‘appropriate’ nuggets and bits that are supposed to make us believe that they somehow give a damn about folks…or did..
But I can only go with what my lying eyes and ears have observed all these years as I’ve paid close attention to what’s been going on…
Then Virginia Governor Tim Kaine who was still trying to chart a viable path to the presidency for himself, as a mostly conservative leaning Democrat, along with then Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and then Senators Evan Bayh and Joe Biden, were on then presidential candidate Senator Obama’s V.P shortlist…
In addition to picking the person who he could reasonably trust not to do him in – in a sea of politically ambitious, egotistic backstabbers (which of course immediately raised eyebrows for folks like me when slimy Evan Bayh was shortlisted!)…then Senator Obama was also looking to pick a VP who brought something to the ticket, but more importantly, could assuage the recalcitrant racists ..
In the end he went with Joe Biden in part because of his foreign policy credentials…earned the permanent ire of Evan Bayh…and assuaged disappointed Sebelius and Kaine who were both early endorsers, with a cabinet position for Sebelius as Health and Human Resources Secretary …and appointed Kaine to replace Howard Dean as DNC chair..
We all know how that all turned out..
But it is important that we not pretend that Tim Kaine’s tenure as DNC chair was not just as disastrous – if not worse than Debbie Wasserman-Schutz’s …but for different reasons..
Tim Kaine whose wife is the daughter of one of the previous Virginia Republican Governors and is now the Education Secretary under slimy Clinton flunky Terry McAuliffe, resigned barely 2 years later as DNC chair…but not before he lost our party pretty much everything and more…and ran for Senate to replace that other wonderful Obama ‘ally’ and proud ‘progressive’ Democrat Jim Webb who quickly turned vicious after he and his ‘strong’ military credentials were passed over …after he was said to be high on the shortlist and being vetted for V.P…
Anyway, it’s been nearly 4 years, and we never saw or heard from the Senator …and we especially never saw or heard him speak up in support of the Democratic President…his good buddy…the historic POTUS…or show up on t.v in effusive defense of moving any particular pressing Democratic policy or agenda …
Nada…but Jeff Flake of Arizona just luuurrves him..
And in the past several months, the Virginia Senator suddenly became ubiquitous and found his voice again as he furiously and effusively campaigned and auditioned to be picked by candidate Hillary as her V.P choice..
LOL..
As I’ve often told my fam, I get my cues from my historic black FLOTUS…I watch how folks treat how and how they respond to her…and I watch how she treats and responds to folks…and even when she’s merely playing along for her darling husband’s sake…her instincts and cues are keen and impeccable, and have never been or steered wrong anyone who cared to really observe..
As they all congregated for the final National Prayer Breakfast of this historic presidency a few months ago in February 2016, I as usual kept my eyes peeled…
I believe I shared this with my fam at the time…I watched as my always hugging, original hugger-in-chief FLOTUS hugged everyone seated at that high table alongside her and POTUS …including the bloody Republicans among them – and their wives…But she did not hug or even marginally engage dear former civil rights attorney and good ole buddy of POTUS, Tim Kaine who was right there as he is billed to chair next year’s National Prayer Breakfast..
Even when FLOTUS is playing along and being the supportive wife …always, always pay attention to how folks respond to her…especially those who are uncomfortable with her…
And always, always, always pay attention to those folks she hugs and tries to engage with anyway – in spite of their obvious hostility and discomfort with her…and there are more than a few of those..
But more importantly, pay attention to those she completely passes on…even when POTUS dishes out one of his politician-earnest, good ole boy pats on the back or dabs…and even when they are touted as dear, dear friends of POTUS..
May I also take this opportunity to LOL at the whole Cory Booker is such a progressive and great Senator who has ‘done so much’ narrative…
May I ask my fam, where on earth have folks been…
Cory Booker like the rest of them doesn’t give a damn about anyone but himself and his wealthy Wall Street benefactors for whom he had no qualms very publicly and very loudly shilling and defiantly contradicting POTUS for in the thick of a hotly contested 2012 election..
These people don’t give a rats arse about folks…it’s always been and always will be about getting ahead politically…and even when black kids and black folks are being murdered in cold blood, they completely fall off the radar… disappear from sight…for fear of having to take a stance…and especially not for black lives…because they want to be considered for V.P picks…and more importantly, they want to run for president sometime…Yet they show up at election time reminding you that there aren’t nearly enough – or any black so and so position …and insisting that black folks need a voice and representation …and once black voters cast their votes for them, they disappear and only show up for their wealthy white benefactors –
And if they have to trample all over the dead bodies of black kids to somehow improve their chances of running for president someday, so be it…
Dead black kids and their families don’t have the money to compete for Cory Booker’s or the rest of the lot of them’s attention – or fund their political ambitions…they need to be able to compete for his ‘affections’ with his wealthy political benefactors…and it takes a whole lotta campaign cash to get his attention – or that of most of these opportunistic politicians…it’s even more expensive to buy their voice and ‘outrage’..
The days of faux-saving cats stuck in trees and conveniently showing up with a camera crew to faux ‘rescue’ a woman from a burning house…or tweeting about his own heroics…those days are now over…we are now on phase 2…appear on the campaign trail for Hillary after being MIA as the sole Democratic black Senator for years …and as black lives were snuffed out and black communities raged at their devastation…and then get on a V.P shortlist just for being a mostly lousy black Senator who is beloved of wealthy white folks who want to show they aren’t racist like the rest, and pick their ‘suitable’ black to lavish undeserved praise and attention on…and then next thing, he’ll be running for president…
LOL You totally NAILED Booker. He’ a Self-Serving HAM.
Andrea GREENSPAN Mitchell & Joy Reid are as GIDDY as tow high school CHEERLEADERS today.
The media is all over the TV today, touting Kaine’s character and impressive record.
Andrea GREENPAN is hanging the acceptance of the Clinton/Kaine ticket on PBO. It’s up to him to get those NEGROES on board with this DEBACLE.
I’m not buying the scare tactics of a Trump/Pence presidency or a half-baked Tim Kaine CV spouting hi Civil Rights activism as a battering ram to vote for the HILSTER.
Remember how Bernie Sanders’ Civil Rights activism was heckled and ridiculed?
I’m not going to be intimidated into the “If you don’t vote for Hillary, it’s a VOTE FOR TRUMP.
I absolutely am not going to accept responsibility for the outcome of this CLUSTERFUCK election.
My vote I my decision, and I will sleep just fine, no matter the outcome.
Yes, Trump is no good…But say what you may, the assessment of Hillary’s failures as Sec of State hit home –
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHffuTnjYIm/
Peter Sullivan @CitizenSullivan 9 hours ago
Tim Kaine’s voting record:
Planned Parenthood: 100%
Brady Campaign: 100%
NARAL: 100%
Human Rights Campaign: 100%
AFL/CIO: 94%
Tim Kaine was DNC chairman 2009 – 2011..
Results please..
Good point. The 2010 election was a major setback from which we have not recovered.
https://twitter.com/MattMurph24/status/756645156498006016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/jazziz2/status/756656367641960453?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/alexburnsNYT/status/756645639962914816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Whoa Nellie!!
Body Language Expert Weighs In on Donald Trump’s Awkward RNC Stage Hugs With Melania and Ivanka
July 22, 2016 @ 7:35 PM
By
Evan Real
Well, that was weird. Donald Trump awkwardly hugged his wife, Melania Trump, and daughter Ivanka Trump at the Republican National Convention on Thursday, July 21, after he finished his speech accepting the Republican presidential nomination.
Body language expert Patti Wood spoke with Us Weekly on Friday, July 22, to break down the Republican presidential nominee’s cringeworthy embraces with Melania, 46, and Ivanka, 34.
Celebrities’ Political Affiliations
When the former Apprentice host, 70, finished his 75-minute long RNC speech at Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena, he welcomed his family to the stage. After greeting his spouse with a non-romantic peck on each cheek, Donald grabbed the former model’s arms in what appears to be an effort to keep her at a distance.
Donald Trump, Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump
Donald Trump with his wife Melania Trump and daughter Ivanka Trump. Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images (2)
“That was not even a real hug. He held both her arms, cupping his hands around her forearms to keep her at a certain distance from him. She also didn’t go in close,” says Wood, who authored Snap: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma. “There was no heart-to-heart contact. There was no pelvis-to-pelvis contact. That was really odd. There was no real warmth.”
Donald Trump’s Former Flames
Not only was their PDA totally cold, Wood notes that Donald giving Melania’s arms a slight shake was to assert his dominance.
Donald Trump and Melania Trump
Donald Trump with his wife Melania Trump
“[That was to show] ownership, like, ‘She’s mine, I can do what I want with her.’ [It was] very distinctive and different from that extra pat we would give to somebody because we just love them so much and we want to just give them that little bit of affection given after a warm embrace or a tender kiss,” she tells Us. “They just pecked each other.”
First Children
When it comes to Donald’s hug with Ivanka, who introduced the real-estate tycoon turned politician at Thursday night’s gathering, Wood tells Us that his hand placement was inappropriate. As viewers witnessed, the business mogul showed his appreciation for his daughter’s glowing statements by kissing her cheeks and then placing his hands on her lower hips.
Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump
Donald Trump with his daughter Ivanka Trump
“He patted her in a sexually dismissive way. That repetitive pat with open hands on that location is usually a set of body language cues to say, ‘The sex with you, it was good,’ or, ‘That was fun sexual play,’” Wood says. “I want to be clear that is not even a pat you would give to a child under the age of 5. You would pat them higher up on the back.”
Since Donald’s strange hugs with his wife and daughter (whom he shares with ex-wife Ivana Trump) aired on national television, many have taken to social media to share their opinions about the physical contact.
Trump not having such a great day. Besides his Unhinged Rant in Cleveland the “Mexican” judge he tried to sabotage is allowing Trump Univ suit to go forward and now this news in Miami Herald.
“Trump ordered to pay nearly $300,000 in lawsuit brought by jilted painter | Miami Herald
While developer Donald Trump was busy getting the Republican Party’s presidential nomination this week, he was losing big in a Miami-Dade County courtroom.
Circuit Court Judge Jorge Cueto, presiding over a lawsuit related to unpaid bills brought by a local paint store against the Trump National Doral Miami golf resort, ordered the billionaire politician’s company to pay the Doral-based mom-and-pop shop nearly $300,000 in attorney’s fees.
All because, according to the lawsuit, Trump allegedly tried to stiff The Paint Spot on its last payment of $34,863 on a $200,000 contract for paint used in the renovation of the home of golf’s famed Blue Monster two years ago.
Trump National’s insistence that it had “paid enough” for the paint despite a contract, according to the lawsuit, caused The Paint Spot to slap a lien on the property and Cueto to order the foreclosure sale of the resort.
In time, Donald Trump’s company got the judge to cancel the June 28 courthouse auction after it placed the $34,000 in escrow, and the case was put on hold while Trump National’s owner, Trump Endeavor, considered an appeal.
But the lien remained.
And Cueto was asked to rule on the fees for The Paint Spot’s three $500-an-hour attorneys and two $150-an-hour paralegals that lawsuit loser Trump Endeavor will have to pay.
The golf company, according to the court file, objected to the hourly rates because it paid its lawyers $400 an hour, according to court records.
This week, Cueto ruled that the fees were reasonable, and then some.
First, he ruled Trump should pay for nearly 500 hours of legal work, since the store’s legal team had to prepare for a trial that never took place.
Then, Cueto tacked on a 75 percent “risk” fee, partly because the store’s lawyers took the risk that they would never be paid if they lost.
Total: $282,949 and 91 cents, including copying and expert testimony.
“I’m happy I have a judgment,” said Juan Carlos Enriquez, owner of The Paint Spot. “But he [Trump] hasn’t paid yet.
“You know how he says he’ll surround himself with the greatest people if he is president? In this case, he might not be surrounded by the right people.”
Trump bought the property in 2012 for $150 million then launched into a major renovation.
Alan Garten, Trump’s in-house lawyer, didn’t return a call for comment.”
Good article:
https://twitter.com/mattdpearce/status/756558673212833796
@AlGiordano
1. Let me share some knowledge I have about Tim Kaine, who was my favorite on the 2008 short list for VP. He’s going to be exceptional.
More from Virginia about restoring felon rights:
https://twitter.com/ABC/status/756642960955969537?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Julian Castro SPEAKS SPANISH too.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BILpRHJB9zq/
Why Men Want to Marry Melanias and Raise Ivankas
By JILL FILIPOVIC
JULY 21, 2016
YOU can tell a lot about a person by whom they choose to marry. As the nominees selected at this week’s Republican National Convention and next week’s Democratic one take the stage along with their family members, they will display not only stark policy differences, but also two competing views of marriage, kin and the role of women in society. What we saw from Republicans: Men who want their wives at home while they celebrate the professional successes of their daughters.
The Republican Party has long praised traditional family values and intrinsic differences between men and women, while Democrats emphasize egalitarianism and expanding opportunities for women and girls. Few candidates in recent history have embodied those dissimilarities in such sharp relief as Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump. On Monday night, Mr. Trump’s wife, Melania, spoke about her husband and their family values. The speech was, like the woman herself, fairly unobjectionable on its face, with platitudes about family and country, patriotism and hard work. Like much of the Trump image, though, the shiny veneer hid shoddy construction: The very same parts of the speech that lauded integrity, hard work and honesty were lifted almost word for word from Michelle Obama’s 2008 convention speech.
It seems not even purported Trump family values are authentic. To borrow from Mr. Trump: sad.
One traditional value Mr. Trump does hew to: wanting an old-fashioned wife but a modern, professional daughter. On Thursday, convention-goers heard from the elder Trump daughter, Ivanka, a successful businesswoman whose feminism-tinged speech about the gender wage gap and affordable child care sounded less like any policy positions ever pushed by Mr. Trump and more like her book-in-progress, “Women Who Work.” They also witnessed how the Trump family embodies a very old sexist hypocrisy: Men who want one thing for their wives and another for their children.
While Trump family values may not be particularly honorable, they are perversely traditional. Melania Trump told the R.N.C. audience that “Donald is intensely loyal to family,” a claim belied by his own marital history — she is wife No. 3, and No. 2 was the woman with whom he cheated on No 1. Mr. Trump has children with three different women; he blames giving his wife too much responsibility in his business for his first divorce, and his wife’s wanting him to spend too much time at home with her and their daughter for his second.
https://youtu.be/1Kiivn02C9E
A STORY ABOUT CHARLES KINSEY, MY NEW (WHITE) NEIGHBORS, AND THE RACIAL POLITICS OF CALLING THE POLICE
Damon Young, 7/21/16
……………………..
Adding to this diversity is a homeless shelter that sits a block away from my building. In fact, on a given day, I’d estimate that 10 to 20 percent of the people walking through this neighborhood are somehow connected to the shelter. Some live there, some lived there and still hang around because their friends live there, and some don’t live there but hang around the neighborhood because of the numerous food trucks and food banks and other charitable entities that provide food for the residents. And some just hang around because they don’t have anywhere else to go. A couple of them hang out in the coffee shop all day long; playing chess, reading the newspaper, and escaping the heat or the rain or the cold.
We’ve lived here for a year. And while the shelter definitely attracts some very colorful characters — and my wife and I are each asked for money (or a “ride downtown” or a bottle of water) at least once a week — we’ve never once felt in any type of danger. Partially because we’re both from similar types of inner-city neighborhoods and possess a certain level of learned street smarts. But mostly because these are not dangerous people. They’re mostly just people who happen to be going through some hard times.
Our building has two two-story loft units. Two weeks ago, a new couple moved into the second one. (A man and a woman.) They look to be in their late 20s or early 30s, they seem to be nice people, and they’re White. And although they’ve been here less than a month, they’ve already called the police on one of the homeless people loitering near the coffee shop. Which drew several cops to our shared ground-level door. And still, a week later, annoys the fuck out of me.
https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/756563237022404608
Why black men fear that any police encounter could go awry
Jul. 22, 2016 9:33 AM EDT
Charles Kinsey held his hands in the air and shouted to police that the autistic man sitting on the street next to him wasn’t dangerous. A few seconds later, he felt a bullet rip into his leg.
The therapist, who is black and works with people with disabilities, was rounding up a patient who had wandered away from a facility when he was ordered by police officers to lie on the ground. Kinsey imagined that “as long as I’ve got my hands up, they’re not going to shoot me. This is what I’m thinking. Wow, was I wrong,” he told a television station.
The shooting in Florida earlier this week illustrates the longstanding fear among black men that almost any encounter with police can go awry with potentially deadly results, even when a person follows every law enforcement command.
Police are known to pull their triggers “no matter how you follow their directions,” emphasized Isaial Murray, a black 28-year-old construction worker in Detroit.
BlackSportsOnline @BSO 52s53 seconds ago
Twitter Reacts To This Guys Hair At RNC (Photos) http://bit.ly/29Q9bRk via @thacover2
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cn-5qZcWIAAQdqy.jpg
HOLLERING!!!
BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA
Rikyrah, you know this here SELF-HATING NEGROES think he’ one of them.
WAKE-UP CALL WILL COMETH!
Willona D. Woods @The_BKC
My friend just received his voter ID card. He’s never voted b4 & now I have to tell him it will be canceled b/c felon #VirginiaSupremeCourt
Why Have Leslie Jones’ ‘Ghostbusters’ Co-Stars Been So Quiet?
Mikelle Street
BY MIKELLE STREET
Since Leslie Jones went through 24 hours of hellish harassment, sparked by the tweets of the now permanently suspended conservative blogger Milo Yiannopoulos, there have been a flood of people rushing to back Jones up. Early on in the ordeal, Twitter user Marissa Rei, the same user who started #BlackOutDay, started the #LoveForLeslieJ hashtag in order to take a stand of support. Soon after, notables like Ghostbusters director Paul Feig and actresses Anna Kendrick, Jada Pinkett Smith and Margaret Cho flocked to it. Even yesterday, Viola Davis added a late addition to the movement. But surprisingly, none of Jones’ Ghostbusters co-stars leant their voices.
Of the four female co-stars, only Jones and Melissa McCarthy have official Twitter accounts. And while McCarthy’s latest Tweets stop a week ago and are mostly just auto-posts from Instagram, her favorites go up to this past Friday, acknowledging some fan love for the film. Since then, McCarthy, as well as Kate McKinnon and Kristen Wiig, who round out the cast, have been radio silent. For a group that appeared to band together and battle the backlash of the Ghostbusters reboot as a united front, it’s been strange to see Jones forced to face the abuse sans her co-stars. Especially considering the issue is seemingly so cut and dry. So what’s going on?
https://twitter.com/Stelfreeze/status/756602547562016770?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Dale Ho
@dale_e_ho
BREAKING: VA Sup Ct rules against @GovernorVA’s exec orders reenfranchising people who’ve completed their sentences; 200k+ disenfranchised
https://twitter.com/dale_e_ho/status/756601662807089153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
A Voting Rights Story
Injustice in North Carolina
By Sam Fulwood III |
Friday, July 22, 2016
……………………
Voting rights in retreat in North Carolina—and across the nation
On its surface, this is a story about Mickey Michaux and his lifetime accomplishments. But in its full truth, this story is about a simple and basic American right: voting.
More specifically, it’s about North Carolina’s current effort to retreat from the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This landmark legislative tour de force played a significant part in moving this nation closer to its founding ideals of political self-governance for every citizen of the land.
Today, North Carolina is at the center of a national struggle to preserve what remains of the Voting Rights Act. In the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision, the section of the Voting Rights Act that required all or parts of 15 states to get the approval of the federal government before making changes in voting law was effectively repealed. Since then, conservative legislators in the Tar Heel state have passed a set of laws that its proponents argue are needed to safeguard against voter fraud, but which actually rescinded voting rights in the state.
North Carolina is not alone: Several state legislatures are insisting voters show photo identification or imposing other restrictions. One onerous law in Texas could affect more than a half million voters who lack proper ID. In Arizona, lawmakers imposed rules for registering, early voting, and provisional voting, which resulted in widespread confusion and long lines in March’s presidential primary.
But in North Carolina, the new restrictions did more than just require voters to present photo identification. It ordered reductions in the number of early-voting days, ended same-day registration, and ended preregistration policies that allowed teenagers to qualify to register to vote before their 18th birthday. None of this would have been possible if the Voting Rights Act were still functionally in place.
“This is not a photo ID bill,” said the Rev. William J. Barber II, president of the North Carolina NAACP, one of the lead plaintiffs suing the state. “The court ruled on the most sweeping, retrogressive voter suppression bill that we have seen since the 19th century and since Jim Crow and the worst in the nation since the Shelby decision.”
Cert petition says judge’s 89-page opinion was ghostwritten by prosecutors
POSTED JUL 21, 2016 07:00 AM CDT
BY DEBRA CASSENS WEISS
An Alabama death-row inmate is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether federal courts may defer to an 89-page judicial opinion that was entirely ghostwritten by prosecutors.
The state judge who adopted the ghostwritten opinion as his own didn’t even drop the word “proposed” from the title “Proposed Memorandum Opinion,” the Marshall Project reported in a look at the case in June. The cert petition (PDF) filed on behalf of the inmate, Doyle Lee Hamm, argues the case presents “the opportunity to rectify the problem of sham judicial opinions in capital cases.”
Though judges often rely on attorneys to draft routine orders, judges in both Alabama and Texas rely on ghostwriting for substantive opinions, the article reported.
Since that initial story, the Marshall Project says it received “a wave of emails from defense attorneys” who said judges have also relied on ghostwritten opinions in capital cases in Georgia, Louisiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Ohio.
Stephen Bright, president and senior counsel of the Southern Center for Human Rights, told the Marshall Project the problem of ghostwritten opinions in Alabama has lingered for decades. He believes appeals courts have never directly addressed the issue partly because judges don’t want to embarrass each other.
https://twitter.com/AlGiordano/status/756589542824562688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Arkansas man sues police officer for excessive force after getting Tasered for refusing to give cop his name
An Arkansas man was the victim of excessive police force when he was Tasered repeatedly for refusing to give an officer his name during an encounter on Fourth of July, a new lawsuit says.
Blytheville, Ark., police officer Stephen Sigman, the target of the lawsuit, charged Chardrick Mitchell with resisting arrest, obstruction of justice and disorderly conduct.
But shocking body cam footage of the exchange shows Sigman not telling Mitchell he was under arrest until he fired the Taser gun at the man’s back, who was casually walking away from the officer.
“At no time did Mr. Mitchell resist arrest, especially since he had already been tased when he was first told he was under arrest, even though he had at that point committed no possible criminal act,” the lawsuit, filed by Chardrick’s attorney James Harris, reads.
Well, it’s getting to be about that time to check in with Nate Silver every day.
http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/
So, it’s July 22, still early and the Democratic convention is next week. But, damn, just look at Florida and Ohio. Florida is the most worrisome with 29 electoral votes and is now the state most likely to tip the election. Pennsylvania and Virginia aren’t looking so good either for Democrats, too close for comfort.
The DNC played a very dangerous game and here we are. Honestly, I don’t think that “Trump is the Devil” is working. The Democrats need to get out the vote in these swing states and give folks a reason to vote for them. They should be emphasizing taking back the Senate, down ballot races and issues, the importance of voting, their “progressive” platform, etc…and take some of the focus away from Hillary if possible. It’s quite obvious they need to work like never before to turn out the vote in swing states while maintaining leads in states where they have an advantage. Dear God, I wonder if they can do it.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cn_aCPgUAAA2Q3-.jpg
Elizabeth Joh@elizabeth_joh
VA SCT rules against Gov McAuliffe restoring voting rights for 200K+ who completed their sentences http://www.courts.state.va.us/… …
===
((Jake Laperruque)) @JakeLaperruque 20m20 minutes ago
Unbelievable. Virginia Supreme Court disenfranchised over 200,000 voters, majoriy minorities
===
Ari Berman @AriBerman 26m26 minutes ago
Terrible news. 1 in 4 African-Americans in Virginia just lost the right to vote
That is wrong, just all kinds of wrong. A debt paid is a debt paid. Period. Restore voting rights.
Donald Trump is a unique threat to American democracy
By Washington Post Editorial Board
July 22 at 3:59 PM
Re Trump & Cruz spat, this is hilarious.
http://washingtonchestnut.blogspot.com/2016/03/bean-slime.html
https://twitter.com/Delo_Taylor/status/756579278691631106
But CNN says the shooter said…Allahu Akbar
https://twitter.com/Delo_Taylor/status/756585459988459520
https://twitter.com/alexnpress/status/756555423939960837
Chicas
Please listen to these lying mofos
https://twitter.com/wsvn/status/756582682188849152
The Devil is a Walking Cheeto Running for President
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Luvvie/~3/Ltlv5oTkcEs/omg-donald-trump.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email
I want to hear what the Democratic platform is next week in Philadelphia.
ARE THEY GOING TO ADDRESS POLICE BRUTALITY & KILLINGS OF BLACK AMERICANS?
Searching for some information, Ametia. Not finding much but here is an article which at least indicates there is something going on although the article doesn’t go into any depth.
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2016/07/18/two-parties-two-platforms-on-criminal-justice#.lY9ZBauA2
Article quotes this from the platform under “General”.
“Democrats are committed to reforming our criminal justice system and ending mass incarceration. Something is profoundly wrong when a quarter of the world’s prison population is in the United States, even though we have less than five percent of the world’s people.”
Article quotes this from the platform under “Police”.
“We will rebuild the bonds of trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. Across the country, there are many police officers who inspire trust and confidence, deploying creative and effective strategies, and demonstrating that it is possible to reduce crime without relying on unnecessary force. We should learn from those examples and build on what works.
We will invest in training for officers on issues such as de-escalation and the appropriate use of force, and encourage better police-community relations and the use of smart strategies like police body cameras. We will end racial profiling that targets individuals, based solely on race, religion, ethnicity, and national origin, which is un-American and counterproductive.
We support states and localities that choose to make the investigations and prosecutions of police-involved shootings more independent and transparent, including through reforming the grand jury process. And we will explore reforms of the civil asset forfeiture system.”
Article quotes this from the platform under “Sentencing and Incarceration”.
“Instead of investing in more jails and incarceration, we need to provide greater investment in jobs and education, and end to the school-to-prison pipeline.
We will reform mandatory minimum sentences and close private prisons and detention centers.”
There’s more on re-entry and recidivism, addiction, marijuana, and abolishing the death penalty quoted in the article. So these are just extracts, of course, but lead me to doubt there is any strong language related to police murders of black children like 12 year old Tamir Rice or the unjustified police killings of (mostly black) citizens.
I’m sensing the usual hogwash, “trust” blah blah “training” blah blah “body cameras” blah blah and so on. “Re-building trust” is an interesting use of language because “re” implies that trust existed at some previous time. Also, they are going to “end racial profiling” and I can’t wait to see how that works since it implies they can stop people from being racist. “Hey, y’all, just cut it out.” Isn’t that what Hillary said to Wall Street?
I wonder if there is anything in the 2016 Democratic platform about the Department of Justice in relation to this national crisis.
“He sounded like some two-bit dictator of some country you couldn’t find on a map.”
— Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), quoted by The Week, on Donald Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.
Jon Stewart:
https://twitter.com/ditzkoff/status/756349545831882752
Yall see this?
https://twitter.com/blackvoices/status/756496602332798976
INSANE…. But ALL LIVES MATTER, DONCHA KNOW!
The cop wanted to hurt her, I think that’s obvious. And it starts with a traffic violation.
https://twitter.com/WVFDW/status/756516780567302145
https://twitter.com/NYDailyNews/status/756514759713882112
God have Mercy on you Mr. Green and your family. May the Blessing BE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYKIcnj1MJY
THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!!!
RIP Mr. Green.
2016 sucks
RIP Mr. Green.
you will be remembered.
Trump’s Speech: An Appeal to His Supporters’ Id
by Nancy LeTourneau
July 22, 2016 9:36 AM
Donald Trump’s speech last night had the fact-checkers geared up to overdrive. He threw out a lot of numbers and made a lot of claims. In summary, most of them turned out to be distortions and/or lies. You can check out the results at Politifact, Vox and the Washington Post. Overall, he proved Stephen Colbert to be a modern-day prophet by coining the word “Trumpism,” meaning, “If he doesn’t ever have to mean what he says, that means he can say anything.”
The other thing you might have noticed about Trump’s speech is that he didn’t offer any real solutions. Here are just a couple of examples from Peter Suderman:
So what it boils down to is that Trump provided a collection of lies to define a set of problems to which he offered no solutions. That would be the kind of analysis that comes from people who are reality-based. But Frank Rich identified what that misses about what was going on last night.
Two Narcissistic Bullies Duking It Out
by Nancy LeTourneau
July 21, 2016 9:26 AM
If you read what I wrote yesterday about Ted Cruz’s long-term plans, his non-endorsement speech last night in Cleveland didn’t come as much of a surprise. He’s taking a big risk. But ultimately Cruz decided to go all-in on a bet he’s making about how this plays out. Dara Lind came up with a good analogy.
We’ll see how that works out for him. One of the reasons for the rise of Donald Trump is that the GOP has been leaderless ever since the Bush/Cheney administration ended in such a disaster. All of the so-called “establishment candidates” in this year’s primary simply embraced the same failed policies that got us there in the first place. In addition, they completely missed the fever that had been ignited among the Republican base in order to fuel the post-policy positioning of total obstruction. Trump didn’t offer a policy alternative. Instead, he fanned the flames of the fever. In many ways, the party remains leaderless and in his own imagination, Ted Cruz thinks he can fill that void.
https://twitter.com/sdtilock/status/756505999024922624
https://twitter.com/stjbs/status/756504870060830721
WELL! There’s an actual photo
Trump is referencing the National Enquirer? This can’t be happening?
And this is the thing. Hitler’s rise wasn’t just about hate. It was about craven fucks who thought he was their best bet for power.
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) July 22, 2016
That’s what I heard
https://twitter.com/MsPackyetti/status/756495185601699840
This is not normal politics. It’s a clear message to white people that they should be afraid of Latinos, African-Americans, and Muslims
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) July 22, 2016
THIS
r for Art of the Deal:
this is the donald trump i came to know. not a word about hope. not a word about possibility. all doom all the time.
— Tony Schwartz (@tonyschwartz) July 22, 2016
I’ve heard this sort of speech a lot in the last 15 years and trust me, it doesn’t sound any better in Russian.
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) July 22, 2016
https://twitter.com/NewsReportLink/status/756496646205087744
https://twitter.com/FardFollower/status/756464378388488193
https://twitter.com/RawStory/status/756496868310413312
https://twitter.com/TPM/status/756497051899355136
https://twitter.com/APA_PGH/status/756497075664261120
hat tip-BJ
On Feb. 25, the heavy hammer of justice fell hard on James T. Green.
Trump’s Outrageous Foreign Policy Views
by Nancy LeTourneau
July 21, 2016 3:32 PM
Recently I’ve noticed that I have developed two lines of defense against the kind of panic I would feel about an actual Trump presidency. First and foremost is the fact that the odds against him being elected are enormous. The Upshot recently calculated that Clinton has a 76% chance of winning.
Running a distance second to that defense is the fact that, as Stephen Colbert put it, “If he doesn’t ever have to mean what he says, that means he can say anything.” As soon as Trump says something truly outrageous, he and his campaign get busy walking it back. Just to demonstrate the level of outrageousness expressed by Trump, I actually fear his unpredictability less than I do what he says.
I must admit that the second line of defense tends to crumble with stories like the one Kevin Drum reports with this headline: “Donald Trump Just Invited Russia to Attack Eastern Europe.” Or how about this one from Jeffrey Goldberg? “It’s Official: Hillary Clinton Is Running Against Vladimir Putin.” Neither one of these men are the type who are prone to hyperbole. Here’s more from Goldberg:
A Speech only a Dictator Would Deliver
TGIF I refused to watch the KLAN RALLY in Cleveland this week.
I’m hearing the messages were dark and gloomy
IN SHORT: THE ‘DARK’ & GLOOMY = FEAARMONGERING, TO SCARE WHITE FOLKS >>>>POC
Same story, different century.
Good Morning 😊, Everyone 😆
You ain’t never lied with the title of this post.
The pure HATE was the most striking thing about thr last four days. Nobody had *anything* good to say about this country. If that’s the case, why do they want power so badly?
Good morning, Tom. Nice to see you.
Who wrote that dark and gloomy speech? Are we awaiting Armageddon?