Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

GGoss

GGoss's Journal
GGoss's Journal
March 14, 2023

How Tucker Carlson Duped the People His Producer Called "Dumb ... Cousin-Fucking ... Terrorists"

God I love EmptyWheel

How Tucker Carlson Duped the People His Producer Called “Dumb … Cousin-Fucking … Terrorists” - EmptyWheel

In response to Tucker Carlson’s misleading propaganda claiming that Jacob Chansley was just a peaceful tourist escorted at all times by his own dedicated cop, a number of January 6 defendants are demanding mistrials because of claimed Brady violations.

Dominic Pezzola’s attorneys, for example, argued that the video released by Tucker shows that the Senate never had to recess, which (they claim) undermines the government’s obstruction claim against the Proud Boys.

Never during this trial has there been any evidence of any raucous or extremely disruptive or violent demonstration in the Senate chamber. (There have been a few images of demonstrators sitting on chairs or standing in the well of the Senate.)

Then came the Tucker Carlson show on the evening of March 6, 2023.

On March 6, Tucker Carlson released shocking footage from January 6th, 2021 that showed “QAnon Shaman” Jacob Chansley walking calmly through the halls of the Capitol with two Capitol Police officers. At one point, one of the officers appears to try opening a door or elevator, and then turns and leads Chansley in another direction. Later in the video clips, Chansley is seen walking past nine police officers gathered in a hallway intersection. Chansley and his police escorts walk right past the nine officers without any resistance.

And then the Tucker Carlson show presented footage of officers calmly escorting Chansley (and apparently other protestors) into the Senate chamber. The Washington Post wrote that Albert Watkins, Chansley’s attorney through sentencing in November 2021, said he had been provided many hours of video by prosecutors, but not the footage which Carlson aired Monday night. He said he had not seen video of Chansley walking through Capitol hallways with multiple Capitol Police officers.

“What’s deeply troubling,” Watkins said Tuesday, “Is the fact that I have to watch Tucker Carlson to find video footage which the government has, but chose not to disclose, despite the absolute duty to do so. Despite being requested in writing to do so, multiple times.” [emphasis original]


The government’s response lays out that, in fact, both Chansley’s attorneys and Pezzola’s received this video in global discovery (there was a 10-second segment not released until January that was not exculpatory, which likely shows a Senator fleeing even as Pezzola stands just feet away — see below).

Link: https://www.emptywheel.net/2023/03/14/how-tucker-carlson-duped-the-people-his-producer-called-dumb-cousin-fucking-terrorists/

March 14, 2023

A Trump indictment could come as early as Wednesday -- here's why - RawStory

A Trump indictment could come as early as Wednesday — here's why - RawStory

Former President Donald Trump could technically be indicted as early as Wednesday. That doesn't necessarily mean that he will be. But according to former Justice Department prosecutor and FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann, it is possible.

Legal analysts think that Michael Cohen is among the last witnesses for the grand jury to pull together all of the details to which others have already testified. While he's already spent most of Monday before the grand jury, he'll be back on Wednesday to do it again.

"Something else happened today that makes it, I think, even more imminent," said Weissmann. "But what I'm getting at is — the thing I was looking for is that we are hearing that defense counsel for Donald Trump went and made a presentation to the prosecutors. Because that's something that is really routine, any sort of ethical, responsible prosecutor is going to give that opportunity and, frankly, any good defense lawyer is going to take that opportunity. And The New York Times reported that that meeting has occurred already. And the import of that is, I think, when the grand jury presentation is over, it is Alvin Bragg's decision at that point and there is nothing left. So frankly, that could even be Wednesday, just to put everyone on alert."

"Wait, hold it. I have to change my schedule here," MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell interjected...


Link: https://www.rawstory.com/trump-new-york-indictment-timeline/

&t=2s





March 14, 2023

GOP-run states taking 'explosive' steps to override Democratic-run city governments - RawStory

GOP-run states taking 'explosive' steps to override Democratic-run city governments - RawStory

According to a report from CNN, red states like Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, Texas, Missouri, and others are launching a new front in their quest to seize authority over local prosecutors and policing policies.

“If left unchecked, local jurisdictions in states with conservative legislatures whose political majority does not match their own may find themselves subject to commandeering on an unprecedented scale,” the Legal Defense Fund's Janai Nelson tells CNN.

Red states want to override the decisions of blue cities on issues such as minimum wage, environmental regulations, mask mandates, and criminal justice reform. Marissa Roy of the Local Solutions Support Center says a lot of the criminal justice reform preemption "is in direct response to the Black Lives Matter movement."


"Many of the red state moves to preempt local district attorneys have targeted the so-called 'progressive prosecutors' elected in many large cities over recent years," writes CNN. "But there is also an unmistakable racial dimension to these confrontations: In many instances, state-level Republicans elected primarily with the support of White, non-urban voters are looking to seize power from, or remove from office, Black or Hispanic local officials elected by largely non-White urban and suburban voters."


Link: https://www.rawstory.com/republican-state-legislatures/

CNN Report: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/14/politics/crime-conflict-red-states-blue-states-fault-lines/index.html

Ironic how they are using the subject of Crime, to steal Democracy.


March 14, 2023

Patricia Schroeder, Feminist Trailblazer in Congress, Dies at 82 - NYT

Patricia Schroeder, Feminist Trailblazer in Congress, Dies at 82 - NYT

Patricia Schroeder, a trailblazing feminist legislator who helped redefine the role of women in American politics and used her wit to combat egregious sexism in Congress, died on Monday. She was 82.

She died at a hospital in Celebration, Fla., from complications from a stroke, her daughter, Jamie Cornish, said in an email.

Ms. Schroeder, who was a pilot and a Harvard-trained lawyer, had a long and distinguished career in the House of Representatives. She was a driving force behind the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which guaranteed women and men up to 18 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a family member.

She helped pass the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which barred employers from dismissing women because they were pregnant and from denying them maternity benefits. And she championed laws that helped reform spousal pensions, opened military jobs to women and forced federally funded medical researchers to include women in their studies.


Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/14/obituaries/pat-schroeder-dead.html

March 14, 2023

Eying re-election, Biden breaks with progressives on some hot-button issues - MSNBC

Eying re-election, Biden breaks with progressives on some hot-button issues - MSNBC

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is breaking with progressives on some hot-button issues ahead of his expected re-election campaign launch, laying the groundwork to try and neutralize politically thorny issues that Republicans hope to damage him with.

The president has said he'll sign legislation to overturn a new D.C. crime law that eased mandatory sentences and penalties, drawing a backlash from progressives who said the law was sensible — and meddling with it would undermine D.C.'s sovereignty.

Last week, NBC News reported that the Biden administration was considering a revival of family detention for migrants entering the U.S. unlawfully, which drew heavy criticism from immigration advocates who are already upset with Biden for adopting tough asylum policies that they say mirror Trump-era rules.

And on Monday, Biden’s administration greenlighted a major oil drilling project in Alaska, sparking pushback from environmentalists and Democrats who want to phase out fossil fuels.

Biden’s breaks with the left have a common thread:


Link: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/eying-re-election-biden-breaks-progressives-hot-button-issues-rcna73581

March 14, 2023

Holy Mother Of Christ...

Texas removed six Black children from their homes. Their adoptive parents drove them off a cliff. - TexasTribune

People came to this place for its sweeping views. The circular gravel turnoff sat alongside the Pacific Coast Highway, just across a small bridge over the tiny Juan Creek in Mendocino County. From its edge you could see the rocky Northern California coastline, its cliffs dotted with native grasses and wild succulents. At low tide, you could see the beach where fishermen used to camp, casting their wide nets to catch the night fish that flung themselves onto the waves during spawning season. On March 26, 2018, a clear blue day, a German tourist stood at this spot, but something alarming marred her view: At the bottom of the steep and jagged cliff, she spotted an SUV flipped on its hood, crumpled, its undercarriage exposed.

Cops called to the scene found Jennifer and Sarah Hart, a married couple, strapped inside, dead. Three bodies of children were scattered near the car, having been ejected from the vehicle in its plunge. At first, emergency response teams thought it might have been an accident. After police officers found identification for the two women in a backpack that had been in the car, they realized there were likely more bodies to be found: The couple, two white women, both 38, had adopted six Black children, ages 12 to 19, from two separate sibling groups, all from Texas. Search teams later found another of the children’s bodies, and a foot inside of a shoe that was believed to belong to another of the children. One child, 15-year-old Devonte, was never found. As firefighters towed the Yukon up the treacherous incline to the overlook where the SUV had gone over the edge, state troopers working the crime scene found no skid marks where the car had left the road.

Jennifer spent her days posting photos to Facebook of the kids adventuring on road trips, meditating in the woods, and at home playing with chickens. But shortly after the SUV was found, news stories started tumbling out that shattered Jennifer’s painstakingly crafted image. Investigators at the scene of the crash determined the car had actually accelerated off of the cliff. It emerged that the crash was intentional, and the kids had been drugged with Benadryl. Child Protective Services in Washington State had been trying to reach the family in the days leading up to the crash; the Harts’ next door neighbors in Woodland, Washington, told reporters that they’d finally called CPS after Devonte had snuck over multiple times late at night asking for food.

It turned out that the Harts, who had lived in Minnesota, Oregon and Washington State during their decade with the children, had been investigated for potential abuse and neglect in each of those states. The children were much too small for their ages — child welfare officials in Oregon pointed out in their investigation that five of the six children were not even on the growth charts for their ages. Still, the children remained with the women, who seemed to move around whenever suspicions became too intense.


Link: https://www.rawstory.com/texas-removed-six-black-children-from-their-homes-their-adoptive-parents-drove-them-off-a-cliff/



March 14, 2023

Zandra Flemister, first Black woman in Secret Service, dies at 71 - WaPo

Zandra Flemister, first Black woman in Secret Service, dies at 71 - WaPo

It took the Secret Service nearly a century to hire its first Black special agent, Charles L. Gittens, in 1956. Another 15 years would pass before the organization brought on its first female agents, and still a few more years went by before Zandra I. Flemister became the first Black woman in that role in 1974.

Ms. Flemister, who died Feb. 21 at 71, was unaware of the milestone until she was sworn in. She was “a trailblazer who dedicated her life to service and inspired a future generation of agents,” Kimberly Cheatle, the agency’s director, said in a statement after Ms. Flemister’s death.

But from her first days on the job, Ms. Flemister endured acts of racism and discrimination that would ultimately drive her from the agency she had so eagerly hoped to serve. She was often relegated to undesirable roles within the agency, which investigates forgery, counterfeiting and other financial crimes in addition to protecting the president, vice president and other dignitaries and their families.

Ms. Flemister was on duty at the Washington field office when a fellow agent once gestured to her and remarked, “Whose prisoner is she?” — a comment, she later recalled, that left her “embarrassed and humiliated.”

A superior told her that if she wished to be assigned to more prestigious, higher-paying security details, she would need to abandon her Afro-style haircut...


Link: https://tinyurl.com/43xvtyyd

Found Here (Check Out The Replies):

https://twitter.com/JoshMankiewicz/status/1635144120502210560

March 13, 2023

Trump claims violence he inspired on Jan. 6 was Pence's fault - WaPo (Did He Just Admit Guilt ?)

Trump claims violence he inspired on Jan. 6 was Pence’s fault - WaPo

Donald Trump on Monday sharply rebuked Mike Pence’s assertion that history would hold him accountable for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, telling reporters that his former vice president should shoulder the blame for the violent riot that day by Trump’s supporters.

“Had he sent the votes back to the legislatures, they wouldn’t have had a problem with Jan. 6, so in many ways you can blame him for Jan. 6,” the former president said, referring to Pence’s refusal to reject the electoral college votes in Congress as Trump wanted him to do that day. “Had he sent them back to Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, the states, I believe, number one, you have had a different outcome. But I also believe you wouldn’t have had ‘Jan. 6’ as we call it.”

A pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 following months of false claims by Trump that the election was stolen from him. He also used incendiary and false rhetoric about the election at rally at the Ellipse shortly before the rioters stormed the Capitol.

Trump was responding to Pence’s remarks on Saturday, where he said unequivocally that Trump had been “wrong” to demand he overturn the elections, something Pence maintained he had no power to do. “His reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day,” Pence said during a speech at the white-tie Gridiron dinner in Washington. “And I know that history will hold Donald Trump accountable.”


Archive Link: https://archive.ph/l5qpt

March 13, 2023

Fellow Dems Say Willow Approval Leaves 'Oil Stain' on Biden Climate Legacy - CommonDreams

Fellow Dems Say Willow Approval Leaves 'Oil Stain' on Biden Climate Legacy - CommonDreams

Progressives on Capitol Hill joined climate advocates and Indigenous leaders across the country Monday in blasting U.S. President Joe Biden for his administration's approval of ConocoPhillips' Willow oil project on federal land in Alaska.

"The Biden administration has committed to fighting climate change and advancing environmental justice—today's decision to approve the Willow project fails to live up to those promises," declared U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) along with a trio of House Natural Resources Committee leaders, Reps. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Jared Huffman (D-Calif.).

The four Democrats argued that "their decision ignores the voices of the people of Nuiqsut, our frontline communities, and the irrefutable science that says we must stop building projects like this to slow the ever more devastating impacts of climate change."

In a move widely seen as an attempt to temper criticism of the decision to greenlight Willow, the Biden administration on Monday also announced new restrictions for offshore oil lease sales in the Arctic Ocean and across Alaska's North Slope.

"While we acknowledge that the administration also just announced that it is conserving new public lands and waters in the Arctic, split decisions in the face of the climate crisis are not good enough," the Democrats said.


Link: https://www.commondreams.org/news/progressives-congress-biden-willow-alaska

Profile Information

Member since: Sun Jan 8, 2023, 01:18 AM
Number of posts: 1,273
Latest Discussions»GGoss's Journal