So I suppose the response to this is going to be the usual ho-hum, but there is an article in New York magazine today in which Jean Carroll (longtime writer for the magazine) describes here multiple interactions with men harassing or even assaulting her over the years. One of them is Les Moonves. Another is the President of the United States. Except what she describes is nothing short of flat-out rape if true. Is it true?? Well, Trump obviously says it isn't. He says he has never met her before. One problem with his opening defense however in that regard. The article literally has a photo of them standing right next to each other.
No action, no charges, no evidence, told a couple of friends, sounds eerily familiar. Sells books I guess...
If 100 people came forward with absolutely no connection to each other telling remarkably similar stories, I'm 100% certain I'd keep hearing the exact same arguments. In this case, at a bare minimum, we KNOW Trump is lying about something, because there is a black and white photograph of him looking her directly in the face and talking to her in 1987 years before the alleged incident, yet he is issuing an official statement saying he has no idea who she is. Yet it is HIM that gets the benefit of the doubt.
I'm completely convinced at this point in my life that as a straight, white male, I am basically running around with a permanent Protection from Magic scroll that inoculates me ever having to worry about any of this shit. And while that is not necessarily my FAULT and there isn't anything I can do to change it, it's incumbent upon me to understand why this stuff happens, that it's rarely made-up, and why so many women suffer in silence about it for years if not decades. The idea that everyone would have believed them if they'd just said something "back then" is mostly if not entirely disingenuous horseshit.
The sad thing is, this is literally only the 3rd or 4th biggest story of the day. Because we also have a President making see-saw decisions on whether to go to war over what is essentially an expensive camera, barbaric treatment of children in detention centers, and a possibility that on Sunday there may be pre-dawn raids in major cities of suspected undocumented workers at their homes. The idea that the President may have raped someone doesn't even make the front page anymore.
They were discussing reparations in Congress again. Suppose there is a person who happens to be black but who cannot prove that they had any ancestors who might have been enslaved--would that person receive money? There are other questions about that topic which I doubt anyone is ready, or willing, to answer right now, such as: will the First Nations receive money? will people who had Chinese ancestors who were enslaved while working on the railroads receive money? will people whose ancestors attained freedom before Emancipation receive less money because they obtained their freedom before the others?
That's why Booker has proposed a form of baby bonds as "reparations." It's not really reparations in any literal sense. They are race-neutral, but could have the effect of balancing the playing field a bit, after several centuries of the playing getting more and more tilted away from African-Americans.
Holding the hearings doesn't mean we're about to start cutting checks to everyone with a dark complexion. But it gets people 1) to hopefully acknowledge that we had a problem, and that the problem has not gone away just because we ignored it for a long time; and 2) to discuss possible ways to address the problem, which will likely go in the direction of those sorts of race-neutral ideas.
Most of the people who have a problem with reparations are probably just as uncomfortable at the prospect of having to discuss WHY they might be justified as they are to any monetary payout. A full accounting and discussion of it would shatter every myth they have fixed in their mind about this country. Genocide and slavery are not side-dishes served at the meal of the founding and building of the country, they are the main course.
They were discussing reparations in Congress again. Suppose there is a person who happens to be black but who cannot prove that they had any ancestors who might have been enslaved--would that person receive money? There are other questions about that topic which I doubt anyone is ready, or willing, to answer right now, such as: will the First Nations receive money? will people who had Chinese ancestors who were enslaved while working on the railroads receive money? will people whose ancestors attained freedom before Emancipation receive less money because they obtained their freedom before the others?
That's why Booker has proposed a form of baby bonds as "reparations." It's not really reparations in any literal sense. They are race-neutral, but could have the effect of balancing the playing field a bit, after several centuries of the playing getting more and more tilted away from African-Americans.
Holding the hearings doesn't mean we're about to start cutting checks to everyone with a dark complexion. But it gets people 1) to hopefully acknowledge that we had a problem, and that the problem has not gone away just because we ignored it for a long time; and 2) to discuss possible ways to address the problem, which will likely go in the direction of those sorts of race-neutral ideas.
Most of the people who have a problem with reparations are probably just as uncomfortable at the prospect of having to discuss WHY they might be justified as they are to any monetary payout. A full accounting and discussion of it would shatter every myth they have fixed in their mind about this country. Genocide and slavery are not side-dishes served at the meal of the founding and building of the country, they are the main course.
I have no illisions about this country. They've experimented on their own citizens with hallucinogenic drugs amd radiation for God's sake! I just think reparations would open a huge Pandora's Box with no end in sight. Everybody has persecution in their past if they go back far enough. I'm sure I'm owed some British Pounds for the mistreatment of my Irish ancestors for instance...
They were discussing reparations in Congress again. Suppose there is a person who happens to be black but who cannot prove that they had any ancestors who might have been enslaved--would that person receive money? There are other questions about that topic which I doubt anyone is ready, or willing, to answer right now, such as: will the First Nations receive money? will people who had Chinese ancestors who were enslaved while working on the railroads receive money? will people whose ancestors attained freedom before Emancipation receive less money because they obtained their freedom before the others?
That's why Booker has proposed a form of baby bonds as "reparations." It's not really reparations in any literal sense. They are race-neutral, but could have the effect of balancing the playing field a bit, after several centuries of the playing getting more and more tilted away from African-Americans.
Holding the hearings doesn't mean we're about to start cutting checks to everyone with a dark complexion. But it gets people 1) to hopefully acknowledge that we had a problem, and that the problem has not gone away just because we ignored it for a long time; and 2) to discuss possible ways to address the problem, which will likely go in the direction of those sorts of race-neutral ideas.
Most of the people who have a problem with reparations are probably just as uncomfortable at the prospect of having to discuss WHY they might be justified as they are to any monetary payout. A full accounting and discussion of it would shatter every myth they have fixed in their mind about this country. Genocide and slavery are not side-dishes served at the meal of the founding and building of the country, they are the main course.
I have no illisions about this country. They've experimented on their own citizens with hallucinogenic drugs amd radiation for God's sake! I just think reparations would open a huge Pandora's Box with no end in sight. Everybody has persecution in their past if they go back far enough. I'm sure I'm owed some British Pounds for the mistreatment of my Irish ancestors for instance...
They were discussing reparations in Congress again. Suppose there is a person who happens to be black but who cannot prove that they had any ancestors who might have been enslaved--would that person receive money? There are other questions about that topic which I doubt anyone is ready, or willing, to answer right now, such as: will the First Nations receive money? will people who had Chinese ancestors who were enslaved while working on the railroads receive money? will people whose ancestors attained freedom before Emancipation receive less money because they obtained their freedom before the others?
That's why Booker has proposed a form of baby bonds as "reparations." It's not really reparations in any literal sense. They are race-neutral, but could have the effect of balancing the playing field a bit, after several centuries of the playing getting more and more tilted away from African-Americans.
Holding the hearings doesn't mean we're about to start cutting checks to everyone with a dark complexion. But it gets people 1) to hopefully acknowledge that we had a problem, and that the problem has not gone away just because we ignored it for a long time; and 2) to discuss possible ways to address the problem, which will likely go in the direction of those sorts of race-neutral ideas.
Most of the people who have a problem with reparations are probably just as uncomfortable at the prospect of having to discuss WHY they might be justified as they are to any monetary payout. A full accounting and discussion of it would shatter every myth they have fixed in their mind about this country. Genocide and slavery are not side-dishes served at the meal of the founding and building of the country, they are the main course.
I have no illisions about this country. They've experimented on their own citizens with hallucinogenic drugs amd radiation for God's sake! I just think reparations would open a huge Pandora's Box with no end in sight. Everybody has persecution in their past if they go back far enough. I'm sure I'm owed some British Pounds for the mistreatment of my Irish ancestors for instance...
Looks like that death count is about to go up. But by all means, let's not use words to describe them that make people uncomfortable:
Four toddlers were so severely ill and neglected at a U.S. Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas, that lawyers forced the government to hospitalize them last week.
The children, all under age 3 with teenage mothers or guardians, were feverish, coughing, vomiting and had diarrhea, immigration attorneys told HuffPost on Friday. Some of the toddlers and infants were refusing to eat or drink. One 2-year-old’s eyes were rolled back in her head, and she was “completely unresponsive” and limp, according to Toby Gialluca, a Florida-based attorney.
......................
Dr. Julie Linton, the co-chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics, previously told HuffPost that children can’t recover from illnesses in Border Patrol facilities. These centers are described as “hieleras” ― Spanish for iceboxes ― because of their freezing temperatures, and migrants describe sleeping on floors under bright lights that shine 24/7, with nothing but Mylar blankets to keep warm.
Gialluca met one 16-year-old mother whose 8-month-old baby was sick with the flu and forced to sleep outside for four days at the McAllen Border Patrol station. The mother said the guards took the clothing off the baby’s back, leaving her in a diaper, and forced them to sleep on concrete without a blanket.
A sick 2-year-old girl was shivering in a T-shirt and had shallow breathing, according to Mike Fassio, a Seattle-based immigration attorney who visited Ursula.
“I was very, very concerned,” he said, adding lawyers spoke with immigrants in a room outside of the facility. “When she left us, I knew she was going back to a place that was cold, crowded and unsanitary.” Fassio noted that guards referred to the children as “bodies.”
Some children were so exhausted they fell asleep during the interviews, said Clara Long, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch who spoke with kids at a facility in Clint, Texas. Long met a 3-year-old boy who was dirty with matted hair and was being taken care of by his 11-year-old brother. She said that more than 10 sick children were being quarantined in cells.
So here are three more predictions: 1.) The death count is already much higher than 7 children, we just don't know it yet. 2.) It's not going to be in the double-digits, but the triple digits. 3.) If these raids take place on Sunday, parents are going to get arrested and even MORE kids are going to be shipped to these hell-holes.
We are now participating in nothing less than the state-sanctioned torture of children, and I defy anyone to deny that is the case at this point. This is purposeful and malicious. This is not an accident, it is a inevitable result of the policy, and very likely the INTENT of the policy.
Looks like that death count is about to go up. But by all means, let's not use words to describe them that make people uncomfortable:
Four toddlers were so severely ill and neglected at a U.S. Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas, that lawyers forced the government to hospitalize them last week.
The children, all under age 3 with teenage mothers or guardians, were feverish, coughing, vomiting and had diarrhea, immigration attorneys told HuffPost on Friday. Some of the toddlers and infants were refusing to eat or drink. One 2-year-old’s eyes were rolled back in her head, and she was “completely unresponsive” and limp, according to Toby Gialluca, a Florida-based attorney.
......................
Dr. Julie Linton, the co-chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics, previously told HuffPost that children can’t recover from illnesses in Border Patrol facilities. These centers are described as “hieleras” ― Spanish for iceboxes ― because of their freezing temperatures, and migrants describe sleeping on floors under bright lights that shine 24/7, with nothing but Mylar blankets to keep warm.
Gialluca met one 16-year-old mother whose 8-month-old baby was sick with the flu and forced to sleep outside for four days at the McAllen Border Patrol station. The mother said the guards took the clothing off the baby’s back, leaving her in a diaper, and forced them to sleep on concrete without a blanket.
A sick 2-year-old girl was shivering in a T-shirt and had shallow breathing, according to Mike Fassio, a Seattle-based immigration attorney who visited Ursula.
“I was very, very concerned,” he said, adding lawyers spoke with immigrants in a room outside of the facility. “When she left us, I knew she was going back to a place that was cold, crowded and unsanitary.” Fassio noted that guards referred to the children as “bodies.”
Some children were so exhausted they fell asleep during the interviews, said Clara Long, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch who spoke with kids at a facility in Clint, Texas. Long met a 3-year-old boy who was dirty with matted hair and was being taken care of by his 11-year-old brother. She said that more than 10 sick children were being quarantined in cells.
So here are three more predictions: 1.) The death count is already much higher than 7 children, we just don't know it yet. 2.) It's not going to be in the double-digits, but the triple digits. 3.) If these raids take place on Sunday, parents are going to get arrested and even MORE kids are going to be shipped to these hell-holes.
We are now participating in nothing less than the state-sanctioned torture of children, and I defy anyone to deny that is the case at this point. This is purposeful and malicious. This is not an accident, it is a inevitable result of the policy, and very likely the INTENT of the policy.
But hey, that stock market is doing really well.
If this is all true, this is what the Democrats should focus inquiries on and start dragging everyone involved in front of cameras including the children and parents to put a human face to this tragedy. Find out how far up these orders are coming from.
That or pressing local charges through the state prosecution to stop it. This probably would be much faster but I doubt it would happen though. Civil cases abound though.
Looks like that death count is about to go up. But by all means, let's not use words to describe them that make people uncomfortable:
Four toddlers were so severely ill and neglected at a U.S. Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas, that lawyers forced the government to hospitalize them last week.
The children, all under age 3 with teenage mothers or guardians, were feverish, coughing, vomiting and had diarrhea, immigration attorneys told HuffPost on Friday. Some of the toddlers and infants were refusing to eat or drink. One 2-year-old’s eyes were rolled back in her head, and she was “completely unresponsive” and limp, according to Toby Gialluca, a Florida-based attorney.
......................
Dr. Julie Linton, the co-chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics, previously told HuffPost that children can’t recover from illnesses in Border Patrol facilities. These centers are described as “hieleras” ― Spanish for iceboxes ― because of their freezing temperatures, and migrants describe sleeping on floors under bright lights that shine 24/7, with nothing but Mylar blankets to keep warm.
Gialluca met one 16-year-old mother whose 8-month-old baby was sick with the flu and forced to sleep outside for four days at the McAllen Border Patrol station. The mother said the guards took the clothing off the baby’s back, leaving her in a diaper, and forced them to sleep on concrete without a blanket.
A sick 2-year-old girl was shivering in a T-shirt and had shallow breathing, according to Mike Fassio, a Seattle-based immigration attorney who visited Ursula.
“I was very, very concerned,” he said, adding lawyers spoke with immigrants in a room outside of the facility. “When she left us, I knew she was going back to a place that was cold, crowded and unsanitary.” Fassio noted that guards referred to the children as “bodies.”
Some children were so exhausted they fell asleep during the interviews, said Clara Long, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch who spoke with kids at a facility in Clint, Texas. Long met a 3-year-old boy who was dirty with matted hair and was being taken care of by his 11-year-old brother. She said that more than 10 sick children were being quarantined in cells.
So here are three more predictions: 1.) The death count is already much higher than 7 children, we just don't know it yet. 2.) It's not going to be in the double-digits, but the triple digits. 3.) If these raids take place on Sunday, parents are going to get arrested and even MORE kids are going to be shipped to these hell-holes.
We are now participating in nothing less than the state-sanctioned torture of children, and I defy anyone to deny that is the case at this point. This is purposeful and malicious. This is not an accident, it is a inevitable result of the policy, and very likely the INTENT of the policy.
But hey, that stock market is doing really well.
If this is all true, this is what the Democrats should focus inquiries on and start dragging everyone involved in front of cameras including the children and parents to put a human face to this tragedy. Find out how far up these orders are coming from.
That or pressing local charges through the state prosecution to stop it. This probably would be much faster but I doubt it would happen though. Civil cases abound though.
Pretty sure Texas won't do a damn thing. CA might.
Looks like that death count is about to go up. But by all means, let's not use words to describe them that make people uncomfortable:
Four toddlers were so severely ill and neglected at a U.S. Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas, that lawyers forced the government to hospitalize them last week.
The children, all under age 3 with teenage mothers or guardians, were feverish, coughing, vomiting and had diarrhea, immigration attorneys told HuffPost on Friday. Some of the toddlers and infants were refusing to eat or drink. One 2-year-old’s eyes were rolled back in her head, and she was “completely unresponsive” and limp, according to Toby Gialluca, a Florida-based attorney.
......................
Dr. Julie Linton, the co-chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics, previously told HuffPost that children can’t recover from illnesses in Border Patrol facilities. These centers are described as “hieleras” ― Spanish for iceboxes ― because of their freezing temperatures, and migrants describe sleeping on floors under bright lights that shine 24/7, with nothing but Mylar blankets to keep warm.
Gialluca met one 16-year-old mother whose 8-month-old baby was sick with the flu and forced to sleep outside for four days at the McAllen Border Patrol station. The mother said the guards took the clothing off the baby’s back, leaving her in a diaper, and forced them to sleep on concrete without a blanket.
A sick 2-year-old girl was shivering in a T-shirt and had shallow breathing, according to Mike Fassio, a Seattle-based immigration attorney who visited Ursula.
“I was very, very concerned,” he said, adding lawyers spoke with immigrants in a room outside of the facility. “When she left us, I knew she was going back to a place that was cold, crowded and unsanitary.” Fassio noted that guards referred to the children as “bodies.”
Some children were so exhausted they fell asleep during the interviews, said Clara Long, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch who spoke with kids at a facility in Clint, Texas. Long met a 3-year-old boy who was dirty with matted hair and was being taken care of by his 11-year-old brother. She said that more than 10 sick children were being quarantined in cells.
So here are three more predictions: 1.) The death count is already much higher than 7 children, we just don't know it yet. 2.) It's not going to be in the double-digits, but the triple digits. 3.) If these raids take place on Sunday, parents are going to get arrested and even MORE kids are going to be shipped to these hell-holes.
We are now participating in nothing less than the state-sanctioned torture of children, and I defy anyone to deny that is the case at this point. This is purposeful and malicious. This is not an accident, it is a inevitable result of the policy, and very likely the INTENT of the policy.
But hey, that stock market is doing really well.
If this is all true, this is what the Democrats should focus inquiries on and start dragging everyone involved in front of cameras including the children and parents to put a human face to this tragedy. Find out how far up these orders are coming from.
That or pressing local charges through the state prosecution to stop it. This probably would be much faster but I doubt it would happen though. Civil cases abound though.
Haha, you're funny. State prosecution, whew. That's right up there with "trickle-down". And about as likely to happen in Texas.
Greg Abbott (governor of Texas for those who don't live here) in one fell swoop has declared:
1. He's deploying 1,000 national guard.
2. The bill for THAT is on the federal government.
3. The situation in the internment camps is not the fault of the Border Patrol, or anyone in Texas, but Congress. And apparently the Democratic Congress, because apparently this shit only started and happens when Democrats are in control.
4. Oh, and the Congresscritters are a bunch of 'reprobates' for letting it happen. Gotta get in some namecalling too.
In short, a total abdication of responsibility, accountability, empathy, and humanity.
His entire Presidency can be defined by creating a fake crisis that didn't exist before he took actions to MAKE it exist, then pulling back at the last minute and claiming he "solved" the problem. In this case, he ripped up the Iran deal, and anyone with a single functioning brain cell knew Iran was eventually going to go back to enriching uranium and taking a more aggressive stance because of it. He then orders a military strike (who knows how large) over a drone that (in my opinion) was likely intentionally flown into Iranian air-space to be shot down to give them a pre-text, then acts like a benevolent hero when he cancels at the last minute, likely because whoever was on FOX News at that given hour told him it was a bad idea through his TV screen. He is engaging in a never-ending series of parlor tricks that have real life and death consequences, and he is wholly unfit for his position in every way.
@jjstraka34 "So here are three more predictions: 1.) The death count is already much higher than 7 children, we just don't know it yet. 2.) It's not going to be in the double-digits, but the triple digits. 3.) If these raids take place on Sunday, parents are going to get arrested and even MORE kids are going to be shipped to these hell-holes.
We are now participating in nothing less than the state-sanctioned torture of children, and I defy anyone to deny that is the case at this point. This is purposeful and malicious. This is not an accident, it is a inevitable result of the policy, and very likely the INTENT of the policy."
Its become abundantly clear that conservatives just don't care. I mean, how do you aregue empathy? Does "too far" even exist when you are literally perfectly fine with the slaughter of 900 people over a short period of time? Apparently, valuing any kind of human life is "Naive". Sociopathy is not only the norm, it is CELEBRATED.
@jjstraka34 "So here are three more predictions: 1.) The death count is already much higher than 7 children, we just don't know it yet. 2.) It's not going to be in the double-digits, but the triple digits. 3.) If these raids take place on Sunday, parents are going to get arrested and even MORE kids are going to be shipped to these hell-holes.
We are now participating in nothing less than the state-sanctioned torture of children, and I defy anyone to deny that is the case at this point. This is purposeful and malicious. This is not an accident, it is a inevitable result of the policy, and very likely the INTENT of the policy."
Its become abundantly clear that conservatives just don't care. I mean, how do you aregue empathy? Does "too far" even exist when you are literally perfectly fine with the slaughter of 900 people over a short period of time? Apparently, valuing any kind of human life is "Naive". Sociopathy is not only the norm, it is CELEBRATED.
I wasn't 'devaluing life' except in your mind apparently. I'm just not agreeing that we have 900,000 sociopaths roaming the country looking for people to execute. I'd rather exchange ideas than insults though so maybe you should present me with one or two that you think can help solve this issue.
@jjstraka34 "So here are three more predictions: 1.) The death count is already much higher than 7 children, we just don't know it yet. 2.) It's not going to be in the double-digits, but the triple digits. 3.) If these raids take place on Sunday, parents are going to get arrested and even MORE kids are going to be shipped to these hell-holes.
We are now participating in nothing less than the state-sanctioned torture of children, and I defy anyone to deny that is the case at this point. This is purposeful and malicious. This is not an accident, it is a inevitable result of the policy, and very likely the INTENT of the policy."
Its become abundantly clear that conservatives just don't care. I mean, how do you aregue empathy? Does "too far" even exist when you are literally perfectly fine with the slaughter of 900 people over a short period of time? Apparently, valuing any kind of human life is "Naive". Sociopathy is not only the norm, it is CELEBRATED.
I wasn't 'devaluing life' except in your mind apparently. I'm just not agreeing that we have 900,000 sociopaths roaming the country looking for people to execute. I'd rather exchange ideas than insults though so maybe you should present me with one or two that you think can help solve this issue.
Civilian review boards and external investigations of all complaints is where I would start. I don't think the body cams are doing anything, since the videos don't even seem to change opinions most of the time, and officers seem free to shut them off whenever they feel like it, but I guess they can't HURT anything, so stronger enforcement on those might cause a SLIGHT decrease in incidents.
Now, there ARE civilian review boards in many major cities. The problem is, they have no teeth. It doesn't even appear they have gums or a mouth to put the teeth in:
45% of oversight agencies do not have enabling statues/ordinances that explicitly require that Law Enforcement Employees Cooperate with their agency. A further 69% do not have enabling statues/ordinances which require police officers/command staff cooperate as a condition of their employment. This allows lack of accountability on the hands of the police allows for obstruction of investigations and reviews by oversight agencies. 54% of oversight agencies reported that police officials did not implement their recommendations very frequently/frequently. Only 6% of oversight agencies are able to impose discipline on the police departments and officers they oversee. This lack of authority allows for police departments to ignore important recommendations made by oversight agencies. It can sometimes appear that explicit cooperation is provided to civilian oversight agencies by police departments along with respect for the legitimacy of the oversight agency, while at the same time a subtle and persistent push back exists to minimize the impact of oversight agencies. The intention of this push back is to cause the citizens to lose faith in the oversight agency's effectiveness or to have elected officials question the investment in the oversight agency and ultimately cause them to lose their funding.
If half of the civilian review boards don't have even cursory power to compel officers to testify or cooperate with investigations, then they only exist as a placebo. Except in many cases people think placebos are working. Almost no one thinks this shit is working. Again, ANYONE else would have to comply with orders to cooperate with investigations in this country. The only people who don't have to are apparently 1.) The President of the United States and everyone who works for him and 2.) Cops. Again, no wonder his support is so high among police unions. They are two peas in a pod. Neither believe the rules apply to them. They laugh at the very notion of it.
I think the balance about the extent of risk accepted by police is out of kilter. US police shoot and kill around 900 people a year, but only around 50 police are themselves shot and killed (see this article for a quick summary). Being a policeman is far less dangerous than most people (including police) seem to believe. The lack of balance in those figures seems to me to be symptomatic of a wider lack of balance between police powers and responsibilities.
I think that needs to be addressed through changing the culture. Things that could help with that could include for instance:
- providing education on what the real risks to police are.
- requiring bodycams or similar equipment to be operated and the information obtained from such equipment to be used. That is intrusive and I wouldn't want to do it - but I don't hold the sort of power over individuals that the police do.
- increasing the amount of training done (both on recruitment and continuing).
- try and introduce the sort of best practice you get in some health situations where people are encouraged to review actions and share information about both what works and what doesn't, rather than just supporting their fellow professionals blindly.
Well nothing will be done as long as their is a police union and a good chunk of the population believes a priority is “law and order” and anything that might hinder that is bad.
I was disgusted with the Phoenix police department releasing a video of the father allegedly shoplifting (underwear) at the dollar store as if that excuses their officers actions. 1) It wasn’t why they were notified, 2) the video isn’t proof that he walked out of the store with it. It was only a PR move to discredit this family as criminals who shouldn’t be supported in their endeavour to change the police culture in their community.
Insightful and if properly implemented I would have no problem with these ideas. Civilian oversight does have the potential to become a lynch-mob though so I'm not sure how you could get around this. What types of civilians are incorporated in these review boards? Are they just random folks off the street, or do they bring something of value to the table (ie: relevant backgrounds, training in law, civil servants, etc...)?
@jjstraka34 "So here are three more predictions: 1.) The death count is already much higher than 7 children, we just don't know it yet. 2.) It's not going to be in the double-digits, but the triple digits. 3.) If these raids take place on Sunday, parents are going to get arrested and even MORE kids are going to be shipped to these hell-holes.
We are now participating in nothing less than the state-sanctioned torture of children, and I defy anyone to deny that is the case at this point. This is purposeful and malicious. This is not an accident, it is a inevitable result of the policy, and very likely the INTENT of the policy."
Its become abundantly clear that conservatives just don't care. I mean, how do you aregue empathy? Does "too far" even exist when you are literally perfectly fine with the slaughter of 900 people over a short period of time? Apparently, valuing any kind of human life is "Naive". Sociopathy is not only the norm, it is CELEBRATED.
I wasn't 'devaluing life' except in your mind apparently. I'm just not agreeing that we have 900,000 sociopaths roaming the country looking for people to execute. I'd rather exchange ideas than insults though so maybe you should present me with one or two that you think can help solve this issue.
Civilian review boards and external investigations of all complaints is where I would start. I don't think the body cams are doing anything, since the videos don't even seem to change opinions most of the time, and officers seem free to shut them off whenever they feel like it, but I guess they can't HURT anything, so stronger enforcement on those might cause a SLIGHT decrease in incidents.
Now, there ARE civilian review boards in many major cities. The problem is, they have no teeth. It doesn't even appear they have gums or a mouth to put the teeth in:
45% of oversight agencies do not have enabling statues/ordinances that explicitly require that Law Enforcement Employees Cooperate with their agency. A further 69% do not have enabling statues/ordinances which require police officers/command staff cooperate as a condition of their employment. This allows lack of accountability on the hands of the police allows for obstruction of investigations and reviews by oversight agencies. 54% of oversight agencies reported that police officials did not implement their recommendations very frequently/frequently. Only 6% of oversight agencies are able to impose discipline on the police departments and officers they oversee. This lack of authority allows for police departments to ignore important recommendations made by oversight agencies. It can sometimes appear that explicit cooperation is provided to civilian oversight agencies by police departments along with respect for the legitimacy of the oversight agency, while at the same time a subtle and persistent push back exists to minimize the impact of oversight agencies. The intention of this push back is to cause the citizens to lose faith in the oversight agency's effectiveness or to have elected officials question the investment in the oversight agency and ultimately cause them to lose their funding.
If half of the civilian review boards don't have even cursory power to compel officers to testify or cooperate with investigations, then they only exist as a placebo. Except in many cases people think placebos are working. Almost no one thinks this shit is working. Again, ANYONE else would have to comply with orders to cooperate with investigations in this country. The only people who don't have to are apparently 1.) The President of the United States and everyone who works for him and 2.) Cops. Again, no wonder his support is so high among police unions. They are two peas in a pod. Neither believe the rules apply to them. They laugh at the very notion of it.
I'm not sure of the notion that police unions laugh at the notion of rules. I do think that they don't trust liberals much, especially after most large city governments became liberal in the 60's and 70's. The switch between the citizens thinking police were the solution to problems to the police 'being' the problem was relatively abrupt. Some of it deservedly so but certainly not all of it. If we could somehow come up with solutions that make the police the 'good guys' again I'm all for it. I don't think they're as reviled in other democratic countries. I may be wrong about that though.
I'd be curious to hear how the police are viewed in the countries of our non-American fellow forumites. I think we have some UK folks as well as Canadians, continental Europeans (including Russians if they can chime in without getting into trouble) and at least one Brazilian here.
If you want a preview of what a Trump loss might look like, turn your eyes to Oregon:
Oregon’s state Senate has cancelled its session scheduled for Saturday, citing a “credible threat” from militia groups over the showdown between the state’s Democratic legislators and GOP senators.
The Oregon Capital Bureau obtained an email from the Senate’s Democratic caucus telling its members on Friday to stay away from the Capitol on Saturday.
“The State Police superintendent just informed the Senate president of a credible threat from militia groups coming to the Capitol tomorrow,” the email read. “The superintendent strongly recommends that no one come to the Capitol and President Courtney heeded that advice minutes ago by adjourning until 10 a.m. Sunday. Please make sure your staffs know not to come in tomorrow.”
This latest development is a dramatic escalation of the ongoing conflict roiling in Oregon’s state government.
It began on Thursday when Republican senators fled the state to avoid voting on a sweeping cap-and-trade bill aimed at reducing carbon emissions. Gov. Kate Brown (D) responded by authorizing the state police to fetch the lawmakers.
Then right-wing militia groups publicly announced that they would provide refuge for the fleeing Republicans.
“These people are all armed and prepared to put themselves in front of senators to prevent arrests from Oregon State Police specifically,” a member of the Oregon III% organization told TPM.
A representative for the Senate’s GOP caucus told TPM on Friday that the senators “are not with any militias.”
You can think whatever you want about whether or not it is right or wrong to be able to fetch lawmakers who purposefully flee the state to prevent a vote from happening. There were Democrats who did so in Wisconsin under Scott Walker. But what those Democrats did NOT have was a militia group threatening to KILL law enforcement officers on behalf of one political party, which IS happening right now in Oregon.
The GOP has been engaging in what I would consider nullification tactics for the past 5-10 years. It started with the Governor of Nebraska refusing to recognize an override of his veto which abolished the death penalty in that state. It moved to the official position of the Republican Party being that Democratic Presidents can no longer make Supreme Court picks. We now have an Administration that is in court arguing Congress has NO RIGHT to investigate the Executive Branch. And at long last we have the same type of folks who got away with an armed takeover of federal land in the same state threatening to kill law enforcement officers over a political dispute. And you think this party would think twice about not recognizing the results of an election?? I'm becoming more and more convinced it's inevitable.
I'd be curious to hear how the police are viewed in the countries of our non-American fellow forumites. I think we have some UK folks as well as Canadians, continental Europeans (including Russians if they can chime in without getting into trouble) and at least one Brazilian here.
There are certainly concerns raised in the UK about police abuse of powers and some sub-cultures have a very jaundiced view of them. Overall though, trust and confidence in the police remains fairly high.
- see figures here from the Crime Survey in England and Wales showing % support by ethnicity. One point of interest there is that support among blacks is only slightly lower at 76% than the overall average of 78% - there's a far greater disparity in the US (see here for instance).
- this article looks at the extent to which the public think the police will tell the truth. At 60% plus that's far higher than for politicians or journalists, though there's still plenty of scope to do better.
There's not the same issue of police shootings as in the US. In the last 30 years the average number shot and killed in the UK per year is just over 2 and in most of those police were clearly responding to serious actual or threatened violence. Cases where that was not so would not only be headline news, but also be expected to prompt major enquiries - such as in the Menezes case where a man was misidentified as a bomber.
If you want a preview of what a Trump loss might look like, turn your eyes to Oregon:
Oregon’s state Senate has cancelled its session scheduled for Saturday, citing a “credible threat” from militia groups over the showdown between the state’s Democratic legislators and GOP senators.
The Oregon Capital Bureau obtained an email from the Senate’s Democratic caucus telling its members on Friday to stay away from the Capitol on Saturday.
“The State Police superintendent just informed the Senate president of a credible threat from militia groups coming to the Capitol tomorrow,” the email read. “The superintendent strongly recommends that no one come to the Capitol and President Courtney heeded that advice minutes ago by adjourning until 10 a.m. Sunday. Please make sure your staffs know not to come in tomorrow.”
This latest development is a dramatic escalation of the ongoing conflict roiling in Oregon’s state government.
It began on Thursday when Republican senators fled the state to avoid voting on a sweeping cap-and-trade bill aimed at reducing carbon emissions. Gov. Kate Brown (D) responded by authorizing the state police to fetch the lawmakers.
Then right-wing militia groups publicly announced that they would provide refuge for the fleeing Republicans.
“These people are all armed and prepared to put themselves in front of senators to prevent arrests from Oregon State Police specifically,” a member of the Oregon III% organization told TPM.
A representative for the Senate’s GOP caucus told TPM on Friday that the senators “are not with any militias.”
You can think whatever you want about whether or not it is right or wrong to be able to fetch lawmakers who purposefully flee the state to prevent a vote from happening. There were Democrats who did so in Wisconsin under Scott Walker. But what those Democrats did NOT have was a militia group threatening to KILL law enforcement officers on behalf of one political party, which IS happening right now in Oregon.
The GOP has been engaging in what I would consider nullification tactics for the past 5-10 years. It started with the Governor of Nebraska refusing to recognize an override of his veto which abolished the death penalty in that state. It moved to the official position of the Republican Party being that Democratic Presidents can no longer make Supreme Court picks. We now have an Administration that is in court arguing Congress has NO RIGHT to investigate the Executive Branch. And at long last we have the same type of folks who got away with an armed takeover of federal land in the same state threatening to kill law enforcement officers over a political dispute. And you think this party would think twice about not recognizing the results of an election?? I'm becoming more and more convinced it's inevitable.
Fascism is a door. A line that you cross. Once that door is opened, others take it farther. Who will stop them? Not their co-worker comrades who have benefited from their bad behavior.
Once you open that door where you can ignore the rules with no consequences or oversight, it's a death spiral for democracy. People see how easy it is to use any excuse when you don't get what you think you want within the rules.
What's ridiculous is you have a large chunk of people who cheer this on. They are blind to the danger. They think the people putting kids in concentration camps would never turn on them. A government of unchecked power is not good for anyone. There's too many small greedy bastards who will ruin it.
Even if Trump or McConnell weren't the worst people in the world, they'll be handing off that power someday to others who will have to fight, cheat and betray to rise above the other rats. Handing off a world with no rules and accountability is a sure way to damn us all.
@jjstraka34 "So here are three more predictions: 1.) The death count is already much higher than 7 children, we just don't know it yet. 2.) It's not going to be in the double-digits, but the triple digits. 3.) If these raids take place on Sunday, parents are going to get arrested and even MORE kids are going to be shipped to these hell-holes.
We are now participating in nothing less than the state-sanctioned torture of children, and I defy anyone to deny that is the case at this point. This is purposeful and malicious. This is not an accident, it is a inevitable result of the policy, and very likely the INTENT of the policy."
Its become abundantly clear that conservatives just don't care. I mean, how do you aregue empathy? Does "too far" even exist when you are literally perfectly fine with the slaughter of 900 people over a short period of time? Apparently, valuing any kind of human life is "Naive". Sociopathy is not only the norm, it is CELEBRATED.
I wasn't 'devaluing life' except in your mind apparently. I'm just not agreeing that we have 900,000 sociopaths roaming the country looking for people to execute. I'd rather exchange ideas than insults though so maybe you should present me with one or two that you think can help solve this issue.
900 people isn't a slaughter, which you literally claimed, then YES, THAT IS A DEVALUATION OF LIFE. Don't waste my time with weak justifications.
@jjstraka34 "So here are three more predictions: 1.) The death count is already much higher than 7 children, we just don't know it yet. 2.) It's not going to be in the double-digits, but the triple digits. 3.) If these raids take place on Sunday, parents are going to get arrested and even MORE kids are going to be shipped to these hell-holes.
We are now participating in nothing less than the state-sanctioned torture of children, and I defy anyone to deny that is the case at this point. This is purposeful and malicious. This is not an accident, it is a inevitable result of the policy, and very likely the INTENT of the policy."
Its become abundantly clear that conservatives just don't care. I mean, how do you aregue empathy? Does "too far" even exist when you are literally perfectly fine with the slaughter of 900 people over a short period of time? Apparently, valuing any kind of human life is "Naive". Sociopathy is not only the norm, it is CELEBRATED.
I wasn't 'devaluing life' except in your mind apparently. I'm just not agreeing that we have 900,000 sociopaths roaming the country looking for people to execute. I'd rather exchange ideas than insults though so maybe you should present me with one or two that you think can help solve this issue.
900 people isn't a slaughter, which you literally claimed, then YES, THAT IS A DEVALUATION OF LIFE. Don't waste my time with weak justifications.
I've had enough of this. Just let it go. Wow me with your ideas, not your judgments...
@ThacoBell@Balrog99: I think this tangent has run its course, and everyone has made their positions already clear. If this conversation must continue, please do so in a PM discussion to avoid clogging up the thread.
Trump refuses to open up an FBI investigation into the death of Khashoggi because it could jeopardize the sale of weapons to the country that killed him.
But they are more than willing to go to war over a camera that they intentionally flee into hostile territory, or threaten to put a photojournalist in jail for taking a picture of a letter sent by Kim.
Trump refuses to open up an FBI investigation into the death of Khashoggi because it could jeopardize the sale of weapons to the country that killed him.
But they are more than willing to go to war over a camera that they intentionally flee into hostile territory, or threaten to put a photojournalist in jail for taking a picture of a letter sent by Kim.
#priorities
To be fair, how do we get an investigation of a murder in an embassy of another country in a third country?
Comments
No action, no charges, no evidence, told a couple of friends, sounds eerily familiar. Sells books I guess...
I'm completely convinced at this point in my life that as a straight, white male, I am basically running around with a permanent Protection from Magic scroll that inoculates me ever having to worry about any of this shit. And while that is not necessarily my FAULT and there isn't anything I can do to change it, it's incumbent upon me to understand why this stuff happens, that it's rarely made-up, and why so many women suffer in silence about it for years if not decades. The idea that everyone would have believed them if they'd just said something "back then" is mostly if not entirely disingenuous horseshit.
The sad thing is, this is literally only the 3rd or 4th biggest story of the day. Because we also have a President making see-saw decisions on whether to go to war over what is essentially an expensive camera, barbaric treatment of children in detention centers, and a possibility that on Sunday there may be pre-dawn raids in major cities of suspected undocumented workers at their homes. The idea that the President may have raped someone doesn't even make the front page anymore.
Most of the people who have a problem with reparations are probably just as uncomfortable at the prospect of having to discuss WHY they might be justified as they are to any monetary payout. A full accounting and discussion of it would shatter every myth they have fixed in their mind about this country. Genocide and slavery are not side-dishes served at the meal of the founding and building of the country, they are the main course.
I have no illisions about this country. They've experimented on their own citizens with hallucinogenic drugs amd radiation for God's sake! I just think reparations would open a huge Pandora's Box with no end in sight. Everybody has persecution in their past if they go back far enough. I'm sure I'm owed some British Pounds for the mistreatment of my Irish ancestors for instance...
sure. Feel free to sign on here:
http://www.britishreparations.org/facts.php
I'd be willing to forgive the English a few trillion pounds of those reparations for coming up with fish and chips, though...
Four toddlers were so severely ill and neglected at a U.S. Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas, that lawyers forced the government to hospitalize them last week.
The children, all under age 3 with teenage mothers or guardians, were feverish, coughing, vomiting and had diarrhea, immigration attorneys told HuffPost on Friday. Some of the toddlers and infants were refusing to eat or drink. One 2-year-old’s eyes were rolled back in her head, and she was “completely unresponsive” and limp, according to Toby Gialluca, a Florida-based attorney.
......................
Dr. Julie Linton, the co-chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics, previously told HuffPost that children can’t recover from illnesses in Border Patrol facilities. These centers are described as “hieleras” ― Spanish for iceboxes ― because of their freezing temperatures, and migrants describe sleeping on floors under bright lights that shine 24/7, with nothing but Mylar blankets to keep warm.
Gialluca met one 16-year-old mother whose 8-month-old baby was sick with the flu and forced to sleep outside for four days at the McAllen Border Patrol station. The mother said the guards took the clothing off the baby’s back, leaving her in a diaper, and forced them to sleep on concrete without a blanket.
A sick 2-year-old girl was shivering in a T-shirt and had shallow breathing, according to Mike Fassio, a Seattle-based immigration attorney who visited Ursula.
“I was very, very concerned,” he said, adding lawyers spoke with immigrants in a room outside of the facility. “When she left us, I knew she was going back to a place that was cold, crowded and unsanitary.” Fassio noted that guards referred to the children as “bodies.”
Some children were so exhausted they fell asleep during the interviews, said Clara Long, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch who spoke with kids at a facility in Clint, Texas. Long met a 3-year-old boy who was dirty with matted hair and was being taken care of by his 11-year-old brother. She said that more than 10 sick children were being quarantined in cells.
So here are three more predictions: 1.) The death count is already much higher than 7 children, we just don't know it yet. 2.) It's not going to be in the double-digits, but the triple digits. 3.) If these raids take place on Sunday, parents are going to get arrested and even MORE kids are going to be shipped to these hell-holes.
We are now participating in nothing less than the state-sanctioned torture of children, and I defy anyone to deny that is the case at this point. This is purposeful and malicious. This is not an accident, it is a inevitable result of the policy, and very likely the INTENT of the policy.
But hey, that stock market is doing really well.
If this is all true, this is what the Democrats should focus inquiries on and start dragging everyone involved in front of cameras including the children and parents to put a human face to this tragedy. Find out how far up these orders are coming from.
That or pressing local charges through the state prosecution to stop it. This probably would be much faster but I doubt it would happen though. Civil cases abound though.
Pretty sure Texas won't do a damn thing. CA might.
Haha, you're funny. State prosecution, whew. That's right up there with "trickle-down". And about as likely to happen in Texas.
Greg Abbott (governor of Texas for those who don't live here) in one fell swoop has declared:
1. He's deploying 1,000 national guard.
2. The bill for THAT is on the federal government.
3. The situation in the internment camps is not the fault of the Border Patrol, or anyone in Texas, but Congress. And apparently the Democratic Congress, because apparently this shit only started and happens when Democrats are in control.
4. Oh, and the Congresscritters are a bunch of 'reprobates' for letting it happen. Gotta get in some namecalling too.
In short, a total abdication of responsibility, accountability, empathy, and humanity.
Day 1 of the final round of the Conservative Party leadership race.
-Police are called due to a domestic row between Boris Johnson and his partner.
-A minister is suspended for manhandling a female protester.
-An investigation is launched into abusive text messaging between MPs during the previous rounds.
- A by-election will be held after a Conservative MP commited expenses fraud.
A pretty good episode all told, several potential future storylines there...
We are now participating in nothing less than the state-sanctioned torture of children, and I defy anyone to deny that is the case at this point. This is purposeful and malicious. This is not an accident, it is a inevitable result of the policy, and very likely the INTENT of the policy."
Its become abundantly clear that conservatives just don't care. I mean, how do you aregue empathy? Does "too far" even exist when you are literally perfectly fine with the slaughter of 900 people over a short period of time? Apparently, valuing any kind of human life is "Naive". Sociopathy is not only the norm, it is CELEBRATED.
I wasn't 'devaluing life' except in your mind apparently. I'm just not agreeing that we have 900,000 sociopaths roaming the country looking for people to execute. I'd rather exchange ideas than insults though so maybe you should present me with one or two that you think can help solve this issue.
Civilian review boards and external investigations of all complaints is where I would start. I don't think the body cams are doing anything, since the videos don't even seem to change opinions most of the time, and officers seem free to shut them off whenever they feel like it, but I guess they can't HURT anything, so stronger enforcement on those might cause a SLIGHT decrease in incidents.
Now, there ARE civilian review boards in many major cities. The problem is, they have no teeth. It doesn't even appear they have gums or a mouth to put the teeth in:
45% of oversight agencies do not have enabling statues/ordinances that explicitly require that Law Enforcement Employees Cooperate with their agency. A further 69% do not have enabling statues/ordinances which require police officers/command staff cooperate as a condition of their employment. This allows lack of accountability on the hands of the police allows for obstruction of investigations and reviews by oversight agencies. 54% of oversight agencies reported that police officials did not implement their recommendations very frequently/frequently. Only 6% of oversight agencies are able to impose discipline on the police departments and officers they oversee. This lack of authority allows for police departments to ignore important recommendations made by oversight agencies. It can sometimes appear that explicit cooperation is provided to civilian oversight agencies by police departments along with respect for the legitimacy of the oversight agency, while at the same time a subtle and persistent push back exists to minimize the impact of oversight agencies. The intention of this push back is to cause the citizens to lose faith in the oversight agency's effectiveness or to have elected officials question the investment in the oversight agency and ultimately cause them to lose their funding.
If half of the civilian review boards don't have even cursory power to compel officers to testify or cooperate with investigations, then they only exist as a placebo. Except in many cases people think placebos are working. Almost no one thinks this shit is working. Again, ANYONE else would have to comply with orders to cooperate with investigations in this country. The only people who don't have to are apparently 1.) The President of the United States and everyone who works for him and 2.) Cops. Again, no wonder his support is so high among police unions. They are two peas in a pod. Neither believe the rules apply to them. They laugh at the very notion of it.
I think that needs to be addressed through changing the culture. Things that could help with that could include for instance:
- providing education on what the real risks to police are.
- requiring bodycams or similar equipment to be operated and the information obtained from such equipment to be used. That is intrusive and I wouldn't want to do it - but I don't hold the sort of power over individuals that the police do.
- increasing the amount of training done (both on recruitment and continuing).
- try and introduce the sort of best practice you get in some health situations where people are encouraged to review actions and share information about both what works and what doesn't, rather than just supporting their fellow professionals blindly.
I was disgusted with the Phoenix police department releasing a video of the father allegedly shoplifting (underwear) at the dollar store as if that excuses their officers actions. 1) It wasn’t why they were notified, 2) the video isn’t proof that he walked out of the store with it. It was only a PR move to discredit this family as criminals who shouldn’t be supported in their endeavour to change the police culture in their community.
@jjstraka34
Insightful and if properly implemented I would have no problem with these ideas. Civilian oversight does have the potential to become a lynch-mob though so I'm not sure how you could get around this. What types of civilians are incorporated in these review boards? Are they just random folks off the street, or do they bring something of value to the table (ie: relevant backgrounds, training in law, civil servants, etc...)?
I'm not sure of the notion that police unions laugh at the notion of rules. I do think that they don't trust liberals much, especially after most large city governments became liberal in the 60's and 70's. The switch between the citizens thinking police were the solution to problems to the police 'being' the problem was relatively abrupt. Some of it deservedly so but certainly not all of it. If we could somehow come up with solutions that make the police the 'good guys' again I'm all for it. I don't think they're as reviled in other democratic countries. I may be wrong about that though.
I'd be curious to hear how the police are viewed in the countries of our non-American fellow forumites. I think we have some UK folks as well as Canadians, continental Europeans (including Russians if they can chime in without getting into trouble) and at least one Brazilian here.
Ontario was the Special Investigation Unit that is automatically called when there is a death, serious injury or sexual assault involving an officer:
https://www.siu.on.ca/en/what_we_do.php
It isn’t perfect, but would be a step in the right direction.
Oregon’s state Senate has cancelled its session scheduled for Saturday, citing a “credible threat” from militia groups over the showdown between the state’s Democratic legislators and GOP senators.
The Oregon Capital Bureau obtained an email from the Senate’s Democratic caucus telling its members on Friday to stay away from the Capitol on Saturday.
“The State Police superintendent just informed the Senate president of a credible threat from militia groups coming to the Capitol tomorrow,” the email read. “The superintendent strongly recommends that no one come to the Capitol and President Courtney heeded that advice minutes ago by adjourning until 10 a.m. Sunday. Please make sure your staffs know not to come in tomorrow.”
This latest development is a dramatic escalation of the ongoing conflict roiling in Oregon’s state government.
It began on Thursday when Republican senators fled the state to avoid voting on a sweeping cap-and-trade bill aimed at reducing carbon emissions. Gov. Kate Brown (D) responded by authorizing the state police to fetch the lawmakers.
Then right-wing militia groups publicly announced that they would provide refuge for the fleeing Republicans.
“These people are all armed and prepared to put themselves in front of senators to prevent arrests from Oregon State Police specifically,” a member of the Oregon III% organization told TPM.
A representative for the Senate’s GOP caucus told TPM on Friday that the senators “are not with any militias.”
You can think whatever you want about whether or not it is right or wrong to be able to fetch lawmakers who purposefully flee the state to prevent a vote from happening. There were Democrats who did so in Wisconsin under Scott Walker. But what those Democrats did NOT have was a militia group threatening to KILL law enforcement officers on behalf of one political party, which IS happening right now in Oregon.
The GOP has been engaging in what I would consider nullification tactics for the past 5-10 years. It started with the Governor of Nebraska refusing to recognize an override of his veto which abolished the death penalty in that state. It moved to the official position of the Republican Party being that Democratic Presidents can no longer make Supreme Court picks. We now have an Administration that is in court arguing Congress has NO RIGHT to investigate the Executive Branch. And at long last we have the same type of folks who got away with an armed takeover of federal land in the same state threatening to kill law enforcement officers over a political dispute. And you think this party would think twice about not recognizing the results of an election?? I'm becoming more and more convinced it's inevitable.
Also, this a 1000x over:
There are certainly concerns raised in the UK about police abuse of powers and some sub-cultures have a very jaundiced view of them. Overall though, trust and confidence in the police remains fairly high.
- see figures here from the Crime Survey in England and Wales showing % support by ethnicity. One point of interest there is that support among blacks is only slightly lower at 76% than the overall average of 78% - there's a far greater disparity in the US (see here for instance).
- this article looks at the extent to which the public think the police will tell the truth. At 60% plus that's far higher than for politicians or journalists, though there's still plenty of scope to do better.
There's not the same issue of police shootings as in the US. In the last 30 years the average number shot and killed in the UK per year is just over 2 and in most of those police were clearly responding to serious actual or threatened violence. Cases where that was not so would not only be headline news, but also be expected to prompt major enquiries - such as in the Menezes case where a man was misidentified as a bomber.
Fascism is a door. A line that you cross. Once that door is opened, others take it farther. Who will stop them? Not their co-worker comrades who have benefited from their bad behavior.
Once you open that door where you can ignore the rules with no consequences or oversight, it's a death spiral for democracy. People see how easy it is to use any excuse when you don't get what you think you want within the rules.
What's ridiculous is you have a large chunk of people who cheer this on. They are blind to the danger. They think the people putting kids in concentration camps would never turn on them. A government of unchecked power is not good for anyone. There's too many small greedy bastards who will ruin it.
Even if Trump or McConnell weren't the worst people in the world, they'll be handing off that power someday to others who will have to fight, cheat and betray to rise above the other rats. Handing off a world with no rules and accountability is a sure way to damn us all.
900 people isn't a slaughter, which you literally claimed, then YES, THAT IS A DEVALUATION OF LIFE. Don't waste my time with weak justifications.
I've had enough of this. Just let it go. Wow me with your ideas, not your judgments...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/23/jamal-khashoggi-trump-un-request-fbi-investigation
But they are more than willing to go to war over a camera that they intentionally flee into hostile territory, or threaten to put a photojournalist in jail for taking a picture of a letter sent by Kim.
#priorities
To be fair, how do we get an investigation of a murder in an embassy of another country in a third country?
He wasn't an American.
We have NO standing for jurisdiction.