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Rich

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It refreshing to see a company actually speak out against racism and white supremacy in such a forceful way. The statement was so direct, comprehensive and doesn't hold back. It also offers a history, explanation of systemic racism and also offers actual solutions.

 

https://www.benjerry.com/about-us/media-center/dismantle-white-supremacy

 

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All of us at Ben & Jerry’s are outraged about the murder of another Black person by Minneapolis police officers last week and the continued violent response by police against protestors. We have to speak out. We have to stand together with the victims of murder, marginalization, and repression because of their skin color, and with those who seek justice through protests across our country. We have to say his name: George Floyd.

George Floyd was a son, a brother, a father, and a friend. The police officer who put his knee on George Floyd’s neck and the police officers who stood by and watched didn’t just murder George Floyd, they stole him. They stole him from his family and his friends, his church and his community, and from his own future.

The murder of George Floyd was the result of inhumane police brutality that is perpetuated by a culture of white supremacy. What happened to George Floyd was not the result of a bad apple; it was the predictable consequence of a racist and prejudiced system and culture that has treated Black bodies as the enemy from the beginning. What happened to George Floyd in Minneapolis is the fruit borne of toxic seeds planted on the shores of our country in Jamestown in 1619, when the first enslaved men and women arrived on this continent. Floyd is the latest in a long list of names that stretches back to that time and that shore. Some of those names we know — Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Oscar Grant, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Emmett Till, Martin Luther King, Jr. — most we don’t.

The officers who murdered George Floyd, who stole him from those who loved him, must be brought to justice. At the same time, we must embark on the more complicated work of delivering justice for all the victims of state sponsored violence and racism.

Four years ago, we publicly stated our support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Today, we want to be even more clear about the urgent need to take concrete steps to dismantle white supremacy in all its forms. To do that, we are calling for four things:

First, we call upon President Trump, elected officials, and political parties to commit our nation to a formal process of healing and reconciliation. Instead of calling for the use of aggressive tactics on protestors, the President must take the first step by disavowing white supremacists and nationalist groups that overtly support him, and by not using his Twitter feed to promote and normalize their ideas and agendas. The world is watching America’s response.

Second, we call upon the Congress to pass H.R. 40, legislation that would create a commission to study the effects of slavery and discrimination from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies. We cannot move forward together as a nation until we begin to grapple with the sins of our past. Slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation were systems of legalized and monetized white supremacy for which generations of Black and Brown people paid an immeasurable price. That cost must be acknowledged and the privilege that accrued to some at the expense of others must be reckoned with and redressed.

Third, we support Floyd’s family’s call to create a national task force that would draft bipartisan legislation aimed at ending racial violence and increasing police accountability. We can’t continue to fund a criminal justice system that perpetuates mass incarceration while at the same time threatens the lives of a whole segment of the population.

And finally, we call on the Department of Justice to reinvigorate its Civil Rights Division as a staunch defender of the rights of Black and Brown people. The DOJ must also reinstate policies rolled back under the Trump Administration, such as consent decrees to curb police abuses.

Unless and until white America is willing to collectively acknowledge its privilege, take responsibility for its past and the impact it has on the present, and commit to creating a future steeped in justice, the list of names that George Floyd has been added to will never end. We have to use this moment to accelerate our nation's long journey towards justice and a more perfect union.

 
 

 

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I’ve been a police misconduct lawyer for 25 years. There are bad cops — but ‘good cops’ almost always protect them


“The Osmonds,” a Saturday-morning cartoon from the 1970s, always ended with a sickly melody that stays permanently in  my mind. “One Bad Apple” was about unrequited love (from girls, rather than cops). I knew the lyrics before I understood what “bad apple” meant, or, for that matter, police brutality.

Forgive me for comparing the nation’s (and New York City’s) unrest over police brutality to a cartoon. But the metaphor “bad apple” is not only a cliché, but so logically misplaced as to make it cartoonish. The typical argument is this: Let’s remember that not all cops are bad, despite a few “bad apples.” The problem with this argument, if it is an argument, is that it absolves the NYPD, the Minneapolis PD or any other police department for legacies of misconduct.

https://www.alternet.org/2020/06/ive-been-a-police-misconduct-lawyer-for-25-years-there-are-bad-cops-but-good-cops-almost-always-protect-them/


 

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Defense Secretary Esper splits from Trump: ‘I do not support invoking the insurrection act’

In a rare move Secretary of Defense Mark Esper split from President Donald Trump on the use of the U.S. Military in American cities. Esper, in a hastily-called press conference, told reporters point blank: “I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act.”

The Defense Secretary said active-duty U.S. troops “should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire situations.” He added he does not believe America is in that situation presently.

https://www.alternet.org/2020/06/defense-secretary-esper-splits-from-trump-i-do-not-support-invoking-the-insurrection-act/

(Another firing coming up- not sufficiently sycophantic or willing to break the law)

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Trump Pushed Enquirer to Probe Scarborough ‘Murder’ Rumor

Trump is so hellbent on smearing the MSNBC host that he had Jared push the Enquirer to publish the lies, sources told The Daily Beast. Even the tabloid rag wouldn’t sink that low.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-had-kushner-push-the-national-enquirer-to-probe-scarborough-murder-conspiracy-in-2017?ref=home

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Use of Military Medical Helicopter to Target Washington D.C. Protesters to Be Investigated

Earlier this week, shocking footage showed a medical helicopter hovering dangerously close to protesters in Washington, D.C. in a maneuver that aviators described as a “show of force.” On Tuesday, Major Gen. William J. Walker, commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard, announced that he’s opened an investigation into the incident.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/use-of-military-medical-helicopter-to-target-washington-dc-protesters-to-be-investigated?ref=home

(Trump has shown repeatedly that he would have no hesitation in ordering police or troops to open fire on protesters)

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2 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

I know a few. I hear you. I have hope for sanity purposes.

The best that can be hoped for is that the diehard GOP voters will be so revulsed by trump's antics that they will decide that Trump is the wrong kind of Republican- after all he was a Democrat first. 

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Just now, Tracker said:

The best that can be hoped for is that the diehard GOP voters will be so revulsed by trump's antics that they will decide that Trump is the wrong kind of Republican- after all he was a Democrat first. 

It's not the diehard ones I'm focused on. Most are long gone. i.e they will vote for this man and their GOP representative no matter what. They are not hiding that fact.  

It's the 'non-voter' cohort , the 'GOP is making it very difficult for me to vote' cohort, the 'I don't like him but look at the rest of them'  cohort that I attach my hope to in that they will say okay enough is enough I'm going to make sure I vote, no matter what, no matter what obstacles are put in front of me, and vote for anyone running against the GOP and this deranged idiot they support. These cohorts can greatly influence what happens this coming November. This is one of the very few elections where you don't have to understand anything other than vote out the GOP. Seriously no research needed. These are not normal times said evereyone who is paying attention. Unnormal times calls for unnormal measures.

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1 hour ago, bustamente said:

If you didn't know it before AG Barr is a supreme A Hole, Democrats winning the House and Senate along with the Presidency need to make an example of this guy, he has over stepped his position in every regard

You’re being way to kind in using the word over stepped.

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1 hour ago, bustamente said:

If you didn't know it before AG Barr is a supreme A Hole, Democrats winning the House and Senate along with the Presidency need to make an example of this guy, he has over stepped his position in every regard

There is a good chance Barr has committed some crimes and if Dems have control of all three, he's toast.  I mean, he's fired the second Biden is sworn in anyway but I suspect he will quit first.  Cowards always do.

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