US Politics

[rebusrankin]

And here I thought Porn was just leading to increase sales of lotion, klenex and socks.

[Tracker]

Uvalde Police no longer cooperating with shooting investigation: report
   
The Uvalde Police Dept. and the Uvalde Independent School District police are no longer cooperating with the Texas Dept. of Public Safety’s (DPS) investigation into last week’s mass shooting during which an 18-year old who bought two AR-15 style assault weapons and over 1000 rounds of ammunition killed 21 people and wounded 17 others.

Citing multiple law enforcement sources, ABC News reports both the city’s police dept. and the school district’s police force decided to stop cooperating “soon after the director of DPS, Col. Steven McCraw, held a news conference Friday during which he said the delayed police entry into the classroom was ‘the wrong decision’ and contrary to protocol.”

ABC adds that the “Uvalde police chief and a spokesperson for the Uvalde Independent School District did not immediately respond” to requests for comment.

The news comes on the heels of new information from an attorney for the teacher who allegedly, according to McCraw, had left a door propped open. That door, video footage shows, had been closed, the lawyer says, Insider reports, citing a San Antonio Express-News report.

“Since last week’s mass shooting in Uvalde — the country’s deadliest at an elementary school since Sandy Hook in 2012 — law enforcement officials have made crucial changes to the attack’s timeline at least a dozen times.”

UPDATE: 5:59 PM ET –

“The chief of the Uvalde school district police department, Pete Arredondo, has not responded to the Texas Rangers in two days for a follow-up interview from his initial statement immediately after the mass shooting, a spokesman for Texas DPS confirms,” Austin-American Statesman’s Tony Plohetski reports.

https://www.alternet.org/2022/05/uvalde-police-not-cooperating-investigation/

[Tracker]

The Justice Department Steps In To Review The Police Response In Uvalde
.

The DOJ announced in a press release:

At the request of Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin, the U.S. Department of Justice will conduct a Critical Incident Review of the law enforcement response to the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24. 

The goal of the review is to provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and responses that day, and to identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare for and respond to active shooter events. The review will be conducted with the Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing.

As with prior Justice Department after-action reviews of mass shootings and other critical incidents, this assessment will be fair, transparent, and independent. The Justice Department will publish a report with its findings at the conclusion of its review.

Something Went Very Wrong With The Uvalde Police Response
The response of the Uvalde police department has been criticized for days. Law enforcement has finally admitted that mistakes were made in response to the mass shooting. The police still haven’t given a clear and consistent timeline as to what happened, but they did try to blame a teacher for leaving a door propped open.

The DOJ needs to investigate the police response because their investigation might be the only way that the families of the victims get answers.

Kids died because the police didn’t follow procedures and do their jobs.

Someone must be held accountable.

https://www.politicususa.com/2022/05/29/justice-department-uvalde-police.html

[CrazyCanuck89]

14 hours ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

Ohio Republican Senate nominee JD Vance has called for a total ban on porn— he suggests porn is responsible for mass shootings, along with abortion. He previously declared porn “a public health crisis.” 

“Vance said the country is being run by left-leaning ‘childless cat ladies,’ a swipe at Vice President Kamala Harris, who is a stepmother, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has since adopted twins with his husband.” https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jd-vance-senate-pornography_n_628d3ba1e4b05cfc2692705b

It's like the Republicans go to the Loonie bin and try to find the craziest person, to put out as a candidate.

[Tracker]

1 hour ago, CrazyCanuck89 said:

It's like the Republicans go to the Loonie bin and try to find the craziest person, to put out as a candidate.

I think that the GOP has decided that they cannot gain the votes of moderate (sane) voters enough to actually win most elections. So, they have switched their tactics to suppress voters, install election officials who will interpret the votes as they are directed by the GOP, challenge in the courts endlessly any outcome they dislike and appeal to the rabid minority of voters who will not only turn out at the polls but threaten or actually use violence to distort the already flawed American electoral system in their favour. The candidates they field have to voice the themes of racism and grievance so as the motivate these cretins.

 

[Tracker]

'Whenever this is done': Uvalde police chief refusing to explain why he stopped cops from confronting shooter
- The New Civil Rights Movement June 01, 2022
   
Peter Arredondo, the chief of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District’s police force, says he’s showing respect for the families by not explaining what reportedly was his decision to block law enforcement officers from confronting the gunman who killed 21 people at Robb Elementary School past week, but will when “the families quit grieving.”

Arredondo reportedly has stopped cooperating with the Texas Dept. of Public Safety’s investigation into last week’s mass shooting.

CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz was able to catch up with Arredondo Wednesday morning.

“Just so you all know, obviously, we’re not going to release anything. We have people in our community being buried,” Arredondo said when pressed for details on why he stopped officers from capturing or taking down the gunman as children called 911 begging for help.

“We’re going to be respectful to the families,” he told Prokupecz, who repeatedly asked him about that decision.

“You have an opportunity to explain yourself to the parents,” Prokupecz offered, urging him to share his explanation.

“Just so you know we’re going to do that eventually, obviously,” Arredondo replied.

“When?” Prokupecz asked.

“Whenever this is done and the families quit grieving, then we’ll do that obviously,” Arredondo said.

[Fatty Liver]

The following video contains everything you need to know about Texas.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/comments/uzzg5a/a_4_year_old_child_being_praised_for_treating_a/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

 

Another indication that the battle to control firearms is beyond winning.

https://blog.chron.com/narcoconfidential/2015/10/texas-request-to-buy-guns-tops-1-million-for-year/

Edited June 1, 2022 by Fatty Liver

[Tracker]

The right desperately tries to blame women for the 21 murders in the Uvalde school shooting

The self-exonerating stories from police after the mass shooting in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas keep falling apart. The already long list of corrections to initial police reports now has another addition: exoneration for the teacher who police falsely implicated in the shooting by claiming she propped open a back door that the shooter used to get into the school. The Texas Department of Safety has since revealed that the teacher actually did shut the door, but that it simply didn't lock as it should. 

The Uvalde police's story has changed so often that the journalists who keep track of the shifting narrative deserve hazard pay. It's gotten so bad that the Uvalde police have stopped cooperating with the state investigation into the failures that led to cops standing outside the classroom while children locked in with an active shooter kept calling 911 and begging for help. The false story of the careless teacher looks now like yet another attempt to deflect blame from the cops. Scapegoating a school teacher is a particularly low move considering that it appears that the two teachers who died that day were among the few adults who had the courage to attempt to protect the children. 

Male cops blaming a female teacher for their own failures fits right into a larger pattern on the right: Pinning the blame for this massacre, and all others like it, on women. 

https://www.salon.com/2022/06/01/the-right-desperately-tries-to-women-for-the-21-in-the-uvalde-school/

 

[FrostyWinnipeg]

 

[Tracker]

 GOP lawmaker bizarrely blames abortion for mass shootings
   
One Republican lawmaker has attempted to blame abortion for the shootings that have recently taken place across the United States. Now, he's facing deep scrutiny for the argument.

On Wednesday, June 1, Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.) conducted an interview with the Missouri-based radio station, The Eagle 93.9. During that interview, they discussed the recent school massacre in Uvalde, Texas and the possibility of Republican lawmakers supporting changes that would introduce stricter gun laws.

According to HuffPost, Long pushed back and argued that "guns aren’t the issue. He criticized proponents of gun control for 'trying to blame an inanimate object for all of these tragedies.'”

“When I was growing up in Springfield, you had one or two murders a year,” said Long who is currently running for the Senate. “Now we have two, three, four a week in Springfield, Missouri.

"So something has happened to our society," he continued. "I go back to abortion, when we decided it was OK to murder kids in their mothers’ wombs. Life has no value to a lot of these folks.”

https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/trump-s-maga-allies-begin-turning-on-each-other-as-trumpworld-implodes/

[FrostyWinnipeg]

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/tucker-carlson-says-democrats-know-they-rule-illegitimately-and-are-trying-disarm-people-before-they-rise-up/

[Tracker]

Utah County attorney calls for investigation, sheriff's resignation

PROVO, Utah (KUTV) — Utah County Attorney David Leavitt has called for the resignation of Sheriff Mike Smith, and calling for an investigation into his activities.

Leavitt made the demands at a news conference held Wednesday. He accused the sheriff of misuse of taxpayer and county resources.

The county attorney spoke out in response to a press release sent by the sheriff’s office Tuesday, asking for help to identify victims of a “ritualistic child sexual abuse” and child sex trafficking ring dating from 1990 to 2010.

Sgt. Spencer Cannon with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office said the case began in April 2021 when a victim came forward to report abuse.

"The ensuing investigation discovered that other victims had previously reported similar forms of ritualistic sexual abuse and trafficking that occurred in Utah County, Juab County, and Sanpete County," Cannon said. "We’re concerned about things that may have happened decades ago, but we’re also receiving information that leads us to believe things have happened more recently.”

In their release, the sheriff’s office said parts of the allegations had already been confirmed.  They pled for additional victims or people with knowledge of the allegations to come forward.

"We understand that there are individuals who have concerns for their safety and/or well-being, who have been silenced,” the release said. “We need your help."

He claimed is stems from a discredited case in the 1990s that involved accusations of ritualistic abuse against more than a dozen community members -- including he and his wife.  Leavitt said those accusations included child cannibalism, among others.

He challenged Sheriff Smith to provide information to vindicate himself against his claim the investigation was part of a smear campaign to keep Leavitt from getting reelected, and to resign if there was a connection.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/utah-county-gripped-by-accusations-of-phony-murder-and-cannibalization-of-kids?ref=home

[bustamente]

We have come to the time of American politics when a member of Congress talks and plays with his guns while talking to other members of Congress. It's a race to the bottom folks

[HardCoreBlue]

12 hours ago, bustamente said:

We have come to the time of American politics when a member of Congress talks and plays with his guns while talking to other members of Congress. It's a race to the bottom folks

I especially liked his comment when someone commented that they hoped these firearms weren't loaded, he replied that this is his house and he can do anything in his house.

[bustamente]

Peter Navarro went on TV yesterday and wouldn't shut up, today he gets arrested 

[Wideleft]

Just now, bustamente said:

Peter Navarro went on TV yesterday and wouldn't shut up, today he gets arrested 

FYI (I'm referring to the second tweet)

 

 

[bustamente]

10 minutes ago, Wideleft said:

FYI (I'm referring to the second tweet)

 

 

1/6 committee doesn't need Navarro others have probably already pointed the finger and given testimony about him and his place with rest of the coup idiots

[FrostyWinnipeg]

 

[Tracker]

1 hour ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

 

And we all know what the abbreviation of "raccoons" is what it signifies.

[bustamente]

This guy is dumber than Trump

 

[Tracker]

Just now, bustamente said:

This guy is dumber than Trump

 

It is a competition.

[iHeart]

bummer I was looking forward to saying "I guess he ended his show for nothing"

https://deadline.com/2022/06/dr-oz-senate-race-pennsylvania-vote-tally-1235026710/

[do or die]

While we are on the subject of nutty GOP lawmakers:

Republican Congressman Lays Out Bonkers Plan to Make Trump President Again
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/republican-congressman-lays-out-bonkers-plan-to-make-trump-president-again/

Also, I found this uh, very concerning:

Trump Officials Reportedly Manipulated Susan Collins Into Voting For Brett Kavanaugh, And Then Mocked Her as a ‘Cheap Date
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/trump-officials-reportedly-manipulated-susan-collins-into-voting-for-brett-kavanaugh-and-then-mocked-her-as-a-cheap-date/

[Tracker]

Rogue Cops Stormed Uvalde Classroom After Child Called 911 to Say Teacher Was Alive
-Getty
The officers who eventually stormed a classroom at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, bringing the massacre to an end, did so after a student inside the room called 911 to say one of her two teachers had been shot but was still alive, The New York Times reports. Those officers went against the orders of school district police chief and onsite commander Pete Arredondo, and one could even hear a command in his earpiece not to breach as he moved towards the classroom. Arredondo arrived on the scene minutes after 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos but he had no police radio and decided almost immediately that it was no longer an active shooter situation. He used his cellphone to call a police landline to relay that and ask for backup. But students kept calling 911 for help, including 10-year-old Khloie Torres, who told a dispatcher at 12:10 p.m.—37 minutes after Ramos started shooting inside the school—that her teacher was “shot but still alive.” The room was not breached until 12:50 p.m.

[Tracker]

Rep. Louie Gohmert Laments That Republicans Can't Lie To Congress Or The FBI

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) thinks Trump administration aide Peter Navarro’s indictment on contempt charges Friday is a sad sign that America is screwed up.

It’s not because the Texas congressman thinks Navarro should have followed the law and cooperated with a House select committee’s investigation of the U.S. Capitol riot but because Navarro’s arrest Friday means that Republicans might have to tell the truth when dealing with Congress or law enforcement.

Navarro was taken off a plane at a Washington-area airport Friday after the indictment on contempt of Congress charges was unsealed. He later appeared before a judge who released him on the condition that he notify the court before traveling.

Gohmert appeared Friday on Newsmax and lamented that Navarro’s indictment means “if you’re a Republican, you can’t even lie to Congress or lie to an FBI agent or they’re coming after you.”

Gohmert, a former lawyer and judge, said that Navarro was the victim of “a two-tiered justice system.”

He said he was especially angered that Navarro’s indictment came in the same week that a jury acquitted Michael Sussman, a lawyer for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, of charges that he had lied to the FBI.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/louie-gohmer-gop-cant-lie-newsmax_n_629a6b93e4b016c4eef958f9