Category: Political

Newsweek tries to apologise/not apologize over Kamala Harris Birther bullshit

So, after running an opinion piece questioning Kamala Harris’s citizenship using the exact same Birther bullshit used against Barack Obama, and then arguing in an editorial note it was completely different,* Newsweek’s own staff revolting seems to have caused them to realize their mistake. Or not. They have now issued one of those “I’m sorry you misunderstood me” non-apologies.

The Daily Beast reports:

“Newsweek Editor-in-Chief Nancy Cooper and the magazine’s recently hired opinion editor, Trump-backing conservative activist and attorney Josh Hammer, apologized on Friday after nearly a week of defending a right-wing law professor’s op-ed questioning Sen. Kamala Harris’ U.S. citizenship and her eligibility to be Joe Biden’s running mate.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/it-took-newsweek-three-days-and-a-staff-revolt-to-apologize-for-kamala-harris-birtherism-op-ed?ref=scroll

*Newsweek magazine’s original defense of the Birther opinion piece pointed out the article questions the citizenship of a natural-born American-born citizen – just as was Barack Obama, whose parents were from a different country – just as was Barack Obama’s father, and just happens to be a person of color – just like Barack Obama, and is therefore completely different than the racist Birtherism bullshit used against Barack Obama.

In the original Birther bullshit opinion piece, after admitting the law has been settled, law professor John Eastman (whom Newsweek fails to mention ran against Harris for the office of California Attorney General) argues born-in-California Kamala Harris doesn’t deserve citizenship because we were still pretty racist when she was born. See our original piece here:

Today’s Rant: And The Racist Birtherism Begins


Pink isn’t well, he stayed back at the hotel

We have now reached the point in the Pink Floyd movie The Wall where Bob Hoskins breaks into Pink’s hotel room, and finding him catatonic, calls for a doctor to shoot him full of whatever will get him on his feet and through the next show.

And we all remember how that turned out.

Shhhhh! You’re not supposed to say it out loud!

Somebody needs to tell Trump that when you are destroying a government agency to ensure your reelection, you aren’t supposed to say that out loud.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/m7jkxq/trump-just-admitted-hes-sabotaging-the-usps-to-screw-up-the-election?fbclid=IwAR37ZB99-NEG6Q9IJqsWMGmlz6uoaBLV_tcrAuBJ9q57_zzd5iAMkQfM9fg

Today’s Rant: And the Racist Birtherism Begins

Whatever is old is new again when it comes to Republican politics.

John C. Eastman, professor of law at Chapman University, suddenly has a problem with born-in-California Kamala Harris’s citizenship.

Sound familiar?

Read more on Today’s Rant: And The Racist Birtherism Begins

Republicans are united in screwing workers, just not sure how hard and from which direction

So, after completely ignoring since May the bill the Democratic-led House passed that would a extend the emergency jobless benefits through January and approve additional aid for families, workers and businesses, the Republicans in the Senate are finally getting around to working on a replacement for the current aid package as provisions in it are running out.

But negotiations within the party are not going well.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/what-hell-are-we-doing-divided-senate-republicans-clash-over-n1234516?cid=sm_npd_ms_fb_bw

What points do they agree on?

“McConnell said Senate Republicans ‘overwhelmingly’ oppose extending the $600-a-week unemployment supplement because they believe it’s a deterrent to work …”

  1. Force lazy-ass workers back to work

“McConnell said his one red line is that the bill must include liability protections for businesses, schools, hospitals and other entities as long as they’re not ‘grossly negligent’ upon reopening.”

2. Protect those lazy workers’ employers from being sued when those workers get sick after being forced back into unsafe work environments.

So what do they agree on that might benefit workers?

<crickets>

Some, like Ron Paul, the Libertarian who is so obnoxious his neighbors have to beat him up, don’t want to spend any money at all.

So, they are united in forcing the American worker back into unsafe workplaces, and protecting those unsafe workplaces from liability, but unable to even agree that they should spend any money on a response to a pandemic that is racing toward a second wave that will make the first look like a ripple.

Dear American workers: how hard do you want to be screwed, and from which direction?

Too Stupid To Know Better, Feds Admit they violated 4th Amendment

Absolutely stunning. Kris Cline, Deputy Director of the Federal Protective Service, admits the agents had no probable cause to arrest the subject, says the subject wasn’t arrested, then describes the action of taking him into custody in a textbook example of a custodial arrest.

Without realizing he’s wrong.

The deputy director of the Federal Protective Service … A law enforcement agency … Doesn’t understand a basic tenet of criminal law … That anyone who has watched a season of Law & Order would know.

Harvard law professor Andrew Crespo walks you through it in this Twitter thread.

Karen wants to speak to the manager

Rep. Ted Yoho just “Karen-ed” AOC. This is what it looks like when a scared white man takes out his fear on someone he sees as weaker than himself: a POC and a woman. He would never have done this to another white man.

“Tensions flared on Capitol Hill this week when a Republican lawmaker challenged Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on issues of crime and policing in an unusual — and decidedly personal — confrontation on the Capitol steps.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/508259-ocaasio-cortez-accosted-by-gop-lawmaker-over-remarks-that-kind-of

Today’s Rant: Civil Rights Movement 2.0

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s never ended, it just moved into the mainstream.

But now it’s moved back into the streets.

And our government is using the same tactics to quash it as it did way back when.

See how on Today’s Rant: Civil Rights Movement 2.0

Weekly Reminder:

AntiFa is a portmanteau of “Anti- Fascist.”

The only way they could be a domestic terrorist group is if our country is led by fascists.

You know, the kind of government that sends unidentifiable secret police to snatch citizens off the street.

Oh, wait …

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/06/columbus-paramilitary-police-with-assault-weapons-jump-out-of-unmarked-vans-to-abduct-protester/#.XxR6aQnEGic.link