Wednesday Open Thread

47
  by: Colorado Pols July 15, 2020 at 7:39 AM MDT

“A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.”

–Benjamin Franklin

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47 Community Comments, Facebook Comments

  1. kickshot says:
    July 15, 2020 at 7:54 AM MDT

    There is no low that is too low for dump:

    Dump will be “getting involved” in the case against a white St. Louis couple who went viral after a photograph showed them pointing guns at a group of Black Lives Matter demonstrators

    He's the racist piss weasel with a gun fetish that just crawled out of the racist septic tank.

  2. Genghis says:
    July 15, 2020 at 8:00 AM MDT

    Calm down, everyone. It's all good. According to POTUS, ain't no racism because cops kill more while people than black people.

    This is batshit loony on dozens of levels. But hey, on the plus side, Trump saying "More white people. More white people" is excellent gif/meme/opposition ad fodder.

    • kickshot says:
      July 15, 2020 at 8:06 AM MDT

      In raw numbers he is correct but the kill rate for black people is about 2.5 times what it is for white people. It would be extremely illuminating, too, to compare the crimes or violations that spurred each incident.

      Cigarillos?

      Selling loosies?

      • Voyageur says:
        July 15, 2020 at 8:25 AM MDT

        And more than 6,000 homicides of black people by black people each year that you somehow forgot to mention. 

        Loosies indeed.  

        Tell that to Sincere Gaston, age 20 months, just murdered in Chicago, where about 70 people are shot on a typical weekend.

  3. ParkHill says:
    July 15, 2020 at 8:04 AM MDT

    WOTD from Mahablog: "A Nation Holding Itself Hostage?"

    Mary Trump's book is out. As a Clinical Psychologist, she discusses Donald Trump's narcissism, but apparently the focus is really about all the people who get sucked into his orbit.

    I’ve had enough experience with psychologically damaged people, especially in the workplace, to see the pattern. If you have to deal with a sociopath or narcissist, you’re either all in or all out. There’s no negotiation, no balance, no middle ground. Especially if this person is in a position of authority, you must either go along with the sociopathy and do whatever is necessary to feed the ego monster you’re dealing with, or you walk away. Perhaps a person with therapist training could find a third way, but that’s not most of us.

  4. Diogenesdemar says:
    July 15, 2020 at 8:04 AM MDT

    Later this week, that “miracle” will finally occur . . .

    . . . the dead will no longer have died; their numbers will diminish, even reverse, to the point where only one person (probably Chinese) will have died from Covid (just like Ttump promised in February).  Grandma and Grandpa will be back from the dead in time for the family’s Labor Day picnic.

    (And, he’s so wonderful that he’s doing this, even though the only reason those people who claimed to have died in the first place was just to make him look bad . . .)

    . . . Similarly, the ill will have not only been healed, but made like they were never, ever sick.

    It’s a miracle.  The Covid miracle we’ve all been promised.  Believe me!  Believe me!!  Thank you Promised One!

    (“He raised the dead.” “He healed the sick.” “He turned the Wuhan into WooHoo!” . . .)

    (I think I’ll call my travel agent, and schedule a holidays’ tropical cruise while I can still get one of those screaming cheap fares.)

    https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/07/14/politics/trump-administration-coronavirus-hospital-data-cdc/index.html

    • Conserv. Head Banger says:
      July 15, 2020 at 8:49 AM MDT

      @Dio: reminding me of:

      "heal the sick, raise the dead, make the little girls talk out of their heads….I'm the One, the One called the Seventh Son….." Of course, Trump is the First Son.

      "Seventh Son," by Johnny Rivers, 1965. It's on YouTube as I played it for funzies about a year ago.

  5. Genghis says:
    July 15, 2020 at 8:17 AM MDT

    I leave elected office with my integrity intact.

    ~ Beauregard Sessions

    Can't.

    Stop.

    Laughing.

    The next step is encouraging Sessions and/or child rapist Roy Moore to mount an independent campaign. It would be legendarily grand if Doug Jones held onto that Senate seat.

    Apropos of nothing, Tuberville sounds like the place they filmed Hee Haw.

  6. davebarnes says:
    July 15, 2020 at 8:19 AM MDT

    SHAMELESS BENEFICIARY OF OUTRAGEOUS NEPOTISM TELLS 18 MILLION UNEMPLOYED WORKERS TO ‘FIND SOMETHING NEW’ IN NEW AD CAMPAIGN

    All you have to do is print your MS Aerospace Engineering diploma from Trump University™ and soon you will be working at Boeing certifying the 737 Max.

  7. davebarnes says:
    July 15, 2020 at 8:38 AM MDT

    My favorite poll of the day:

    Texas: Trump vs. Biden    OAN/Gravis    Trump 46, Biden 44    Trump +2

    If One America 'News' Network and Gravis can only get Fat Donne™ to +2, then you know he is in trouble.

  8. kickshot says:
    July 15, 2020 at 9:54 AM MDT

    The argument against qualified immunity just gained new momentum through a ruling in a case brought by the family of Patrick Harmon, who was shot three times by Salt Lake City police after reportedly fleeing a police stop that began as a biking violation.

    He didn’t have a required rear light so he was stopped for biking while black. the police probably would not have stopped a white woman for anything like that.

    At least he wasn’t being asked for his name or selling loosies or carrying cigarillos.

    Judge dismisses lawsuit in 2017 Salt Lake police killing of Black man

    • Voyageur says:
      July 15, 2020 at 10:04 AM MDT

      Actually, they were trying to arrest Harmon on several outstanding warrants.  He then allegedly brandished a knife and threatened the officer “I will cut you.”

       Qualified immunity isn’t necessary here, in what seems like a clear case of self-defense. It seems like a classic case of bringing a knife to a gun fight.

      • kwtree says:
        July 15, 2020 at 11:24 AM MDT

        From the local paper, Deseret News:

        On Aug. 13, 2017, police stopped Harmon after he rode his bike across six lanes on State Street near 1000 South, noticing he didn’t have a required rear light.

        They began to arrest him on outstanding warrants when he broke into a run, then turned back toward them with what Fox later told investigators he believed was a knife in his hand. Fox said Harmon had made a threat to “cut you” while facing the three white officers although body camera recordings did not capture any such statement.

        Fox then shot Harmon three times while yelling, “I’ll (expletive) shoot you.” Video of the shooting appeared to show Harmon being shot in the back. At about the same time, another officer deployed a Taser, striking Harmon in the chest.

        The knife: Now you see it, now you don’t. It “disappeared” after it was found in pristine condition (no prints or smudges) by Harmon’s body. . It is not visible on any bodycam footage. It was not entered into evidence in the case. Planting “evidence” after the incident is common in police-involved shootings.

        Attorneys for Patrick Harmon’s son, Patrick Harmon II, and daughter, Tasha Smith, have emphasized that none of the footage from the three body cameras showed a knife. Investigators reported later finding one at the scene after one of the officers had spotted it on the ground by Harmon’s right hand after the shooting, court records say.

        • Voyageur says:
          July 15, 2020 at 11:33 AM MDT

          The judge ruled that the shooting was "legally, objectively reasonable.'"

           harmon's family admitted there was a knife there, but suggested it might have fallen out of his back pack.

          Harmon had a history of bipolar disorder and paranoia.  

          He had several arrest warrants.

          This is not a close call.  It is a clear case of self-defense.

    • ParkHill says:
      July 15, 2020 at 10:06 AM MDT

      The magic get-out-of-jail card, or maybe it is bless-me-father-three-hail-mary's:

      "I thought he had a gun."

      Questions:
      Do black people have a right to defend themselves when a police officer is shooting them?
      How about if a no-knock warrant is breaking down their door?
      Do black people in Florida have a stand-your-ground right?

  9. MichaelBowman says:
    July 15, 2020 at 10:13 AM MDT

    BUT MUH FREEDUMB!!

    Walmart to mandate face masks at all US stores

    “Breaking: Walmart on Wednesday announced the policy requiring all shoppers to wear face masks, which will apply to all of its 5,000-plus retail outlets in the United States, including Sam’s Club locations.
    About 35 percent of the company’s stores nationwide did not fall under local mandates requiring face masks. Only a handful of other national retailers, including Costco and Apple, have issued blanket policies requiring masks at all of their stores.” 

     

     

    • notaskinnycook says:
      July 15, 2020 at 4:26 PM MDT

      Now that the horse is out of the barn and half-way to the neighbor's pasture.

      • Diogenesdemar says:
        July 15, 2020 at 6:34 PM MDT

        You don’t suppose this has anything to do with them now, finally, having masks for sale? . . .

        • JohnInDenver says:
          July 15, 2020 at 8:46 PM MDT

          When I had to go to a WalMart to help a little old lady who wanted to get "heavy" stuff to her car, there were two "greeters" to insure we were masked when going in (and they had paper ones to give to those who were unprepared), give a final spritz to the cart's hand grip area, and say "welcome to Walmart." So the sales of masks may not have been the main concern. 

          No doubt they are like many other grocery / "essential" stores, finding that being open is profitable enough to hand out some masks ($25 / 50 masks, retail).

  10. Voyageur says:
    July 15, 2020 at 10:23 AM MDT

    Bowman will love this: 

    burger King is testing low methane burge rs.  Cows fed a special diet that reduces planet killing burps by 50 percent in dairy cows and 30 pct in beef cattle.  (Yes, contrary to legend, it is mostly burps, not farts, by which cows put methane in the atmosphere.

    • MichaelBowman says:
      July 15, 2020 at 10:41 AM MDT

      I saw that. I’m getting a few laughs, simultaneously observing my rancher friends melt down over the ad while watching my vegan friends calling for an end to all meat. As usual, both sides miss the point and both have their media outlets to magnify the outrage!  You’re right, it’s not the farts that’s the problem – it’s the belching.  

      The great black woman who designed the Universe didn’t think ahead about the day when the hooved ruminant, made for grass, would be penned up and force-fed corn (only grown because Uncle Sam subsidizes it’s production). 

      The ad is pretty hokey – but I assume BK conducted a lot of focus-group activity around the production before they launched. 

       

  11. MichaelBowman says:
    July 15, 2020 at 10:25 AM MDT

    Life comes at you fast, Chuck.  So does death. 

  12. JohnInDenver says:
    July 15, 2020 at 10:48 AM MDT

    Jennifer Rubin outlines an interview for someone talking to "elected Republicans"    Just imagine Cory Gardner being asked a few of her questions:

    • Do you think President Trump is fit even to complete his term?
    • Do you regret supporting his exoneration in the Ukraine scandal?
    • How can you support a president who clings to the Confederate flag and defends the killing of African Americans by police by saying more white people are killed?
    • How can the administration address the pandemic when members of the administration heap scorn on Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases?
    • Why are you supporting a president who refused to respond to Russian bounties placed on U.S. servicemen and women?
    • Does the self-enrichment and corruption bother you, even a little?
    • Is there anything he could do or say that would cause you to renounce him?
  13. RepealAndReplace says:
    July 15, 2020 at 11:25 AM MDT

    More evidence to support GOP claims of voter fraud…..

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/us/steve-watkins-voter-fraud-kansas.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=US%20News

    Even if they have to go out and commit it themselves.

  14. MADCO says:
    July 15, 2020 at 11:39 AM MDT

    US intelligence community – cannot be trusted

    Fauci – cannot be trusted

    CDC –  

    Trump administration orders hospitals to stop sending coronavirus data to CDC

     

     

    Congress needs to intervene and have hearings.

    • The realist says:
      July 15, 2020 at 2:52 PM MDT

      No kidding.

      But do we even have a Congress at this point? Our fearless elected members of Congress are pretending to do the usual work a member of Congress does, but in fact the institution appears to be almost non-functional. And I don't mean just the Senate. 

  15. kwtree says:
    July 15, 2020 at 10:14 PM MDT

    Story Hour from the Lincoln Project

     

    • Duke Cox says:
      July 16, 2020 at 8:00 AM MDT

      I am looking forward to the day when T***p is no longer the focus of anyones' attention. When we don't hear his name a hundred times a day. 

      Hopefully, it won't take 20 years to undo the damage done by our criminally sociopathic "leader". Someday, he will be relegated to a sour note in the long symphony of America. We have been reminded of just how bad things can get.

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