Remembering Mike Brown

August 9. #MikeBrown should still be here. https://t.co/5NAuMkQZrK

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brittany packnett cunningham does not do remixes. (@MsPackyetti) August 09, 2020

Chat Away

What is the T doing to that P? twitter.com/acosta/status/…

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John Dingell (@JohnDingell) July 15, 2016

Trump and Pence intertwined in this new logo appearing in fundraising email https://t.co/O2imSka40v

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Jim Acosta (@Acosta) July 15, 2016

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Scoop: @realDonaldTrump was so unsure about @mike_pence that around midnight last night he asked top aides if he could get out of it

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Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) July 15, 2016

Strong, decisive leader twitter.com/KellyO/status/…

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Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) July 15, 2016

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or something @JuddLegum https://t.co/0AJJDFqiSp

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darth™ (@darth) July 15, 2016

Breaking the mattress of America. https://t.co/M4Cq62YS2c

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Full Frontal (@FullFrontalSamB) July 15, 2016

Rise And Shine

President Barack Obama talks with paralympic athletes at the U.S. Olympic Training Facility in Colorado Springs, Colo., Aug. 9, 2012. Broadcast of the gold medal ceremony for the U.S. Olympic women’s soccer team plays on the TV in the background. Photo by Pete Souza

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DeRay McKesson: Ferguson And Beyond: How A New Civil Rights Movement Began – And Won’t End

Mike Brown should be alive today. He should be home from his first year at college, visiting friends and enjoying summer as he prepares to return to campus. The movement began one year ago as Brown’s body lay in the street of Canfield Drive here in Ferguson, Missouri, for four and a half hours. It began as the people of St Louis came out of their homes to mourn and to question, as the people were greeted by armed and aggressive officers. In the past year, the movement has focused primarily on police violence that can be seen and its impact, centered on broken bodies and death. But the police are violent in ways that cannot always be seen – the violence against the hearts, minds and souls of black folk. We must begin to address the sexual and emotional violence inflicted upon us by the police, too. We must begin to address the assaults on our self-worth and potential, too.

Beyond Ferguson: how a new civil rights movement began – and how we will win | DeRay McKesson trib.al/ZhdaOQO

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Guardian US (@GuardianUS) August 09, 2015

Naming this violence means one thing: the police and the state must change. It is not our job to shift the skin and identities into which we were born. It is up to systems of law enforcement, and the systems and structures that sustain its presence, to change. As much as this fight is about systems and structures, it is also a fight about hearts and minds. We will work hard to teach people that the safety of communities is not predicated on the presence of police – that safety is a more expansive notion than policing. Safety is strong schools, access to jobs, workforce development and access to healthcare, among many other things. The solution-work will likely fall into two separate but critically related areas: removing barriers, and building and rebuilding. There is much to be done to tear down systems and structures that oppress people, like mandatory minimum sentencing, broken-windows policing and police contracts that provide officers with protections that ensure they will never be held accountable for the crimes they commit.

More here

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President Barack Obama talks on the phone with President François Hollande of France in the Oval Office, Aug. 9, 2014. Photo by Pete Souza

President Barack Obama looks back towards a group of students before signing H.R. 1911, the “Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013,” in the Oval Office, Aug. 9, 2013. Photo by Pete Souza

Members of the audience listen as President Barack Obama delivers remarks on higher education and the economy at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, Aug. 9, 2010. Photo by Pete Souza

President Barack Obama walks to the podium on the South Lawn of the White House to deliver a statement on Iraq, Aug. 9, 2014. Photo by Amanda Lucidon

President Barack Obama, Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper, left, Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon, second from left, and governor Emilio Gonzalez, right, walk across the main courtyard at the the Cabanas Cultural Center during the North American Leaders’ Summit in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Aug. 10, 2009. Photo by Pete Souza

Paralympic swimmer Michael Prout watches as President Barack Obama signs a board for athletes during a visit to the U.S. Olympic Training Facility in Colorado Springs, Colo., Aug. 9, 2012. Photo by Pete Souza

A Tweet Or Two

President Obama just sent 22 people this letter. Here's why he's giving them a 2nd chance → go.wh.gov/T3geuW http://t.co/3SmaP7vo7Q

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The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 31, 2015

America is taking steps to #ActOnClimate, and the world is joining us → Deese44/we-re-taking-action-on-climate-change-and-the-world-is-joining-us-2bf44a62b9b9"> medium.com@Deese44/we-re… http://t.co/yqaM9MMwgt

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The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 31, 2015

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So sorry for the setback, GB. We here at TOD want you to know that we have your back, we admire your strength and courage, and we are rooting for you all the way

Looks like I'll be losing the little bit of hair that grew while I was off chemo.

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  (@GoBrooklyn) March 31, 2015

ICYMI: The scans I had earlier this month showed that the cancer is spreading. Hormonal treatment not working.

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  (@GoBrooklyn) March 31, 2015

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Going back to chemo and another treatment TBD. We discussed having my uterus and ovaries removed.

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  (@GoBrooklyn) March 31, 2015

Clinical trials not possible until my white blood count comes back up.

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  (@GoBrooklyn) March 31, 2015

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Other therapies available that doc will share once we do some tests. I will what I have to do. Whatever it takes.

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  (@GoBrooklyn) March 31, 2015

Yes? YES. Okay. Talk to y'all later. One more appointment.

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  (@GoBrooklyn) March 31, 2015

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Under President Obama, America is leading global efforts to #ActOnClimate → go.wh.gov/climate-goal http://t.co/EvAalG5g0N

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The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 31, 2015

We’re taking action on climate change — and the world is joining us. Here's how → Deese44/we-re-taking-action-on-climate-change-and-the-world-is-joining-us-2bf44a62b9b9"> medium.com@Deese44/we-re… http://t.co/eog4QbPbvA

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Vice President Biden (@VP) March 31, 2015

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Yay

Time to get cooking! Kid chefs: Submit your recipes for the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge by April 30: to.pbs.org/HLC #KidsStateDinner

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The First Lady (@FLOTUS) March 31, 2015

.@FLOTUS I've already got tons of dances ready to go. See you Thursday!! #GimmeFive #MomDancing2

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jimmy fallon (@jimmyfallon) March 31, 2015

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President Obama's clean power plan would prevent up to 150,000 asthma attacks/year in kids → go.wh.gov/climate-goal http://t.co/n57CCM64J4

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The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 31, 2015

Big news @Medium: The US just submitted our post-2020 #ActOnClimate goal to the @UNFCCC: Deese44/we-re-taking-action-on-climate-change-and-the-world-is-joining-us-2bf44a62b9b9"> medium.com@Deese44/we-re… http://t.co/j2gnWqAcLY

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Brian Deese (@Deese44) March 31, 2015

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Different day. Same disgusting BS

Same day. Same crime. Same news station. One University pics. The other mugshots. http://t.co/ENMal2mKLH

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Tsunade-Sama (@honeycoquette) March 30, 2015

This is terrible: A min wage @daysinn worker was fired for talking to WaPo's @chicoharlan, even after manager OK'd it washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog…

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Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) March 30, 2015

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Wow

145 yrs ago today, Thomas Mundy Peterson of Perth Amboy NJ becomes first black voter after 15th amendment adopted http://t.co/qKcWzDdYOm

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Ari Berman (@AriBerman) March 31, 2015

I am proud to join with several of my colleagues to reintroduce the Voter Empowerment Act johnlewis.house.gov/press-release/…

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John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 19, 2015

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There is no pleading ignorance about nooses. When you use a noose against a Black person, everyone knows what you mean. Everyone one knows the threat, violence, and racism it represents. Everyone knows that you are terrorizing Black people

My latest: The strange saga of Mikel Neal, one of Marion, Indiana's few black firefighters washingtonpost.com/news/post-nati… /1 http://t.co/vEA2uUDnU9

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Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) March 31, 2015

His wife related to North's last lynching victim from iconic photo that inspired Strange Fruit washingtonpost.com/news/post-nati… http://t.co/xMl8j8LQIf

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Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) March 31, 2015

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85 years after infamous lynching, another noose stirs tension in Indiana town wapo.st/19G17O0

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Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 31, 2015

Hour after we publish, local paper alerts that fire chief who made noose accepts demotion washingtonpost.com/news/post-nati… http://t.co/07vWfQWUsd

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Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) March 31, 2015

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But…but…cops are here to protect everyone

Floyd Dent allegedly ran a stop sign. Then video shows him being choked, punched 16x, and tased until bloodied m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2wmqn…

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Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) March 26, 2015

'I'm Lucky To Be Living': Video Shows Cops Brutally Beating Unarmed #FloydDent In Michigan m.huffpost.com/us/entry/69417…

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deray mckesson (@deray) March 25, 2015

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Obama rejects Republican efforts to tighten union rules nyti.ms/1CtHmUb

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The New York Times (@nytimes) March 31, 2015

Obama renews military aid for Egypt cir.ca/s/UkJ

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Anthony De Rosa (@AntDeRosa) March 31, 2015

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Great article

From my latest, via @xojanedotcom about corporations crying victim when social media gets real xojane.com/issues/backlas… http://t.co/W2zaIecX5D

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Pia Glenn (@PiaGlenn) March 30, 2015

No, Starbucks Wasn’t Cyberbullied Over #RaceTogether, and Backlash Isn’t Bullying xojane.com/issues/backlas… by @PiaGlenn

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Lauren Chief Elk (@ChiefElk) March 31, 2015

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Eight people found out today that they will not die behind bars. A taste of what that’s like: huff.to/1ilmKp0 http://t.co/G0RgJ9MBbT

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Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) March 31, 2015

BREAKING: Enough progress made at Iran nuclear talks to merit staying past deadline until Wednesday: U.S. State Department

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Reuters Top News (@Reuters) March 31, 2015

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Goodluck Jonathan "a hero" for conceding defeat. aje.io/9la6 #NigeriaDecides http://t.co/OcWdGKvhlA

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AJE News (@AJENews) March 31, 2015

Nigerian election dramatic example to Africa, President Jonathan shows leadership by conceding. Pray for smooth transition despite tensions.

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Justin Welby ن (@JustinWelby) March 31, 2015

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Meet Muhammadu Buhari, who defeated incumbent Goodluck Jonathan in Nigeria's presidential race nyti.ms/19FANU1 http://t.co/GK8lXcFqUB

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The New York Times (@nytimes) March 31, 2015

Nigerian opposition leader Muhammadu Buhari claims a historic victory over sitting president Goodluck Jonathan lat.ms/1G3VV4S

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Los Angeles Times (@latimes) March 31, 2015

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Cesar Chavez spent his life dedicated to improving conditions for farmworkers. He was committed to non-violence. http://t.co/XessmGNTTB

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meta (@metaquest) March 31, 2015

Today we honor civil rights leader César E. Chávez, a man who dedicated his life to workers' rights #CesarChavezDay http://t.co/E7fa66Qii8

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  (@SEIU) March 31, 2015

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President Obama At The APEC Summit

President Barack Obama is welcomed by US Ambassador to China Max Baucus upon his arrival at Beijing Capital Airport in Beijing, China. President Obama is in China to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2014 Summit

President Barack Obama meets with the leaders of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries in Beijing

President Barack Obama speaks during a bilateral meeting with Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo

President Barack Obama meets with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott

President Barack Obama speaks at the APEC CEO Summit at the China National Convention Centre (CNCC) in Beijing

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Delegates use their smartphones to take pictures of President Barack Obama

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President Barack Obama walks to the stage with Dow Chemical Co. President, Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris, at the APEC CEO Summit at the China National Convention Centre (CNCC)

President Barack Obama with China’s President Xi Jinping and Xi’s wife Peng Liyuan during the APEC Welcome Banquet at Beijing National Aquatics Center, or the Water Cube, in Beijing

President Barack Obama is greeted by China’s Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong, as he arrives at Beijing National Aquatics Center, or the Water Cube, for the APEC Welcome Banquet

Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah (L-R), Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, his wife Peng Liyuan and U.S. President Barack Obama arrive for a dinner hosted by the Chinese President

President Barack Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-hye talk as they depart the APEC Summit family photo

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) nations’ leaders and spouses pose for a family photo at Beijing National Aquatics Center, or the Water Cube, in Beijing, November 10, 2014. (Front row L to R) Vietnam’s President Truong Tan Sang, Angelica Rivera and husband Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto, Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet, Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Philippine President Benigno Aquino, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, China’s President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo and his wife Iriana Widodo, U.S. President Barack Obama, South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye, Peru’s President Ollanta Humala, Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha and his wife Naraporn; (Back row L to R) Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, Bronagh Key and her husband New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key, Akie and her husband Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Laureen Harper and her husband Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor, Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and his wife Lynda May Babao, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his wife Ho Ching, Taiwanese envoy to APEC summit Vincent Siew and his wife Susan Chu

The President Campaigns For Mike Michaud

7:0 EDT (ish): President Obama delivers remarks at a campaign event for Mike Michaud and other Maine Democrats

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-> Streaming has started at C-Span <-

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Also Live (soon) at MSNBC and WCSH

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Ferguson: The Week in Toons

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‘The Same Kid Who Got Stopped On The Freeway Is Now the AG Of The United States’

@ryanjreilly

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Attorney General Eric Holder in Ferguson today

(Excerpts from his remarks, as provided by the Justice Department)

“We have seen a great deal of progress over the years. But we also see problems and these problems stem from mistrust and mutual suspicion.

I just had the opportunity to sit down with some wonderful young people and to hear them talk about the mistrust they have at a young age.

These are young people and already they are concerned about potential interactions they might have with the police.

I understand that mistrust.

I am the Attorney General of the United States, but I am also a black man. …I think about my time in Georgetown — a nice neighborhood of Washington — and I am running to a picture at about 8 o’clock at night. I am running with my cousin.

Police car comes driving up, flashes his lights, yells, ‘Where you going? Hold it!’ I say, ‘Whoa, I’m going to a movie.’

Now my cousin started mouthing off; I’m like, ‘This is not where we want to go. Keep quiet.’

I’m angry and upset.

We negotiate the whole thing and we walk to our movie.

At the time that he stopped me, I was a federal prosecutor. I wasn’t a kid. I was a federal prosecutor.

I worked at the United States Department of Justice.

So I’ve confronted this myself.

We are starting here a good dialogue. But the reality is the dialogue is not enough. We need concrete action to change things in this country. That’s what I have been trying to do. That’s what the President has been trying to do.

We have a very active Civil Rights Division. I am proud of what these men and women have done. As they write about the legacy of the Obama administration, a lot of it is going to be about what the Civil Rights Division has done.

So this interaction must occur. This dialogue is important. But it can’t simply be that we have a conversation that begins based on what happens on August 9, and ends sometime in December, and nothing happens.

As I was just telling these young people, change is possible. The same kid who got stopped on the New Jersey freeway is now the Attorney general of the United States.

This country is capable of change.

But change doesn’t happen by itself.”

Spare Me Your Praise of Jake Tapper

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So, Jake Tapper got a bunch of praise for his reporting from Ferguson last night.

Twitter was waxing lyrical about him.

Why? Mainly because he described what he was witnessing.

It struck me that when we start commending any member of today’s MSM for simply reporting what their eyes are seeing, it’s a hell of a sign of how little we expect from them.

In fairness, he editorialized too, which was the main reason for the praise:

“Nobody is threatening anything. Nobody is doing anything. None of the stores here that I can see are being looted. There is no violence.”

“These are armed police. With machine – not machine guns- semiautomatic rifles, with batons, with shields, many of them dressed for combat. Now why they’re doing this, I don’t know. Because there is no threat going on here. None that merits this.”

“There is nothing going on on this street right now that merits this scene out of Bagram. Nothing. So if people wonder why the people of Ferguson, Missouri are so upset, this is part of the reason. What is this? This doesn’t make any sense.”

Good.

Very good.

Yes, we’ve been hearing and reading reporting similar to – and often way more powerful than this – mainly of the citizen kind, since the day Michael Brown was murdered, but better late than never from someone in the MSM.

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Are you sensing a but?

It’s a big one, too.

CNN’s coverage from Ferguson all last night was intermingled with repeated references to Tapper’s Woodward and Bernstein-esque scoop: that a NEW version of events, that differed from that of the witnesses, had emerged!1!1!

(ie Darren Wilson’s version of events – Well, blow me down! – although they chose not to highlight that inconvenient snippet of info)

CNN kept reminding us, all through the night, of this ‘bombshell’:

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It wasn’t a scoop, of course. Tapper had simply picked up on a call by a ‘Josie’ to Dana Loesch’s show (that ‘Josie’ chose to call Loesch says it all, really) when she said she was a friend of Wilson and had his version of events.

So, that’s all it was – repeat: a friend of the cop who shot an unarmed Michael Brown six times, twice in the head, was passing on what he himself said had happened.

 But this is how Tapper hyped it on Twitter:

No mention of the caller being a friend of Wilson who was simply passing on his version of events.

Who Would Want To Be In His Shoes?

@dougmillsnyt: President Obama following a statement on the situation in Ferguson, Missouri & Iraq