Antifa, explained

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/6/8/21277320/antifa-anti-fascist-explained

President Donald Trump seems convinced that there is a scary conspiracy lurking in the protests for racial justice sweeping the nation: that antifa, a militant left-wing anarchist movement, is taking advantage of the demonstrations to burn the country down.

Over the past week, he has blamed looting on antifa in tweets, fundraising emails, and public appearances. He has used them to cast the protest movement as a fundamentally violent affair, claiming in a Monday address that “our nation has been gripped by professional anarchists, looters, criminals, antifa and others.” He has repeatedly vowed to officially label antifa a terrorist group, putting it on a federal list alongside al-Qaeda and ISIS.

 While there is undoubtedly an antifa presence at some of the recent protests, there is no reason to believe that antifa is responsible for their (occasional) turns toward violence. Internal FBI assessments and protest-related court documents tell a consistent story: Antifa members are not responsible for the unrest.

Dozens of Republicans urge Trump not to cut number of US troops in Germany

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/09/politics/republicans-trump-troops-germany/index.html?iid=ob_article_organicsidebar_expansion

"We strongly believe that NATO allies, such as Germany, should do more to contribute to our joint defense efforts. At the same time, we also know that the forward stationing of American troops since the end of World War II has helped to prevent another world war and, most importantly, has helped make America safer," the lawmakers wrote.

"In Europe, the threats posed by Russia have not lessened, and we believe that signs of a weakened US commitment to NATO will encourage further Russian aggression and opportunism. In addition, the overall limit on troops would prevent us from conducting the exercises that are necessary for the training and readiness of our forces and those of our allies," they added.

"The troop limit would also significantly reduce the number of US forces that can flow through Germany for deployment to bases around the world, causing serious logistical challenges," the letter reads.

 

Appeals judges reluctant to force immediate end to Flynn case

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/12/appeals-court-judge-drop-flynn-case-315536

Earlier this week, John Gleeson, a former judge Sullivan appointed to advise him on how to proceed in Flynn’s case, filed a court brief savaging Barr’s decision to abandon the prosecution. In a blistering memo, Gleeson called the Justice Department’s legal arguments “preposterous.”

Juneteenth: Trump changes Tulsa Oklahoma rally date 'out of respect'

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53032664

US President Donald Trump is postponing his first post-coronavirus lockdown election rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma so it does not fall on a holiday commemorating the end of US slavery.

He tweeted that the 19 June rally would be held a day later out of respect for the occasion, known as Juneteenth.

The choice of date had drawn criticism amid nationwide anti-racism protests.

The location was also controversial, as Tulsa saw one of the worst massacres of black people in US history in 1921.

Up to 300 people died when a white mob attacked the prosperous black neighbourhood of Greenwood, known as the "Black Wall Street", with guns and explosives. About 1,000 businesses and homes were also destroyed.

 

Leslie Marshall: Trump sinking in polls – voters tired of his failures and angry tweets

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/donald-trump-joe-biden-election-leslie-marshall

Millions of Americans are fed up with divider-in-chief Donald Trump and the awful job he’s done dealing with the coronavirus pandemic that has killed over 113,000 Americans and protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police – among his many failures.

As a result, President Trump’s poll ratings are sinking and the prospects are increasing that former Vice President Joe Biden will send Trump into political retirement in the November election.

Trump has appealed only to his base and sought to fan the flames of division and conflict between Americans. This is one more sign of the incompetent leadership of our reality TV president and it is also an unwise political move.

 

Mark Zuckerberg blasts Trump for ‘incendiary rhetoric’ in response to scientists' ‘misinformation’ complaint

https://www.foxnews.com/tech/mark-zuckerberg-blasts-trump-for-incendiary-rhetoric-in-response-to-scientists-misinformation-complaint

In their response to the scientists, Zuckerberg and Chan write that they, too, were bothered by Trump’s message.

“(W)e are deeply shaken and disgusted by President Trump’s divisive and incendiary rhetoric at a time when our nation so desperately needs unity,” they write. “This is an extraordinarily painful inflection point in our nation’s story, particularly for the Black community and our Black colleagues, who have lived with the impacts of systemic racism for generations.”

But they also note, referring to a Zuckerberg post from last Friday, that Facebook is disinclined to censor messages unless the content “is actually inciting violence.”

The couple go on to say that they and other leaders at the initiative and at Facebook were committed to helping “advance racial justice” through steps that include considering “a diversity of perspectives, viewpoints and lived experiences.”

 

Trump Fails To Mention George Floyd At Event On Race And Police | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

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Fox News host corrects Trump on 'looting, shooting' origin

America's Low Barr

White House didn't receive heads up about Milley apology

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/11/politics/white-house-milley-apology/index.html

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley did not give the White House a heads up before he released a recorded a video on Thursday admitting it was a "mistake" to appear in a photo-op last week with President Donald Trump, two administration officials told CNN.

Milley's apology -- in which he declared unequivocally "I should not have been there" -- was a remarkable admission for the four-star general, let alone from a top official in an administration led by a President known for his refusal to apologize.

 

Far-right extremists spreading antisemitic conspiracies about COVID-19

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/far-right-extremists-spreading-antisemitic-conspiracies-about-covid-19-631209

The most common conspiracy of the five which studied in the report claims that “The ‘Jewish-controlled government’ is exploiting the virus to serve Jewish interests."

 

Time for Pence to jump ship?

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/11/opinions/time-pence-jump-ship-opinion-dantonio/index.html

At this point, as President Trump's support weakens, Pence should weigh the merits of declaring he won't be vice president for a possible second term. There's an argument that Pence's status in Trumpworld might be endangered anyway. If the President continues to trail Joe Biden by double digits in the polls this summer and if the Democratic contender picks a woman of color for his running mate, he could be tempted to shake up his ticket by selecting Nikki Haley or another candidate for VP. Such a move could bring back some of the white suburban women Trump needs to win re-election and remind everyone that he's not a typical politician.

Lincoln Project Ad Marks 100,000 American Deaths From Coronavirus | NowThis

Flag of Treason

Criminal stereotype of African Americans

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_stereotype_of_African_Americans

 The criminal stereotype of African Americans in the United States is an ethnic stereotype according to which African Americans, and African American males in particular, are dangerous criminals.^[1][2] The origin of this stereotype is that as a demographic they are proportionally over-represented in the numbers of those that are arrested for committing crimes: For example, according to official FBI statistics,^[3] in 2015 51.1% of people arrested for homicide were African American; even though African American people account only for 13.4% of the total United States population.^[4] The figure of the African-American man as a criminal has appeared frequently in American popular culture,^[5][6][7] further reinforcing this image in the collective unconscious (in the form of this negative stereotype).

Fareed Zakaria: There are deep inequities in this country

Trump official says there is no systematic racism in US

Trump White House Rejects 'Systemic Racism' In Law Enforcement | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

The US national security adviser says there's no systemic racism in policing. Studies suggest otherwise

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/03/us/systemic-racism-in-policing/index.html

 When a Trump administration official said he doesn't think systemic racism exists in policing, many were stunned -- especially after studies have shown different races are often treated differently.

"No, I don't think there's systemic racism," national security adviser Robert O'Brien told CNN. "I think 99.9% of our law enforcement officers are great Americans. Many of them are African American, Hispanic, Asian."

 

There’s overwhelming evidence that the criminal-justice system is racist. Here’s the proof.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/opinions/systemic-racism-police-evidence-criminal-justice-system/

Of particular concern to some on the right is the term “systemic racism,” often wrongly interpreted as an accusation that everyone in the system is racist. In fact, systemic racism means almost the opposite. It means that we have systems and institutions that produce racially disparate outcomes, regardless of the intentions of the people who work within them. When you consider that much of the criminal justice system was built, honed and firmly established during the Jim Crow era — an era almost everyone, conservatives included, will concede rife with racism — this is pretty intuitive. The modern criminal justice system helped preserve racial order — it kept black people in their place. For much of the early 20th century, in some parts of the country, that was its primary function. That it might retain some of those proclivities today shouldn’t be all that surprising.

How racist policing took over American cities, explained by a historian

https://www.vox.com/2020/6/6/21280643/police-brutality-violence-protests-racism-khalil-muhammad

Social science played a huge role. What we’d call today “academic experts,” of one kind or another, were part of the effort to define black people as a particular criminal class in the American population. And what they essentially did was they used the evidence coming out of the South, beginning in the first decades after slavery. They used the census data to point to the disproportionate incarceration of African Americans. They were almost three times overrepresented in the 1890 census in Southern prisons.

So that evidence became part of a national discussion that essentially said, “Well, now that black people have their freedom, what are they doing with it? They’re committing crimes. In the South and in the North, and the census data is the proof.”

Data | How badly are African-Americans affected by police brutality in the U.S.?

https://www.thehindu.com/data/data-how-badly-are-african-americans-affected-by-police-brutality-in-the-us/article31734968.ece

African-Americans are three times more likely to be killed in police shootings than white people. Close to 42 per million population of African-Americans were killed in such shootings in the period, the highest among all races.

 

George Floyd: The personal cost of filming police brutality

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52942519

By the time 17-year-old Darnella Frazier started recording, George Floyd was already gasping for air, begging, repeatedly, "please, please, please".

The camera had been rolling for 20 seconds when Mr Floyd, 46, uttered three more words that have now become a rallying cry for protesters.

"I can't breathe," Mr Floyd said.

The words were slightly muffled. He strained to speak as he laid face down in handcuffs, pinned to the floor by three police officers. One of those officers, 44-year-old Derek Chauvin, pressed a knee against Mr Floyd's neck.

 

'It Was a Tinderbox.' How George Floyd’s Killing Highlighted America's Police Reform Failures

https://time.com/5848368/george-floyd-police-reform-failures/

Floyd’s death under the knee of the white MPD officer on May 25 has reignited furor over the persistence of police brutality against people of color in the United States. As Americans gathered to protest in more than 70 cities, they raged against the same tepid solutions proposed by local and national leaders that have fallen far short in the past: opening investigations, firing police officers, and simply promising more reforms.

Nowhere is that pattern clearer than in Minneapolis. More than half a dozen government investigations and reports reviewed by TIME show that the same reforms were recommended time and again over the past two decades in the MPD to increase accountability, curb use-of-force violations and build up community trust — with seemingly little implementation. “People in this community have been very concerned about the Minneapolis Police Department for a long, long time,” says Hans Lee, a pastor at Minneapolis’ Calvary Lutheran Church. “It was a tinderbox.”

 

Rep. Swalwell: ‘Not Every Cop Is A Bad Cop’ But There Are Many Exceptions | Stephanie Ruhle | MSNBC

Retired Judge Calls DOJ Reversal In Flynn Case ‘Gross Abuse Of Prosecutorial Power’ | MSNBC

Lemon reacts to Trump officials: This is 'white mansplaining'

Cooper calls out McEnany's defense of Trump's baseless tweet

Trump campaign HITS BACK at Fox News anchor Chris Wallace

Brian Arbour: Trump reelection threatened by low approval ratings, coronavirus pandemic and racial strife

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/trump-election-biden-brian-arbour

Voters seem to have made up their minds about President Trump early, and are fixed in their opinions about him. The fact that his numbers have moved so little across his presidency shows that voters know what they think about the president.

If you want President Trump to win reelection this November, these numbers are bad news. When presidents run for reelection, the campaign is often seen as a referendum on their leadership.

For each of these measures above, a majority of Americans have a negative opinion of President Trump. In all, 54 percent disapprove of the job he is doing as president, 55 percent have an unfavorable impression of him, and 52 percent say they will vote for another candidate.

Of course, there is still plenty of time for Trump and his supporters to make their case to the nation about why he should be reelected. Trump won in 2016 by driving down public approval of his opponent through caustic attacks on her character and integrity; he’s likely to do the same in the next few months.

Steve Schmidt Calls Trump ‘The Second President Of The Confederacy’ | Deadline | MSNBC

Draing the swamp! Donald Trump Jr's rare sheep hunt 'cost US taxpayers $75,000'

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52999375

Researchers say the Trump family take 12 times as many trips as the Obamas.

The Crew report accuses the Trump family of draining the Secret Services' finances with their average of 1,000 more trips per year, many for leisure, than the previous first family.

"This trip is just one example of the expenses the Trump family is incurring with American taxpayers, and if just one of Don Jr's trophy hunting trips cost more than $75,000, it's staggering to think how high the total bill must be," the report's authors conclude.

The remarkable collapse of Donald Trump's polling numbers

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/10/politics/donald-trump-gallup-approval/index.html

 One of the defining traits of President Donald Trump's time in office has been the consistency of his poll numbers.

No matter what he said, did or tweeted, his numbers stayed steady. Somewhere between 40-45% approved of the job he was doing while 50-55% disapproved.

Which is why what Gallup reported in its latest tracking poll, released on Wednesday morning, is so striking.

Trump's job approval in the new Gallup data is at 39%, which is bad but not the big story. That big story is the fact that Trump's new numbers represent a double-digit tumble from a Gallup poll just two weeks ago in which his approval stood at 49%.

That's a stunning dip. And it's across the board. He's down 7 points in approval among Republicans and independents and 9 points among Democrats. And it all seems tied to the way in which Trump reacted to the death of George Floyd while in police custody and the protests that have broken out nationwide in its aftermath.

Capitol Hill Republicans watch Trump's eroding standing with unease amid worries about November

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/10/politics/republicans-trump-nervous/index.html

GOP senators are anxiously watching President Donald Trump's eroding political standing amid the deadly coronavirus pandemic -- coupled with his erratic response to the unrest stemming from the death of George Floyd -- and are uneasy that the political fallout could end with a disastrous Election Day up-and-down the ticket.

Republicans mostly believe there is still enough time to right the ship during this volatile year, particularly if the positive jobs report from Friday is an early indication of an economic rebound.

But they are fully aware that poll after poll has shown Trump losing ground to former Vice President Joe Biden and multiple surveys show Democrats ahead by a sizable margin in the so-called generic ballot over which party should control Congress.

Republicans are keenly aware that the President's consistent controversies at a time of national crises -- whether it was the police confrontation with protestors outside the White House last week or his baseless tweet about an injured elderly protestor in Buffalo on Tuesday -- has continually put them on the defensive during a high-stakes election year.

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