Energize An Ally Tuesday
As George Floyd is laid to rest today, the peaceful protests and activism in the pursuit of racial justice and equality continue full speed ahead. In addition to participation in and amplification of these efforts, Daily Kos is supporting ten front line organizations that are reporting the stories directly from the protests, working to change draconian police policies, assisting those facing our biased and unjust legal system, and organizing to improve life—education, jobs, health care, business ownership and more—for communities of color. And you can support these groups today with one click.
They are:
Continued...
These:
Unicorn Riot—artists and journalists dedicated to amplifying stories, most recently from the Minneapolis protests
NAACP Legal Defense Fund—the vanguard of the fight for civil rights and racial justice in the courts since 1940
Campaign Zero—research-based policy solutions to end police brutality in America
Movement for Black Lives—mobilizing hundreds of thousands of people to increase Black political power to influence national and local agendas
Black Youth Project 100—Activists creating justice and freedom for all Black people via direct action, advocacy, and education
TGI Justice Project—a group of transgender, gender variant and intersex people in and out of prisons and detention centers fighting police violence and racism
Audre Lorde Project—supports LGBTQI communities and movements
Metro Atlanta Mutual Aid Fund—created by community members from metro-Atlanta who help meet the needs of their neighbors at this time of crisis
National Bail Fund Network—over sixty community bail and bond funds across the country who also fight to abolish the money bail system and pretrial detention
The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights—organizes with Black, Brown, and low-income people to build power and prosperity in communities
This is the biggest push I can remember for civil rights, and I don’t need to tell you it's going to be a big lift to dislodge the systemic awfulness that exists across the spectrum of life in America for people of color. But it's effing time, at long last. That's why C&J is committed to shining our spotlight on these DK-endorsed groups as their efforts press on. Since ActBlue is the portal we’re using, you can make a donation to one group or mix and match, for which we, and they, thank you.
And now, our feature presentation...
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Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, June 9, 2020
Note: [Raises Bible. Lowers Bible. Raises Bible. Lowers Bible.] “Great. Now do the other arm and you’ll be the proud owner of bulging biceps in no time!”
—Exclusive excerpt from my new Sweatin’ to Leviticus workout video, now streaming on BillyPrimeFlix+ for only $1,500. Plus tax.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til your 2019 taxes are due: 36
Public disapproval of Trump's handling of the coronavirus situation, according to a new ABC News poll: 60%
Public disapproval of Trump's leadership on race relations: 66%
Americans polled by NBC News/Wall Street Journal who think things are under control in the good ol’ US of A: 15%
Americans in the same poll who say the economy is "good": 17%
Percent chance that Trump "lies all the time," according to Colin Powell Sunday on CNN: 100%
Amount two German men were fined for swimming in Venice's now-clean Grand Canal: $395 each
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Puppy Pic of the Day: In Boulder County, Colorado…SAVED!
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JEERS to a sad day in America. After all the nationwide protests (which are still ongoing); all the violence by police, the National Guard, and whoever those unidentified armed fucks are who skulked around D.C. looking like Robocop cosplayers; and the simultaneously heavy-handed and ham-fisted response by the Trump administration and its cult members, today the catalyst for our long-overdue convulsion on racial justice in America will be laid to rest in Houston:
"We are anticipating a drove of people migrating here to the Houston area to celebrate Mr. Floyd in a great way,” said Fort Bend Memorial Planning Center owner Bobby Swearington. […]
A private, ticketed celebration of life will take place next Tuesday at 11 a.m. Guests will be invited by the Floyd family, and the church is expecting dignitaries and celebrities to attend.
Organizers have confirmed that Mayor Sylvester Turner, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Rev. Al Sharpton, Attorney Benjamin Crump, Slim Thug, Leela James, Paul Wall, Floyd Mayweather, Congressman Al Green, Bishop James Dixon, and more will be in attendance for the service.
Our next president, Joe Biden, who met with the Floyd family yesterday, recorded a message of condolence and support for today's service, because he cares. Our current president, Donald Trump, will rage-tweet about the funeral's poor ratings, because he doesn't.
CHEERS to prime real estate. To prevent his bloated carcass from getting rode out on a rail (in his mind, anyway), Drama Queen Donald built a big beautiful wall around the big beautiful barricades around the big beautiful fence around the big beautiful White House. It's tall and imposing and painted black to absorb the sun's heat and make it too scorching-hot for anyone to get near. Genius! Truly, this was the moment he became the best strategical president in history. Now everyone will run away in fear of this awesome structure that towers over them like a giant…um…oh, never mind:
And this just in: Mexico sends urgent message to office of Management and Budget: "We'll gladly pay for this one."
P.S. John!
Looks good. Sounds good. Keep kickin’ that cancer in the pants, sir.
CHEERS to that shining city on a hill surrounded by gaseous swampland. 227 years ago today, in 1793, Congress—back when it was functional—voted to make Washington, D.C. the official replacement for Philadelphia as the nation's capital. Today the beltway politicians, lobbyists and pundits have so sullied the name of the place, and besmirched the memory of the person for whom it's named (Ronald Reagan Washington, the Texas School Board history textbooks tell me), that we really should think about moving it again. I offer up my usual candidates: Goober Hill, LA…Devil's Den, CA…Cuckoo, VA…Crooks, SD…Rattlesnake Bend, FL…Mayday, GA…Oil Springs, KY…Petroleum, MT…Crappo, MD…Hell, MI…Money, MS…Loco, OK…and Idiotville, OR. Completely out of the question, however: moving it to any town named Normal.
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BRIEF SANITY BREAK
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END BRIEF SANITY BREAK
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CHEERS to doing something. While Republicans, with the possible exception of Mitt Romney, hope the BLM protests will go away through atrophy, Democrats led by the Congressional Black Caucus unveiled a major criminal justice reform bill yesterday. There's quite a bit to the Justice in Policing Act, and here are the major components:
» Bans chokeholds
» Bans no-knock warrants in drug cases
» Requires local police departments to send data on the use of force and misconduct complaints to a federal database
» Funds independent investigations, in coordination with state attorneys general, into police misconduct/excessive use of force
» Requires that officers use deadly force only as a last resort after de-escalation techniques fail
» Federal uniformed police officers would be required to wear body cameras and marked federal police vehicles with dashboard cameras
» Limit the transfer of military-grade equipment to state and local police departments
To its credit, the bill does a lot in the service of preventing Americans of color from being recklessly killed by police. Unfortunately, there's one thing it doesn't do: prevent the bill from being recklessly killed by Mitch McConnell. (But election day is only 147 days away. Let’s remedy that, shall we?)
CHEERS to proud moments in American history. One day, years from now, you'll be bouncing your grandchild on your knee. And that sweet little cherub will turn to you and say, "Why is June 9th a holiday?" And you'll look down into those sweet innocent eyes, pinch those pink puffy cheeks, and say, "That was the day in 2006 when Tom DeLay went to work in Congress for the very last time. And then you'll go into the kitchen for ice cream and Oreos. Because that's the kind of awesome grandparent you are.
JEERS to unwanted twins. No No No No No No No. Stop the universe, I wanna get off:
Two Louie Gohmert's running around the cosmos? That's it. I'm out.
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Ten years ago in C&J: June 9, 2010
CHEERS to taming the tumors. Good news—the white-coat crowd says they've made gains against three different cancers. In the process, a somewhat new picture of the dreaded disease emerges:
They also underscore the growing realization that cancer is not a single disease or even a single disease within each location in the body—say, breast, brain or lung. The more scientists know about genes, proteins and pathways that drive cancer, the more complex a disease it becomes.
"Cancer is like cable television," says George Sledge, a breast-cancer expert at Indiana University and newly elected president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, which hosted the cancer meeting. "Thirty years ago you had three channels. Now you have 500." The challenge for cancer researchers increasingly is to match the right drug with the right channel.
To deal with the Fox News Channel form of cancer: medicinal weed. Lots and lots of medicinal weed.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to the boomerang effect. And now a blistering message for Republican President Donald Trump from—[checks notes]—Republican President Ronald Reagan:
He f*cked with the wrong gipper.
Have a tolerable Tuesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering abouttoday?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial
Army Secretary Reportedly Open to Renaming Bases Named for Bill in Portland Maine
—Mediaite
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