Month: July 2021

Missouri Legislative Committee Holds Hearing on Bogus Critical Race Theory Fears – No African-Americans Allowed

Pensito Editors

Kansas City Star: “A Missouri legislative committee on Monday held a hearing on how educators teach K-12 students about race and racism without hearing from any Black Missourians.

No Black parents, teachers or scholars testified to the Joint Committee on Education during the invite-only hearing on critical race theory. Aside from an official from Missouri’s education department, the only people who testified Monday were critics of critical race theory, which is a way of thinking about America’s history through the lens of racism.”

Critical race theory analyzes ways in which racist laws like segregation rules and voter suppression affect the law, culture and politics even after they have been overturned. It is taught in law schools, never in K-12.

Afro-Cuban Proud Boys Leader Pleads Guilty to Burning Black Lives Matter Banner

Jon Ponder
Enrique Tarrio (CNN)
Enrique Tarrio (CNN)

CNN: “The leader of the far-right Proud Boys pleaded guilty Monday to two misdemeanors stemming from his conduct in Washington, DC, amid violent pro-Donald Trump protests in December. Enrique Tarrio appeared in DC Superior Court to plead guilty to property destruction for burning a Black Lives Matter banner that belonged to a historic Black church in DC. He also pleaded guilty to attempted possession of a high-capacity magazine, a violation of local gun control laws.

“He will be sentenced next month and could face up to one year in jail, though defendants rarely get the maximum penalty. The charges were filed in local DC court and are separate from the sprawling federal investigation into the January 6 Capitol insurrection — during which dozens of Proud Boys stormed the building and have since been charged with conspiracy and other crimes.”

Tarrio’s Wikipedia page describes the Proud Boys as “a far-right, neo-fascist exclusively male organization.” Fascist organizations typically hold strong racist views, which makes Tarrio’s “Afro-Cuban background,” according to Wiki, unusual.

With the Rise of Delta Infections, Gov. DeSantis’ Covid Denial Is a Renewed Threat to Floridians’ Lives

Pensito Editors

Miami Herald Editorial: “The law [Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-FL] signed in May, SB 2006, gives him the authority to invalidate a local emergency order that ‘unnecessarily restricts individual rights or liberties.’ The governor’s campaign has been selling T-shirts and drink koozies emblazoned with ‘Don’t Fauci my Florida’ — there’s no doubt he would exercise that authority with gusto.

“Miami-Dade’s case rate jumped to 242 per 100,000 people last week from 150 the week before, and test positivity grew from 5.4 percent to 7.4 percent despite the county having the largest percentage of people who have received at least one vaccine dose (75 percent).

“Experts suspect groups with low immunization rates, such as younger people, are behind this surge. But knowing that for sure is hard because the state isn’t releasing county-by-county demographic information on vaccinations. The state also stopped classifying deaths by county, releasing hospital data and reporting coronavirus numbers on a daily basis, switching to weekly reports. That made it harder to get a real picture of the pandemic, but perhaps that’s the intention. Burying Florida’s COVID-19 stats is the governor’s MO, as it was throughout 2020.”

Three of Five of McCarthy’s Choices for Jan. 6 Select Committee Voted against Certifying Election

Pensito Editors

AP News: “House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy has picked five Republicans to sit on the new select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, signaling that Republicans will participate in the investigation that they have staunchly opposed.

“McCarthy has selected Indiana Rep. Jim Banks, who recently visited former President Donald Trump on trips to the U.S.-Mexico border and Trump’s New Jersey golf club, to be the top Republican on the panel, according to a Republican familiar with the decision and an aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi must approve the names before they are final, per committee rules…

“The five Republican men selected by McCarthy have all backed Trump, whose supporters laid siege to the Capitol building on Jan. 6 and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory. [Ranking Member Jim Banks, R-IN, and Reps. Jim Jordan, R-OH, and Troy Nehls, R-TX) all voted to overturn Biden’s win that day, even after the rioting. [Reps. Rodney Davis, R-IL, and Kelly Armstrong, R-ND] were among the minority of Republicans who voted to certify Biden’s win.”

Fox News Reverses Course, Promotes Covid Vaccination

Pensito Editors

“Well, here’s the thing. And one of the CDC officials said yesterday, look the pandemic right now is really just with people who have not been vaccinated. 99% of the people who have died have not been vaccinated. So what they are trying to do is make sure that all of the people who have not been vaccinated get vaccinated.”

– Steve Doocy, a co-host of Fox News’ “Fox And Friends,” promoting Covid vaccination Monday morning in an apparent sudden reversal for the network.

California GOP’s Official Recall Clown Car Roster Off by Nearly 100 Candidates Compared with 2003

Pensito Editors

Los Angeles Times: “State elections officials announced late Saturday that 41 candidates had filed valid paperwork and met other requisites to appear on the recall ballot to replace Newsom, kicking off the final phase of campaigning before the Sept. 14 election. Secretary of State Shirley Weber will release a certified list of names that will appear on the ballot on Wednesday.

“It’s a far cry from the 2003 recall election of then-Gov. Gray Davis, a media spectacle where 135 candidates appeared on the ballot in a campaign that drew global attention.

“The current recall has not captured the public imagination the way the prior one did. Political experts say that’s because this effort appears less likely to succeed and lacks the novelty of California’s first gubernatorial recall. While there are two reality stars running, there’s no candidate with the stature of Schwarzenegger. The most famous candidate in the race, Olympian Caitlyn Jenner, decamped to Australia to film a reality television show shortly before the filing deadline.”

Steve Schmidt: Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News ‘Has Birthed a Fascist Movement on American Soil’

Jon Ponder
Steve Schmidt
Steve Schmidt

From Steve Schmidt on Twitter:

Rupert Murdoch, the 90 year old creator of the Fox News lie machine that has birthed a fascist movement on American soil while simultaneously obliterating faith and belief in America’s highest ideals like pluralism and democracy, is VACCINATED. His children are all vaccinated.

Yet, they purposefully and premeditatedly prey upon their audience for profit, consigning thousands upon thousands to miserable and lonely deaths where people choke to death and drown in the fluids of their lungs.

We live in a society that seems deeply uncomfortable using the word, EVIL. We demand rational explanations for everything including unfathomable acts of cruelty, violence and malice. Attributing the cause as an act of EVIL, absent purpose, intent or meaning seems to disorient us. Perhaps it is because of the religious connotations associated with the word or out of a type of arrogance that believes there is an answer for everything.

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