Bear Pit: now the sole domicile of politics at LuLa

[Alan Klein]

She was as much a saint as was George Floyd.  If she had stuck to her knitting rather than storming Capitol, she would have been well and alive today.

I agree. They must be discussing your point together, somewhere. 

[Alan Klein]

I had a feeling that your wife would not have agreed for you taking part in such an adventure.

That's true.  Plus I thought Trump lost. I'm not much for formal protesting anyway.  It seems like a dopey thing to do. You never know when someone is going to start shooting.  Every time there's a protest, I think about that scene in Dr. Zhivago where the Russian Czar's police engage in a bloody and deadly attack in a line with swords drawn and swinging against a bunch of protestors.  No one issued them tear gas.  Now that's how you end a protest. Everyone gets the point.  Or the edge. 

[faberryman]

Apperently you feel that this woman should not be treated with the same concern as Floyd.   Why not?

Here is something else you could do. Her family is represented by a lawyer named Terrill Roberts. At one point the family considered filing a civil law suit against the Capitol Police for use of excessive force. Perhaps you could get in touch with him and find out what is going on. I believe this is the guy:

http://robertsandwood.com/our-lawyers/terrell-n-roberts-iii/

Perhaps set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to assist the family in pursuing their claim.

There are so many things you could be doing.

[LesPalenik]

Here is something else you could do. Her family is represented by a lawyer named Terrill Roberts. At one point the family considered filing a civil law suit against the Capitol Police for use of excessive force. Perhaps you could get in touch with him and find out what is going on. I believe this is the guy:

http://robertsandwood.com/our-lawyers/terrell-n-roberts-iii/

Perhaps set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to assist the family in pursuing their claim.

And then hire Ben Crump, George Floyd's lawyer. While Bernie Sanders gets upset about CEO's salaries, that lawyer had negotiated the largest pre-trial settlement in a civil suit.

[Alan Klein]

Here is something else you could do. Her family is represented by a lawyer named Terrill Roberts. At one point the family considered filing a civil law suit against the Capitol Police for use of excessive force. Perhaps you could get in touch with him and find out what is going on. I believe this is the guy:

http://robertsandwood.com/our-lawyers/terrell-n-roberts-iii/

Perhaps set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to assist the family in pursuing their claim.

There are so many things you could be doing.

Maybe Floyd's family could contribute to it from the $26 million they got?

[Alan Klein]

And then hire Ben Crump, George Floyd's lawyer.

That's a great idea.  After all, he probably got a third of the $26 million.  Not a bad's day work.

[LesPalenik]

That's a great idea.  After all, he probably got a third of the $26 million.  Not a bad's day work.

I read that it was $27 million. It looks like one million is missing. Or is there another explanation?

[Alan Klein]

I read that it was $27 million. It looks like one million is missing. Or is there another explanation?

26.  27.  That's a lot of money, the highest I believe ever in a settlement.  Let's see a third of 27 is $9 million for lawyer Crump. 

[digitaldog]

Do you know that Ben Crump got $9 million?

He didn't even know the amount of the settlement. Which is easily verified but why should Alan take the time to examine the facts. When he is off a million bucks, no big deal. If anyone else were off, I suppose that's 'the biased media' at play. The guy just makes up BS as he types. Zero credibility.

[LesPalenik]

Trump's gone.  Will Biden take responsibility when the economy collapses into an inflationary depression due to all his printing, Democrat spending in Congress, and bad economic policies fostered on us by Treasury Secretary Yellen? Why aren't you blaming the governors who are making the rules in their states? Biden isn't making those rules, nor did Trump.  In my state of New Jersey, it's been Gov Murphy who's made all the rules.  He's responsible, not Biden and not Trump.

You are not the only one fearing the inflation.

Judging by new Google search data compiled by Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid, the average Joe or Jane may be getting worried about inflation, possibly crimping purchasing power and longer run investment returns. Reid found Google searches for inflation are now at their highest levels since late 2010

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/google-searches-reveal-people-are-growing-very-worried-about-inflation-163908703.html

[Alan Klein]

You are not the only one fearing the inflation.

Judging by new Google search data compiled by Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid, the average Joe or Jane may be getting worried about inflation, possibly crimping purchasing power and longer run investment returns. Reid found Google searches for inflation are now at their highest levels since late 2010

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/google-searches-reveal-people-are-growing-very-worried-about-inflation-163908703.html

Americans are mainly stupid about the checks they get from the government. They think it's free.  $1.9 trillion/334 million people = $6,000 per person. Of course, not everyone pays taxes.  So that number multiplies a lot.  Add in interest payments and the inflation it causes, it comes out a lot more than the $1400 they're giving most people, maybe ten times that amount in cost, or more.  The rest goes to local government to waste and other entities to waste even more.  The rich will get richer as assets increase.  The poor and middle class suffer as costs for everything go up.  Gasoline, energy, food, film, electricity (especially when Biden switches to green - green, for costing more money). How are young families going to afford homes with escalating home prices.  Lumber to build is up 200% since last April.  Canada must be raising their prices on all those fine trees you have up north. 

At first, we should have a boost to GDP as people spend the free money they got plus what they have saved.  A lot of it will go to China since we don't produce anything anymore.  We'll just sit home not working collecting government welfare. Of course, there's $4 trillion more coming for infrastructure.  What do we need infrastructure for bridges and roads?  No one will be working.

[digitaldog]

Americans are mainly stupid about the checks they get from the government. They think it's free. 

Again, speaking and thinking for others (Americans).
The paper trail here proves one American is mainly stupid.

[LesPalenik]

26.  27.  That's a lot of money, the highest I believe ever in a settlement.  Let's see a third of 27 is $9 million for lawyer Crump.

Most probably the police settled because they worried that their legal costs could exceed that amount.
BTW, was it paid by the good people of Minnesota or did it come from the federal budget?

[Alan Klein]

Most probably the police settled because they worried that their legal costs could exceed that amount.
BTW, was it paid by the good people of Minnesota or did it come from the federal budget?

The city of Minneapolis paid for it. It was city cops. 

I don't think you can sue the federal government as easily as it's considered a sovereign.  So in the case of the USAF woman, I believe they're immune to a certain degree.  But it's complicated.  See this link.
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/suing-government-negligence-FTCA-29705.html#:~:text=Sovereign%20immunity%20has%20carried%20over,the%20scope%20of%20their%20employment.
 

[Alan Klein]

A different path.  Of course, the fat lady hasn't sung yet.  So we won't know for sure for a while. But an interesting and unusual good note, nonetheless.

A year into the pandemic, Florida is booming and Republican Gov. DeSantis is taking credit
St. Petersburg, Florida (CNN)After a year of criticism by health experts, mockery from comedians and blistering critiques from political rivals, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is standing unabashedly tall among the nation's governors on the front lines of the coronavirus fight.

"Everyone told me I was wrong," DeSantis, a Republican, said in a fundraising appeal on Tuesday, drawing attention to his defiance against the pandemic. "I faced continued pressure from radical Democrats and the liberal media, but I refused to back down. It's clear: Florida got it right."

As many parts of the country embark on an uneasy march toward normalcy, Florida is not only back in business -- it's been in business for the better part of the past year. DeSantis' gamble to take a laissez-faire approach appears to be paying off -- at least politically, at least for now, as other governors capturing attention in the opening phase of the pandemic now face steeper challenges.

Despite far fewer rules and restrictions, Florida lands nearly in the middle of all states on a variety of coronavirus metrics. The state has had about 3% more Covid-19 cases per capita than the US overall, but about 8% fewer deaths per capita. More than 32,000 Floridians have died of Covid-19, and the state's per capita death rate ranks 24th in the nation.

"Those lockdowns have not worked. They've done great damage to our country," DeSantis said Tuesday at a news conference in Tallahassee. "We can never let something like this happen again. Florida took a different path. We've had more success as a result."
DeSantis -- who, at 42, is the nation's youngest governor -- is standing out among his peers and seizing upon what he and his supporters believe is a vindication for their policies.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/17/politics/ron-desantis-covid-florida/index.html

[LesPalenik]

Maybe it is the warmer climate. Last summer, we had also in Canada relatively few C19 deaths.
 

[faberryman]

Apperently you feel that this woman should not be treated with the same concern as Floyd.   Why not?

You are making yet another unwarranted assumption about me. It is tiresome.

It did not escape my notice that your moral outrage over Ashley Babbitt was quelled the moment I suggested you actually do something instead of just complain, like write a letter, or send an email, or fill out an online form.

It is not surprising that you have now moved on to your favorite topic: fiscal stimulus causing inflation, as if you have not repeated your position frequently enough already. If it's Tuesday, it must be Alan's inflation rant. So here we go again. You are undoubtedly going to tell us for the umpteenth time all about how you had to live through stagflation forty years ago, and all the rest. Give us all a break and move on to something else.

And what's with quoting from the DeSantis article which appears on CNN's website? I thought they were the biased news media, the commie/lib press. It seems to me that if you like an article in the biased new media, it is true, but if you don't like it, it is fake news.

[TechTalk]

was this just a shot fired willy nilly into the crowd as it appears to be

A completely false assertion and total crap. Video in link below.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/no-charges-recommended-officer-who-shot-ashli-babbitt-during-capitol

[TechTalk]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/capitol-riot-suspects-are-on-a-pr-blitz

Capitol Riot Suspects Are on a PR Blitz

Published Mar. 17, 2021

In the right-wing media, they’re innocent victims.

The rioters’ stories have made for big money on GiveSendGo, a Christian crowdfunding site that has become a go-to option for right-wing figures who would likely be banned from more mainstream sites like GoFundMe. The Meggs family has raised more than $80,000 as of Tuesday, while the family of Oath Keeper Kenneth Harrelson has raised more than $160,000.

Members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers charged in the aftermath of Jan. 6 riot have been on a public relations blitz in the right-wing media, trying to recast themselves as victims of government overreach and a thuggish FBI. They’re also raising a lot of money along the way.

That PR push has extended to Ashli Babbitt, the Air Force veteran who was fatally shot by a Capitol Police officer as she tried to break into the Speaker’s Lobby during the riot. Terrell Roberts, an attorney for Babbitt’s family, appeared on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show on March 12 and claimed police should have just arrested Babbitt instead.

Much of the glowing coverage of the riot suspects has come from The Gateway Pundit, a popular far-right blog that frequently promotes hoaxes. Gateway Pundit founder Hoft, who holds a prominent enough place in the right-wing media to be invited to the Trump White House in 2019, has run several stories promoting fundraisers for the riot suspects.

[TechTalk]

John Oliver, with his usual dry satire, had an illuminating episode on Tucker Carlson a few days ago.

https://www.youtube.com/Tucker Carlson: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

John Oliver Breaks Down Tucker Carlson’s Decades of White Supremacist Messaging

https://www.esquire.com/john-oliver-tucker-carlson-white-supremacy

The Last Week Tonight host said that Carlson 'is the most prominent vessel in America for white supremacist talking points.'

Adding to the impassioned chorus of Tucker Carlson criticism in light of the Fox News host's most recent inflammatory comments, John Oliver took a deep dive into Carlson's career on Sunday's episode of Last Week Tonight. Oliver illustrated the white supremacism ingrained in the rhetoric of Carlson's widely-viewed show, and why Carlson cannot be dismissed as a simple troll, looking for attention by spewing his anti-woke bullshit, as much as people may want to. Because despite the undeniable attention-seeking and trollness, Oliver argues that Carlson is a dangerous voice for white supremacy in American media. "Of all the things that Tucker is—a conspiracy theorist, a misogynist, Islamophobe, a troll," Oliver said, "one of the most dangerous is that he is the most prominent vessel in America for white supremacist talking points."

He pointed to the fact that white supremacists revere Carlson's show because, in essence, he does their job for them. Oliver showed a clip of Derek Black, a former white supremacist whose father started the white supremacist website Stormfront, discussing how his members of his family are devoted Tucker Carlson Tonight fans. "They feel that he is making the white nationalist talking points better than they have, and they're trying to get some tips on how to advance it," Black said in the clip.

Oliver goes on to illustrate, through Carlson's own segments, words, and tactics—from his refusal to engage with the meaning of white supremacy, to his popularity among neo-Nazis and former KKK leader David Duke—exactly what white supremacism is, and how Carlson's rhetoric advances its poisonous beliefs throughout the country. Using Carlson's own quotes, Oliver said:

"He is scared of a country that ‘looks nothing like the one he grew up in’ because diversity ‘isn’t our strength,’ immigrants make our country ‘poorer, dirtier, and more divided,’ and any attempt to change that culture is an attack on Western civilization. All of which is really just a long way of saying that when Tucker asks, ‘What is white supremacy?’ the answer is: basically that. It’s a belief that in a country where white people are dominant, that’s all down to their natural and innate abilities, and any effort to change that is an affront to the natural order of things.”

Throughout the 25-minute segment, Oliver makes the damning case for what many of us already knew: Carlson's transition in recent years to full-on white nationalism has garnered him a platform as large, and as dangerous, as it is today. He highlights the way Carlson advances racist and xenophobic ideas through his twisted narratives. For instance, Oliver points out that Carlson downplayed the insurrection at the Capitol yet denounced the summer 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.