|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 19, 2021 19:19:33 GMT
What is more important? Harris working to figure out how to actually handle this crisis, while not posing for a meaningless photo op, or someone like our former First Lady traveling to the border for a meaningless photo op wearing a jacket that says on the back, "I really don't care, do U?" Good grief, the fucking hypocrisy is astounding. Yes on both sides. Trashing Bush for not going to the crisis while while defending Biden or Harris for not going to the crisis. After 5 or 6 years of calling Trump every actual disrespectful thing under the sun, now whining that calling Kamala by her given name being disrespectful. Astounding.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 19, 2021 18:47:36 GMT
“ Vice President Kamala Harris will be the White House's point person on immigration issues at the nation's southern border, President Joe Biden announced Wednesday, tasking her with stemming the rising tide of migrants, many of them unaccompanied children, arriving in the U.S." You’ve always failed at reading thing in context. Instead you cherry pick words and phrases without the benefit of the complete statement made. Predictably Gia. The entire post was intending to steer me into coming to the same conclusion as she had. The only thing asking something was the question at the bottom. "Her responsibility is to get at the “root causes” of the reason people are coming to our southern border. And she did say both her and President Biden will visit the border. Yet the only person getting heat for not visiting the border for a photo op is Vice President Harris and not President Biden. Why is that I wonder?" Which I answered. In the only possible way *I* could. With what I thought the reason was. That is not cherry picking just because I didn't come to the conclusion you wanted me to. Again, it without a doubt, looks like you're the one who failed at reading things in context. Not me.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 19, 2021 18:34:56 GMT
When the democrats who live with this crisis at the border are asking her to come and saying why she should come and how it would help, it's a meaningful question being asked by people on both sides.
No one is saying it’s not a meaningful question. She’s answered, as well as going to the root cause, and having administration staff making visits and collecting data. Problem is, that those criticizing her just got too used to trump running to make every photo op for his self grandiosity. Answer me this…why is it that people are criticizing and questioning our now Vice President 6 months into the job, when trump visited border cities, took all the snazzy photos and epically failed border security/immigration—issues he hammered on just about daily for 4 years (just like his empty promises for a much much tremendous better healthcare plan)! This was quoted within the very post of mine that you quoted. Asking why she didn't visit the border isn't a meaningful question in that light. What was it you said of me? Oh yeah... You’ve always failed at reading thing in context.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 19, 2021 1:46:35 GMT
Sure. Which of your favorite news entertainers has you continually using Democrat instead of Democratic to describe our representatives, then? What?
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 19, 2021 1:43:08 GMT
One of the major root causes of uninformed opinions is relying on Hannity as a news source. I don't watch Hannity.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 19, 2021 1:36:06 GMT
Democrat Representative Henry Cuellar “We don’t just go visit the border, we live at the border. We talk to the NGOs there, we talk to the mayors, the county judges, to the border patrol, to the men and women in blue, green, and other folks, ICE agents also. We understand this very well.” “I still will encourage them to do more, to reach out to the folks on the border communities and keep talking to them, to make sure that they get a balanced view of what’s happening there at the border itself.” She and others know she should be making the effort to be there and see first hand what is happening there and hear from the people living it, knowing they more than likely have productive solutions. That's why she tried to brush it off with the statement that she has been to the border. If she wants to address the "root cause" she only needs to look at Biden's reversal of the remain in Mexico policy, Biden's suspension of the safe third country agreement that required them to apply for asylum in the first country they entered, Biden putting a moratorium on deportations, Biden lifting the emergency declaration. Her own tweet "Say it loud, say it clear, everyone is welcome here. #NoBanNoWall" Every single democrat candidate agreed to decriminalize coming across the border illegally and to hand out healthcare to those that come. Event the president of Guatemala who she went to see to determine the "root cause" says it's Biden's policies. He said they started seeking asylum in record numbers on Jan 20. From CNN about trump’s staying in Mexico Plan.,, “Under Trump, migrants from Central America and other parts of the world who were seeking asylum at the US-Mexico border were forced to remain in Mexico until their immigration court hearings in the United States. That meant waiting months, if not years, in deplorable conditions and under the threat of extortion, sexual assault and kidnapping. Migrants can be easy identified based on their accents or attire and as a result, fall prey to gangs and corrupt authorities, among others.” You still think this a great plan? No, it's not ideal. Those things continue to happen even on the journey when they come right in. It's awful what they go through. One of the major root causes of record numbers of people crossing is still the policies and messaging of Biden and Harris.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 19, 2021 1:00:58 GMT
Just exactly how do you think her going to the border is going to “stem the rising tide”? Democrat Representative Henry Cuellar “We don’t just go visit the border, we live at the border. We talk to the NGOs there, we talk to the mayors, the county judges, to the border patrol, to the men and women in blue, green, and other folks, ICE agents also. We understand this very well.” “I still will encourage them to do more, to reach out to the folks on the border communities and keep talking to them, to make sure that they get a balanced view of what’s happening there at the border itself.” She and others know she should be making the effort to be there and see first hand what is happening there and hear from the people living it, knowing they more than likely have productive solutions. That's why she tried to brush it off with the statement that she has been to the border. The article is clear, her task is to get at and try and solve the “root causes “ for people leaving their country and trying to get into ours. If she wants to address the "root cause" she only needs to look at Biden's reversal of the remain in Mexico policy, Biden's suspension of the safe third country agreement that required them to apply for asylum in the first country they entered, Biden putting a moratorium on deportations, Biden lifting the emergency declaration. Her own tweet "Say it loud, say it clear, everyone is welcome here. #NoBanNoWall" Every single democrat candidate agreed to decriminalize coming across the border illegally and to hand out healthcare to those that come. Event the president of Guatemala who she went to see to determine the "root cause" says it's Biden's policies. He said they started seeking asylum in record numbers on Jan 20.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 19, 2021 0:08:54 GMT
From Politico…. 3/24/2021. link“Vice President Kamala Harris will be the White House's point person on immigration issues at the nation's southern border, President Joe Biden announced Wednesday, tasking her with stemming the rising tide of migrants, many of them unaccompanied children, arriving in the U.S. "I can think of nobody who is better qualified to do this,” the president told reporters at the White House. Harris’ main focus, a senior administration official told reporters earlier Wednesday, will be two-pronged: working to slow the flow of “irregular migrants” by addressing “the root causes” that prompt them to leave their home countries as well as strengthening relationships with Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries where the bulk of the migrants arriving at the U.S. border come from.
The role puts Harris front-and-center at one of the most politically risky issues for the White House as it struggles with an influx of migrant children at the southern border. Harris acknowledged this, saying there “is no question this is a challenging situation,” but said that she would be looking forward to discussions with the leaders of the nations. On the call with reporters, aides made clear that Harris would not be owning the entire immigration portfolio for the administration and would be instead focused on long-term efforts in Central America.“[Harris] is going to be focused on overseeing our diplomatic efforts, working closely with these nations to look at the issues of migration and their own enforcement on their own borders," the senior administration official said. "More broadly, though, she's going to be working to implement a long-term strategy that gets at the root causes of migration.” As a presidential candidate, Biden proposed spending $4 billion over four years to tackle violence, climate change and government corruption in the Northern Triangle region — comprised of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. This is the process Harris will oversee.“We can talk all day about the symptoms of the situation, but you really have to get at what is causing this phenomenon, and that will be her focus,” the official said. “We are proceeding both with a sense of decency about treating migrants like human beings and doing the very best we can to care for people and treating our neighbors with respect and dignity.” Harris’ new responsibility is similar to one Biden had while he was vice president. He visited the region several times as more migrants from the three countries began to make their way en masse to the U.S.-Mexico border. Those efforts were seen as largely unsuccessful, and the situation in the countries has grown even more precarious. When asked what the president learned from that effort, Ambassador Roberta Jacobson, a special assistant to the president who previously served as the U.S. envoy to Mexico, said in a press briefing: “Both the President and all of us who worked for him on that learned a great deal. And I think that it’s really important that we put that to use now. One of the things he thinks is so important is being really explicit with leadership in the countries from which migrants are coming about commitments that they need to make, because overcoming the reasons people migrate is not going to be the United States’ job alone.” The administration didn’t share details on when Harris would start conversations with leaders or when the vice president would make a trip to any of the countries. But in an interview with CBS on Wednesday, Harris said she and Biden would be headed to the border soon. “
Let me repeat this from the story… “On the call with reporters, aides made clear that Harris would not be owning the entire immigration portfolio for the administration and would be instead focused on long-term efforts in Central America.”Her responsibility is to get at the “root causes” of the reason people are coming to our southern border. And she did say both her and President Biden will visit the border. Yet the only person getting heat for not visiting the border for a photo op is Vice President Harris and not President Biden. Why is that I wonder? “ Vice President Kamala Harris will be the White House's point person on immigration issues at the nation's southern border, President Joe Biden announced Wednesday, tasking her with stemming the rising tide of migrants, many of them unaccompanied children, arriving in the U.S."
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 18, 2021 23:21:26 GMT
They are asking her because she was put in charge of it. Answering with a misleading statement and then when called on that, answering with a flippant remark, then laughing while playing dumb, is not really answering the question. She was asked to help work with Central American governments and agencies to address the root causes of migration to the US. Visiting the border may be part of that, but certainly not the exact scope of the work. Asking why she didn't visit the border isn't a meaningful question in that light. When the democrats who live with this crisis at the border are asking her to come and saying why she should come and how it would help, it's a meaningful question being asked by people on both sides.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 18, 2021 23:05:39 GMT
Thank you to those of you who opted for a thoughtful response as to why Kamala Harris might not think a trip to the border is important. To those of you who just chose to denigrate me, well you never fail to perpetuate your stereotype. Whether you like my posting style or not, you choose whether and how to respond. If you choose to respond with insults and vulgarities, that's on you. Yes, I watch Fox News; they raise questions that we all should be asking at this point. Is there ever a time that you question what your political party is or is not doing right now? I think she should go to the border at least in support of the efforts that are being made to control the uncontrollable situation. It doesn't have to be a PR move. Women are great problem solvers; she might have an epiphany moment that could be helpful. Just saying "the border is closed; don't come" was the PR move. When Fox News asks the question, it is not an innocent question. They’ve decided that she’s an easier target than President Biden and are deliberately going after her. And if they keep repeating the same questions, viewers will believe that there’s a scandal. The question has been asked and answered, there’s no reason to keep repeating it. They are asking her because she was put in charge of it. Answering with a misleading statement and then when called on that, answering with a flippant remark, then laughing while playing dumb, is not really answering the question.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 18, 2021 22:52:04 GMT
I am genuinely trying to understand Europe being brought into this out of sheer curiosity. Like, can someone explain it to me in non-partisan terms? Is there some comparison to the border situation I'm not grasping? When NBC's Lester Holt asked Kamala why she hasn't been to the border yet, she tried to pass off that she had been to the border. When that didn't fly he said YOU haven't been. She tried to play dumb and said "I haven't been to Europe either. I don't understand the point." And laughed inappropriately.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 18, 2021 22:03:54 GMT
I hope you get to see the photo op you're looking for and that it provides you some piece of mind regarding whatever you are so afraid of at the US/Mexico border. In general, I think addressing the things that threaten us is better done through actual policy changes but ymmv. I'll stick to the topic of the thread and not the bash fox news bs you diverted attention to. Small child ren being abandoned in the desert by the coyotes, toddlers being dropped over the wall. People now owing what? to the cartels and coyotes. They come in with wrist bands identifying which cartel/coyote/human trafficker they "belong" to? All those kids in cages that were being used as a political weapon? Guess what? there are still hundreds of kids in cages. Only now, they have built more of them and they are at capacity and overflowing. They hid them when they let representatives tour the new facilities in order to "be transparent", but it took a Democrat whistle blower to point out that they moved the kids and were hiding just how many kids were there. And still in "cages". Smuggling drugs such as Fentanyl is up 800% according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. If she wants to address the "root cause" she only needs to look at Biden's reversal of the remain in Mexico policy, Biden's suspension of the safe third country agreement that required them to apply for asylum in the first country they entered, Biden putting a moratorium on deportations, Biden lifting the emergency declaration. Her own tweet "Say it loud, say it clear, everyone is welcome here. #NoBanNoWall" Every single democrat candidate agreed to decriminalize coming across the border illegally and to hand out healthcare to those that come. So the people in office now, in essence said come here and we'll cover you. Now they scratch their head and play dumb as to what the "root cause" is? Kamala is playing dumb a lot these days. Event the president of Guatemala who she went to see to determine the "root cause" says it's Biden's policies. He said they started seeking asylum in record numbers on Jan 20.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 18, 2021 20:55:45 GMT
And while I'm sure some use Kamala as a sign of disrespect - it's also pretty common for people with unusual first names to be known by them - so I wouldn't assume that someone referring to her as Kamala is denying her the respect she deserves. It's usually pretty easy to tell the difference - particularly with those who still haven't figured out how to pronounce her name. Come on. Merkel is not referred to as Angela. Macron is not referred to as Emmanuel. It is clearly a indication of disrespect for her stature as a woman…and a person of color. But be sure to rationalize it and make it a nice twisty pretzel in your head. After 5 or 6 years of calling Trump every actual disrespectful thing under the sun, the whining that calling her by her given name being disrespectful is laughable. I absolutely did not use her given name as an indication of disrespect. But be sure to make it about gender and racism and make it a nice twisty pretzel in your head.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 18, 2021 20:29:12 GMT
I'm surprised Fox News took a break from infuriating people about trans teenage athletes and race baiting about critical race theory to start riling people about Kamala and the border. I suppose this means we'll soon seen alarmist posts about disease filled caravans of terrorists and criminals marching to the US. The problem with demonizing fox for asking the question, CNN and others are also asking.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 18, 2021 6:22:56 GMT
I don't think so. There's a Rasmussen poll that says between those who say it will make race relations worse and those who say it won't make any difference is 60%. That looks to me like the majority aren't supporting this as effective in race relations. Nice try at a sleight of hand there. 1st - link it 2nd - don't conflate "won't make any difference" w/"not supporting it". 3rd - Rasmussen. ps - you said "You have teachers and poc who have not only seen the lessons but have experienced the effects, and are objecting to it." And I said "And you have many more who are supporting it. " Meaning many more TEACHERS and POC. Not general population - who are brainwashed by Fox News and OANN to fear anything other than what mama and daddy told 'em. I said, "say it won't make any difference in race relations that looks to me like the majority aren't supporting this as effective in race relations." Also if those that are objecting to it given their experience with it and seeing the effects of it, that is their experience causing their objection, not fox news.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 18, 2021 5:53:42 GMT
You have teachers and poc who have not only seen the lessons but have experienced the effects, and are objecting to it. And you have many more who are supporting it. I don't think so. There's a Rasmussen poll that says between those who say it will make race relations worse and those who say it won't make any difference is 60%. That looks to me like the majority aren't supporting this as effective in race relations.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 18, 2021 5:46:14 GMT
I know she's been to Guatemala, but she hasn't been to Europe. Shouldn't a trip to the border be at the top of her priority list as border czar? Why? IMHO, working to solve the reasons why Central Americans are risking their lives to get to the US border makes way better use of her time than going to the border AGAIN. Because she has been there already, just not since January. Democrat Representative Henry Cuellar asked Vice President Harris to come to the border. “I write to invite you to the U.S. Southern Border to observe the ongoing humanitarian crisis and share the perspective of Americans who live there. I encourage you to join me and other Members of Congress, while we visit with the people on the ground who deal with these issues every day.” He mentions “rapid rise in the number of migrants arriving at our Southern Border has placed severe burdens on our communities.” “The situation on the border will only worsen, as more migrants are expected to arrive. The Administration needs to take a proactive approach to create a sustainable system of humanitarian aid and relieve everyday Americans of that responsibility.” “We don’t just go visit the border, we live at the border. We talk to the NGOs there, we talk to the mayors, the county judges, to the border patrol, to the men and women in blue, green, and other folks, ICE agents also. We understand this very well.” “I still will encourage them to do more, to reach out to the folks on the border communities and keep talking to them, to make sure that they get a balanced view of what’s happening there at the border itself.” She and others know she should be making the effort to be there and see first hand what is happening there and hear from the people living it. That's why she tried to brush it off with the statement that she has been to the border. And when called on the fact that she hasn't been as vp in charge of the border crisis, she laughed it off and played dumb. And why someone is using a 10 year old picture to say she has been.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 18, 2021 5:25:16 GMT
One black man has a poor opinion of CRT. I guess that's the ballgame, then. That's how it works, right? Without even looking for them I've seen at least a half dozen or more clips of poc and several more of teachers objecting to it. Do you need any to accept another point of view? You have teachers and poc who have not only seen the lessons but have experienced the effects, and are objecting to it. The point being that blaming it all on those racist Republicans and dumb fox watchers as the ones that are objecting to it doesn't hold much water.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 18, 2021 1:01:48 GMT
Here are a couple of articles in addition to the EdWeek one that may be helpful. www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/05/29/critical-race-theory-bans-schools/www.npr.org/2021/06/02/1001055828/the-brewing-political-battle-over-critical-race-theoryCritical Race Theory is complex. I am undereducated in it, having not read key scholars' work extensively. Not all critical race theorists agree on all aspects (thus the term "theory"). What you're probably seeing bubbling up are Republicans/conservatives having feelings about "critical race theory being taught in schools." While many schools are beginning to teach less-whitewashed versions of history, and asking students to examine the ways in which race impacts society, that is not "teaching critical race theory." And, this is my opinion: Many conservatives are big mad that white power structures are being examined, and they see that as a threat to maintaining power.Is there a specific question that you had? I can guarantee you that the vast majority are not opposed to teaching the details of racism in history. They do object to lessons being taught in which white children in the classroom or workplace training are vilified in order to teach the lesson. They object to a divisive lesson plan, that stifles free thinking and free speaking. It isn't about holding onto power. John McWhorter, a black professor, is urging parents to pull their children out of a private school that has started to teach critical race theory and he linked this letter from a teacher there: Dear Joe (copies to Head of School, Board Trustees, & English Department Colleagues), I became a teacher at Dwight-Englewood because, as a parent, I loved how the school both nurtured and challenged my own children. Today, I am resigning from a job I love because D-E has changed in ways that undermine its mission and prevent me from holding true to my conscience as an educator. I believe that D-E is failing our students. Over the past few years, the school has embraced an ideology that is damaging to our students’ intellectual and emotional growth and destroying any chance at creating a true community among our diverse population. I reject the hostile culture of conformity and fear that has taken hold of our school. The school’s ideology requires students to see themselves not as individuals, but as representatives of a group, forcing them to adopt the status of privilege or victimhood. They must locate themselves within the oppressor or oppressed group, or some intersectional middle where they must reckon with being part-oppressor and part-victim. This theory of power hierarchies is only one way of seeing the world, and yet it pervades D-E as the singular way of seeing the world. As a result, students arrive in my classroom accepting this theory as fact: People born with less melanin in their skin are oppressors, and people born with more melanin in their skin are oppressed. Men are oppressors, women are oppressed, and so on. This is the dominant and divisive ideology that is guiding our adolescent students. In my classroom, I see up close how this orthodoxy hinders students’ ability to read, write, and think. I teach students who recoil from a poem because it was written by a man. I teach students who approach texts in search of the oppressor. I teach students who see inequities in texts that have nothing to do with power. Students have internalized the message that this is the way we read and think about the world, and as a result, they fixate on power and group identity. This fixation has stunted their ability to observe and engage with the full fabric of human experience in our literature. In my professional opinion, the school is failing to encourage healthy habits of mind, essential for growth, such as intellectual curiosity, humility, honesty, reason, and the capacity to question ideas and consider multiple perspectives. In our school, the opportunity to hear competing ideas is practically non-existent. How can students, who accept a single ideology as fact, learn to practice intellectual curiosity or humility or consider a competing idea they’ve never encountered? How can students develop higher order thinking if they are limited to seeing the world only through the lens of group identity and power? Sadly, the school is leading many to become true believers and outspoken purveyors of a regressive and illiberal orthodoxy. Understandably, these students have found comfort in their moral certainty, and so they have become rigid and closed-minded, unable or unwilling to consider alternative perspectives. These young students have no idea that the school has placed ideological blinders on them. Of course, not all students are true believers. Many pretend to agree because of pressure to conform. I’ve heard from students who want to ask a question but stop for fear of offending someone. I have heard from students who don’t participate in discussions for fear of being ostracized. One student did not want to develop her personal essay — about an experience she had in another country — for fear that it might mean that she was, without even realizing it, racist. In her fear, she actually stopped herself from thinking. This is the very definition of self-censorship. I care deeply about our students and our school, and so over the years, I have tried to introduce positive and constructive alternative views. My efforts have fallen on deaf ears. In 2019, I shared with you my negative experiences among hostile and doctrinaire colleagues. You expressed dismay, but I did not hear any follow up from you or other administrators. Since then, the stifling conformity has only intensified. Last fall, two administrators informed faculty that certain viewpoints simply would not be tolerated during our new “race explicit” conversations with our new “anti-racist” work. They said that no one would be allowed to question the orthodoxy regarding “systemic racism.” The message was clear, and the faculty went silent in response. The reality is that fear pervades the faculty. On at least two separate occasions in 2017 and 2018, our Head of School, standing at the front of Hajjar Auditorium, told the entire faculty that he would fire us all if he could so that he could replace us all with people of color. This year, administrators continue to assert D-E’s policy that we are hiring “for diversity.” D-E has become a workplace that is hostile toward educators based solely on their immutable traits. During a recent faculty meeting, teachers were segregated by skin color. Teachers who had light skin were placed into a “white caucus” group and asked to “remember” that we are “White” and “to take responsibility for [our] power and privilege.” D-E’s racial segregation of educators, aimed at leading us to rethink of ourselves as oppressors, was regressive and demeaning to us as individuals with our own moral compass and human agency. Will the school force racial segregation on our students next? I reject D-E’s essentialist, racialist thinking about myself, my colleagues, and my students. As a humanist educator, I strive to create an inclusive classroom by embracing the dignity and unique personality of each and every student; I want to empower all students with the skills and habits of mind that they need to fulfill their potential as learners and human beings. Neither the color of my skin nor the “group identity” assigned to me by D-E dictates my humanist beliefs or my work as an educator. Being told that it does is offensive and wrong, and it violates my dignity as a human being. My conscience does not have a color. D-E claims that we teach students how to think, not what to think. But sadly, that is just no longer true. I hope administrators and board members awaken in time to prevent this misguided and absolutist ideology from hollowing out D-E, as it has already hollowed out so many other institutions.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 14, 2021 8:57:00 GMT
The first of two Washington Post stories on the clearing of Lafayette Square. “Report: Park Police didn’t clear Lafayette Square protesters for Trump visit”Inspector general finds plan to clear park on June 1 was set in place days earlier, to build fence and protect officers By Tom Jackman and Carol D. Leonnig June 9, 2021 at 3:54 p.m. PDTWhen the U.S. Park Police led law enforcement officers into a crowd of mostly peaceful protesters outside Lafayette Square on June 1, 2020, including officers equipped with chemical irritants and officers on horseback, they did so as part of a plan made days earlier to build a fence around the park to protect officers, not to facilitate the visit minutes later by President Donald Trump to a nearby church, an inspector general’s report released Wednesday concluded. The report also found that D.C. police officers fired tear gas at protesters as they moved away from the park toward 17th Street, the Park Police did not deploy tear gas on June 1, but did on previous days, and Bureau of Prisons officers fired pepper spray munitions from the park without provocation during the clearing. Investigators also found that the audio warnings issued by the Park Police before the operation were not widely heard by the crowd and mostly ineffective. The report by the Interior Department’s inspector general focuses on the Park Police and does not fully address questions about the involvement of other agencies or the Trump administration in the events of June 1. Interior officials said they may not have heard all of the discussions that went on about the operation within the Secret Service or the White House, but that those discussions did not affect how and when the Park Police acted. The investigators did not interview Secret Service or White House personnel. The report found that preparations to clear the protesters and erect a fence began two days before the park clearing. But the idea may have gained greater urgency on the morning of June 1, in a meeting Trump held in the Oval Office with his chief of staff, military advisers, Attorney General William P. Barr and other law enforcement officials. The Washington Post has previously reported that Trump was furious at reporting that revealed he had been taken to an emergency bunker on the first night of protests that previous Friday night and the poor impression created that he had no control over the protests consuming key downtown areas in the nation’s capital, according to multiple law enforcement sources and Trump advisers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity at the time due to the sensitivity of the incident. The group agreed the Park Police and supporting teams of law enforcement officers would extend the perimeter and gradually push protesters further away from the White House and St. John’s Church, which had been vandalized the previous night. By midday, Trump was working with close confidants on a plan to project his control over the city by walking across Lafayette Square outside the White House and over to the church, the Trump advisers said at the time. Officials familiar with Lafayette Square confrontation challenge Trump administration claim of what drove aggressive expulsion of protesters Park Police officials, including then-acting chief Gregory Monahan and an unidentified incident commander, told inspector general investigators that they learned “around mid- to late afternoon ... of the President’s unscheduled movement to Lafayette Park.” Both Park Police officials reported that “they were not told a specific time for the President’s potential arrival and that learning this information did not change their operational timeline,” which was to push protesters back as soon as National Guard officers and the fencing arrived, both of which occurred after 5 p.m. “I can tell you with 100 percent certainty,” Monahan told the investigators, “that the Secret Service and the Park Police ... timeline did not change the entire day.” However, a redacted portion of the report seems to indicate that an unnamed government official asked for an earlier clearing of the park. Monahan told investigators he was not given a reason for the request, and that he rejected it and “stated the clearing operation would begin once all law enforcement officers ... were in place.” This does not seem to be a reference to Barr’s visit to the park shortly after 6 p.m. That visit is described elsewhere by a Park Police operations commander who said the attorney general asked when the protesters would be moved, and that Barr did not give an order at that time to clear the park. The commander said the conversation with Barr was the first he’d heard that Trump was coming. As protests sprang up around Lafayette Square after the May 25, 2020, killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, Park Police began getting pelted with water bottles, rocks and fireworks which led to 49 officer injuries through May 31. At 6:32 p.m. on June 1, Park Police officers joined by Arlington County Police and Secret Service officers began clearing H Street on the north side of the Twelve minutes later, Trump began speaking in the White House Rose Garden. “What happened last night was a total disgrace,” the president said. “As we speak, I am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officers to stop the rioting, looting, vandalism, assaults and the wanton destruction of property.” The thumping of munitions and wailing of sirens could be heard in the background as Trump spoke. At 7:02 p.m., Trump began walking to the park, and at 7:06 p.m. he stood in front of St. John’s church on H Street and held up a Bible for a photo opportunity. Interior officials said they found no evidence that the Park Police cleared the square for the photo opportunity. “If we had found that type of evidence,” Interior Inspector General Mark Lee Greenblatt said, “we would not hesitate in presenting that, and saying that was influencing the Park Police’s decision-making to clear the park. Just so you know, if we had found that, if we had seen that type of evidence, we would absolutely have reported that, without a doubt.” Greenblatt was appointed during the Trump administration. Trump issued a statement Wednesday thanking the inspector general for “Completely and Totally exonerating me in the clearing of Lafayette Park!” The former president said “our fine Park Police made the decision to clear the park to allow a contractor to safely install antiscale fencing.” Scott Michelman, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of D.C., said in a statement the government “has given various conflicting explanations” for the clearing of Lafayette Square. The ACLU of D.C., Black Lives Matter, other civil liberties groups and individual protesters are suing Trump and senior officials in connection with the incident. The government has asked a judge to dismiss the suits. “These shifting explanations cannot distract from the fundamental problem: The force used against the demonstrators at Lafayette Square was grossly excessive in relation to any conceivably legitimate purpose,” Michelman said in his statement. After a night of violence in and around the park on May 31, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser had announced a 7 p.m. curfew for June 1, and many wondered why the Park Police didn’t wait for the curfew before taking on the protesters. According to the report, the Park Police incident commander told investigators, “We were not enforcing the mayor’s curfew. We’re a federal entity. We don’t work directly for the mayor.” Instead, the operation arose out of a meeting on May 30, two days earlier, in which the Park Police and Secret Service jointly decided “to establish a more secure perimeter around Lafayette Park” in response to the protests, the report states. A fencing contractor told the investigators that the Secret Service contacted her on May 30 to discuss erecting the fence, that it agreed to do so if police created a safe area for the builders and preferred to do so in daylight. A federal procurement data website shows a solicitation from the Secret Service to build the fence, for more than $1.1 million, was issued on May 30 and contracted on June 1. The report states that all fencing materials were in place on 17th Street by 5:30 p.m., that construction began at 7:30 p.m., shortly after Trump’s visit ended, and was finished by 12:30 a.m. Bureau of Prisons officers showed up after the briefing, the report states, and it was not clear if they were told not to use pepper balls. The report says the BOP officers did fire pepper balls from inside the park, possibly because they heard stun and stinger-ball grenades used by Park Police and reacted to those, but no protesters had tried to breach the park. D.C. police have acknowledged that its officers used tear gas as the protesters moved toward them, though they were not involved in the initial push away from the park and were not subject to the Park Police directives on use of force. A department spokeswoman said in a statement that officers acted to protect themselves after people threw objects at them, including an “incendiary device” that burned an officer. Greenblatt said a separate investigation was being done into the use of force by Park Police during the operation.” Yes. A whole lot of information there that was never investigated by the so called journalists. They put forth a narrative that they now say was wrong. Oops. They could have avoided that by doing their job. So much for journalism.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 13, 2021 5:21:36 GMT
The bottom line of the story...
The protests were so peaceful that the church was set on fire. The protests were so peaceful that the park police themselves said they were planning DAYS BEFORE on clearing the park because people were getting violent. 49 police officers were injured in the days before because they were being pelted with rocks and bottles. From the Washington Post: Those interior discussions did not affect how and when the police acted. The police chief said I can tell you with 100% certainty that whatever trump was planning, the timeline set in place DAYS BEFORE did not change. No I can't give you the exact link because they want me to pay for a subscription to find it.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 13, 2021 2:15:25 GMT
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 13, 2021 1:29:27 GMT
From Mediaite: "NBC’s Ken Dilanian joined host Chuck Todd on Wednesday to detail a finding that — contrary to reporting at the time — authorities didn’t clear Lafayette Park last year on behalf of then-President Donald Trump.
Media reported at the time of the incident that police had cleared Lafayette Park of protestors in order to allow for Trump to stage a photo opportunity at a church. According to an independent watchdog, there is no evidence that the park was cleared because of Trump.
The Inspector General of the Interior Department released a report on Wednesday noting its finding that Park Police in Washington, D.C. cleared the park of protesters without direction from Trump, who subsequently walked through the park for the photo opportunity.
“This is a really surprising finding,” said Dilanian."
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 9, 2021 2:29:45 GMT
I keep reading memes all over Facebook about these emails. I have read 4 news articles about it. NPR, BBC, Washington Post, and CNN. And I still can't seem to figure out why everyone feels that these emails are some kind of smoking gun. What am I missing? It seems to me that he responded exactly as I thought he would. That we didn't have enough information to draw conclusions in the beginning. I just don't get it. Why are conservatives all in an uproar over this? Try Vanity FairLike auntkelly said, I'm not sure the emails are a smoking gun, but they shouldn't be ignored.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 8, 2021 23:11:44 GMT
I agree, it's important for us to find out how the virus spread. It turns out in the emails that Faucci was alerted to the probability of the scenario in January of 2020. There absolutely was an effort to discount the possibility of a lab link. Social media "fact checkers" were blocking discussion of it, by taking down posts and declaring it "fake news". Maggie Haberman of the New York Times outright said, they as journalists had a group think and didn't ask questions. The journalists failed to do their job. Maybe the journalists did but that's not who they are attacking. The email in question from Fauci said that the origins of the virus would be investigated. They are attacking him and he left open that possibility. So I'm still not understanding why the problem with Fauci. If your problem is with the media, then it's with the media. There are problems with Fauci too, not just the media.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 8, 2021 22:40:20 GMT
I agree, it's important for us to find out how the virus spread. It turns out in the emails that Faucci was alerted to the probability of the scenario in January of 2019. There absolutely was an effort to discount the possibility of a lab link. Social media "fact checkers" were blocking discussion of it, by taking down posts and declaring it "fake news". Maggie Haberman of the New York Times outright said, they as journalists had a group think and didn't ask questions. The journalists failed to do their job. Sometimes I have had the thought we are being manipulated by the media about Covid and that it doesn’t matter what our government officials say about covid related topics because the media is in control. Which makes me wonder... Now I sound crazy... We're being manipulated by the media on so many issues. I don't think they're in control of the government, but they are controlling or helping to control the narratives of the moment. They're certainly responsible in large part for dividing the population with great success.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 7, 2021 1:49:47 GMT
This article sums up my feelings about Fauci’s emails: NBC Article
I don’t have strong feelings about Dr. Fauci one way or the other. I do think we need to learn, as far as possible, how the virus spread. I think it’s possible, given the tone of the early emails, that there might have been an initial reluctance, whether intentional or not, to discount the possibility that the lab might somehow have been involved. I certainly don’t think the emails are a smoking gun, but I don’t think they should be ignored, either. I agree, it's important for us to find out how the virus spread. It turns out in the emails that Faucci was alerted to the probability of the scenario in January of 2020. There absolutely was an effort to discount the possibility of a lab link. Social media "fact checkers" were blocking discussion of it, by taking down posts and declaring it "fake news". Maggie Haberman of the New York Times outright said, they as journalists had a group think and didn't ask questions. The journalists failed to do their job.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on Jun 6, 2021 23:40:06 GMT
Following the science is not rhetoric or antivax. Here is a good summary of the actual science. link (Tik Tok) You are cherry-picking. It IS actual science that is showing that if you had the virus you have the antibodies and that they are long lasting. You can choose to get the vaccine anyway or choose not to. New studies are showing you are just as safe with natural antibodies as you are with the vaccine antibodies. I'm not sure what the objection to that science is.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on May 29, 2021 14:23:36 GMT
There is an investigation by the FBI currently.
|
|
|
Post by pixiechick on May 29, 2021 13:50:39 GMT
The goal is ‘immunity,’ and not necessarily or solely ‘vaccination.’ So, someone who already has achieved immunity not needing or even wanting to be injected with immunity they already have doesn't make them antivax. Since they'd get vaccinated if they weren't already immune. Well, you certainly “do rhetoric” like an anti vaxxer. Following the science is not rhetoric or antivax.
|
|