I admire people who will stand up for something, anything, just stand up… and while you’re at it, raise your hands in support of the movement!
Four members of the Congressional Black Caucus did the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” gesture during remarks Monday on the House Floor, to show solidarity with protesters in Ferguson, Mo.
Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.) and Al Green (D-Tex.), referred to the gesture that has come to symbolize the outrage over the death of Brown, the African American teen shot dead by police officer Darren Wilson in August..
“ ‘Hands up, don’t shoot’ is a rallying cry of people all across America who are fed up with police violence in … communities all across America,” Jeffries said.
Two of the members of Congress, Reps. Lee and Green, also offered their praise for the five St. Louis Rams who gave the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” signal on the field during a game Sunday night.
“I saw this clip where the Rams players came into the arena: ‘Hands up; don’t shoot’ … this has become the new symbol, a new statement,” Green said.
It is not easy telling the same story, when that story is a lie.
Darren Wilson changed his story following the immediate aftermath of the fatal shooting of unarmed black teen Michael Brown to include events about which he initially denied all knowledge.
Evidence presented to the grand jury and reviewed by MailOnline has revealed a crucial difference between the officer’s first account of events given to his squad supervisor on the scene and his second statement to St Louis County detectives investigating the shooting.
In Wilson’s now very public account of his encounter with Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson on August 9 he has claimed that he asked Brown and Wilson to move to the sidewalk rather than walk in the street.
When they walked on, Wilson has repeatedly stated, he realized they matched the description of two suspects wanted in connection with the robbery of nearby Ferguson Market. A youth matching Brown’s description had stolen a box of Swishers cigarillos.
It was this realization, he stated, that caused him to reverse his vehicle and sparked the car-side confrontation that left Brown dead on the street with six bullets in his body.
But the sworn testimony of Wilson’s squad supervisor directly contradicts this account.
Wilson’s supervisor was the first officer to speak with the 28-year-old cop following the shooting. The men spoke before St Louis County Police had even been notified of the incident and before the medical examiner or investigating officers had arrived on the scene.
At that time, the supervisor said:’He [Wilson] did not know anything about the stealing call.’
When pressed by the attorney questioning him, the officer reiterated that Wilson, ‘did not know anything’.
Asked, ‘He told you he didn’t know about there being a stealing at Ferguson Market?’
Classic case of politics as usual, as Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu, the same candidate who recently pushed the Republican Keystone Pipeline travesty to a vote in Congress, is now appealing to the Democrats in her state to save her.
In a new ad, Landrieu is heard praising the successes of the president, while warning the voters that if her Republican opponent wins the run off election next week, then President Obama will be impeached.
From the ad:
I’m Mary Landrieu, candidate for Senate, and I approve this message.
This is Congressman Cedric Richmond. Have you heard the crazy stuff Bill Cassidy, Bobby Jindal, and the Republicans are always saying about President Obama? They have shown our president so much disrespect. They said he wasn’t a U.S. citizen, they even sued him – and if Cassidy wins, they will impeach him. Do you remember when the stock market was at 7,000? Now it’s at 17,000, but they say the economy is horrible. Do you remember how bad the unemployment numbers were under the Republicans? Now, unemployment claims are lower then they have been in 14 years. The president needs you to have his back – now, more than ever.
Now, while I agree that Democrats should always run on their successes when campaigning for another term in office, Landrieu’s coming to the light moment seems a tad bit suspicious. I’ll still urge Louisiana voters to support her in the election, but I cringe at the lack of sincerity and obvious politics being played here.
Darren Wilson resigned as a police officer. Why do people think this is some kind of victory? Did you really expect him to go back to work as a Ferguson police officer? Seriously? And why would he bother when he can now make six figures for an interview? This is America folks. Where you can kill a black kid and justified or not (NOT!) you will then become a millionaire through interviews and book deals and film rights. Not to mention the right wing talk radio show Wilson will probably be offered as he fits in perfectly with all of the talentless slobs in that business.
This is your capitalist system at work. No laws that make this illegal. A cop can actually kill someone on purpose if they want, because they get away with almost anything, with the knowledge that they can then quit their shitty job that nobody with a brain would want anyway, and become rich. What a country! These are the times when I want to get the next flight available and head to any other country. I truly need to get out of this lunatic asylum.
There were reports that Wilson may have received a half million for the ABC News interview with George Stuffituphisass. Georgie boy asked the obvious questions, feigning true emotions as he inquired about Wilson’s actions and if he would do anything differently. He went through the motions of asking about Brown being far away from Wilson when he shot him several times or with his hands up, but basically he just allowed Wilson to tell his side. Hey, who else did that without question? Oh yeah, Bob McCulloch!
The interview with ABC wasn’t an exclusive. Meaning the killer, Wilson, now has an agent who negotiated the deal, and other news agencies can also pay six figures for future interviews. It’s just that ABC was the most aggressive whore this time. To think I used to work for them. Makes me feel like I need one of those showers they gave to Karen Silkwood at the nuclear power plant.
But there will be other media whores that will throw big money at Wilson. Meanwhile Michael Brown’s family is left with nothing. No son and no justice. Yes the more money Wilson makes the more they can get from him in a civil suit but that’s even a long shot since a jury won’t side against a cop even in that setting. Against O.J. Simpson yes, a cop no. Funny how all of those white people who were up in arms about Simpson getting off are so joyous about Wilson getting off.
Meanwhile this sham of a verdict with the Grand Jury, which every legal scholar has torn apart especially since the transcripts were released, has really brought the usual right wing vicious scum out of the closets. None worse than Rudy Giuliani who continues to live in 1990’s New York City when his police department was regularly violating the civil rights of blacks. He won’t stop talking about black on black crime which he incredulously correlates to the need for an all white police force. Also he won’t talk about how the people who commit those crimes almost always go to jail, unlike cops who commit crimes. Black on black crime, which has gone way, way down takes place in black neighborhoods as white on white crime takes place in white neighborhoods. Makes sense no?
Look, let’s remember who Rudy is shall we? He is the guy who bullied the New York City emergency response center into One World Trade Center after the first terrorist attack there even though the people who knew better were against it. We know what the result was of his power grab. He also took away vital firefighting gear which led to the deaths of many fire fighters on 9/11. Because you see Rudy always gets what Rudy wants.
But wait there’s more. He is also the guy who hired Bernie Kerik as police chief. Kerik the felon. He also recommended the soon to be felon for Homeland Security Director! This is Rudy Giuliani. A man who is still worshiped by some idiot New Yorkers yet despised by his own children. A guy who cares more about the welfare of the New York Yankees than Americans.
Anyway I truly digress. Darren Wilson is becoming rich. Rich off the killing of Michael Brown. Can you just imagine what Brown’s parents are going through? I can’t. They have to hear about these interviews, maybe even watch them. I hope they don’t. Wilson’s story would be given zero stars by any reviewer if it were made into a film because it is that unbelievable, actually laughable if the result wasn’t so tragic. But seriously folks, even if you are brain dead enough to buy his depiction of the events that led to him killing Brown, you can’t believe that he should become rich over someone else’s death. To make money that he wouldn’t make in a full career as a cop from one or two interviews.
Or maybe you are so brainwashed by the out of control capitalist system you live in that you think it’s all just fine and dandy. If so I feel sorry for you and have disdain for you in equal measure. This is one of those things that truly would never happen in any other country.
She went on a Facebook tirade against the Obama daughters calling them classless abd advising the teenage girls to “try showing a little class.” But according to reporting from The Smoking Gun, it seems Elizabeth Lauten also had some dealings with the law when she was a teenager.
Elizabeth Lauten was arrested at age 17 for misdemeanor larceny after she allegedly stole from a Belk Department store in North Carolina, according to court records reviewed by The Smoking Gun. The charges were dismissed since Lauten was a first-time offender and she didn’t get into additional trouble.
Lauten resigned as the the communications director for Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-TN) on Monday following backlash over a Facebook post about the Obama daughters’ attire at the White House turkey pardon ceremony.
Classless. That’s how I summarize the attack this Republican aide had on the President’s daughters. But the aide is showing a little dignity with her plan to resign.
Elizabeth Lauten, the communications director for Tennessee Rep. Steven Fincher, told NBC News by phone Monday that her resignation is already “in the works.”
In a post that went viral over the weekend, Lauten wrote that Sasha and Malia Obama should have shown “a little class” during the annual Thanksgiving ceremony to pardon two turkeys at the White House.
“Rise to the occasion,” she wrote. “Act like being in the White House matters to you. Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar.”
Lauten later deleted that post and penned an apology on Facebook, writing that she now sees “more clearly just how hurtful my words were.”
The host of MSNBC’s Meet The Press, Chuck Todd, has written a book slamming Obama for not kissing up to Republicans enough. Todd’s book, called The Stranger in The White House hit newsstands just in time for Mr . Obama’s regular book shopping spree and needless to say, it caught the eye of the president.
“Oh, Chuck Todd!” Obama exclaimed. “Let’s see what Chuck has to say here!”
“How is he writing a book already? asked his 16-year-old daughter, Malia. “Sad.”
“He’s just sad,” the president joked in response.
Obama’s off-the-cuff pan was no surprise, considering what Todd thinks of the president.
The book, titled “The Stranger,” blasts Obama as a flip-flopping policymaker whose detached temperament has prevented him from implementing his ideas.
It includes what one reviewer called a “stinging indictment” of Obama’s time in the White House and slams the president as unable to fulfill his potential or work with those across the aisle.
ISIS in the other hand would say that they are doing all this killing for whatever god they serve.
Pope Francis said Islamic militants were carrying out a “profoundly grave sin against God” in Syria and Iraq, calling on Sunday for inter-religious dialogue and action against poverty to help end conflicts there. The pope spoke on the last day of his weekend trip to Turkey, which is sheltering nearly 2 million refugees from Syria, thousands of Christians among them.
At a joint service with Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual head of the world’s 300 million Orthodox Christians, Francis said people of all faiths could not remain indifferent to the cries of the victims of the “inhumane and brutal” war next door. “Taking away the peace of a people, committing every act of violence — or consenting to such acts — especially when directed against the weakest and defenseless, is a profoundly grave sin against God,” he said during the service.
It was the third time in as many days that the pope referred to ISIS militants, who have killed or driven Shi’ite Muslims, Christians and others who do not share their ultra-radical brand of Sunni Islam out of swathes of Syria and Iraq.
So according to this poll, Mitt Romney is not only giving other Republican candidates a run for their money, he’s also causing some headaches for Hillary Clinton, the presumed Democratic nominee.
According to a Quinnipiac University poll of registered voters, if the Republican primary were being held today, he would receive 19 percent of the vote. The only other potential candidate who would finish with double-digit support is former Florida Governor Jeb Bush at 11 percent.
It shouldn’t be too difficult to guess who his Democratic opponent would be. Yeah, it would be Hillary Clinton. According to the poll, she’d receive 57 percent of the vote. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is the only other potential candidate to receive double-digit support with 13 percent of Democrats and Democratic leaners saying they’d opt for her.
As of now, Romney would give the GOP its best chance of defeating Clinton. According to the poll, he’d defeat her by one percentage point.
Clinton is ahead of every other Republican she was polled against.
Not even the president’s daughters are safe when low down dirty Republicans are around.
Elizabeth Lauten, the communications director for Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.), wrote that the two teenagers should “try showing a little class,” “dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar,” and, most of all, “don’t make faces” at Very Serious public events.
Read the full rant via Gawker:
Dear Sasha and Malia, I get you’re both in those awful teen years, but you’re a part of the First Family, try showing a little class. At least respect the part you play. Then again your mother and father don’t respect their positions very much, or the nation for that matter, so I’m guessing you’re coming up a little short in the ‘good role model’ department. Nevertheless, stretch yourself. Rise to the occasion. Act like being in the White House matters to you. Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar. And certainly don’t make faces during televised public events.
The First Daughters join President Obama at the ceremony every year, where they can hardly contain their disdain for the lame dad jokes that predictably follow. Before approaching Mac and Cheese, the two turkeys, the president remarked that it was “puzzling that I do this every year.” Malia even declined her father’s offer to pet one of the pardoned turkeys with a nonchalant, “Nah.”
Lauten later apologized for rushing to judgment on Facebook.
“I reacted to an article and quickly judged the two young ladies in a way that I would never have wanted to be judged myself as a teenager,” she said. “After many hours of prayer, talking to my parents and re-reading my words online, I can see more clearly how hurtful my words were. Please know that these judgmental feelings truly have no pace in my heart. Furthermore, I’d like to apologize to all of those who I have hurt and offended with my words, and pledge to learn and grow (and I assure you I have) from this experience.”
It’s Darren Wilson can shoot and kill an unarmed teenager and get away without even being tried in court, then why can’t Ray Rice, who did an unspeakable thing of beating his wife, why can’t he get a second chance?
Well, seems like he is getting another chance. Rice, who was suspended indefinitely earlier this year for beating and knocking out his wife in an elevator, got the news that his indefinite suspension from the NFL is officially over.
“The suspension has been vacated,” George Atallah, the assistant executive director of external affairs for the players’ union, said.
Rice issued a written statement thanking his supporters, “most importantly, my wife Janay.”
“I made an inexcusable mistake and accept full responsibility for my actions,” Rice said, referring to two disturbing videos that show him knocking out his now-wife, Janay Rice, on an elevator in a casino in Atlantic City on February 15. “I am thankful that there was a proper appeals process in place to address this issue.”
He said he will continue to work hard to improve himself and learn from his mistakes.
As thousands gathered to make their voices heard during a rally earlier this week, one officer and a young man paused to hear each other out.
This image, shot by freelance photographer Johnny Nguyen, shows Portland Police Sgt. Bret Barnum hugging 12-year-old Devonte Hart during the Ferguson demonstration in Portland on Nov. 25, 2014.
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By agreeing to this, we can analyze browsing behavior and unique IDs on this site. Declining or revoking consent may affect certain features.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
