SocraticGadfly: Texas progressives talk George Floyd, SCOTUS, qualified immunity

June 04, 2020

Texas progressives talk George Floyd, SCOTUS, qualified immunity

No need to apply for a vote-by-mail version of this week's Texas Progressives. But, per the state Supremes' ruling, we'd given you one, if you cited a disability.

Maybe being a member of a non-duopoly party counts?

So, dig in and start reading.



Texas politics

Bud Kennedy wonders how much enthusiasm for November this week's online-only state Democratic convention will juice up, especially following in the national wake of protests in Minneapolis, Atlanta and elsewhere.

Hypocrisy alert! Gov. Strangeabbott, Danny Goeb and Kenny Boy have all voted by mail.

The Trib has more on the Texas Supremes' ruling on vote by mail. AND, if it's anything more than PSAs, why the hell is the Trib taking money from the Texas Secretary of State's office?

Off the Kuff unpacks the convoluted Supreme Court ruling in the state vote by mail lawsuit.

The Texas Signal declares that Ken Paxton is bluffing about vote by mail.

Michael Li analyzes that State Supreme Court decision regarding vote by mail.

Peter Hotze: Leader of the non-elected wing of Texas wingnuts who claim they're fiscal conservatives but whose frivolous lawsuits waste taxpayer money. (Strangeabbott, with his pre-2017 suits against Obama, leads the elected wing.)

Grits hopes the George Floyd killing finally spurs changes in the Austin PD — and the city council that oversees it.

The 14th District Court of Appeals will hear Dikeman v Hughs, 14-19-969CV, on June 23. This is the case on whether minor party members must pay a filing fee if they want to be considered for nomination at a party that uses conventions instead of primaries to nominate.


National — black lives matter vs thuggish cops

SocraticGadfly explains how issues of the duopoly and lesser evilism extend to the Supreme Court, when one looks outside the lens of reproductive choice and sexual choice rights, and especially when one looks through the lens of criminal justice issues and minorities. Namely, that's the "qualified immunity" doctrine.

The GP's National Black Caucus speaks about George Floyd.

DosCentavos implores local leaders to change law enforcement culture after the murder of George Floyd and others killed in recent weeks . 

Milton "Big Pokey" Powell, a friend of George Floyd's, calls for police to be held truly accountable when they commit violence against civilians.

Gadfly also had a roundup of Floyd-related news and legal thoughts, including how Democrat Supreme Court justices support qualified immunity about as much as conservatives.


National — other

Gullible cities are pissed that airlines are cutting services, after either vague promises or, even worse, cities being suckers on their own. NOBODY put a gun to the head of Williston, North Dakota, and told it to build a new, $275M airport. A lot of people with brains could have told it not to be too dependent on the fracking boom.

Just after announcing that he was running for Congress as a Green, Chris Hedges is back out. He says he was told by the FEC he'd have to drop his TV show. Somehow, that itself doesn't sound quite right. It's not that it's a national TV show, I think, as the "Fairness Doctrine" no longer exists. Rather, it's that he's got a Jesse Ventura problem and his show is hosted by RT. "Interesting" that he didn't think about that in advance after Jesse's politicus interruptus was all over the Green Party news world.


World

Income inequality is not just an American thing. Witness Geneva. Like many rich American cities, it has a big underclass, and like them, many of its members are Ill Eagles.

Trump is getting rebuked internationally both on his attempt to unilaterally expand the G7 and his attempt to have it meet in person after all at its next scheduled gathering, of which Merika is supposed to be the host.

Britain was eyeing a British-controlled, Jewish-dominated Palestine 50 years before WWI and the Balfour Declaration and decades before Zionism had landed big on the European radar screen.


Non-political

Scientists have made a breakthrough in understanding the origins of human speech. Chimpanzee and gorilla "lip-smacks" have been shown to occur at the same rate of speed as human speech vocalizations. Again, evolution is the Great Bootstrapper.

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