We have previously discussed rising cases of politically motivated violence, including attacks on people wearing MAGA hats. In Delaware, two women reached a particular low point by stealing the hat of a 7-year-old and then screaming profanities, ripping up signs, and one assaulting an individual in a parking lot near the Democratic National Convention on Thursday. The Delaware police hit Olivia Winslow, 21, and Camryn Amy, 21, with an array of well-earned charges, though one charge remains unclear in terms of the relevant conduct. What is remarkable about the videotape is the sense of utter entitlement to attack those with opposing views.
I have been critical of professors who have declared any MAGA displays as proof of white supremacism or fascism. Such views have fueled a type of license to assault and abuse people for their political views. MAGA hats have been banned from some college coffee shops or stolen by fellow students on campuses. Even journalists have declared anyone wearing a MAGA hat to be a per se racist.
Such voices of intolerance reinforce those who claim the right to take violent action as shown in the video taken near the Democratic National Convention. The video is available here.
Winslow and Amy were charged with robbery, conspiracy and endangering the welfare of a child. Amy was also charged with offensive touching.
I was asked why I didn't note this in an e-mail. I didn't know about it until the e-mail came in.
Of course, that's wrong. The two women need to be locked up -- both because of what they did and to send a message to others. What they did was outrageous and would be outrageous if this were an adult. It is all the more disgusting that adults did this to a child.
"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
Tuesday, August 25, 2020. Republicans hold a convention -- didn't they do that last week?, Joe has no bounce and the assassination of Reham Yacoub continues to result in outcry.
Last week, Republicans got to speak at an informercial passed off as a convention, this week they do the same. The difference? This week is actually the Republican convention. Last week was the Democrats convention -- or it was supposed to be. Instead, War Criminals like Colin Powell traipsed across the stage as if to say: They're not a dime's worth difference between the two parties.
Last week, men who would control women's bodies were allowed to take the stage at the DNC and were applauded and held up as people to admire. Men who would gut public education were cheered.
It was appalling and yet you have idiots and liars and whores who wanted to pretend that it was something to see.
Steven Shepard (POLITICO) notes Joe has no convention 'bounce' (where your popularity surges following a thrilling convention) and Andrew Romano (YAHOO NEWS) notes the same. At what point do people start to consider the reality: The wrong person got the nomination.
Joe's plan is hide out until election day.
If Donald Trump were to agree to hide out as well, that might work. But he's not going to. He's going to make efforts to energize his base.
Does Joe have any surrogates he could utilize? Nope. And celebs aren't going to be able to help him. Debra Messing and Alyssa Milano have spent years spewing hate at people from their Twitter accounts. They're not going to be able to reach the undecided. They're toxic.
The Covid attacks on Donald are already misfiring. People are noting that Joe offered nothing during this time and that, as one person we spoke with yesterday put it, "Now all he does is hide away from the people sending me the message that Joe will protect himself only. He can't lead because he won't get outside and lead."
It was comments from the various groups we spoke to at this time in 2016 that had me issue the statement that Hillary was going to lose and she was actually in a stronger position than Joe is right now. Is Joe going to lose? I don't know. Maybe he'll get off his lazy ass and start trying to give people a reason to vote for him -- instead of just offering 'vote against Trump.'
People are already questioning whether Joe's fit for the job. Having him hide out for the month of September isn't going to help.
People are rightly complaining that CNN's Brian Seltzer is fact checking the GOP convention after 'forgetting' to do that for the DNC. That's a valid complaint. But there's far worse going on.
For example?
A moment: Joe Biden choking up mentioning Beau's service in Iraq, and then saying, "America will not turn a blind eye to Russian bounties on the heads of American soldiers. Nor will I put up with foreign interference in our most sacred democratic exercise -- voting.” #DNC2020
That's Courtney Norris. She's a national affairs producer for PBS' THE NEWS HOUR -- meaning, we pay her salary. There is no proof that Russia has a bounty on the heads of US troops. That claim fell apart as soon it was published. But weeks later, Joe Biden lies and Courtney presents it as fact.
I don't really think her garbage should be allowed at PBS. Next up, Courtney Tweets that Iraq has WMDS!!!! Cites NYT as her source!!!!
Iraq. The issue everyone wants to avoid. US House Rep Tulsi Gabbard -- Excuse me, outgoing US House Rep Tulsi Gabbard has been complaining that she wasn't asked to speak at the convention last week. She did get delegates, as her fan club notes. Yes, she got two.
What did Tulsi have to offer that wasn't on display?
She'd already lied and whored for Joe Biden so what else did she have to offer? Yes, it must be very hard for her, after lying for him in the July 31st debate, after publicly trashing the only person to stand up to Joe (Kamala Harris), it must have really hurt Tulsi that she didn't get picked for v.p. and she didn't even get to speak at the convention.
But she had nothing to offer. She ran as an anti-war voice and yet she used her debate time to prop up a War Hawk. That's on her. Tulsi Fake Ass.
Can we learn anything by the time 2024 rolls around? Like don't believe people who say they're anti-war and talk big on Joe Rogan's show but then refuse to stand up in a debate. If you see that happen again, have the brains to drop all support for the fake ass.
She endorsed Joe, not Bernie. Remember that. Tulsi stood for nothing. She was empty talk. Adam Kokesh called it and he was right.
Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq are cracking down on media outlets covering anti-government protests, journalists and rights defenders told AFP, shattering the region's reputation as a liberal refuge.
For decades, Iraqis fleeing pressure by paramilitary groups, tribes and powerful politicians in the more conservative south sought safe haven in the Kurdish region.
But public anger at the Kurdish regional government (KRG) has grown in recent months, prompting protests over unpaid state salaries and Turkish incursions into border areas.
Demonstrators and rights defenders say the rallies have been met with a heavy-handed response from security forces -- with reporters increasingly targeted.
"Despite laws guaranteeing press freedom in the region, when political and economic crises intensify, the limits on press reach a point of strangulation," warned the region's Metro Center for Journalist Rights and Advocacy.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi government insists that they are close to finding the people (militia) responsible for killing the activists in Basra. Among those killed is Reham Yacoub.
Reham Yacoub, REUTERS notes, had been active "in the local protest movement since 2018 and had led several women's marches." PERSECUTION.ORG adds, "These events have caused an outcry of alarm by many Iraqis, who remember the frequency of targeted kidnappings and assassinations during the early 2000s. The latest series of incidents occur within a similar environment in that there is an increase of militia tension. In Iraq’s current domestic landscape, many of these militias are heavily backed by Iran." Iraq Tweets notes:
Demonstrators on Friday set fire to the parliament's local offices in the city of Basra as security forces fired live rounds in the air to disperse them. They had gathered to demand the dismissal of Basra Governor Asaad al-Eidani after two activists were killed and others wounded in three separate attacks by unknown gunmen last week.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi arrived in Basra late on Saturday in an attempt to quell the unrest, pledging to bring those accountable for the killings to justice.
"Basra will recover again, God willing. This is a message to all criminals and killers, this is a new government that is working to establish the prerequisites of security," al-Khadimi told crowds in Basra.
Protests continue over the assassination of Reham Yacoub:
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