Texas Observer: “Initial findings from a series city-commissioned reports released over the past year seem to only bolster complaints from former cadets like Spisak and spotlight the kind of violent, warrior-cop culture that pervades much of policing. One group of reports released last summer called APD’s paramilitary approach to training police antiquated, saying it reinforces an us-versus-them mentality toward…
BLM Protestor Trials Underway in Alamance County, NC
The Progressive Pulse: “Trials of protesters who demonstrated in Graham last fall in support of the Black Lives Matter movement got underway on Wednesday, with the prosecutor dropping charges against two people, and the judge affirming misdemeanor charges against another individual without imposing a penalty. The Alamance County town was the scene of multiple protests…
Your Body, His Choice: TN Bill Would Allow Fathers to Veto Abortions
Tennessean: “In an effort to further restrict abortion in Tennessee, two Tennessee lawmakers have introduced legislation that would allow a father to deny an abortion without the pregnant woman’s consent. SB494/HB1079, sponsored by Sen. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon and Rep. Jerry Sexton, R-Bean Station, would give a man who gets a woman pregnant the veto power to an abortion…
Suspicions Gov. DeSantis Directing COVID Vaccine to Donors, Base
South Florida Sun Sentinel: “Gov. Ron DeSantis defended his decision Wednesday to steer COVID-19 vaccine to a planned community with family ties to a Republican power couple, threatening to pull doses if local officials criticize his distribution methods. DeSantis is facing questions over his decision to provide seniors living in two of Manatee County’s wealthiest…
Longtime AR State Sen. Quits GOP
Political Wire: “Arkansas state Sen. Jim Hendren announced in a video that he was leaving the Republican Party to become an independent, saying the violent pro-Trump insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was “the final straw.””
“Ivanka Trump will not run against Marco Rubio for one of Florida’s Senate seats.”
NY Times: “Ivanka Trump will not run for the U.S. Senate from Florida in 2022, according to people close to her as well as an aide to Senator Marco Rubio, who holds the seat. Since the final days of former President Trump’s term in office, speculation has been growing that Ms. Trump, his eldest daughter,…
Nikki Haley’s Political (Mis)Judgment On Full Display
Political Wire: “Charlie Sykes reviews Nikki Haley’s political judgement so far this year as she positions herself for a presidential run: She’s broken with Trump over his handling of the Capitol riot. She walked that back, declaring “Give the man a break!” She broke with Trump again, telling Tim Alberta that “He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and…
“The Virginia G.O.P. Voted on Its Future. The Losers Reject the Results.”
NY Times: “But in a sign of the Trumpian times of denial and dispute in the G.O.P., nearly half of the party’s top officials keep trying to reverse the results and get a primary. The refusal of these Republicans to admit they have lost, or to agree on a set of nominating rules, has fractured…
“Federal judge blocks SC abortion ban 1 day after Gov. McMaster signed it into law”
The State: “A federal judge temporarily blocked South Carolina’s new “fetal heartbeat” abortion ban Friday, a day after Gov. Henry McMaster signed the state’s restrictive new abortion bill into law in front of a crowd of enthusiastic supporters at the State House. South Carolina’s new law — passed by Republican majorities in the S.C. House and Senate…
Slate Asks, Maybe Nikki Haley Just Says Whatever People Want To Hear In That Moment and Has No Core Values?
Slate: “What is Haley’s strategy for balancing her party’s competing interests going to be? Well, don’t ask her! Or do, but be prepared to get a different answer every time. As Alberta notes, the prospective candidate took three positions on Trump’s effort to overturn the election during a six-week period in which he was following…