June 9, 2020

60 Minutes 2004: The Murder of Emmett Till

In 2004, 60 Minutes correspondent Ed Bradley reported on the 1955 murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till.

June 9, 2020

Furious Trump Declares Romney Not Welcome in Bunker

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Furious at Mitt Romney for participating in a Black Lives Matter march, Donald J. Trump declared on Monday that the Utah senator is “not welcome in my bunker.”

“Mitt Romney thinks he’s cute, first voting to impeach me and now marching,” Trump told reporters. “Well, I’ve got news for Mitt: his invitation to my bunker is hereby revoked.”

Trump said that, because of his disloyalty, Romney “will never experience all that the best bunker in the world has to offer.”

“There are luxury recliners, televisions as far as the eye can see, and a bottomless pit of snacks,” Trump boasted. “If Mitt could see what he’s missing, I’ll bet he’d rethink some of the cute things he’s done.”

Trump said that he was reviewing the behavior of other officials, such as Defense Secretary Mark Esper, to determine whether they will retain their bunker privileges.

“I’m not sure Esper is bunker material,” he mused.

Concluding his remarks, Trump said that there will be a photo of Romney at the entrance to the bunker in order to enable the Secret Service to bar the Utah senator, should he try to gain admission.

“Sorry, Mitt,” Trump sneered. “People like you don’t belong in a bunker. I do.”


Short article, no more at link: https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/furious-trump-declares-romney-not-welcome-in-bunker



Photograph by Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call / Getty

June 9, 2020

Tooning Out The News: Platitudes Generator can't handle Ivanka Trump's commencement speech

The Platitudes Generator operators struggle to fill the dead space in Ivanka Trump's commencement address and crank up the empty platitudes to full power.

June 9, 2020

Seth Meyers - Trump and the Police Lash Out at the Black Lives Matter Protests: A Closer Look

Seth takes a closer look at the president and police lashing out at Black Lives Matter protests despite polls showing overwhelming support for the demonstrations against police brutality and systemic racism.


Late Night with Seth Meyers is supporting City Harvest to help those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. City Harvest is New York City’s largest food rescue organization, working to end hunger throughout its communities by rescuing 66 million pounds of food each year and delivering it, free of charge, to hundreds of food pantries, soup kitchens and other community partners across five boroughs. Click the button on the above/below to donate or visit https://www.cityharvest.org/.

June 9, 2020

The Daily Social Distancing Show: America Protests Police Brutality and Systemic Racism

Following the killing of George Floyd, protests against police brutality have broken out in all fifty states. In response, Los Angeles and New York City have announced they’ll reallocate police money for the community, while Minneapolis considers disbanding its police force entirely.

June 9, 2020

The Daily Social Distancing Show: Cops Meet Police Brutality Protests with More Police Brutality

Cops respond to protests against systemic racism and police brutality with military tactics, macing and more of the same violence that protestors are working to shut down.

June 8, 2020

Not Real News: A look at what didn't happen this week

A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:

CLAIM: Photos show the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washingon, D.C., marred by graffiti as a result of riots after the death of George Floyd.

THE FACTS: The photos circulating on social media show a Vietnam Veterans Memorial replica in Los Angeles after it was defaced in 2016. Posts featuring the misidentified photo were viewed thousands of times on social media on Wednesday, with comments expressing outrage about the damage. “The Vietnam Memorial defaced by rioters,” read one Facebook post with nearly 80,000 views. “Total disrespect! There are just no words to express my outrage. This wall honors those who gave their last measure of devotion.” “The Vietnam Memorial?! Really? Are you still for the cause?!” read another. But a reverse image search of the photos being shared online revealed they show a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Venice, Los Angeles. They also aren’t current. The graffiti pictured appeared at the Los Angeles site in 2016 and has since been scrubbed off. The Associated Press reported in 2017 on the sentencing of the man who vandalized the Los Angeles replica. He was sentenced to four years in state prison. But other monuments in the nation’s capital, including the Lincoln Memorial and the World War II memorial, have been damaged during protests following the death of George Floyd, a black resident of Minneapolis. He died after a white officer held him to the ground with his knee on his neck for several minutes, even as he said he couldn’t breathe, during an arrest on May 25.

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CLAIM: Photo shows all the exterior and interior lights out at the White House on Sunday night, as President Donald Trump hid in a bunker.

THE FACTS: An image shared thousands of times online that appears to show all the lights out in and around the White House was taken before Trump even assumed office. AP photographs taken Sunday night show the front of the White House illuminated by exterior lights and the portico lantern turned on, but the mansion’s interior is dark. The viral photo, which has been edited, can be found on Getty Image’s stock website, where it was uploaded in December 2015. In the original, the lantern hanging in the White House portico is lit, along with several lights that surround the fountain in the front lawn. The edited version that is being widely shared online has been darkened, and edited to black out the lit lantern. Dozens of social media users shared the edited 2015 photo, claiming it showed the White House on Sunday night. “Lights out at #WhiteHouse is a powerful symbol,” one Twitter user wrote. Others claim it showed the White House on Sunday night as Trump took shelter in a bunker. The Associated Press reported that Secret Service agents rushed the president to a White House bunker Friday night, as hundreds of protesters surrounded the executive mansion.


Read more: https://apnews.com/17fbf84d509d00010c9acbc070cb8369

June 8, 2020

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) - Police

As nationwide protests over the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor are met with police brutality, John Oliver discusses how the histories of policing and white supremacy are intertwined, the roadblocks to fixing things, and some potential paths forward.

June 8, 2020

Trump Orders Troops to Leave D.C. as Former Military Leaders Sound Warning

Source: The New York Times

The president said National Guard soldiers would withdraw “now that everything is under perfect control,” even as three former Joint Chiefs chairmen condemned his use of military force.

WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Sunday that he had ordered National Guard troops to begin withdrawing from the nation’s capital, after a week of relentless criticism over his threat to militarize the government’s response to nationwide protests, including rebukes from inside the military establishment itself.

Mr. Trump announced his order on Twitter as three former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff harshly condemned him for using force to drive protesters back from the White House and threatening to send troops to quell protests in other cities. They warned that the military risked losing credibility with the American people.

The president said the National Guard soldiers would withdraw “now that everything is under perfect control.”

“They will be going home, but can quickly return, if needed,” he wrote on Twitter. “Far fewer protesters showed up last night than anticipated!”(In fact, the daylong protest in Washington on Saturday appeared larger than earlier rallies over the past week.)


Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/07/us/politics/trump-military-troops-protests.html

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National Guard troops near the White House on Saturday. Credit: Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times

June 8, 2020

Military Veterans Condemn Trump's Threat Against Protesters - NowThis

‘Most military, they did not sign up to fight their own neighbors.’ — Veterans are firing back at Trump for threatening protesters with military force.