Elected officials in major cities are weighing cuts to their police departments’ budgets, a common demand from activists protesting the police killing of George Floyd.
Continue reading “City Officials Weigh Police Department Budget Cuts Amid Nationwide Protests”
Among the alphabet soup of federal law enforcement agencies patrolling the streets of Washington, D.C. in recent days, a deployment of “crisis management” teams from the Federal Bureau of Prisons stuck out like a sore thumb.
Yesterday, amidst global protests about police brutality, the venerable New York Times published an op-ed by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) titled “Tom Cotton: Send In the Troops.”
“The nation must restore order,” the sub-headline read. “The military stands ready.”
This piece was met with visceral anger. The union representing New York Times staff, the NewsGuild, issued a statement that Cotton’s message “undermines the journalistic integrity of our members, puts Black staff members in danger, promotes hate, and is likely to encourage further violence.” Countless journalists tweeted “Running this puts Black @nytimes staff in danger.” Continue reading “A.G. Sulzberger’s No Good, Very Bad Explanation For Tom Cotton’s Belligerent Op-Ed”
Former White House chief of staff John Kelly threw his support behind fellow Trump administration alum Jim Mattis as he takes heat from the President for decrying the President’s “abuse of executive authority” in a scathing statement. Continue reading “John Kelly Stands Up For Mattis: Trump Has ‘Clearly Forgotten How It Actually Happened’”
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) announced Thursday that he is placing a hold on two Trump administration nominees until the White House provides him with an explanation for the firing of two inspectors general.
“Good Morning Britain” co-host Piers Morgan, one of President Donald Trump’s biggest media allies, had an interview with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Thursday that flew completely off the handle.
One of the essential features of Trump and Trumpism is the way he has – both in his person and his movement ideology – managed to bring all the contradictions and controversies in our society furiously to a head. In a matter of days not weeks we have managed to skip from the intricacies of a public health crisis to racism and police violence to the state cornerstone of civilian-military relations and the rather essential question of whether the President is threatening some sort of distended military rule.
The Philadelphia Inquirer has apologized to readers and staffers after publishing the headline “Buildings Matter, Too” — an ill-conceived and racist riff on the Black Lives Matter movement for a column that ran Monday.
While intending to address the city’s plans for repairing damages to buildings and infrastructure following anti-racism protests, the news outlet later acknowledged that the headline was insensitive — suggesting an equivalence between the value of property and the value of black lives. In a letter of apology published two days after the incident, executive and managing editors at the Inquirer said that while “no such comparison was intended,” the poor judgment exercised in the decision was “unacceptable.”
I was glad to see @PhillyInquirer respond with this apology and explanation for the unfortunate headline that accompanied my column Tuesday. I am deeply sorry for the trauma it caused black people in Philly, and my black and brown newsroom colleagues. https://t.co/N5f5uusQhY
— Inga Saffron (@IngaSaffron) June 4, 2020
Rocked by protests against racial injustice that have swept across the nation this week and dismayed by the poor judgment exercised by their colleagues, some Inquirer staffers penned an open letter that surfaced on Twitter Thursday addressing the “systemic racism” that unfolded in their own newsroom.
Today, I’m joining my colleagues of color at the @PhillyInquirer and calling in sick and tired.
Things need to change. We call on The Inquirer to do better. To be better.
Here is the open letter we sent our newsroom leadership yesterday:https://t.co/zWavZdCXgV pic.twitter.com/Epp9fZKDnJ
— Brandon Bell (@brandontrevion) June 4, 2020
“We’re tired of seeing our words and photos twisted to fit a narrative that does not reflect our reality,” Brandon Bell, a features reporter, and other staffers wrote. “We’re tired of being told to show both sides of issues there are no two sides of.”
A lot of us have been working to change the Inquirer and today was just another reminder that so many people are traumatized and exhausted
— ?????? ????? (@cassieowens) June 3, 2020
Forty-four people had signed the letter as of 8 a.m. ET on Thursday, some adding that the walk-out reflected a rebuke not just of a single headline but a culture that needs changing.
"this conversation has been started time and time again." I just want to reiterate that it is not just because of one headline. It is not just one mistake. It is something that continuously happens at the Inquirer and when journalists of color call it out, they are often silenced
— Lauren Schneiderman (@lschneiderman_) June 4, 2020
The move to “walkout” echoes decisions by some staff at The New York Times who called out of work Thursday after sharply criticizing the publication of a controversial opinion essay by Sen. Tom Cotton that promoted the activation of military forces against racial equality demonstrations that had, in his view, been co-opted by “anarchists.”
The Senate majority leader rarely straightens his spine to break with President Trump. And when he does, you can always expect push back about as stiff as a wet noodle.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is throwing his support behind Defense Secretary Mark Esper amid reports that the White House is “not happy” after Esper broke with President Trump by opposing invoking the Insurrection Act to quell protests. Continue reading “McConnell Boosts Esper As He Comes Under Fire At WH For Breaking With Trump”
