[News] Post a Political News Story

Ongoing discussion of the political news of the day. This thread is for 'smaller' stories that don't call for their own thread. If a story blows up, please start a new thread for it.

Nomad wrote:

This is incredibly disingenuous.

He was indicted on 16 felony counts by a grand jury.

Between this and the Trump “exoneration”, things seem pretty bleak in this country when people are only interested in truth when it fits their agenda.

As the saying goes prosecutors have so much control over the grand jury process that a ham sandwich could be indicted on 16 felony counts. And a grand jury indictment is a very, very long way from someone actually being found guilty.

Had you said that the prosecutor 'believes' Smollett was guilty instead of saying the prosecutor 'admits' Smollett was guilty I probably wouldn't have commented. But the use of 'admits' strongly implies that Smollett's legal guilt was a forgone conclusion that didn't require the niceties of a trial and completely ignores all the red flags that popped up about the CPD's investigation (again, a police force with a long history of straight up murdering black men and a recent history of beating confessions out of thousands black men in an unconstitutional and illegal secret interrogation facility).

But we're never going to get a resolution with Smollett because of how poorly both the the CPD and prosecutors handled things. That and the reality that Lady Justice isn't so blind that she can't tell who has connections and money.

farley3k wrote:
Bonus_Eruptus wrote:

I just can't fathom a system in which the cops and prosecution think a suspect is guilty.

Sarcasm? I mean that is their jobs.

Now OG_slinger said "if the prosecutor thinks the black guy is guilty then he's actually guilty" which is a lot different.

Definitely sarcasm. A prosecutor's job, unfortunately, is to get re-elected, and to do that, they have to be "tough on crime", which is measured directly by their conviction numbers. To game this system, they prosecute cases that are easy wins.

I have a friend who was being overprescribed controlled substances by their doctor. DPS got involved and investigated, and the doctor threw them under the bus, saying they'd fired them as a patient 3 months earlier, and they must have been calling in their own prescriptions. Despite being provided with records from the pharmacy's phone/fax system that showed all of the prescriptions were faxes from the doctor's fax line, with his signature on them, DPS decided that it'd be an easier case to go after someone without the resources to defend themselves, and arrested my friend.

Thankfully, the prosecutor was a bit ethical, and actually presented the fax evidence to the grand jury, who no-billed it (elected not to take it to trial), probably because the judge was in the process of being disbarred for sending a man to prison for 25 years as DA by hiding exculpatory evidence.

If they hadn't been able to afford bail, or had a job that would've fired them for having to miss work for court dates, they probably would've had to take a plea deal, which is a +1 for the prosecutor's record, primarily at the expense of the poor.

Despite being exonerated, my friend's mugshot is still out there, preventing them from getting jobs, and even though the doctor provably lied under oath giving their affidavit, he faced no charges. They'll have to deal with extortionate assholes with online mugshot sites, unless they manage to get every last one named in a court order to expunge their record, and for most people/jobs, a mugshot means they must be guilty.

Nomad wrote:

He was indicted on 16 felony counts by a grand jury.

Between this and the Trump “exoneration”, things seem pretty bleak in this country when people are only interested in truth when it fits their agenda.

As I noted before, my friend had to rely on the prosecutor presenting the exculpatory evidence to the grand jury, and doing so in an ethical manner. Why?

https://www.quora.com/Can-a-defendant-suspect-be-represented-by-his-own-lawyer-in-a-grand-jury

No, the target of the investigation who faces possible indictment is not even permitted to be present at a grand jury proceeding. His or her lawyers are not permitted to participate or observe the proceedings, nor will they be provided with a transcript. Court reporters (transcribers not members of the press) may be present with the grand jury but the records are sealed. The prosecutor alone runs these proceedings; no judge will be present. Often, a grand jury is convened without the awareness of the target of the investigation.

Grand jury is very different from a jury trial. All that has to happen is a prosecutor has to convince 6 people the case is worth pursuing, and if they're biased, which Chicago PD and DAs allegedly are, it's going to go to trial. Someone must have really screwed up to get it dropped at that stage unless he actually didn't do it.

OG_slinger wrote:

That and the reality that Lady Justice isn't so blind that she can't tell who has connections and money.

I am a bit surprised more people don't really know that or maybe people know but they don't except it. It seems like a fact of the system after so many high profile not guilty verdicts, and slap on the wrist penalties.

This comes up a lot when you are talking about police misconduct trials: If a prosecutor fails to get an indictment, it is because they meant not to through self sabotage. The standards of evidence are exceptionally now, the prosecutor is under absolutely no obligation to present exculpatory evidence, and the defendant has no right or ability to present during the procedure.

OG_slinger wrote:
Nomad wrote:

This is incredibly disingenuous.

He was indicted on 16 felony counts by a grand jury.

Between this and the Trump “exoneration”, things seem pretty bleak in this country when people are only interested in truth when it fits their agenda.

As the saying goes prosecutors have so much control over the grand jury process that a ham sandwich could be indicted on 16 felony counts. And a grand jury indictment is a very, very long way from someone actually being found guilty.

Had you said that the prosecutor 'believes' Smollett was guilty instead of saying the prosecutor 'admits' Smollett was guilty I probably wouldn't have commented. But the use of 'admits' strongly implies that Smollett's legal guilt was a forgone conclusion that didn't require the niceties of a trial and completely ignores all the red flags that popped up about the CPD's investigation (again, a police force with a long history of straight up murdering black men and a recent history of beating confessions out of thousands black men in an unconstitutional and illegal secret interrogation facility).

But we're never going to get a resolution with Smollett because of how poorly both the the CPD and prosecutors handled things. That and the reality that Lady Justice isn't so blind that she can't tell who has connections and money.

If you had led with this, I’d have happily edited “admits” to “believes”. Assuming an entire argument based on perceived implications from one word, instead of asking for clarification, seems like a recipe for disaster.

Facebook announced yesterday that they are now treating white nationalism and white separatism the same way they have been treating white supremacy: they will be banned on Facebook and Instagram.

However, "Implicit and coded white nationalism and white separatism will not be banned immediately, in part because the company said it’s harder to detect and remove."

So now all the white nationalists will talk only in dog whistles.

BadKen wrote:

So now all the white nationalists will talk only in dog whistles.

As long as you meant this literally, I'm fine with that.

If only.

BadKen wrote:

Facebook announced yesterday that they are now treating white nationalism and white separatism the same way they have been treating white supremacy: they will be banned on Facebook and Instagram.

However, "Implicit and coded white nationalism and white separatism will not be banned immediately, in part because the company said it’s harder to detect and remove."

So now all the white nationalists will talk only in dog whistles.

Go back to only talking in dog whistles, you mean. They kept it hidden before, too.

Nomad wrote:

Between this and the Trump “exoneration”, things seem pretty bleak in this country when people are only interested in truth when it fits their agenda.

Yep

Well I mean Mueller is free now I hear.

oilypenguin wrote:

What the actual f*ck.

A black man got more press than trump did. That is really all he needs for an investigation.

farley3k wrote:
oilypenguin wrote:

What the actual f*ck.

A black man got more press than trump did. That is really all he needs for an investigation.

That was my first thought. “Must be getting more attention than him.”

If I had to give a second reason it would be that is helps reinforce the narrative that liberal elites (because what else is an "actor") are corrupt evil doers. It will keep the cults voters angry so they will be ready to go vote to save america in 2020.

oilypenguin wrote:

What the actual f*ck.

Chicago police released a portion of their investigative reports on Wednesday, but said there will be no more information to come.

The 61 pages were released in response to Freedom of Information Act requests from the media and do not appear to offer many major revelations about what investigators allege was Smollett's hoax.

They do, however, shed light on investigators' interactions with the brothers investigators say participated in staging the attack.

After the documents were made public, the police department was told that it was barred from releasing them by court order, CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said on Twitter.

Hmm...

PUT THAT CAT BACK IN THE BAG!

oilypenguin wrote:

What the actual f*ck.

I'll say one thing about Trump is he knows his base very well. I guess it helps when you're a piece of sh*t.

If it wasn't about racism - it sure is now!

Spoiler:

It was.

What a country. The idea of Bill Barr aiding and abetting possible treason, but then putting actual effort into making sure a black actor is prosecuted to make the president’s base happy.

DSGamer wrote:

What a country. The idea of Bill Barr aiding and abetting possible treason, but then putting actual effort into making sure a black actor is prosecuted to make the president’s base happy.

it would be his third time. I don't know why people say this like it's some kind of unexpected action.

*rant time*

Twitter is considering labeling Trump tweets that violate its rules

Twitter is considering labeling tweets that violate its rules but should remain on the platform because they're in the public interest.

No you lying f*ckwads, you are leaving them, and allowing him to violate your COC because it has made you f*cktons of money.

It has made you the most important social media app in America. Your name appears daily in every news outlet in the country (and probably the world)

You f*cking love it, you relish it. You would never, ever ban him or stop his tweets because it has made you important.

I love* the way that right-wingers are absolutely convinced that Twitter and Facebook are biased against them. There's literal white supremacists running rampant on both platforms, but somehow the handful the get banned (often for bragging about violating the terms of service during an interview in national news media) are the real victims.

* hate

I think someone needs a refresher on the difference between transgender and transhuman.

Get a Ray Kurzweil stat!

Garrcia wrote:

I think someone needs a refresher on the difference between transgender and transhuman.

Get a Ray Kurzweil stat!

It seriously looks like she doesn't know they are different concepts. Or whoever writes her dialog doesn't anyway.

Trans cyborgs. Yeah, baby!

Vape Nation: Vaping Is Bad, Kids

Vaping is an epidemic among kids: 1 in 5 high school students and 1 in 20 middle school students (!) do it. To put that in perspective, that's about as popular as Fortnite.

Nicotine isn't the worst problem, although by itself it's bad enough. Chemicals in the fluid can cause diseases like Bronchiolitis obliterans (diacetyl) and can cause five times more cancer risk than long term tobacco smoking (formaldehyde).

E-cigs also carry other risks. "On February 4th, 2019 a Fort Worth man’s E-cigarette device exploded and dissected his left internal carotid artery, killing him."

BadKen wrote:

Vape Nation: Vaping Is Bad, Kids

Vaping is an epidemic among kids: 1 in 5 high school students and 1 in 20 middle school students (!) do it. To put that in perspective, that's about as popular as Fortnite.

Nicotine isn't the worst problem, although by itself it's bad enough. Chemicals in the fluid can cause diseases like Bronchiolitis obliterans (diacetyl) and can cause five times more cancer risk than long term tobacco smoking (formaldehyde).

E-cigs also carry other risks. "On February 4th, 2019 a Fort Worth man’s E-cigarette device exploded and dissected his left internal carotid artery, killing him."

Parents in our district's FB group have mentioned that their kids see others vaping in the bathrooms. This is in middle school.

My 7th grader tells me that none of her friends vape as far as she knows, but she's also bombarded by anti-vaping PSAs to the point that it's annoying for her. But out here in the upper-middle burbs, I'd be shocked if our numbers weren't at least as high as 1/5 and 1/20.