Good mornin’ friends and family! We just watched that Netflix documentary series about Jeffrey Epstein and holy shit, can you believe he died in August? It feels like it was like, three years ago! OK, let’s get to the news.
Everything that’s happening in Minneapolis in the wake of George Floyd’s death is still huge news: but we want to take a minute and look at Amy Klobuchar’s record as a prosecutor there. We just wanna say at the top though: protestors in Minneapolis actually forced police to lose control of the city’s 3rd precinct building. That’s a huge deal.
Mark Zuckerberg went on Fox News to say that he thinks Twitter messed up by fact-checking Trump: the founder of Facebook also says that his website won’t adopt similar policies because he doesn’t think they should be the “arbiter of truth.” What a gross dude.
In an unprecedented move, the White House isn’t releasing formal economic projections this summer: probably because they’re going to forecast huge downturns and it’s easier for them to just bury their head in the sand. Cool!
What’s gonna happen to Epstein’s pedo island anyway? Anyone know? Alright, back to the news.
BLACK LIVES MATTER
Amy Klobuchar’s Cop-Friendly Record as a Prosecutor
Amy Klobuchar. Due to everything that’s happening in Minneapolis in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by the city’s police, people have started looking into Klobuchar’s record more. After all, she was a prosecutor in the state of Minnesota—and it’s even come out that Amy Klobuchar didn’t prosecute the officer responsible for Floyd’s death for other alleged violent encounters.
The Record
Klobuchar is up for a potential VP position in a Biden presidency, so looking at her record, including the eight years she spent as a prosecutor, is pretty important.
That record shows a career defined by her tough-on-crime approach; Klobuchar pushed more convictions of minor offenses like graffiti or school truancy and also never prosecuted any of the 29 fatalities involving law enforcement. Instead of pursuing criminal charges against police, she put the decision to a grand jury, which is a process that has been scrutinized for its secrecy and tendency to benefit police.
These aren’t unusual practices by any means, many prosecutors at the time were acting similarly. However, we now know that many of these techniques were ineffective and contributed to disproportionately hurting non-white populations.
The Aftermath
Last night, protests in Minneapolis continued—and escalated quite a bit. Protesters ended up storming and effectively taking over the city’s 3rd precinct police building before lighting it on fire. They then celebrated with a fireworks display outside. Honestly? That’s pretty badass and a great symbol of community solidarity.
If being totally cool with protesters burning down cop property upsets you, just consider for a second how the police are treating the people they’re meant to protect and serve. Check out the first video, then watch the second, and tell us it’s not a beautiful sight.
However, we can’t forget that this is all happening because a man is dead over a fake $20 bill. If prosecutors like Klobuchar weren’t so easy on police officers who display patterns of violent behavior, it’s not unreasonable to imagine that fewer people would end up dead.
Bottom line: we need extreme overhauls to our entire justice system. From the cops who kill innocent folks to the prosecutors who protect them, change must be demanded.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Trump Has Found a New Ally in Criticizing Twitter: Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg. He’s just the absolute worst. Totally uncomfortable look at and clearly such a snake. OK, personal feelings aside, he’s also criticizing Twitter over their decision to fact-check Trump.
The Zucc
Zuckerberg went on Fox News to criticize Twitter’s decision to fact-check Trump and also insist that he believes privately-owned digital platforms like his shouldn’t act as the “arbiter of truth.”
Trump has already suggested he would shut Twitter down if he could. He’s also quoting Zuckerberg as justification for being critical of Twitter.
Trump is also signing an executive order that would allow U.S. citizens to submit complaints if they feel they were treated unfairly by a social network. Man, that sure is dumb.
On this, Zuckerberg may actually have a point: perhaps we shouldn’t trust corporations to determine what’s true or not for us. However, we can’t think of a much better system right now, so maybe Zuck should reconsider cozying up to awful conservatives over this talking point!
There are independent fact-checking organizations out there. Facebook even worked with them at some point. Problem is? They didn’t follow through with many of the recommendations fact-checkers gave them.
Bottom line: Zuck emphasizes just how important protecting political speech is. We agree. However, when we get into the area of actual misinformation, it seems wrong to insist that privately-owned platforms don’t have some responsibility to control what their platform is used for, especially when that misinformation could cause serious harm like we’re seeing with all the coronavirus misinformation out there.
TRUMPOCALYPSE
The White House Isn’t Going to Release Formal Economic Projections
In an unprecedented move, Trump’s White House has decided they’re not going to release updated economic projections. That’s totally normal, right?
The Economy is Screwed, Probably
According to people with knowledge of this decision, they’re doing this to stop panic because forecasts would almost certainly indicate that the pandemic has led to a “severe economic downturn.”
The document would have been released just a few months before the November elections, so by doing this, Trump can keep fear at bay to some degree and increase his chances of getting reelected.
These numbers have been released consistently since the ‘70s. Obama released the numbers during the Great Recession even though they looked bad. Many are now saying the White House should publish economic projections despite the pandemic.
With more than 40 million Americans out of work, the number of companies or countries at risk of having their credit ratings cut being pushed to an all-time high, and big bankruptcies taking place as quickly as they did back in May of 2009, it’s pretty obvious that the economy is screwed.
Bottom line: pretending the numbers don’t exist doesn’t actually make the numbers not exist.
END OF THE LINE...
That’s it for today.
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Have a good one,
The Bread Line
we’re listening to:
Klobuchar’s prosecutorial record, Zuckerberg criticizes Twitter, and economic projections.