During Justice Committee meeting, Tennessee lawmaker gleefully suggests bringing back lynching

Daily Kos Staff

Thursday March 02, 2023 · 7:42 AM PST

2023/03/02 · 07:42

Tennessee Rep. Paul Sherrell — Tennessee state Rep. Paul Sherrell

During a House Criminal Justice Committee meeting Tuesday, Tennessee lawmaker, state Rep. Paul Sherrell, literally licked his chops (swirling his tongue in his mouth) as he boldly suggested that death row inmates be executed by “hanging by a tree.”

These white racists aren’t even trying to cover up their latest version of the “Southern Strategy”—the plan by Republicans following the Civil Rights Movement to scare the shit out of Southern voters by appealing to their racist nature and thus gathering their votes.

Sherrell, who sponsored a bill to change a Nashville street named after the late Civil Rights icon John Lewis to President Donald Trump Boulevard, made his outrageous comments while hearing an amendment to a bill to allow a firing squad to be used to execute death row inmates. Surprisingly, that’s not something currently on the books in Tennessee.

Rebekah Sager

Daily Kos Staff

Thursday March 02, 2023 · 7:19 AM PST

2023/03/02 · 07:19

Critical Incident Video Release: Arrest of Lisa Edwards (February 5, 2023)

Lisa Edwards begged for her life. But instead of helping the 60-year-old disabled Knoxville, Tennessee, woman, police arrested her for trespassing after she refused to leave the Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center when the doctors discharged her.

Edwards told police she should couldn’t breathe. They said it was “an act.” One snarky cop even offered her a cigarette.

In video footage released by the Knoxville Police Department, Edwards can clearly be heard slurring her words, and yet cops forcibly pushed her into the back of a police van, where she became unresponsive and died the next day of a stroke.

Rebekah Sager

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday March 01, 2023 · 11:22 AM PST

2023/03/01 · 11:22

ROBSTOWN, TEXAS - OCTOBER 22: Former U.S President Donald Trump speaks at a 'Save America' rally on October 22, 2022 in Robstown, Texas. The former president, alongside other Republican nominees and leaders held a rally where they energized supporters and voters ahead of the midterm election. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) — Former U.S President Donald Trump speaks at a "Save America" rally on October 22, 2022 in Robstown, Texas. The former president, alongside other Republican

Like many wealthy people and big corporations, former President Donald Trump has a bigly issue paying the people who work for him. The Daily Beast reports that in 30 counties the outlet contacted, only one city’s local first responders had been paid for their time working at a Trump rally.

Trump owed more than $11,000 to Sioux City, Iowa, city and fire departments, as well as rented parking spaces from a November 2022 rally, according to The Daily Beast. It was only after immense pressure from city officials and reporting by the Sioux City Journal that the debt was eventually repaid.

"We show no outstanding bills for this Event Strategies group," City Manager Bob Padmore said. "The ambulance has been paid and now, the police security has been paid, as well."

Rebekah Sager

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday March 01, 2023 · 8:53 AM PST

2023/03/01 · 08:53

AUSTIN, TX - SEPTEMBER 20: LGBTQ rights supporters gather at the Texas State Capitol to protest state Republican-led efforts to pass legislation that would restrict the participation of transgender student athletes on the first day of the 87th Legislature's third special session on September 20, 2021 in Austin, Texas. Following a second special session that saw the passage of controversial voting and abortion laws, Texas lawmakers have convened at the Capitol for a third special session to address more of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's conservative priorities which include redistricting, the distribution of federal COVID-19 relief funds, vaccine mandates and restrictions on how transgender student athletes can compete in sports. (Photo by Tamir Kalifa/Getty Images) — LGBTQ rights supporters gather at the Texas State Capitol to protest state Republican-led efforts to pass legislation that would restrict the participation of transgender student athletes on the first day of the 87th Legislature

The Mid Vermont Christian School (MVCS) made it all the way to the state tournament. The women’s team was set to face off against Long Trail School on Feb. 21, but instead of facing up to their opponent, they made a very public and biased statement and forfeited the game because one of the Long Trail School players is transgender.

“We withdrew from the tournament because we believe playing against an opponent with a biological male jeopardizes the fairness of the game and the safety of our players,” Vicky Fogg, head of MVCS, said, according to CNN.

“Allowing biological males to participate in women’s sports sets a bad precedent for the future of women’s sports in general.”

Rebekah Sager

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday February 28, 2023 · 10:26 AM PST

2023/02/28 · 10:26

Representatives-elect Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), and George Santos (R-N.Y.) interact on the House floor during the third day of the House speakership election at the U.S. Capitol Jan. 5, 2023. (Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images) — Representatives-elect Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), and George Santos (R-N.Y.) interact on the House floor during the third day of the House speakership election at the U.S. Capitol Jan. 5, 2023.

The fact that it took Tennessee Republican Rep. Andy Ogles longer than the average student to get his degree, that he had a low GPA, and that he’d flunked several political science courses isn’t the issue. The issue is that he and other Republicans just can’t seem to stop themselves from lying.

According to reporting by the Nashville outlet NewsChannel 5 Investigates in mid-February, there’s a web of mistruths trapping the freshman congressman.

"Yeah, you know, I'm an economist," Ogles, 51, reportedly told a C-SPAN interviewer. And when asked what committees he’d like to be assigned to, he doubled down and said, "So, I'm an economist."

Rebekah Sager

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday February 28, 2023 · 8:15 AM PST

2023/02/28 · 08:15

BRISTOL, TENNESSEE - JULY 15: Tennessee Governor Bill Lee gives the command to start engines prior to the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on July 15, 2020 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee is at war with drag performers in his state. Lee says he plans to sign a recently passed bill restricting “adult cabaret performances” and banning gender-affirming care for the state’s minors.

But when confronted with his own past on Monday, after a 1977 photo emerged on Reddit of Lee wearing a miniskirt cheerleader outfit, complete with a wig and a string of pearls, the governor’s office claimed to The Daily Beast, it’s “different.”

Lee was caught off-guard when a Tennessee Holler reporter confronted him about the photo, asking if he "remembered dressing in drag in 1977." Lee said it was “ridiculous, […] conflating something like that to sexualized entertainment in front of children, which is a very serious subject,” Lee snarled.

Rebekah Sager

Daily Kos Staff

Monday February 27, 2023 · 12:32 PM PST

2023/02/27 · 12:32

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 08: Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media during an election night event at Mar-a-Lago on November 08, 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump spoke as the nation awaits the results of voting in the midterm elections. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) — Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media during an election night event at Mar-a-Lago on Nov. 8, 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida.

Officials of former President Donald Trump say the petty tyrant was so outraged by Jimmy Kimmel’s searing monologues at his expense that they were forced to try to muzzle the late-night host.

According to several ex-White House officials who spoke with Rolling Stone magazine anonymously, Trump forced them to call on top executives at Disney (which owns ABC and is the network that airs Jimmy Kimmel Live!) to demand that Kimmel stop bashing the president.

A Trump staff member said the former president felt Kimmel was “very dishonest and doing things that [Trump] would have once sued over.”

Rebekah Sager

Daily Kos Staff

Monday February 27, 2023 · 10:38 AM PST

2023/02/27 · 10:38

Florida Surgeon Gen. Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo before a bill signing by Gov. Ron DeSantis Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, in Brandon, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) — Florida Surgeon Gen. Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo before a bill signing by Gov. Ron DeSantis Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, in Brandon, Fla.

Florida’s Lee County Republican Party took a vote and passed its anti-science resolution titled “Ban the Jab.” The measure bans the sale and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine and is now headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk.

According to WINK News, Dr. Joe Sansone, a psychotherapist and the man behind the resolution, calls the vaccine a “biological and technological” weapon.

Sansone, who is not an epidemiologist, writes that “government agencies, media and tech companies and other corporations, have committed enormous fraud by claiming COVID injections are safe and effective.”

RELATED STORY: Florida’s surgeon general gives head-scratching advice on COVID vaccines and kids

Rebekah Sager

Daily Kos Staff

Monday February 27, 2023 · 8:10 AM PST

2023/02/27 · 08:10

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 02: . Elon Musk attends The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating "In America: An Anthology of Fashion" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 02, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue) — Elon Musk attends The 2022 Met Gala

When Dilbert comic strip creator Scott Adams went on a racist rant last week about Black people being a “hate group” and urging white people to “get the fuck away” from them, it wasn’t a huge surprise. Just like it wasn’t a huge surprise that Twitter CEO Elon Musk would defend Adams and pivot away from the artist’s outrageous comments to a conversation about the alleged “racist” media.

By Saturday, Adams’ strip was pulled from multiple newspapers nationwide.

Sunday, Musk tweeted that the media “was against non-white people,” but now they’re “racist against whites & Asians.”

Rebekah Sager

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday February 14, 2023 · 3:48 PM PST

2023/02/14 · 15:48

Courtney Mallery arrested in Colorado for an alleged stalking crime. — Courtney Mallery, arrested in Colorado for an alleged stalking crime.

Since 2017, a Black ranching couple in Colorado has been putting up with alleged harassment, racism, and stalking by their white neighbors and the sheriff’s office. It all came to a head on Feb. 7, when one of the ranchers was arrested.

Courtney and Nicole Mallery own a 1,000-acre ranch in eastern El Paso County. They claim their white neighbors have been harassing them since they moved to the area, CBS News reports.

"We are stalked, we are harassed, we are chased, we are followed, there's been spray paint where they put 'n*****' on items on our home," Nicole Mallery said.

Rebekah Sager

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday February 14, 2023 · 11:07 AM PST

2023/02/14 · 11:07

Darryl “Tyree” Williams during a police stop with the Raleigh, North Carolina police department.

Darryl “Tyree” Williams was sitting in his car when six Raleigh, North Carolina, police officers approached him. Two hours and several tasings later, Williams was dead, and the officers were placed on administrative leave. This just days after the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols by police in Memphis, Tennessee.

According to CNN, officers were conducting “proactive patrols” in the area where Williams and a passenger were parked on Jan. 17 at 1:55 AM.

Officers J.T. Thomas and C.D. Robinson were seen in body camera footage opening the passenger door of William’s car when Robinson claimed to see an open container of alcohol and marijuana.

The officers asked Williams, 32, and the passenger to exit the car and conducted a body search. “What’s going on?” Williams is heard asking several times.

Rebekah Sager

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday February 14, 2023 · 8:16 AM PST

2023/02/14 · 08:16

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks at the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 19, 2022. (Photo by Wade Vandervort / AFP) (Photo by WADE VANDERVORT/AFP via Getty Images) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Nov. 19, 2022.

Depending on which lens you use to look at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, you could be either terrified or find him to be terribly pathetic. He’s either the dark authoritarian monster primed to lead the Republican Party or a sad and desperate wannabe who is no more fit to lead the nation than he is to lead Florida.

If you were to audit DeSantis’ receipts on the issues he’s made his priority—battling “woke” Disney, immigration, gun laws, or African American history courses—you’ll find he’s as empty as a pinata without the candy. He’s a hollow man, an empty suit, a straw man, a tin god.

Let’s take the governor’s battle with Walt Disney World. Last year, Disney employees stood up to DeSantis and his notorious “Don’t Say Gay” bill, a law that bans public schools from discussing LGBTQ+ history and gender identity in classrooms. In response to the theme park’s pushback, DeSantis signed a bill erasing the company’s decades-long tax benefits as a special tax district.

RELATED STORY: College Board yanks Black writers, BLM from AP African American studies, adds ‘Black conservativism’

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During Justice Committee meeting, Tennessee lawmaker gleefully suggests bringing back lynching

Disabled woman dead after Knoxville police refused to call an ambulance. Instead, they arrested her

Deadbeat 45th president owes millions in unpaid bills to local cops for working his MAGA rallies

Girls high school basketball team opts out of state tournament rather than face transgender player

New lies from Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles’ past come to light

Anti-drag Tennessee governor runs from a reporter when confronted with a photo of himself in drag

Jimmy Kimmel got under Trump’s thin skin—so much so that officials tried to muzzle the host

Republican-controlled Florida county with nearly 240K COVID-19 cases bans vaccine

Elon Musk says ‘media is racist’ against white people, defends ‘Dilbert’ creator’s racist comments

Black rancher arrested after going public about being terrorized by white neighbors for years

Days after the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, a North Carolina man was tased to death by police

Turns out DeSantis is more impotent than his boasting lets on