The world needs you to make a big donation today. But not money. Just a bucketful of positive “Big-D” vibes sent in the general vicinity of—[gestures wildly with index fingers]—the United States, where elections big and small are happening today.
To be clear: you vote in a voting booth, not in that guy’s butt.
Yes, it’s finally here: the 2021 contests that the giant media machine tells me are the bellwether—the moss on the tree, the entrails in the dish, the Ouija Board in the dark, the signpost at the intersection, the fuzz on the caterpillar, the Magic 8 Ball in my toy box—for what will happen in next year’s midterms. If Democrats can unleash some whupass, then 2022 will be…something something something I don’t believe the media machine and neither should you.
Positive vibes especially for Terry McAuliffe and all the Dems competing in Virginia, please.
It’s health care, jobs, education, fact, science, and empathy versus ignorance, incompetence, racism, and violence. To all the candidates of Team D mixing it up with their unhinged rivals from Team R, we wish you much luck and victory confetti.
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, November 2, 2021
Note: An urgent reminder to grease and re-string your catapults and soak your leftover 2020 holiday fruitcakes in gasoline this morning, as the opening assault in the War on Christmas starts promptly after today’s polling places close. As usual, stragglers will be punished by spending the day in solitary with that Jan. 6 antler’ed whackadoo and a bitter old Furby.
—Generalissimo Billeh
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By the Numbers:
Lightscape Chicago starts in 10 days!!!
Days ’til Thanksgiving: 23
Days ’til the start of Lightscape at the Chicago Botanic Garden: 10
Percent by which unemployment claims are down since Joe Biden became president by a landslide: 60%
Estimated number of tourists visiting Maine between May and August this year, a big recovery from 2020 and even beating pre-pandemic 2019: 10 million
Percent of tourists to Maine who traveled from New England in 2020 and 2021, respectively: 83%, 44%
Distance the $169,000 Lucid Air Dream Edition electric car can go on a single charge, the farthest of any passenger vehicle according to the EPA (115 miles further than a Tesla): 520 miles
Years the International Space Station has been continuously staffed with astronauts (10 right now) as of today: 21
CHEERS to Election Day! We said a few words above the fold to buck up the troops for today’s races. But if you’re wondering what the headline grabbers will be on the morrow, here are some (but far from all) of the races on the radar today for Team D:
Maine The elephant in the room on our ballot today is Question 1, a voter referendum asking us if we approve (or not) of cutting a swath through our wilderness to connect electric transmission lines between Canada and Massachusetts—theoretically giving New England some clean energy from hydropower.
The ad saturation on Question 1 has been nuts.
I was leaning toward voting for the power line (counter-intuitively a “No” vote), but supporters have been saturating the airwaves with ads that say nothing about the issue, but instead try to scare people by focusing on the innocuous word “retroactive” in the question. Then they sent out mailers with Donald Trump’s giant head on it, essentially saying, without any elaboration, that to vote “Yes” is to vote the way The Thing would. That’s an obfuscation too far for me. So I’m voting “Yes” to table the power line until supporters of it can be more honest about what they’re up to.
Virginia Tonight we find out of Terry McAuliffe can keep the commonwealth’s executive branch in Dem hands, and likewise the legislature. The blue wave has been fantastic for Virginia—and McAuliffe has already demonstrated he’s a fine governor there—but it may turn out that citizens there are just too uninformed and apathetic to realize that turning the keys over to the other guys means a brand new pandemic of MAGA trolls. God help ya.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has been a breath of fresh air after Chris Christie stunk the place up for eight years. So he’s in good shape to trot to another term.
Eric Adams, poised to become NYC’s next mayor.
New York CityThe disappointing (and kinda weird) Bill de Blasio mayorship is coming to an end, and today his successor will be chose from the following: capable and intelligent Democrat Eric Adams…or that Guardian Angels dude from the 70s who runs around in a raspberry beret—the kind you find at a secondhand store. I’ll go out on a limb and predict a good night for Adams.
BostonThere’s no limb to go out on here, because both candidates for the mayor’s race (to replace Biden’s Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh) are Democrats. Michelle Wu will likely become the city’s first elected mayor, and it’s about time.
For the full scoop and scope of today’s elections, click here for Jeff Singer’s detailed post. And as you rub the sleepies out of your eyes, I’ll leave you with this advice: vote early and vote often. (Mainly because I’m dying to know what you look like in a mug shot.)
CHEERS to Obamacare: Year 11. After all the Republican “repeal and replace” nonsense, not to mention The Thing’s four-year campaign to sabotage a law he took an oath to “faithfully execute,” HHS and my non-profit health insurance provider wasted no time in letting me know yesterday that the 2022 ACA enrollment period for health insurance has begun. As always you can get info and shop around at healthcare.gov for the most bang for your buck. (Very exciting times here in Maine, as we finally get our very own state exchange, thanks to our Democratic governor Janet Mills.) Here’s the always reliable Charles Gaba (brainwrap here at Daily Kos) at ACA Signups, who seems positively giddy about this year’s prognosis:
The 2022 Open Enrollment Period is by far the best ever for the ACA coverage, with dramatically expanded financial help for millions more people (including many who weren’t eligible last year), reinvigorated experts, unbiased assistance, more choices in many states and counties, and FREE policies for more people than ever before.
Enrollment this year is gonna go through the roof.
If you’ve never enrolled in an ACA healthcare policy before, or if you looked into it years ago but weren’t impressed, please give it another shot now. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan (ARP), it’s a whole different ballgame. […]
Whatever you do, don’t let yourself be passively auto-renewed. Between the massively expanded & enhanced subsidies thanks to the ARP, the dramatic increase in carrier participation in many states, the supplemental financial assistance being provided to many enrollees in nearly a dozen states, the seemingly counterintuitive pricing structure caused by “Silver Loading” and a host of other factors, you should absolutely NOT let yourself be “auto-renewed” this year!
If you prefer not to sign up for an Obamacare plan (it’s only mandatory in five states now), don’t forget that there are a few inexpensive options available under the very beautiful Republican McConnellcare: a do-it-yourself rusty scalpel surgery set (rag soaked in ether sold separately), bag of mystery pills found on pharmacy floor after closing time, and 8×10 “Jesus is My Vaccine” poster. Cash in advance, please. Sorry, no checks.
CHEERS and JEERS to Ol’ Mullethead. Happy 226th birthday to James K. Polk, the only Speaker of the House to become president and one of 12 to own slaves. Despite protests from some members of Congress, he “exaggerated” his way into a war with Mexico (something about the “smoking gun that could come in the form of an exploding burrito”) and stole Texas as part of Operation Jade Helm 14½. But he definitely walked the walk while he was in office. In the book Rating the Presidents, over 700 historians and political scientists rank Polk 11th-best:
Polk’s outstanding success was no accident. He assiduously planned his moves and carried them through to fruition.
We’ll pardon Mexico if they don’t sing “Happy Birthday.”
Former president Harry Truman summed it up in his own concise way in 1960. When asked what he thought about Polk, he replied, “A great president. He said exactly what he was going to do and he did it.” Quite an achievement for a president of any era.
Yeah, but a few months after he left office he was dead at 53. Consider that a heads-up, workaholics.
P.S. Today is also the 156th birthday of womanizing gambling addict Warren Harding—one of the worst presidents in history along with Buchanan, Pierce, Andrew Johnson, George W. Bush, and The Thing. One attribute he shares with fellow Republican Dubya is his abuse of the English language, as when he said: “I would like the government to do all it can to mitigate, then, in understanding, in mutuality of interest, in concern for the common good, our tasks will be solved.” And then he’ll put food on your family and wings will take dream.
JEERS to today’s edition of Meanwhile, in MAGALand. Courtesy of the ink-stained fingers over at the Huffington Post:
The campaign of Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.)mistakenly identified her as a representative of Utah in a report submitted to the Federal Election Commission on Thursday.
This has been today’s edition of Meanwhile, in MAGALand.
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Ten years ago in C&J: November 2, 2011
CHEERS to kickin’ it up a notch. All eyes will be on northern California today as Occupy Oakland, joined by unions and other allies, calls a general strike and “mass day of action” that will be visible from space. There will also be Kossack meetups during the day, and you’ll find details in jpmassar’s diary. Remember the golden rule: no hitting, spitting, whacking, smacking, kicking, punching, or destroying property just to prove you’re some kind of badass. Yeah, I’m lookin’ at you, Oakland Police. The rest of you: wear comfortable shoes and hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to this thing you Earthlings call politics. As the last grains of sand slip from the top of the 2021 election hourglass to the bottom, a few words of wisdom from a few wise wordsmiths:
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.” —H.L. Mencken
“A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.” —George Bernard Shaw
“There is no more independence in politics than there is in jail.” —Will Rogers
“Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich by promising to protect each from the other” —Oscar Ameringer
“In politics, stupidity is not a handicap.” —Napoleon
“The word ‘politics’ is derived from the word ‘poly’, meaning ‘many’, and the word ‘ticks’, meaning ‘blood sucking parasites’.” —Larry Hardiman
Unfortunately, the political kind of tick is harder to get rid of and ten times as ugly.
Have a tolerable Tuesday. Floor’s open…What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today’s Shameless C&J Testimonial
”If you come to Cheers and Jeers loving Bill in Portland Maine, there’s much to continue loving here. Endless clever turns of phrase and the most miniscule, perfect kiddie pools everywhere you look. ”
We begin today’s roundup with the NPR’s take on the high-stakes gubernatorial election in Virginia today:
Recent poll numbers, though, show an extremely tight race in a state President Biden won by ten points. Youngkin — an energetic first-time candidate and wealthy former private equity CEO — has drawn large crowds who cheer loudest for his calls to ban “critical race theory,” which is not taught in Virginia’s K-12 schools.
“We will not teach our children to view everything through a lens of race,” Youngkin said to cheers at a rally outside Richmond on Monday.
McAuliffe has tried to paint Youngkin as an extremist who is using “racist dog whistles” to rally voters in a mode he says evokes Trump, who has repeatedly endorsed Youngkin.
McAuliffe called Youngkin, “Donald Trump in khakis or sweater vests,” at his own rally at a Richmond brewery on Monday. “He’s using your children as pawns in his campaign.”
Some Democrats also voiced frustration that national pundits have been labeling Virginia a fully blue state. Yes, they concede, Democratic presidential nominees have won it since 2008 and statewide races have consistently gone to Democrats as the population increases, particularly in its north. But its rural areas have been turning deeper red and Democrats have struggled to maintain their statewide margins there. At the same time, prior to this year, Republicans have had a recent tendency to nominate far-right candidates — including Ken Cuccinelli and Corey Stewart — generally unacceptable to suburban moderates. Youngkin, a longtime private equity executive often seen a fleece vest, is more reminiscent of Romney 2012. Plus, this year’s electorate is projected to be as conservative as any in recent years. (When McAuliffe was first elected governor in 2013 he was the only candidate in the modern era to win the seat with his own party in the White House.)
At The New York Times, Paul Krugman dives into the hypocrisy of anti-vaxxers and their claim that protecting people infringes on their “freedom”:
First, personal choice is fine — as long as your personal choices don’t hurt other people. I may deplore the quality of your housekeeping, but it’s your own business; on the other hand, freedom doesn’t include the right to dump garbage in the street.
And going unvaccinated during a pandemic does hurt other people — which is why schools, in particular, have required vaccination against many diseases for generations. The unvaccinated are much more likely to contract the coronavirus, and hence potentially infect others, than those who’ve had their shots; there’s also some evidence that even when vaccinated individuals become infected, they’re less likely to infect others than the unvaccinated.
At The Washington Post, the editorial board makes the case for why the Supreme Court’s ruling on abortion could affect other rights as well:
The Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in what is being called an abortion case. In fact, its implications are far broader: The justices will determine whether states can infringe constitutional rights while courts watch impotently. […]
On Monday, abortion providers and the federal government argued that Texas’s brazen end run around judicial review cannot be legal. If the justices fail to condemn the state’s scheme, Justice Elena Kagan argued, “we would live in a very different world from the world we live in today. Essentially, we would be inviting states, all 50 of them, with respect to their own preferred constitutional rights, to try to nullify the law this court has laid down,” Justice Kagan said. “There is nothing the Supreme Court can do about it. Guns, same-sex marriage, religious rights, whatever you don’t like.”
On a final note, here’s E.J. Dionne Jr.’s strategic suggestion for Democrats:
Celebrate victory. Explain what you’ve achieved. Defend it from attack. Change the public conversation in your favor. Build on success to make more progress.
And for God’s sake, don’t moan about what might have been.
President Biden and Democrats in Congress are on the cusp of ending their long journey through legislative hell by enacting a remarkable list of practical, progressive programs.
This will confront them with a choice. They can follow the well-tested rules for champions of social change. Or they can repeat past mistakes by letting their opponents define what they have done and complain about the things left undone.
A victory by Republican Glenn Youngkin in Tuesday’s Virginia governor’s race would unleash recriminations guaranteed to make this task even harder. If Democrat Terry McAuliffe hangs on to win, it will be Republicans forced into soul-searching about the steep costs of their continuing fealty to Donald Trump.
In the news today: Just as Democratic lawmakers seemed on the cusp of an infrastructure agreement, Sen. Joe Manchin held his very own press conference to announce yet another round of new complaints, criticisms, and demands. From the outside, it looked like an effort to sabotage both infrastructure bills—but Manchin may just be addicted to hearing himself talk. (Doing damage to President Joe Biden’s climate plans even as Biden himself addressed a world climate summit might have played a role, as well.)
Elsewhere, even conservatives on the Supreme Court sounded skeptical of Texas’ new plan to restrict constitutional rights by offering bounties to private citizens willing to block those rights themselves, the Biden administration again attempts to end the anti-asylum “Remain in Mexico” policy instituted by Trump’s team of white nationalists, and The Washington Post‘s most comprehensive report on the January 6 insurrection yet again makes it clear that the attempt to nullify a United States election was real, was pushed forward by Trump himself, and that not a damn one of the coup’s top Trump administration and Republican planners has suffered any consequences at all.
Because Donald Trump lies about everything, right? All I need to hear is that Trump said a thing to determine—with metaphysical certitude—that that thing is false.
When I first heard about the alleged pee tape, I thought, “Hmm, interesting—but come on! Really? Too lurid to take seriously.” Now, after observing this pendulous sack of clown smegma pretty closely over the past five years, I’m not only convinced there’s a pee tape, I’d bet anything Marv Albert and Dick Vitale were at the foot of the bed doing color commentary and the San Diego Chicken shot the freshly profaned linens off the balcony with a T-shirt cannon shortly after the field of play was cleared.
So, yeah, Trump lies. Not exactly breaking news. But this is. Another silly, unnecessary, self-aggrandizing mound of hairy bullshit, courtesy of Yahoo! Sports:
Saturday afternoon, just before 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Trump sent an email to his mailing list, which read, in full: “Looking forward to being at the World Series in Atlanta tonight. Thank you to the Commissioner of Baseball Rob Manfred, and Randy Levine of the great New York Yankees, for the invite. Melania and I are looking forward to a wonderful evening watching two great teams!”
However, MLB disputes Trump’s characterization of events. In a statement to Yahoo Sports’ Hannah Keyser, MLB officials indicated that Trump, as previously reported, had requested to attend the game.
In a USA Today story earlier this week, Atlanta Braves CEO Terry McGuirk said, “He called MLB and wanted to come to the game. We were very surprised. Of course, we said yes.’’ MLB officials backed McGuirk’s accounting of Trump’s invitation.
Yup. Trump is the boss who invites himself to the office happy hour after discovering an employee’s Evite on their computer. He’s Michael Scott, only evil.
An MLB spokesperson tells @YahooSports that, as previously reported, Donald Trump requested to attend Game 4 tonight in Atlanta.
BREAKING – Trump claimed he was invited to attend World Series by Major League Baseball commissioner — and now MLB says it did NOT invite him. He approached them and asked to come. Trump seems incapable of telling the truth about ANYTHING.
What are the chances everyone hides in the bathrooms until Trump leaves the stadium? They could pretend tonight’s game is actually in Houston. Eventually he’ll leave.
Come to think of it, maybe that strategy would work for the country as a whole. It’s definitely worth a shot.
UPDATE (6:14 p.m. PDT): Of course, he was extra racist while he was there:
On Oct. 27, a court determined that GEO Group violated Washington state’s minimum wage law by paying immigrants detained at the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPIC) just $1 per day for their forced labor. The next step was for the judge to determine how much the private prison profiteer “unfairly gained from its wage law violations spanning more than 15 years,” which could total millions, the Associated Press said.
The court has now come back with a number: $17.3 million.
“According to the suit, at the time of the detention center’s contract renewal in 2015, the center was projected to generate $57 million in revenue every year, operating at full capacity and housing up to 1,575 immigrant detainees,” law firm Schroeter Goldmark & Bender said. But state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who partnered with the firm, said “several former and current GEO staff testified that GEO chose to pay detainee workers only $1 per day” for forced labor, “despite the fact that GEO knew it had the ability to pay more.”
Among these victims was Nigerian asylum-seeker Goodluck Nwauzor, who during the eight months he was detained at NWIPC was forced to work for $1 a day (the facility has also recently been warned about the misuse of a toxic chemical by the EPA). Nwauzor would eventually be granted asylum in 2017, becoming a permanent resident the following year. “My heart is filled with joy,” he said in reaction to the jury’s decision.
The court’s “precedent-setting” decision stands to affect up to 10,000 class members, legal advocates said. ”It’s still up to U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan to determine how much money the company must pay the state on its claim of unjust enrichment,” NPR reported. The hope is that immigrants elsewhere will see similar justice, because this type of forced labor is in no way unique. In Georgia, detained immigrants at Stewart Detention Center were threatened with solitary confinement (which is torture) if they refused to work. In California, detained immigrants sometimes weren’t paid their meager wages at all.
Of course, the ultimate hope is that private prisons cease to exist at all. “Profiting off the labor of a dollar-a-day immigrant worker is unconscionable, and if not for brave people like Goodluck Nwauzor who stepped forward, GEO may not have been held accountable,” attorney Jamal Whitehead said. “We’re grateful to all the courageous men and women who came forward to share their experiences throughout our five-year investigation and prosecution of these claims,” co-counsel Andrew Free said. “Their unwavering belief that a better future is possible lit the path to the new reality this decision heralds.”
As Daily Kos previously covered, a large-scale controversy has targeted a small library in Campbell County, Wyoming. Why? Anti-LGBTQ+ hysteria, of course. As you might remember, several community members were upset to realize that children’s and young adult books about LGBTQ+ issues and sexual education were available for check out at the library. These complaints resulted in 27 books being challenged, a process that any library patron can initiate for any book. After Hugh and Susan Bennett went to the sheriff’s office about five books, however, the situation was referred to county prosecutors. The outcome? Serious concern that librarians at the public library could face criminal charges over the books on grounds of obscenity. Yes, really.
Thankfully, Weston County Attorney Michael Stulken won’t bring charges against the librarians, as he recently admitted he simply wouldn’t have a case. The books in question include How Do You Make a Baby by Anna Fiske, Doing It by Hannah Witton, Dating and Sex: A Guide for the 21st Century Teen Boy by Andrew P. Smiler, Sex is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg, and This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson. According to Stulken, the four books he reviewed aren’t obscene, and keeping them in the teen section doesn’t violate state laws. The prosecutor says he hasn’t yet reviewed This Book is Gay, simply because he didn’t receive a copy.
In a letter to the sheriff’s office dated Wednesday, Stulken explained his decision not to pursue charges.
“One would be hard pressed in a criminal prosecution to prove that the materials presented, when applying contemporary community standards and taking them as a whole, appeal to the prurient interest,” Stulken wrote in part, adding that the books (when evaluated using contemporary norms and standards) do not “criminally” describe sexual conduct in an offensive manner. He also acknowledged the books might have “scientific” value. In summary, Stulken stressed: “I cannot ethically bring criminal charges if the facts surrounding a certain matter are not supported by probable cause.
In an email to the Associated Press, Terri Lesley, the executive director of the library, happiness about this outcome so they can “move on” from the situation.
Other happy news? As covered by the Gillette News Record, during a library board meeting on Monday, the group backed library staff and voted to keep This Book is Gay in the teen section, arguing that to remove it would actually be a form of censorship.
That said, however, some folks are still unhappy with the books in question.
Hugh Bennett, who attended the meeting, for example, told the board that he didn’t believe adults could be in “good conscience” and provide these books to kids. “Not all families,” he argued, according to Wyoming Public Radio. “As the LGBTQ lobby tells us, are not the same, and not all parents have the ability to monitor their children’s actions as well as they should.” Nothing like “LGBTQ lobby” to make your views crystal clear, eh?
In speaking to the Associated Press about the county attorney’s decision not to press charges, Bennett said he won’t change his mind because of a lawyer’s choice. He told the outlet he feels it’s wrong to use public money to keep those books in the youth section of the library.
And if this library sounds familiar to you for yet another reason, it’s probably because you remember the community outrage over a magician who had to cancel her show last summer after receiving multiple anonymous threats. The library booked a children’s magician, Mikayla Oz, to put on a show for kids at the library. Great! Folks somehow realized the magician is an openly trans woman, lost their minds, and began threatening the library and the magician herself; Oz made the call to cancel the show out of concern for the children, saying she didn’t want them to have to deal with protesters when just trying to enjoy a fun activity.
Conservatives like to say their hullabaloo is all about protecting kids. Meanwhile, they’re more than happy to traumatize them along the way.
School board meetings across the country continue to remain heated, but not always with regard to masks. A Massachusetts high school has made headlines after a senior student, who is openly gay, spoke about her experiences with bullying. The student, identified as Mackenzie Atwood, left the meeting in tears after not only sharing her trauma but being heckled by adults in the audience who called her story “indoctrination.”
The incident occurred after Atwood, treasurer of the senior class at Franklin High School, was given permission by the school board to respond to a question about what constitutes a protected class in the school.
“At the beginning of every school year, we have meetings discussing who is protected,” Atwood said, noting that the term applies to all. “Though everyone is said to be protected, that is not entirely true.”
A gay Franklin High School student bravely shared her experiences during a public meeting. And for that, adults in the room interrupted her & began shouting about indoctrination. These adults are despicable to an exponential degree. Shameful to their rotten cores. pic.twitter.com/mYLKSZe9KK
As an openly gay person, Atwood shared that she had been bullied and friends of hers had been called racial slurs. She also emphasized the importance of noting that people were not being bullied because they were white.
According to The Milford Daily News, the comment follows concerns by some parents who questioned whether their children were part of the “protected classes” because they were white.
“When kids are coming to theater every single day, telling me ‘Oh I got called a f***** yesterday,’ or, ‘I got a called a racial slur in the hallway,’ that’s not something to joke about—though it’s something we’ve become so numb to that it’s become a joke.”
She continued: “So I think it’s important to understand that, yes everyone is protected in the school, but being someone who is Caucasian is not something you’re being bullied about.”
Atwood was still speaking when a parent in the audience then attempted to interrupt her. Despite this, Atwood continued to finish her thought: “Being homosexual, which I must say I am gay—call me what you want about that—I am being personally attacked in school about that.”
Yet, the audience members persisted and continued to attempt to scream over her.
The recording of the meeting depicts Atwood’s clear distress. It is heartbreaking to see the teen grow more upset as so-called adults yell over her. “It is extremely disgusting that you can look me in the eyes and say that I’m not being oppressed at this school,” Atwood said.
It’s after this comment that a woman can he heard loudly saying, “This has to stop, this is indoctrination.”
Atwood then breaks into tears. “There is no such thing as the gay agenda!” she responds.
The meeting is then put on recess.
“I do not ever, ever want to ask anyone to leave, but this meeting will be conducted respectfully,” school committee chair Anne Bergen said prior to ending the meeting. “There will be no shouting out from the crowd. That is not how we ever, ever conduct meetings in this building.”
The video of the incident has since then gone viral. In response to how she felt during the incident Atwood told WBTV Thursday that “It definitely induced a lot of panic in me.” She shared that she is still trying to process the incident.
“This woman stood up and said, ‘This is the type of indoctrination that’s being taught in schools,’ I believe. It was very emotional,” Atwood said.
According to CBS News, the parent’s actions prompted the school committee chair to intervene. Franklin schools superintendent Dr. Sara Ahern sent a letter to parents calling the disruption “appalling” and “unacceptable.”
The superintendent also assured that all reports the school receives are taken seriously and are being investigated promptly. She added that all students are protected under the district’s bullying prevention policy.
“It’s sad that we have adults acting that way,” Laura Atwood, Mackenzie’s mom added.
Watch the tearjerking moment Atwood shared her experience below:
Following the horrifying last moments of John Marion Grant’s execution last week, the Oklahoma State Pardon and Parole Board has recommended clemency for death row inmate Julius Jones.
The board voted 3-1 in favor Monday of granting clemency for Jones, 41, who has been on death row for more than 20 years for the 1999 murder of Edmond businessman Paul Howell following a carjacking. Jurors chose the death penalty during his 2002 trial.
Along with clemency, Jones’ death sentence was commuted to life with the possibility of parole.
#Breaking#News The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-1 on a recommendation that #JuliusJones receive clemency and a commuted sentence of life with the possibility of parole. This is a big step towards bringing an innocent man home to his family. pic.twitter.com/ajdVOMdlrE
In a September hearing, the board voted, along with members Adam Luck, Larry Morris, and Kelly Doyle voted in favor of recommending commutation.
“The Pardon and Parole Board has now twice voted in favor of commuting Julius Jones’ death sentence, acknowledging the grievous errors that led to his conviction and death sentence,” Jones’ lawyer, Amanda Bass, said in a news release. “We hope that Governor Stitt will exercise his authority to accept the Board’s recommendation and ensure that Oklahoma does not execute an innocent man.”
At the time of the crime for which he was convicted, Julius was a 19-year-old student-athlete with a promising future, attending the University of Oklahoma on an academic scholarship.
Eyewitnesses place Jones at his parents’ home at the time of the murder, miles away from the crime scene.
Jones’ co-defendant admitted to being involved in the crime and is now free after testifying against Julius. He was heard bragging that he “set Julius up.” Jones’ co-defendant matches the only eyewitness description of the shooter, based on the length of his hair.
Newly-discovered evidence shows that at least one juror harbored racial prejudice that influenced his vote to convict and sentence Jones to death.
”Julius Jones is innocent. But you have to look at the context. One of the jurors used the N-word, saying, ‘They should just take the n***** out and shoot him behind the jail.’ Another juror reported what he said to the judge, and nothing was done about it,” Robert Dunham, executive director of the nonpartisan Death Penalty Information Center told Daily Kos.
Prior to Monday’s hearing, Antoinette Jones told CNN she’s keeping Howell’s family in her thoughts. While she’s hopeful the parole board will recommend clemency for her brother, “I’m also praying for the Howell family because I know this is going to be very hard for them,” she said. “Because they’re going to have to relive this again, just like my parents are going to have to relive this again.”
“I’m mindful of that because it was a senseless murder that happened to Mr. Paul Howell,” Antoinette Jones said. “We never forget that.”
Gov. Kevin Stitt, who is the final voice in Jones’ fate, said after last month’s board vote that he would not issue a decision until after the clemency hearing.
Jones could be eligible for parole because of the jail time he’s already served.
Accountability is on the rise. Days after a well-known North Carolina judge was accused of attempting to drive over Black Lives Matter protesters, another judge made headlines for not one but numerous allegations. Talladega County Probate Judge Randy Jinks was suspended for making sexist and racist comments to employees, according to a 78-page complaint filed by the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission.
But that’s not the end of it. Jinks has made headlines again, this time because a court ruled that he must be removed from the bench. He was removed after the Judiciary Court ruled he had violated numerous Canons of Judicial Ethics and created a hostile work environment by demeaning both employees and citizens. The Friday ruling was not only unanimous but very rare in the state of Alabama, as judges almost never get removed.
The decision follows a complaint issued in March in which Jinks was accused of “frequent inappropriate demeanor,” with more than 100 allegations of creating a toxic and hostile environment. Jinks allegedly not only initiated racist conversations, including remarks about the Black Lives Matter movement, but talked about pornography and women, NBC News reported.
His remarks were caught on a tape in which he not only spoke openly about his political views (including supporting the ‘Stop the Steal’ movement), but repeatedly made inappropriate comments to the office’s only Black employee, a clerk. He even apparently had a tantrum over a missing sandwich, which he allegedly blamed the clerk for stealing.
According to the complaint document, in one instance Jinks allegedly minimized the police killing of George Floyd.
“I don’t see anything wrong with the police killing [Floyd],” Jinks told an employee during a phone conversation, the report said. He allegedly also referred to Floyd as “just another thug” and said “he pretty much got what he deserved.” The complaint report also noted that Jinks would mouth the n-word when referring to Black people and told a deputy clerk that Black people get benefits and welfare “because of the color of their skin.”
Prior to his suspension, Jinks denied that he made that remark, telling the commission, “There exists no excuse for the killing of George Floyd, that watching the video is sickening, unconscionable, inhumane and horrifying.”
In an interview in March with WOTM-TV, he said: “I’m the same Randy you know — the same Randy you voted for and supported two years ago. I am a decent person. I am very respectful around women. I do not use racial slurs. I do not go off on tirades in the office. I do get mad if someone steals my food.”
He added that while he has “made some errors…the majority of these vicious, vile and vulgar accusations are nothing to fear.” Apparently unfazed by the possible consequences, he continued: “They can say what they want, they can’t hurt me.”
Yet recordings confirmed otherwise.
Additionally, when Jinks’ only Black employee bought a new car in 2019, the judge allegedly asked him if he sold drugs to afford it. “What you doing, selling drugs?” he asked Darrius Pearson, who had testified that in May 2019.
He also reportedly agreed when another employee referred to the same Black employee as a “typical lazy, good-for-nothing Black man,” the complaint stated.
The complaint also highlighted allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior in the workplace, stating that the judge’s “inappropriate demeanor disgusts, embarrasses, and upsets those employees who have routinely witness it.”
According to the document, the judge frequently spoke about his sexual preference to employees and detailed his physical relationship with his wife. He even allegedly sent a video of a woman performing a striptease to an employee and insisted that he watch it even though the employee said he was busy with work. In another incident, he told an employee he liked the way a woman “burnt his sausage.”
While Jinks claimed his comments were made during private conversations, evidence showed that they were made during work hours and at the workplace.
Jinks was infamous for unprofessional conduct, including often cursing at his employees.
In its ruling Friday the court said that while Jinks had been accused of having a “racially insensitive demeanor,” the court felt as though his actions far exceeded that. It ordered that Jinks not only pay for the hearing but be removed from the bench immediately. “Although the complaint alleges ‘racially insensitive demeanor,’ this Court is of the opinion that Judge Jinks’ conduct rose above racial insensitivity,” the court said in its final judgment.
Jinks, who was sworn into office in 2019, has overseen adoptions and guardianships, mental health commitments, and the issuing of marriage licenses. He does not have a legal background. According to NBC News, having a legal background is not a requirement for probate judges in nearly all counties in Alabama.
Despite the evidence, numerous complaints, and March suspension, Jinks failed to acknowledge what was wrong with his behavior. In a Saturday statement, his lawyer claimed that prior to being in office and openly identifying as a Republican he had “never been accused of being racist”
“Judge Jinks’ remarks were taken completely out of context and cast in a light calculated to besmirch the judge’s character and further the accusatory employees attempts to remove him from office,” Jinks’ lawyer Amanda Hardy said.
She added that “closer scrutiny should have led to a more measured response to this case.” According to Hardy, Jinks is still deciding whether to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Alabama.
