At Trump’s insistence, the Republican Party has moved its convention from North Carolina to Jacksonville, Florida. The reason: North Carolina imposes health restrictions due to the pandemic. Twenty thousand people in an arena did not seem like a good idea to state health officials, especially since it seemed likely that many would follow Trump’s model and refuse to wear a face mask.
The rate of coronavirus infections is rising in both states.
Florida will impose no restrictions, and face masks will not be required.
Trump will give his acceptance speech on August 27, which is known in Jacksonville as “Axhandle Saturday.”
Trump is set to give his speech on Aug. 27 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, a venue in downtown Jacksonville that can accommodate roughly 15,000 people. (It is smaller than the 20,000-person capacity Spectrum Center in Charlotte where Trump was supposed to deliver the speech.) The timing of the speech raised concerns, because it will be given on the 60th anniversary of Jacksonville’s Ax Handle Saturday, when a mob of about 200 whites attacked black demonstrators who had been trying to desegregate lunch counters in the city via a series of peaceful sit-ins. After about two weeks of protesting, a group of white men, armed with ax handles and baseball bats, beat the protesters.
Somehow the timing seems appropriate for a man who reveres the Confederacy.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Rodney L. Hurst is a revered figure in Jacksonville Civil Rights History, and he was there 60 years ago. I recommend his book, “It was Never About a Hot Dog and a Coke,” for anyone interested in learning more about Ax Handle Saturday and other aspects of civil rights history here. He is quoted in the Washington Post on the subject of hosting the racist President’s speech here.
Trump is proving that HE has absolutely no regard for mass gatherings in which people will get sick and some will die. His ego needs massaging. He is a despicable person who provides no example of leadership.
………………………………
[NWI Times] Trump rally on Juneteenth in Tulsa called ‘slap in the face’
Associated Press Jun 11, 2020
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Black community and political leaders are calling on President Donald Trump to at least change the date of an Oklahoma rally kick-starting his return to public campaigning, saying that holding the event on Juneteenth, the day that marks the end of slavery in America, is a “slap in the face.”
Trump campaign officials discussed in advance the possible reaction to the Juneteenth date, but there are no plans to change it despite fierce blowback…
The campaign picked Tulsa’s BOK Center, with a listed seat capacity of 19,199. The arena’s Facebook page shows organizers calling off shows there by country singer Alan Jackson and other performers into mid-July, citing the coronavirus pandemic.
Arena marketing director Meghan Blood said Thursday that she didn’t know yet about any plans for social distancing or other coronavirus precautions for Trump’s rally, which would be one of the larger public gatherings in the U.S. at this stage of the outbreak.
Campaign officials said safety decisions would be made in coordination with local authorities. A disclaimer on the ticket registration website said attendees voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19 and agree not to hold the campaign liable for any illness.…
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/national/trump-rally-on-juneteenth-in-tulsa-called-slap-in-the-face/article_d50cf299-3446-576f-b9a6-db926de0318a.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share
Doncha love the disclaimer? Attend at your own risk 😀
It will be interesting to see whether Trump can find enough “virus?-what-virus?” supporters to crowd in & shout their germs on each other. Who needs contact-tracing? Just follow the campaign trail.
Trump is also going back to holding his rallies despite increased Covid infections in the South. He is holding a big rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 19th. This is not a significant date to many people in the country. I was in Texas one year on this day and was invited to a Juneteenth barbeque. “Critics called the president racist for planning a campaign event on the date marking slavery’s end and doing it in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where African Americans were murdered in 1921.” I wonder if Steven Miller is in charge of Trump’s calendar. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/slap-face-black-people-trump-faces-backlash-over-rally-juneteenth-n1229891
Then those in attendance at this HATE FEST should prove their love for one another and that dump by kissing each other.
A Moveable Beast …
LOL
It occurred to me this morning that people who oppose Trump should sign up for his rallies, go through the paperwork, and not show up…But then there is probably a wait list so the arena would be filled after all. You can be sure the media will be there to receive Trump’s insults, unless they are his friends at Fox news.
Exactly one week ago, I made this comment in response to the Randi Weingarten’s press release calling the Idiot’s remarks linking George Floyd’s supposed joy in heaven to the jobs numbers:
“The Idiot’s remarks were not ‘tone-deaf.’ They were intentional daggers aimed at the hearts of George Floyd’s family and everyone who has been devastated by the many atrocities this nation has had to endure, right down to the 75 year old gentleman who had his skull split open by the Buffalo police. It was a dog whistle blown into a megaphone and amplified by the biggest speaker in the world. To call it ‘tone deaf’ was, to put it as charitably as I can, was tone deaf.”
It is now clear the timing of the Idiot’s Tulsa and Jacksonville events was inspired by the start of Ronald Reagan’s 1980 campaign in Philadelphia, MS. It’s a “hey, if it worked for him, it’ll work even better for us” mentality. It’s a Miller/Bannon, GOP-sanctioned strategy of accelerating racial divisiveness into hyperdrive mode. There will surely be many more “coincidental” appearances and statements being spread like the biggest, most powerful fire hose on can imagine. The goal is to create fear and resentment among his supporters unlike anything we have experienced in the nation since the days of Birmingham and Bull Connor (I’m betting the Miller/Bannon team are kicking themselves for missing the opportunity to do similar things this past April and May).
These are opportunities of teaching moments. Every press outlet, every teacher, every neighbor-to-neighbor interaction, every blog–including this one–should use the timing of these moments to highlight what the history of these events were and link them to our current crises, pandemic included. When the Idiot speaks in Tulsa, there should be extensive coverage of the Tulsa Greenwood Massacre–what it destroyed, both in terms of past, present, and future of what happened in 1921. It should also be linked to the bombing of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City in 1995 and it’s Nazi perpetrators. Jacksonville should prompt discussions of what Ax Handle Saturday was, with graphic detail. It should be linked to the sit-ins, Freedom Riders, Selma, the assassination of MLK and so on. This is an opportunity for responsible journalists to do their jobs and link the stories of today with history and the potential for future reform, substantive reform that will not let these hateful, destructive acts go unanswered. We must shame the supporters of the Idiot at every turn.
Beautifully argued, Greg! Exactly!
My prediction is that they will make almost impossibly stupid and clueless claims of solidarity and support for the black community, whom they know full well they have lost the votes of, in a vain attempt to win back some ‘independent’ voters who are equally stupid and clueless. It’s window dressing made of garbage to win over shithole intellects. AKA racists in denial.
I have read a number of comments from folks on this blog saying that it’s not clear that Trump actually is a racist, and these comments are usually based on the observable fact that Trump isn’t a thinker and cares only about Trump and doesn’t have consistent views and will say and do anything and take any position that he thinks will serve his short-term interests. But these people are wrong. Trump has CONSISTENTLY expressed incredibly racist views and taken incredibly racist actions throughout his life, and these are based in Trump’s OFTEN EXPRESSED, ignorant, unscientific notions about what, exactly, race is–what Trump has called his “racehorse theory” about “good genes.” What does it mean to be a racist? Well, it means to hold such views. That’s the plain and simple, unadorned, straightforward meaning of the term. This is a guy who tells people privately that black people are “too stupid to vote for me” and that “you wouldn’t want to live next to one of them.” Utterly sickening. And infuriating. There aren’t words sufficient to express my rage that such a man, with such views, is president of our country. And that he’s planning a speech, written by Stephen Miller no less, to address the race issue is beyond bizarre.
Trump is racist filth. There is no credible argument that he is anything but racist filth.
I hasten to add that certainly most of the folks who comment on this blog are not of that opinion.
How often, when I was growing up in the South and Midwest, I heard people say, “I’m not racist but. . . ,” and then they would say some incredibly racist thing. Racists USUALLY deny being racists.
C’mon now, some of their best friends are black!
Some of them have black bowling balls!
It was reported that attendees will be required to sign a waiver agreeing that they will not sue the campaign if they get Covid from being there. tRUMP views his base as cannon fodder, nothing more.
For example: https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2020/05/howard-stern-claims-donald-trump-despises-his-own-supporters.html
It has been reported that attendees will be required to sign a waiver whereby they agree not to sue the campaign if the get Covid from being there. tRUMP views his base as cannon fodder. The irony is that they will be dying in proof of his incompetent narcissistic leadership. Lemmings.
Tragic. I mean that sincerely. All these dumb people, doing this to themselves, have family who care about them and will grieve their loss.
Greg B is right on target. This is as orchestrated and intentional as can be. In addition to being a liar, racist, and anti-science, this man is a reality show tv host.
So – Mr. President – go for it! His rallies and definitely his Juneteenth speech in Tulsa at where one of the worst race massacres occurred will lather up his base, big time. They will show up goosetepping, armed, waving confederate flags and most surely, “White Lives Matters” posters.
The more the undecided and bona fide Republicans see this stuff the better… as long as we keep pointing out that any vote for this man or a GOP senator who says nothing is aligning yourself with their beliefs.
That’s not a stretch maybe like people thought in 2016, now they need to hear loud and clear – there’s evidence – “Your vote for the president is saying you would vote for Hitler and a dictatorship.”
Yes. As Stephen Miller’s emails, leaked by his former fellow white supremacist friend at not-so-Breitbart clearly show, Miller is an impresario of the dog-whistle.
Miller hasn’t been choosing these dates by accident.
Trump doesn’t want to speak to people who are masked. I’m sure he’ll be well protected and, like the coward he is, will make sure that he stays well away from his supporters. He wants them to cheer, have no social distancing and go home and be sick. Nothing matters except having those roaring crowds cheering for every word that he says. He is a coward who needs to have his ego massaged. Poor Trumpy. With any luck, the screaming crowds will fill the air and he’ll breath in something to prove that the virus isn’t totally gone yet.
Trump Will Return to Campaign Trail With Rally in Tulsa
June 10, 2020
The president’s first rally since the coronavirus shuttered most of the country will take place on Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery, in the city where one of the worst racist massacres in American history took place.
…Mr. Trump also said Wednesday that he planned to hold rallies in Florida, Arizona and North Carolina.
In March, as the country began to shut down to help stop the spread of the virus, Mr. Trump reluctantly canceled campaign rallies planned for Colorado, Nevada and Wisconsin, and he has not been out for an official campaign event since then.
Instead, for weeks, he tried to use the White House briefing room as a rally stand-in, holding 90-minute news conferences where he aimed to rebrand himself as a “wartime president.” But those efforts quickly devolved into fights with reporters as the president made stunningly inaccurate claims, including a suggestion that injecting disinfectant into the human body could help combat the coronavirus.
In response, his poll numbers have dipped and his aides have warned him that his behavior is hurting him with many critical voting blocs, like older people and women…
Republicans in Washington say that it has become increasingly clear to them that Mr. Trump cannot win the election from behind the Resolute Desk and that they are hoping the return to the campaign trail will offer the president a familiar and beloved outlet that will energize him…
I originally wrote, “Oh, I’m bad.” at the end of my introductory comment to this NYT article and WordPress said, “This comment cannot be posted.”
So, deleting ONE short sentence made the whole NYT article, and my introductory comment, acceptable.
Crazy.
Ask WordPress.
James K. Polk, just checking if WordPress will moderate this.
It went into moderation.
He will be far away from
His cheering masses
Event Details
Fri, June 19, 2020
08:00 pm (CDT)
Doors Open: 04:00 pm
BOK Center
200 S Denver Ave.
Tulsa,OK,74103
A confirmation SMS will be sent to your phone. Please follow the instructions to confirm your ticket(s). You will not be registered until you verify by phone.
By clicking register below, you are acknowledging that an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. By attending the Rally, you and any guests voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19 and agree not to hold Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.; BOK Center; ASM Global; or any of their affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents, contractors, or volunteers liable for any illness or injury.
Make America Great Again! Rally – Tulsa, OK
You may only register up two (2) tickets per mobile number per event. All tickets are subject to first come first serve basis.
That’s Make Amurika Grate, Carol
The horrors of the Idiot know no bounds. A friend of mine just shared a quote of his that he apparently said this morning on a Fox “news” interview about chokeholds: “I think the concept of chokeholds sounds so innocent and so perfect.”
Oh, if only he would get one around his big, fat neck. But, then again, it might be impossible to find someone with arms long enough.
All of this is playing right into the power’s that be’s hand. We are so focused on the virus and protests (which are vitally important). Meanwhile hundreds of billions of taxpayers $$ are being funneled who knows where…..and the administration is on the verge of dismantling an important public service – the USPS.
Trump loves all of this….and so do the people who are propping him up. It’s all helping them to divide and conquer.
There was an op ed in Forbes a few days ago that essentially used the protests to say people should protest public schools that are failing black and brown children. The author (Natalie Wexler) stated that, “If people truly understood the needless damage being done by our schools every day, they would be out in the streets demanding change.” While I agree that people should be on the streets demanding more from public education – especially in terms of funding and more programs in low income neighborhoods, the problem, according to Wexler, is the lack of phonics instruction. She paints a picture that is absurd. I don’t know any elementary curriculum that leaves out systematic phonics instruction in lieu of guided reading – they are both important. https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliewexler/2020/06/06/how-reading-instruction-fails-black-and-brown-children/#31887f0c4ebe
If you connect the dots she is basically saying phonics is the answer to problems in city neighborhoods.
Why didn’t we think of that before? The root cause of racism and poverty is the lack of phonics! All those people rallying for an end to police brutality should be demanding phonics! Times like these bring out the best and the worst in people.
Diane, I am on a text alert and response with Mika Brezinski from Morning Joe. Today she asked us who she interview next and I suggested you. Of course I am one of a million people who responded…. but I would love to see you on Morning Joe. I love the show except I think they may support charter schools and Arnie Duncan. They need to have you on for a different view.
Thank you for that. A few years back, when Ed Reform was rolling out its attack on public schools, Mika and Joe invited Joel Klein, Michelle Rhee, and other leaders of the privatization movement. I couldn’t get invited. Not sure if anything has changed.
It’s June 13, 2020 and ALL people in Indiana can NOW get free COVID-19 testing. Before NOW, people had to have symptoms or be at high risk. This is why Indiana has no idea of how many people are ill or are asymptomatic. Holcomb keeps stressing that ‘we have the ability to treat those in need”…meaning, increasing numbers of people will get sick but don’t worry.
Gov. Holcomb [R-IN] will not say whether or not he will wear a mask to the GOP National Convention in Florida in late August if he goes. That is a mixed message…please wear a mask but I don’t have to. He is very cautious to not offend Hoosier Trump supporters.
……………………………………………..
Saturday, June 13, 2020 1:00 am
Starting Monday, all Hoosiers can get free COVID-19 tests at 50 state-funded sites.
State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box announced the change in policy during Gov. Eric Holcomb’s Friday virus briefing.
Before now, generally only people with symptoms or in high-risk categories could get tested….
“We can open more and more because we can,” Holcomb said. “We are making the right investments in testing; we’re making the right investments in tracing. We have the ability to treat those who are in need.”…
Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box and Holcomb continue to tell people to wear masks, wash their hands often and stay 6 feet from others. They said they are not sending a mixed message with that advice while also further opening the economy.
Holcomb also said he is planning on attending the Republican National Convention in Florida in late August. But he said nothing is carved in stone and he will remain in Indiana at least until Stage 5 in July.
He did not answer whether he would wear a mask at the convention. Face coverings have become a hot-button political issue.
Box said anyone who is high risk based on age and underlying health conditions might consider forgoing conventions, and individuals should wear masks if they attend.
Box said “a large amount of people in an enclosed space … gives me some heartburn.”…
Journal Gazette
600 W. Main Street
Fort Wayne IN 46802
Box said anyone who is high risk based on age and underlying health conditions might consider forgoing conventions, and individuals should wear masks if they attend.
I think Trump should take her advise and not attend. He certainly won’t be wearing a mask because it would mess up his hair and ALL of his adoring fans want to see ALL of his gorgeous face. [barf/yuck]
I bet Steve Miller isn’t happy.
……………………..
The Washington Post
Democracy Dies in Darkness
News Alert
Jun 13, 12:29 AM
President Trump say he’s rescheduling Tulsa rally so it won’t conflict with Juneteenth observance of end of slavery
Trump had scheduled the rally, his first since early March, for June 19. Black leaders said it was offensive for Trump to pick that day and that place, a city that in 1921 was the site of a fiery and orchestrated white-on-black attack, according to AP.
The rally will be held a day later, Trump said on Twitter late Friday.
Here’s a fact that means nothing. [Thought we need a ‘fun fact’.]
FUN(?) FACT
In the latest Weekly Obsession, Mary Hui told us that a gelato shop in Hong Kong has developed tear gas-flavored ice cream in support of pro-democracy protesters. In developing the recipe, the owners experimented with wasabi and mustard, but ultimately settled on roasted and ground black peppercorns to create a slightly irritating aftertaste. The flavor has been a hit.
Fun fact: Gollum (née Sméagol) was reincarnated as Stephen Miller. This isn’t widely known.
Now that you know this, you will never be able to look at him without seeing the resemblance, huh?
Video: Deer In The Headlight Pt 2 | Joe Biden For President
Jun 12, 2020
Joe Biden
Former Vice President Joe Biden is running for president to restore the soul of the nation. He believes it’s time to remember who we are. We’re Americans: tough and resilient. We choose hope over fear. Science over fiction. Truth over lies. And unity over division. We are the United States of America. And together, there is not a single thing we can’t do. Join Team Joe today: http://www.joebiden.com/join