Alternet recapitulates a Boston Globe investigation of a new phenomen: drivers who use their car as a weapon to drive into protestors.
Three Republican-led states have passed laws to protect the drivers who ran into protestors: Iowa, Oklahoma, and Florida.
On Monday, the Boston Globe reported on a “Back the Blue Act” signed by Iowa’s Republican governor, Kim Reynolds. The bill took the side of drivers who run over protesters. In June of 2020, the driver of Reynold’s state-issued Chevrolet Suburban struck a Des Moines Black Liberation Movement protester who was urging the governor to restore voting rights.
Thirteen other states are considering “hit and kill” legislation.
You can read the Boston Globe investigation here, but be advised that it is probably behind a pay wall.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Yet another reason not to visit Florida and Oklahoma.
Not that i really needed any additional reasons.
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The list of reasons (and states) not to visit is already quite long.
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I fear that next time I drive across the country, I might have to go thru Canada to do it.
But driving south is not an issue at any rate.
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It’s a good thing I visited the vast majority of the states decades ago before they went off the rails.
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Well, according to the article, TN also considers such a law.
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Tennessee was already on my list of states not to visit.
Besides. Been there. Done that .
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Tennesseans who drive their car into protestors will be assumed to be impaired by listening to some of that Nashville music.
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Like this
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But I’m sure the folks in these states would not want me there anyway.
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Not to fear after the SCOTUS eliminates most gun control, we can match protestors with AR15s against autos with Trumpanzees. Especially in stand your ground states.
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Stand your ground against 7 year old trick or treaters?
“Texas woman is accused of pointing a loaded gun at a 7-year-old trick-or-treater on Halloween.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-woman-accused-pointing-loaded-gun-7-year-old-trick-n1282945
Gives new meaning to “All my hexes live in Texas”
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The kid probably didn’t like any of the candy she offered.
Gotta stand your ground in such cases.
Otherwise, the ungrateful, spoiled brats will grow up to eventually ask for Social Security.
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Stand by your ground
Give it two arms to sling to
A loaded gun to come to
When Halloween nights are cold and lonely
Stand by your ground
And show the world you hate it
Keep giving all the hate that you have found
Stand by your ground
Apologies to Tammy Wynette)
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It’s the new Trump 2024 campaign song!
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That’s great.
Finally getting a chance to read this stuff. I was grading work last night.
(I can’t catch up on the weirdness from yesterday before I’m hit with the next wave of bizarre crap we’ll encounter today.)
But ain’t that the point of what they’re doing…
If people had told me 20, 30, 40 years ago that this is what 2021 would be like, I never, ever would’ve believed it.
And, here we are….living it…breathing it….
Time for more coffee to gear up for this day.
Take care!
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The Florida Law was in direct response to the BLM protests. It will be challenged in the courts. So far the courts have curtailed DeSantis’ fascist inclinations.
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It’s more than 3 states that have passed these laws. TN passed the same law the year FL passed it.
The police are complicit in ignoring these terrorist attacks.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/11/2/2061919/-Green-lighted-by-civil-authorities-vehicle-ramming-attacks-spread-as-a-right-wing-protest-tactic
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Give the Republicans a break. It must be difficult retaining one’s footing when following Jabba the Trump’s lead, what with the slime on the trail, not to mention the bodies.
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Oh, and I was so hoping, like the Romans, to keep the Barbarians east of the Rhine and North of the Danube….
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LOL
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You would sooner control the librarians.
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If we followed the money trail behind these Red State “Hit and Kill” bills, I suspect the legislation for the bill was written by ALEC.
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It’s bad enough that we have nutball drivers who drive into groups of protestors.
But one has to wonder how far we are from nutball pilots flying into them.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2021/10/31/southwest-pilot-trump-lets-go-brandon/?sh=734634c92d23
Southwest is headquartered in Dallas Texas.
What a surprise.
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A student today asked me if I knew what “Let’s go Brandon” meant. I told him no. He explained that it was code for Joe Biden.
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I didn’t know what it meant before hand either.
And actually, I think it’s pretty stupid and don’t really care if people say that on their own time.
They have a right to do so.
But when pilots do it to the people on the plane, I think it’s a different story.
It shows very poor judgement, among other things.
I would probably have simply warned the pilot to keep his politics out of the cockpit, but I can also see the position of SW who don’t want to appear to have half cocked cowboys as pilots.
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The let’s go Brandon thing is a perfect example of how idiotic theapproach of many of the people on the right has become.
I mean seriously, is that the best they can do? F Joe Biden?
It’s like something a prepubescent adolescent would say.
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Childish. The GOP is acting like kiddies who throw taunts. No wonder these babies are no good at governing.
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“Let’s go, Brandon” is GOP code for “F… Joe Biden.”
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What’s the connection between Brandon and Biden?
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It has its origin at a NASCAR race won by a fellow named Brandon.
A reporter was interviewing him and the crowd was changing in the background and she thought they were saying “Let’s go Brandon” when what they were actually saying was “F___Joe Biden”.
So now people like the pilot and other geniuses like Harvard law grad Ted Cruz think it is very clever to repeat the chant, since they are talking in code that only those with the secret decoder ring can understand.
The whole thing is rather pathetic.
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This is what we’ve come to: a Republican party that thinks that vehicular homicide is speech.
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The vehicular has become the vernacular.
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Oh, just beautiful, SomeDAM.
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Why is it not? The Supreme Court has ruled that money donated to a cause is speech. Everything is speech. Throwing tomatoes is close to speech, but it is only protected if the tomatoes are directed at the correct target. If you throw one at the wrong person, you are liable for vigilante action.
Now there is another topic. Vigilante action is protected under the law if it is directed toward abortion providers. The above law seems to suggest that the same is the case for those who wish to protest by driving their car into an opposing group which is engaged in incorrectly exercising their freedom of speech.
Insanity is upon us.
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If you donate to an assassin’s cause (aka, hire an assassin), is that considered free speech?
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I guess hiring is different than donating.
For example, if you donate to an assassin, you can probably claim it as a charitable contribution on your taxes.
So, it’s probably better to donate to an assassin for several reasons.
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” Everything is speech. ”
This is what you get for a vaguely worded Constitution.
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That’s what we get for a vaguely intelligent Supreme Court.
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If the laws (Constitution) were precisely written, the intelligence of the supreme court wouldn’t play a role.
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I could be wrong (have been before…once), but I think the idea of the Fondling Fathers was to make the wording of the Constitution nonspecific so as to allow it to be relevant in the future.
Besides, many if them were lawyers , who are well known for making writing as UNclear as possible.
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But if the role of the Supreme Court were more precisely defined in the Constitution, we would have to worry less about a bunch of ideologues just making things up about the Constitution to fit their ideology.
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Vehicular Vernacular
Republican vernacular
Is homicide, vehicular
It’s murder as a “speech”
The Liberals to “teach”
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A masterpiece!
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The Masterpiece
A Masterpiece of crap
It’s really all of that
A pile of stinking verse
That’s really just a curse
A poetry of waste
An excremental paste
A sculpture of manure
A work of fart, for sure
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Fascists consider violence to be a legitimate first policy choice, not one of last resort. We need to start getting comfortable with the concept of inner exile sooner rather than later. But regardless of timing, I’m pretty sure we’ll have to get comfortable with it. Preemptive search and seizure laws can’t be far behind.
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Relating back to the previous post, What Teachers Need to Survive, we also need the country to regain some sanity and stop terrifying us. We teach because we believe in a bright future, and this new fascism is not bright.
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Reblogged this on What's Gneiss for Education.
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Patriotic Noise v2 | Bob Shepherd
Sample submitted pursuant to an application for the position of speechwriter for Donald Trump, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, Greg Abbott, or Ron DeSantis.
Murika, land of the
tis of thee,
by jingo by golly
by jingoism,
by the dawn’s eerie
night
from above,
by crackie,
another village saved from
Socialism!
a tear in the eye as the flag goes by
saved by the Liberty Bell!
well, mission accomplished,
O land that beats true
for that ole black ‘n’ blue,
for me and you
and all true
merkins
ole black Joe
stuck a feather in his
tweedle dumb,
tweedle dee,
so stand your ground,
women for Trump,
while these savings last,
yes, they stole the erection,
but I’ll be home by Christmas,
though there’s a war on that
funded by the teacher’s unions,
indoctrinating our kids with their critical race theory
that leaves dishes in the sink and
turns children transgender
and lord knows what they are doing
with those Jewish space lasers
am I rite?
they dont want you to have hamburgers!
hamburgers!
But your dollar is a weapon aimed at the heart of Antifa,
protecting our statues, our Truth (Social), our ( White Vigilante) Justice, and $1.99 hamburgers!
They wanna take your cows.
Well, I say, no more Socialism,
for the business of America is hambugers
and American Cheese food product
all the livelong day, that
gem of the
dancing with the,
hey there with the,
you there with the,
stars and in your eyes,
and stripes on your back cause
it’s really the whites who are
discriminated against and
nothing was given to you, rite?
you earned it
you roll!
you could grow up to be the next
Glorious Leader Who Shines More Orange Than Does the Sun,
in the sweet bye and bye[call now]
bye, bye and
bye, bye blackbird:
buy now, for deals like this won’t last for ever,
and see you in Church on Sunday
for your tax-deductible donation
thank you, Jesus,
by golly,
by gee,
by Jim Dandy
doodle dandy,
Onward!
Where our fathers fruited plain.
Everybody sing!
NB: This could also double as the new Kansas, Texas, Ohio, Utah, Flor-uh-duh, or 1776 Project K-12 certified CRT-free History curriculum! You’re welcome, Republicans. Don’t mention it.
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Slightly revised:
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Fight back by joining up today!
https://dissentpins.com/collections/secret-jewish-space-laser/products/secret-jewish-space-laser-corps-patch?utm_source=CTC%20FB&utm_medium=CTC%20-%20PROSPECTING%20-%20%27NON-SOCIAL%20ISSUES%27%20-%20LC&utm_content=10%2F26%20-%20IMAGE%20-%20SECRET%20JEWISH%20SPACE%20LASER%20CORPS%20PATCH%20-%20PRODUCT%20PAGE&utm_campaign=10%2F26%20-%20BROAD&fbclid=IwAR0Y2bENPDB595p3Vg0GLgKyeHOYhfOhYIyJcHA6HlF_1LfjhljWY41kpgg
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Masterpiece
A Masterpiece of crap
It’s really all of that
A pile of stinking verse
That’s really just a curse
A poetry of waste
An excremental paste
A sculpture of manure
A work of fart, for sure
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So glad you appreciated this work of stable genius, SomeDAM!
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Sorry, Bob
Masterpiece of crap was supposed to be a reply to the compliment by Markstextterminal above.
But as we all know, WordPress moves things around and deletes comments just to stir up trouble.
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So, my ambition to scale the depths of STABLE genius is dashed. How can I possibly recover from this!
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And speaking of masterpieces of crap, the Internet is exploding with claims that the Virginia outcome shows that Trumpism is the future and Donald Trump Jr. is the Kwisatz Haderach. Or does the future belong to Princess Sparkle and Slender Man? And what will the Empire’s historians make of the brief, partial flirtation with democracy in the United States?
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Bob, I don’t know which words sent this comment into moderation. Kwisatz Haderach? Princess Sparkle? Slender Man?
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It’s a great mystery, Diane. Like the Trinity and how Trump functions without a brain.
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And speaking of masterpieces of ****, the Internet is exploding with claims that the Virginia outcome shows that Trumpism is the future and Donald Trump Jr. is the Kwisatz Haderach. Or does the future belong to Princess Sparkle and Slender Man? And what will the Empire’s historians make of the brief, partial flirtation with democracy in the United States?
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Don’t worry Bob
You still qualify as an UNstable genius.
At least in my book.
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A genius of the stable, though, knows the dishing of s**t.
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And who would want to be a stable genius anyway?
Everyone knows that the UNstable (ie, Mad) geniuses are the ones making the most important contributions.
Nikolai Tesla, for example.
And Vincent Van Gogh
Bob, you are right up there with them in my book.
I notice you are wearing something over your ears in your photo.
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Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.
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CYRANO DE BOBERAC: Ah no, young blade! Thy thrust was a trifle short! Perchance a stroke might have cut me quick hadst thou some two or three of a hundred abler parries, as here I illustrate for thy edification:
Aggressive: Sir, thou hast the ears of an ass, befitting thy maternal parentage!
Curious: Odd. What metamorphosis is this, that thou hast now the visage of an ass?
Awestruck: Why, I am become St. Paul, and an ass doth speak to me!
Learned:/Scientific: Ah, ‘tis a specimen of Equus asinus, but take care, for these can breed; those offspring with Equus caballus, alone, are sterile.
Artistic: Such continuity of style! for now the ears do match the rest of him!
Pious: of his corporeal and spiritual form!
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My friends’ kids’ socks, SomDAM. She had been on him to stop taking them off and leaving them around the house, and seeing these on the floor, I said, “Oh, my. We must find another place for these, right?”
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Those socks put the emphasis on unstable, Bobby! 🙂
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lol
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Bobby Socks. I like it!
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Mathematician John Nash was another UNstable genius.
And so was Isaac Newton for that matter, who in later life was obsessed with badmouthing other scientists like Robert Hooke and Leibniz whom he perceived to have stolen his own ideas and claimed credit for them.
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And Isaac Newton became a mad alchemist later in life.
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Bob
Regarding earcoutrements.
I thought maybe you were just wearing them to hide the fact that you had cut off your ears to send them to your imaginary lover.
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The biggest mystery of the Universe is The Wholey Vanity: Donald Trump, Donald Trump and Donald Trump
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Or maybe it’s The Holey Vanity
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Most geniuses of the stable type are actually pretty boring, like Marylyn vos Savant or Mister Ed
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WordPress AS (Artificial Stupidity)
The WordPress bots just really suck
They’re algorithms run amok
They move, delete and “moderate”
An artificial stupid state*
*ASS
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Let’s be clear here.
If a black driver drove his car into a group of “voter fraud” right wing protesters, the police would likely kill him.
This law — like the laws in which federal agents are not allowed to respond when right wing white folks shoot at them and are not allowed to respond when right wing white folks point assault weapons at them– applies only to drivers trying to kill protesters who aren’t right wing white supremacists.
No one – from police to car drivers – is allowed to touch violent right wing protesters.
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I’m unclear on this Iowa law & its brethren. Not about to subscribe to Boston Globe to read it, but a googlenews search on these laws reveals nothing about driving into protestors without legal consequence. The narrative is, they’re police-friendly, protestor-unfriendly laws– & they’re a reaction to the “unfund police” narrative– they maintain the protection against suing policemen acting w/n ob desceiption (?!) Can anyone point me to specific [proposed or passed] laws saying it’s OK to drive into [/run over?] protestors?
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Florida HB1, which DeSantis signed and has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge, enables authorities to declare any gathering over over 3 people a riot and creates a new felony of “aggravated rioting” punishable by 15 years in prison. According to the Orlando Sentinel:
“The law, which goes into effect immediately, grants civil legal immunity to people who drive through protesters blocking a road, which Democrats argued might have protected the white nationalist who ran over and killed counter-protester Heather Heyer during the Charlottesville tumult in 2017. It also makes blocking a highway a felony offense.”
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“The law, which goes into effect immediately, grants civil legal immunity to people who drive through protesters blocking a road, ”
It would be great to see the actual wording of the law that allows this.
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Mate, you won’t find anything in Florida HB1 (2021) Combating Public Disorder, that says, specifically, “It’s OK to drive over protesting pedestrians.” I’ve looked through the bill, and as I understand it, though I am no lawyer and might well be wrong, the language creates an affirmative defense against civil suit by anyone injured in the course of participating in a riot which is much more broadly and capriciously defined than in the past because a sheriff can look at a gathering of three or more persons and say, “That’s a riot” and because blocking a roadway is sufficient to constitute participating in a riot. So, again, as I understand it, and I am not a lawyer, this means that if you are participating in a protest that blocks traffic, and if you are injured by a driver as a result and sue that driver, the driver will have at his or her disposal an affirmative defense that you were participating in a riot. The objection regarding drivers who hit protestors was raised by Democratic lawmakers, but the provision of the bill was passed and signed into law by the governor despite this. This bill was a reaction to the “public disorder” created by BLM protests against the murder of George Floyd by police.
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Thx, Bob.
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Well, in some places, a “road” can mean little more than an old overgrown carriage road or even trail through the woods.
Funny story. My sister has a house on a dirt back road in Vermont . I was up there recently and asked Google for driving directions to a nearby town. And I got directions that included travelling over what is quite literally a “trail” through the woods.
I have actually hiked the trail and while it might have been the shortest distance to town, taking it clearly would not have taken the least time because, among other things, it would have involved travelling with my low clearance 2 wheel drive car around trees, and over logs and streams without any bridges.
Needless to say, I chose the road MORE travelled by, and that has made all the difference.
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Otherwise, I’d still be out there hacking my way through the forest and building bridges to fjord streams a month later.
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Two roads diverged at a snowflake march
And I,
I drove the one to make them die!
And that has made all the difference
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One of the chilling effects of the bill is that if a protest results in any injury or property damage, all persons involved in the riot can be charged with felony rioting.
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Somehow I expect that they would exclude the people who stormed the Capitol.
Has anyone asked the people who voted for this law if they wish it had been applied to every person at the Capitol on Jan 6, and if they believe every person there should have been charged with felony rioting?
There is something so wrong about how the far right gets away with passing these laws because they know that any gatherings of far right white folks are excluded from the effects of the law.
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Well, the law allows the police to make the determination about whether a gathering is a a riot. That’s what fascist states do, isn’t it?
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“When I use a word like ‘riot’ ” Truumpty Dumpty said, in a rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” “
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LOL. But, no. This allusion would require that he had actually READ Through the Looking Glass, which would require that he be capable of reading.
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OK, I just read the whole 61pp of FL HB1! Text is here: https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2021/1/BillText/er/PDF
Just a couple of additions to Bob’s synopsis. The affirmative defense applies to either civil suit or criminal prosecution. And, “a sheriff can look at a gathering of three or more persons and say, ‘That’s a riot’ is taking it a bit far. The sheriff has to prove “willful participation… acting with a common intent to assist each other in violent and disorderly conduct.” How to do that? And wouldn’t juries just go along with whatever the law officer says? Gotta guess that’s going to be one of the issues raised by ACLU et al fighting these laws.
Another aspect of the law that’s sucky: unless I’m very much mistaken, it could be used in any case of vandalism/ burglary/ beatdown where 3 perps act in concert, taking advantage by re-defining it as a “riot”– a big laundry list of infractions are bumped by one degree [e.g. from 3rd deg misdemeanor to 1st deg felony] if it’s “a riot.”
Hey, “mob intimidation” is included, again just 3 perps needed, acting in concert to force or attempt a person to do something or even just change their opinion… Methinks some parents angry at school boards might fall afoul of such a law 😉
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