#defund the police and fund our communities

[callese]

[zarohk]

Animorphs in particular is about combating imperialism, and the way that it subjugates not only those little disenfranchises, but those that it claims to elevate and lift up.

Strong Female Protagonist is perhaps the most blunt version of superheroes fighting systemic injustice, rather than crime, and because of that frankly it struggles a lot because it’s something very difficult right well.

dipping a toe into dangerous waters, here, but indulge me:

For purposes of more casual discourse (ie we are not getting caught up about strict definitions), are there any “hero” capes that we would not consider cops? Worm sets up a very explicit paradigm with Taylor repeating the “cops and robbers” framing multiple times but we don’t get to dive into that too much. And I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to categorize capes that work for government institutions as cops.

I know we’ve talked Victoria “Cop” Dallon as a subject to death

But what about other “good” capes? Other ones on independent teams? Are there even enough of those to merit a discussion? I dunno, spitballing, I’d like input

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Daniel Marans at HuffPost:

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) lost her Democratic primary on Tuesday, shrinking the ranks of the House’s left-wing “Squad” and delivering another major victory to the pro-Israel and business-friendly groups that backed her challenger. Wesley Bell, the St. Louis County prosecutor, defeated Bush. Since Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, which includes all of St. Louis and many of its northern and western suburbs, is overwhelmingly Democratic, Bell is all but assured of a seat in Congress come November.

Bell’s victory over Bush marks the second “Squad” member in recent months to fall to a challenger heavily funded by pro-Israel groups. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), who, like Bush, ousted an incumbent in 2020, lost his race to Westchester County Executive George Latimer this past June. Justice Democrats, the left-wing group that backed Bush’s first successful run, cast the race as yet another referendum on the power of big money to decide elections. “This race is about the future of our democracy and the soul of our Democratic Party, frankly,” Usamah Andrabi, a spokesperson for Justice Democrats, told HuffPost on Monday. “This is a question about whether we want to let a handful of Republican mega-donors dictate the outcome of Democratic primaries, or do we want to move forward to elect more nurses and everyday people to represent the community’s best interests.”

Bush, an ordained pastor and registered nurse, indeed faced a massive fundraising deficit. As Andrabi noted, Bell had the support of some local Republican donors — and many national megadonors from both parties, through the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Super PACs supporting Bell outspent those supporting Bush by a more than 3-to-1 margin. Spending by pro-Bell groups included about $8.6 million from AIPAC’s United Democracy Project, $1.5 million from LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman’s Mainstream Democrats PAC, $1.4 million from the crypto-industry-backed FairShake PAC, and nearly $500,000 from the Democratic Majority for Israel PAC. Bush made national waves with her July 2021 sit-in on the U.S. Capitol steps to draw attention to the expiration of the federal government’s COVID-19-era eviction moratorium. Her action got results; President Joe Biden responded by extending the policy, though the Supreme Court stopped it a few weeks later. Later that year, in a bid to shore up support for abortion rights, Bush spoke on national television — and in a House hearing — about her experience getting an abortion after being raped at age 17.

Bush’s allies — and she retains the support of many local elected officials — see her as an authentic tribune of the Black Lives Matter movement, which was born in Ferguson, Missouri, following the police killing of Michael Brown in 2014. Unlike many other Democrats in Washington, Bush continues to embrace calls to “defund the police.” Bell, who also got his political start during the Ferguson protests and unseated a more conservative incumbent prosecutor in 2018, has, by contrast, disappointed many of his former fellow activists. They fault him for declining to prosecute Darren Wilson, the police officer who killed Brown, and for not more rapidly reducing the county’s jail and prison populations, even as he points to the creation of a conviction review unit and the expansion of drug diversion programs.

[...] Finally, Bush has been among the most outspoken critics of Israel in Congress, particularly after Israel invaded Gaza in response to Hamas’ terror attack on Oct. 7. She was not only an early advocate for a ceasefire, but has also accused Israel of genocide ― a charge that remains highly disputed. And in an interview with The New York Times out on Monday, Bush expressed ambivalence about describing Hamas as a terrorist group, though her campaign later walked it back. “Would they qualify to me as a terrorist organization? Yes,” Bush told the Times. “But do I know that? Absolutely not.” Bush’s stances cost her the support of Susan Talve, a progressive St. Louis rabbi who leads the only synagogue in Bush’s district. But they also unsettled some other allies who see her national profile as a distraction from the needs of the high-poverty, majority Black district.

In the battle of activists rising from the Ferguson protests in #MO01, incumbent Rep. Cori Bush (D) goes down in defeat to AIPAC-backed St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell (D) in the Democratic Primary. Bell is favored to win this November.

[edenfenixblogs]

What are you doing to help black people?

Several things! (A Note on My Personal Limitations: I am not black. I am unable to protest for health reasons. I do not have much money at all)

I elevate black voices whenever I can

I joined an anti-racism book club where I can learn how to be a better ally and unlearn as much systemic prejudice as I can

I do not tolerate anti-black racism from anyone in my life for any reason. I call it out every time, publicly.

I donate (when financially possible) to several causes devoted to both long term and immediate aid to to black people including: various bail funds in my current state and my home state, the southern poverty law center, the Homeless Black Trans Women gofundme, the ACLU, and others.

I consistently educate people in my life about the goals of BLM — including defunding the police — in order to reduce their knee jerk reactions and foster better understanding.

I shut the eff up unless I can help. I’m no savior; I know this. I don’t break into conversations that don’t involve me. I just listen. Most of my public advocacy is amplifying black voices on issues that affect the black community without adding my irrelevant opinions as white-passing person.

Privately, I have and continue to reach out to the several black people in my life to let them know I support them and that I am listening. I listen to them vent to me about their pain and suffering. I let them tell me if I’ve fucked up somehow without getting defensive. Then I apologize sincerely and onboard the new information and don’t do whatever the offending action was again. I have not had anyone tell me I’ve fucked up in that way in over a decade, though. I did, however, realize (during my continuing journey of learning how to be anti-racist) that I’d held problematic opinions as a teenager (nothing crazy. Just ignorant teen bullshit borne from growing up as a liberal in a red state and thinking I was more progressive than I actually was at the time) and proactively reached out to the black friend I’ve known since my teenage years to say that I know I was an idiot back then and I’ve learned a lot since then and I will continue to learn and to apologize.

My work involves public communications. In my role, I continually advocate for anti-racist, black-affirming language in our company guidelines and publicly disseminated materials, even when that means confronting my boss—who is a white man.

I vote in every election in which I am able, researching every politician and bill thoroughly from multiple sources and voting as leftist as possible and educating people in my life about these bills details and the politicians platforms and records.

I am not perfect and don’t claim to be. I only claim to try my best to continually improve.

I don’t make a habit of sharing private communique and am only doing so now because this post asks for receipts. Here are some excerpts from conversations had during 2020 when tensions were a little higher. I decline to share receipts from more recently, as those conversations include more private and more identifying information. The pictured conversations involve friends I’ve had since pre-school, high school, and college. Again, this is not something I would normally share, because saying “I have black friends” is tacky and gross. But I am trying to respect your request for my commitment to the black community, which does of course include my friends. It feels wrong not to mention them in this context, even though I feel awkward saying it at all. Im also sharing only the start of longer conversations, as my friends’ pain and concerns are not for public consumption.

Idk if replying to your question alerts you, so tagging you just in case. @phantomdiebe

[intothestacks]

But if you turned to your local New York Public Library this past Sunday, one of this summer’s hottest days yet, you were out of luck. Last year, the New York Public Library received a $23.6 million cut in funding, which resulted in its decision to close on Sundays. Recently, Mayor Adams proposed an even bigger cut of $58.3 million for the 2025 fiscal year, citing the “need” to move more funds toward the police, who received $5.8 billion in 2024. After months of protest, a compromise was found.

Unfortunately, this attack on public libraries is not contained to New York. Thanks to the efforts of some lawmakers, libraries all over the U.S. are having an increasingly difficult time serving their communities.

In the ongoing culture war, conservative politicians have been taking drastic measures to stop the distribution of “age-inappropriate books,” which primarily target children’s books by and about LGBTQ+ individuals and people of color. Last year in Missouri, the Secretary of State enacted an administrative rule defunding libraries that carry such content.

[canichangemyblogname]

When I tell people that the United States is a failing state, people often scoff. Because they're imagining an Armageddon in their heads, something Chernobyl-style or Purge-style. They're imagining the images coming out of Haiti and Yemen and Syria of burned-out cars and shelled-out buildings and children lying in hospitals, so thin it looks like there's barely flesh on their bones. They're imagining their government tying people up to posts on the side of the street and leaving them for dead, they're imagining "security forces" beating people to death and the spray of automatic gunfire in the streets.

They're saying, "That happens to other people. It doesn't happen here." They're really thinking, "That doesn't happen to white people."

We have watched for decades as police beat and execute black people in the street and throw them in cells to leave them for dead. We have watched the justice system fail for decades. We have watched the empty promises of emancipation manifest right before our eyes. And we have done little to provide the people of this country with equitable public services. In fact, just to spite integration and civil rights, communities defunded many public services. Community centers? Privatized. Electricity and water? Privatized. Natural gas? Privatized. Student loans? Privatized. Airports? Privatized. Bus and rail services? Privatized and scaled back to make room for the private car. We've also been witnessing the increasing privatization of medical services and educational services. Our history is full of the privatization or corporatization of public services with the purpose of pricing people out, namely black and brown people who have been prevented from building generational wealth.

Did you know that the inability to provide public services is a marker of a failed state?

How about the loss of the monopoly on the legitimate use of force? The erosion of legitimate authority? The erosion of decision-making processes? Uneven economic development? Concentrated wealth? High inflation? Mass violence? Ethnic or racial violence? Religiously-motivated violence? Police brutality? Collapse of the middle class? High debt? Insurrections or riots? Resource shortages? Lack of access to drinkable water? Hight debt? How about environmental destruction?

When I tell people that the United States is a failing state, I am making a commentary on how our racism will lead us to complete political, economic and social collapse.

There are several indicators that the non-profit Fund for Peace uses to look at the functionality of a state, including the following questions:

Do private militias exist against the state?

Is there paramilitary activity?

Do private armies exist to protect assets?

Are the police considered to be professional?

Is violence often state-sponsored and politically motivated?

Is the government dealing well with any insurgency or security situation?

Are there accusations of police brutality?

Is there a high availability of weapons?

Is leadership representative of the population?

Are there factionalized elites, tribal elites and/or fringe groups?

Is there a sense of national identity? Or are there calls for separatism?

Does hate radio and media exist?

Is religious, ethnic, or other stereotyping prevalent and is there scape-goating?

Does cross-cultural respect exist?

Is wealth concentrated in the hands of a few?

Is there a burgeoning middle class?

Does any one group control the majority of resources?

Are resources fairly distributed? Does the government adequately distribute wealth through its tax system and taxes?

Is the Judicial system representative of the population?

Are victims of past atrocities compensated or is their a plan to compensate them?

Are war criminals apprehended and prosecuted? Do the public feel they are properly punished?

Are there feelings of or reports of ethnic and/or religious intolerance and/or violence?

Are groups oppressed or do they feel oppressed?

Is there a history of violence against a group or group grievance?

How are intertribal and/or interethnic relations?

Is there freedom of religion according to laws and practiced by society? Are there reports of violence that is religiously motivated?

Are there reports of vigilant justice?

Are the reports of mass violence and/or killings? Are there reports of violence that is racially motivated?

What is the government debt?

How are the interest rates – actual and projected?

How is the inflation rate – actual and projected?

What is the productivity?

How is the unemployment – current and rate of unemployment?

How do people view the economy?

Do the laws and access to capital allow for internal entrepreneurship?

Is there a large economic gap?

Is the economic system discriminatory?

Does economic justice exist?

Are hiring practices generally fair – legally and the perception of others?

Do equal rights exist in the society?

Are there laws protecting equal rights?

Is the education provided relatively equal?

Is there a housing system for the poor?

Do ghettos and slums exist?

Is there a relatively high proportion of higher educated people leaving the country?

Is the middle class beginning to return to the country?

Does the government have the confidence of the people?

Have riots occurred?

Is there evidence of corruption on the part of federal officials?

Do political rights for all parties exist?

Is the government representative of the population?

Have there been recent peaceful transitions of power?

Are elections perceived to be free and fair?

Are there reports of politically motivated attacks and assassinations?

Are there reports of armed insurgents and attacks?

Have there been terrorist attacks such as suicide bombings and how likely are they?

Is the population growth rate sustainable?

Is population density putting pressure on areas of the state?

Is there a high likelihood or existence of diseases of epidemics?

Is the food supply adequate to deal with potential interruption?

Is there a short-term food shortage that needs to be alleviated?

Is there are high likelihood of droughts or is there currently a drought?

Do sound environmental policies exist and are the current practices sustainable?

Is a natural disaster likely, recurring?

If a natural disaster occurs, is there an adequate response plan?

Has deforestation taken place or are there laws to protect forests?

Does resource competition exist and are there laws to arbitrate disputes?

Is there access to an adequate potable water supply?

Are refugees likely to come from neighboring countries?

Are there resources to provide for projected and actual refugees?

Are there sufficient refugee camps or are refugees integrated into communities?

Are there reports of violence against refugees?

Are conditions safe in refugee camps?

Are IDPs likely to increase in the near future?

Are there resources to provide for projected and actual IDPs?

[foreverlogical]

The White House on Monday called the House Freedom Caucus’ budget proposal a ‘five-alarm fire,’ arguing that their spending cuts would endanger Americans’ safety.

The White House referred to the conservative GOP group as the “extreme MAGA Republican House Freedom Caucus” in a statement and said their proposal would be “a disaster for families in at least five key ways.”

The key ways, according to the White House, include endangering public safety, raising costs for families, shipping manufacturing jobs overseas and undermining American workers, weakening national security, and hurting seniors.

The statement argued that the proposal would make the border less secure because it would eliminate funding for more than 2,000 border agents and allow for “an additional 150,000 pounds of cocaine, nearly 900 pounds of fentanyl, nearly 2,000 pounds of heroin, and more than 17,000 pounds of methamphetamine into our country.” 

Biden’s budget included funds to hire an additional 350 Border Patrol Agents, $535 million for border technology at and between ports of entry, and $40 million to combat fentanyl trafficking.

And, the White House argued the Freedom Caucus proposal would defund the police and make communities less safe because it would eliminate 400 local law enforcement positions and could mean a hiring freeze at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 

The White House also said the proposal would scale back rail safety inspections, especially in the wake of the train derailments in Ohio that lead to a politically-charged situation over President Biden not visiting the site. The statement claims the proposal would lead to 11,000 fewer rail safety inspection days next year alone and 30,000 fewer miles of track inspected annually.

And, it said the proposal would jeopardize air safety and increase airport security wait times by an average of 30 minutes because it would shut down services at 125 Air Traffic Control Towers across the country. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg last week said there have been “more mistakes than usual” in U.S. air travel after dozens of close calls, calling for the industry to figure out the causes.

The Freedom Caucus has said they want to cap overall discretionary spending at fiscal 2022 levels for 10 years while allowing for 1 percent growth per year, which would be a $131 billion cut from current levels.

Citing the Congressional Budget Office, the White House said on Monday that Republicans would need to eliminate everything in the rest of the federal budget if they want to balance the budget in 10 years without raising taxes on the wealthy or corporations and without cutting Social Security, Medicare, defense, and some veterans’ benefits.

The White House has been using the Freedom Caucus as a foil as Biden prepares to launch his reelection bid, seeking to cast the group as the face of the GOP.

Biden released his budget on March 9 and the next day he went after the House Freedom Caucus during remarks, saying there isn’t much to negotiate with the conservative group after they released their new spending demands. 

He argued that the Freedom Caucus' demands include cutting all spending other than defense by 25 percent, which is a characterization the group later disputed.

[a-god-in-ruins-rises]

What are your thoughts on police reform/abolition?

lmao you are the second anon to ask me this question since last night.

so police. i think law enforcement as an institution is good. police abolition is just stupid. i think people have a fairy tale idea of what something like that would entail. the reality is that it probably wouldn't be pretty.

i do, however, think we should probably abolish police /unions/. and, ideally, i would love to see police departments just entirely purged and wholly replaced with new blood. at the very least the largest and/or most corrupt police departments. i know this is unrealistic though (would be so expensive to train wholly new recruits and we'd lose so much experience and expertise). it's just a fantasy of mine. but i do think get rid of police unions will make it a bit easier to get rid of the bad apples. this is important. we want to facilitated the removal of bad cops as much as possible.

not sure exactly how we'd do it but we need to figure out a way to identify the bad apples and keep them from policing. maybe some kind of public database of police that have a history of misconduct or excessive force? also having higher standards and enforcing them more strictly. and maybe some way to incentivize police officers to report misconduct from fellow officers?

instead of defunding the police i actually think we should considerably increase their funding. so they can have better training, recruit more police, update equipment, and hire social workers/mental health professionals.

which leads me to my next point: i am cool with the idea of making social workers/mental health professionals and /additional/ supplementary part of policing. but i believe they would still require a police escort. so, a call that might normally require 2 officers will now include 2 officers + a (probably educated, more expensive) mental health professional. so again, we need to /increase/ funding.

police are overworked. they are spread too thin. they do too many different jobs. i think police should be more compartmentalized and specialized. instead of expecting cops to be masters of all trades there should be dedicated community police, "regular" police, (probably state/federal-level) dedicated paramilitary/SWAT/crime suppression units, crisis intervention specialists, etc.

on top of all that, i really would love to see more involvement from the community itself. i want to see more neighborhood watches, citizen patrols, militias, civic guards, etc. i want everyone to be armed and vigilant.

more funding for state and federal oversight and investigating and prosecuting public corruption.

some people say police should be demilitarized. i agree with this to some degree, which is why i mentioned "community police" above. these would be mostly demilitarized. probably unarmed or equipped with non-lethal weapons (though, in certain circumstances, maybe one or two or all members of a given patrol unit could be armed). but i don't think we can reasonably expect to demilitarize the police across the board and, in some case i think we should even make the police /more/ militarized (the state/federal paramilitary i mentioned above). we live in a very violent and widely armed society. i think it's reasonable that police are equipped to deal with these risks. as long as we want to be an armed society we should expect the police to be armed as well. thinking otherwise is absurd to me.

also, some people bring up ending qualified immunity. i think this is dumb. it shouldn't end it. i think it's required for police to effectively do their jobs. i do think we need to rein in the scope of it or make some more clearly established standards because some rulings based on qualified immunity are really stupid. but i'd say that 99% of the time they are fair.

but if i'm really being honest, i think this issue is mostly overblown. of the most pressing issues facing our country right now this doesn't even make the top ten or twenty imo. of course, i think there's always room for improvement but i think people take for granted the excellence of american police. people want to talk about police corruption and police brutality but they've never been to another country, except maybe some european countries. if you want to see real police corruption visit mexico. our police are like knights in shining armor in comparison. we have third world crime but first world quality policing. i think that's a noteworthy achievement on its own.

i think it's more of a public perception issue (largely because of exacerbation by the media) than an actual issue. people say "the police" are corrupt but there is no single organization called "the police." we have thousands of different police departments. i don't deny that there are probably some individually corrupt police departments but this seems to be more of a localized issue (with its own unique causes) than something widespread or systemic.

[anna-mellgren]

The 33 reasons Bill Ackman is voting for Trump:

(1) open the borders to millions of immigrants who were not screened for their risk to the country, dumping them into communities where the new immigrants overwhelm existing communities and the infrastructure to support the new entrants, at the expense of the historic residents,

(2) introduce economic policies and massively increase spending without regard to their impact on inflation and the consequences for low-income Americans and the increase in our deficit and national debt,

(3) withdraw from Afghanistan, abandoning our local partners and the civilians who worked alongside us in an unprepared, overnight withdrawal that led to American casualties and destroyed the lives of Afghani women and girls for generations, against the strong advice of our military leadership, and thereafter not showing appropriate respect for their loss at a memorial ceremony in their honor,

(4) introduce thousands of new and unnecessary regulations in light of the existing regulatory regime that interfere with our businesses’ ability to compete, restraining the development of desperately needed housing, infrastructure, and energy production with the associated inflationary effects,

(5) modify the bail system so that violent criminals are released without bail,

(6) destroy our street retailers and communities and promote lawlessness by making shoplifting (except above large thresholds) no longer a criminal offense,

(7) limit and/or attempt to limit or ban fracking and LNG so that U.S. energy costs increase substantially and the U.S. loses its energy independence,

(8) promote DEI ideologies that award jobs, awards, and university admissions on the basis of race, sexual identity and gender criteria, and teach our students and citizens that the world can only be understood as an unfair battle between oppressors and the oppressed, where the oppressors are only successful due to structural racism or a rigged system and the oppressed are simply victims of an unfair system and world,

(9) educate our elementary children that gender is fluid, something to be chosen by a child, and promote hormone blockers and gender reassignment surgeries to our youth without regard to the longer-term consequences to their mental and physical health, and allow biological boys and men to compete in girls and women's sports, depriving girls and women of scholarships, awards, and other opportunities that they would have rightly earned otherwise,

(10) encourage and celebrate massive protests and riots that lead to the burning and destruction of local retail and business establishments while at the same time requiring schools to be shuttered because of the risk of Covid-19 spreading during large gatherings,

(11) encourage and celebrate anti-American and anti-Israel protests and flag burning on campuses around the country with no consequences for the protesters who violate laws or university codes and policies,

(12) allow antisemitism to explode with no serious efforts from the administration to quell this hatred,

(13) mandate vaccines that have not been adequately tested nor have their risks been properly considered compared with the potential benefits adjusted for the age and health of the individual, censoring the contrary advice of top scientists around the world,

(14) shut down free speech in media and on social media platforms that is inconsistent with government policies and objectives,

(15) use the U.S., state, and local legal systems to attack and attempt to jail, take off the campaign trail, and/or massively fine candidates for the presidency without regard to the merits or precedential issues of the case,

(16) seek to defund the police and promote anti-police rhetoric causing a loss of confidence in those who are charged with protecting us,

(17) use government funds to subsidize auto companies and internet providers with vastly more expensive, dated and/or lower-quality technology when greatly superior and cheaper alternatives are available from companies that are owned and/or managed by individuals not favored by the current administration,

(18) mandate in legislation and otherwise government solutions to problems when the private sector can do a vastly better, faster, and cheaper job,

(19) seek to ban gas-powered cars and stoves without regard to the economic and practical consequences of doing so,

(20) take no serious actions when 45 American citizens are killed by terrorists and 12 are taken hostage,

(21) hold back armaments and weaponry from our most important ally in the Middle East in the midst of their hostage negotiations, hostages who include American citizens who have now been held for more than one year,

(22) eliminate sanctions on one of our most dangerous enemies enabling them to generate $150 billion+ of cash reserves from oil sales, which they can then use to fund terrorist proxy organizations who attack us and our allies. Exchange five American hostages held by Iran for five Iranians plus $6 billion of cash in the worst hostage negotiation in history setting a disastrous and dangerous precedent,

(23) remove known terrorist organizations from the terrorist list so we can provide aid to their people, and allow them to shoot rockets at U.S. assets and military bases with little if any military response from us,

(24) lie to the American people about the cognitive health of the president and accuse those who provide video evidence of his decline of sharing doctored videos and being right wing conspirators,

(25) do nothing about the deteriorating health of our citizens driven by the food industrial complex, the fraudulent USDA food pyramid, and the inclusion of ingredients in our food that are banned by other countries around the world which are more protective of their citizens,

(26) do nothing about the proliferation of new vaccines that are not properly analyzed for their risk versus the potential benefit for healthy children who are mandated to receive them,

(27) do nothing about the continued exemption from liability for the pharma industry that has led to a proliferation of mandatory vaccines for children without considering the potential cumulative effects of the now mandated 72-shot regime,

(28) convince our minority youth that they are victims of a rigged system and that the American dream is not available to them,

(29) fail to provide adequate Secret Service protection for alternative presidential candidates,

(30) litigate to prevent alternative candidates from getting on the ballot, and take other anti-competitive steps including threatening political consultants who wish to work for alternative candidates for the presidency, and limit the potential media access for other candidates by threatening the networks' future access to the administration and access to 'scoops' if they platform an alternative candidate,

(31) select the Democratic nominee for president in a backroom process by undisclosed party leaders without allowing Americans to choose between candidates in an open primary,

(32) choose an inferior candidate for the presidency when other much more qualified candidates are available and interested to serve,

(33) litigate to make it illegal for states to require proof of citizenship, voter ID, and/or residence in order to vote at a time when many Americans have lost confidence in the accuracy and trustworthiness of our voting system.

Here is the thing, I agree with ~ 66% of the points he made.

To be exact I agree with points: 1,2,3,4,5,6,9,10,12,14,16,17,18,22,24,25,30,31,32,33.

Bill Ackman is someone I respect, which is why I did my research as to understand why he is voting for Trump after being a lifelong democrat. I think it is important for the Democratic party to understand why a good portion of the party are dissatisfied with a lot of policies as well which is why I posted Bill's reasons even though I don't agree with all of them.

Bill Ackman and I fundamentally disagree on the USA's handling of Israel. To send weapons & fund a genocidal terror campaign which has killed over 44,000 people is unconscionable. There have been no sanctions, no serious diplomatic intervention & no actual condemnation from the democratic party. I was not born yesterday & I understand it is a complicated conflict but the silence is deafening from the western world. I am absolutely not anti-semitic & I believe jews have the right to live in peace but it does not give them the right to obliterate a people & tear the UN partition resolution of 1947 to pieces. I don't support the horrific events of october 7th. I also don't support the torture & mass murder of children in Gaza. Some of us can have more than one thought in our heads at the same time. This conflict is so infested that serious outside intervention is required for it to stop because it did not start on October 7th. Swedish activists tried to send aid ships to Palestine for years, these ships were only filled with food and medical supplies. The ships had no political motive but to ease human suffering. The ships were always denied entry by the israeli navy even though the israeli navy were allowed to inspect everything on the ship. It is not right to deny palestinians basic human dignity for decades.

I think women should have the right to abortion for the first 3 months of pregnancy. I don't think automatic weapons should be sold at walmart so literally anyone who is mentally ill can go and shoot up an elementary school class on a whim. I don't stand by the hateful rhetoric spewed from the republican party where ¨comedians¨ get away with calling Puerto Rico an island of trash. This gives bullies at school the green light to bully latino children because if adults do it, why can't they? I don't like Trump because he is a convicted sexual predator who has stained the moral fabric of America.

Don’t wait for the “perfect” candidate because you’ll be waiting a long time. Vote for the “good enough,” or the “moves things in the right direction,” or the “status quo who won’t make things worse” candidates. Vote for Kamala Harris!

This election is too important to stay quiet.

[callese]

Story

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Marin Cogan at Vox:

Listen to the way Democrats talk about guns, violent crime, and the criminal justice system these days, and you’ll notice that things sound different from the way they did in 2020. That year, following a national protest movement centered around the high-profile police killings of unarmed Black Americans, including Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, Democrats focused their message on protecting citizens from police abuses and overhauling the criminal justice system, rather than reducing violent crime. But four years later, after a historic spike in gun homicide and an election cycle where Republicans attacked them over the issue, Democrats have found a new message. Leaders are still talking about ending gun violence — an important issue for their base, given that it’s the core reason that the United States has a homicide rate that is much higher than other comparable countries. They’re also still supportive of police reform, though it has been less prominent as a campaign issue this year.

But now, with Republicans opposing nearly all of their gun control legislation, they’re highlighting their other efforts in crime prevention and public safety, too. “We made the largest investment, Kamala and I, in public safety, ever,” President Joe Biden said at the Democratic National Convention in August, referring to the $10 billion in funding committed through the American Rescue Plan to public safety efforts for cities and states. Vice presidential nominee Tim Walz touted his administration’s investment in fighting crime as Minnesota governor at the DNC, and Chris Swanson, a sheriff from Genesee County, Michigan, took to the stage to declare that “crime is down and police funding is up,” in a speech that would have been almost unthinkable at the 2020 Democratic convention, when activists and other prominent voices on the left were calling to “defund the police.” Mayors leading major cities are now highlighting increases in funding and support for programs built around more recent innovations in violence reduction, including community violence intervention and hyperlocal crime reduction programs.

“Community safety is a year-round, collaborative effort,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said earlier this year, unveiling a new summer safety program for the city, which has seen a major drop in gun homicides in 2024 compared to the previous year. “Our comprehensive approach to reducing gun violence is working,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said, crediting the work of the city’s group violence reduction strategy in contributing to the city’s largest year-over-year reduction in murders last year. It’s not just that Democrats are responding to the rise in gun homicides in 2020 and 2021 and the political backlash that came with it. The change reflects a broader shift in thinking among Democrats and their nonpartisan allies who work in violence reduction, criminal justice, and police reform. It’s one that acknowledges the seriousness of preventing and reducing violent crime — the core concern of the “tough on crime” crowd — without accepting the idea that the solution is mass incarceration. There is a growing sense that increasing public safety, ending gun violence, and reducing mass incarceration, rather than being separate or even in tension, are pieces of the same pie, and that efforts to improve one should help improve the others.

[...]

As researchers deepened the body of existing research on racial bias in the criminal justice system, and activists organized to press lawmakers for change, a series of police killings of Black Americans brought the issue into the public’s view. By 2020, the movement for police and criminal justice reform had already made important progress, thanks to a network of organizers and activists, and funding from foundations and bipartisan coalitions. That support had helped build momentum for drug sentencing reform during President Barack Obama’s administration as well as his administration’s creation of a task force aimed at police reform. Those efforts helped pave the way for the most significant sentencing reform bill in years, the First Step Act, signed by President Donald Trump. The bill gave judges more flexibility to avoid lengthy sentences dictated by federal mandatory minimums, allowed incarcerated people to earn time credits that could move up their release date if they participated in rehabilitative programs, and made retroactive the earlier reform passed under the Obama administration, eliminating the sentencing disparity between those convicted of possessing crack versus powdered cocaine. By the last election cycle, the Democrats’ platform included the most progressive police reform agenda in modern American history. The bill focused on greater accountability for police, but also included proposals to invest more in community-based violence reduction.

But as reformers were making strides, violent crime began to rise again in cities, due to a number of factors related to the pandemic, policing after the George Floyd protests, and the ubiquity of guns. By the end of 2020, the country had seen the largest increase in its homicide rate in nearly a century, and the problem got more difficult to ignore. The following year, homicides remained high. Former President Donald Trump and other Republicans increasingly pointed their fingers at Democrats running big cities, arguing that their policies were responsible for rising violent crime and attempting to connect them with the left’s “defund the police” movement. By 2022, six in 10 registered voters listed crime as a “very important” issue for them in the midterm election cycle that November. Then, a new crop of Democrats, responding to voters’ concerns, launched campaigns for mayor across the United States. Many made violent crime reduction their primary campaign issue.

Some, like New York’s Eric Adams, who won in 2021, and Philadelphia’s Cherelle Parker, who won in 2023, campaigned on more funding and support for police. (Federal prosecutors announced Thursday that they had indicted Adams on federal corruption charges, and the NYPD has been under heavy scrutiny for illegal stops on citizens, a recent subway shooting, and a separate investigation that resulted in the police commissioner’s resignation in September.) Others, like Wu and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, have focused their efforts on outreach and intervention programs, and focused on investing in community partnerships. The details of each city’s violence prevention program are different, but the broad elements are largely the same: They include more funding for both the police and for community organizations aimed at addressing the people and places most likely to suffer from high rates of violent crime, especially gun homicide.

There has been a major difference in how the Democratic Party is approaching the crime issue this cycle than the 2020 cycle.

[olympicjournal]

Peninsula Pulse

[No. 001] Nov 17, 2024

Clallam County: Where the Action Never Stops

Fentanyl Chaos + Law Enforcement Upheaval Let’s talk Clallam, where the OPNET drug task force is on life support. State officials just pulled the plug on its $180,000 annual budget, leaving law enforcement scrambling. Local officials are calling this a disaster amid a record-setting fentanyl overdose crisis. With Clallam County staring down its highest-ever annual overdose death toll—potentially crossing 50 lives lost—defunding seems as logical as a screen door on a submarine.

Meanwhile, a tragic crash on Highway 101 near Gardiner took the lives of a mother and her child. This heartbreaking incident has reignited conversations about road safety and seatbelt use in the region. Let’s hope some good policy emerges from this sorrowful event.

SEQUIM’S ARTISTIC REVOLUTION Our little lavender town is stepping up its game! A local photographer is breaking free from the frame, proving that art isn't just for your grandma's living room walls anymore[1]. This rebel with a cause is joining the Strait from the Artists tour, probably to show us all how to think outside the box – or should I say, outside the frame?

PORT ANGELES GETS DOWN TO BUSINESS Hold onto your wallets, folks! Port Angeles is implementing an annual business license fee[1]. If you're raking in over $25k, prepare to shell out $190. Because nothing says "support local business" like another fee, am I right?

WITCHES ON WATER In a twist that would make Salem proud, about two dozen witches paddled from Northwest Maritime to the Pourhouse pub[1]. No word on whether they used broomsticks or kayaks, but I'm betting it was a spell-binding sight!

Jefferson County: Keeping It Classy

Jefferson County: Progress with a Side of Dystopia Jefferson’s main stage featured a sobering blend of hope and bureaucratic theatrics. On the one hand, local organizations are scrambling to pick up the slack as OPNET funding disappears, hoping advocacy and recovery efforts can stem the tide of addiction. Yet, there’s no escaping the fact that losing proactive policing might leave communities more vulnerable.

On a brighter note, the arts are alive! Port Townsend is buzzing about an upcoming film festival, showcasing the creative resilience of this quirky enclave. A friendly reminder to support local filmmakers because Hollywood doesn’t have a monopoly on storytelling.

FROM WAR TO PEACE In a heartwarming turn of events, we're seeing a shift from "inhuman to humane"[2]. It's almost like someone's been reading my Julius Evola collection and decided to turn over a new leaf. Who says right-wingers can't appreciate a good redemption story?

HONORING OUR HEROES Veterans Day ceremonies are popping up faster than organic kale in my garden[2]. From Gardiner to Port Townsend, we're showing our vets some well-deserved love. Because nothing says "thank you for your service" like a good old-fashioned ceremony and maybe a free coffee at the local diner.

Kitsap County: The Quiet Achiever

Kitsap County: Storms and Showdowns Over in Kitsap, heavy rains and strong winds recently knocked out power for thousands. Our neighbors weathered the storm with admirable grit, but the incident underscores the need for robust infrastructure in an era of increasing climate volatility. Also, Kitsap’s ongoing push for better public transit has sparked heated debates, with locals torn between economic feasibility and environmental urgency. Cue the popcorn; this saga isn’t over yet.

Folks, I scoured the interwebs for some juicy Kitsap news, but it seems our neighbors are keeping it on the down-low.

BELL HILL HINT

Here on East Bell Hill, we know that self-reliance isn’t just a hashtag; it’s a lifestyle. Whether it’s OPNET’s funding woes or a highway tragedy, these stories remind us of the importance of community resilience. The world can be chaotic, but we’ve got donkeys to hug, gardens to tend, and a local arts scene to uplift. Let’s keep questioning the narratives, supporting each other, and building something real.

THE KAI-LIGHT REEL

Now, let's zoom out for a second. While we're all caught up in our local bubble, remember that we're living in a world that might just be a giant computer simulation. So next time you're arguing with your neighbor about property lines, just remember – it might all be ones and zeros, baby!

But hey, simulation or not, there's something beautiful about our little corner of the world. From the artists pushing boundaries to the witches making waves (literally), we're keeping it real – or as real as it gets in this matrix.

And you know what? In a world that sometimes feels like it's spinning off its axis, our community's commitment to honoring veterans and shifting towards more humane perspectives warms my heart. It's a reminder that even us skeptics can appreciate the good in people.

So, whether you're a right-wing homesteader like yours truly, a left-leaning lavender farmer, or somewhere in between, remember – we're all in this together. Unless, of course, we're not, and this is all just a highly sophisticated computer program. In which case, I hope I'm at least coded as devastatingly handsome!

Stay free, stay skeptical, and for the love of all that's holy, stay away from those business license fees! This is Kai, signing off from the hilltop. Until next time, stay wild and wonderful!

Citations: [1] https://www.myclallamcounty.com [2] https://www.peninsuladailynews.com [3] https://www.sequimgazette.com

[joanbushur]

Jesus Christ, this fucking old-ass pile of horseshit post. Rape is usually not a "stranger-danger" kind of crime, you're more likely to know your rapist, so how does this 20 year old fucking post help with that? When you divorce your partner and they decide to come to your house and rape and kill you and your kids and then themselves because they can't stand that they don't have the power and control in the relationship anymore? I got this email in the early aughts and SURPRISE! The email hasn't changed and rapes haven't stopped. Didn't stop Brock Turner, didn't stop Johnny Depp, Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, R. Kelly, D. Trump or any of the others. Just like active shooter drills in schools don't stop children from having their insides splattered all over school walls because one person who wanted to feel powerful and in control went out and decided to shoot them all that day doesn't stop it from happening. Putting it on the victims doesn't work. Marginalized communties already know to be aware of their surroundings, to be careful, to be aware, etc. That's part of the socialization of children. Why don't we try putting it on the perpertrators for once? Increase the statute of limitations on rape, work to incorporate the understanding of coercive control and abusive relationships into our justice system; especially family courts so people don't have to stay in contact with their abuser just because they have a kid together. Strengthen gun laws so that it makes it harder for abusers to get them. That also requires fully funding the ATF so they can actually stop bad buyers and sellers from selling guns to people they shouldn't. Repeal the law that George W. signed that makes it harder to sue gun manufacters. Make a new law that bans automatic weapons for public purchase. Stop dignifying the people who commit mass atrocities with having their name and face everywhere, they don't deserve to be remembered or recognized. Focus the stories on the victims. Reform the prison system. Stop the school to prison pipeline. Work to provide education programs without caps on them in jails to lower violence and stop offenders from becoming more violent in prison and then released back onto the streets with no support system and expected to become a functioning member of society again. Legalize abortion so people aren't forced into carrying a child they don't want because an abuser sabotaged the birth control to try and trap their victim and make it harder to leave. Teach comprehensive sex ed and not abstinence. Teach kids about consent from an early age. If they don't wanna hug a family member don't make them. Teach them to ask before hugging someone else. It's as simple and age-appropriate as that. Stop banning books so people can learn about all this stuff, and leave Drag Queens and Queers alone, we're not that obsessed with your kids, but you should teach them to question authority because you know who gravitates to those positions of power, trust, and authority? Abusers. Cops. Doctors. Priests. Teachers. So what good does this fucking post do me or anyone else who gets pulled over on some shitty pretext and gets raped by a genuine cop? Get them arrested for "resisting arrest" or "assaulting an officer" after I elbow their face for shoving their hand down my pants? Defund the police and focus on community outreach programs that help people in the community and de-escalate situations before violence can result. This isn't a victim's problem, this is society's problem. So let's get to work on fixing these problems so we can stop fear-mongering with useless boogeyman rape creepypastas and start living in a better world we're working to create. And in the meantime, you know, actually help people.

THROUGH A RAPIST’S EYES” (PLS TAKE TIME TO READ THIS. It may save a life, It may save your life.)

An Article from Neena Susan Thomas

“Through a rapist’s eyes. A group of rapists and date rapists in prison were interview…ed on what they look for in a potential victim and here are some interesting facts:

1] The first thing men look for in a potential victim is hairstyle. They are most likely to go after a woman with a ponytail, bun! , braid, or other hairstyle that can easily be grabbed. They are also likely to go after a woman with long hair. Women with short hair are not common targets.

2] The second thing men look for is clothing. They will look for women who’s clothing is easy to remove quickly. Many of them carry scissors around to cut clothing.

3] They also look for women using their cell phone, searching through their purse or doing other activities while walking because they are off guard and can be easily overpowered.

4] The number one place women are abducted from / attacked at is grocery store parking lots.

5] Number two is office parking lots/garages.

6] Number three is public restrooms.

7] The thing about these men is that they are looking to grab a woman and quickly move her to a second location where they don’t have to worry about getting caught.

8] If you put up any kind of a fight at all, they get discouraged because it only takes a minute or two for them to realize that going after you isn’t worth it because it will be time-consuming.

9] These men said they would not pick on women who have umbrellas,or other similar objects that can be used from a distance, in their hands.

10] Keys are not a deterrent because you have to get really close to the attacker to use them as a weapon. So, the idea is to convince these guys you’re not worth it.

POINTS THAT WE SHOULD REMEMBER:

1] If someone is following behind you on a street or in a garage or with you in an elevator or stairwell, look them in the face and ask them a question, like what time is it, or make general small talk: can’t believe it is so cold out here, we’re in for a bad winter. Now that you’ve seen their faces and could identify them in a line- up, you lose appeal as a target.

2] If someone is coming toward you, hold out your hands in front of you and yell Stop or Stay back! Most of the rapists this man talked to said they’d leave a woman alone if she yelled or showed that she would not be afraid to fight back. Again, they are looking for an EASY target.

3] If you carry pepper spray (this instructor was a huge advocate of it and carries it with him wherever he goes,) yelling I HAVE PEPPER SPRAY and holding it out will be a deterrent.

4] If someone grabs you, you can’t beat them with strength but you can do it by outsmarting them. If you are grabbed around the waist from behind, pinch the attacker either under the arm between the elbow and armpit or in the upper inner thigh – HARD. One woman in a class this guy taught told him she used the underarm pinch on a guy who was trying to date rape her and was so upset she broke through the skin and tore out muscle strands the guy needed stitches. Try pinching yourself in those places as hard as you can stand it; it really hurts.

5] After the initial hit, always go for the groin. I know from a particularly unfortunate experience that if you slap a guy’s parts it is extremely painful. You might think that you’ll anger the guy and make him want to hurt you more, but the thing these rapists told our instructor is that they want a woman who will not cause him a lot of trouble. Start causing trouble, and he’s out of there.

6] When the guy puts his hands up to you, grab his first two fingers and bend them back as far as possible with as much pressure pushing down on them as possible. The instructor did it to me without using much pressure, and I ended up on my knees and both knuckles cracked audibly.

7] Of course the things we always hear still apply. Always be aware of your surroundings, take someone with you if you can and if you see any odd behavior, don’t dismiss it, go with your instincts. You may feel little silly at the time, but you’d feel much worse if the guy really was trouble.

FINALLY, PLEASE REMEMBER THESE AS WELL ….

1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do: The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do it.

2. Learned this from a tourist guide to New Orleans : if a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM. Toss it away from you…. chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you and he will go for the wallet/purse. RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car: Kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy. The driver won’t see you but everybody else will. This has saved lives.

4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping,eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc. DON’T DO THIS! The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side,put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go. AS SOON AS YOU CLOSE the DOORS , LEAVE.

5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:

a. Be aware: look around your car as someone may be hiding at the passenger side , peek into your car, inside the passenger side floor, and in the back seat. ( DO THIS TOO BEFORE RIDING A TAXI CAB) .

b. If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.

c. Look at the car parked on the driver’s side of your vehicle, and the passenger side. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out. IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)

6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. (Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot).

7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; And even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN!

8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP IT! It may get you raped, or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked “for help” into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.

Send this to any woman you know that may need to be reminded that the world we live in has a lot of crazies in it and it’s better safe than sorry.

If u have compassion reblog this post. ‘Helping hands are better than Praying Lips’ – give us your helping hand.

REBLOG THIS AND LET EVERY GIRL KNOW AT LEAST PEOPLE WILL KNOW WHATS GOING ON IN THIS WORLD. So please reblog this….Your one reblog can Help to spread this information.

THIS COULD ACTUALLY SAVE A LIFE.”

[audiovisualrecall]

Kinda wild seeing the ads for Dems and Republicans for congress in ny, because the contrast is ridiculous. Like. The priorities are so different its wild.

Dems: funding for education! Supporting our community! Economy! housing! medication pricing! Medicare! Working with whoever is willing to work together to get things done to help people! Getting shit done! Solving crises! Let's help our state! We're going to fix things, together. The opponent is a corrupt cop who's been accused of crimes. The opponent intends to cut funding to education. The opponents are anti-abortion and very extreme and their policies are dangerous for ny and the country! We are pro-choice!

Republicans: the dems want to defund the police! They want to put the funding towards social workers instead!! They're so RADICAL AND DANGEROUS!! Vote for this 'good' cop for congress instead! Border security! Drugs! Dems want to defund the police!!! They want to let violent criminals walk free! They oppose tax cuts (on the wealthy)! The dem totally wants to use your tax money as her personal wallet!! The dem wants to raise taxes (on the wealthy)! Everything is terrible and it's the dems' faults! They're going to defund the police!!!!!! Abortion is evil and dems are evil radicals who want criminals and drugs to wreak havoc.

Me: well.

[hellostranger1961]

my local library has been an oasis for the community post-helene. with no internet or television and very little reliable cell service, the library has opened their doors for anyone who needs to get in touch with family members and read up on local and global news. you can even pull up into the parking lot after hours and connect. not to mention the amount of dvds and books that are being checked out by people searching for ways to entertain themselves on what is now day 5 of this communication blackout. one librarian told me they usually have 500 daily users on their internet. in the past few days, they have had 5,000. that's the entire town's population and then some!

meanwhile, in black mountain, police were guarding an ingles from "looters." black mountain is in buncombe, the hardest hit county of wnc. if i were on local government, this would make me reasses how funding is distributed. also, would love to see our county commissioners try to defund the library now because a child might find out gay people exist by picking up a picture book. suckers.

[dankusner]

Five Texas DAs secretly rallied left-wing agendas, backed by George Soros

A new report reveals how five Texas district attorneys backed by billionaire George Soros secretly coordinated to push left-wing causes.

The Media Research Center (MRC) published a report this month on how a network of Soros-funded groups united district attorneys from across the country.

The report reveals communications obtained in public information requests between the “Texas Five,” which includes

Dallas County DA John Creuzot,

Travis County DA Jose Garza,

former Bexar County DA Joe Gonzales,

Fort Bend County DA Brian Middleton,

and former Nueces County DA Mark Gonzalez.

According to MRC, these five DAs shared a group chat to “strategize and commiserate about their political opponents,” which included several complaints about Att. Gen. Ken Paxton.

The DAs openly discussed Paxton’s impeachment trial during work hours.

Creuzot texted his fellow DAs that he was “elated” to see Paxton impeached.

Gonzalez blamed Paxton for the attempted recall effort against him last year — an effort Garza described as “bulls**t.”

Middleton wrote they had a ​​“legal team ready” to stop the recall.

Gonzalez eventually resigned from office and ran a failed U.S. Senate campaign.

The DAs coordinated on how to stop Paxton’s election integrity case, which they eventually won at the Texas Supreme Court.

Middleton celebrated the decision over email with the DAs, writing, “We Beat Paxton!!!”

The communications revealed how the Texas Five worked to spike proposed bills at the statehouse that would have eased efforts to remove DAs who defied state law.

The five DAs previously signed pledges with Soros’ ​​Fair and Just Prosecution (FJP) that promised not to enforce laws on abortion bans and transgender procedure regulations for minors.

Middleton described the proposed bills at the statehouse as “definitely right-wing bullies, having a tantrum.”

Creuzot decried the Texas Scorecard’s coverage of the bills, describing it as “a right wing nut publication.”

He snarkily referenced The Dallas Morning News when complaining that the outlet was unlikely to oppose the statehouse legislation.

“I’d be shocked if the Dallas Morning Snooze would take that position regarding me,” he messaged his fellow DAs.

The DAs secretly rallied the Texas District & County Attorneys Association (TDCAA) to oppose the statehouse bills.

Additionally, they rallied a former state lawmaker to testify against the bills.

“We just need to push TDCAA,” Middleton messaged the DAs. “If they stand with us, it all dies.”

Middleton praised Gonzalez’s efforts to stop the bills.

“Joe you are a giant,” he messaged him. “They talk sh*t but they know you can [win] elections for others.”

“Make sure they respect your power,” he continued.

FJP is a project of the Tides Center, one of Soros’ most prominent dark money groups.

The MRC report revealed that FJP hosted 51 private meetings with DAs from across the country between 2021 and 2022.

According to the report, Soros gave the Tides Center $14,235,421 between 2016 and 2022 and a $10,000 grant in 2019 to FJP, which advocates defunding the police.

None of the Texas Five responded to a request for comment.

Miriam Krinsky, the executive director of the FJP, dismissed the MRC study in a statement to Fox News Digital.

She claimed the report’s focus on Soros “promotes antisemitic tropes” and “false narratives.”

“As we clearly spell out in our mission statement, Fair and Just Prosecution (FJP) brings together elected local prosecutors committed to promoting a justice system grounded in fairness, equity, compassion and fiscal responsibility,” she said.

“FJP supports these elected leaders – and the vision they share for safer and healthier communities – through ongoing information sharing, research and resource materials, opportunities for on-the-ground learning, in-person convenings, technical assistance, and access to national experts,” Krinsky continued.

The MRC report detailed how the Texas Five worked with another Soros-backed group, the Texas Organizing Project (TOP), to lobby against bills to strengthen the mail-in ballot system.

TOP paid the bond for a man in 2022 who was later charged with capital murder in relation to a spree of six killings.