Criminalize words

Just hours after CNN confirmed The Daily Beast’s report that a former Herschel Walker campaign staffer had accused conservative powerbroker Matt Schlapp of sexually assaulting him, a Schlapp ally was trying to malign the accuser—publicly and privately. In a text message to this reporter just after midnight on Jan. 12, a Republican fundraiser who’s been working for the Schlapps asked what she thought was a damning question about the accuser: “How’s his marriage going?” The fundraiser, Caroline Wren, who has worked for Lindsey Graham , Donald Trump , organizers of the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally , Kari Lake , and Caitlyn Jenner —and who now appears by name in the accuser’s $10 million sexual battery and defamation lawsuit against the Schlapps —likely knew the answer to that question. But the answer may be damning for reasons that Wren did not comprehend. Rather than a point of shame, it may be an indication of the toll that the alleged assault has taken on the … [Read more...] about Accuser’s Wife: Matt Schlapp Destroyed Our Marriage

The East Turkistan Government in Exile, an organization that represents the occupied region where the Chinese Communist Party is currently engaging in genocide, demanded this weekend that the International Criminal Court (ICC) issue an arrest warrant for Xi Jinping in recognition of that genocide. The ICC, an international agency with no enforcement mechanism, issued a similar warrant on Friday for Russian leader Vladimir Putin, charging him with war crimes in Ukraine. The ICC specifically cited reports of forced mass transfers of children out of Ukraine into Russian-occupied territory as a war crime as per international legal standards. “It is forbidden by international law for occupying powers to transfer civilians from the territory they live in to other territories,” ICC President Judge Piotr Hofmański said in a statement announcing the warrant. Russia is not a signatory to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which created the ICC and grants it … [Read more...] about Uyghur Activists Demand Xi Jinping’s Arrest After ICC Issues Warrant for Putin

(CNN) Five former Memphis Police Department officers pleaded not guilty Friday at their arraignment on criminal charges connected to the January death of Tyre Nichols , whose brutal beating after a police traffic stop was seen on video. Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr. each face charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. Second-degree murder in Tennessee is considered a Class A felony punishable by 15 to 60 years in prison. The former officers are due back in court on May 1. Their attorneys entered not guilty pleas on their behalf. Members of Nichols' family sat in the rear of the courtroom with their attorney Ben Crump. After the pleas in Shelby County Criminal Court, Judge James Jones urged both sides to be patient as the case may take some time. What we know about the public servants involved in Tyre Nichols' death "We … [Read more...] about 5 former Memphis police officers charged in Tyre Nichols’ death plead not guilty

(CNN) Prosecutors in Memphis, Tennessee, will review all cases that involved the five officers charged in the brutal beating death of Tyre Nichols during a traffic stop, the district attorney's office said, as newly released documents show a sixth officer involved in the encounter lied in his statements to investigators. "The office will review all prior cases -- closed and pending," Shelby County District Attorney Steven Mulroy said in a statement. It is unknown how many cases this will involve. "This is just the beginning," Erica Williams, the spokeswoman for Mulroy, told CNN. "This involves any criminal case that [the officers] were involved in. It is any case where there were criminal charges that were brought by the DA anytime since they became officers." What we know about the public servants involved in Tyre Nichols' death The review comes as police documents detail alleged false statements made by Preston Hemphill following Nichols' death. … [Read more...] about Memphis prosecutors will review all cases involving the officers charged in Tyre Nichols’ death

One of the most historically unusual aspects of the Biden administration has been the harmonious relations between the president and progressive activists. Historically , progressives generally spend most of their time complaining about Democratic presidents, both because they are temperamentally prone to negativity and because they believe in the tactical value of holding presidents’ feet to the fire. President Biden has enjoyed unusually warm support from the left. But that may be coming to an end. Reporters have detected a pattern in three of the administration’s recent moves. Biden is declining to block a bill in Congress overriding a liberalization of the D.C. criminal code, angering both advocates of D.C. sovereignty and anti-police activists. He approved a plan to allow ConocoPhillips to drill oil in Alaska. And he is signaling an intent to reinstate family detention along the southern border in order to deter migrants. Another perhaps even more significant sign comes … [Read more...] about Why Joe Biden’s Honeymoon With Progressives Is Coming to an End

Photo: The Strategist; Photo: Laura Fitzelle Instead of paying rent, I use a backpack . I mean, I pay rent too, but it’s $1,000 a month to live with three roommates. In 2019 I tweeted, “Please G*d, Please don’t let me be a 30-year-old with roommates.” I am 30 and a half years old, and I hear sex noises that aren’t my own when I go to sleep at night, and I think about this tweet all of the time. I don’t have my own bathroom. I tell some of the boys I’m seeing that I do, but I do not. I am never honest with the people I am seeing about my living situation. Recently, after I finished seeing a guy who had 3 other girlfriends, I started seeing another guy. This one just had one girlfriend. I thought: must be love. The thing about being a mistress, especially a mistress who lives with three roommates, is that it helps to have all of your belongings with you at all times. This period — my mistressing hour — is when I started my resurgence back into backpack territory. The first … [Read more...] about My Backpacks, My Boyfriends