she was killed because of not signalling a lane change

whether she committed suicide or not, that was the event that resulted in her death either directly or indirectly at the hands of those police.

imagine how traumatized any black person, with no witnesses, will be when pulled over by the police - and with good reason. And consistently we hear how an armed, generally supported police person (I don't want to call them officers anymore) need to use excessive force on the single, lone, generally unarmed black person.

And this constant shit of black people in police hands committing suicide is tragically disgusting. I hear LIES, LIES, LIES when that excuse is used.

It's time to lock these so called public servants who commit murder away in prison and subject them to the same treatment they are giving to other innocent people.

thanks everyone for your kind emails and responses

i'm not feeling as negative as i was - i used to think that progressives would get things right and keep a large tent. I never imagined that there could be such staunch word speech. I was feeling more frustrated than i have ever been with DU.

My loyalty has been swayed to this site - to which i have been financially and emotionally committed for 14+ years. I'm over the initial shock so i'm not going to leave. But i won't have that false sense of comfort that we are a large helpful family warts and all. When people can, in my view, be callously treated - today it was over the use of a word in a stupid way - who knows what it will be tomorrow. Many of us have strong emotional opinions. Who knows what will come out tomorrow and which of us may emotionally post something that gets us banned.

I'm a strong believer in the collective good, and i believe in the old parable that they came for x and i stayed quiet. then they came for y and i stayed quiet. then they came for me and no one was left to stand up for me.

I am a passionate Hilary Clinton supporter. I think she will make a very good President and Bill Clinton will be a great FLOTUS (!). I miss the camolet like world under the Clinton/Gore administration. Hillary as the first Women President will be such a good message after the first Black President. But i don't think we should ban people who have passionate views for others and when they stupidly use stupid words.

There are big issues for progressives to fight beyond this site - placement of progressives on SCOTUS, getting rid of Citizens United, Universal Healthcare, Climate change, 1 person 1 vote. This site has proved a very valuable service - and it was a lifeline after bush allegedly stole his way into office in 2000.

we can't be fooled anymore - "Right to Work", "Leave no child behind"

When repugs name a bill it always means the exact opposite of the name. In both of these examples, there is no right to work and children are being left behind.

this started with nixon's 'managing healthcare' which was actually about managing it away.

so, i've learned that whatever a repug names, take the opposite meaning or the meaning that is most destructive to the 99%.

i believe that citizen's united was the SCOTUS's attempt

to get Obama out of office anyway they could. Just like the repug redistricting was aimed at beating Obama. This is similar to the SCOTUS decisions in the 2000 election where narrow interpretations were used to stop vote counting in Florida so that bush could steal his way into office.

the joke now is that the Clintons can generate more money than anyone thought possible, and with the citizen's united bullshit interpretation, a lot of black money becomes acceptable. the redistricting was really aimed at defeating a black President. Neither attempt to undermine democracy worked.

And now citizen's united will empower out side more than the idiot repugs. it is a stupid law that will hopefully get fixed when some of the stupid members of scotus are no longer there.

Hiding Posts

This is a great board for all of us who are not on the right side of the political spectrum. It has truly been a lifeline for us when the bushies stole the 2000 election, but it is as relevant today - more so - because we have seen that the left can fight back and win against the cheating repugs may seem to be out to pervert democracy and freedom (see the rules restricting voting in some states and the flood of third party $ into the political system).

Being an open board, we are going to be bombarded by trolls, emotional outbursts, and strong views. Even among friends, there are going to be intense differences of opinion. The JURY system is a good theoretically impartial approach to moderating the boards and keeping dialogue fair and rational.

However, being selected for a jury is a huge responsibility. Despite urges to the contrary, being on the jury should not be an opportunity to enforce a viewpoint. We need to encourage open and honest dialogue on this board - that's the underlying principle of the progressive large tent. We should not hide posts that we don't agree with or that we are unsure about. Every time we hide a post, we ARE removing someone's opinion from view and from being read. This should only be done when there is a clear violation of rules - and only then - and not to enforce a personal viewpoint.

even with the most pro-gun interpretation of the constitution possible

there is nothing that says that use of a gun for a crime should not be punished harshly. e.g. stand your ground rules are not covered in the constitution. why are these being forced through legislation in so many states?

I'm starting to think, have the guns you want, but if you fire one and it causes damage - the punishment and liabilities should be immense. No more whoops? the nra should be liable because they are coaching and enabling the gun related destruction.

this is complete bullshit - they should have to live with the guns they push on other people

people drawn to the repug party by definition are fearless and less intelligent

than those drawn to the liberal side.

in other words, if someone was not fearful, they would not be a repug. If they had integrity, decency, caring, they definitely would not be a repug.

so what you're left with on the republican side is the frightened dreggs, scared of their own shadows, grabing what morsels they can for their own survival and cheating to survive whereever they can. many cheat to get their education - so they're not really educated. and they are stupid, so they can't connect the dots, but instead look at any obvious scapegoats.

they do. no amount of tragedy will change the minds of gun lovers and the nra

stats are made up
insults are thrown around
victim complexes are invoked
requests for calm when talking about victims and then hysteria when there is any threat to any gun type of gun access

and when all is exhausted, the twisted language used to justify an incorrect interpretation of the 2a is invoked, and supported by the same supreme court morons that think corporations are people, followed by threats that all elections will be lost if anyone tries to be rational about gun proliferation, followed by more name calling (while saying they are being called names).

where is toby keith's patriotism that he flaunted attacking the innocent Dixie Chicks?

the imbecile toby keith used to prance around and pretend to love America - meanwhile trying to destroy the first amendment in his nonstop attacks against the Dixie Chicks for simplify calling the selected bush before the Iraq war.

where is his patriotism now that the infamous 47 have violated the logan act, gone against the President, made us look weak in front of the world?