Tweets on the police

My latest for @thedailybeast on the militarization of the police, the criminalization of protest, and the state's escalating use of deadly force against antiracist, antifascist, and environmentalist activists like Manuel #Tortuguita Terán.#CopCity #StopCopCity #PoliceBrutality https://t.co/42qIvSV00m
— M. Gould-Wartofsky (((@mgw@mas.to))) (@mgouldwartofsky) February 5, 2023

The views of Democrats overall on issues of race and policing mirror those of Black Americans.

More Republicans say they see Whites facing discrimination than say that of Blacks.https://t.co/uyzCw7Mje3
— Philip Bump (@pbump) February 7, 2023

Nearly 150 cops violated NYPD rules during George Floyd protests — and tally would likely be higher were it not for officers covering badge numbers and supervisors losing track of where they were assigned, according to scathing reporthttps://t.co/ut185mXLWl
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) February 6, 2023

Our govt. must pass police reform that keeps people safe by holding cops accountable, says @nytimes ed. board. & “The single most important change Congress can make is to write out of existence the misbegotten legal doctrine of #qualifiedimmunity.” https://t.co/Vrl14BrGMU
— The Campaign to End Qualified Immunity (@campaigntoendqi) February 7, 2023

Tweet on the Samuel Alito’s Mom’s Satanic Abortion Clinic

Great name!

Award for coolest abortion clinic:

The Samuel Alito’s Mom’s Satanic Abortion Clinic

Official statement: “In 1950, Samuel Alito’s mother did not have options, and look what happened,"https://t.co/CgOymUz9PU
— Southpaw Leftist (@SouthpawLeftist) February 6, 2023

TST Health is proud to announce the launch of Samuel Alito's Mom's Satanic Abortion Clinic in New Mexico. TST Health believes in honoring those, like the clinic's namesake, who couldn't choose legal abortion, no matter how much they may have wanted to.⤵️ https://t.co/a4U0wodhyB pic.twitter.com/0a44XmsrPr
— The Satanic Temple (@satanic_temple_) February 2, 2023

The Harry Smith B-Sides – the label’s dilemna

Dust-to-Digital released a collection called the Harry Smith B-Sides with the B-sides of the songs on The Anthology of American Folk Music. They excluded several racist songs.

For music archivists, a contemporary dilemma: Should racist songs from our past be heard today?

For folk and roots music fans: @dusttodigital has released the “B sides” to Harry Smith’s influential Anthology.https://t.co/yRKcJESrKN pic.twitter.com/8dIqFLOy8H
— SF Classical Voice (@SFCV) December 23, 2020

Tweet with link to a great Washington Post article on negative aspects of Spotify for musicians

In the Spotify era, many musicians struggle to make a living https://t.co/WrbKCsoUlQ
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 5, 2023

Reagan was terrible – don’t believe the GOP hype

Current Republicans idolize Reagan. This is revisionist crap. He was awful. The first thread does a great job of reminding us about what he did.

Republicans have built a fictional halo around Ronald Reagan. But the fact is, Reagan was bad for this country. This thread offers 8 key reasons why, from AIDS to deficit spending to “welfare queens” to Iran-Contra. pic.twitter.com/Q15g67f1FH
— Mark Jacob (@MarkJacob16) February 6, 2023

.@KevinMKruse: Reagan delivered his damage with a smile, while Trump did it with a scowl. But the outcome was still the same. https://t.co/wupdREHWaN
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 10, 2022

One of the hardest Wikipedia thumbnail texts ever pic.twitter.com/AOKH6NN2ZG
— V (@Vint13) February 9, 2022

This is exactly right. John Roberts got the victory today over the meaning of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act that he was deprived of back in 1982 when he was Ronald Reagan's point person to try to water down protection for minority voters. https://t.co/ldHFTWAdSn
— Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) July 1, 2021

On the first day of White History Months, we honor Ronald Reagan, the racist, xenophobic, “welfare queen” spewing, “ghetto”-targeting addled-brained president who your favorite member of the Lincoln Project still hails as the Republican Messiah.#WhiteHistoryMonths337 pic.twitter.com/0HouHwlbGm
— Michael Harriot (@michaelharriot) March 1, 2021

The GOP spent most of 2020 rejecting science in the face of a deadly pandemic; now it's rejecting democracy in the face of a clear election loss. How did we get to this point? One step at a time, of course. But I'd argue that the wrong turn began under Reagan 1/
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) December 11, 2020

"In reckoning with Trump, we need to reckon with Reagan’s legacy. And that began with his appeal to white voters in Southern California."

(via @latimesopinion) https://t.co/mtY0Zsu2Se
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) July 21, 2020

In so many ways, this president* is simply a louder and more profane Ronald Reagan. https://t.co/XwkpmqzZps
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) April 20, 2020

Someday it will be crystal clear to all just what a terrible president Ronald Reagan was–he stuck the knife in the heart of the American dream, launched us toward our polarized society, was racist, corrupt, fiscally irresponsible, bad at the job. https://t.co/ZZDQpl9Kcn
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) December 17, 2019

Imagine a racist governor w/ a disdain for a proposed Black Studies course or department. Calling it frivolous. Attacking it to possibly further presidential ambitions. Could just as easily be discussing CA Gov Ronald Reagan in the 60s as FL Gov Ronald DeSantis today. A thread 1/ pic.twitter.com/EGldmqVZuQ
— Ibram X. Kendi (@ibramxk) February 6, 2023

Our national debt was $908 billion (32% of GDP) in 1980.

After 8 Reagan budgets, it had tripled to $2.8 trillion in 1989 (50% of GDP).

Just a reminder that Republican Presidents have no history of taking deficits and debt seriously. It’s all talk. https://t.co/BDPY6Ck9YB
— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 6, 2023

Total revisionist history. Ronald Reagan did more to ruin higher ed in America than any other figure. His troops tear-gassed the Berkeley campus, and he started the movement to take UC from an oasis of affordable college to homelessness and debt https://t.co/8GmJwiwTi5
— Will Bunch (@Will_Bunch) January 15, 2024

See that big white line in the middle, the one where everything started to go to absolute shit?

That's ronald fucking reagan.

It is almost impossible to explain to people how badly reagan fucked this country. They don't believe it, because the gop has turned him into a saint. https://t.co/ONG7qZMY0i
— Roger ZenAF (@RogerZenAF) April 13, 2024

Covers: (Marie’s the Name) His Latest Flame

“(Marie’s the Name) His Latest Flame” is best known as an Elvis Presley record but was first recorded by Del Shannon. Both versions were from 1961.

Covers:19th Nervous Breakdown

“19th Nervous Breakdown” is one of the greatest 1960s Rolling Stones songs.

First released in the UK on this day in 1966, The @RollingStones’ “19th Nervous Breakdown” followed in the US on the 12th, the day after the band performed the song live on The @EdSullivanShow https://t.co/dTyzMyB5QF
— uDiscover Music (@uDiscoverMusic) February 4, 2023

Mississippi Republicans refuse Medicaid expansion despite public support for it

see the poll in the second tweet below

NEW: Even with 54% of Mississippi's rural hospitals in danger of collapse without Medicaid expansion, Gov. Reeves urged Republicans not to “cave under the pressure of Democrats and their allies in the media who are pushing for the expansion of Obamacare."https://t.co/uGa3TGuyd7
— Ashton Pittman (@ashtonpittman) February 2, 2023

A January 2023 Mississippi Today/Siena College poll found that about 80% of Mississippi voters said the State “should accept federal funds to expand Medicaid,” including 70% of Republicans and 95% of Democrats.https://t.co/uGa3TGuyd7
— Ashton Pittman (@ashtonpittman) February 2, 2023

Republican death sentence as over half of Mississippi’s rural hospitals are at risk of closing. https://t.co/xx1QUKyU74 #medicaid #healthcare #Mississippi @cardon_brian pic.twitter.com/7wpOex5sBU
— TheDemocracyLabs (@TheDemLabs) February 4, 2023

38 of Mississippi’s rural hospitals, more than 1/2 of them, might collapse because Gov Tate Reeves won't allow the state to expand of Medicaid

Hospitals treat all patients needing care, but high volumes of uninsured patients will run hospitals into the ground#Mississippi
— Margaret Wiley 💔🟧 (@manchester18) February 4, 2023

It's not surprising that the same governor who is caught up in the state's biggest corruption scandal is also only thinking of himself while Mississippi families face a hospital closure crisis #MSGov https://t.co/isg08BuhHr pic.twitter.com/brHj3isXOQ
— Sam Newton (@SamNewton) February 3, 2023

Opinion by Paul Waldman: In the cruel politics of Medicaid expansion, a ray of hope https://t.co/bJaSLiMFJe
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 21, 2023

Mississippi is the worst state in America for a pregnant woman. This isn't acceptable. With a rural medicine infrastructure collapsing, a refusal to expand Medicaid (meanwhile being one of the poorest states), & a nurse shortage, it's a recipe for disaster. Syphilis is curable https://t.co/eqmuNiaVmW
— Ameshia Cross (@AmeshiaCross) February 11, 2023

Mississippi is one of 10 states, all with Republican-led legislatures, that have rejected federal funding to expand health insurance for the poor. The missing funding has helped drive a full-blown hospital crisis in the state.https://t.co/czk1p97oqg
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 28, 2023

The refusal to accept Medicaid expansion by Tate & other southern governors is pure cruelty. It’s not a fiscal policy – wouldn’t cost them – it’s a kind of scolding cruelty that has always been a feature of white supremacist ideology. https://t.co/ggO3FxaTlW
— Sherrilyn Ifill (@SIfill_) July 29, 2023

Groundhog Day in Canada 2023 – their groundhog was dead!

Apparently, he had been dead for a while – you would think they would have checked on him well in advance.

Canadian groundhog Fred la Marmotte found dead before planned prediction https://t.co/UkOSmo8deP
— The Guardian (@guardian) February 2, 2023

Covers: Mr. Tambourine Man

“Mr. Tambourine Man” is one of Bob Dylan’s most famous songs because of the Byrds’ electric cover version.

Now Playing on https://t.co/JyY8NSFugs : "Mr. Tambourine Man" by Con-Funk-Shun, from the album "How Many Roads: Black America Sings Bob Dylan" Tune In Now: https://t.co/UJNGCcuASx #BobDylan #Dylan #DylanRadio pic.twitter.com/IVV8z2xJMi
— DylanRadio.com (@DylanRadio) January 26, 2023

The Byrds' folk-rock hybrid found its first recorded expression after Jim Dickson acquired an acetate of a new Bob Dylan song, “Mr. Tambourine Man,” in August 1964. The band’s own demo of the piece helped land it a contract with Columbia that November. https://t.co/BA3kq7d0Ty
— New York Times Music (@nytimesmusic) January 26, 2023