TGIF 7/17/20

Yay - it's Friday, time to build the good week/bad week list.

Let's start with Georgia, where Gov. Brian Kemp is suing at least one mayor, and threatening to sue others, I guess, for implementing mask orders.

From the article linked above,

Mayors in Atlanta and other Georgia cities deepened their defiance of Gov. Brian Kemp on Thursday, saying their requirements for people to wear face coverings will remain in place, even after the Republican governor explicitly forbade cities and counties from mandating masks... Officials in at least 15 Georgia cities and counties had ordered masks during the coronavirus pandemic, and many were angry at Kemp for swatting down their efforts. 

Kemp's position? Local governments can't make rules that are either more or less restrictive than those of the state, even when the order applies to local property, such as Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport. According to the article, Kemp along "leads the State of Georgia in its fight against the worldwide novel coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic." A fight in which, it would seem, he has laid down his arms and waived his white flag high.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has said

A better use of taxpayer money would be to expand testing and contact tracing. If being sued by the state is what it takes to save lives in Atlanta, then we will see them in court.

Stay tuned on this one.

Staying in the south, let's go to Kentucky, where 87 protesters were arrested and charged with multiple misdemeanors - and a felony for sitting on the lawn at the Attorney General's house, wearing matching masks and t-shirts, chanting "Breonna Taylor, say her name!" and refusing to leave when asked. According to a police spokesman,  in addition to the misdemeanor charges of trespassing and disorderly conduct,

Due to their refusal to leave the property and their attempts to influence the decision of the Attorney General with their actions, each person was charged with Intimidating a Participant in a Legal Process.

Typically, intimidation charge arises when someone is trying to intimidate a judge, victim or witness via a threat of some kind - the stuff we see on TV cop shows - not to trying to 'influence' a politician by peacefully protesting.  And it's interesting to compare the reaction of police to this protest and the one in Frankfort, the state capitol, a few weeks back, where

Carrying American and Confederate flags, around 1,000 demonstrators gathered at the rally in Frankfort, where they denounced Gov. Andy Beshear's "arbitrary" and "unconstitutional" response to the coronavirus pandemic. Speakers at the event — including four state representatives and one state senator, all Republicans — criticized the governor for hurting workers and businesses by refusing to immediately reopen the economy.

Another stark difference with this non-influential protest?"Several protesters wore military-style gear and carried guns... and referred to the governor as "Adolf Beshear."

At yet another protest, a man hung the governor in effigy, which in pretty much any circumstance could be considered a threat or an act of intimidation. He did lose his job, but no charges were filed. On the same day, several protesters went to the governor's mansion, banged on the window and told him to come outside. There, too, it doesn't seem that charges were filed - but a security fence is being built around the mansion, to protect the current and future occupants from those seeking to influence the residents.

And people wonder why other people are upset?

In a lighter vein, if that's the appropriate term to use, Kayleigh McEnany, the president's press secretary, attacked Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. 

McEnany brought up Lightfoot twice in a recent briefing: first, when she was asked if the president put fighting COVID-19 as his "biggest public priority." McEnany said yeah, he was focusing on that, and other things, "namely, Democrat cities not controlling their streets; namely, the mayor of Chicago — people dying in her — in her — on the streets of her city every weekend. And the President sent her a letter saying, “You must secure your city.”

The second time? Someone asked about police brutality and Trump's CBS interview comments, wondering how he can fix the problem if he doesn't acknowledge it.

I’ve listed for you the names of these kids who have died across this country. It is unacceptable, and under this President, he’ll take action. And the derelict mayor of Chicago should step up and ask for federal help because she’s doing a very poor job at securing her streets.

In response, here's the mayor's tweet. 

And finally, have you heard about the GOP's Rapid Response dude? His name is Steve Guest, and it seems he spends his time trying to attack Dems on Twitter, and getting royally mocked for his efforts.

First, there was his attack on a young Senator Biden, sitting at a Redskins game holding his two young boys in his arms - clearly a loving, doting dad.  Needless to say, the contrast between Biden and Trump in that regard is, well, stark. And the response was swift in response to the now deleted tweet.

More recently, Guest took aim at Senator Elizabeth Warren - not for her DNA challenges, but because she jokingly said that Bailey, her dog, was going to vote for Biden in November.

And everyone believed her, right? I mean, clearly, having your dog vote is a brilliant way to help cheat Donald Trump out of being re-elected, right?

And by everyone, of course, I mean Steve Guest, the Rapid Response guy. Who fired off a tweet calling out the senator for joking about voter fraud, which "is no laughing matter." And he's right.

Voter fraud is no laughing matter. McEnany has voted by mail from her parent's address for years, although she doesn't live there. Vice President Mike Pence voted by mail from the Governor's mansion in Indiana, where we know he doesn't live - and I suspect someone else does live there. And even the president himself tried to use the White House address as his permanent address to vote in Florida. On his second attempt, he used the Mar-a-Lago address, which is a business - not a private residence - which would also be voter fraud.

Anyway, while we're not laughing about Bailey Warren voting, maybe we could get some new business cards made up? You know: Steve Guest, @GOP Vapid Response?

TGIF, everyone.