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Tucker Carlson's revealing slip of the tongue stuns observers: 'Every day he becomes more and more explicit'
April 15, 2021
On Wednesday evening, Fox News host Tucker Carlson let slip a fleeting but surprising turn of phrase that promptly stunned many of his critics.
While discussing the treatment of a man charged as a part of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, Carlson tried to draw a comparison to the case of Bree Newsome, a filmmaker and activist who tore down the Confederate battle flag at the South Carolina statehouse in 2015, leading to her arrest.
But when Carlson described the incident, he didn't describe her tearing down the "Confederate flag," but simply "the flag" — a phrase that in American English typically refers to the American flag.
It was noteworthy for at least two reasons. First, Carlson seemed to be downplaying the commendable political motivations behind Newsome's act of protest. And second, it seemed to suggest his sympathy for and alliance with the Confederacy.
This second point is even more salient when considering the fact that his broader point was a defense of the Capitol insurrection — an event he has consistently tried to downplay — which included a man wielding the flag of the Confederate traitors through the government building as the mob tried to stop the counting of presidential votes.
Many argued that Carlson was quite clearly showing where he stands: with the insurrectionists.
Every day he becomes more and more explicit. Every day. https://t.co/sVb5VkAvVz— Mehdi Hasan (@Mehdi Hasan)1618456896.0
I don't even need to watch this clip to know that Tucker Carlson is referring to the Confederate flag. https://t.co/e5yC8K8Tsk— Miranda Yaver, PhD (@Miranda Yaver, PhD)1618457742.0
I don't even need to watch this clip to know that Tucker Carlson is referring to the Confederate flag. https://t.co/e5yC8K8Tsk— Miranda Yaver, PhD (@Miranda Yaver, PhD)1618457742.0
Ain’t my flag, Tucker. https://t.co/oF3c8H33jI— David Corn (@David Corn)1618456705.0
Molly Jong-Fast🏡 on Twitter
“It feels like Tucker is getting worse https://t.co/xWCmAZYT74”
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Florida company peddling bogus 'miracle' bleach cure for COVID-19 on Facebook and Amazon
April 15, 2021
A Florida company is peddling a notorious industrial bleach solution as a "miracle cure" for new variants of the coronavirus.
Chlorine dioxide, a dangerous chemical compound used in textile and paper manufacturing, has previously been marketed as a cure for cancer, HIV/AIDS and even autism, and now Miami-based Oclo Nanotechnology Science is making the so-called "miracle mineral solution" in a makeshift laboratory and selling it as a cure for COVID-19, reported The Guardian.
"B117 [is a] new variant of coronavirus, the most contagious and dangerous in the United States," the company states in advertising copy. "Rescuing chlorine dioxide and its great curative potential against pathogens."
The Food and Drug Administration warns the bleach product is potentially dangerous and possibly life-threatening, and the agency has tried to shut down other efforts to market the chemical as a COVID-19 treatment throughout the pandemic.
The FDA previous took down the Florida-based Genesis II "church" that sold MMS as a "sacrament" to cure the deadly virus, and "bishop" Mark Grenon and his four sons are jailed in Miami and Colombia awaiting extradition to the U.S. on fraud conspiracy and other charges.
Oclo is run by Cuba native Ricardo Garcia, a self-described "research and development scientist" and real estate agent.
He's also offering via social media and online marketplaces to transport bleach in enema form to Europe for $680 per liter as a treatment for autism.
The Guardian contacted those tech companies about Garcia's products, and eBay blocked the Oclo page within hours, although Amazon described the company as an "independent business" subject to site policies and Facebook did not reply.
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New bill would combat right-wing 'assault' on democracy -- and change the Supreme Court forever
April 15, 2021
Democrats in the House and Senate on Thursday are planning to introduce legislation to expand the number of seats on the U.S. Supreme Court from nine to 13, a proposal hailed by progressive advocacy groups as a critical step in combating the conservative takeover of the high court and protecting key constitutional rights.
Led by Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), and Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) in the House and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) in the upper chamber, the Judiciary Act of 2021 is set to be unveiled just days after President Joe Biden signed an executive order forming a 36-member commission tasked with studying potential Supreme Court reforms, including expansion.
But Demand Justice executive director Brian Fallon said in a statement late Wednesday that "we cannot afford to wait six months for an academic study to tell us what we already know: the Supreme Court is broken and in need of reform."
"This bill marks a new era where Democrats finally stop conceding the Supreme Court to Republicans," Fallon said of the Democrats' new legislation. "Our task now is to build a grassroots movement that puts pressure on every Democrat in Congress to support this legislation because it is the only way to restore balance to the Court and protect our democracy."
Sean Eldridge, president of advocacy group Stand Up America, noted on Twitter that "expanding the Supreme Court is far from unprecedented."
"Congress has changed the size of the Court seven times in our nation's history, including five times to add seats to the Court," Eldridge wrote. "The past five times Congress expanded the Supreme Court, it set the number of justices to match the number of circuits in the federal court system. Today, there are 13 circuit courts, and the Judiciary Act follows precedent by increasing the Supreme Court to 13 justices."
The Judiciary Act, the details of which were first reported by The Intercept, comes as Republican-appointed justices hold six of the Supreme Court's nine seats, leaving conservatives well-positioned to target reproductive rights, voting rights, the Affordable Care Act, and more.
The most recently confirmed judge, Amy Coney Barrett, was rushed through the then-Republican-controlled Senate just days before the 2020 November presidential election, after millions of Americans had already cast their ballots by mail. And progressives consider Justice Neil Gorsuch—one of three total justices nominated by former President Donald Trump—to be occupying a "stolen seat," given that he was confirmed after the GOP refused hold hearings for Merrick Garland, an Obama pick.
"Our democracy is under assault, and the Supreme Court has dealt the sharpest blows," Jones tweeted Wednesday, pointing to the high court's rulings in Citizens United v. FEC, Shelby County v. Holder, and Rucho v. Common Cause.
"To restore power to the people," wrote Jones, "we must expand the court."
The new bill will be officially introduced Thursday morning on the steps of the Supreme Court, but the proposed reform faces daunting odds of getting through Congress as Democrats cling to narrow control of both chambers and the Senate's 60-vote legislative filibuster remains in place.
Biden, furthermore, has voiced skepticism about calls to expand the court, saying in October that he's "not a fan" of the idea.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Markey acknowledged the bill's long odds and said, "We have work to do to organize, mobilize, and spur Congress to take action to reform the court."
In a statement endorsing the Judiciary Act, Stand Up America political director Brett Edkins warned that "unless Congress works to depoliticize the judiciary and stop activist justices like Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett from striking down policies supported by a majority of Americans, our voting rights, racial justice, and healthcare will continue to be at risk."
"For decades, Republicans have rammed radical right-wing justices onto the Supreme Court in a coordinated effort to defend corporate special interests, attack Americans' constitutional rights, and erode our democratic institutions," said Edkins. "The Judiciary Act undoes the damage conservatives have done to the highest court by adding four seats to the bench, matching the number of federal appellate courts."
"Time is of the essence—and we must act before the right-wing justices on the Supreme Court rig the rules of our democracy even further," Edkins added. "That starts with both chambers quickly passing the Judiciary Act."
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