Author: tmichaelwilliams

Trump is basically admitting that the actual number of cases doesn’t weigh on him in the least. He actively wants to create the illusion of fewer cases, and he’s openly advertising this goal to the world. It’s remarkable that we’ve sunk to a level where such a tangle of presidential depravity and pathology needs to be untangled and interpreted. But obviously, the man who is blaming a surfeit of testing for the spike in cases — and the man who sees these rising numbers as solely a problem for him, ones that should thus be subject to manipulation downward, regardless of the human consequences that might have — cannot be taken seriously as a voice demanding accountability for any aspect of this catastrophe.

Greg Sargent, in the Washington Post, Trump’s frantic shifting of blame for coronavirus has hit rock bottom. 

People ask me all the time, ‘How are you standing up?’ I’m telling them I do know that it’s through the grace of God. … You don’t get over nothing like this. It’s an empty feeling of loss when you don’t have your puzzle complete.

Samaria Rice, in an interview in USA Today. Her son, Tamir, was killed by police at age 12. He would have been 18 on June 25 this year.  

The Interview with Samaria Rice is a companion piece to interviews with 31 young black men who are turning 18 this year, on what it is like growing up in Tamir Rice’s America. It is essential reading. 

We are not going to strike foul blows in this case.  We are going to pursue the truth based on the law, whether that leads to convictions or exonerations.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, from remarks at a press conference regarding the death of Breonna Taylor on June 18. The entire prepared remarks can be read here. They are a first-rate example of legal weasel-speak, and a masterful justification for official dithering. After more than 100 days of even halfhearted investigation there can hardly be any new facts to be gleaned: Breonna Taylor was wrongfully murdered in her sleep by officers of the Louisville Metro Police Department. The only remaining considerations must be entirely political in nature, justice for Breonna be damned. 

Demand justice for Breonna Taylor. Below are contact numbers and email addresses for Louisville and Kentucky officials. 

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer: Demands for justice can be made by calling Fischer’s office at (502) 574-2003 or by filling out the contact form on his site.

Louisville Metro Police Department: A contact form is available on the department’s site. A template is widely available as well as a submittable form that will automatically send an e-mail in your name.

Special Prosecutor Attorney General Daniel Cameron: Call 502-696-5300 or e-mail attorney.general@ag.ky.gov.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear: Call 502-564-2611.

Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney Thomas Wine: Call 502-595-2300 or e-mail winejcooke@louisvilleprosecutor.com.

Bath time.

I am a volunteer at the Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary, and because I’m a regular, I’m getting to know some of the regular birds as individuals. I call this little guy Surfer Dude because he really loves the flowing water in his favorite recirculating fountain. He usually just hovers over the water to get his feet wet, but today decided on a real bath.

Anna’s hummingbird (Calypte anna) at the Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary, Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory, Cochise County, Arizona.