From local news station KOCO-5:
The Oklahoma Supreme Court today heard arguments on whether to step in and delay Saturday’s rally in Tulsa for President Donald Trump that is expected to draw tens of thousands of people.
Attorneys Clark Brewster and Paul DeMuro filed a lawsuit arguing that holding the rally as scheduled would endanger public health.
“A perfect storm for over-the-top disease transmission,” DeMuro said.
He said COVID-19 cases in Tulsa and across the state have dramatically increased since June 1.
“This is not a question of whether additional people will be affected and dying in Tulsa, it’s just a question of how many,” he said…
Attorneys for the BOK Center and its management company agreed that the rally ill-advised but said the contract they have with the Trump campaign leaves them no wiggle room.
“We don’t argue that the CDC classifies events like this as the highest possible risk,” one of the arena’s attorneys said.
But, he said, the campaign and arena have the legal right to hold the rally…
The court will meet tomorrow to discuss the request.
The Big Name Media actors are already cranky:
there is currently a mutiny on my flight to tulsa (via dallas) because a guy is refusing to wear a mask and the flight can't take off
— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) June 17, 2020
(Of *course* it was a stunt for twitter likes…)
Hahaha this Red Pill dingdong rewrote history to make himself look witty and didn't know @AsteadWesley was sitting next to him pic.twitter.com/sZdr3WoeaW
— Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) June 17, 2020
lamh36
wait…is the rally tomorrow or Saturday?
Yutsano
@lamh36: Tomorrow I do believe. Don’t ask me for the next week or so things like “days” are going to be well blended.
Benw
@lamh36: Saturday, right? It says so in the article.
Martin
@lamh36: Saturday. Tomorrow is Juneteenth. You probably didn’t know that, most people don’t. Trump made the day famous.
Ken
It was postponed to Saturday out of “respect for Juneteeth”, which many are taking to mean “no one was signing up for Friday”.
Mousebumples
It was going to be tomorrow (Friday) but they rescheduled for … Reasons. (“respect for the anniversary” was the lip service claim they made
Edit – Ken beat me to it.
scottinnj
“Supporters of President Donald Trump amassed outside the arena in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Thursday, two days before he is scheduled to hold a campaign rally expected to draw at least 100,000 people.”
I may be wrong but if I were betting….I’d take the under on the 100,000 attendance figure.
Martin
@Ken: I think people were signing up just fine. I think the Secret Service sent their black agent in to tell Trump why his rally was going to get burned to the fucking ground if he held it on Friday.
Honus
The phrase “shit for brains” keeps coming to mind more and more every day.
Lapassionara
@scottinnj: Amassed? Amassed? What do they mean?
dmsilev
@lamh36: Saturday. Because someone explained to Trump that holding a rally on Juneteenth was a really bad idea if he hoped to maintain even a shred of plausible deniability on the whole “I’m a flaming racist” thing.
lamh36
@scottinnj:
Ash..see this is what confused me…folks “in line” 2 days early
hells littlest angel
It will be the greatest pox party of all times!
dmsilev
@scottinnj: Especially since the arena only holds ~20,000.
namekarB
California issues mandatory wearing of masks when in public spaces, healthcare facilities, mass transit etc.
I was getting disgusted with the numbers of people not wearing masks in stores.
hells littlest angel
@Lapassionara: Perhaps attendance is being measured by weight to juice the numbers.
scottinnj
@Lapassionara:
Warning: There is an embedded video of ‘re election’ songs. I am not responsible for any damaged it may cause viewers
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/trump-supporters-crowd-tulsa-ahead-saturday-rally-n1231454
ThresherK
Gonna drop this old Clapton cover of a country chestnut here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr9dOmzcc-U
Ken
@dmsilev: He wants it full so he can claim there are four times as many people outside. If fewer show up, I predict they’ll pack everyone into one section and point the cameras there.
Patricia Kayden
NotMax
Two bits, four bits, six bits – hey, where’d the bits go? (WaPo link)
MisterForkbeard
@Martin: I still can’t believe he said this.
The postscript where he says his aides all had no idea what Juneteenth was is equally bad, and it’s topped when trump stops the interview to ask his aide if she’d ever heard of it. And she says “Yes, and we issue a proclamation for it every year.”
I think she might be fired tomorrow, if Trump understands that she dunked on him.
Kattails
Why look at all those nice, clean-cut, hair-sprayed, cotton-clad white folks, so utterly assured that they’re not assholes. Reminds me of my high school yearbook. I wonder how many of them (if still alive) are now reliving their heyday by attending Trump rallies. And yet Wallace was a Democrat… (makes hairball coughing-up noises)
hotshoe
@ThresherK:
Lord, shame on me I didn’t guess it would be Tulsa Time; I should have known.
One of my favorite Clapton party tunes!
Mike in NC
@Martin: Before Trump came along, nobody had heard of Juneteenth. Before Trump came along, nobody could say “Merry Christmas”. Before Trump came along, nobody needed to wear a face mask to leave their house in order to not die from a plague. Only one of these things is true.
Ken
Does anyone have an informed guess how the Oklahoma court might rule?
dexwood
My Native American sister-in-law and her blindingly white husband are in Tulsa for this. They’re retired high school teachers, charter members of the local Teabaggers. They haven’t spoken to us since January 2017. Our laughter and mockery pissed them off. We’re quite happy with the arrangement.
ETA: They live two states away from OK.
Benw
@NotMax: so THAT’S why all these people are marching around demanding change.
:)
dmsilev
@Benw: One of my favorite Onion headlines from 2008 was ‘Black Man asks America for Change’.
NotMax
@Benw
Yowzah. Nicely done.
Frosty Fred
@ThresherK: That’s great, but why not go the whole hog?
andy
I predict The Leader will give his “address” in one of three ways:
• He walks out to the lectern in a spacesuit
• He gives his address in a plexiglass box, which hopefully rises out of a trapdoor
• He gives his address remotely from the White House and the crowd has to admire him on the jumbotron
Benw
@dmsilev: one of my puns reminded someone of an Onion classic, I may have to sit down for a bit
ThresherK
@hotshoe: Yeah, I loved the Don Williams original when it was new. Clapton does it swell.
Delk
Does the contract that you have no wiggle room on say anything about trump paying for anything on time or even paying ?
West of the Rockies
Am I the only one who just found out Klobuchar withdrew from the VP stakes? I thought she was eloquent and sincere. She said a WOC should be selected. Harris or Abrahms would be fabulous.
Another Scott
@lamh36: The tickets page says at most 2 tickets per cell phone number. It also says tickets are “first come first serve”, so it’s not exactly clear what the “tickets” are for (especially if they’re claiming 100,000 of them for a 20,000 seat arena)…
In other news, …
Go get ’em, Ohio.
Cheers,
Scott.
SiubhanDuinne
Sen. Amy Klobuchar has removed herself from VP consideration on a Biden ticket. On The Last Word just now, she told Lawrence she called Biden last night and urged him to select a woman of color.
ThresherK
@Frosty Fred: Hey, I’m all for anyone recognizing my native state’s vast legacy of rock stars, such as Pitney, The Carpenters, Jonathan Coulton…
Yutsano
@West of the Rockies: Apparently no, since I’m now just learning this from you! Good on Amy and she’s right. My Harris hopes just keep climbing.
Steeplejack
@Lapassionara:
“Massed outside the arena” comes the eerie moan from the tomb of the downsized copy editor.
Red Cedar
Hey everybody, I’m mostly a lurker but I think of you as friends and my lovely one-year-old Golden Retriever is going to be spending the next 48 hours at the emergency vet because she got up on the dining room table and ate up a bowl full of grapes this afternoon. Your good thoughts for Tamar are much appreciated. She’s a sweetie and a beautiful girl and I didn’t even know grapes were bad for dogs! I never would have left them out if I’d known. I should have known—apparently this has been a thing since about 2003—but I missed it somehow. In any case: no grapes or raisins for our lovely beasts, and please send kidney-healing vibes to Tamar! Thank you.
SiubhanDuinne
@Red Cedar:
Be well, Tamar!
Yutsano
@Red Cedar: Oh my goodness! I hope sweet Tamar pulls through! She’s young and I have hope but much love and healing light to her and you.
Patricia Kayden
Senator Harris or Rep Demings.
Patricia Kayden
@Red Cedar: Healing vibes sent your way for Tamar!!!
mad citizen
@dmsilev: That is very funny. The one I remember is from Nov. 4 2008, “Black Man Given Nation’s Worst Job” https://politics.theonion.com/black-man-given-nations-worst-job-1819570341
1,000 healing vibes to Tamar!
CaseyL
@Red Cedar: I didn’t know that either! Best wishes for a full recovery for Tamar.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I’ve been on the road all day. Is it worth my while to find out what the hell’s going on with Matt Gaetz and his newly discovered Large Adult Son
ETA: @Red Cedar: healing vibes sent to Tamar. Good luck!
Benw
@Red Cedar: damn, best wishes.
mad citizen
@MisterForkbeard: This seems like a savvy move by the trump staffer; perhaps a way to exit the dumpster fire with some positive amount of reputation.
Ruckus
@Honus:
shitforbrains® is a registered trademark for shitforbrains. The license says that anyone can use the trademark shitforbrains as long as they are talking about the 45th president of the US.
Steeplejack
@Frosty Fred:
Little-known fact: written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach.
Ladyraxterinok
Mario Johnson is a black minister in North Tulsa, the historically black area of the city. He founded Black Lives Matter Tulsa, supported by his friend Terrance Crutcher. (That was the man murdered by the white female cop when she found him by his stalled car. ‘In fear for her life’, she was found not guilty.)
There’s an extensive article on Johnson in The Oklahoma Eagle, a black newspaper in Tulsa , an article that can be found through Google. The article also contains much infoabout the difficulties faced by blacks in Tulsa.
The Oklahoma Eagle was founded in 1936 by a man who bought the name and property of the Oklahoma Star. That had been the newspaper in Greenwood, the Black Wall Street. It was bombed and burned down during the Tulsa Race Massacre.
Omnes Omnibus
@West of the Rockies: @SiubhanDuinne: She wasn’t going to get the nod. Then George Floyd was killed and the fates dug up her chances, put a stake through their heart, burned them, and dumped the ashes in the Mississippi.
Honus
@Ruckus: I could look this up on the USTPO website but please tell me you’re kidding. Or not.
Ruckus
@NotMax:
Went to the bank a week or so ago to get a couple rolls of quarters for the laundry at my complex. Two rolls of brand new quarters. I’ve never seen that before. In decades.
scav
@mad citizen: Or, it’s a staffer’s equivalent of spitting in the soup because the person you’re serving treats you like shit.
Ruckus
@Honus:
I thought that it was obvious. Maybe I’m better than I thought…..
I’ve been using shitforbrains for long enough that on my phone it comes up when I type in shi… It never does swear words unless I use them often enough. That doesn’t seem to be an issue….
Started putting on the ® which is on my mac, the option and R keys.
Gotta have just a little fun to make up for the massive shit show we are all trying to live through.
Jeffro
Hopefully a completely sealed plexiglass box ;)
Steeplejack
@Red Cedar:
Healing thoughts sent to your greedy, greedy dog. Get well, Tamar!
Jeffro
@West of the Rockies: Abrams is out of the running, was never seriously vetted.
Harris or Warren, plz Biden campaign.
Aleta
@Red Cedar: Get well soon Tamar. Hang in there Red C. I had no idea about grapes. (Our former dog used to pick wild blueberries one at a time off the plants to eat. ) Sending healing thoughts to Tamar.
Daffodil's Mom
@ Red Cedar:
Another lurker here sending you major, major healing vibes and tons of prayers also too. We’ve been there, and know all too well the horror and other various assorted feelings you must be having. A bit of hope, which I hope still holds true, and that is that not all dogs do have that really awful sensitivity. So do hold onto that, and we’ll all try to pray Tamar through!
Ruckus
@lamh36:
They are not real bright. They are also, which I imagine you easily understand, fucking flaming racists. Somehow I’d bet there is a relationship.
Jeffro
@SiubhanDuinne: smart and dignified that she got out in front of not being considered further for Veep.
Harris or Warren for VP, and then let’s hope the Biden campaign can devote some significant portion of its energy to figuring out who’s going to staff all these depleted cabinet departments.
Ladyraxterinok
@dmsilev:
The BOK Center is fairly close to Greenwood.
There has been some talk about moving the rally outdoors. The stadium for the University of Tulsa, 4 or so miles from the BOK, and a few blocks from where I grew up.
Yhe other suggestion has been the relatively new baseball stadium downtown and like BOK near Greenwood.
Patricia Kayden
Not The Onion
lamh36
FYI: Here’s the short clip of Amy K on Lawrence
https://twitter.com/notcapnamerica/status/1273806976502423552
Aleta
…
Steeplejack
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Here you go.
James E Powell
@Another Scott:
Trumbull County. Trump Country. Should I shed tears?
Another Scott
@Red Cedar: It’s scary.
Years ago our Sophie grabbed a loaf of raisin bread off the counter and ate half of it before we came home from work. She spent 3 nights with IV fluids at the emergency vet as a precaution, but seemed none the worse for wear. The vet said that raisins and grapes don’t seem to affect some dogs while they are very hard on others (and they don’t know in advance which ones will have issues).
Fingers crossed for your pup.
Hang in there.
Cheers,
Scott.
HumboldtBlue
In the least surprising news of the day, the mayor of a rural Oregon town was identified as the asshole who drove his car into a group of protestors.
Poptartacus
https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2020/06/matt-gaetz
LesGS
@Red Cedar: I didn’t know that about grapes (or raisins) either! Thank you for the PSA. Best wishes for Tamar. :(
Villago Delenda Est
As if the BOK Center will ever see a dime from the deadbeat Donald.
Ladyraxterinok
Bynum, the mayor, has done a pretty good job trying to get people to observe basic care in dealing with the virus.
But IMO he is in a bad position. His family is part of te city’s power structure, tied t om yhe city and state GOP. His grandfather LaFortune and his uncle LaFortune were both mayors of Tulsa. An ancestor Bynum was mayor of the city before Oklahoma became a state in 1907. Bynum himself w OK rked as an intern for Inhofe, I believe, who himself was at one time mayor of Tulsa.
Bynum has worked hard OK organizing a search for the graves of victims of the 1921 Tu Tulsa Race Massacre
Doug R
@scottinnj: The venue holds 19,000. I’m guessing it’s basically a hockey arena with 2 levels. About 5-10,000 will show up, they’ll close the upper tier and crowd everybody down to one end to make it look full. Screw social distancing.
West of the Rockies
@Jeffro:
Well, Abrahms has a bright and important future nonetheless. I hadn’t heard that she wasn’t a serious contender.
Tenar Arha
@Red Cedar: My best wishes for Tamar, & I hope you’re holding up okay.
TaMara (HFG)
@Red Cedar: Sending healing vibes to Tamar. It sounds like you got her to the vet quickly and she’s fairly large, so chances for full recovery are good.
Keep us in the loop.
Doug R
@Ken: A smart court would issue a temporary injunction, citing the rising # of cases in Oklahoma, specifically Tulsa county.
satby
@Red Cedar: Good luck to Tamar and best wishes for a speedy recovery. Please keep us posted on her!
Alex
@HumboldtBlue: also people who testified at the meeting complained that armed “militia” folks were waiting just outside, so the council had to debate whether to ask them to knock that off or whether that would be disloyal to guns.
MisterForkbeard
@Jeffro: There was a NYT article a few days ago saying that the primary thing that being evaluated is “Can this person take over as President if Biden is unavailable?” and that the belief was that Kamala Harris was by far the most qualified that regard.
Doug R
@Ruckus: I have alt 0153 memorized™
lamh36
I’m sorry Anne L but this is hilarious!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@West of the Rockies: I hadn’t either, but I would’ve been shocked if Biden had picked Abrams. He’s a conventional politician, her resume is unconventional for a Veep.
Martin
@Mike in NC: Trump nearly, nearly said the other day in response to a reporter’s question that he was the youngest person ever elected president. He got about half of it out before he switched sentences.
Ladyraxterinok
Bynum, the mayor, has done a pretty good job trying to get people to observe basic care in dealing with the virus.
But IMO he is in a bad position. His family is part of te city’s power structure, tied t om yhe city and state GOP. His grandfather LaFortune and his uncle LaFortune were both mayors of Tulsa. An ancestor Bynum was mayor of the city before Oklahoma became a state in 1907. Bynum himself w OK rked as an intern for Inhofe, I believe, who himself was at one time mayor of Tulsa.
Bynum has worked hard OK organizing a search for the graves of victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
Ladyraxterinok
@Patricia Kayden:
Taylor is ‘the fireman prophet’ who supposedly was told by God that Trump would win. Liberty U had their film students make a movie about him.
Doug R
For all those wondering, this is my son Nibbler. We share no blood but he has drawn some of mine. He came from a bush in front of our house (legally, of course) two years ago and lives with me in British Columbia.
I am so proud of him and raising him has been the best, most rewarding thing I’ve done in my life.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4290901084260994&set=a.100243799993431&type=3&theater
NotMax
FYI.
Martin
@NotMax: The Watchmen series was great. People really should see it.
Joy in FL
@Red Cedar: Sending Tamar the kindest hopes for her recovery. She can live without grapes and still have a fine, happy existence with her humans : )
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Poptartacus: huh
from “local student” to “helper” to “my son” in a couple short years
I wonder if Rep Gaetz is paying his son’s tuition?
tom
@Red Cedar: I’m mostly a lurker too, sending healing thoughts to Tamar and you. Goldens are such great dogs. I’m sure Tamar will pull through.
Joy in FL
@Ruckus: I am laughing out loud. Thank you!
joel hanes
[looks at OP photo]
People sure were less fat during the ’60s.
Racist fucks included.
phdesmond
@Jeffro: the IRS should not be overlooked — it’s gutted.
Steeplejack
@joel hanes:
Forty-plus years of high-fructose corn syrup.
Yutsano
@phdesmond: Come sit six feet away from me…
Ladyraxterinok
Hannibol Johnson, a black, Harvard-trained lawyer who is a native Tulsan , has written several books about Black Wall Street.
I believe his 90s book was the first time most white Tulsans had heard the term
Ruckus
@Joy in FL:
I aim to please.
I also aim for the bowl…….
A little laughter is always welcome to stifle the screams.
Ruckus
@Steeplejack:
As the only thing they put in their mouths?
phdesmond
@Poptartacus: wow. the detail!
The Moar You Know
Red Cedar
Wishing the best for Tamar. I too have a Golden. He’s the light of my life. He is also an anvil around my neck.
They are incredibly smart and motivated when they want to do something, which is great That “something” is frequently something that they absolutely should not do, like eating a bowl of grapes or climbing down onto a dirt cliff above a raging river (one of oh so many heart stopping experiences I’ve had with mine) or eating cat shit until they vomit.
So, my hopes are with you, and my sympathies, because these dogs are heartbreakers and frustrating as hell, and oh so lovable, personality for days, and I frankly doubt I could ever own another breed again.
phdesmond
@Yutsano: hey, yutsano. talk to you after july 15. :-)
chopper
@Red Cedar:
oh man fingers crossed. my duck toller will grab anything off the counter. we’ve had a number of close calls with her.
Jinchi
@scottinnj: So he calls for 100,000 people to attend a rally in an arena with seating for 20,000 people. In the middle of a pandemic.
Yutsano
@phdesmond: *waves*
I suppose if there was to be a filing extension time it would have been announced by now eh? I wonder if there’s going to be pressure for my division to come back before then. Not that it matters too much in my case since I’m going to claim still can’t work.
glc
Labrador feeding tips:
The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion
@Red Cedar: loving vibes for Tamar!
Ruckus
Just found a show on Netflix that sounds like it’s a must see.
Called 13th. I hadn’t seen it listed before but it’s release date is 2016. Says under the title it’s a BLM, Black Lives Matter Collection. I’m not going to watch it tonight, work tomorrow.
Anyone seen it?
rikyrah
@Red Cedar:
???
Martin
@Ruckus: Ms Martin watched it. Said it was good, but quite helpless/depressing. But she is not by her nature an optimist. She really needs happy endings to shows/movies.
rikyrah
@Ruckus:
Ava Duvernay documentary on how the prison part exception of the 13th Amendment has been so devastating to the Black community
Mary G
@Red Cedar: Hope Tamar gets through OK. So scary and hard to wait.
Mary G
@Ruckus: It’s by Ava Duvernay who is a great filmmaker, and she brings the receipts about how we fucked up Reconstruction and how the old cruel overseers and slave catchers morphed into cops. Very well done, but very heavy.
opiejeanne
@Mary G: I’m like Martin’s wife in that I need happy endings too, and now more than ever.
JWR
Still three threads behind, (Again!), but Colbert’s “Tooning Out The News” on last night’s show was pretty good. At least good for a 1 minute chuckle.
scottinnj
@Jinchi:
I think the plan is there will be some over flow areas (maybe nearby parking lots) where crowds can maybe see it on a giant TV/Jumbotron kind of thing. I’m sure Jared Kushner will have all the logistics sorted out flawlessly
Kristine
@Red Cedar: Healing thoughts for Tamar!