In looking into this, what I am able to find indicates that this is a lawmaker (Rep Justin Pearson) and his brother (KeShaun Pearson) who is not a lawmaker and was there protesting GOP lawmakers splitting the city of Memphis where they both live into three districts, diluting the Black vote after a Supreme Court ruling badly gutting what was left of the Voting Rights Act. It appears that KeShaun was detained. Rep Pearson was not, and I am unclear from the video and article whether state troopers forcibly removed Rep Pearson or if he chose (understandably) to leave in order to watch out for his brother who was being detained.
This is the article on it i was able to find. https://www.actionnews5.com/2026/05/08/video-shows-tense-moment-between-rep-pearson-state-troopers-brother-detained-tenn-capitol/
Just so we’re clear, this is still a bad thing that happened and is happening. Jim Crow is returning before our eyes. I just believe, based on what I’ve been able to find, that this screenshot contains inaccurate specifics of the details.
this is still a bad thing that happened and is happening
Yeah, but being accurate matters
Muddying the waters always helps fascists more than anyone.
Facts still matter.
I kind of wish I never saw whatever DC TV show he was “hawk boy”…
It wasn’t his fault, his writing was super cringey.
But now everytime I see his face, I just think “fucking hawk boy”
Smallville?
Apparently it was Titans.
In Smallville, he was Aquaman.
Oh, shit. I remember now.
I mean adding an S to words still indicates a plural state, right? Because this definitely says Lawmakers, with an S. As in more than one. Multiple. Am I losing my fucking mind? Do I need to go back to first grade and learn basic grammar, again? Because I’m just gonna disengage if everyone’s gonna lie to me every time I turn around.
I’m a little confused by this comment, sorry. By “this,” do you mean the image? It does say lawmakers, plural, and also specifies two. The image seems to be incorrect. I’m not assuming malice, and I believe they were probably posting with bad or incomplete information. Details of situations like this can be unclear as you’re trying to follow them at home. But they said lawmakers, plural, and it is in fact a lawmaker, singular, who was not actually arrested, and his non-lawmaker brother, who was.
If you’re talking about something in the article I shared, could you quote the passage that has you confused?
this screenshot contains inaccurate specifics of the details.
Why would someone do that? On Lemmy. Why?
Arresting BLACK PEOPLE who want to Vote is how you KNOW Republicans are NOT Racist!
-Log Cabin Republicans!
Yes and according to the conservative super majority of the Supreme Court, racism in election polls doesn’t exist anymore apparently.
I’ll never forgive rbg for not stepping down when Obama first got elected
It’s a good lesson. People who reach positions of power are only able to do so because they are motivated purely by their own self-interest. Keeping her position was in her self-interest. Even the people who appear on “your side” are only in that position for themselves. The higher they get the less incentive they have to make performative sacrificies. Which they all are. Always and forever.
It’s only true in this system that rewards the self-serving individual. I don’t believe this is implicit to human nature, but we have to be willing to collectively punish bad actors severely, rather than shrug and look the other way as these people misbehave.
The violent struggle is inevitable at this point, its really now just about how may times you’ll let yourself be punched in the face until you punch back.
That is the system though. The world would be a better place if we had leaders not motivated by their self-interest. But those leaders don’t get into positions of power. So, they don’t functionally exist other than to pat themselves on the back for suffering for their principles in their own minds that effect zero change or progress. I don’t say it to be cynical, either. It’s just reality. There are only a handful of people throughout history who reached high enough levels of power to actual change things for the better that were actually willing to sacrifice themselves for their principles. And most of them suffered for it and the only reward they got was a legacy.
You are not punching anyone in the face. And telling other people they are lazy or bad for not pretending otherwise doesn’t make it anymore true that you are. You’re just someone shouting a lie at a person who is sick of being shouted at and wondering why no one is doing what you want them to do.
You are not punching anyone in the face. And telling other people they are lazy or bad for not pretending otherwise doesn’t make it anymore true that you are. You’re just someone shouting a lie at a person who is sick of being shouted at and wondering why no one is doing what you want them to do.
That’s quite the story you’ve invented for me. I didn’t call anyone lazy or bad, and I’m wholly confused at what lie I’m supposedly shouting here.
I can imagine that you’re frustrated by your own inability to effect the change you would like to see. Totally understandable.
I am no more frustrated with it than I am frustrated with my inability to take flight.
Don’t worry white Americans. You did nothing because this did not affect you yet. Everything is fine, and there is a new show on Apple TV.
Omfg can we talk about how news feeds jam “news” about new shows. I’ve never cared about a tv show on netcock in my life but google thinks it needs to be front page news for me.
Google is an ad and surveillance platform
Billionaire owned media has an imperative to keep everyone distracted with the circuses.
thats why all the sports, met-gala, and copaganda.
oh yea and remember that “citadel” movie, it was designed to lower the searches for the citadel investigation into securties. the MET-GALA was another obvious distraction as well, as was last years.
Uhhh I don’t think more racism helps stop racism.
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As it becomes more difficult to merely live, it becomes easier to risk it all. We are witnessing the origin story of the next great revolutionary.
That’s the kind of thing I hear from protest non-voters all the time.
Worked out REALLY well for Hong Kong, let me tell you.
The difference is the Hong Kong citizens weren’t installed in all levels of local, state, and federal position within the government.
The amount of buildings getting destroyed and groups popping up all over America from California to New York will be way too big of a theatre for a federal government as deeply incompetent and corrupt as this one is, from stopping them in any meaningful way.
Hong Kong resisted an outside military with the forces and wealth of an invading army.
Yours is a false dichotomy.
I think you meant false equivalence.
A false dichotomy presents two options as if they are the only choices available when in reality there are other options.
A false equivalence draws a comparison between two things that are actually disparate.
I’m neither agreeing nor disagreeing with you or the person you replied to. Just letting you know the correct term for what you described.
THAT DINT seem like the case for HK, they were most definitely taken over pretty quick, and without much resistance. thier govt was mostly appointed by ccp approved in the first place.
“so here’s the non sequiturs I feel like talking about…”
Riots are the language of the unheard. I don’t ever want to hear pissing and moaning from Republicans when there shit hole state burns down
What the fuck is going on here? It can’t get much more blatantly fascist. I implore anyone who can leave the Untied States to do so
Don’t leave, stay and fight. The US is taking problems that will follow you if you leave.
I am middle aged with a bad back and gout. My ability to fight is pretty limited.
Leaving would just let them consolidate power
I doubt anyone here is doing anything to prevent that now though
Oh dang you’re right no one is doing anything let’s all just give up
That’s the spirit!
My instinct with all news now is to think there MUST be more going on here behind the scenes.
Then I think to myself “who runs the county?” and realize we are on our way to hell. It’s time to stand up before all who could and would stand up are taken before no one is left.
The plan for November is to cheat and if that fails, ignore it. There is no blue rescue happening.
By all means, vote anyways. If all you can do is inconvenience a fascist, definetly do so.
Black Americans, the heart and soul of Democratic party for 50 years… they’re gone as voting bloc.
I hope riding Israel’s dick was worth it.
Wait, what do you think happened here? You think Democrats are to blame for this?
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No, black Americans voted the least for Trump than any other demographic in 2024 and 2016.
They were the most reliable blue strait ticket bloc. But that’s over. They’re erasing their districts all over the country.
I mean this is the election cancellation. Getting it out of the way early.
Louisiana SC case set the table for this to happen
The civil war is being fomented before our eyes
Ever since the nazi learned to boil the frog, they have kept those burners running.
Just give it up. The USA is done for. Complete shit hole. Flee now, cause it’s only going to get worse.
What is this cowardly shit? Stand up for what is right and good or be silent.
And leave those who can’t flee alone with the nazis? let the country be seized, in control of the most funded army in the world?
There is no way forward with that thinking. There is only one way to a bright future, it is to fight the nazis, to fight relentlessly, to win, then to educate, and finally to disarm. Remember 1945
Or, 2A
if america isn’t there right now, i struggle to see a situation when you’re going to be there
also
bringing guns to a drone fight
Whos gonna fly it? ChatGPT?
I’m sure he’ll be happy to volunteer.
Congratulations, Officers Moustache and Shorty! You just entered the history books on the wrong side!
You think they care about books?
Can’t care about what they can’t read.
Welcome to 1956…again.
As an foreigner and outsider. Does USA not have a system of designated opposition? Isn’t it their duty to keep the government in check? Am I missing something? I don’t even know who is the opposition leader no more. I assume the president nominee who didn’t win is the opposition leader? Haven’t seen or heard anything major since the election.
The opposition party has very little to no power in the American system.
Their cute little system they attempted at checks and balances are no longer balanced.
I saw the piece about 'shadow docket" by Last week tonight this morning on youtube. It is quite timely, very infuriating, and scary.
Chuck Schumer
Stares sternly and considers penning a letter in opposition.
There is no specific appointment for the losing presidential nominee. They just lose and move on.
The idea with the US government is checks and balances between government branches. Congress and SCOTUS have some degree of power over the president and each branch can keep the other two in check. Historically it has worked well, but things have been changing quickly in the last 10-20 years, but especially with the two Trump admins.
The current situation with Trump is particularly different for a few reasons:
- Trump is incredibly popular with primary right-wing voter base. There is evidence this may be changing, but it’s been the case for 10+ years now.
- Trump’s popularity has allowed him to put intense pressure on members on congress. He can threaten to primary any sitting senator or representative that doesn’t support everything he does. These threats are not empty and he has absolutely gotten people voted out of office due to his clout with republican voters. Most Republican members of congress are terrified of opposing him. Since republicans currently hold majority, congress is more or less toothless and completely deferential to Trump right now.
- Two supreme court justice positions became open when Republicans had control of the government, so they have shifted SCOTUS leanings strongly to the right.
Trump has a perfect storm of control over the systems normally in-place to hold him accountable.
Once we have an administration ran by adults in power again, we’re going to need to seriously re-evaluate and update our system of checks and balances, or future administrations will continue to exploit these problems until the country rots and dies.
The problem is, it’s the thing that happens with the current government doing things so their place in power is secured. And the other thing about boiling the frog slowly with very short temperature rises, so it doesn’t notice it’s being boiled until it’s too late.
At some point it will be too late to change as change prevention will be written in the system, if it already isn’t. People like to throw in the word ‘status-quo’ but I don’t understand that term at all.
What would you expect the opposition to do?
In a proper political system?
- Inform the electorate about shit the government is doing
- Suing the government in front of an unpolitical, independent court, up to an unpolitical, independent supreme court
- Bargaining with the government on regular laws for whenever the government needs a 2/3 majority (e.g. for constitutional amendments, which should be a regular thing, not a once-in-a-lifetime event)
- Running a shadow cabinet where each shadow minister is completely up-to-date to everything that happens so that in case the opposition wins the next election they can hit the ground running
Just to name a few things.
But since the USA doesn’t have unpolitical, independent courts and not even an unpolitical, independent supreme court, and constitutional amendments are exceedingly rare, the opposition is pretty worthless.
Just for reference: If you take out the zero-day fixes (all amendments that were passed within the first year) and the two amendments that cancel each other out (18 and 21), the USA has had 15 constitutional amendments. France had 15 full constitutional rewrites in the same time.
This was what I meant opposition doing the job.
I think it is very important thing engaging the electorate when they are not in power and when it’s not election season. By both the government and opposition. And more importantly to do that neutral to reach all the electorate not their own voter base. I think that is what is missing form the US and it is increasing the divide between the left and right to the point the key identity (with pride) of each political party is that they aren’t the other one.
The US system is a hot broken mess. It’s 200 years outdated and nobody dared fixing it.
It’s literally a prototype of a democracy that people started to treat like a religion.
The constitutionally mandated two-party-system is perfect at dividing the nation and makes sure that cross-party coalitions aren’t a thing, thus voiding all need for any cooperation.
“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism.”
From George Washington’s farewell address, 1796.
Basically, he was worried about ‘us vs them’ mentality that the two party system would bring as there was already a divide between the federalists and the democratic-republicans.
Yeah, it was a problem from day 1, but they did jack all to fix it.
Probably because changing a system usually doesn’t benefit those who got into power via the old system.
I am not an expert on the political system. But my knee jerk answer is idk, Oppose? But there is probably a lot I don’t understand of “this is how it’s done and this is how it is” -ism that goes on.
I mean they do, do that. It doesn’t hit the media much, because they like to appease Trump. But they are constantly making every piece of legislation hard to pass.
Has nothing to do with 2026. This is not happening un France or Germany or Italy, Canada, Australia, India, the whole south America, etc, etc.
Just in that shithole country that voted in a shit dictator (not even a good one) and refuses to use their second amendment for what it was designed for…
Goodbye, I’m done.
I’m just so mad and angry at American exceptionalism but also see this clear racism.
And nobody is teaching that megalomaniacal mango Mussolini a lesson…
We didn’t vote him in, Elon fixed the election for him
That does not even matter… True or false, result is the same. In fact, it makes the non-use of the 2nd Amendment even worse.
Come on down and sign up then
Not my problem to deal with. If it was in the EU… I would. Even without the support of a literal constitutional right to do so.
I respect your position. But it’s easy enough to talk from the EU.
Agreed. Or better put: I understand. But I do know for sure it will be easier to fight him and fascism in general NOW then in a few months. Let alone years.
The more people he get’s under his thumb, the less are available to fight back.
You actually don’t know that for sure. This is a complicated discussion.
Don’t mind the third of the US that supports him. Election rigging or not, there are a lot of stupid Americans out there itching for a dictator daddy.
Yep. Do not disagree with with you
Then you voted for electronic elections before. It has always been said that they are not secure.
Diebold fixed the elections for him.
America
18562026
