[guest post by Dana]

In the midst of everything else going on, I see that Rush Limbaugh and Charlamagne tha God hung out yesterday, and their conversation aired this morning. As you recall, last week, Joe Biden “blamed” Charlamagne for setting him up when he made his infamous “…then you ain’t black” gaffe. Anyway, the two radio hosts agreed about George Floyd’s murder, and that the three other officers should face charges:

During the conversation, Limbaugh, who has been outspoken about the death of George Floyd at the hands of four Minneapolis police officers, did not hesitate to speak forcefully about the killing of the unarmed black man. “The George Floyd story is being lost,” Limbaugh said.

“It sickens me what happened to him. Legitimate, national outrage about a policeman’s criminal brutality has been hijacked – and I don’t want to forget about George Floyd. What happened to George Floyd sickened me and I wanted to reach out to you and tell you all this.” Limbaugh said. “I want to make sure you have no doubt and I’m not the only American who feels this way – the senselessness of it. You know, we’re only given one life… but George Floyd had his taken away from him. He didn’t lose it. He had it taken away from him.”

“There shouldn’t be legalized murder… George Floyd, by everything I’ve been able to tell, was a good guy,” Limbaugh said. “I think that cop should be charged with first-degree murder.”

Here’s an excerpt of where they differed in opinion, and it was a compelling exchange:

In response to a question from Charlamagne Da God about why Limbaugh felt so passionate about this particular incident, Limbaugh said “I’m not tolerant with any of them but I’m fed up with it, Charlamagne.” He continued: “To me, and I know you’re going to disagree with me on this, this is not America.” After Charlagmane pushed back saying it’s “definitely America,” Limbaugh replied, “[b]ut it’s not what it could be.”

“But for who though, Rush?” Charlagmane responded. “I think it’s easy for you to say because you’re a white male and that comes with a different level of privilege.” He continued: “And I do think America does work, but it works for the people who it’s designed to work for. Doesn’t work for everybody else the way it works for you.”

The full transcript is here.

You can listen to the conversation here.

–Dana

[guest post by Dana]

From the NYT:

George Floyd died not just because of the knee lodged at his neck by a Minneapolis Police officer, but also because of the other officers who helped hold him down, a private autopsy found.

Dr. Allecia M. Wilson of the University of Michigan and Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner, were hired by Mr. Floyd’s family to help determine his cause of death.

“Not only was the knee on George’s neck a cause of his death, but so was the weight of the other two police officers on his back, who not only prevented blood flow into his brain but also air flow into his lungs,” said Antonio Romanucci, a lawyer for the family.

Benjamin Crump, the family’s lead lawyer, said emergency medical records showed Mr. Floyd was dead at the scene.

“For George Floyd, the ambulance was his hearse,” Mr. Crump said.

The knee to his back compressed his lungs and prevented them from being able to take air in and out, he said.

Note, from Dr. Baden:

“The autopsy shows that Mr. Floyd had no underlying medical problem that caused or contributed to his death. This is confirmed by information provided to Dr. Wilson and myself by the family.”

“What we found is consistent with what people saw. There is no other health issue that could cause or contribute to the death. Police have this false impression that if you can talk, you can breathe. That’s not true.”

Contrast the private autopsy findings, as reported, with the preliminary report released by the the Hennepin County Medical Examiner:

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner (ME) conducted Mr. Floyd’s autopsy on May 26, 2020. The full report of the ME is pending but the ME has made the following preliminary findings. The autopsy revealed no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation. Mr. Floyd had underlying health conditions including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease. The combined effects of Mr. Floyd being restrained by the police, his underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death.

The defendant had his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in total. Two minutes and 53 seconds of this was after Mr. Floyd was non-responsive. Police are trained that this type of restraint with a subject in a prone position is inherently dangerous.

UPDATE: Hennepin County Medical Examiner announced their findings with regard to George Floyd’s death this afternoon:

The medical examiner’s office in Hennepin County, Minnesota, released a report that said George Floyd’s death was a homicide resulting from being restrained.

The statement said the cause of death is “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restrain, and neck compression.”

It further added that Floyd died from experiencing a “cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by law enforcement officer(s).”

The American Heart Association described cardiopulmonary arrest as the abrupt loss of heart function.

The medical examiner’s office statement said Floyd had indications of heart disease including “arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease,” as well as fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use.

–Dana

Insanity reigns today. Trump was rushed to an underground bunker Friday night. Yesterday he declared, in response to domestic actions, that he would designate ANTIFA a terrorist organization — which he cannot do because it is not foreign. The U.S. can prosecute terrorist acts but cannot designate a domestic organization as a terrorist organization.

The United States of America has no legal authority to designate *any* domestic entities as “terrorist organizations.” https://t.co/NniZjEwaJl

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) May 31, 2020

Innocent shopkeepers are beaten as celebrities and Biden staffers ostentatiously offer to bail out those arrested in the riots.

Wondering which celebrities would like to bail out these fellas?https://t.co/1IigqIjYig

— Ben Sixsmith (@BDSixsmith) May 31, 2020

Never mind the fact that many of the protesters are peaceful and are actually angry at the people, which in some cases are white punks on skateboards, who are vandalizing and looting — and in many cases protesters are fighting to prevent the looting and vandalism.

Some protestors in Brooklyn calling to loot the Target, but organizers are rushing in front of the store to stop them, keep things non-violent #nycprotest pic.twitter.com/6x70cpcjep

— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) May 31, 2020

@TayAndersonCO in an altercation on the streets of Denver.  pic.twitter.com/u78fQdz1Yo

— Joshua Rodriguez (@Joshuajered) May 30, 2020

No matter; these knucklehead celebrities and Biden staffers still want the worst elements back on the street — ASAP.

Police cars are on fire everywhere. My son and I played basketball earlier than we had planned yesterday evening because of the countywide curfew to take effect at 6 p.m. Today all courthouses in Los Angeles County are closed as the area braces for whatever is coming next.

I keep thinking of the Gospel reading from yesterday. Particularly this part:

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”

Receive the Holy Spirit. Forgive others their sins as you would have them forgive yours.

Peace be with you.