Sarah Kendzior studies authoritarian regimes and sees how this one follows the script. She says that even while it portrays the nasty guy in really bad light, it is useful to him. Being a moron means he couldn’t have knowingly committed a crime.
Melissa McEwan of Shakesville notes that only now, almost a year into the nasty guy’s reign, the political media is beginning to talk about how he is psychologically unfit. This talk of mental illness annoys her. It is offered as an excuse for him being a terrible person. Why aren’t we talking about his personality? Why are we using mental illness to excuse the terrible things he does?
Senator Diane Feinstein released Glenn Simpson’s full testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee about the “Trump dossier” and its relationship to Russian meddling and the nasty guy’s possible collusion. I’m not going to wade into that mess, at least not today. I’ll only mention one of the nasty guy’s responses on Twitter:
The single greatest Witch Hunt in America continues. There was no collusion, everybody including the Dems knows there was no collusion, & yet on and on it goes. Russia & the world is laughing at the stupidity they are witnessing. Republicans should finally take control!McEwan’s response, also on Twitter:
"Republicans should finally take control!" What can this mean, exactly, when Republicans already hold the executive and legislative branches, and there's a conservative majority on the Supreme Court? The only thing it *can* mean is that Trump wants Democrats entirely disempowered. And let's be clear about what that is: It's the United States president calling for the end of democracy.
Back in the early 1980s the Republican National Committee was accused by Democrats in engaging in various activities the Dems said were voter suppression, a violation of the Voting Rights Act. Rather than going to trial the RNC agreed to a court enforceable consent decree. If the RNC violated the decree it would be held in contempt of court. Punishment would be quick. Dems were very good at reminding the RNC of this threat.
In 2009 a federal judge limited the decree to eight more years. If the Dems don’t come forward in that time with evidence the decree is lifted.
Though the nasty guy’s campaign talked of voter suppression (of GOP voters) a judge determined the RNC was not involved, so the decree was allowed to expire on December 1st.
Which means there is no decree if the nasty guy uses the RNC for suppression of Dem voters in the next election. Dems could still open a new case, but that could take years.
This case was about the RNC doing voter suppression. It wasn’t about state legislatures implementing laws with the same effect and probably doesn’t include whatever the nasty guy and his Department of Homeland Security cook up.
I write frequently about ranking, the widespread belief that there is and should be a hierarchy to society with straight white Christian men on top. I hear and read lots about the effects of ranking – racism, misogyny, homophobia, and all the rest – but very little about the overall concepts behind them. Here’s an example that does. Michel Martin, weekend host of All Things Considered talked to La June Montgomery Tabron of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Tabron said:
For us, it starts with the belief of a hierarchy based on human value. And what we believe is this belief has been rooted in all of us - is conscious and unconscious. And what we believe is, through dialogue, you can shift that belief. And once you eliminate this belief in the hierarchy of human value, then you can begin to treat all of us as one humanity and create policies and systems that support everyone in the country.
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