Laid down the burdens of division

Goodness! We’re at the end of July!

David Neiwert of Daily Kos discussed the increasing on the street activity of “patriot” (far-right) militias. They have been showing up to counter valid protests, claiming the left is doing what they are about to do. Neiwert looked a reports from a couple Washington Post investigations. Wrote Neiwert:

Possibly the most disturbing aspect of the report, however, was its description of law enforcement’s hands-off approach, treating threats and intimidation as “free speech.”
…
Police seem slow to recognize any kind of violent threat from the extremist right, including domestic terrorism, despite the reality that far-right terrorism occurs at an exponentially greater rate with even greater lethality. This suggests, in fact, that America’s law-enforcement culture may be so deeply conservative that the authoritarian impulses it shares with the extremist right may lead it to ignore the threat not just to law enforcement, but to democracy itself, that the “Patriot”/militia movement represents.

Gabe Ortiz of Kos discussed the federal thugs who have been in Portland, OR for a while now. A whistleblower said these thugs are from Border Patrol Tactical Unit, or BORTAC and added they are among “the most violent and racist in all law enforcement.” They, like the man who sent them to Portland, “view themselves as above the law—and act like it.”

Jenn Budd of The Guardian wrote that the Border Patrol…

has spent decades waiting quietly in the wings, stocking up on weapons and nearly tripling in size since 2001. Waiting for that moment when a president would see them for the heroes they believe themselves to be. Waiting for that moment when a president would fully activate these extraordinary powers to do his/her bidding. That moment is here.

Marisa Franco, Director of the advocacy group Mijente, added:

The difference here is, this time they implemented their tactics openly and under the protection of an authoritarian president. If this is what they do to mostly white U.S. citizens in front of the media, imagine what they are doing to people in their custody, to people who are seeking refuge in isolated parts of the border.

After that we need something nicer to contemplate.

Civil rights icon John Lewis arranged to have some final thoughts published by the New York Times on the day of his funeral. Laura Clawson of Kos had a few excerpts. Lewis wrote:

While my time here has now come to an end I want you to know that in the last days and hours of my life you inspired me. You filled me with hope about the next chapter of the great American story when you used your power to make a difference in our society. Millions of people motivated simply by human compassion laid down the burdens of division. Around the country and the world you set aside race, class, age, language and nationality to demand respect for human dignity.

President Obama spoke at Lewis’s funeral. In addition to giving a fitting tribute to such an important man, Obama also called on us to vote and called on Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.



Kerry Eleveld of Kos wrote about what she saw dividing GOP senators – whether they’re up for reelection this year or not. That division is showing up as Moscow Mitch tried and failed miserably in putting together another virus aid package.

Those up for reelection are still making nice with Trump, but for others, the wicked brew of future ambition combined with muscle memory has them reacquainting themselves with the age-old arguments they always make when they don't control the White House.

An example of those age-old arguments: We can’t spend any money on relief because the deficit and debt are too high! Yeah, we’ve heard that one many times before. And again I note this was not a concern with the 2017 tax giveaway to the rich.

Eleveld added:

On the bright side, the GOP's sheer incapacity to rally around core principles that would normally be driven by the White House is a sure sign that Trump is losing his grip on the party. But naturally it isn't making them better lawmakers, it's only making them more self-interested.

A report this week said the economic growth for the second quarter (April-June) was an annualized rate of almost -33%. No, the economy did not contract by a third in three months. What the number is saying is that’s how much the economy would contract if the size of drop we saw in those three months continued over a full year. The amount of contraction that happened in those three months was about 10%, which is still hellacious.

Brent Staples of the New York Times tweeted a photo of the front page of that paper. The headline says, “Virus Wipes Out 5 Years of Economic Growth.” Below that is a chart of the change in quarterly growth with a long red line on the right side. A couple inches of one column didn’t have text to make room.
odaiwai replied:

It should read: "Inept response to virus wipes out 5 years of economic growth"

The dysfunction in the GOP was a pre-existing condition

Lean McElrath tweeted:

Read this thread.
Teach your children.

I told my daughter not to talk even if they told her it would help them catch someone who was killing puppies. Because they’re allowed to lie, and they do.

This thread is one by Molly Armour who reviews what to do when stopped by police or federal thugs. She begins this way:

If you’re arrested, grabbed, or stopped by police or fed law enforcement . . .

Say: “I’m going to remain SILENT, and I want to speak with a LAWYER.”

Then — actually remain silent.

I’ll summarize more of what she said.

Remain silent because you can’t talk yourself out of arrest, but you can talk yourself into trouble. They will apply pressure. They will try to engage in small talk, which they will use to try to draw more out of you. Do not try to deny allegations. Wait for the lawyer.

Exception: Give your name and ID. Tell them if you need food, medical attention, or are in physical danger.

Law enforcement must get warrants to search. They don’t like to get warrants. So they will ask, Can I just have a quick look around? Can you unlock your phone for me? Can you pop the trunk for me? Can you show me what’s in your bag? The answer to all of these is, “No, I do not consent to searches.” Say anything else and you’ve given up rights.

You can’t stop an arrest. If they are going to take you in, that’s what’s happening. Even if it’s unconstitutional! Even if they’re lying! Even if they are being violent. Invoking your rights won’t stop the arrest. But, it will help you FIGHT it.
…
And listen, invoking your rights won’t make clouds part or right injustices. In fact, law enforcement may totally ignore your rights. Lie to you. Search anyways. You can’t control them. They have guns and state power.

You assert your rights so you’ve got a fight in court.

I’ve written the nasty guy is not acting to win the election. Here’s another example, this one from Kos of Daily Kos.

Because of Supreme Court rulings on abortion (they preserved it) and LGBTQ rights (they we agree we have them) conservatives are feeling betrayed. They are cheering the nasty guy’s promise to apply even more stringent purity tests to future judicial candidates.

But the public is much further to the left than these rulings (Kos provides details). Which means shifting judicial appointments even further to the right is opposite of what the public wants. Which means the nasty guy is appealing to an even smaller crowd. Which is the opposite of what one does when trying to broaden the support to be reelected.

So in the suburbs, key to the GOP’s electoral collapse, voters are pro-LGBTQ rights, pro-immigration, and pro-choice. And the Republican response is to weed out any conservatives who might harbor any such sympathies?

I’ve been arguing that Trump is incapable of doing the things he needs to do to win. Throw this in the pile of evidence that when it comes to charting a path toward Election Day, Trump and his party are still incapable of broadening their coalition. They don’t want to do it, and so they won’t.

Quite the opposite, in fact.

I’ve mentioned this Sarah Kendzior quote before. Here’s a longer version of it from Crooks and Liars.

Trump is not concerned with winning the election. He is trying to steal the election. A person concerned with winning tries to expand their base. They try to win people over. They try to seem more engaged and more popular. They don't let their base die of coronavirus for example so those are all things to take into account as we move forward.

Anthony Scaramucci tweeted:

He is basically telling you he is super worried about PA and Texas. Campaign in full blown panic.

Benjamin Franklin replied:

Former trump henchman assures is we’re winning while trump openly states his intention to sabotage mail voting and people fall for it.

William Barr, head of the Department formerly known as Justice, testified before the House Judiciary Committee. He was there as they investigate his abuses of power. Rep. Pramila Jayapal scored some direct hits. She pointed out protesters with guns and swastikas were in Michigan and talked about lynching, shooting, and beheading the governor. Barr, the chief law enforcement officer, says he knew nothing about it. Jayapal then said:

But when Black people and people of color protest police brutality, systemic racism, and the president's very own lack of response to those critical issues, then you forcibly remove them with armed federal officers, pepper bombs, because they are considered terrorists by the president. You take an aggressive approach to Black Lives Matter protests but not to right-wing extremists threatening to lynch a governor if it's for the president's benefit.
…
Mr. Barr, let me make it clear: You are supposed to represent the people of the United States not violate people's First Amendment rights. You are supposed to uphold democracy and secure equal justice under the law, not violently dismantle certain protesters based on the president's personal agenda.

Elsewhere in the hearings Barr made a big deal saying he didn’t talk to the nasty guy about what cases he wanted Barr to interfere in to protect him, that Barr made those decisions according to law.

I reply: Barr didn’t need to coordinate with the nasty guy. He either knew the lay of the land or was told when he was hired and the person who told him didn’t need to be the nasty guy. Interfering on behalf of the nasty guy was what he was hired to do. It was what he has been doing for the GOP for decades.



I’m very much in favor of vote by mail. I’m also aware of the threat posed by the Postal Service slowdown. Laura Clawson of Kos put some numbers to it. In the March primary more than 100,000 ballots in California were rejected because they weren’t postmarked in time.

Yeah, the GOP has been wanting to destroy the USPS for quite some time now. That it happens at a time when it becomes critical in an election is a bonus. For them.



Robert P. Jones wrote an opinion piece for NBC News. I didn’t read the piece. Here’s the tweet announcing the article:

Racism among white Christians is higher than among the nonreligious. That's no coincidence.

Greg Dworkin, in his pundit roundup for of Kos, quoted Charlie Sykes of Bulwark:

Can you defeat Trumpism by defeating Trump but leaving his bootlickers in power?

As George Will has said, Trump has been a “Vesuvius of mendacity,” but the rot obviously runs much deeper than the president himself. Trump himself is a horror show, but the most horrific story of the last four years has been the complete surrender of the GOP to Trumpism, not just on policy but on everything. The party that once imagined itself to be about ideas became a cult of personality for one of the most deplorable personalities in political history.

This suggests that the dysfunction in the GOP was a pre-existing condition; and that bringing the party back to sanity won’t be easy. As a matter of political hygiene, getting rid of the Orange God-King is necessary but far from sufficient.

Kos suggests we might be able to get rid of a lot more. The GOP one-sentence description has been “Family Values, lower taxes, and a strong national defense.” The nasty guy mocks both family values and the Christian conservatives who both trumpet family values and claim the nasty guy is their man. The nasty guy has ruined international relations and shrugs at the story Russia has a bounty on American soldier’s heads. Yeah, he’s lowered taxes, but “bailing out billionaires” is not a winning slogan (for those who aren’t billionaires).

Kos then notes the dramatic drop in the number of people who call themselves conservative – six points in six months. So Kos says, the nasty guy is breaking conservatism itself, showing how empty it always was.

What’s going to reverse the opinion of voters?

As part of Greg Dworkin’s pundit roundup for Daily Kos he had something to say between the quotes about the pandemic, schools not opening, and political polls:

If you tell me that there’s a lifetime left in politics, and just ignore the polls, I’ll ask you what’s going to reverse the opinion of voters dealing with pandemics, the economy and school closing?

You think an ad will do that? An appearance on barstool sports? Firing the campaign manager and canceling the Florida convention after canceling the NC convention? Portland cosplay?

I don’t think so. See, it’s one thing to say the polls can change and it’s quite another to think people are going to just shrug and say, oh well, four more years of this (or worse).

Jarrett Dapier tweeted:

At this point I endorse the great Agnieszka Holland's proposal on @gaslitnation that we take a 10-15 year break from men voting. Women had, what, decades? centuries? of disenfranchisement? Just a nice 15 year break to fumigate the system.

Changi Airport in Singapore has a huge moving sculpture titled Kinetic Rain. It was installed in 2012. It is made up of over 1200 metallic droplets each on a wire controlled by a motor that can raise or lower it quite precisely. The motors are controlled by a computer and shift from pattern to pattern over a 15 minute cycle. Here’s one video to explain how it works. And another to watch the whole 15 minute ballet, which I felt was rather relaxing.

A society that’s at peace with itself

There have been several funeral events for John Lewis over the last few days. There were events in his birth town of Troy, Alabama. There are events in Washington for the next day or so. Then a funeral and burial in Atlanta later this week.

Sunday was a moving event – a horse drawn carriage took Lewis’ coffin over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. The path had been strewn with rose petals, representing the blood lost by protesters during Bloody Sunday in 1965. Yes, this is the bridge where Lewis was beaten and his skull cracked and where several other protesters died.

This time Alabama State Troopers saluted.

Marissa Higgens of Daily Kos gathered together some of the videos and photos of the crossing.

There have been several symbolic marches over that bridge since that Bloody Sunday. Many times they’re a part of a celebration when new civil rights legislation is passed. Lewis was usually at the front of the crowd.




Yesterday, after writing the above, I realized it was a good time to watch the documentary John Lewis: Good Trouble. I saw it through sponsorship of the Detroit Film Theater, which ends Thursday.

As the movie played I wrote a few notes. So these are the notes wrangled into full sentences and paragraphs.

Several times we see Lewis watching a video clip of some event of which he had taken part and commenting on it. In one case he said he had not seen the clip before.

Early in the movie Lewis, this civil rights leader, says there are forces trying to take us back to a dark place. We are still in a civil rights struggle. The struggle is again around the right to vote.

We see the infamous event at the Edmund Pettus Bridge where Lewis had his skull cracked. Then there were videos of several other events, including planning meetings for SNCC, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Lewis was president of the group for three years. During one of these meetings they practiced how to remain nonviolent during lunch counter sit-ins during the 1950s. Those doing the training told the others whenever you can look your opponent in the eyes, especially if they are physically harassing you. “Keep loving those telling us no and beating us. Meet the capacity to inflict suffering with the capacity to endure suffering.”

At the end of three years as the head of SNCC the person elected president of the group spoke a lot about Black Power and the militancy of Malcolm X. That went against Lewis’s nonviolent beliefs, learned under MLK, so he walked away.

So much of what Lewis did was to highlight the inaction of the federal government. He got tired of established politicians saying “wait.”

The movie discussed the rampant voter suppression in the 2018 election in the race for Georgia governor, which Staci Abrams, a black woman, lost.

There are several scenes of Lewis campaigning for others, including Abrams.

His great-great-grandfather registered to vote just after the Civil War. No one in that ancestral line could vote since then until Lewis helped bring about the Voting Rights Act.

We saw the jubilation when the 2018 election returns came in and the Democrats took the House. The first bill passed was about voting rights. It still sits in Moscow Mitch’s files.

The Voting Rights Act was up for renewal in 2006. It passed with broad bipartisan support. Bush II signed it. Then it was gutted by the Supreme Court in 2013. In the aftermath of that every day in the Congress is a fight.

He was elected to Congress in 1986. He’s civil rights icon, and also a legislator. And the conscience of Congress. The movie listed major bills Lewis was instrumental in getting passed or defeating. One bill he got passed was for the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

After that march from Selma to Montgomery that was stopped at the bridge and after Lewis was released from the hospital there was a second march from Selma to Montgomery. This one did the full 50 miles. This time police watched from the side of the road.

After the official part of the film there was a bonus of a Zoom call between Oprah Winfrey and Lewis. This was about 15 minutes (this plus the movie was under 2 hours). One question Winfrey asked was how Lewis managed to keep his principles of nonviolence when he was being harassed and beaten. Lewis replied that we accepted a way of peace and love. As they spit at you remember your training and your love and that you are doing this for others. He was so convinced of the cause he was willing to give up his life.

Other things he said during this discussion: Be prepared to march and to vote. Voting is the most powerful nonviolent tool. Lewis said his goal is to see a society that’s at peace with itself. While he was in SNCC and marching the group became the beloved community.

What’s for lunch?

Since the stay-at-home order was first issued back in March I’ve been helping out restaurants a bit with a take-out on Sunday for lunch. It’s nice to have a break from my own cooking. It also allowed me to sample a breakfast place I hadn’t been to before because by the time friends and I arrive after church they have a 45 minute wait.

However, over the last few weeks I’ve found the downside of take-out – one can’t really verify the order until one gets home. And then there’s the issue of whether it is worth the effort to complain.

The first of these problems was with a midwest chain restaurant. Once home I found the salad included in the order had lettuce so brown I threw it out. Then was the local Mexican chain. They have a nice pork dish served with rice and beans, also some lettuce with guacamole and sour cream, and with the complementary salsa and chips. When I called I said I didn’t want the rice, guacamole, and chips. I forgot to mention the sour cream. At this point one might ask: why bother? Well, the pork is delicious. When I got home it wasn’t as I intended. The order slip said no guacamole, no chips, only beans. The last one got interpreted as no beans. I got the rice. So why didn’t the person taking the order say no rice? The pork, what I was really after, made up for it.

Another week I tried a national chain. I submitted the order and when I got to the last page I realized the stated location was not the one I wanted to go to. When I changed locations it canceled the order, though it didn’t tell me and I was puzzled when I clicked on the shopping cart and it said please start your order. I chose a different place that day.

Then today. I started my order at another national chain restaurant. When I got to the last page it asked when did I want to pick it up. The earliest time was 4:30. Google Maps said their hours started at 11:00 and the hours were updated a week ago. So I called. They switched to evening hours only about a week ago.

I tried another national chain. I selected the particular location. Then selected the meal. It asked which location. I backed out and verified the menu page listed the location and tried again. It asked for the location again. I gave up.

I turned to a local chain, that breakfast place. I ordered a scramble with ham, bacon, sausage, and cheese. I’ve ordered it a couple times before. The website said the order would be ready at 12:30. In the past I’ve gotten to this place a bit early and my food was already waiting for me. This time I got there a few minutes early. Not ready yet. I waited until 5 minutes after the scheduled time and asked the hostess. She checked and said it could be another 10-15 minutes. The kitchen was really backed up. I got some of the day’s newspaper out of the car (glad I picked it up on the way to instead of the way home). It was ready 10 minutes later. When I got home I saw the order was quite wrong. It was an omelet with mushrooms, green pepper, onion, tomato, and feta cheese. The only ingredient remotely acceptable was the cheese.

It wasn’t just a side dish that was wrong. This was the whole meal. I called. Josh was very professional in handling the complaint. I said I didn’t particularly want to drive the 15 minutes back to the restaurant and wanted a refund. He completed that with lots of apologies.

These wouldn’t have been a problem if I had been sitting in the restaurant. I wouldn’t have dealt with a confusing webpage. I could describe what I don’t want in the salad (some websites allow me to specify, some don’t) or pointed to the brown lettuce (which I doubt they would have served in the restaurant). And incorrect orders could be quickly handled. I miss those days. But I’m not ready to go back.

And maybe I unpack to verify it before I leave, even if that does expose it all to COVID.

This is a grenade

It has been a while since I’ve read an episode of Gaslit Nation, a podcast put out by Sarah Kendzior and Andrea Chalupa. This episode is titled American Gestapo. After a week of violence in Portland, OR I thought I should get their view of it, even if the topic doesn’t come up until ¾ of the way through the episode. I first wrote about Portland on Friday, July 17. This episode was posted Wednesday, July 22. Since I waited for the transcript I’m writing this one Sunday, July 26.

Kendzior jumped right in saying that the nasty guy struck a deal in 1977 to remain tax free for 30 years. This is from files kept by Soviet, then Russian intelligence agencies with some help by Czech Security Services. Did the nasty guy strike such a deal? What is in it? These questions are not just unanswered, but unexamined. At least outside the IRS and maybe other government agencies. This is about the time the nasty guy was introduced into the world of corruption by Roy Cohn. The nasty guy learned that wealth is power and this pact allowed him to be above the law. This position was likely supported by criminal actors and hostile foreign states. “This disturbingly parallels his present day actions as president.”

On July 20, a couple days before this episode posted, a gunman opened fire at the home of federal judge Esther Salas. Her son was killed and her husband seriously wounded. On July 15 Salas had been assigned to a lawsuit against Deutsche Bank. This bank has been featured in many episodes of Gaslit Nation for its links to Russia, the nasty guy, and other criminal people. It was the only bank to lend to the nasty guy in the early 1990s and is the preferred bank of Russian oligarchs. It acts like a mafia bank. Or a Nazi bank, which it had been, propping up authoritarians in Russia and around the world.

Threats against federal judges are on the rise since the nasty guy took office. Kendzior lists a couple: T.S. Ellis in Paul Manafort’s case and Amy Berman in Roger Stone’s case. Then there are the threats against the witnesses in the nasty guy’s impeachment hearings: Alexander Vindman, Fiona Hill, and Marie Yovanaovitch. So it seems the attack on Salas was a mafia style warning to her and other federal judges. It’s terrorism, a mafia culture of terrorism.

Chalupa said whether the Salas hit was a lone gunman or a deliberate assassination doesn’t matter. It’s the same culture. And the whole crime cabal, of which the nasty guy is a part, is pushing this culture.

You do not need to have some mafia kingpin having his goon squad pick up a phone and have one of their idiots go out and shoot up a judge. You don't need to be that direct anymore. It's enough to fan the flames of violence and incite this culture of terrorism.

Kendzior talked about narrative inversion. Jeffery Epstein actually ran a child trafficking organization. But it was Hillary Clinton who was accused of running such a ring out of a pizza parlor basement. That became pizzagate when a man, inspired by this lie, came to that pizza parlor with guns.

Kendzior said the Salas hit probably wasn’t a lone gunman. The shooter had a long involvement with Russian mafia operators. Many people, Manafort and others, are Russian mafia associates. This story is mostly untold because:

it's a story that makes people uncomfortable, because it just shows the sheer level of complicity and of Western arrogance, and the combination of incompetence and malice that also defines our modern era.

Chalupa said the progressive movement faced a series of assassinations – John Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, and Martin Luther King. This was trauma to progressives. It made many feel they had targets on their heads. Once the nasty guy started the birther movement against President Obama Michelle Obama felt she and her children were included in that target. That feeling of being a target is perhaps why Obama was too moderate for many progressives. And why many progressives are wimpy.

Chalupa was leaving for Ukraine a few years ago and asked a friend for advice about safety. He said if you come for people’s money, they’re going to kill you. She said she wasn’t. He replied she would be fine. Chalupa said that statement applies to America too (and likely many other places). Martin Luther King declared a full-on war on poverty. He came after people’s money. A month later he was killed.

Kendzior said a lot of what this podcast talks about is white supremacy. That will be the core of an American autocracy.

That makes me wonder about the murder of MLK. He had been a civil rights leader for more than a decade by then. So was it about MLK coming for their money. Or was it a black man talking about coming for white money? Meaning he died because of white supremacy, because whites having money and blacks not having money was the key way in keeping blacks people mired in poverty and thus at a lower place in society.

Together Kendzior and Chalupa talk about this time of virus. One reason why white people are involved is white people are being hurt. Yeah, the virus is more deadly among people of color and many of the people who are on the economic front lines (grocery workers) or have lost their jobs are people of color. But this time white people are hurting, have been laid off and are dying, too. White people are seeing, it’s not about political correctness. It’s about white supremacy that is so eager to kill and impoverish black people it doesn’t care if white people also end up dead. And white people see so this is what it feels like to live under an occupying power.

Chalupa predicts in this time of world chaos Putin is going to seize Ukraine. Who would stop him? Merkel in Germany and Macron in France act like they don’t want to face Putin. Even if Biden wins and overcomes attempts to steal the election, what can he do?

On to the American Gestapo that is now in Portland, OR. Kendzior said no, this is not being done for ratings on Fox News, or appeal to the base, though both are nice side effects.

This is real. This is fascism, pure and simple. They are doing it because they are an aspiring fascist regime. This is not a trial balloon. This is a grenade. They are trying to eliminate the right to protest and they are harming real people in real time.

That the elimination of the right to protest is the Trump administration's goal was made clear on Monday when Trump released an executive order defining support for and participation in protest involving statues and federal property as "terrorist activity". A notable aspect of this executive order is that it also labels “assisting” in the protests in any capacity as “terrorist activity”, which means that those who do things or did things like donate to bail funds, but weren't actually present at the protest could also be labeled as terrorists. They refer to "recent violent acts," meaning that this order is potentially retroactive.

This is extraordinarily dangerous and it mirrors the kind of legal edicts that you see in authoritarian states, where any dissident, any opponent of the government, is labeled a terrorist under a sweeping and broad definition.

Chalupa:

Autocrats, and aspiring autocrats like Trump, they need sadists to be their shields. By inflicting terror, they protect the autocrat. By inflicting terror, they intimidate their political opponents. They avoid accountability. Trump is deliberately encouraging empowering this culture of terror in order to protect himself and stay in power.
…
They're doing this all intentionally to seize and stay in power. Everybody looking at all the polling that “Biden's ahead, Biden's ahead”, the conversation we need to be having is what do we do when these autocrats create all these legal mechanisms–as Barr did with covering up the Mueller Report and burying the Mueller Report–what do we do when they try to create some legal mechanism and all this statewide terror to steal this 2020 election that they know they would lose if it was free and fair?

Sarah Kendzior tweeted:

Trump is not trying to win the election. He's trying to *steal* the election. A person who wants to win an election tries to win people over and expand their base.

He's using the same strategy he had in 2016, which is to build a cult movement instead of an election base. He can then weaponize that cult for violence whether he loses or is reinstalled. They're not thinking in terms of Nov, but beyond it, using multiple mechanisms of control.

Both teams took a knee

Joan McCarter of Daily Kos started off by writing:

A sandwich shop owner in Buford, Gwinnett County Georgia, is angry that his fellow Georgia residents who lost their jobs to coronavirus don't want to come to work for him for $8.50 to $10.00 an hour. He says it's because of that sweet $600 a week they're getting in unemployment insurance (which expires at midnight tonight). … But according to the would-be employer, it's lazy people sitting at home on their fat $600. Get out here and make me a sam'ich.

The shop owner is a bit understanding that $8.50 an hour just isn’t enough money to risk endangering their family during a pandemic. But Republicans in the Senate aren’t.

They want to force people out of their homes, into the raging pandemic, to pretend like the economy is working. That's ignoring the fact that the economy is working as much as it is precisely because this extra injection of cash, in the form of $2,400 a month to unemployed people, has kept the economy afloat.

This extra cash and eviction restrictions end now. And what does Moscow Mitch say? He hopes to pass something in a few weeks.



Mark Sumner of Kos discussed the slow service of the Postal Service. Bills and paperwork are late, causing a cascade of problems, including potential evictions. Long lines of people trying to find out what happened to their package. Prescriptions by mail that are late or missing. Sumner wrote about Louis Dejoy, the crony but in charge of the USPS by the nasty guy.

But if DeJoy doesn’t know how to carry letters, he certainly knows how to carry water for Trump. DeJoy seems to recognize that his entire role at the Postal Service is to breed contempt with the public. Months of late bills, missing checks, and lost packages are exactly what Trump wants to see, both to bolster his argument against vote-by-mail and to make him “right” about the need to privatize mail delivery.

There’s also the little matter that DeJoy himself has between “$30.1 million and $75.3 million in assets in USPS competitors or contractors.” It’s such a major conflict of interest that DeJoy should never have been accepted into the role. Except that an ideological crony with every incentive to wreck the department he’d been handed was exactly what Trump was looking for.

Slow USPS service prompted Tony Dokoupil to tweet:

@USPS says you should give mail in ballots at least 14 days round trip. No guarantees.

So if you plan to vote by mail, election day isn’t November 3rd.

It’s October 20th.

Or sooner.

Don’t be one of the *tens of thousands* of people whose vote wasn’t counted in 2016.

Or hand deliver your ballot to city hall or collection bin.



Kerry Eleveld of Kos reported a few days ago the nasty guy and William Barr of the Department formerly known as Justice announced 200 federal agents to Chicago and 35 to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver has some concerns. How the nasty guy decides where and when to send federal thugs is not transparent. Also obscure is what they are there to do, whether the mission will change, and how long they will stay. Some mayors, such as Quinton Lucas of Kansas City would appreciate the help of federal agents in investigating violent crimes and murders. But he is also concerned about mission creep. As for that, Oliver said:

As we approach the election, again, in just about 105 days from today, if they are still here, who's to say whether or not these agents could potentially be used to intimidate or otherwise disturb the election process while they're here.

Elise Viebeck and Robert Costa of The Washington Post discussed the chaos that could come with November’s election. The chaos would be greatly lessened if Joe Biden manages a landslide (so let’s make that happen). But if it is close… the writers discuss several scenarios.

The nasty guy is already claiming the system is rigged (as he did in 2016), that mail-in ballots have a big security hole (they don’t). So he could go into a legal war over the validity of votes.

He could claim victory on election night even though mail-in votes may not be counted for days or weeks. Then he could claim votes not counted election night must be fraudulent. He could then pressure GOP legislatures to certify electors who would support him. If Dem governors don’t agree Congress could receive conflicting certificates.

The GOP is already accusing Dems for shenanigans they claim will be tried leading up to the vote.

The nasty guy could call on his militant supporters – the ones that showed up at state capitols without masks – leading to unrest.



There is a baseball season and it began this weekend. I ignore sports, but this is worth mentioning. We remember when Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem before football games. He was pushed out the league because of it. My, how things have changed. Before the Yankees and the Nationals played every player and coach on both teams – even the white guys – took a knee.

Marissa Higgins of Kos described some of the other ways sports are now honoring Black Lives Matter. She also reminds us it has been four years since Kaepernick took a knee.

Mark Sumner put a photo of the kneeling players at the top of a post in which he discussed all that has happened this year (remember there was an impeachment trial and it was this year?). Sumner’s point is that it feels like America is at a pivot point. But it’s a point that could go either way.

On one side:

It’s a dead certainty that once Trump is enjoying golf in some non-extradition country, Republicans will attempt to wave the “but the budget” flags once more. It’s just as certain that no one will listen to them. That ship has sailed, sunk, rusted, been made into a movie by James Cameron, and become home to a billion barnacles. It is over.

The Republican stance on the environment? Dead. Objections to national healthcare? Dead. The whole rugged individualism means never having to give a damn about anyone else? Gravely wounded.

And the other:

Heck, it’s not even certain that anything will change. After all, we did just emerge from a record national recession caused by deregulation of banks and a massive imbalance of wealth, and the almost immediate response was to make the imbalance greater, strip away more regulations, and grease a pipeline to take tax dollars straight into the pockets of billionaires. America has an astounding ability to absorb any blow … and then pretend that it didn’t happen so we can avoid learning a damn thing. See Trump, racism.

Kerry Eleveld of Kos discussed the current situation in Portland. Eleveld quoted journalist Masha Gessen, “A lot of power is performance.” The nasty guy and his thugs are showing performative power. However, it works both ways.

Gessen's point, in short, is that a show of resistance must bubble up from the people in order to quash the evolution of fascism. That resistance is also a crucial show of performative power. Americans aren't just going to stand by while Trump declares war on the roughly two-thirds of the population who happen reside in U.S. cities.

And that's the stand the citizens of Portland are making.

The Black Lives Matter protests had dwindled to the hundreds. But thousands are now protesting the nasty guy and his thugs. The Wall of Moms was joined by the Wall of Dads toting leaf blowers. And last night the Wall of Vets came too.

To keep our democracy we need to do two things. One is to deliver an electoral rout in November.

But the second is to deliver a sizable show of resistance to his authoritarian policies in every possible way.

Gessen explained it like this: "Whether the Secret Service or other uniformed services escort Donald Trump out of office after he refuses to recognize an electoral loss—god willing it's a loss—will depend on whether they perceive the people are on their side or his side."

Again, power is performative. It's up to all us to show up at the voting booth, on the streets, or in our capacity as elected officials and resoundingly reject Trump's fascist regime.

Everybody is lying to you

A couple days ago Steve Inskeep of NPR’s Morning Edition talked to Anne Applebaum about her book Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism.

Applebaum begins the book by discussing some of her Polish friends. She lives there part of the time. Twenty years ago these friends were very much in favor of democracy for a country that had been freed from Soviet domination only ten years before. But now those same friends support Poland’s authoritarian ruling party. Across the globe there is a rise in authoritarianism and fragility in democracies. This isn’t just a problem in Poland. She wanted to figure out how and why her friends changed. She said during the talk:

And what they want to create is a kind of one-party state where they want to eliminate a lot of debate. They want to control press and universities. They want to politicize institutions throughout the country of all kinds. And, you know, the question is, who are those people? And how did they come to believe that those things were preferable? So the book is partly about them.

Alas, this talk didn’t get to that last question. Even so, she did have a few other things worth mentioning. Such as:

So in the book, I talk a lot about conspiracy theories because it was the creation of a conspiracy theory that originally brought both the Law and Justice Party in Poland to power as well as Donald Trump. In Trump's case, it was birtherism (ph), which is the theory that Barack Obama was not really American and, therefore, was an illegitimate president. In Poland, it was the theory that a plane crash that killed a previous president of the country had been secretly caused - it's sort of not even clear why - either by the Russians or by the Polish government at the time.

And if you think about it, you know, in both cases, what were these conspiracy theories telling people? - you know, that, look; there is a - everybody is lying to you. Congress, the White House, the justice system, the media - they're all lying to you. The president is illegitimate. And you're being lied to and not told the truth about it. And in the case of Poland, it was, the president was murdered by his own government. And you're not being told the truth about it. And, you know, once you can convince people to believe that, then you can convince them that everything else is fake and false and that all of these institutions need to be destroyed.

And …

Well, let's be clear, almost every democracy in history ended in authoritarianism, starting with ancient Greece and Rome. Some of the most brilliant writings on what ends democracy come from Cicero, you know, from Roman writers. When - in fact, when the American Founding Fathers wrote our founding documents and our Constitution, they had those Roman examples in their heads. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were writing to one another about Cicero all the way up until the ends of their lives.

So everybody who founded and created democratic systems has always been aware of how fragile they can be. They require something almost, you know, that goes against human nature. Namely, they require all of us to allow our political enemies to rule, you know? We are going to let them rule for a while. And then we're going to try and beat them back and take power from them through using these legal methods. And, you know, if you think about it, that's a tough ask. That doesn't mean it has to fail, but it means that it can.

I wasn’t quite satisfied with all that, so I looked up the book on Barnes and Noble (I don’t do Amazon). The book was published only three days ago so there aren’t any reader reviews yet. From the overview on the B&N page for the book:

In this captivating essay, she contends that political systems with radically simple beliefs are inherently appealing, especially when they benefit the loyal to the exclusion of everyone else.

Despotic leaders do not rule alone; they rely on political allies, bureaucrats, and media figures to pave their way and support their rule. The authoritarian and nationalist parties that have arisen within modern democracies offer new paths to wealth or power for their adherents. Applebaum describes many of the new advocates of illiberalism in countries around the world, showing how they use conspiracy theory, political polarization, social media, and even nostalgia to change their societies.

The “loyal to the exclusion of everyone else” – yes, the appeal to the in-crowd is supremacy.

This is not a political stunt, nor is it bullying

Marissa Higgins of Daily Kos reports there are three new statues around Washington. Well, people posing as statues. One of them is titled The Poser showing the nasty guy holding up a Bible while protesters are attacked at his feet. In another he is sending a child back to school. In the third he is cowering in his bunker. If you stop and talk to the people on the pedestals they will encourage you to vote. Why statues? Because the nasty guy is spending a great deal of time and tax dollars protecting statues right now.



I’ve commented a few times that the nasty guy has appointed a new head to the US Postal Service who has made some changes that slow down mail delivery. The postmaster of Portland, Maine seems to also be slowing things down. He’s telling his carriers they must be back to the office by a certain time (no overtime) and if they can’t get it all done make sure Amazon packages are delivered – fourth-class taking precedence over first-class mail. That’s a bit ironic considering how much the nasty guy hates Jeff Bezos of Amazon.

Commenters suggest by November we’ll be used to mail being slow and won’t be surprised if ballots aren’t delivered in time. Or maybe we’ll figure out mail is slow so will be sure to return our ballots plenty early.



Yesterday I noted that one reason why the nasty guy has sent police from Customs and Border Patrol is they are also corrupt. A corrupt force enabling a corrupt president.

Leah McElrath tweeted another reason: US military leaders would not agree to fire on Americans on US soil.

McElrath went on to tweet these government paramilitary personnel are going into cities to “align with police departments within which white supremacy is often flaunted.” William Barr of the Department formerly known as Justice is diverting money to these police departments to buy loyalty. This gives the nasty guy his personal army of thugs.

The next targeted city is Chicago. In replying to McElrath TJ Hapney pondered how long it would take Chicago gang members, dressed in camo, to steal one of those unmarked vans.



Bree Newsome Bass reminds us:

Unmarked federal forces being deployed by a president to cities where he isn’t popular is not a “political stunt”, IT’S FASCISM. It’s the actions of a dictator. Even describing it as a “political stunt” is a dangerously watered down use of language. Folks have learned nothing.

And… from a tweet from two years ago that is still appropriate:

That's not how we defeated the Nazis and it's not how chattel slavery ended. Y'all are being dangerously ahistorical in reducing the current actions of the Trump administration to "bullying" and not the actions of a gov't ready to engage in genocide if allowed.

Bass also complained:

The Wall of Moms is taking more active steps to protect the civilian population than these local municipalities.

Now watch that play out.

Kerry Eleveld of Kos reported that Portland, OR Mayor Ted Wheeler, Democrat, was out talking to protesters last night. He had to quickly put on goggles as tear gas came his way. He doesn’t think the tear gas was meant specifically for him, though he said “I can tell you with 100% honesty, I saw nothing which provoked this response. This is not a deescalation strategy, this is flat-out urban warfare.”

The rest of the article and a few commenters from Portland added much needed background. Various news sources have said (and I repeated) that when the feds moved in there had already been 50 days of protests in Portland. And one of the people they’re protesting against is Ted Wheeler. In addition to being mayor he is also the police commissioner. Because the police under him have been using aggressive tactics protesters have been demanding he resign.

Yeah, it was good he was actually out talking to citizens, though while he was talking protesters projected a list of demands on the courthouse behind him.

One commenter added that Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said he will arrest and prosecute federal police if they break any laws, such as kidnapping or fracturing skulls with rubber bullets.

Why isn’t Wheeler doing this? A commenter wrote perhaps because his police have shown a bias in favor of the federal thugs. This commenter then wrote:

In Portland and Chicago, it is police union leaders that asked the feds to come in. In New Mexico it is a sheriff, Manny Gonzolas, who has met or is meeting with Trump in the White House today.

The police are on Trump’s side and are fighting any reform or interference in their brutal tactics.

Cops gone rogue.

A couple comments later there were links to substantiate those statements.

My summary: Police in Portland have routinely been brutal. This is usually to enforce racism. The citizens have finally had enough and are protesting and have kept protesting. The police, afraid they won’t be allowed to keep being brutal, invite big brother to come in and be brutal with them.

Another commenter is scornful of Portland and Oregon officials. Shots have been fired. They think they’re going to now win this in court?



I came across the Twitter feed for Riot Ribs. They’re a pop-up eatery not far from the Portland protests. They’re cooking and handing out meals to anyone who is hungry. Donate if you can. Even if you can’t, enjoy the food. Frequent tweets ask for donations of money, food, coolers, or labor.

It seems these federal thugs don’t like the idea of free food. They sprayed the Riot Ribs grills with pepper spray and tear gas, rendering them unfit for cooking. They need new grills.

The Willamettee Week newspaper quoted US Rep Earl Blumenauer (D-OR):

The needless damage that Trump's secret police did to Riot Ribs—a volunteer-led effort to feed and supply protesters and those in need—shows just how morally bankrupt and cruel this occupation is.

This delusional president’s personal attack dog

Dr. Saskia Popescu, who lists biodefense in her description, tweeted a chart of the COVID-19 risk index. There are four primary risk factors – whether inside, the duration of the interaction, the size of the crowd, and whether there is forceful exhalation (such as yelling or singing). Then various activities are placed into low to high risk. Click on the chart for a closer look.

Blandford Bread tweeted a pair of similar charts, one by the Texas Medical Association, the other from informationisbeautiful. These and the one above can help you decide if an activity is worth the risk.



Mark Sumner of Daily Kos reported that the CDC published analysis that says the true number of cases of the virus in the US is likely about 10 times the count of confirmed cases. So instead of two million active cases there might be more like 20 million. Which means there has definitely not been enough testing. While that might mean the virus has a lower death rate than previously believed – though it is still quite deadly and when it doesn’t kill it can inflict long term damage on a person – it also means there are a lot more people out there passing the virus around. As for “herd immunity” – I’ll let Sumner explain it.



Mark Sumner reviewed the latest nastiness in Portland, OR by the Department of Homeland Security. Chad Wolf, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security (meaning not approved by the Senate), said:

Because we don't have that local support, that local law enforcement support, we are having to go out and proactively arrest individuals, and we need to do that because we need to hold them accountable.

Sumner explained:

Individuals are being “proactively” arrested, to hold them accountable, for … future crimes.
…
But there’s another phrase that works in place of arresting someone “proactively.” It’s called “without cause.”

Lauren Floyd of Kos also discussed what’s going on in Portland. She ended with a tweet from Joshua Potash that listed similar Wall of Mom’s organizations in NYC, St. Louis, and Chicago. They’re getting ready before the nasty guy’s goons show up.

Gabe Ortiz of Kos discussed the report out of BuzzFeed News that 20 anonymous DHE employees say they are worried about how state sanctioned kidnapping will hurt the agency’s reputation. Ortiz wrote:

Thanks for speaking up now, I guess. We also can’t help but notice the concerns come as agents are targeting people who aren’t migrants, because CBP has snatched mothers in front of their children before. CBP has tear-gassed other moms at the border. CBP has let migrant kids die on its watch. CBP has shot and killed an unarmed migrant, and then lied about it. If the agency is worried about reputation of all things, it should look in the mirror to see who’s to blame.

Ortiz lists several other reasons why the CBP reputation is so low.

Another CBP employee commented he wasn’t trained to be a street cop and shouldn’t be used as “this delusional president’s personal attack dog just because we happen to be available.” Ortiz wrote, no, they’re being used because they’ve already shown to be willing to disregard laws. Also, the CBP has a broken oversight system and a high number of its agents are corrupt. Perfect goons for a corrupt president.

Ortiz also reported that The Southern Poverty Law Center has added Stephen Miller to its “Extermists Files.” Miller has been the author of many of the nasty guy’s white supremacist policies.



Bree Newsome Bass tweeted:

Make sure you’re connecting, building and organizing with your neighbors because Portland is a preview of what it will look like when Trump uses military might to hold onto power. And the lack of action from Dems now is a preview of how they’ll (not) respond.

She added that it’s dangerous to assume all we have to do is vote.

Portland is the beta test

Yesterday, I wrote about the Wall of Moms protecting protesters from federal police in Portland, OR. Joan McCarter of Daily Kos reported that last night the dads joined them. The men wore orange (the women wore yellow) and came with leaf blowers to fend off tear gas.

The nasty guy has said he intends to send his personal police into more cities – Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore, and Oakland. He has said the reason why is they’re run by “liberal Democrats” and, in his opinion, not run well. I’m sure in his mind the only type of Democrat is a liberal Democrat. He’s making sure to use the word he’s trained to trigger his base.

McCarter quoted Michael Dorf of the AP talking about the nasty guy’s actions:

It is a standard move of authoritarians to use the pretext of quelling violence to bring in force, thereby prompting a violent response and then bootstrapping the initial use of force in the first place.

Then McCarter wrote:

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claims that bashing people's heads in is justified because protesters pointed lasers at them, threw frozen water bottles, and put graffiti on the federal courthouse. "Portland is rife with violent anarchists assaulting federal officers and federal buildings," DHS tweeted. "This isn't a peaceful crowd." Which is an exceedingly ridiculous statement now that moms and grandmas are leading the protests.

McCarter closed with saying the House is considering the DHS appropriations bill. She says it is time for the House to defund the DHS police.



Mark Sumner of Kos wrote that Lawfare obtained documents saying DHS is now collecting information (otherwise known as spying) on protesters. DHS is drafting legal cover to justify it. Wrote Sumner:

That’s right—spray paint is now a significant threat to the nation, one so severe that it allows DHS to draft legal cover created in the shadow of 9/11.

Sumner adds some background:

What may be the most extraordinary thing about this incredible step is just how openly Trump is handing out unchecked authority to deal with trivial offenses in defense of blatantly racist symbols. For as many times as Trump has raged about “MS-13” or drug lords on the southern border, it’s not those threats that have generated this massive expansion of federal authority—it’s people who think a century and a half of official veneration of slavery is more than enough.

But the extraordinary surveillance actions and invasion of federal forces into American cities isn’t the end of this assault. There’s another vital flank on Fox News, talk radio, and right-wing media. With edited photo, endlessly replayed clips, and footage lifted from completely unconnected incidents, the Fox audience has been sold the idea that American cities have descended into chaos for months. It wasn’t a part of Seattle occupied by people handing out free pizza and medical care, it was the entire city overrun by screaming anarchists firebombing buildings and shooting police. It’s not a wall of local moms trying to prevent Trump’s secret police in Portland from launching another random assault on protesters, it is, of course, an army of antifa terrorists ready to burn America to the ground.

Sumner concluded:

Washington, D.C. was the proof of concept. Portland is the beta test. What Trump has learned is that Republicans in Congress will still back his every play, and Fox is always willing to stand in support of racism. Now the rollout is coming across America.

I had been thinking that the 2nd Civil War wouldn’t happen until after the election when his refusal to leave brought out the right-wing militias to defend him.



David Atkins tweeted:

Trump is very likely to use the same paramilitary DHS security force he's using in Portland, to stop people from voting on Election Day. The RNC is already planning to send 10s of 1000s of armed goons to do so.

Democrats must plan accordingly.

Atkins isn’t sure of exact steps to take, though Greg Palast, who wrote the book How Trump Stole 2020, updated the chapter on voting to emphasize voting by mail – and making sure to get through the mail-in minefield.



As for that mail-n minefield McCarter also wrote about a warning from Common Cause that the nasty guy and his crony now at the top of the Postal Service “threatens to corrupt one of America's most trusted institutions at a key moment.” McCarter expanded on that:

The perfect storm of a pandemic, the most corrupt person to ever sit in the Oval Office, a Republican rubber stamp in the Senate, an already-weakened Postal Service, and a Trump lackey in charge of the institution is extraordinarily dangerous. From now until Nov. 3 is a short timeframe for Trump to destroy public trust in both the Postal Service and in the election system, but it appears he's going to do his damnedest.
…
That this [slower delivery] particularly hurts Indigenous, Black, and Latino people—particularly those who live in rural areas and those who don't have access to privatized delivery systems—is a very large part of the point for Trump. That it also harms rural people who rely on the Postal Service, many of whom voted for Trump last time around, is an unfortunate byproduct. It will be a painful byproduct, however, for a lot of Republican senators who represent states with large rural populations.

Sarah Kendzior reposted a Twitter thread from September 2018, about the time Brett Kavanaugh was being approved for the Supreme Court.

The GOP plan to remain in power forever. They don't care if damning info comes out so long as they control the mechanisms of repercussions for it. The final step in doing that is controlling the courts. That's why they are rushing the process and being so brazen at the same time.

Kendzior has said many times that the nasty guy likes to flaunt his crimes, but he doesn’t like to be punished. Controlling the mechanisms of repercussions in the face of damning info is the same kind of thing. About the only thing the Senate is doing is confirming federal judges.

This was also just before the 2018 midterm elections when a record 45 GOP Congressmen retired. Kendzior asked why.

It's a transnational crime syndicate masquerading as a government. That means GOP candidates have taken very dirty money since groups like the NRA were used to launder it. They also have little autonomy outside total obedience. They have no future unless they're complicit drones.

The moms are here

There are a couple developments in the situation in Portland where federal police are acting mafia goons. First, various lawsuits are being filed. One by the Oregon Attorney General, another by the ACLU, and likely more.

Second, the fed actions are being protested by the Wall of Moms. Women, most wearing yellow, have linked arms around the federal building in Portland to protect the crowds of protesters behind them. They chant “Feds stay clear, the moms are here.” They were teargassed Saturday night and were back even stronger Sunday night. They’ll be back tonight.

Gassing moms is not a good public relations look. Dangerous, radical, left wing terrorists? Heh.

This is a great way to resist the nasty guy.



The nasty guy has issued an executive order about American monuments and statues. Leah McElrath tweeted that the order says that protests that involve statues or federal property now fall under the definition of terrorism.

The order also has wording that sounds retroactive.

In other words, I would not be surprised if they used this to try to round up people based on past acts.
...
Basically, this order reads to me like Barr’s best effort to give Trump what he really wants:

A prohibition against protesting.

But only applicable to those who are not his supporters.

It’s a very dangerous document—even though I doubt it will ultimately hold up in court.

The problem is that it takes a while to get through the courts. Until it does the nasty guy can do considerable damage.



Greg Dworkin’s pundit roundup on Daily Kos quoted Jim Galloway of AJC:

John Lewis served 33 years in Congress, often serving as its conscience. There is a way to keep him there, even in death.

Remove the figure of Alexander Stephens, the first and only vice president of the Confederacy, from National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol.

Replace him with Lewis.

Dworkin added:

And restore the Voting Rights Act. That’s more important that statuary or renaming a bridge, excellent ideas though they are.

David Shimer, author of the book Rigged, tweeted a thread about the book saying “Russian hackers had the ability to alter vote data & vote tallies of U.S. citizens on Election Day 2016.” Shimer then describes secret crisis teams run by Obama’s White House and Department of Homeland Security on election day that year offering assistance to states if they needed it. They saw no evidence of tampering of actual votes that year. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Did the Russian hack fail? No. Russian hacked emails had dominated news for months and Russian propaganda reached tens of millions of Americans on social media.

And in this year, the Russians will do all they can to keep the nasty guy in office.



The nasty guy said to Chris Wallace that he’s done more than any POTUS in history. While not conceding the point about more than any other president, Will Stancil tweeted:

You know what? I actually think Trump HAS done quite a lot in his 3.5 years. He's politicized the judiciary, shredded our international standing, co-opted the executive agencies, totally stopped immigration, eliminated apolitical federal law enforcement.

He's managed to destroy far, far more than most people in politics predicted in 2016. Lots of you said that Trump would flail and the rest of the government would go on as usual. He's flailed - with 100k dead to prove it - but the rest of the government was thoroughly Trumpified.

With painfully little resistance, Trump has turned the US federal government into a machine for persecuting his enemies, enriching himself, and carrying out his irrational, reactionary whims - everything from "let the deadly disease destroy America" to "purchase Greenland."

Trump also completely pacified Congress in 4 years:
-in 2017, when Trump fired Comey, the GOP Senate held a dramatic hearing watched nationwide
-in 2020, when Trump illegally fired IGs and had DOJ undermine prosecutions of his own accomplices, the Democratic House barely reacted.

Yup, that’s a lot. And none of it benefits the American people.



Bree Newsome Bass tweeted:

Based on what I’ve seen so far— even going back as far as the 2000 election—if Trump refuses to leave office, I’m not convinced that Biden or the Democrats will mount much of an opposition. I really think folks are underestimating the precariousness of this situation.

Like, we need actual anti-fascist resistance leaders right now. I’m not seeing that represented in what Biden or the Democrats are doing. I’m just saying be prepared to be abandoned by them in November & the aftermath because not preparing for that scenario is dangerously unwise.

A.R. Moxon tweeted in response to the federal police in Portland:

2016
Leftist Larry: Trump's a fascist. If he wins, expect secret police
Reasonable Rick: Don't be so hysterical. Our system's strong

2020
Larry: There literally are secret police now
Rick: Oh I assume there's a reasonable explanation

2024

Rick: Larry? I never knew any Larry

Being an aware American means every day interacting with people who are familiar with the famous poem about nobody being left when at last they come for you, but who clearly seem to think that it means, as the last unabducted person, the poet won the game.

First they came for the immigrants, and I did not speak out—Because you don't win hearts by calling people racist

Then they came for Black Lives, and I did not speak out—Because speaking out is "cancel culture."

I don’t speak much anymore. They call it "freedom to agree."

There have been in the past countries with secret police who abduct undesirable elements. In most cases, there came a tipping point, where a great mass of people became aware of the disappearances and made themselves unconcerned.

Stigs tweeted a missing step in Moxon’s timeline:

2022: Yes sir I'd like to call in a loyalty report on one Larry, Leftist.

David Moisan added:

I've hated Neimoller's essay: Not because it isn't true on the face of it, but because there is a corollary: The Nazis didn't come for most people. Such people were "neutral", "polite" and "moderate", and tell you "You're overreacting, why do you need to get so angry?"

Benji Backer tweeted an idea that seems to undergird a great deal of modern news reporting:

The truth always resides somewhere in between where both sides say it does.

Mike Young objected:

This is seldom true, and is known as the Golden Mean Fallacy. In reality, the positions of either side in a political debate has no bearing on what’s true. Some examples include masks vs no masks, early childhood education, or slavery in 1865.

Good trouble, necessary trouble

John Lewis, a hero, has died at age 80. He was the youngest and last remaining speaker of the 1963 March on Washington. He had his skull fractured at the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, Alabama in 1965. He was known for saying that people need to stir up trouble, “good trouble, necessary trouble.” He elected to Congress in 1987, where he became known as the conscience of Congress. He was instrumental in some important civil rights issues of the last few decades. Alas, wrote Mark Sumner of Daily Kos:

Too often in the last decades, Lewis was forced to spend his energies not on moving the nation forward, but in the struggle to keep it from sliding back. He fought back attempts to derail and defund the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act in Congress, only to see courts and the Trump White House undercut his efforts.

Laura Clawson of Kos included a few tweeted comments from people expressing their condolences.

Stephen Webber tweeted a photo of Lewis and added:

I hear there are some pedestals in need of a statue.

A few others replied saying there is a certain bridge that needs a new name.

Something to do while you can’t go anywhere – watch the new documentary John Lewis: Good Trouble. I’ve seen it mentioned, though I haven’t watched it yet.



About once a week I’ve been pulling COVID-19 case and death data off the Michigan.gov website. I wrote a little program to pull in the data and graph it. Michigan’s data goes back to March 1. In mid March the number of cases surged upwards, reaching over 1500 cases a day a couple times at the beginning of April. About two weeks later the number of deaths per day peaked at 160 a day. Both then declined. About the last week of June the number of cases per day jumped from 225 to 450-625 and has remained up there since. Even though it has been almost four weeks since the number of cases rose the number of deaths is still on a downward trend. Either the jump is yet to come or treatment has improved so fewer people are dying.



Yesterday I finished reading book 7 in the Harry Potter series of J.K Rowling. This book is 759 pages. I Googled to find the whole series is over 4,000 pages.

By page 200 of this novel Voldemort (the bad guy) and his followers have taken over the Ministry of Magic. And Harry and his friends are on the run. They have to be suspicious of everyone because they don’t know who has switched allegiances and they must be careful of impostors. As I read this part I was thinking about how the situation was like life under an authoritarian tyrant. Like we seem to be developing here in America.

I now have read the entire set and very much enjoyed the world that Rowling created.



The opera for last night and today was The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart. This story is a sequel to The Barber of Seville by Rossini. Both operas are based on stories from the same author. Mozart chose the second story and later Rossini chose the first.

In the earlier story Count Almaviva woos Rosina with the help of Figaro against the disapproval of her guardian. In this one Figaro is a servant in the household of the Count and Countess. He would like to be married to Susanna, who is a maid in the same house. However, the Count also has eyes for Susanna, as do one or two other people. And another woman is trying to force Figaro to marry her. There is also Cherubino, a teenage boy (sung by a soprano in a trouser role) who will fall in love with whomever he can get his hands on. Comedy ensues with a twist in the story in nearly every scene. The Count’s philandering ways are exposed and there is a happy ending.

In this Metropolitan Opera production the set was on the big turntable with the appropriate room of the house – great hall, garden, the Countess’s bedroom, and Figaro’s bedroom (the opera starts with him measuring the room to see if a marriage bed will fit). During the overture the turntable showed the various rooms showing a pantomime of the upcoming action – Figaro pacing off his room or Susanna in the great room showing fellow maids her bridal veil. Pretty cool.

Another cool thing about this opera is that the various characters frequently blend into ensembles, each telling their part of the story while contributing to the music as a whole.

He needs there to be violence

In my previous post I wrote about the ongoing protests in Portland, OR (50 days or seven weeks now) and the federal police in unmarked uniforms and cars who have been kidnapping protesters.

As the situation gets worse – the crowds are resisting and fighting back – Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Governor Kate Brown have called on the nasty guy to withdraw his troops. They’ve filed lawsuits to get the feds to withdraw – I applaud the effort but doubt the nasty guy, who sees himself as embodying the law, will follow whatever any court does. The state’s Congressional delegation is introducing bills (which the nasty guy will gleefully veto if they get past the Senate).

Wheeler explained one reason why these misbehaving federal troops are a big problem as he spoke to Lulu Garcia-Navarro of NPR this morning.

My residents don't know who a federal officer is or a local police officer or a county deputy or a state patroller. They don't know, and they don't care. It's all the same to them. … But there's - it's a distinction without a difference in the eyes of the public, and I believe the president and his people know that.

Wheeler says yes, his police have made mistakes…

But the difference between local and federal law enforcement is that we have clear policies, clear directives. We have a complaint process. We have an independent accountability and review system.

With the federal government, they won't even identify who they are. We don't know why they're here. We don't know the circumstances under which they're making arrests. We don't know what their policies are or what accountability mechanisms there are …

Mark Sumner of Daily Kos explains a bit more:

But the biggest takeaway of “how did we get here” when it comes to unidentified men in camo dragging people into vans, or blasting them in the face, is simple: Donald Trump wants it that way.
...
The federal forces didn’t just shoot an unarmed student in the head. They shot the relationship between the police and the protesters. They blew away an already tentative sense of cause and effect. They made it clear that there are no rules. Anyone could be hurt at any time for any thing. Or for nothing.
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These [police] are ass-kickers, and they’ve been sent in to kick ass.

They are not there to make things better. They are very, very much there to make things worse.
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The relationship between the police and protesters went way down. The chance of violence … through the roof.

This is exactly the kind of outcome Trump is going for. It does Trump no good to have people sitting around sharing food, helping their community, and planning for the future. He needs there to be violence. So he, and Barr, and Wolf, are creating it. They have no intention on stopping with Portland. The United States is currently undergoing the greatest crisis it has faced in a century. At the same time, it is wrestling with the greatest reconsideration of civil rights in half a century. Trump has no interest in dealing with the former, and nothing but distaste for the latter. He’s creating a crisis on top of crisis on top of a crisis because … racism and fear. In the end, it’s all he ever brought to the game.
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Trump means to send federal forces to Chicago, and Seattle, and anywhere else he can think of, explicitly to insert the chaos and violence that justifies taking even more federal control. And it would not be too much to believe that action is headed toward something very like a declaration of martial law, or a federalization of police forces.

However, there is one thing that can slow Trump’s action: Visibility.
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The most important thing at the moment may be to elevate the videos and reports from those on the ground. To join in saying that this is unacceptable. And to make it clear to Donald Trump that you see what he is doing.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted:

Unidentified stormtroopers. Unmarked cars. Kidnapping protesters and causing severe injuries in response to graffiti.

These are not the actions of a democratic republic.

@DHSgov’s actions in Portland undermine its mission.

Trump & his stormtroopers must be stopped.

That brought the ire of Leah McElrath, who tweeted in response:

Dear @SpeakerPelosi—

In this tweet, you say “Trump & his stormtroopers must be stopped.”

Where is the action component?

What are you going to do to try to stop this outrageous abuse of power?

Yes, Nancy, you have a lot more power to stop him than we do. Use it.



Paul Krugman tweeted a thread:

Where we are now: at this point, it will be almost impossible for Trump to win reelection legitimately. It's quite possible, however, that he will try to steal the election. And if you don't think that can happen, you're not paying attention.

Krugman reviewed the two top reasons why it is almost impossible for the nasty guy to win – he has completely botched the federal response to the coronavirus and because of that (and a stingy Senate) the economy has tanked.

Even if the pandemic and the economy somehow turn around — and how is that supposed to happen? — there isn't enough time to rescue Trump. Oh, and the attempted October surprise — you know there will be one — will fall flat from the boy who cried "fake news."

But attempted theft could happen in multiple ways; expect to see many or all in November. Men claiming to be federal agents, but without identification, are already making arrests. Coming to polling places in November? Broken voting machines in D-leaning precincts? Mysterious and selective rejection of millions of absentee ballots? The list goes on. Don't say they wouldn't; clearly they will if they can. If you aren't scared, you're oblivious.

As he did in 2016 the nasty guy is already hinting that he won’t accept the results of the election if he loses.

A federal boot on the throat of these cities

I’ve heard the reports that Russia is trying to hack into the companies that are doing coronavirus vaccine research. I figured they intended to steal the results for Russian use. Mark Sumner of Daily Kos suggests another reason for the hacks – Russia is trying to disrupt the development of a vaccine.

Why would Russia want to do that? First Putin, following a long line of Russian despots, has been quite willing to sacrifice the lives of a few thousand or million of his own people. As for the rest, Sumner explains:

Chaos and disruption in the West benefits Vladimir Putin. The destruction of U.S. wealth and weakening of the U.S. military benefit Putin. Keeping the U.S. and Europe entangled in a pandemic benefits Putin. Every Donald Trump misstep benefits Putin.

Back in April there were projections of millions dead by the time the virus has run its course. Those projections were lowered in June. Mark Sumner reports projections are back to the big numbers now. The optimistic model is predicting a quarter million dead by the election.




The nasty guy says he hates Jeff Bezos, head of Amazon. But administration actions have been Bezos’ best friend. The virus put stress on the weakest parts of the economy and the nasty guy multiplied that stress. That has sped the destruction of mom and pop retailers, regional brands, and shopping malls as more of what little shopping there is moves online – where Amazon is already at the top.



Black Lives Matter protests are continuing. One of the places with ongoing protests is Portland, Oregon. They continue to be peaceful protests. However, as Mark Sumner reports, Fox News has been talking about a “city under siege” and “descending into chaos.” Which is not true. That language allows the nasty guy to say “we can’t have happen what’s happening” and that he is “sending people in to clean it up.”

Which is why there are men in camouflage uniforms without any badges popping out of unmarked (perhaps rental) vans and scooping people off the street. They refuse to explain what is happening or why. There’s a name for that kind of action – kidnapping. It’s a federal crime.

Except these are sanctioned criminals, so they won’t be punished. These men appear to be from the US Marshall Service (and not trained in handling protests) and from the Department of Homeland Security. The acting DHS Security Secretary Chad Wolf sounds proud and pleased to be a part of this action. Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan is also delighted to be part of the operation. He says that what is happening in Portland will be spread to other cities.

The mayor of Portland and the governor of Oregon were notified of these actions. Both told federal officials to pack up and go home.

The nasty guy wanted to capitalize on the white backlash to the BLM protests. The public didn’t comply. So he’s creating his own. Wrote Sumner:

While most of America is fixed on dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, Fox and other sources on the right are offering their audience a whole different sort of threat. They’re presenting cities across the country—unsurprisingly, cities with lots of Black and brown residents—as dangerous centers of “anarchy” that simply must be put down. What Donald Trump is offering this audience is a new entertainment: He will put a federal boot on the throat of these cities, and he will press. No matter what any governor, or mayor, or representative has to say.

Kerry Eleveld adds the story of Marke Pettibone, who was kidnapped. Kerry also has a video of a kidnapping and notes that Wolf has not provided any justification of these kidnappings.



From Bill in Portland, Maine’s collection of late night commentary:

As covid cases rise across the country, many states are fighting another tragic medical condition known as Being A F*cking Idiot. … Wearing a mask protects everyone. Early research shows wearing masks can reduce transmission of covid-19 by as much as 50 percent. On the other hand, it's also reduced the effectiveness of my resting bitch face. I have to do a lot more work with my eyes.
—Samantha Bee

A data hotel where all the data flows in …

Yesterday, Mark Sumner of Daily Kos reported that hospitals are being told to not send data about their virus caseloads to the CDC. Instead, they are to send it to the Department of Health and Human Services, which has hired a private company to handle the data. This comes after the nasty guy proclaiming high death numbers are a hoax and various GOP governors are trying to issue fake lower numbers. Wrote Sumner:

The White House effort to gain control of coronavirus data looks suspicious because it is suspicious. …HHS has built a new data hotel. All the data flows in … and what happens next is entirely up to Trump.

That was followed today by Sumner reporting the change has happened and the fears are justified. The CDC site disappeared for a while and when it came back had last week’s data. And the HHS data is … not visible to the public.

Information provided to the National Healthcare Safety Network was displayed as soon as it was updated, in real time. This led to some errors being displayed to the public, as mistakes, or badly formatted submissions, could generate errors that were instantly visible.
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Unlike the CDC data, the HHS database that is now taking in the information is not visible to the public. That means not just unavailable to the casual observer, but also to anyone who wants to research, provide projections of trends, or double-check information coming from leadership at the state or federal level. It also means that thousands of city and county health officials have lost their direct access to their own local data.

The HHS says the new system will offer better display and analysis. Soon.

The COVID Tracking Project tweeted that their data comes from the states, not the feds. Their website is here.

Leah McElrath tweeted some alarming numbers along with a link to an article at Business Insider:

Asymptomatic rate ≈ 40%

Chance of asymptomatic transmission ≈ 75%

Not good.

Wear a mask.



Tying health insurance to a job (which Obamacare lessened a bit) means when lots of people lose jobs lots of people also lose health insurance. Joan McCarter of Kos reports that Families USA estimates over the last four months 5.4 million have lost health insurance. During a pandemic. And the nasty guy is still trying to get the courts to kill Obamacare.

I’ve mentioned a few times the lingering damage the virus may cause. Ronald Brownstein tweeted that if the ACA is killed insurance companies would declare those who survived the virus now have a pre-existing condition that would disqualify them from coverage.



Lauren Floyd and others at Kos came up with a list of 22 questions for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos (I’ve heard some are calling her Cruella DeVos). The questions cover such things as what are federal rules in various situations and who is going to pay for implementation of the rules. Examples: What steps should a school take if a student tests positive for the virus? How do schools pay for additional staff and cleaning supplies for surfaces that need to be cleaned frequently?

22 questions. DeVos hasn’t answered any of them.



Dartagnan of the Kos community has been listening in on a social media group of parents in his area. The parents are a mix of Dems and GOP, though they don’t sound like the type to demand schools reopen or else. All of them would sacrifice their own lives for their kids. They are debating about how their schools will reopen and whether all the precautions are enough. Dartagnan ponders this scenario: A child is infected at school and a teacher or family member becomes sick and dies. Of course, such news will flash across social media instantly. The school will close again, at least long enough for a quarantine and deep cleaning. And the parents, who might have gone back to work, will be furious. Right before the election.

They’re going to take out that fury on those who did nothing, who offered no financial assistance to either ordinary Americans or the schools where they send their children. Those who offered no help or guidance--just a stupid, mindless and insensitive exhortation to fully open the schools, and the consequences be damned.

And here comes Moscow Mitch wanting to put conditions on the next round of relief money to make sure schools open. He justified it saying, “We can't have a normal country unless kids are in school.” Then he blathered on about parents can’t get back to work while kids are still at home.

Correction, Mitch, we can’t have a normal country while the virus is raging and you’re not doing a damn thing about that.



I’ve mentioned the United States Postal Service has a new top guy appointed by the nasty guy. Not surprisingly he has implemented some changes that will supposedly save money, but will slow down mail delivery. I’ll let you wade through the details. This has two effects, which may be unintentional (I doubt it), but would delight every Republican. First it makes the USPS a bit less competitive compared to the private companies, such as FedEx. Second, it slows down mail while Democrats are calling for vote by mail. In Michigan, and no doubt in many other states, there is now a big fight over whether mailed ballots must arrive by election day or postmarked by election day.

A commenter pointed out that even if a person drops a ballot into a mail slot well before the final collection, with these new rules it may not be postmarked until the next day.

So, hand carry your ballot to city hall. Well before election day.