You cut off the art, you cut off the soul

Kos of Daily Kos discussed how much the nasty guy idolized and seemed to be controlled by Putin of Russia. Things are changing.

Yet a funny thing has happened. Trump slobbered over Putin, believing that he and Russia are strong and mighty, serving as an example for his own imperialist and undemocratic designs. But Russia is not strong and mighty. In fact, Russia has run out of tools to prop up its failing economy. And out-of-control inflation, sky-high interest rates, and lower global energy prices have put Putin in a precarious position. Somehow, Trump noticed this, and his disdain couldn’t be clearer. We just might have somehow lucked into a pro-Ukraine Trump presidency.

The disdain shows up in the nasty guy’s tweets and calls for Russia to end the war in Ukraine. Kos quoted a passage. I won’t. Kos goes into why Russia’s economy is so bad. Putin has used up resources needed to pay for the war and inflation is now high. His groveling before Kim of North Korea for war aid doesn’t help his image. China seems hesitant to invest in Russia, but wants the war to continue because that keeps Western eyes off Taiwan. So the nasty guy might become pro-Ukraine. Some Republicans might too. Kos says if he really wants to make a difference in that war he should give Ukraine the long range weapons Biden wouldn’t. Morgan Stephens of Kos wrote that a memo from the Department of Justice shows how the nasty guy intends to force sanctuary cities and states to comply with his deportation agenda. Having the DoJ carry it out (rather than Homeland Security?) seems to be the plan. And this may be why:

The memo asserts that state and local officials must comply with the department under the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, otherwise they could face criminal prosecution or civil violation charges. “Federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands and requests,” the memo said. “The U.S. Attorney’s Offices and litigating components of the Department of Justice shall investigate incidents involving any such misconduct for potential prosecution.”

Stephens offers a bit of hope:

On Tuesday, former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who has been a vocal Republican critic of Trump, shared some profound advice on how to handle the president. “If you stand up to Trump you intimidate him and he will back down,” he wrote on Bluesky. “If you crawl to him (like his sycophantic politicians) he will not respect you and will eventually throw you under the bus.”

I hope Democrats are able to acquire spine strengtheners. There are weaknesses to be exploited. Congress has passed the Laken Riley Act with several Democrats voting for it (which is several too many). The nasty guy will no doubt sign it. The act says that if an undocumented person is accused of a crime they should be detained for deportation. Walter Einenkel of Kos has a few things to say about that bill and deportations. Pardoning the 1500 criminals who attacked the Capitol has blown up the reason for deportations to “keep criminals off the street.” Back to the bill. Note the word accused. That means noncitizens may lose the right to due process. Another source said a landlord could use the threat of an accusation to keep noncitizen renters in line (as in over charging them or under maintaining the property).

"So when a private prison camp opens in your town and they say ‘we didn't know this was going to happen,’ know that they did, and they voted for it,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “When a dreamer is disappeared from your classroom, when the president of the United States destroys what is left of the Constitution—as he's announced in his attack on birthright citizenship—they will all say, ‘we didn't know this was coming,’” she concluded. “And I want the American people to know that they did. This vote represents it."

In a pundit roundup for Kos Greg Dworkin quoted the Harvard Business Review’s article on how deportations could be disastrous to the US food supply.

Most people probably assume the undocumented group is unskilled labor, but our interviews with four growers with operations in Florida and California and people at industry associations suggest the opposite. “We would lose a lot of our skilled workers,” said one California strawberry grower. “Some of our more skilled people have been here for 20 or 30 years, and they speak English.” One profile that he shared was that of a highly skilled supervisor who makes important daily decisions on planting and harvesting. Another was a skilled mechanic. A third was a crew boss with decades of experience. “These are people who came over in the mid-1980s and 1990s. They have been paying taxes and social security, but they never went through the citizenship process,” the grower said. Labor was 40% of his costs, and Trump’s statements have filled these workers and their employers with anxiety over their uncertain futures.

Dworkin also included a tweet by Aaron Reichlin-Melnick:

Leaked documents from the Trump admin show that ICE wants four new detention centers with 10,000 beds each, and fourteen smaller facilities with 700-1,000 beds each. That would likely mean tens of billions in taxpayer funds sent to private prison companies. They are salivating.

Reichlin-Melnick also included a tweet by Aaron Rupar:

AOC: “I want folks at home to look at what members of Congress are invested in private prison companies, and look at the votes on this bill. It is atrocious that people are lining their pockets with private prison profits in the name of a horrific tragedy.”

In the comments are memes and cartoons to share. A cartoon by Matt Reuter showing a man talking to his wife while pointing to the weather app on his phone, “It says it’s nineteen degrees out, but the general lack of empathy in our current political climate is making it feel colder.” A cartoon by Mike Luckovich showing a woman and man encountering several men labeled “GOP” lying on the ground. She asks “Where’re your spines?” A man on the ground responds, “Trump’s insurrectionists needed ’em to beat cops with.” A cartoon by RJ Matson shows a truck with an elephant driving. In the bed looks like manure labeled “Jan. 6 blanket pardons.” On the tailgate are “The Party of Law and Order” and “Back the Blue.” A cop has stopped the truck and is saying, “I’m going to have to ask you to remove those bumper stickers.” From a meme posted by Middle Age Riot:

Donald Trump: I will pardon the January 6 rioters. Police Unions: We endorse Donald Trump. Donald Trump: I have pardoned the January 6 rioters. Police Unions: What?

A cartoon posted by paulpro (author not displayed) shows a person with a rainbow shirt on the ground as three men beat the person with their bibles, creating a pool of blood. The caption says, “If your religion makes you hate someone, you need a new religion.” When I wrote about Bishop Mariann Budde yesterday I misspelled her name – I was working from a source that misspelled it. This is the correct spelling. A meme posted by exlrrp shows that I had written about her before for doing something quite loving.

Did you know that for 25 years, Matthew Shepard, who was brutally tortured and murdered for being gay, had no permanent resting place due to concerns his grave would be vandalized, and when Reverend Budde learned of this, she invited the Shepards to inter him inside the Washington National Cathedral. She co-officiated the service that welcomed Matthew to a forever home in the church and told the gathering, “20 years of mourning was not enough for someone who is loved. Nor can 20 years heal the grief of such a loss.”

My admiration grows. I’ve been involved with the Reconciling Ministries Network for close to two decades. They’re the group working to make the United Methodist Church more inclusive of LGBTQ people. Many conservative congregations have left. The current denomination rules are much better, though they say a congregation can fully include LGBTQ people, but that they don’t have to. So more work needs to be done. I still get their email newsletter and I’m planning to attend their next convocation this summer. Of course RMN is aware of the political climate and in today’s email has things to keep in mind: + The chaos and terror are the point. They’re designed to make us feel afraid and alone. We’re afraid because the harm is real. But we are not alone. Pastors are preaching courageously to soften hearts of stone. You are worth fighting for. + In times of crisis humans come together. Love recklessly and fiercely. We get creative about resistance and don’t let despair have the last word. + Take lessons from those who’ve experienced apocalypse before, the ones who’ve been through colonialism, political uprisings, natural disasters, genocide, food scarcity, and silencing. + We get free when we all get free. Look to the intersections of your communities. + Do not cancel one another so swiftly that no one is left standing in your circle. Practice gratitude and extend grace. We need one another. Brittany Luse of NPR talked to Colman Domingo, the star of the moving Sing Sing, which just received a few Oscar nominations. Much of the rest of the cast is real-life formerly incarcerated actors. The story is about incarcerated people working together to stage an original musical. Last week it was rereleased and this second time it will be screened in more than a thousand prisons. Luse noted the movie shows examples of healthy masculinity, the men are vulnerable with each other. Domingo explains that to create anything together, including something artistic, people have to leave behind something personal to gain something communal. One thing to leave behind is ego.

LUSE: The other thing that I noticed too is the film - it reminded me how masculinity is not necessarily always inherently defined but enforced. And the way that the men in the film communicated with each other enforced vulnerability as a value and did not enforce that those things made you weak or less than or deserved social punishment. DOMINGO: That - what you just said there was the light bulb for all of us as we were exploring making this film. These men are saying that this is part of our survival, to have all of these feelings, to have all this softness and tenderness. And it has nothing to do with sexuality whatsoever. It's more about mental health. It's about being good and kind to yourself and acknowledging your feelings and acknowledging your heartache, acknowledging your trauma, acknowledging what you feel.

Domingo added they hold each other accountable to actually be vulnerable, to say it’s OK, go there. The men also understood the necessity of art. Domingo said:

I remember when I first started out, I was touring around to junior high schools and high schools performing. And I would note that arts programs were severely cut. The first things to go - art. I thought, why is that? Well, I grew up with arts programs. Why is that? I mean, you cut off the art, you cut off the soul. You cut off people understanding how to be human with each other. You cut that out of schools, there's - I feel like there's a path to the prison industrial complex. Art is not frivolous. Art connects us, and we need it in our society. We need it in our schools. You know, a lot of these men who went through this program, they say, you know, if I had something like this growing up, I probably would never have been here. I would have another way to get out what was inside of me.