A whole herd of scapegoats

Last Sunday the protests in response to the death of George Floyd were still going strong, but the nasty guy had not yet cleared the square to get his photo op at the church. So I’ll take a moment to visit a story from before that has a couple more pieces since then. On Sunday the nasty guy declared he had an answer to violence by police on black and brown people, “The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization.”

Antifa stands for anti-fascism. There are stories of a group being opposed to and just as (or maybe more) violent than white supremacist militias.

Of course, every time the nasty guy opens his mouth there is something wrong with what he says. Mark Sumner of Daily Kos points out in this case:

* On that same Sunday the FBI briefed the nasty guy saying there was “no intelligence” that Antifa was involved or even present at those incidents of violence.

* The president doesn’t have authority to designate a terrorist group.

* The law says only foreign groups can be so designated.

Wrote Sumner:

Antifa isn’t a vast, shadowy organization. It’s certainly not a “major terrorist organization.” It’s not even an organization. But it is a scapegoat. A man who takes responsibility for nothing at all needs a whole herd of those.

That’s right. Antifa doesn’t exist. Except in the minds of white supremacists.

However, there’s another aspect to this that is scary. I saw a tweet about it this morning, but I can’t find it now, so can’t give credit. As I said above Antifa means anti-fascism. Which means against fascism. Which means everyone of us who is opposed to the nasty guy’s attempts to establish himself as dictator. Which means us. By declaring Antifa as a terrorist organization he is declaring that we – everyone who opposes him – are a part of that terrorist organization.



In another post Sumner reports that now with Lafayette Square cleared of protesters the nasty guy has expanded the cordon around the White House, even pushing into the side streets (too bad if your business is now behind the cordon). This seems to be a wall he’s always wanted.

The cordon has men in military gear – shields, guns, and all the rest – but their clothing has no identifying markings. When asked they will only say they work for the “Department of Justice.”

Sumner wrote:

These people are not the Park Service, they are not regular military, they are not National Guard. So … who are they? Are they guards from the bureau of prisons sent out to treat the public like criminals? Are they private mercenaries courtesy of Betsy DeVos’ family? Are they Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which Trump has seemed to groom for this moment? Are any of them, in any way, trained for dealing with civilians?

What are their standing orders? Under what authority are they operating? How can any of them be held accountable when they are wearing no identification whatsoever? What level of force are they allowed to use against the unarmed public?

This goes beyond “not normal.” Every newspaper, every representative, every senator should be demanding to know by what right Donald Trump believes he can wall off sections of the nation’s capital and fill the city with his own private army. Trump isn’t just going beyond the law—he’s ignoring it completely.

This isn’t a question of security, this is a reverse coup.

Kerry Eleveld of Kos adds a few photos and reports in addition to around the White House unidentified paramilitaries are also at the Lincoln Memorial to prevent protests there.

Eleveld includes a tweet from Edward Luce:

None of this is necessary. Their presence is meant to create the impression that the White House is under siege from domestic terrorists.

Bill in Portland, Maine, in his Cheers and Jeers column for Kos has a quote from Theodore Roosevelt. Here’s a bit of it:

To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.

Erika Baras of NPR’s *Marketplace* reports that several top selling books of the past week are about race. These books include “White Fragility,” “How To Be an Antiracist,” “So You Want To Talk About Race,” and “Me and White Supremacy.” Even children’s books, specifically those about how to be an ally, are selling well. Mahogany Books is a DC store with a black owner and mostly black customers. Lately, though, there are a lot of new white customers realizing they are unaware of racial issues.

This sort of thing happens after every time police kill an innocent black man. However, one store owner says this time it feels bigger.