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
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