The most heavily armed man in the world

I did watch a bit of the Tuesday night episode of the Democratic Convention, though not in real time. I had to hear glowing reviews of it before I was willing to sit through it. The bit was the roll call of the states. And this year was much improved over trying to hear delegates in a noisy convention all.

The roll call was 57 videos, each 25-45 seconds, where a person or small group said something important about Joe Biden and Democratic ideals before saying that place’s votes for Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden. Yeah, it was a 35 minute infomercial for the candidate and party. But I also thought it pretty cool. The videos showed a large panorama of Americans, white people, black people, native people, immigrants, even a guy in Maine mentioning his husband. It also showed a wide list of problems that America is facing that we believe Biden can help solve, or at least ease. The person from Utah talked about how well vote by mail works there.

There were 57 videos, not 50, because Guam, Virgin Islands, District of Columbia, Democrats Abroad, and a few I’m forgetting also have delegates to the convention.

The video that got a lot of attention was Rhode Island, which included a guy holding a plate of calamari. I learned that calamari is to Rhode Island the same way lobster is to Maine. RI even declared it the state’s official appetizer. The most touching for me was Wyoming, where the parents of Matt Shepard were the ones to cast the state’s votes.



Leah McElrath tweeted:

I’m going from stream to stream watching #DemConvention. It’s eerily reminiscent of 2016 in the comments:

Flooded with MAGA psy-ops and NO countering force of Dem accounts flooding the zone to hype up the ticket.

I’m out there almost alone playing whack-a-mole reporting abuse.

This is not a small thing, and it’s mind-boggling that the Democrats don’t have this covered.

The nasty guy and his minions had created a regulation that allowed health care providers to discriminate against transgender people. These were protections that were in Obamacare. The date for the rule to go into effect was yesterday.

Thankfully, it didn’t. Just hours before taking effect a federal judge blocked the rule, saying the Supreme Court ruling on LGBT issues in June applied here.



Postmaster General Louis DeJoy had said he would suspend changes to the USPS until after the election. Lots of people said that’s insufficient, his changes needed to be reversed.

Joan McCarter of Daily Kos reports that even the mild statement DeJoy gave was a lot of hot air. She wrote:

In addition to the key infrastructure he's refusing to replace, he admitted "that plans for adequate overtime, which is critical for the timely delivery of mail, are not in the works." The destruction of sorting machinery is continuing, as was discovered Wednesday in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The USPS had already confirmed that restoration of infrastructure wasn't going to happen. This makes it official, and is going to make for some intense congressional hearings Friday and Monday.

In a separate article, posted before the one linked to above, McCarter lists many of the things DeJoy has done to make mail delivery worse.

McCarter also reported that at least 20 state attorneys general are going to court over these USPS delays. Reasons for the suit include the Voting Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. McCarter wrote:

They have all the standing they need: The Constitution gives states and Congress the power to run and regulate elections. “States have the right to conduct mail-in elections if they choose,” Frosh said. “Trump is trying to undermine that.”

Walter Shaub tweeted that protests are mobilizing for action on Saturday, August 22 at 11:00 local time. Follow links to get to a protest near you (or volunteer to host one).

McElrath retweeted a tweet from the Postal Workers Union that will guide you in sending emails to your senators. The union (or somebody) created a good logo for this campaign.



McElrath linked to an article by Timothy Snyder in the Washington Post in a tweet on …

how to defend an electoral victory against authoritarian chaos:
•Preparation
•Predominance
•Protest
•Peace
•Persistence
•Pluralism

Kelly Hayes, who calls herself Puff the Magic Hater, tweeted a thread:

I'm not at all convinced that we will stop Trump from stealing the election and entrenching his power. I can see that outcome more clearly in my mind than I can see us stopping it tbh, bc his side is more willing to do whatever it takes. But whatever the odds, we have to fight.
...
No matter what happens, we are currently staring down some of the most dangerous months of our lives.

Even if Trump loses by a massive margin and the public refuses to allow him to overstay, November through January are going to be the stuff of nightmares. If Trump accepted defeat, he would be determined to make a Democratic victory taste like death, and he would succeed.

Because he's the most heavily armed man in the world.

Build networks of care. Organize your workplaces for a potential general strike. Organize for potential shutdowns of places that you don't work, but that would need to be shut down.

Shaub again, with an important thought:

Strictly a rhetorical question: What would you be willing to do to stop authoritarianism from seizing control of your country and ending the republic forever?

The time to be thinking about this is now. I hope you're watching the news out of Belarus.

Replies included taking part in a general strike and even “die.”

You should work out that answer for yourself.



Speaking of Belarus…

Last Saturday, as part of commenting on an episode of Gaslit Nation, I wrote:

[Alexandra] Chalupa said Western countries should pass sanctions against Lukashenko. In the past they’ve been weary of pushing Belarus closer to Russia, but Putin has implied he wants to absorb Belarus unto Russia, so Lukashenko won’t be going to Putin for relief from Western sanctions.

Olga Lautman said that isn’t or is no longer true.

Putin has gotten his opening. Lukashenko has asked him for help in silencing his people who are speaking out against rigged election. Beatings, torture, aggressive action by KGB thugs haven't worked so far. People continue coming out to unseat this illegitimate dictator.

After quoting a couple news sources, Lautman added:

Lukashenko not even trying to hide his requests from Putin. Its horrific because Belarusians have a right to fair elections and shouldn't have to be tortured, brutally attacked, and silenced. Nor should Russia be involved in silencing Belarusians.

Paul Niland tweeted:

I said a couple of days ago, when you lose your propaganda channels your dictatorship is essentially fucked. Former propaganda channel director who went on strike tells us that 2 plane loads of technicians from Russia came to run the channels.

THAT'S gonna convince everyone...

McElrath has a video of a protest in Minks. Who knew that bagpipes are a thing in Belarus?