The more unabashedly they abuse power

Adam Jentleson, former Chief of Staff of Harry Reid, tweeted:

This generation of elected Democrats is being called on to reform the system so it can continue to function. Minority rule by white conservative judges and senators wielding veto power over the will of a diverse majority is not a healthy or sustainable dynamic for democracy.

He then quoted Conor Sen:

The McConnell strategy is optimized for a world where Dems are unwilling to break norms. If they are, it’s not unreasonable to say you could undo a decade of McConnell’s work in one congressional term.

Then continued:

This is essential. Republicans are relying on Dems to be constrained by norms that Republicans defy at will. Norms are important but they must serve fair rules. When they cease to, both must be reformed through the democratic process. To be healthy, democracy must be responsive.

Hunter of Daily Kos reviews the ways in which the nasty guy and the GOP are increasing their overtly fascist rhetoric. * The nasty guy casts doubt on the election process and has said he may not abide by the results of the election. * He praises violence against opponents and protesters. * He praised his rally crowd for their good genes, meaning their whiteness. * He calls the press the enemy of the people. * He has called for “patriotic education” (which I’ve mentioned before). * AG William Barr said he has sole authority to decide which cases to bring against which Americans. * Fox News declared Democrats to be “the party of antifa” and repeatedly suggested extralegal or violent means might be necessary to defeat them. * Voting has begun in Virginia and a group of nasty guy supporters staged a rally, disrupting the voting. The Virginia GOP celebrated. Hunter concluded:

We are now in a dire position. The supposed president is now suggesting that he will use the tools of government to block Americans from voting. His party is now embracing voter intimidation as valid tactic, legal or not. His favored pundits are warning that his opponents will be "crushed," if not at the voting booth than "otherwise." Federal judges are being threatened. And the movement, en masse, is engaged in an orgy of misinformation that makes Russian efforts look microscopic and pathetic in comparison, all devoted toward painting a new picture of reality in which the pandemic has not killed 200,000, the economy is not suffering from catastrophic pandemic mismanagement, Trump's most corrupt actions are patriotic and his opponents are by definition criminal. It is likely to get worse, and in direct proportion to Republican reelection prospects. And if Trump, Fox News, and the various crawling things of the internet are all nodding that violence and extralegal acts may be necessary to defend their victory, violence appears all but certain.

Kerry Eleveld of Kos reported William Barr, the head of the Department of Not Justice, has declared three cities of permitting violence and the destruction of property and refused to counteract these criminal activities. He hopes these cities will become serious about protecting their citizens. The three cities anarchist jurisdictions are New York, Portland, and Seattle. The declaration includes telling other federal agencies they should find ways to cut off funds to these three cities. Eleveld included a tweet from Michael Edison Hayden, which includes photos:

Instead of using a months-old image of a flaming police van, @NBCNewYork should just take a picture outside of their window and show people how utterly insane Bill Barr's designation really is.

Yeah, this is a fascist ploy. Twitter, of course, responded. Marissa Higgins of Kos included several in her post. Here are a couple of them. One from Molly Jong-Fast:

This morning in my Anarchist jurisdiction, I enjoyed a skim milk cappuccino in the bike lane and then I bought a few Bouquets of overpriced flowers.

And from JP Brammer

riding my bike with a wicker basket full of fruit thru the anarchist jurisdiction of NYC

Higgins added a few photos of police confronting protesters and that burning police van that were used in media stories that don’t at all reflect the current situation. Windsor Mann tweeted:

The closer Republicans get to losing power, the more unabashedly they abuse power, which is why they should lose power.

Margot Sanger-Katz of the New York Times tweeted a chart of the weekly difference between the measured deaths this year and the expected deaths in a normal year. She tweeted:

The real toll of Covid-19 is even higher than 200,000. Between mid-March and late August, 259,000 more Americans have died than would in a normal year. … Not all of these deaths are necessarily from the virus itself. But they appear to be related to the pandemic and the ways it is changing our lives and health.

Walter Einenkel of Kos reported the nasty guy said the COVID-19 virus “affects virtually nobody.” Yeah, that trivializes the deaths of 200,000 people because of the way he handled the government response. Einenkel lists several of these “nobodies.” He also included a photo of a field full of small American flags and noted each flag represents ten dead. The New Yorker tweeted an intro to one of its articles:

According to one estimate, each person who dies of COVID-19 leaves behind an average of nine surviving family members. If this is right, then there are now at least 1.8 million Americans mourning the loss of kin.

That is not nobody. Aysha Qamar of Kos has photos of today’s ceremonies at the Supreme Court. Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s casket was carried in while 120 of her former clerks lined the steps. There was a service inside for the clerks, the other justices, and a few friends. Afterward the casket was placed on the Supreme Court’s porch so the public could pay respects without having to go inside. One mourner held up a sign with RBG’s picture with the words, “Not all superheroes wear capes; some wore neck collars.” Her casket will remain in the Court building tomorrow, then move to the Capitol on Friday. It is fitting she be there – the first woman so honored – but I don’t think visitors will be allowed inside.