The big news today—and it is indeed big news—is that the Trump administration has announced it will be sending federal officers into Chicago, and perhaps other cities run by Democrats, ostensibly to fight crime there. The move mirrors what the administration has done in Portland, Oregon, where unidentified officers from Customs and Border Protection operating under Trump’s Executive Order to protect monuments and federal property have clashed with local protesters, sometimes grabbing them off the streets and forcing them into unmarked vans. They have fractured a man’s skull and broken another man’s hand; both men were protesting peacefully. The official Department of Homeland Security’s own list of complaints about what it calls “violent anarchists” runs heavily to graffiti and minor vandalism, which local police say they can handle without federal intervention.
What to say! When this started in France we went out and bought yellow security vests. We organized with friends in the local area to go "en bloc" to all the protests in Paris wearing our jackets....away from the violence of course....and otherwise the yellow vests had pride of place and highly visible to all in the car when driving. When it started 80% of the population supported the movement. The government was frozen in its tracks and before massively back-peddling and giving in. There 5 things for all of you to do: buy your yellow vests , organize with your friends, coordinate with other groups across the nation, get out on the streets to support the Mums and organize a massive turnout for November!
I saw a live feed from Portland last night and the street was absolutely packed with peaceful, masked protesters singing We Shall Overcome. United we stand, divided we fall.
"Tonight the Wall of Moms waved their hands above their heads as they softly sang a new lullaby: “Hands up, please don’t shoot me.”"
I feel like we are living in a dystopian science fiction horror movie or an alternate timeline. A rhetorical question but HOW is he allowed to do the things he has been and is currently doing that benefit himself and his cronies?? It is challenging some days to have hope that the situation can improve after November..
I remember back in late winter/early spring HCR saying there were several months left before elections. She said it a few times. I always took that as ‘that’s a long time to go through more of this drama’. I’m beginning to see it differently now. So much is happening right now. I never thought I’d be reading things like this as facts, and there’s still months to go. Where will things be in November? Can we make it until then or will things have gone too far? How much more damage will be caused in the next 3.5 months?
That is my fear as well. There is so much time left before the election and things are happening so fast that I am afraid he will consolidate his ‘forces’ ( for that is what they are) and take power permanently before the election. He knows he is going to lose and will likely go to jail when he does and he is not going to let that happen. I fear it may already be too late to stop him.
I agree with this wholeheartedly. It really is too late. Given that there are no checks on him or his goons due to an evil republican senate, corrupt DOJ, conservative supreme court, he will grab power way before the election or turn the election into a sham. High minded discourse will do nothing to stop him or his MAGA base. If they were intelligent enough to reason with, we would've never ended up here. Carol Anderson's "white rage" taught me what gets Republicans elected over and over again.
I can't say that I did not anticipate this stuff happening. In fact I didn't think it'd happen this late in the game. But here we are.
Godwin's law ("as an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1") no longer applies. Hell, Godwin himself said -- in 2015! -- "If you're thoughtful about it and show some real awareness of history, go ahead and refer to Hitler when you talk about Trump." With the arrival of the DHS goons armed to the teeth to protect statues, I think a "real awareness of history" leads one to conclude that we are witnessing the dawn of our own home-grown SS and Gestapo.
What to do? I think that flooding Congress with outraged communications is a start, but it's already far too late for it to do much good, especially given the fecklessness of Democratic leadership under Pelosi and Schumer. I DO hope that the protests continue to grow in Portland, and that Chicagoans prepare to give the unmarked little plastic camo soldiers a hearty "welcome" too. If they come to NYC they also better be prepared for a long slog, costly to the Federal government's image.
Which brings me to concluding thoughts on patriotism. I have long thought that devotion to a place, its norms, customs, institutions, and people, is best imagined as a web of concentric and intersecting circles. Family, neighborhood, school, university, church, town, county, state, nation -- these all play a role shaping and enjoining our loyalties, but the further one goes out to more peripheral circles, the more qualified one's loyalties become. This is a matter of empirical fact, but also is usually as it should be too. The philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre once quipped that the modern nation-state sees itself as a deliverer of goods and services, but also as a repository of transcendent good that demands one sacrifice one's life for it when called to. "It's like being asked to die for the telephone company." Now this is vastly overstated, something for which MacIntyre is well-known among philosophers. But in light of the Federal government becoming de facto the Trump regime, and in light of its injustice and cruelty coupled to sheer incompetence, I can, speaking for myself, say my loyalty to it has been severely curtailed. (This regime ordering teachers to return to class even outstrips MacIntyre's joke: It's like being asked to die for Sprint or Cablevision or any other bad ISP.)
But don't fuck with my hometown. I have my yellow shirts cleaned and pressed.
I largely agree with your points, but don’t understand this one “especially given the fecklessness of Democratic leadership under Pelosi and Schumer.” What do you imagine Pelosi and Schumer doing differently, given McConnell, Barr and the Supreme Court. What options do you imagine are available to them that they haven’t tried?
The fecklessness of which I spoke refers more to their past behavior, e.g., the narrowness of their impeachment criteria, their always being slow to draw their swords. If on nothing else, I'd agree with John Bolton that there was far more in the Mueller report that was impeachable than what the Democrats banked on, and if they basically threw *everything* at Trump it would have been a better show of resistance and opposition. Granted it'd be hard to actually WIN given McConnell et. al. Sour your point is well taken.
But this just kicks the can further down the road. Pelosi and Schumer (and Biden) are pretty much on the same page when it comes to the "basic soundness" of our national institutions. I wish them well, and am prepared to vote Trump and his orcs out of office in November even if I have to buy a yellow kevlar vest. )Three cheers for the Democrats for now.) But getting rid of the Dark Lord of Mordor will not signal a "return to normal" politically and socially. There IS no normal anymore. There needs to be a root-and-branch re-thinking of the US political system, economic and social systems, and, more importantly, political culture. If not, we are looking at the real possibility of a President Tucker Carlson come 2024. I doubt centrist Democrats like Biden and Pelosi and Schumer are taking that possibility as seriously as they should. Normal, lets-talk-this-out politics doesn't cut it with, well, de facto Nazis and toxic personalities in the Fox news stable.
For now, however, let's start with setting Barr up for impeachment. This putsch in Portland has his fingerprints all over it.
Trump has taught us that much of the “basic soundness of our institutions” is implicitly defined by a general understanding of what’s right, not explicitly spelled out in law. When Nixon tried to fire the special prosecutor, Elliot Richardson resigned. What if Bill Barr had been Nixon’s AG? Nixon lost his case in the Supreme Court, and had to surrender the tapes. What if nixon had been arguing before John Roberts’ court instead? Nixon resigned not because he was convicted by the Senate, but because Republican Senate leaders told him he had to. What if Mitch McConnell was the Republican Senate leader in 1973? Nixon, for all his flaws, understood history, and the meaning of the Constitution. Trump neither knows, nor cares, what the Constitution means.
As for Bolton’s critique of the impeachment, hogwash. The Democrats did what they could, given the resources and time constraints. Trump and Barr refused to respond to subpoenas, and refused to provide documents or allow witnesses to testify. Bolton, the spineless hypocrite, refused to testify (but now he wants us to know that Trump is unfit for office, thanks a lot). Schiff and Pelosi could have taken the subpoena argument to the Supreme Court, which would probably have ruled against them, 5-4. Mueller was explicitly told he couldn’t investigate Trump’s finances, and Schiff was not allowed to see the unredacted report or the grand jury evidence. And you know how McConnell handled the sham Senate trial.
It turns out that, when you’ve got a president as amoral as Trump, with an AG who believes in the imperial presidency, a complicit Senate ignoring their oaths, and a compliant court - the rule of law means nothing. And Trump and Barr are just warming up. Pelosi and Schumer aren’t feckless, they are powerless, which is a very different thing.
If they were feckless before, so were you, and so were we all. Your self-righteous posturing as if you are all-knowing takes an awful lot of the shine off your statements. Nobody, not people who have studied how this has happened elsewhere, nobody else - NOBODY!! - (not even someone as all-seeing/all-knowing as you) was able to imagine this happening here, now, and as easily.
Wow, I was pretty much intune with everything she said. Altho I vote for them by default, I am not uncritical of the "Republican Lite" Democrats. Perhaps I too am self-righteous. I have also been told I pontificate. I hereby declare; Nobody's Perfect.
I think I'll go find a yellow shirt today in preparation for the stormtroopers coming to Atlanta. (And I wonder if the local police union will support the neo-fascists like they have in Chicago.) As a 64 year old Dad, I would consider it an honor to be shot dead by federal goons while protesting peacefully. As the Chief said in "Little Big Man," today is a good day to die.
Hope you don’t get shot! I guess it’s a better cause than Corona for the Economy! But I do agree on the yellow shirt! Or yellow vest as was suggested from our supporters across the pond! Right now my mind is reeling from the fact that I have to teach in order to support the economy. Where are all the teacher accolades and supporters from March?!
In a perverse way, Trump has been the best thing that could happen to us. I'm pretty sure that a majority of the people here did not used to worry about the state of the republic before 2016 the way we do now (that's not a criticism - it's normal to expect that normality is the norm). Most of those moms in Portland weren't out demonstrating there 50 days ago. "Captain Portland" wasn't out there. But now it grows and grows. People are realizing what's really important, and that it was all taken for granted.
Back on Christmas Eve,, 1776, the idea there would be a United States of America at all was hanging by a thread. Thomas Paine was commissioned by George Washington to write something that might inspire his troops for what was to come that night, when they crossed the Delaware to attack the Hessians in Trenton Barracks. Paine wrote:
"THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but "to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER" and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God."
And afterwards, they crossed the river and hid freezing in the snowy woods, and the next morning they took the surrender of the Hessians. And America was saved.
What's bothering me is the Dep't. of Homeland Security was created during George W. Bush's administration to coordinate intelligence after the 9/11 attacks. It struck me as somewhat ominous at that time, a little too nationalistic, with homeland echoing fatherland in my mind. Now here we are, almost 20 years later, and DHS agents are being used by a power mad president as a federal police force, sent uninvited to cities under opposition control, over riding local police functions, and detaining and injuring people without due process. This creeping authoritarianism is extremely alarming.
Remember, there are 22 separate agencies under DHS. Almost all of them existed before the Homeland Security Act. The things we are seeing in Portland include only 3 of the organizations.
There’s another issue that is flying right under the radar. US Citizenship & Immigration Services notified 70% of their employees that they will be furloughed on August 3rd unless congress gives them a $1.2 billion dollar infusion to get them through the remainder of the fiscal year. That will shutter the organization that processes citizenship applications. There seems to be no urgency in the hill to find them. I have it from a source that a large amount of USCIS money was diverted to ICE and USCBP causing the shortage. USCIS is not tax funded. The operate on the fees applicants pay to apply for citizenship. Applications are way down due to the virus. If you google it, there are many articles but it’s not getting a lot of attention.
My not-so-secret but heartfelt wish is that we (this whole nation) REMEMBERS this so it never happens again--however ridiculous that sounds, considering we let it happen now when we have Watergate to remember.
Given the Chicago FOP directly invited the Feds, breaking their chain of command, would it be possible for the mayor and city council to strip them of their charter? Also, how about firing the author(s) of that letter for insubordination? Cops really have no business violating their chain of command, and there must be some way for the city of Chicago to address this level of lawlessness in their police department.
Good question. I've noticed that many city governments seem to live in fear of their own police departments. Look at the way the New York police union has garnered near-absolute immunity for officers' misdeeds.
The Trumpian base are mostly uneducated, ignorant people that he has gaslighted into faithful support. The majority can’t spout fact.. only FOX rhetoric. They hold many positions all around us everyday. My son is a Marine and says they are imbedded around him on his base and are vocal in their Trumpian blind support. So I imagine they are deeply rooted in Police forces also.
I see bad things coming. This is not the world I want to leave to my grandchildren. I don’t look good in yellow but it will become my uniform if necessary. I’m 60 years old and ready to pick up my leaf blower to end this insanity.
You’ve provided one of the best descriptions of Trump (spit) supporters that I’ve ever seen. Thanks for that. I echo your thoughts and feelings. I see bad things coming, too, and don’t want my beloved granddaughters to have to grow up in this dystopian nightmare Gilead look alike they are trying to create. I never wear yellow because it makes me look like death warmed over but will wear nothing but if that’s what it takes. I was a single mom for most of my children’s lives and my exhusband used to threaten regularly that he was going to do something to take my children away so for most of my adult life I have worked very hard to be as invisible as possible - don’t make waves, don’t get noticed, never protest anything- especially publicly. Those days are gone and I understand that I must now do the exact opposite because my children’s and grandchildren’s lives depend on it. This group helps me find the strength to do that. Thank you all.
Lest we all get too big for our britches, uneducated is not = to ignorant. I've seen plenty of ignorant educated people (and vice versa). My sense is THIS group reads, evaluates, educates (self), researches, etc. And is skeptical until all of the above is done.
Well put. Hannah Arendt, writing her book about Eichmann, said that what was scariest about him was a utter, willed inability to THINK. He was not an ignoramus (as is Trump) -- he was well educated and competent. So competent, in fact, that he did the logistics for the murder of 6 million Jews.
There are PLENTY of well-educated, college graduate Trump supporters in the US. Plenty. And I am having less and less sympathy for those under-educated, working-class white males who support Trump because their "heritage" and "identity" is supposedly under siege, or they feel "economically anxious." It may have had some resonance in 2016. Not now. You do not need a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology to know that Darth Realtor is a narcissist, a sociopath, and a self-aggrandizing liar. This is not a "book smart" issue. It's a "street smart" issue, something Americans across all classes think they are. And if one is so "economically anxious", why does one then support a union-busting and openly plutocratic regime? Why not switch parties and sign on with Sanders or Warren and "the squad"? I come from a white, suburban, upper-working/lower-middle class background. I know the self-congratulatory, grievance-laden mindset. I don't look down on those who revel in it. I look them straight in the eye and say: grow the hell up, can the self-pity, and THINK about it for a change.
He's already scheming and working hard with his thug toadies to quite literally destroy the USPS by September. No functioning US Postal Service = no vote by mail. He's definitely going there.
We've been thinking about the scenario in which he loses the election and tries to dismiss it. That won't get him what he wants (continued WH residence) because the oath of office can be administered anywhere to Biden if that's the real outcome. But maybe we should be thinking whether he will try to prevent the election outright. Maybe by declaring martial law right before election day?
Yes, if he can prevent voting in the cities, his rural voters could give him a majority of votes cast. That's probably why he is not even bothering to pretend to invade cities on any other criterion.
Jacksonville, FL sheriff spoke out yesterday saying he does not have the means to protect the city during RNC next month. He said there’s a complete lack of communication with planning. Nothing is figured out yet, so he cannot create a security plan. Funding is disappearing. He’s reached out for help from neighboring areas, getting only a little. At first I applauded him for speaking out, but now I’m worried that it’ll become a reason for these federal troops to come here with their tactics. That they will say they were invited.
We need to take notes from the Portland Moms to be prepared when federal stormtroopers appear in our cities and towns: Yellow shirts, bicycle helmets, sunflowers, leaf blowers, and songs.
What we also need is for the Governor Kate Brown to call out the Oregon National Guard, ordering them to arrest and detain all these illegal paramilitary thugs.
What Robert Paulson and others said about keeping to nonviolent response. Responding to this violence with violence does 2 bad things:
1. Escalates into a bloody conflict of state armed citizens against state/paramilitary armed citizens with people incarcerated, wounded, or dead.
2. Gives trump and his supporters the excuse to declare a national emergency of some worse magnitude involving broader militarized response, possible suspension of election, and/or possible suspension of our civil liberties.
I think our October Surprise is going to be the declaration of martial law and a suspension of the November election, possibly supported by McConnell. I find yesterday's news (and Saturday's letter from the police union president) terrifying.
It seems to me that tRump has too much ego to cancel the election in advance. He is hoping to manipulate the vote so that he "wins". If he can't do that, of course, we are in great danger that he will do his best to cancel the results.
I said it yesterday, but it bears repeating. Corona Don and his thugs are building out their version of the German Schutzstaffel (SS), or Pinochet's DINA (secret police). His acting director of Homeland Security aspires to becoming the next Heinrich Himmler or Colonel Manuel Contreras.
Okay. This is so far beyond enough, the word that comes to mind is FUBAR. A savvy lawyer friend suggested this morning that we the people contact our states' AGs and mayors, and also AG and mayor of Chicago. The goal? Join Oregon's lawsuit against the visibly fascist, Republican-backed-trump administration. I've wondered for some time whether it's possible to launch a class-action suit against R-b-trump. This may be as close as we'll get before November 03. One of the most egregious deficiencies of Dems (IMO) is its insistence on being perpetually reactive rather than pro-active. That has not served us well, particularly in the reign of R-b-trump. And while we're at it, let's (possibly offensive military word alert) bombard! the U.S. Senate (all y'all know who you are) with expressions of support for getting off their individual and collective sit-upons to protect and defend this nation. Hello?! And finally (fat chance!) this: When POTUS speaks, he is campaigning on our dime. I believe that the left is entitled to follow-up air time every single time he opens his mouth. With it's most hearty-voiced, no nonsense speakers (which, sorry to say, deals out Pelosi and Schumer). So, yeah. Finally.
The Acting Deputy of DHS is Ken Cuccinelli. Prior to his current role in protecting statues with military personnel in Portland, he was the attorney general of Virginia where he harassed climate scientist Michael Mann. Cuccinelli made false accusations against Mann that were clearly motivated to discourage climate scientists from speaking out about their research.
What to say! When this started in France we went out and bought yellow security vests. We organized with friends in the local area to go "en bloc" to all the protests in Paris wearing our jackets....away from the violence of course....and otherwise the yellow vests had pride of place and highly visible to all in the car when driving. When it started 80% of the population supported the movement. The government was frozen in its tracks and before massively back-peddling and giving in. There 5 things for all of you to do: buy your yellow vests , organize with your friends, coordinate with other groups across the nation, get out on the streets to support the Mums and organize a massive turnout for November!
I like the yellow vest idea. Wear yellow in public just to advertise support.
I love the vest idea! I'm going to share this with local grassroot organizations that I am a part of! Thanks, Stuart!
You're quite welcome. What it also did was reinforce feelings of belonging to a community and got people to start realy talking with each other again.
I saw a live feed from Portland last night and the street was absolutely packed with peaceful, masked protesters singing We Shall Overcome. United we stand, divided we fall.
"Tonight the Wall of Moms waved their hands above their heads as they softly sang a new lullaby: “Hands up, please don’t shoot me.”"
I feel like we are living in a dystopian science fiction horror movie or an alternate timeline. A rhetorical question but HOW is he allowed to do the things he has been and is currently doing that benefit himself and his cronies?? It is challenging some days to have hope that the situation can improve after November..
I remember back in late winter/early spring HCR saying there were several months left before elections. She said it a few times. I always took that as ‘that’s a long time to go through more of this drama’. I’m beginning to see it differently now. So much is happening right now. I never thought I’d be reading things like this as facts, and there’s still months to go. Where will things be in November? Can we make it until then or will things have gone too far? How much more damage will be caused in the next 3.5 months?
That is my fear as well. There is so much time left before the election and things are happening so fast that I am afraid he will consolidate his ‘forces’ ( for that is what they are) and take power permanently before the election. He knows he is going to lose and will likely go to jail when he does and he is not going to let that happen. I fear it may already be too late to stop him.
I agree with this wholeheartedly. It really is too late. Given that there are no checks on him or his goons due to an evil republican senate, corrupt DOJ, conservative supreme court, he will grab power way before the election or turn the election into a sham. High minded discourse will do nothing to stop him or his MAGA base. If they were intelligent enough to reason with, we would've never ended up here. Carol Anderson's "white rage" taught me what gets Republicans elected over and over again.
I can't say that I did not anticipate this stuff happening. In fact I didn't think it'd happen this late in the game. But here we are.
Godwin's law ("as an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1") no longer applies. Hell, Godwin himself said -- in 2015! -- "If you're thoughtful about it and show some real awareness of history, go ahead and refer to Hitler when you talk about Trump." With the arrival of the DHS goons armed to the teeth to protect statues, I think a "real awareness of history" leads one to conclude that we are witnessing the dawn of our own home-grown SS and Gestapo.
What to do? I think that flooding Congress with outraged communications is a start, but it's already far too late for it to do much good, especially given the fecklessness of Democratic leadership under Pelosi and Schumer. I DO hope that the protests continue to grow in Portland, and that Chicagoans prepare to give the unmarked little plastic camo soldiers a hearty "welcome" too. If they come to NYC they also better be prepared for a long slog, costly to the Federal government's image.
Which brings me to concluding thoughts on patriotism. I have long thought that devotion to a place, its norms, customs, institutions, and people, is best imagined as a web of concentric and intersecting circles. Family, neighborhood, school, university, church, town, county, state, nation -- these all play a role shaping and enjoining our loyalties, but the further one goes out to more peripheral circles, the more qualified one's loyalties become. This is a matter of empirical fact, but also is usually as it should be too. The philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre once quipped that the modern nation-state sees itself as a deliverer of goods and services, but also as a repository of transcendent good that demands one sacrifice one's life for it when called to. "It's like being asked to die for the telephone company." Now this is vastly overstated, something for which MacIntyre is well-known among philosophers. But in light of the Federal government becoming de facto the Trump regime, and in light of its injustice and cruelty coupled to sheer incompetence, I can, speaking for myself, say my loyalty to it has been severely curtailed. (This regime ordering teachers to return to class even outstrips MacIntyre's joke: It's like being asked to die for Sprint or Cablevision or any other bad ISP.)
But don't fuck with my hometown. I have my yellow shirts cleaned and pressed.
I largely agree with your points, but don’t understand this one “especially given the fecklessness of Democratic leadership under Pelosi and Schumer.” What do you imagine Pelosi and Schumer doing differently, given McConnell, Barr and the Supreme Court. What options do you imagine are available to them that they haven’t tried?
The fecklessness of which I spoke refers more to their past behavior, e.g., the narrowness of their impeachment criteria, their always being slow to draw their swords. If on nothing else, I'd agree with John Bolton that there was far more in the Mueller report that was impeachable than what the Democrats banked on, and if they basically threw *everything* at Trump it would have been a better show of resistance and opposition. Granted it'd be hard to actually WIN given McConnell et. al. Sour your point is well taken.
But this just kicks the can further down the road. Pelosi and Schumer (and Biden) are pretty much on the same page when it comes to the "basic soundness" of our national institutions. I wish them well, and am prepared to vote Trump and his orcs out of office in November even if I have to buy a yellow kevlar vest. )Three cheers for the Democrats for now.) But getting rid of the Dark Lord of Mordor will not signal a "return to normal" politically and socially. There IS no normal anymore. There needs to be a root-and-branch re-thinking of the US political system, economic and social systems, and, more importantly, political culture. If not, we are looking at the real possibility of a President Tucker Carlson come 2024. I doubt centrist Democrats like Biden and Pelosi and Schumer are taking that possibility as seriously as they should. Normal, lets-talk-this-out politics doesn't cut it with, well, de facto Nazis and toxic personalities in the Fox news stable.
For now, however, let's start with setting Barr up for impeachment. This putsch in Portland has his fingerprints all over it.
Trump has taught us that much of the “basic soundness of our institutions” is implicitly defined by a general understanding of what’s right, not explicitly spelled out in law. When Nixon tried to fire the special prosecutor, Elliot Richardson resigned. What if Bill Barr had been Nixon’s AG? Nixon lost his case in the Supreme Court, and had to surrender the tapes. What if nixon had been arguing before John Roberts’ court instead? Nixon resigned not because he was convicted by the Senate, but because Republican Senate leaders told him he had to. What if Mitch McConnell was the Republican Senate leader in 1973? Nixon, for all his flaws, understood history, and the meaning of the Constitution. Trump neither knows, nor cares, what the Constitution means.
As for Bolton’s critique of the impeachment, hogwash. The Democrats did what they could, given the resources and time constraints. Trump and Barr refused to respond to subpoenas, and refused to provide documents or allow witnesses to testify. Bolton, the spineless hypocrite, refused to testify (but now he wants us to know that Trump is unfit for office, thanks a lot). Schiff and Pelosi could have taken the subpoena argument to the Supreme Court, which would probably have ruled against them, 5-4. Mueller was explicitly told he couldn’t investigate Trump’s finances, and Schiff was not allowed to see the unredacted report or the grand jury evidence. And you know how McConnell handled the sham Senate trial.
It turns out that, when you’ve got a president as amoral as Trump, with an AG who believes in the imperial presidency, a complicit Senate ignoring their oaths, and a compliant court - the rule of law means nothing. And Trump and Barr are just warming up. Pelosi and Schumer aren’t feckless, they are powerless, which is a very different thing.
Yeah, that seems about right. :)
If they were feckless before, so were you, and so were we all. Your self-righteous posturing as if you are all-knowing takes an awful lot of the shine off your statements. Nobody, not people who have studied how this has happened elsewhere, nobody else - NOBODY!! - (not even someone as all-seeing/all-knowing as you) was able to imagine this happening here, now, and as easily.
Wow, I was pretty much intune with everything she said. Altho I vote for them by default, I am not uncritical of the "Republican Lite" Democrats. Perhaps I too am self-righteous. I have also been told I pontificate. I hereby declare; Nobody's Perfect.
Such name-calling is uncalled for.
Adam Schiff seemed to make such connections at the Impeachment hearing.
But yes, we need some forum decorum!
Barr, yes, and Miller.
YES! I wonder that, too.
Remember Bogart in Casablanca, speaking to the local Nazi leader? - "There are some parts of New York, Major, that I would advise you not to invade."
I think I'll go find a yellow shirt today in preparation for the stormtroopers coming to Atlanta. (And I wonder if the local police union will support the neo-fascists like they have in Chicago.) As a 64 year old Dad, I would consider it an honor to be shot dead by federal goons while protesting peacefully. As the Chief said in "Little Big Man," today is a good day to die.
The Dads in Portland are going to bring cordless leaf blowers, to blow away the federal goons' tear gas.
Hope you don’t get shot! I guess it’s a better cause than Corona for the Economy! But I do agree on the yellow shirt! Or yellow vest as was suggested from our supporters across the pond! Right now my mind is reeling from the fact that I have to teach in order to support the economy. Where are all the teacher accolades and supporters from March?!
In a perverse way, Trump has been the best thing that could happen to us. I'm pretty sure that a majority of the people here did not used to worry about the state of the republic before 2016 the way we do now (that's not a criticism - it's normal to expect that normality is the norm). Most of those moms in Portland weren't out demonstrating there 50 days ago. "Captain Portland" wasn't out there. But now it grows and grows. People are realizing what's really important, and that it was all taken for granted.
Back on Christmas Eve,, 1776, the idea there would be a United States of America at all was hanging by a thread. Thomas Paine was commissioned by George Washington to write something that might inspire his troops for what was to come that night, when they crossed the Delaware to attack the Hessians in Trenton Barracks. Paine wrote:
"THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but "to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER" and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God."
And afterwards, they crossed the river and hid freezing in the snowy woods, and the next morning they took the surrender of the Hessians. And America was saved.
What's bothering me is the Dep't. of Homeland Security was created during George W. Bush's administration to coordinate intelligence after the 9/11 attacks. It struck me as somewhat ominous at that time, a little too nationalistic, with homeland echoing fatherland in my mind. Now here we are, almost 20 years later, and DHS agents are being used by a power mad president as a federal police force, sent uninvited to cities under opposition control, over riding local police functions, and detaining and injuring people without due process. This creeping authoritarianism is extremely alarming.
I had precisely the same thoughts and concerns about Homeland Security when the department was created.
same here
Remember, there are 22 separate agencies under DHS. Almost all of them existed before the Homeland Security Act. The things we are seeing in Portland include only 3 of the organizations.
There’s another issue that is flying right under the radar. US Citizenship & Immigration Services notified 70% of their employees that they will be furloughed on August 3rd unless congress gives them a $1.2 billion dollar infusion to get them through the remainder of the fiscal year. That will shutter the organization that processes citizenship applications. There seems to be no urgency in the hill to find them. I have it from a source that a large amount of USCIS money was diverted to ICE and USCBP causing the shortage. USCIS is not tax funded. The operate on the fees applicants pay to apply for citizenship. Applications are way down due to the virus. If you google it, there are many articles but it’s not getting a lot of attention.
Sorry about all the typos. Fat thumbs on my phone.
My not-so-secret but heartfelt wish is that we (this whole nation) REMEMBERS this so it never happens again--however ridiculous that sounds, considering we let it happen now when we have Watergate to remember.
Given the Chicago FOP directly invited the Feds, breaking their chain of command, would it be possible for the mayor and city council to strip them of their charter? Also, how about firing the author(s) of that letter for insubordination? Cops really have no business violating their chain of command, and there must be some way for the city of Chicago to address this level of lawlessness in their police department.
Good question. I've noticed that many city governments seem to live in fear of their own police departments. Look at the way the New York police union has garnered near-absolute immunity for officers' misdeeds.
History repeats itself all over the world. And our own CIA helped to establish this one example force:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAVAK
The Trumpian base are mostly uneducated, ignorant people that he has gaslighted into faithful support. The majority can’t spout fact.. only FOX rhetoric. They hold many positions all around us everyday. My son is a Marine and says they are imbedded around him on his base and are vocal in their Trumpian blind support. So I imagine they are deeply rooted in Police forces also.
I see bad things coming. This is not the world I want to leave to my grandchildren. I don’t look good in yellow but it will become my uniform if necessary. I’m 60 years old and ready to pick up my leaf blower to end this insanity.
You’ve provided one of the best descriptions of Trump (spit) supporters that I’ve ever seen. Thanks for that. I echo your thoughts and feelings. I see bad things coming, too, and don’t want my beloved granddaughters to have to grow up in this dystopian nightmare Gilead look alike they are trying to create. I never wear yellow because it makes me look like death warmed over but will wear nothing but if that’s what it takes. I was a single mom for most of my children’s lives and my exhusband used to threaten regularly that he was going to do something to take my children away so for most of my adult life I have worked very hard to be as invisible as possible - don’t make waves, don’t get noticed, never protest anything- especially publicly. Those days are gone and I understand that I must now do the exact opposite because my children’s and grandchildren’s lives depend on it. This group helps me find the strength to do that. Thank you all.
Lest we all get too big for our britches, uneducated is not = to ignorant. I've seen plenty of ignorant educated people (and vice versa). My sense is THIS group reads, evaluates, educates (self), researches, etc. And is skeptical until all of the above is done.
Well put. Hannah Arendt, writing her book about Eichmann, said that what was scariest about him was a utter, willed inability to THINK. He was not an ignoramus (as is Trump) -- he was well educated and competent. So competent, in fact, that he did the logistics for the murder of 6 million Jews.
There are PLENTY of well-educated, college graduate Trump supporters in the US. Plenty. And I am having less and less sympathy for those under-educated, working-class white males who support Trump because their "heritage" and "identity" is supposedly under siege, or they feel "economically anxious." It may have had some resonance in 2016. Not now. You do not need a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology to know that Darth Realtor is a narcissist, a sociopath, and a self-aggrandizing liar. This is not a "book smart" issue. It's a "street smart" issue, something Americans across all classes think they are. And if one is so "economically anxious", why does one then support a union-busting and openly plutocratic regime? Why not switch parties and sign on with Sanders or Warren and "the squad"? I come from a white, suburban, upper-working/lower-middle class background. I know the self-congratulatory, grievance-laden mindset. I don't look down on those who revel in it. I look them straight in the eye and say: grow the hell up, can the self-pity, and THINK about it for a change.
Sorry for the rant, but I am at my limit......
I wonder if his plan is to have those forces based in "Democratic" cities in November to "protect" against voter fraud?
He's already scheming and working hard with his thug toadies to quite literally destroy the USPS by September. No functioning US Postal Service = no vote by mail. He's definitely going there.
You can bet on it.
We've been thinking about the scenario in which he loses the election and tries to dismiss it. That won't get him what he wants (continued WH residence) because the oath of office can be administered anywhere to Biden if that's the real outcome. But maybe we should be thinking whether he will try to prevent the election outright. Maybe by declaring martial law right before election day?
That's exactly what I expect.
I'm betting he'll be desperate enough to delay and then stop the election altogether....
Terrifying.
Yes, if he can prevent voting in the cities, his rural voters could give him a majority of votes cast. That's probably why he is not even bothering to pretend to invade cities on any other criterion.
Oregon, at least has voting by mail.
I wondered the same thing. Alarming.
Jacksonville, FL sheriff spoke out yesterday saying he does not have the means to protect the city during RNC next month. He said there’s a complete lack of communication with planning. Nothing is figured out yet, so he cannot create a security plan. Funding is disappearing. He’s reached out for help from neighboring areas, getting only a little. At first I applauded him for speaking out, but now I’m worried that it’ll become a reason for these federal troops to come here with their tactics. That they will say they were invited.
We need to take notes from the Portland Moms to be prepared when federal stormtroopers appear in our cities and towns: Yellow shirts, bicycle helmets, sunflowers, leaf blowers, and songs.
https://twitter.com/mrolmos/status/1285427135746764800?s=21
https://twitter.com/mrolmos/status/1285441191954137088?s=21
What we also need is for the Governor Kate Brown to call out the Oregon National Guard, ordering them to arrest and detain all these illegal paramilitary thugs.
The Governor should be able to restrict their movement and operations to federal property, only.
That, at a bare minimum, should be possible. Perhaps the National Guard could arrest and detain any who stray beyond those boundaries.
I can see that escalating into civil war! Best demonstrate peacefully until voting in November.
What Robert Paulson and others said about keeping to nonviolent response. Responding to this violence with violence does 2 bad things:
1. Escalates into a bloody conflict of state armed citizens against state/paramilitary armed citizens with people incarcerated, wounded, or dead.
2. Gives trump and his supporters the excuse to declare a national emergency of some worse magnitude involving broader militarized response, possible suspension of election, and/or possible suspension of our civil liberties.
Maybe the NG should just put on yellow jerseys over their shirts (like kids do when they play shirts and skins) and stand, arms linked, with the moms!
And coordination to ensure effectiveness and protection,
I think our October Surprise is going to be the declaration of martial law and a suspension of the November election, possibly supported by McConnell. I find yesterday's news (and Saturday's letter from the police union president) terrifying.
That is definitely where this is headed. And Putin will have a big smile on his face.
It seems to me that tRump has too much ego to cancel the election in advance. He is hoping to manipulate the vote so that he "wins". If he can't do that, of course, we are in great danger that he will do his best to cancel the results.
Not if the polls continue to show him definitely losing.
I said it yesterday, but it bears repeating. Corona Don and his thugs are building out their version of the German Schutzstaffel (SS), or Pinochet's DINA (secret police). His acting director of Homeland Security aspires to becoming the next Heinrich Himmler or Colonel Manuel Contreras.
sad and true
Okay. This is so far beyond enough, the word that comes to mind is FUBAR. A savvy lawyer friend suggested this morning that we the people contact our states' AGs and mayors, and also AG and mayor of Chicago. The goal? Join Oregon's lawsuit against the visibly fascist, Republican-backed-trump administration. I've wondered for some time whether it's possible to launch a class-action suit against R-b-trump. This may be as close as we'll get before November 03. One of the most egregious deficiencies of Dems (IMO) is its insistence on being perpetually reactive rather than pro-active. That has not served us well, particularly in the reign of R-b-trump. And while we're at it, let's (possibly offensive military word alert) bombard! the U.S. Senate (all y'all know who you are) with expressions of support for getting off their individual and collective sit-upons to protect and defend this nation. Hello?! And finally (fat chance!) this: When POTUS speaks, he is campaigning on our dime. I believe that the left is entitled to follow-up air time every single time he opens his mouth. With it's most hearty-voiced, no nonsense speakers (which, sorry to say, deals out Pelosi and Schumer). So, yeah. Finally.
its ^ ugh!
Yes, time to be proactive!
The Acting Deputy of DHS is Ken Cuccinelli. Prior to his current role in protecting statues with military personnel in Portland, he was the attorney general of Virginia where he harassed climate scientist Michael Mann. Cuccinelli made false accusations against Mann that were clearly motivated to discourage climate scientists from speaking out about their research.