;)
The Commentariat -- July 18, 2020
USA Today: "Rep. John R. Lewis, the civil rights icon whose fight for racial justice began in the Jim Crow south and ended in the halls of Congress, died Friday night.... The son of Alabama sharecroppers, Lewis served in Congress for more than three decades, pushing the causes he championed as an original Freedom Rider challenging segregation, discrimination and injustice in the Deep South -- issues reverberating today in the Black Lives Matter movement. He was an organizer of the March on Washington in 1963 along with Martin Luther King Jr., a seminal moment in the Civil Rights movement that led to the passage of voting rights for Blacks two years later. He became a community activist and member of the Atlanta City Council before winning a seat in Congress in 1986. He would go on to become a best-selling author and was awarded the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, by President Barack Obama, the nation's first Black president. Lewis was elected to his 17th term in November 2018."
~~~ Rep. Lewis's New York Times obituary is here. The Washington Post's obituary is here. ~~~
~~~ "The Conscience of the Congress": ~~~
~~~ Barack Obama, in Medium, on the passing of John Lewis: "It's fitting that the last time John and I shared a public forum was at a virtual town hall with a gathering of young activists who were helping to lead this summer's demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd's death. Afterwards, I spoke to him privately, and he could not have been prouder of their efforts -- of a new generation standing up for freedom and equality, a new generation intent on voting and protecting the right to vote, a new generation running for political office."
Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper effectively banned displays of the Confederate battle flag on U.S. military installations, saying in a memo Friday that the 'flags we fly must accord with the military imperatives of good order and discipline, treating all our people with dignity and respect, and rejecting divisive symbols.' The memo does not explicitly mention Confederate banners but states that the American flag is the 'principal flag we are authorized and encouraged to display.'... A defense official..., speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the White House is aware of the new policy. It was not immediately clear if President Trump supports it.... Esper's new policy does not address the base-naming issue. An amendment in the new defense spending bill would require the Pentagon to change the names as well as remove other Confederate references, symbols and paraphernalia from installations within three years. Trump has threatened to veto the bill if the amendment is included." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Must Not Upset Trump. Lolita Baldor of the AP: "The [Confederate flag-ban] policy, laid out in a memo released Friday, was described by officials as a creative way to bar the flag's display without openly contradicting or angering ... Donald Trump, who has defended people's rights to display it." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Drumpf's Stasi
Erik Ortiz, et al., of NBC News: "Democratic members of Oregon's congressional delegation said Friday they will demand a federal investigation into the deployment of federal officers in Portland, where local leaders say their presence outside federal buildings has inflamed tensions during nightly protests and led to violent confrontations in recent weeks. The lawmakers want the inspectors general of the departments of Homeland Security and Justice to review the 'unrequested presence and violent actions' of 'paramilitary forces with no identification indicating who they are or who they work for.' A spokesman for Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, said she remains concerned about allegations that federal officers under the direction of ... Donald Trump may be arresting people in violation of their constitutional rights. Her office has asked the Department of Homeland Security to stand down its officers, spokesman Charles Boyle said, but 'federal law enforcement agencies are not communicating with us about their activities.... Governor Brown has called for Trump's federal officers to leave Portland and stay off our streets.'"
Emily Gillespie, et al., of the Washington Post: Portland, Oregon, "city officials on Friday demanded the Trump administration remove what they called a heavy-handed army of federal agents who have been grabbing protesters off the streets -- tactics that federal officials defended as legal and necessary to quell ongoing unrest.... One widely shared video showed two men in military garb on the street at night taking a young man wearing all black into custody.... The fight between the White House and the left-leaning city government intensified Friday amid videos and firsthand accounts of mysterious federal agents driving around in unmarked rental minivans and detaining protesters. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler referred to the federal agents as Trump's 'personal army' and said they should leave the city.... Acting secretary of homeland security Chad Wolf traveled to Portland this week to supervise the federal actions there, and he sharply criticized local law enforcement for not getting tough with 'violent anarchists.' Wolf told Fox News on Thursday night that he offered law enforcement assistance to the mayor and local leaders but was asked to 'pack up and go home,' which he said is 'just not going to happen on my watch.'"
** Ryan Haas & Conrad Wilson of Oregon Public Broadcasting: "U.S. Attorney Billy Williams said Friday he wants an investigation into actions of federal officers who have pulled Portland protesters off the street and into unmarked vehicles. Federal officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection have come under significant scrutiny after OPB first reported Thursday that they were involved in constitutionally questionable arrests in Portland.... 'Based on news accounts circulating that allege federal law enforcement detained two protesters without probable cause, I have requested the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General to open a separate investigation directed specifically at the actions of DHS personnel,' Williams said in his statement. At least one officer with the Marshals Service is under investigation for severely injuring a Portland protester July 11 by shooting him in the face with an impact munition round." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Unless Williams' investigation turns out to be an "investigation," this is a big deal. The U.S. attorney works for Bill Barr, and Donald Trump nominated him. As Trump likes to say, we'll see what happens.
Sergio Olmos, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal agents dressed in camouflage and tactical gear have taken to the streets of Portland, unleashing tear gas, bloodying protesters and pulling some people into unmarked vans in what Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon has called 'a blatant abuse of power.' The extraordinary use of federal force in recent days, billed as an attempt to tamp down persistent unrest and protect government property, has infuriated local leaders who say the agents have stoked tensions.... Late Friday night, Oregon's attorney general said the office had opened a criminal investigation into how a protester was injured near a federal courthouse.... One Portland demonstrator, Mark Pettibone, 29, said he had been part of the protests before four people in camouflage jumped out of an unmarked van around 2 a.m. Wednesday. They had no obvious markings or identification, he said, and he had no idea who they were.... Mr. Pettibone said that he was terrified -- protesters in the city have in the past clashed with far-right militia groups also wearing camouflage and tactical gear -- and that at no point was he told why he was arrested or detained, or what agency the officers were with. He said he was held for about two hours before being released."; A related AP story is here.
Josh Marshall of TPM: "When asked about calls for an investigation into DHS police tactics in Portland, Oregon, Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Ken Cuccinelli tells NPR not only are they not going to stop but they want to take the tactics nationwide."
This is terrifying and outrageous. Secret police are the purview of authoritarians. Trump is doing this months away from the election because he thinks it helps him. But imagine what happens if he gets four more years. -- Vanita Gupta of the Leadership conference on Civil & Human Rights, in a tweet
Charles Pierce of Esquire: "A major American city is being softly Pinochet'ed in broad daylight. And, if we know one thing, if this president* and his administration* get away with this, it will only get worse. You'd have to be out of your mind -- or comatose since the Fall of 2016 -- not to suspect that this could be a dry run for the kind of general urban mobilization at which the president* has been hinting since this summer's protests began.... Portland may be a dumbshow for dummies, but it also looks like a dress rehearsal. This is not an 'authoritarian impulse.' This is authoritarian government -- straight, no chaser. And this administration has a powerful thirst for it. It will do anything if it thinks it can get away with it in order to benefit a president* who wants to bring the Republic down on his head. Unmarked vehicles, disappearing people off the streets? We need a Truth and Reconciliation Commission now, before the dress rehearsal becomes a road show."
Even Ruth Marcus, the Washington Post's official handwringer, is exercised. She writes, "This is not America." Mrs. McC: Yeah, actually it is. Millions of Americans voted for just this very thing -- because there was not a chance in hell that those particular voters would be caught protesting for civil rights and swept into unmarked vans for their trouble.
Tessa Duvall & Darcy Costello of the Louisville Courier Journal: "Just after midnight March 13, three Louisville police officers fired more than 20 bullets into Breonna Taylor's apartment, striking her five times. But she was still alive -- at least briefly. For at least five minutes, she was coughing as she struggled to breathe, according to her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who told investigators she was alive as he called her mom and yelled for help.... The Jefferson County coroner disputes that account, telling The Courier Journal that Taylor likely died within a minute of being shot and couldn't have been saved.... Records show that no effort was made to save her. For more than 20 minutes after Taylor was fatally shot at approximately 12:43 a.m. by Louisville officers, the 26-year-old emergency room technician lay where she fell in her hallway, receiving no medical attention, according to dispatch logs."
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates for coronavirus developments Friday are here: "As clashes over face-covering mandates and school reopening plans intensified throughout the United States, the country shattered its single-day record for new cases on Thursday -- more than 75,600, according to a New York Times database. This was the 11th time in the past month that the record had been broken. The previous single-day record, 68,241 cases, was announced last Friday. The number of daily cases has more than doubled since June 24, when the country registered 37,014 cases after a lull in the outbreak had kept the previous record, 36,738, standing for two months." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Friday are here: "The nine largest brick-and-mortar retail companies, which the National Retail Federation ranks based on global sales, have adopted new policies to require customers to wear masks inside U.S. stores. Costco began enforcing masks on May 4, but two months passed before other top retailers followed suit. Walmart, Inc. seemed to have triggered a corporate landslide this week with its announcement on Wednesday that masks would be required in its namesake stores and Sam's Club locations. Seven more of the largest brick-and-mortar retailers in the U.S. announced similar policies within two days: Kroger, CVS Health, Walgreens, Target, Albertsons Companies (which owns Safeway, Tom Thumb, and Acme, among other brands). Lowe's and Home Depot both announced mask requirements Friday."
Griff Witte & Ben Guarino of the Washington Post: "For weeks this summer, it was a seeming paradox of the coronavirus pandemic: cases in the United States were rising but deaths were falling. To the Trump administration, this was evidence that its strategy for combating covid-19 was working. To medical experts, it was only a matter of time before the trajectory changed. And now it has. Nationwide, deaths have begun to rise again. In some of the worst-hit states, especially across the South and the West, new death records are being set daily. As a virus-scarred summer wears on, public health specialists say the numbers are almost certain to continue to climb.... That grim assessment came as the United States on Friday set another record for total cases, with more than 76,000 -- including a new high of nearly 15,000 in Texas alone. More than 900 people died, matching a death count of recent days that has consistently hovered just below 1,000."
Josh Katz, et al., of the New York Times have produced a detailed interactive map of where people say they are wearing masks when they expect to come into contact with others. "Our data comes from a large number of interviews conducted by the global data and survey firm Dynata at the request of The New York Times." Mrs. McC: My area is doing poorly, although I can say that when I do my 6 am grocery shopping, mask-wearers are 100% of the early birds. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
S.N.A.F.U. Dara Lind of ProPublica: "As hospitals across the United States brace for a difficult six months -- with the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic still raging and concerns about a second wave in the fall -- some are acutely short-staffed because of ... a proclamation issued by ... Donald Trump on June 22, barring the entry of most immigrants on work visas.... Hundreds of young doctors were unable to start their residencies on time.... The proclamation stated that doctors 'involved with the provision of medical care to individuals who have contracted COVID-19 and are currently hospitalized' should be exempt from the ban, but it delegated the issuing of guidance to the departments of State and Homeland Security. That guidance has been slow and inconsistent." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "... Donald Trump on Friday continued muddying his administration's messaging on the use of masks to combat the spread of the coronavirus, saying he disagreed with his CDC director about how effective they would be in stopping COVID-19.... In [an] interview [with Chris Wallace]..., Wallace referred to recent comments from ... [CDC] head Robert Redfield that 'If we could get everybody to wear a mask right now, I really do think over the next four, six, eight weeks, we could bring this epidemic under control.'... [Trump told Wallace,] "... I want people to have a certain freedom, and I don't believe in that, no.... And I don't agree with the statement that if everybody would wear a mask, everything disappears.... Hey, Dr. (Anthony) Fauci said "don't wear a mask"; our Surgeon General -- terrific guy -- said don't wear a mask.... All of a sudden, everybody's got to wear a mask, and as you know, masks cause problems too. With that being said, I'm a believer in masks. I think masks are good," he continued."
Bianca Quilantan of Politico: "The White House is blocking CDC officials from testifying next week at a hearing on reopening schools, the House Education and Labor Committee told Politico on Friday. Separately, the CDC confirmed that more guidance for opening schools won't be released until later this month. Committee Chair Bobby Scott had invited CDC Director Robert Redfield, or a designee, to testify before the Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee on July 23 at a hearing on safely reopening schools. The chair asked Redfield to discuss the immediate needs of K-12 public schools as many districts look to reopen in the fall."
John Hudson & Nate Jones of the Washington Post: "The State Department has released an internal cable from 2018 detailing the concerns of U.S. Embassy officials in China about a lack of adequately trained personnel at a virology lab in Wuhan, the city that later became the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak. Leaked contents of the cable sparked unproven speculation from senior U.S. officials beginning in April that the outbreak occurred as a result of an accident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. In May, President Trump said he had seen evidence that gave him a 'high degree of confidence' that the coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab. When asked why he was confident, Trump said, 'I can't tell you that. I'm not allowed to tell you that.'... The Washington Post filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit for the records. The Post sued in April after the State Department failed to produce the records in the time period required by the law. The full cable does not strengthen the claim that an accident at the lab caused the virus to escape, nor does it exclude the possibility. However, in recent months, skepticism of the accident theory has increased in the scientific community because the genetic sequences of isolates from the bat coronaviruses known to be under research at the lab do not match those of covid-19."
Mrs. McCrabbie: The monologue below is the most concise proof I've seen that Donald Trump cares nothing and knows nothing about governance. It's an amazing, unwitting admission he is clueless about what, if anything, his administration is doing and a four-alarm signal of his cognitive decline:
President* Trump on His Agenda -- White House Remarks, July 16
So we have many exciting things that we'll be announcing over the next eight weeks, I would say. Things that nobody has even contemplated, thought about, thought possible, and things that we're going to get done and we have gotten done -- and we've started in most cases. But it's going to be a very exciting eight weeks, a eight weeks, like I prob- -- I think, Mike, we can honestly say nobody has ever going to see eight weeks like we're going to have. Because we really have -- we have -- we're taking on immigration, taking on education, we're taking on so many aspects of things that people were hopelessly tied up in knots in Congress. They can't -- they've been working on some of these things for 25, 30 years. It wasn't happening. But you'll see levels of detail, and you'll see levels of thought that a lot of people believed very strongly we didn't have in this country. We're going to get things done. We're going to get things done that they've wanted to see done for a long, long time. So I think we'll start sometime on Tuesday. We'll be discussing our one plan on suburbia, but that's one of many, many different plans. Then we're going into the immigration -- the world of immigration, the world of education. We're going into the world of healthcare -- very complete healthcare. And we have a lot of very exciting things to discuss. But cutting of regulation has been really something that I felt we could do, and we could do fairly easily. Nothing is easy in this country. We had statutory requirements where we'd do phase one, and then we'd have to wait 90 days. We'd do phase two, and we'd have to wait 60 days. You'd do phase three, and we're set -- 'Let's do phase four, sir.' 'I'm sorry you have to wait one year.' But we were able to do things that nobody has ever been able to do, or even close, on deregulation.
Source: White House transcript, unedited. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Matthew Choi of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday broke his silence on a tell-all book [by his niece Mary Trump].... 'Mary Trump, a seldom seen niece who knows little about me, says untruthful things about my wonderful parents (who couldn't stand her!) and me, and violated her NDA,' Trump wrote on Twitter. 'She's a mess!...'... Speaking with CNN's Chris Cuomo hours after Trump's tweet, Mary Trump echoed previous comments in which she described her uncle as a racist.... Though she conceded it was difficult to maintain relations after her grandfather's death due to an intra-family lawsuit, Mary Trump pointed out that the president had requested she ghost write his second book. She also added that she and her grandmother were 'very close.... My grandfather didn't really have positive feelings for anybody except perhaps Donald,' she said. In response to the president calling her a 'mess,' Mary Trump replied: 'I think it's just an attack he hurls predominately at women and honestly, I'm in very good company. I believe he's said the same thing about Nancy Pelosi and I'm fine with that.'"
Jeff Zeleny & Kevin Liptak of CNN: "The official portraits of former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were removed from the Grand Foyer of the White House within the last week, aides told CNN, and replaced by those of two Republican presidents who served more than a century ago. White House tradition calls for portraits of the most recent American presidents to be given the most prominent placement, in the entrance of the executive mansion, visible to guests during official events.... The Clinton and Bush portraits were moved into the Old Family Dining Room, a small, rarely used room that is not seen by most visitors."
A Binder Full of Lies. Reed Richardson of Mediaite: "A Reuters photograph of White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany's vast briefing binder offered a peek behind the curtain of the Trump administration's messaging priorities. Taken from the side of the White House briefing room podium, the photograph catches McEnany opening the book, exposing dozens of alphabetized tabs with short category names. During her tenure, McEnany has developed a reputation for flipping open her briefing book after a particularly confrontational question and reading verbatim from pre-written responses, which often included canned attacks on the press or praise from allies.... McEnany's tabs include a number evergreen topics, but several recent ones as well.... But many of the tabs spoke to this White House's favorite boogeymen, with categories such as 'Media,' 'Lies,' 'China,' 'BLM,' 'Privil' suggesting white privilege, and one simply labeled 'Absurd.'... Notably, one tab was labeled 'Karl,' which might be an oppo brief against ABC News White House correspondent Jon Karl, who has frequently clashed with Trump at press conferences."
Elections 2020
Will Weissert of the AP: "Joe Biden said Friday night that he’s begun receiving intelligence briefings as he warned that Russia, China and other adversaries were attempting to undermine the upcoming U.S. election in November.... [Biden] wasn't specific and offered no evidence while addressing a virtual fundraiser with more than 200 attendees. But, in the process, he confirmed receiving classified briefings after saying as recently as late last month that he wasn't getting them but might request one about reports of Russian bounties being offered on U.S. troops in Afghanistan." The Washington Post's story is here.
Brett Samuels of the Hill: "'Fox News Sunday' anchor Chris Wallace in a new interview shut down President Trump's claim that ... Joe Biden is in favor of defunding the police. The president blamed a recent rise in violence in ... major cities on Democratic leadership, saying urban centers are 'stupidly run.' When Wallace noted that Democrats have led cities for decades, Trump ... [said,] 'It's gotten totally out of control and it's really because they want to defund the police, and Biden wants to defund the police.'... 'Sir, he does not,' Wallace interjected. 'Look, he signed a charter with Bernie Sanders,' Trump shot back, referencing a lengthy unity platform unveiled by Biden and the Vermont senator that offers a number of progressive policy proposals. 'And it says nothing about defunding the police,' Wallace said. 'Oh really? It says abolish, it says defund. Let's go. Get me the charter, please,' Trump said, turning to staff off camera. Wallace recounted ... that Trump ... '... couldn't find any indication -- because there isn't any -- that Joe Biden has sought to defund and abolish the police.'... Biden has explicitly and repeatedly said that he does not support defunding or abolishing the police." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: In the exchange, Wallace struck a serious blow to Trump's re-election campaign inasmuch as Trump, in a leap of unintentional irony, is portraying himself as the law-and-order candidate and Biden as a presidential hopeful who would create chaos in America. ~~~
~~~ Trump told the same lie about Biden in the Rose Garden Tuesday: Louis Jacobson of Politifact: "Trump said that a Biden-Sanders 'unity' policy document shows that 'They now want to abolish our police departments. They want to abolish our prisons, I guess.' The document does not say anything about abolishing police departments or getting rid of all prisons."
What Happened to Honor Among Thieves? Sarah Rumpf of Mediaite: “Days after Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale was demoted, he may have new troubles.... A detailed report by Business Insider describes an internal audit the campaign is conducting of 'spending irregularities' during his time helming the president's reelection efforts. The new campaign manager, Bill Stepien, denied that Parscale was being audited but other sources for the story contradicted that. As the Business Insider report details, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner brought in Jeff DeWit, an accountant and former chief financial officer of NASA, to join the campaign as its new chief operating officer. In an interview Friday, DeWit confirmed that he was 'reviewing all campaign contracts and examining all spending,' BI reports. DeWit denied that the audit was 'targeting' anyone specific, but other Republican sources familiar with the campaign's operations identified Parscale as a likely focus because 'he controlled all campaign spending, from polling and advertising to voter surveys, during a tenure that started in January 2017.'" ~~~
~~~ Grifters Grifting Grifters. Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "The last months of Trump are going to involve a lot of grifters stealing anything that isn't nailed down, which would be funny if the American people weren't going to be among the frequent targets."
Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: "Jamaal Bowman has scored a stunning victory over Representative Eliot L. Engel of New York in a Democratic primary, defeating the 16-term incumbent and overcoming the efforts of the Democratic establishment in a profound show of progressive political power. Mr. Bowman, a middle school principal from Yonkers, was declared the winner on Friday, after a count of absentee ballots verified what seemed clear on Primary Night, when he emerged with a commanding lead over Mr. Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.... In the closing weeks of the campaign, as Mr. Bowman gained momentum and prominent backers, members of the Democratic old guard tried to salvage Mr. Engel's flagging campaign.... The Black Lives Matter movement ... gave a powerful talking point for Mr. Bowman, who is African-American and said he had been physically attacked by police as a child. The Black Lives Matter movement also served as backdrop for a cringe-inducing moment for Mr. Engel. At a news conference in the Bronx in early June, the congressman was caught on microphone suggesting that he was only there because of his contested race. 'If I didn't have a primary,' he said, 'I wouldn't care.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie Note to Donald Trump: "I really don't care" turns out not to be the best campaign message. And two-thirds of the country already knows that's your message, whether or not your wife has it painted on the back of her jacket.
Horrible News for Many Reasons. Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg announced Friday that she is being treated for a recurrence of cancer, this time on her liver, but says she remains able to do her work on the Supreme Court. 'I have often said I would remain a member of the court as long as I can do the job full steam,' Ginsburg said in a written statement. 'I remain fully able to do that.' Ginsburg, 87, and the court's oldest member, has battled cancer four times and has had other health concerns." An AP story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Beyond the Beltway
Wow! Deborah Yetter of the Louisville Courier Journal: "Jerry Lundergan, a former Kentucky Democratic Party chairman and the father of former Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, was sentenced Thursday to 21 months in federal prison for election finance violations related to his daughter's unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Lundergan, 73, of Lexington, was convicted last year along with Dale Emmons, of Richmond, for being part of a scheme to funnel more than $200,000 in illegal campaign donations to the Senate campaign in which Grimes, a Democrat, in 2014 ran unsuccessfully against Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell. Emmons, a campaign consultant hired by Lundergan, was sentenced to nine months in a halfway house, three years of supervised release and fined $50,000. Lundergan also was sentenced to two years of supervised release and fined $150,000." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Way Beyond
Israel. Mitch Prothero of Business Insider: "Israel is involved in an extended campaign to pressure or damage Iran before President Donald Trump can be voted out of office in the November election, a former Israeli defense official and a current European Union intelligence official told Insider.... These attacks have put the country on edge, with nearly daily reports of fires, explosions, and other mishaps treated as potential foreign sabotage.... The attacks appear to be part of a campaign of 'maximum pressure, minimal strategy,' said the EU intelligence official.... With a broad belief among America's allies that Trump is unlikely to win reelection, Israel's apparent shift in tactics toward high-pressure 'kinetic' operations seem to reflect a belief that under a Biden administration, there would be a move to save the 2015 nuclear deal that had been scuttled by Trump." --s (Also linked yesterday.)
~~~ As Hattie wrote in yesterday's thread: "Praying for RBG. Dancing for Sir Tom."
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Reader Comments (23)
Lewis' death casts a pall. So much courage displayed in the cause of righteousness.
And such a contrast in person and deed to other recent recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, like Laffer and Limbaugh.
Gresham's Law of Medals, I guess. The Pretender has managed to tarnsh and diminish those, too.
John Mitcham said last night that John Lewis was the closest person to a saint that he'd ever known. I'm with Ken––so much courage displayed in the cause of righteousness. He fought so hard for that thing called equality––the job, he said, that was never finished.
On the other side of these attributes, the complete opposite of a man like Lewis, is our favorite clown, the one who heads this contumacious circus whose elephants are looking mighty poorly of late. This experiment has showed us that strong leadership is essential in running a country; without it we lose our moorings; we have lost our moorings.
Thug-like federal police troopers pulling people off the streets willy nilly in the dark of night––even shooting a person in the head for what? is what they do in dictator-led countries. It is now happening in this country. Is this one of the things Fatty finds so exciting?
". And we have a lot of very exciting things to discuss. But cutting of regulation has been really something that I felt we could do, and we could do fairly easily."
Oh, and those pictures––of Bush and Clinton––moved from their proper place and hung out to dry in another room where seldom anyone enters. How perfectly petty!!!!!
Obviously just another thing "we could do fairly easily."
The frog is boiling...
Little by little, first by inches, then by yards, now by miles, confederates who despise the idea of an America where citizens—of all colors and religions—have rights, where non-citizens, as human beings, have rights as well, have been turning up the heat under the pot.
Nixon, then Reagan, then the two Bushes, along with congressional schemers, and now a judiciary shot through with fascists and a true authoritarian “leader”, have, for decades, been steaming toward Portland—and soon will try to steamroll the rest of the nation populated by those they consider undesirables, trouble makers, infidels to their religion of power and violence.
And, as Marie points out, they have their supporters who are fully on board with this vision of America as the land of only the “right kind” of people. Hitler comparisons are becoming far too scarily clear.
Under the heel of the Decider and his hidey-hole enforcer, we were told to “be very careful what you say” , we were lectured by those loving this move into authoritarian regions that illegal surveillance of Americans was perfectly fine, less’n a’course you ain’t a real American. If you got nothin’ to hide, I was once told, you got nothin’ to worry about. Let the shredding of the Constitution proceed! Now we have secret police knocking on doors in the middle of the night, dragging citizens away.
This is where the Powell memo pointed confederates years ago. Lewis Powell May not have craved an America that was more South America, but his ideas for domination and control unleashed the truly talented fascist thugs. And now one of their own is pulling the strings and passing out the truncheons.
The heart and soul of America are being replaced, more and more by the hour, with fear and loathing.
The Republican Way.
I just returned from my local farmers market, where there usually are competing tables from the Dems and the GOP. The GOP table today was a full-on scaremongering fright fest, with everyone festooned with red white & blue flag swag and just screaming LAW AND ORDER and HUGS NOT MOBS and other such twaddle. No masks, natch.
Meanwhile I walked around wearing my VOTE mask and encouraging everyone I talked with to request an absentee ballot or vote early.
So sad about John Lewis-- pancreatic cancer kills people with such rapidity... We won't see his like very soon.
The Portland issue is hard to believe, but at the same time, completely believable in this climate we are in. I'm sure Dumpster is eating it up. He is such a son-of-a-bitch. It appears that it is only a short hop from armed "militia" types with grizzled beards "protecting" our towns to anonymous military guardians beating up protesters. Skunkpants is in his element hating everyone.
Mary is totally believable. The pictures she paints make me want to beat up everyone responsible for the tilting of our country toward hatred and disease and war and enbittered ignorance. I really want a bunch of people jailed for foisting this family and the jackals it is surrounded by on us.
Something I read last night rang a bell: The two portraits removed at the White House were put in a room Michelle Obama had rehabilitated. I am sure there were photos taken there during the last REAL presidency. The fact is, it is not a "storage room." It was a room more intimate, and was probably done and used with loving care. But I'm sure the "first lady" doesn't care about that. Nor her idiot spouse. There will probably be portraits all over the WH when the current resident exits. Guess who will be portrayed...
More re absentee/early voting, it is my fervent hope that in the precinct where I am election chief, 2000+ of the 3600 voters will have already voted by Nov 3.
In one of those startling confluences that will be sure to preface historians’ consideration of these years, John Lewis, an icon of decency, humanity, constitutional freedom, equality, and the most expansive vision of America as a positive force for good in the world, dies as the forces of darkness, illegality, authoritarianism, hatred, and fear are unleashed by a racist dictator.
I’m reminded of the fall of Rome, precipitated by rampaging barbarians. But it must be pointed out that Rome’s demise was achieved as much by internal maladies and evils as external forces of chaos.
Et tu, brutes?
On another historical note, the red, white, and blue clad Always Trumpers Rockygirl encountered this morning might not, if cornered, state categorically that they were all in on authoritarian roundups (although they just might be), they, like Germans who didn’t have a big problem with roundups of Jewish neighbors, will not waver in their support for the Dear Leader, if a few undesirables are carted off and beaten up.
Amerika! Love it or leave it. Heil Trump!
@Jeanne: You have a good memory. And there's this, from a more recent date: "The news on Tuesday that President Donald Trump's White House may not be hosting a ceremonial unveiling of former President Barack Obama's official White House portrait raised concern that what has for decades been one of the most lighthearted interactions between presidents, regardless of party, is no more."
Just as well, I guess. No doubt if President Obama showed up at the White House wearing a mask, Trump would order the Secret Service to wrestle him to the ground, put him in a chokehold, and warn us about "urban people" trying to invade the White House.
I do hope though that the Bidens host a portrait unveiling of the Trumps -- as long as the ceremony is held in the federal pen where Trump is residing. Not sure if Melanie will be there, as she probably will not have signed up for visitor's privileges.
Marie,
It’s a shame Marcel Duchamp is no longer with us. He’d be a perfect choice to portraitize the fat dictator, perhaps giving him the Mona Lisa treatment, adding a little mustache and goatee. Then again, I’m thinking a Francis Bacon approach (fractured face) might be appropriate as well. But finally I’d settle for a Tex Avery look: th, th, th, that’s all folks!
"Op-ed: Investors are wrong to worry about a President Biden."
According to this 0p-ed by Kevin Lamarquin/ Reuters, I would think any investor with a scintilla of reasoning would cheer on Biden's agenda since Trump's have been one of the most insecure for any long term prosperity.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/17/op-ed-investors-are-wrong-to-worry-about-a-president-biden.html
DiJiT thinks that campaign funds are his, and therefore will insist on many audits and tight control of the rubes' donations. He believes that, win or lose, any leftovers are his November 4.
@AK: to piggy back on your recent comments here is something you'll find that connects:
"The Tenacity of the Franco-American Ideal": Roger Cohen
" Perhaps the root of the mutual fascination that binds France and the U.S. is that each sees itself as an idea, a model of some kind for the rest of the world."
And both with a history that has numerous ambiguities, a nice word for "lots of bad stuff on their plate."
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/opinion/france-america-thomas-jefferson-race.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
Ken points to the extreme difference between the Orange Menace and the last real president with his reference to Medal of Freedom recipients. Obama chose John Lewis, a superior American and wonderful human being by any measurement (except that of white supremacists), and the leader of white supremacists, who selected a racist hate mongering liar like Limbaugh, and an ignorant fraud like Laffer as his recipients.
This isn’t just a sidebar to the ongoing catastrophe, this difference is central to the current chaos.
One president holds up an avatar of dignity, justice, and equality. The other*, praises liars and frauds.
It’s their personalities, and souls, in a nutshell.
DiJiT's rambling outline of his upcoming plans (suburbia! education! etc.!) sounds exciting. I hope it includes his busing plan that he promised last summer. I've been on tenterhooks almost a year now.
https://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2019/06/trump-school-busing-democratic-debate-segregation.html
Lovely tribute by Biden as well as Obama’s. In Medium.
https://bit.ly/3hfJE2o
This a.m., Marco Rubio, who seems most adept at shooting himself in the foot, posted a boiler plate tweet about John Lewis. Forgettable yet innocuous except for the fact that he included a pix of himself and Elijah Cummings. Since he was apparently so engaged with eating his GOYA beans, he didn’t have time to Bible quote google. So, just to add that extra bit of sincerity, he also used the pix for his profile. I suggested he google the Book of Racism, Chapter 1: They all look alike.” Perfect example of why people are marching for Black Lives Matter.
Anonymous,
Really??
Jesus Christ. One darkie’s as good as the next. At least to confederate assholes.
Can’t wait to read Fatty’s contemptuous boilerplate cant.
“Lewis didn’t steppinfechit like he should have, he being from an inferior species, but I suppose some people thought he was okay. I prefer Bull Connor, myself. There was a real American. Walking over a bridge? What’s the big deal? Great men, like me, build bridges. We didn’t whine about a few knocks to the head while walking over them.”
If you think I’m being hyperbolic, think again. I firmly believe that Trump celebrated when he heard about Lewis‘ passing.
There’s evil, and then there’s Trump. The whole fucking family. And scurrilous rats like Rubio right along with them.
Trump: “PS, me and daddy would never have rented that pain In the ass nigra Lewis a broom closet. Fuckin’ shine.”
"Well, they all look alike". Marco Rubio posts a tribute to John Lewis on Twitter, with a photo of Elijah Cummings.
Rubio has deleted that one and has another up with Lewis.
Rt rates tracking steady. 44 states at 1.) or above today.
SHIVERIN’ SHYTE!
“Elijah Cummings=John Lewis=Elijah Cummings=John Lewis=Eli...”
Seen one ya seen ‘em all, eh Rube?
Such reflexive ignorance would be laughable were it not so toxic.
All The Best Sheeple
“. . . in the precinct where I am election chief . . . “
You Go, RockyGirl!
PD Pepe, belatedly —
Loved the Billy (“For The Longest Time”) Joel.
Thanks!