One of the difficulties in resisting the Trump administration, the Republican Congressional majority, and Republican state legislatures (plus the occasional non-Republican who obliges us to resist their nonsense, too, like we don't have enough to worry about) is keeping on top of the sheer number of horrors, indignities, and normalization of the aggressively abnormal that they unleash every single day.
So here is a daily thread for all of us to share all the things that are going on, thus crowdsourcing a daily compendium of the onslaught of conservative erosion of our rights and our very democracy.
Stay engaged. Stay vigilant. Resist.
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Earlier today by me: Trump's Massive Purge of Undocumented Immigrants Is Back On and Primarily Speaking.
Here are some more things in the news today...
Staff and agencies at the Guardian: New Orleans: Evacuations Ordered as City Braces for Possible Hurricane.
Mandatory evacuations were ordered south-east of New Orleans, Louisiana, on Thursday as the city and a surrounding stretch of the Gulf coast braced for a possible hurricane over the weekend that could unload heavy rain and send water spilling over levees, in the first big test for flood defenses since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.This is the worst fucking timeline. I am horrified that NOLA residents may have to revisit one of their city's worst nightmares. I'm thinking about you, NOLA. Stay safe.
The strength and speed of the wind increased on Thursday and by mid-morning was upgraded to become tropical storm Barry.
All eyes were on a weather disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico that dumped as much as 8in (20cm) in just three hours on Wednesday over parts of metro New Orleans, triggering flash flooding.
Coastal communities are braced for Barry to turn into the first hurricane of the season by Friday, coming ashore along the Louisiana-Mississippi-Texas coastline and pouring more water into the already swollen Mississippi River.
Forecasters said the biggest danger in the days to come is not destructive winds but heavy rain as the slow-moving storm makes its way up the Mississippi valley.
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[Content Note: Nativism. Covers entire section.]
Allan Smith and Hallie Jackson at NBC News: Trump Expected to Order Citizenship Question Added to the Census. "Donald Trump is expected to announce Thursday that he is taking executive action to add a citizenship question to the census, according to an administration official. Trump tweeted that he will hold a press conference in the afternoon to discuss his latest efforts at including the question as part of the census."
Just to be clear: The president is reportedly going to announce that he will ignore a Supreme Court ruling to take unilateral executive action. That is a grievous affront to our democracy. He is asserting his power as a dictator at that point.
The following facilities started housing ICE detainees last month:
— RAICES (@RAICESTEXAS) July 9, 2019
- Adams County Correctional Center: Mississippi prison operated by @CoreCivic
- Catahoula Correctional Center: Louisiana jail run by LaSalle Corrections
- ICE Processing Center: run by @GEOGroup in Louisiana https://t.co/82tS8VYWxg
Max Siegelbaum at the Guardian: Millions in U.S. Taxpayers' Money Invested in Private Prison Firms. "Millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars are being invested into private prison operators involved in the detention of thousands of migrants across the United States, an investigation shows. Some of the largest investments, which are by pension funds for public sector workers such as teachers and firefighters, come from states with 'sanctuary' policies, such as New York, California, and Oregon." Goddammit.
Barbie Latza Nadeau at the Daily Beast: Acting Border Boss Who Quit Says He Was 'Hit Hard' by Migrant Boy's Death. "Speaking to CNN, [John Sanders, who quit his role as acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner after just one month] did not directly criticize the Trump administration's approach to immigration, but he said that the threat of raids of sanctuary cities coupled with the death of 16-year-old Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez troubled him. He said Vasquez's death pushed him towards taking further action to prevent another similar tragedy, such as bolstering medical assistance at the border. 'It hit me hard, that he was in the cell sleeping,' Sanders told CNN. 'Helping the kids. That has forever changed me. And I think a lot more needs to be done for them.'"
If more agents share his feelings, and I sure hope they do, they can: 1. Resist inhumane orders. 2. STAND DOWN. 3. Don't carry out these raids.
Yes, they may lose their jobs. But at what cost do they keep them?
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[CN: Misogynoir; birtherism. Video may autoplay at link] Oliver Darcy at CNN: Trump Invites Right-Wing Extremists to White House 'Social Media Summit'. "Trump is calling it a 'social media summit,' but the White House did not extend invites to representatives from Facebook or Twitter. Instead, the White House has invited its political allies to the event. ...Among them are Bill Mitchell, a radio host who has promoted the extremist QAnon conspiracy theory on Twitter; Carpe Donktum, an anonymous troll who won a contest put on by the fringe media organization InfoWars for an anti-media meme; and Ali Alexander, an activist who attempted to smear Sen. Kamala Harris by saying she is not an 'American black' following the first Democratic presidential debates. Other eyebrow raising attendees include James O'Keefe..." JFC.
BREAKING: Sexual Assault Allegation Surfaces About Nominee for Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman https://t.co/TwVeZ1vgS9 | @MarcusReports and @KatieBoWill pic.twitter.com/4llcp9jcHf
— Defense One (@DefenseOne) July 10, 2019
Jordan Wilkie at the Guardian: 'A Risk to Democracy': North Carolina Law May Be Violating Secrecy of the Ballot.
North Carolina may be violating state and federal constitutional protections for the secret ballot in the US by tracing some of its citizens' votes.If voters aren't ensured privacy, they may not vote. Which, of course, is the entire point. Because Republicans are a bunch of Democracy Killers.
The situation has arisen because North Carolina has a state law that demands absentee voting — which includes early, in-person voting as well as postal voting — is required to use ballots that can be traced back to the voter.
The laws are in place as a means of guaranteeing that if citizens cast multiple ballots during early voting or that if ineligible residents — like non-citizens or people who have not completed sentences for criminal offenses — cast ballots, those votes can be retrieved and removed.
Likewise, if a voter casts an early ballot then dies before election day, that ballot can then be discounted.
But voting rights advocates think the North Carolina law breaks one of the most sacred tenets of the democratic system: preserving the secrecy of the ballot.
What have you been reading that we need to resist today?
