So, I'm reading this article about how the boxer Oscar De La Hoya is thinking about running for president, and I come to this line in the piece: "Although De La Hoya doesn't have any experience in elected office, that didn't stop Donald Trump from winning the 2016 presidential election."
That's just a real sentence that people get to write now, about literally anyone.
Get to write, have to write, feel obliged to write.
Donald Trump has changed an awful lot about this country and its politics in the last few years, none of those changes any good.
Somewhere at the top of the list, even though it may not seem like one of the most important changes (at least not yet), is the normalization of the idea that the United States presidency is an entry-level job.
It is not.
And one might imagine that Trump's disastrous presidency would have made that abundantly clear by now, but apparently not.
All the Jumping into All the Christmas Trees
Hurricane Florence
from the International Space Station on 9/10. Credit: NASA.
Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for more than a million people in the Carolinas and parts of Virginia as Hurricane Florence heads toward the U.S. east coast. If you are in the areas for which evacuations have been ordered, please heed them for your own safety.
Here is some of the latest news...
John Bacon and Doyle Rice at USA Today: More Than 1 Million to Flee as Hurricane Florence Rips Toward East Coast. "The National Hurricane Center said Florence was expected to slam into the coast around North and South Carolina as a Category 3 or 4 hurricane on Thursday or Friday. The storm's winds had increased to 140 mph by Monday afternoon. The hurricane roared from a Category 1 (90 mph) to a Category 4 (130 mph) in just 13 hours, an extremely rapid intensification, Colorado State University meteorologist Phil Klotzbach said."
Emanuella Grinberg, Kaylee Hartung, and Paul P. Murphy at CNN: Hurricane Florence Prompts Mandatory Evacuations as It Nears Category 5 Strength. "Florence became a hurricane Sunday with sustained winds of at least 74 mph. By Monday morning, the hurricane center classified Florence as a 'major' Category 3 hurricane, with sustained winds of at least 111 mph. It was picking up speed over the Atlantic's warm waters, causing concerns about landfall and flooding from heavy rains afterward, possibly late Thursday or Friday. About an hour after the Category 3 upgrade, the storm was reclassified once again, now as Category 4. That means sustained winds of at least 130 mph and expectations of catastrophic damage, the hurricane center says."
Mark Price at the Charlotte Observer: 'Life-Threatening' Florence Spawns First Hurricane Watches, Could Bring 30" of Rain. "The National Hurricane Center issued its first set of Hurricane and Storm Surge Watches Tuesday for the East Coast as Hurricane Florence continues its trek toward North Carolina. The 'extremely dangerous major hurricane' is predicted to hit the coast late Thursday or early Friday morning, dropping as much as 30 inches of rain in some areas, says the National Hurricane Center. ...A Storm Surge watch means the possibility of 'life-threatening inundation from rising water moving inland' over the next 48 hours. 'Additional watches may be required later today,' said the National Hurricane Center, warning inland areas have as much to worry about as the coast. 'The combination of storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline.'"
Rachel Gutman at the Atlantic: Hurricane Florence Could Be the Worst Storm to Ever Hit North of Florida. "According to Chip Konrad, the director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Southeast Regional Climate Center and an assistant professor of geography at the University of North Carolina, Florence's historic winds are a 'huge threat' to the region, especially in areas that lie farther inland, where trees and infrastructure are less accustomed to violent gusts. In terms of lives lost, though, the biggest danger from Florence is more likely to come from flooding than high winds, Konrad said. ...While Florence is parked [inland], it could unload up to 32 inches of rain onto parts of North Carolina and Virginia, which usually only see around 40 to 50 inches in a given year."
Between the winds, the coastal storm surges, falling trees, damaged infrastructure, flooding, and flash floods, there are so many things that can go wrong here — and that's before the possibility of widespread loss of electricity and/or access to clean water.
I am not a praying person, but I desperately hope that the storm does not meet current expectations; that large-scale evacuations become nothing but an inconvenience that wasn't necessary after all; that everyone here and in other parts of Hurricane Florence's path are safe.
9/11/18
[Content Note: Terrorism; death; war]
Joe Quinn is a U.S. army veteran who deployed twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan. He is also a man whose brother James died on the 102nd floor of the north tower on September 11, 2001.
On its anniversary, he has written a moving piece for the New York Times about his rage, his grief, his abundant love, the things he has learned in the last 17 years, the thing he has realized, and the simple message he has: "End the war."
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker GoldFishy: "What song always make you change the radio station?"
First of all, I adore that Shaker GoldFishy's question refers to the radio, since I still love listening to the radio! (And not even satellite radio, either, which I don't even have, lol.)
Honestly, I can't think of a song that makes me change the station; the thing that makes me change the station is COMMERCIALS, because radio adverts are uniquely obnoxious. I hate them with a passion.
Monday Links!
This list o' links brought to you by a pitcher of cold water.
Recommended Reading:
Hope Wabuke at Dame: [Content Note: Misogynoir] Serena, Kamala, and the Fear of the Outspoken Woman
Georgia Frances King at Quartz: [CN: Discussion of addiction and disordered eating] Bizarre Foods Chef Andrew Zimmern on Getting Sober — and Why Every Man Should Go Through Therapy
Que-Lam Huynh at Unmargin: [CN: War; torture; death] John McCain Was Never My Hero
Jennifer Ouellette at Ars Technica: Jocelyn Bell Burnell Wins $3 million Prize for Discovering Pulsars
Eliza Khuner at Wired: Why It's So Hard to Be a Working Mom, Even at Facebook
Chelsea Steiner at the Mary Sue: Michael B. Jordan and Warner Bros. Announce Huge Diversity and Inclusion Initiative
Maddie Stone at Earther: Three Freaky New Fish Species Discovered in One of the World's Deepest Trenches
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
What I'm Reading Now
A thread for sharing what we're currently reading: Fiction, nonfiction, novels, short stories, historical fiction, biographies, romance, fanfic, comic books, graphic novels, longform journalism, research papers, stuff for pleasure, stuff for work, whatever.
Honestly, I'm still reading the same thing I was last time — Trade Me by Courtney Milan — because I haven't had much time for leisure reading lately. It's sitting on my nightstand, but I've been staying up too late and falling asleep the moment my head finally hits the pillow!
What are you reading now?
Congratulations, John Legend!
Last night, John Legend — one of my faves, and I know I'm not the only one around here! — was awarded an Emmy for his work on Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, making him the first Black man to join the rarified ranks of EGOT winners: People who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award. WOOT!
Legend got awarded the Creative Arts Emmy as an executive producer of Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert alongside his production partners Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, which meant that all three of them simultaneously got the EGOT achievement. What a night!
Daily Dose of Cute
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
We Resist: Day 599
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.
* * *
Earlier today by me: Mike Pence Makes His Move and Bolton to Deliver Provocative Speech Challenging Legitimacy of the International Criminal Court and I Have a Question.
Here are some more things in the news today...
"Florence is the biggest threat in the Atlantic right now, but it's hardly the only storm. The tropics have gone wild, with three hurricanes spinning at the same time, [seen] in satellite imagery captured as the sun rose on the Atlantic Monday morning." https://t.co/FhsWij6iBf
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) September 10, 2018
Renee Duff at AccuWeather: Strengthening Florence to Pose Serious Threat to U.S. East Coast Later This Week. "All interests along the coasts of the Southeast and mid-Atlantic are being put on alert for a potential strike from Hurricane Florence during the second half of the week. ...States of emergency have been declared in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia due to possible impacts from the storm. ...'Residents and interests living along and near the Carolina coast and even up toward the Virginia Capes should closely monitor Florence and be ready to put their hurricane plan in place,' [AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski] said. 'If you do not have a hurricane plan in place, do so immediately.' People should also pay close attention to and take the advice of local officials for their given area."
In other words, Hurricane Florence is going to be a doozy. Not that the president gives a single fuck, apparently.
One of the most potentially devastating hurricanes in history threatens the entire mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
— Leah McElrath (@leahmcelrath) September 10, 2018
Trump woke up and has tweeted/retweeted 14 times in the past hour - all about himself.#UNFIT
We are not being governed. Look out for each other. ♥
* * *
[Content Note: Nativism; trauma] Stephanie Griffith at ThinkProgress: Migrant Families File Lawsuit over Emotional Trauma from Trump's 'Zero Tolerance' Policy. "Migrant families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border under [Donald] Trump's 'zero tolerance' policy have suffered 'life-altering' emotional trauma, according to a lawsuit demanding that the government provide counseling for those affected. The federal class action lawsuit...seeks to create a fund that will pay for therapy for some 2,000 traumatized children who were ripped away from their parents. ...The head of the American Academy of Pediatrics told CNN in June that the family separation policy, which the Trump administration has since abandoned, amounts to 'nothing less than government-sanctioned child abuse.'"
Allegra Kirkland at TPM: Feds Investigating Trump Org Execs for Possible Campaign Finance Crimes. "Federal prosecutors are reportedly investigating whether senior executives at the Trump Organization violated campaign finance laws to silence women who claimed to have carried out extramarital affairs with [Donald] Trump. Bloomberg confirmed for the first time Friday that the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office probe extends beyond Trump's former fixer Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and other financial crimes in late August. A source told Bloomberg that prosecutors are looking into two senior Trump Organization officials mentioned in Cohen's indictment as approving the hush money transactions, as well as anyone else at the company who may have been aware of these activities."
Emily Goldberg at Politico: Trump Says He'll 'Write the Real Book' to Counter Woodward's. "[Donald] Trump promised Monday that he would 'write the real book' to set the record straight on his administration, once again lashing out against veteran Washington reporter Bob Woodward, whose incendiary book about the Trump White House will be released this week. 'The Woodward book is a Joke — just another assault against me, in a barrage of assaults, using now disproven unnamed and anonymous sources. Many have already come forward to say the quotes by them, like the book, are fiction,' Trump tweeted on Monday morning. 'Dems can't stand losing. I'll write the real book!'" By which he presumably means he'd pay someone else to write the book so he doesn't have to actually do any work or risk his golfing or tweeting time. And then he'll just slap his name on it.
David Leonhardt at the New York Times: The Urgent Question of Trump and Money Laundering. "He could make his life easier if only he treated Vladimir Putin the way he treats most people who cause problems — and cast Putin aside. Yet Trump can't bring himself to do so. This odd refusal is arguably the biggest reason to believe that Putin really does have leverage over Trump. Maybe it's something shocking, like a sex tape or evidence of campaign collusion by Trump himself. Or maybe it's the scandal that's been staring us in the face all along: Illicit financial dealings — money laundering — between Trump's business and Russia." GEE MAYBE! Just to be clear, this item is dated September 9, 2018 — not, say, three years ago — and it really does have "urgent" in its title. For real.
* * *
Thread. And another reminder that @Shaker_aphra is the best researcher of vintage Bernie, bar none. https://t.co/D8UUygkCpd
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) September 10, 2018
[CN: Racism] Jamilah King at Mother Jones: Trump Renews Attacks on Kneeling Players as NFL Opts Not to Punish Them. "As the 2018 football season kicks off, the NFL has opted not to punish players who kneel during the national anthem. But that's not stopping [Donald] Trump from attacking players who don't stand during the anthem. On Sunday, Trump lobbed his latest Twitter tirade, writing, 'If the players stood proudly for our Flag and Anthem, and it is all shown on broadcast, maybe ratings would come back?' ...Just before this season kicked off, Nike, the NFL's official sponsor and a longtime marketer of rebellion against authority, announced that Kaepernick is the new face of its 30th-anniversary Just Do It ad campaign with the tag line 'Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything.' Sales jumped 31 percent."
[CN: Class warfare] Josh Israel at ThinkProgress: After Blowing Up the Deficit with Tax Cuts, These Republicans Want Credit for Fiscal Responsibility. "A ThinkProgress review of House Republicans running for re-election in districts deemed competitive by the Cook Political Report found 18 of them explicitly call for a constitutional amendment to require a balanced budget on their current campaign re-election websites, yet also voted for massive Trump tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy. The plan is predicted cost the government more than $1 trillion in revenue, massively increasing the current budget deficit. Thirteen of those lawmakers also voted for the 2018 omnibus spending bill, which cost another $1.3 trillion. Combined, these helped swell the annual federal budget deficit (which was $584 billion in Fiscal Year 2016) to an estimated $1 trillion starting next year."
[CN: Class warfare] Kelly Weill at the Daily Beast: Amazon Is Worth $1 Trillion; Its Workers Are on Food Stamps. "Jeff Bezos's tech giant is the second U.S. company to be worth thirteen-digits on the stock market, following Apple, which hit $1 trillion in August. That's all well and good for Bezos, whose net worth exceeds $150 billion. But workers at the growing network of Amazon-owned companies say they aren't seeing the money... Two years after Amazon opened fulfilment centers in Ohio in 2015, approximately one in ten of its Ohio employees appeared to be receiving public assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits program, The Daily Beast previously reported. SNAP benefits are available to individuals and families living below the poverty line."
[CN: Environmental harm] Rosa Furneaux with photography by Steven Rubin at Mother Jones: Haunting Poems and Photos from a State Torn by Fracking. "[Julia Spicher Kasdorf] grew up in central Pennsylvania surrounded by dairy farms. She'd seen the way coal mining had ravaged the state's southwest, but this destruction was new. Determined to keep an open mind, she began seeking out stories from people affected by fracking. Her curiosity turned into a six-year project and a collaboration with documentary photographer Steven Rubin that culminated in their recent book, Shale Play: Poems and Photographs from the Fracking Fields. ...Roughly 50 new wells were drilled in Pennsylvania every month last year, according to industry analyst Imre Kugler. ...Despite the power of the fracking industry and the damage already done to Pennsylvania's rural landscape and communities, Kasdorf remains optimistic. 'I don't want people to feel defeated,' she says. 'There was a kind of ferocity and resilience in the people I met, who were fighting with whatever tools they had to try and get to the bottom of things, often against great odds.'"
* * *
"There is a bitter fight going on right now for middle-aged douchey white men to regain power and control and that is going on at all levels of society." https://t.co/6wj9IRlpXr
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) September 10, 2018
[CN: Sexual assault] Aparna Nancherla at the New York Times: Who Gets a Second Chance? "What about the victims' second chances? To argue that their talent must not match that of Louis C.K. or they would have gotten farther at this point in their careers, is missing the point. His actions affected their careers. To think the entertainment industry is fair or just or chiefly merit-based is assuming it operates by different rules from the rest of world. The burden placed on victims will always far outweigh those placed on predators. ...Imagine trying to voice your dissent when it's your entire career on the line. The women who came forward as victims of Louis C.K. had nothing to gain except to be bullied, ridiculed, and insulted. Do they get a second chance?"
[CN: Sexual assault] Matthew Dessem at Slate: Olivia Munn Spoke Out About a Registered Sex Offender Being Cast in The Predator, So Her Co-Stars Let Her Handle the Press All by Herself.
On Thursday, news broke that Twentieth Century Fox had cut a scene from Shane Black's upcoming film The Predator after being informed that one of the actors it featured, Steven Wilder Striegel, was a registered sex offender who'd served six months in prison after pleading guilty to sending sexually charged emails to a 14-year-old girl. Striegel's past was brought to the studio's attention by actress Olivia Munn, who appeared with him in the scene and objected to not being told about his past before working with him. In a statement, Fox said it was unaware of his record until Munn brought it to their attention. But director and screenwriter Shane Black, a longtime friend of Striegel who also cast him in Iron Man 3 and The Nice Guys, knew about Striegel's legal problems and said nothing to the cast, which Munn said she found "surprising and unsettling." The scene was cut within 24 hours of Munn speaking to Fox...Fuck that.
...Then Munn's co-stars bailed on scheduled interviews with the Hollywood Reporter Saturday (except Jacob Tremblay, who is 11 years old), leaving her to talk about the situation all by herself. "It's a very lonely feeling to be sitting here by myself when I should be here with the rest of the cast," Munn said, in response to a question premised on the idea that her co-workers were being supportive. In fact, as she made clear, director Shane Black hadn't spoken to her personally about the situation, and other people have been snubbing her.
What have you been reading that we need to resist today?
I Have a Question
[Content Note: Sexual harassment and assault; misogynoir; rape apologia; victim-blaming.]
Do you think the Venn diagram of motherfuckers who are disgracing themselves by defending Les Moonves and the shitwheels who are embarrassing themselves by trash-talking Serena Williams is a perfect goddamned circle?
That's a rhetorical question.
Please feel free to discuss both stories in comments.
Bolton to Deliver Provocative Speech Challenging Legitimacy of the International Criminal Court
Holy shit, folks. The centerpiece of the Trump Regime's foreign policy has been provocation, and here we go again. There are legitimate criticisms of the International Criminal Court to be made, but this is far beyond anything that resembles voicing valid concerns about the ICC.
Missy Ryan and Anne Gearan at the Washington Post: White House Expected to Warn of Sanctions, Other Penalties If International Court Moves Against Americans.
The United States will threaten Monday to punish individuals that cooperate with the International Criminal Court in a potential investigation of U.S. wartime actions in Afghanistan, according to people familiar with the decision.Correct. Which of course is the entire objective. Creating the impression that the U.S. is a bully and a hegemon isn't a bug; it's a feature.
The Trump administration is also expected to announce that it is shutting down a Palestinian diplomatic office in Washington because Palestinians have sought to use the international court to prosecute U.S. ally Israel, those people said.
White House national security adviser John Bolton is expected to outline threats of sanctions and a ban on travel to the United States for people involved in the attempted prosecution of Americans before the international court in an address Monday.
Bolton is a longtime opponent of the court on grounds that it violates national sovereignty.
The speech, titled "Protecting American Constitutionalism and Sovereignty from International Threats," is Bolton's first formal address since joining the administration in April. It is sponsored by the Federalist Society, a conservative and libertarian policy group.
Bolton is expected to outline a new campaign to challenge the court's legitimacy as it considers cases that could put the United States and close allies in jeopardy for the first time, according to individuals familiar with the planned remarks who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to do so on the record.
Bolton is likely to lay out American opposition to the court and propose measures including new agreements to shield U.S. personnel from international prosecution and the threat of sanctions or travel restrictions for people involved in prosecuting Americans.
...Stephen Pomper, who worked on issues related to the ICC in the Obama administration, said an attempt to weaken the court would exacerbate strains between the United States and allies in Europe and elsewhere who were supporters of the court.
"It's going to create friction that's not necessary, and it's going to create the impression the United States is a bully and a hegemon," said Pomper, who now is U.S. program director at the International Crisis Group.
This is the whole reason Bolton was hired as National Security Advisor. He's been advocating to formalize the United States' objections to the ICC since he was part of the Bush II administration. And now he's got the boss who's reckless enough to let him go whole hog.
Yikes.
Mike Pence Makes His Move
Mike Pence has been making moves to leverage Donald Trump's corruption into a Pence presidency since the moment Paul Manafort plucked him from his losing gubernatorial reelection bid in Indiana. But as some powerful Republicans signal that they have no more use for Trump's theatrics, Pence took a bold step this weekend, indicating that he is cooperating with Special Counsel Bob Mueller's investigation.
As I've noted many times previously, there has been no public disclosure about Pence working with Mueller, so the fact that Pence casually offered up this piece of information during the Sunday political news shows is significant.
Vice President Mike Pence said he would sit down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller if asked.A couple of observations:
"I would. I would be more than willing to continue to provide any and all support in that," Pence said in an interview that aired Sunday on CBS' Face the Nation. "And we have outside counsel that will advise me accordingly."
..."He has not" asked for an interview, Pence said. "Although we've provided any and all information, and we'll continue to do that."
1. Pence is usually extremely cagey and does not volunteer extraneous information. He could have simply responded that he would be willing to sit down for an interview if asked, and that he has not been asked. But he additionally volunteered the information that he's been cooperating and that he will continue to cooperate. That sends a couple of important messages about which side he's on, in Trump vs. the traitors in his administration.
2. It's shocking that Mueller still has not asked Pence for an interview, given that Pence is not only the vice-president, but led the presidential transition, during which many of the things being investigated took place. That suggests either Mueller is totally incompetent — or Pence has freely given Mueller any- and everything he needs without necessitating a formal interview request.
3. I noted back in January that I thought Pence had long been cooperating secretly with federal investigators:
My speculative theory is that Pence, once he came aboard the Trump campaign, immediately saw evidence of their poorly concealed collusion with Russia and knew they would not get away with it. He also, however, knew that if he quit the campaign, his presidential ambitions were dead in the water. (Remember, he was about to lose the governorship in Indiana.) But he knew if he stayed with the campaign, he could go down with the rest of the rats.Nine months ago, that may have seemed like a wildly far-fetched supposition. I daresay it does not look remotely so far-fetched anymore, based on the vice president's own words.
So he decided to play both hands: Be Trump's running mate, and be Trump's betrayer. Trump would win unscathed, and take Pence one step closer to the presidency, or Trump would win (or lose) and find himself in the middle of an investigation, and Pence would feed the feds what they needed and take himself one step closer to the presidency.
If it were Pence, that would explain why there has been absolutely no indication that Bob Mueller is investigating Pence, and why Pence doesn't get but a passing mention in Michael Wolff's book.
Pence is not a patriot. He's just wildly ambitious — and undiluted conniving evil.
A guy who would do anything to be president. Including being Trump's veep. And possibly his foil.
4. I have the same problem with Pence's machinations here as I do with the rest of the White House officials participating in Bob Woodward's book and announcing their coup in the New York Times and various other anti-democratic power plays.
Pence is an illiberal, authoritarian snake who isn't "resisting" Trump and participating with Mueller's investigation because he cares about this nation or its democratic institutions; it's because he cares about his own personal ambitions for the presidency more than anything else on the planet.
It's because he would like to be the one behind whom the Republican Party completes the consolidation of its power.
5. This was a very public betrayal of Donald Trump. For Pence to come out from behind his mask so brazenly and abruptly will surely shock Trump, because his colossal ego mistook Pence's gross obsequiousness for genuine loyalty.
Pence knew that. It was a move designed to jar Trump and isolate him even further. That will weaken Trump — which is good for these traitors, but terrible for everyone else, whose safety hangs in the balance as Trump becomes increasingly unstable as he's backed into a corner.
That tells you everything you need to know about Mike Pence, frankly. This disclosure was designed to do maximum damage to Trump, with zero regard for how rocking him might roil the rest of us.
The Virtual Pub Is Open
Belly up to the bar,
and be in this space together.
(And please don't forget to tip your bartender!)
Friday Links!
This list o' links brought to you by animation.
Recommended Reading:
Lisa Graves at Slate: I Wrote Some of the Stolen Memos That Brett Kavanaugh Lied to the Senate About: He Should Be Impeached, Not Elevated
Valerie Wilson and Elise Gould at the Economic Policy Institute: What to Watch for in the 2017 Census Data on Earnings, Incomes, and Poverty
Yessenia Funes at Earther: Civil Liberties Group Raises Concerns over Potential Surveillance of Pipeline Protestors
Mackenzie Graham at Nautilus: [Content Note: Discussion of end-of-life decisions] The Ethics of Consciousness Hunting
Angry Asian Man at AAM: This NICU Nurse Cared for Him as a Preemie; Now He's a Doctor at the Same Hospital
Katherine Miller at BuzzFeed: Nike Is the Capitalist God of Destruction
Roxana Hadadi at Pajiba: [CN: Descriptions of racism and violence] Review: There's No Sydney Bristow in Peppermint, Just Jennifer Garner Pushing a Conservative Agenda
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
I Am (Still) Very Worried About the Midterms
[Previously: I Am Very Worried About the Midterms.]
I am still very worried about the midterms.
And I don't understand how Democratic politicians telling people that the most important thing we can do is vote, as if we are going to have a free and fair election, is helpful.
Truthfully, I don't even know how to process the fact that everyone who knows damn well, who knows best, that we are not going to have free and fair elections in November, are all, all, pretending otherwise.
Of all the motherfucking gaslighting that has happened since November 2016, this is the worst bit for me.
Not a single public official has addressed, for instance, the possibility that the midterms will be used by Russia to undermine the demonstrable fact of their meddling in the 2016 election to the benefit of the GOP, by traceably hacking one or more Democratic seats.
The most devastating bothsiderism of all time hovers like a sinister specter over the elections in November. And no one will even talk about it.
And I'm called a hysteric and accused of disillusioning people when I try.
I suspect, ahem, that a second election catastrophically compromised because we didn't take seriously the looming threats and have urgent public conversations about how to prevent them will do more to disillusion people than I ever could.
But what do I know.
Daily Dose of Cute
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
We Resist: Day 596
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.
* * *
Earlier today by me: Kavanaugh Open Thread and Queen of Cassandras: Hillary Clinton and Mitch McConnell Is Unintentionally Honest.
Here are some more things in the news today...
#BrettKavanaugh "has misled the Senate at least four times, and the censored emails have been withheld not because of national security or executive privilege, but, at least in part, because they make Kavanaugh look bad." https://t.co/2QJjrb3LMQ
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) September 7, 2018
In Wednesday's We Resist thread, I shared an item about an Emirates airplane being quarantined at JFK Airport after dozens of passengers became ill on the flight. Two additional flights were quarantined after arriving in Philadelphia:
All passengers were later released after being checked by health officials, CBP said in a statement. None were taken to hospitals.So, although it sounds scary, it's likely just a fairly routine contagion from lots of human beings in close quarters: "Outbreaks of flu and respiratory illness are common among the millions who gather for hajj."
The passengers reported sore throat, cough and none were identified with fever, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman Benjamin Haynes. CDC officers, working with local responders, checked the travelers for influenza and other respiratory illnesses.
"None of the passengers are severely ill, and they will be released and informed of test results in 24 hours," Haynes said in a statement. "Passengers from the two flights who were not ill continued with their travel plans."
Some 250 people in both planes were "held for a medical review," as a precaution, according to a statement from Philadelphia International Airport.
Officials on Wednesday quarantined more than 500 passengers and crew on Emirates Airlines 203 flight that landed at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport. At least 19 passengers from that flight were confirmed as sick, with symptoms including fever, coughs, and vomiting. Tests confirmed influenza among some of those travelers.
In both the Kennedy Airport and Philadelphia cases, passengers had recently traveled to Mecca for the hajj.
In more alarming news...
"Alaska-based stealth fighters have made their second intercept this year of Russian bombers near the state, as defense officials emphasize that the aircraft never entered U.S. airspace. ...[T]he bombers were accompanied by one or more refueling tankers." https://t.co/fX50xjHTAT
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) September 7, 2018
I'll note that, without knowing the exact location, these bombers could have been investigating the Canadian coast.
* * *
Lachlan Markay, Asawin Suebsaeng, Spencer Ackerman, and Erin Banco at the Daily Beast: 'We See Ourselves as Rebels': Trump's Internal Resistance [Sic] Celebrates. "'If there are senior people in leadership positions and these are their observations and feelings, then their efforts can't just stop at the op-ed or move to mitigate the president here and there. They need to take steps that are more bold,' said a State Department official who was not cleared to talk to journalists. 'Publicly resign, en masse.' Without mass resignations, the official considered the op-ed little more than reputational insurance. 'Folks have been looking to pay premiums on that policy for a while now. Anyone from the outside can see how dysfunctional it is, and you're complicit' as a political appointee, the official continued." Yup.
Also: As long as they stay working within the administration, every single horrible thing that Trump does now gets filtered through the prism of questioning whether it was one of the things they support, or one of the things they supposedly tried to stop but failed. Are they really unable to stop Trump's ongoing and escalating war on the press, for example, or are they actually okay with it?
Aaron Blake at the Washington Post: Trump Crosses a New Threshold for Anti-Media Rhetoric, Jokingly Praising a Congressman for Assaulting a Reporter. "Trump on Thursday night ratcheted up his not-so-veiled attacks on the media, making light of an assault perpetrated by a Republican member of Congress on a journalist and suggesting it was done on behalf of his state. At a rally in Billings, Mont., Trump ran through the state's GOP elected officials before landing upon Rep. Greg Gianforte. 'I'll tell you what: This man has fought — in more ways than one — for your state. He has fought for your state,' Trump said. 'Greg Gianforte. He is a fighter and a winner.' It's possible the White House will try to offer an alternate explanation for Trump's comments. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, for instance, has repeatedly said Trump never 'promoted or encouraged violence' — despite clear, objective evidence to the contrary."
Also from the same rally:
I guess this is the risk you take when you have to pay people to pretend to be your supporters, lol. https://t.co/Nt0ooqDD6N
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) September 7, 2018
The serious part of the dais jokester, however, is this: Selection of who gets seated behind the candidate is generally a problematic tradition, but it's typically justified with securing safety for the candidate, to which there's obviously some truth. And it's troubling that the Trump Regime clearly isn't doing good vetting of people who will be that close to the president.
The country would explode if something happened to Trump live during a rally. And his security team appears to be failing to adequately prevent that.
Which should make all of us wonder: Are the security staff part of the "White House Resistance" and deliberately letting things slide? How can we even know the answer to that question, even if we're reassured it isn't the case? After all, the anonymous official disclosed they are willing to lie to "protect the country," and we're supposed to just trust them that whatever that means to them will mean the same thing to us.
I hope you're beginning to see, if you didn't already, the many problems with the "White House Resistance."
Again: It's a fucking coup.
* * *
Nicole Lafond at TPM: Papadopoulos Sentencing Coming Friday After Weeks of Waffling over Plea Deal. "George Papadopoulos, a former [Donald] Trump campaign adviser, will be sentenced for lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia on Friday, after pleading guilty to the charge nearly a year ago. The sentencing will be significant for special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russia interference in the 2016 election, as Papadopoulos was the first person associated with Trump to agree to cooperate with the investigation, a move he recently was reconsidering."
[Content Note: White privilege] Jason Johnson at the Root: With Great Power Comes...Less Responsibility? How New DNC Rules Hurt a New Generation of Black Officials. "I'm sure Bernie Sanders and his supporters, some of whom are African American, don't see the weakening of superdelegates as check on black power. I'm sure they think these new rules make the Democratic primary fairer and — by extension — more democratic. But that's usually how race and power work. It's not about intentions. It's about consequences. And as a consequence of these rules, intended or not, black elected officials will have less say in 2020 than at any point in party history."
Democrats grilling Judge Brett Kavanaugh may be using his confirmation hearings as an audition for president in 2020 https://t.co/n4yQqtUwkW
— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 7, 2018
I'm sorry, are we supposed to judge negatively a person who demonstrates patriotism as a bid for the presidency, especially in this particular moment? Oh.
* * *
[CN: Police violence; death; racism; video may autoplay at link] Erik Ortiz and Jareen Imam at NBC News: Dallas Officer Enters Apartment She Mistakes for Her Own, Fatally Shoots Man Inside. "A Dallas man was killed late Thursday when a police officer returning home from her shift entered the wrong apartment in her building and eventually opened fire, authorities said. Details surrounding the death of Botham Shem Jean, a 26-year-old native of the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, were not immediately available early Friday. His mother, Allie Jean, said in a phone interview that his family was stunned to learn of his death. 'He did no one any wrong,' she said. Dallas police in a statement said that preliminary information suggests the officer involved called for help, and told responding officers that 'she entered the victim's apartment believing that it was her own.'"
[CN: Police violence; misogynoir; child abuse] Casey Quinlan at ThinkProgress: Ohio Cop Faces Pre-Disciplinary Hearing After Tasering 11-Year-Old Girl at Grocery Store. "A Cincinnati police officer who used a Taser on an 11-year-old Black girl at a grocery store last month was placed on restricted duty and will face a pre-disciplinary hearing. Although the Cincinnati Police Department says officers are allowed to use a Taser on children over the age of 7 and adults under the age of 70, an internal review found that Officer Kevin Brown violated the department's use of force policy in using the Taser. ...The officer was doing off-duty security work at a Kroger's grocery store when he spotted the girl, Donesha Gowdy, attempting to leave with her friends. The officer said that he asked her to stop and she ignored him. Gowdy told NBC News that she was not 'aggressive' to the officer and did not try to fight him. Again, she is 11 years old."
[CN: Guns; racism; images of weapons at link] Kate Way at Mother Jones: A Firsthand Look at Teachers Training to Pack Heat. "So far, the majority of school districts that have said they are arming teachers have been in largely rural, mostly white communities. Yet schools serving low-income, black and brown students may feel the weight of misguided responses to school shootings. Since the Columbine shooting in 1999, concerns about school safety have often been met with an increase in police presence, metal detectors, and surveillance cameras, particularly in urban schools. The disproportionate effect of these security measures on students of color has been well documented. So far, the Trump administration's approach to mass school shootings would continue this trend."
[CN: Rape culture]
Wow this fucking guy. "Former CBS anchor Charlie Rose filed a motion Friday to dismiss a sexual harassment lawsuit brought against him, claiming the three plaintiffs are 'exploiting the #MeToo Movement.'" https://t.co/tndHGWvHPg
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) September 7, 2018
What have you been reading that we need to resist today?
Mitch McConnell Is Unintentionally Honest
"McConnell characterized Booker's actions as 'unusual behavior' and said it 'wouldn’t surprise me' if it draws the attention of the Ethics Committee."
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) September 7, 2018
I'm sure patriotism does look unusual to Mitch McConnell. https://t.co/GkHX8AYYQk
Which is to say nothing of the fact that of course the Ethics Committee would in this moment preoccupy itself with investigating Senator Cory Booker's patriotism. It's not like there's any corruption among Senate Republicans or anything.
Cough.
