The Commentariat -- June 3, 2020
Afternoon Update:
Rebecca Kheel of the Hill: "White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany sidestepped questions Wednesday on whether President Trump still has confidence in Defense Secretary Mark Esper after the Pentagon chief publicly broke with Trump on using active-duty troops to quell nationwide protests. 'With regard to whether the president has confidence, I would say if he loses confidence in Secretary Esper, I'm sure you all will be the first to know,' McEnany told reporters at a White House press briefing. Pressed again..., McEnany replied that 'as of right now, Secretary Esper is still Secretary Esper. And should the president lose faith, we will all learn about that in the future.' McEnany gave a similar response when asked about Trump's confidence in FBI Director Christopher Wray, who has come under increasing fire from Republicans who feel he has not been willing to make changes to the agency after an internal watchdog report found errors in surveillance warrant applications." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: MacInaney's responses are stupid. If the answer is not a clear "yes" or "no," why not, "I cannot give you any information on that at this time. Next question"? Sleight of speech is not appropriate coming from the President*'s press secretary. As for Esper, when he disagreed with Trump on calling out the Army to forcibly repress Americans & their local representatives, he should have tendered his resignation. This is not a small quibble.
Cristina Marcos of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday joined a crowd of demonstrators outside the Capitol protesting police brutality toward black Americans following the death of George Floyd.... Pelosi wore a mask and was accompanied by her usual entourage of staff and members of her security detail while walking through the crowd.... Pelosi's show of solidarity with the protesters comes as House Democrats weigh legislative options for responding to the public outrage over the recent string of deaths of unarmed black Americans."
Josh Campbell, et al., of CNN: "The former Minneapolis Police officer who pressed his knee into George Floyd's neck was charged with second-degree murder and the three other officers on scene during his killing are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder, according to court documents. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's official announcement of the charges is expected to come Wednesday afternoon, more than a week after Floyd was killed while in police custody in Minneapolis, sparking nationwide protests that call for the end to police violence against black citizens. The three other officers on scene, Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng, are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter."
Your Afternoon Chuckle. Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump on Wednesday denied that he was rushed to an underground bunker at the White House as protests grew violent on Friday evening, claiming he only visited the space briefly during the day. 'It was a false report,' Trump told Fox News' Brian Kilmeade during a radio interview Wednesday morning, insisting that he went down to the bunker to 'inspect' it during the daytime and not during the protests at night. 'I went down during the day and I was there for a tiny, little, short period of time and it was much more for inspection,' Trump said. 'These problems are during the night, not during the day.'"
Zuck Is Almost as Bad as Trump. Shirin Ghaffary of Recode in Vox: "In an internal video call with Facebook employees on Tuesday obtained by Recode, CEO Mark Zuckerberg doubled down on his controversial decision to take no action on a post last week from ... Donald Trump. In the post, Trump referred to the ongoing protests in the US against racism and police brutality and said, 'when the looting starts, the shooting starts.'... 'We basically concluded after the research and after everything I've read and all the different folks that I've talked to that the reference is clearly to aggressive policing -- maybe excessive policing -- but it has no history of being read as a dog whistle for vigilante supporters to take justice into their own hands,' Zuckerberg said on the call." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: That's not the point. Trump is threatening to order or sanction police to shoot looters and suspected looters, people who have not even been charged with crimes. That's not a "dog whistle" to armed citizens; it's a direct threat to the lives of American residents. Stealing a TV is a crime. It is not a crime punishable by death. Yes, Zuck, murdering robbers would be "excessive policing." "Everything you've read" apparently isn't on point.
Esper Grows Up (or Some). Zeke Miller, et al., of the AP: "Breaking with ... Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday he opposes using military forces for law enforcement in containing current street protests. Esper said the Insurrection Act, which would allow Trump to use active-duty military for law enforcement in containing street protests, should be invoked in the United States 'only in the most urgent and dire of situations.' He declared, 'We are not in one of those situations now.'... Just before Esper spoke, Trump took credit for a massive deployment of National Guard troops and federal law enforcement officers to the nation's capital, saying it offered a model to states on how to stop violence accompanying some protests nationwide. Trump argued that the massive show of force was responsible for protests in Washington and other cities turning more calm in recent days and repeated his criticism of governors who have not deployed their National Guard to the fullest. 'You have to have a dominant force,' Trump told Fox New Radio on Wednesday. 'We need law and order.... You notice that all of these places that have problems, they're ... run by liberal Democrats.'... But interest in exerting ... extraordinary federal authority appeared to be waning in the White House. ~~~
~~~ [Affix Bayonets!] "The soldiers on standby in the Washington area are armed and have riot gear and bayonets. After the AP first reported the issuing of bayonets Tuesday, orders came down that soldiers would not need the knife-like weapons that can be affixed to rifles, according to two soldiers from the 82nd.... The idea that bayonets could be used in confronting civilians provoked an outcry on social media and among some members of Congress." ~~~
~~~ Axios: "The combination of [Esper's] interview [with NBC News, linked below,] plus Wednesday's press conference -- in which he undercut the president -- has the Secretary of Defense in precarious standing with the White House."
Greg Miller of the Washington Post: "In interviews and posts on social media in recent days, current and former U.S. intelligence officials have expressed dismay at the similarity between events at home and the signs of decline or democratic regression they were trained to detect in other nations.... 'It reminded me of what I reported on for years in the third world,' [Marc] Polymeropoulos[, who once ran CIA operations in Europe and Asia,] said on Twitter. Referring to the despotic leaders of Iraq, Syria and Libya, he said: 'Saddam. Bashar. Qaddafi. They all did this.'"
New York. AP: "New York City police officers surrounded, shoved and yelled expletives at two Associated Press journalists covering protests Tuesday in the latest aggression against members of the media during a week of unrest around the country. Portions of the incident were captured on video by videojournalist Robert Bumsted, who was working with photographer Maye-E Wong to document the protests in lower Manhattan over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The video shows more than a half-dozen officers confronting the journalists as they filmed and took photographs of police ordering protesters to leave the area near Fulton and Broadway shortly after an 8 p.m. curfew took effect. An officer, using an expletive, orders them to go home. Bumsted is heard on video explaining the press are considered 'essential workers' and are allowed to be on the streets. An officer responds 'I don't give a s---.' Another tells Bumsted 'get the f--- out of here you piece of s---.' Bumsted and Wong said officers shoved them, separating them from each other and pushing them toward Bumsted's car, which was parked nearby. At one point Bumsted said he was pinned against his car.... Both journalists were wearing AP identification and identified themselves as media."
** Eric Lipton, et al., of the New York Times: "The C.D.C. Waited 'Its Entire Existence for This Moment.' What Went Wrong?... The C.D.C., long considered the world's premier health agency, made early testing mistakes that contributed to a cascade of problems that persist today as the country tries to reopen. It failed to provide timely counts of infections and deaths, hindered by aging technology and a fractured public health reporting system. And it hesitated in absorbing the lessons of other countries, including the perils of silent carriers spreading the infection. The agency struggled to calibrate its own imperative to be cautious and the need to move fast as the coronavirus ravaged the country, according to a review of thousands of emails and interviews with more than 100 state and federal officials, public health experts, C.D.C. employees and medical workers.... Even as the virus tested the C.D.C.'s capacity to respond, the agency and its director, Dr. Robert R. Redfield, faced unprecedented challenges from President Trump, who repeatedly wished away the pandemic."
Julie Bosman & Amy Harmon of the New York Times: "In the last week, the United States has abruptly shifted from one crippling crisis to the next.... Suddenly America no longer looks like a nation cooped up at home. The demonstrations have spurred fears that they could cause a deadly resurgence of the coronavirus. And for those sympathetic to a growing movement, deciding whether to attend protests has been complicated: Some people have avoided them entirely, reasoning that the chance of contracting the coronavirus in a crowd is too high. Others have joined despite the risks. 'The police violence against black people -- that's a pandemic, too,' said Kelli Ann Thomas, a community organizer who joined protests in Miami.... Health experts know that the virus is far less likely to be spread outdoors than indoors. And masks reduce the chance of infected people transmitting the respiratory droplets that contain the virus. But many uncertainties remain. Yelling, shouting and singing can increase how far those droplets are projected. Crowds and the length of time an uninfected person is near someone who is infected also increase the risk of transmission."
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Tuesday's New York Times' live updates of events related to protests against police brutality are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Tuesday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Katie Glueck of the New York Times: "Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Tuesday excoriated President Trump's stewardship of a nation convulsed in crisis over issues of racism and police brutality, promising action to confront those matters and work to foster national unity if he is elected president. Traveling to Philadelphia from his home in Wilmington, Del., to address the civil unrest convulsing the nation, Mr. Biden ... [said,] 'I won't traffic in fear and division. I won't fan the flames of hate. I will seek to heal the racial wounds that have long plagued this country -- not use them for political gain." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: "Former president George W. Bush addressed the nationwide protests in a solemn yet hopeful statement Tuesday, commending the Americans demonstrating against racial injustice and criticizing those who try to silence them. Bush closed his statement, which came a day after peaceful protesters were cleared by force to make way for President Trump to come outside, by pointing to a 'better way.' 'There is a better way -- the way of empathy, and shared commitment, and bold action, and a peace rooted in justice,' Bush said.... 'I am confident that together, Americans will choose the better way.' Describing himself as 'anguished' by the death of George Floyd..., Bush urged white Americans to seek ways to support, listen and understand black Americans who still face 'disturbing bigotry and exploitation.'" ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE, Donald Trump congratulated himself for ordering "overwhelming force" to effect "domination" over peaceful protesters. ~~~
D.C. had no problems last night. Many arrests. Great job done by all. Overwhelming force. Domination. Likewise, Minneapolis was great (thank you President Trump!). -- Donald Trump, in a tweet this morning
~~~ Zeke Miller, et al., of the AP: "The president wanted to make the aggressive action in the nation's capital -- where he wields disproportionate powers -- an example for the rest of the country, a senior White House official said Tuesday.... The District of Columbia's federal status gives the president outsized authority to act, allowing him to direct the deployment of the National Guard.... Trump reacted to the clearing of the protesters with enthusiasm, pumping his fist at officers in the park.... Trump also ordered military aircraft to fly above Washington on Monday night as a 'show of force,' according to two Defense Department officials.... Trump ... toured a Catholic shrine on Tuesday in his second straight religious-themed appearance after he declared himself to be the' president of law and order.' Washington [Roman Catholic] Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory called it 'reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree.'" ~~~
~~~ Karen Ruiz of the Daily Mail & AP: "President Donald Trump considered using 'tanks' or other armored military vehicles to help restore order in the US after violent protests broke out across the country for a sixth night, defense officials have revealed.... The sources revealed Trump consulted with aides about using military vehicles or 'the kind of hardware' used by the armed forces, to help bring the chaos under control." --s ~~~
As protesters made their way into [Washington, D.C.'s] Chinatown, military helicopters were positioned just above rooftops, sending gusts of dust into the air. A part of a tree fell, nearly hitting passerbys. -- Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times, in a tweet
The New York Times notes the helicopter tactic is a common one in war zones, where it is used to scatter enemy forces. The fact that it was used domestically represents a literal militarization of the police and is exactly the sort of policing tactic protesters hope to end with their demonstrations. -- Sean Collins of Vox ~~~
~~~ Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "... the thwomping blades of military helicopters, including one with Red Cross markings, were part of a low-flying show of force over Washington's streets Monday night -- an incident now under investigation [by the D.C. National Guard].... The decision to use the maneuvers was authorized by the highest levels of that command, the Times reported.... Numerous videos on social media showed an unarmed Lakota medevac helicopter hovering over demonstrators. Its Red Cross markings, visible on the aircraft's belly and side, was flown by the Washington D.C. Army National Guard. Another helicopter snapped tree limbs and sent people scurrying from the deafening roar, the New York Times reported. The use of a helicopter with Red Cross markings was an abuse of global norms that could help erode its neutral symbolism, military justice experts said.... The use of a helicopter's rotor wash, the downward rush of air from its rotors, is a common military tactic to incite fear, disperse crowds and warn of other capabilities, like rockets and guns, said Kyleanne Hunter, a former Marine Corps pilot who flew Cobra attack helicopters in Iraq and Afghanistan." Emphasis added.
Barr Falls on Trump's Sword. Alexander Mallin & Katherine Faulders of ABC News: "Attorney General William Barr personally ordered the expansion of the security perimeter around Lafayette Park Monday just before ... Donald Trump's visit to St. John's Episcopal Church, a senior DOJ official and senior White House official confirmed to ABC News.... When Barr was seen in Lafayette Park late Monday afternoon surveying the crowd prior to the aggressive push by law enforcement to clear the peaceful protesters out of the area, he was "surprised" that they had not yet been cleared out, the officials said.... Officials insisted that the decision was made independent of the president's walk to St. John's.... Officials ... [said] that Barr assumes that 'typical crowd control measures' will be used in the face of resistance from protesters." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ ** Peter Baker, et al., of the New York Times: "... when the history of the Trump presidency is written, the clash at Lafayette Square may be remembered as one of its defining moments.... After a weekend of protests that led all the way to his own front yard and forced him to briefly retreat to a bunker beneath the White House, President Trump arrived in the Oval Office on Monday agitated over the television images, annoyed that anyone would think he was hiding and eager for action. He wanted to send the military into American cities, an idea that provoked a heated, voices-raised fight among his advisers. But by the end of the day, urged on by his daughter Ivanka Trump, he came up with a more personal way of demonstrating toughness -- he would march across Lafayette Square to a church damaged by fire the night before. The only problem: A plan developed earlier in the day to expand the security perimeter around the White House had not been carried out. When Attorney General William P. Barr strode out of the White House gates for a personal inspection early Monday evening, he discovered that protesters were still on the northern edge of the square. For the president to make it to St. John's Church, they would have to be cleared out. Mr. Barr gave the order to disperse them. What ensued was a burst of violence unlike any seen in the shadow of the White House in generations.... [Then] the president emerged from the White House, followed by a phalanx of aides and Secret Service agents as he made his way to the church, where he posed stern-faced, holding up a Bible that his daughter pulled out of her $1,540 MaxMara bag." ~~~
~~~ Among those attacked "by smoke and flash grenades and some form of chemical spray deployed by shield-bearing riot officers and mounted police": clergy members who had gathered on the [St. John's] patio & were passing out snacks & waters to demonstrators. Mrs. McC: This is a fascinating first draft of history: a study of stupidity.
Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump faced withering criticism in the hours after spurring a violent incursion against apparently peaceful protesters for the purposes of staging a political photo opportunity -- provoking rebukes Tuesday from local and state executives, congressional lawmakers, faith leaders and even foreign governments over the extraordinary show of force amid converging national crises."
Erin Banco, et al., of the Daily Beast: "Less than 24 hours after President Trump said he was prepared to send troops into cities across America, senior officials in the Pentagon began to try to distance themselves from those words and from the idea itself, underscoring that not one governor had requested additional military assistance from Defense Secretary Mark Esper.... These Pentagon officials added that it was the White House, not the Defense Department, that was pushing for active military might in the streets.... Three senior Pentagon officials ... said they viewed the secretary's comments [-- 'dominate the battlespace' --] on the call as a way to publicly show support for the president. They did not expect the department to actually implement a plan that would reflect the president's rhetoric and force additional troops upon the states.... Trump has described Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as 'in charge' of the administration's response to the protests, but a senior Pentagon official said Tuesday that Milley merely 'remains an adviser to the president.'... Both Milley and Esper have been slammed for taking part in the photo op." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Just guessing, but I doubt a person who is hit in the eye by a rubber bullet has an immediate concern about whether it was Donald Trump or Mark Esper who ordered the attack. ~~~
~~~ Barbara Starr, et al. of CNN: "Defense officials tell CNN there was deep and growing discomfort among some in the Pentagon even before President Donald Trump announced Monday that he is ready to deploy the military to enforce order inside the United States.... They have tried to respond by making a strong case that the situation does not yet call for deploying active duty troops unless state governors make a clear argument such forces are needed.... There is also discomfort with the civil order mission among some National Guard troops -- more of whom are now mobilized inside the US than at any previous time in history." --s (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Esper & Milley Had No Idea What They Were Doing. Amanda Macias of CNBC: "A senior Defense official told reporters Tuesday that Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and the nation's highest-ranking military officer [-- Joint Chiefs Chair Mark Milley --] did not intend to participate in ... Donald Trump's photo-op in front of St. John's Church, which had been set on fire by protesters the night before.... 'They were not aware that the Park Police and law enforcement had made a decision to clear the square. And once they began that walk off the White House grounds with the president, their understanding was that they were going out of the White House to go into Lafayette Park to review the efforts to address the protests,' said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.... Esper, who has previously said that he would preserve the U.S. military's apolitical nature, entered the frame and stood alongside Trump for the photo-op. Esper and Milley were later seen engaging with National Guard members responding to the civil unrest." Mrs. McC: Should give you confidence in the military's expertise is strategical planning. They can't even manage tactical planning beyond, "If the President* says jump, jump." ~~~
~~~ Update. "I Didn't Know Where I Was Going." Courtney Kube & Carol Lee of NBC News: "Defense Secretary Mark Esper says he was given no notice before ... Donald Trump led him and other senior administration officials to St. John's Episcopal Church for a widely criticized photo opportunity. 'I thought I was going to do two things: to see some damage and to talk to the troops,' Esper said Tuesday night in an exclusive interview with NBC News. Esper said he believed they were going to observe the vandalized bathroom in Lafayette Square.... 'I didn't know where I was going,' Esper said. 'I wanted to see how much damage actually happened.'... In the interview Tuesday night, Esper said he had 'no idea' about the plans to disperse the crowd.... Several former military officials criticized [Joint Chiefs Chair Mark] Milley for appearing on the streets of Washington in combat fatigues amid mass protests. Sources told NBC News that Trump's unannounced walk to the church 'was his idea' because he 'wanted the visual.'" ~~~
~~~ James N. Miller, a former Undersecretary of Defense more recently on the Pentagon's science board, resigned his post on the board. In a letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper, republished in the Washington Post, Miller wrote, "I believe that you violated [your oath of office]. Law-abiding protesters just outside the White House were dispersed using tear gas and rubber bullets -- not for the sake of safety, but to clear a path for a presidential photo op. You then accompanied President Trump in walking from the White House to St. John's Episcopal Church for that photo.... You may not have been able to stop President Trump from directing this appalling use of force, but you could have chosen to oppose it. Instead, you visibly supported it.... Some could interpret literally your suggestion to the nation's governors Monday that they need to 'dominate the battlespace.' I cannot believe that you see the United States as a 'battlespace,' or that you believe our citizens must be 'dominated.' Such language sends an extremely dangerous signal." ~~~
~~~ Claire Gillespie of Health: "During some protests, law enforcement have used rubber bullets (as well as batons, tear gas, and flash grenades) to control crowds.... According to a 2016 report by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations (INCLO), rubber bullets are a type of kinetic impact projectile (KIP) used for crowd-control purposes. They can be solid, spherical or cylindrical, come in a range of sizes, and can be fired as single shots or in groups of multiple projectiles. Sometimes they're made of plastic or PVC instead of rubber, or even a composite that includes metal.... A systematic review of medical literature, published in BMJ Open in 2017, found that rubber bullets can cause serious injury, disability, and death. Of 1,984 people who had injuries from KIPs, 53 died and 300 suffered permanent disability. Of those who survived, 71% had severe injuries, according to the review." Read on. ~~~
~~~ Mike Mullen, former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in the Atlantic: "It sickened me yesterday to see security personnel -- including members of the National Guard -- forcibly and violently clear a path through Lafayette Square to accommodate the president's visit outside St. John's Church. I have to date been reticent to speak out on issues surrounding President Trump's leadership, but we are at an inflection point, and the events of the past few weeks have made it impossible to remain silent. Whatever Trump's goal in conducting his visit, he laid bare his disdain for the rights of peaceful protest in this country, gave succor to the leaders of other countries who take comfort in our domestic strife, and risked further politicizing the men and women of our armed forces. There was little good in the stunt.... We must endeavor to see American cities and towns as our homes and our neighborhoods. They are not 'battle spaces' to be dominated...." (The Atlantic is subscriber-firewalled. It allows very limited freebies.)
It Depends Upon What the Meaning of "Tear Gas" Is. Abigail Hauslohner of the Washington Post: "President Trump's reelection campaign sent a message out to news organizations Tuesday night, demanding a correction to articles that described security forces' use of tear gas to disperse demonstrators outside the White House on Monday, to allow Trump to cross the street to pose for photos at a church. The U.S. Park Police had earlier released a statement defending that effort, saying that their use of chemical agents against the crowd came in response to violence from protesters, and that it involved 'pepper balls' and 'smoke canisters.' The statement went on to assert that 'no tear gas was used' in the Lafayette Square incident.... According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: 'Riot control agents (sometimes referred to as "tear gas") are chemical compounds that temporarily make people unable to function by causing irritation to the eyes, mouth, throat, lungs, and skin.'... These compounds are all typically referred to as 'tear gas' because their most prominent effect is to bring on tears." ~~~
~~~ Mike Baker of the New York Times: "The billowing clouds of tear gas that the authorities are sending through protest crowds across the United States may increase the risk that the coronavirus could spread through the gatherings. Along with the immediate pain that can cause watering eyes and burning throats, tear gas may cause damage to people's lungs and make them more susceptible to getting a respiratory illness, according to studies on the risks of exposure. The gas can also incite coughing, which can further spread the virus from an infected person."
Ken Klippenstein of the Nation: "The FBI's Washington Field Office 'has no intelligence indicating Antifa involvement/presence' in the violence that occurred on May 31 during the D.C.-area protests over the murder of George Floyd, according to an internal FBI situation report obtained exclusively by The Nation. That same day..., Donald Trump announced on Twitter that he would designate 'Antifa' a terrorist organization, even though the government has no existing authority to declare a domestic group a terrorist organization, and antifa is not an organized group. Following the president's tweet, Attorney General William Barr said in a statement, 'The violence instigated and carried out by Antifa and other similar groups in connection with the rioting is domestic terrorism and will be treated accordingly.'... The FBI has been issuing such reports daily since the weekend, according to a Bureau source, who added that none of these documents contained any evidence of antifa violence."
Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Republicans and Democrats in Congress have begun a new push to shut down a Pentagon program that transfers military weaponry to local law enforcement departments, as bipartisan urgency builds to address the excessive use of force and the killings of unarmed black Americans by the police. With protests turning violent across the country, lawmakers are scrutinizing the Defense Department initiative -- curtailed by former President Barack Obama but revived by President Trump -- that furnishes police departments with equipment such as bayonets and grenade launchers.... Top lawmakers in both parties and on both sides of the Capitol moved quickly last week to announce their intention to hold hearings on the use of excessive force by law enforcement and racial violence.... The push stands in stark contrast to the reaction of Mr. Trump, who has often encouraged rough tactics by law enforcement.... On his call with governors on Monday, the president appeared to applaud the National Guard's handling of the riots in Minneapolis, pointedly remarking on their use of tear gas. 'They just walked right down the street, knocking them out with tear gas, tear gas,' Mr. Trump said. 'These guys, they were running.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: When he was an adult, he spake as a child. As anyone who has been around eight-year-old boys knows, that citation of Trump's remarks is word-for-word an exclamation an eight-year-old boy makes, in both sentiment & language skill. Compare little Donnie's childish outburst, for instance, with Mitch McConnnell's remark: ~~~
In no world whatsoever should arresting a man for an alleged minor infraction involve a police officer putting his knee on the man's neck for nine minutes while he cries out 'I can't breathe' and then goes silent. Our nation cannot deafen itself to the anger, the pain and the frustration of black Americans. Our nation needs to hear this. -- Sen. Mitch McConnell, from the Senate floor, Monday
Don't know if this is merely Mitch's reaction to a tight re-election race or a true concern, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt -- until he knocks down proposed legislation to reduce racial disparities. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
~~~ Oh, Update. Axios: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blocked a resolution introduced by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday that would have condemned the use of tear gas and rubber bullets against peaceful protesters outside the White House on Monday in order to allow President Trump to walk to St. John's Church." Mrs. McC: Thanks, Mitch!, for making me wait less than a few hours.
I didn't really see it. -- Sen. Ron Johnson (Wis.)
I don't have a comment. -- Sen. Pat Roberts (Kan.)
I'm late for lunch. -- Sen Rob Portman (Ohio) ~~~
~~~ Profiles in Cowardice. Leigh Ann Caldwell, et al., of NBC News: "Republican senators struggled Tuesday to address ... Donald Trump's harsh response to peaceful protesters who gathered outside the White House on Monday night.... Some senators offered full-throated defenses of the president, with Steve Daines, R-Mont., thanking the president for his leadership and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, denouncing protesters outside the White House as the people who were abusing power, not police... There were exceptions. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., put out a written statement criticizing the president's visit Monday to historic St. John's Episcopal Church, saying he's 'against clearing out a peaceful protest for a photo up that treats the Word of God as a political prop.'... Tim Scott of South Carolina, the lone African American Republican in the Senate, said the president shouldn't have aggressively cleared the protesters. 'But obviously, if your question is should you use tear gas to clear a path so the president can go have a photo op, the answer is no,' Scott said. But later in the day..., Scott said he had 'said too much.'... the scattered responses underscored just how difficult Trump's actions are for Republicans seeking re-election in November. The approach of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., illustrated the dilemma they're in: They can't be seen on television criticizing the president for fear he'll attack them, but they're also struggling to defend him."
Georgia. Nathan Layne of Reuters: "Six Atlanta police officers will face charges for an incident in which they tased two college students and removed them from their car during protests over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed African American in police custody. Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said on Tuesday he would seek prison sentences of several years for the officers involved in the Saturday encounter with Messiah Young, 22, and his 20-year-old girlfriend, Taniyah Pilgrim." --s
Minnesota. David Li of NBC News: "The state of Minnesota launched a sweeping civil rights investigation of the Minneapolis Police Department on Tuesday.... The probe, stemming from the death of George Floyd, will be designed to root out 'systemic racism that is generations deep,' Gov. Tim Walz told reporters.... Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero said the agency served papers on the city at about 1 p.m. CT Tuesday."
Pennsylvania. Robert Moran of The Philadelphia Inquirer: "In the predawn hours Wednesday, the city unceremoniously removed the controversial statue of former mayor, police commissioner, and conservative icon Frank Rizzo.... Rizzo had a reputation, which he embraced, as a law and order mayor.... In a statement released on Wednesday morning, Mayor Jim Kenney said..., 'The statue is a deplorable monument to racism, bigotry, and police brutality for members of the Black community, the LGBTQ community, and many others. The treatment of these communities under Mr. Rizzo's leadership was among the worst periods in Philadelphia's history[.]" --s
Washington, D.C. Patricia Sullivan, et al., of the Washington Post: "Protesters descending on Washington for a fifth day of demonstrations on Tuesday found one of the nation's most symbolic places for political rallies -- Lafayette Square, across from White House -- entirely closed off with a tall chain-link fence. Thousands of people protesting George Floyd's death in Minneapolis police custody were forced to gather outside the park earlier Tuesday, where a day before peaceful demonstrators had been forcefully cleared by federal forces at the behest of Attorney General William P. Barr. It was the largest crowd since Washington protests began Friday night.... The protests, which had been peaceful much of Tuesday, grew heated early Wednesday morning as law enforcement aimed pepper spray and pepper bullets at demonstrators and some protesters launched a firework toward authorities at Lafayette Square near the White House." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Sorry to say the new fence is a rather tasteful black chain link absent a concertina-wire crown. ~~~
~~~ Derek Hawkins of the Washington Post reports on the generous gesture of Rahul Dubey, who who lives on Swann Street in the District & invited protesters into his house to escape chemicals & pepper spray & being "dragged away" by police. The cops remained on the scene all night, trying to coax the protesters outside. Dubey's landlord, "a longtime Democratic staffer and consultant," called to criticize him.
** David Kilcullen of The Australian. The headline says it all: Home of the hateful, fearful, heavily armed. --s
Ben Collins, et al. of NBC: "A Twitter account claiming to belong to a national 'antifa' organization and pushing violent rhetoric related to ongoing protests has been linked to the white nationalist group Identity Evropa, according to a Twitter spokesperson. The spokesperson said the account violated the company's platform manipulation and spam policy, specifically the creation of fake accounts. Twitter suspended the account after a tweet that incited violence." --s (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Donie O'Sullivan of CNN: "A Twitter account that tweeted a call to violence and claimed to be representing the position of 'Antifa' was in fact created by a known white supremacist group, Twitter said Monday. The company removed the account. Before it emerged the account was run by white supremacists, Donald Trump Jr. ... pointed his 2.8 million Instagram followers to the account as an example how dangerous Antifa is.... The revelation of the account comes as ... [President*] Trump increasingly blames left-wing activists for violence occurring at protests across America." (Also linked yesterday.)
** Julian Borger of the Guardian: "The sheer tumult of the Trump era, the unceasing torrent of events that were unthinkable even hours before, has left a nation constantly off balance, unable to find its bearing and grasp how far it has traveled.... The rate of fresh affronts has often outpaced the capacity to digest -- or even describe -- them.... Overnight the very language of governance has changed. The defence secretary has described US cities as the 'battlespace' and the president has rejoiced in his administration's 'overwhelming force' and 'domination' over the citizenry.... One reason it is so hard to keep track of the descent is the near instant normalisation of every bizarre new turn, administered like a fast-acting anaesthetic.... The other reason it is so hard to keep track of the downward slide is the daily farce of the Donald Trump show.... One of the lessons of history is beware the buffoon, but when every day is so bizarre and distracting those lessons are hard to remember. We are constantly negotiating the rapids. And each day brings us closer to forgetting what normal used to look like." --s ~~~
Lili Loofbourow of Slate: "Trump can only escalate. To cause more police brutality in the midst of a protest against police brutality is perfectly consistent with Trump's actions in power. Trump defaults to white innocence and black guilt.... A right-winger's fever dream of carte-blanche permissiveness, Trump has clarified that there will be no limits at all on what his supporters can do in public spaces -- invade government buildings armed to the teeth, scream at police, defy local government, attack fellow citizens -- while openly and gleefully bludgeoning opponents who protest peacefully.... Yesterday, Trump confirmed with tear gas what he has already amply proved: Trump does not believe Americans he doesn't like should have free speech.... Trump will call for justice for George Floyd, as he did yesterday, while perpetuating, on television, the culture of criminal abuse that led to his death." --s
Mark Hosenball of Reuters: "... House ... Judiciary [chair] ... Jerrold Nadler said he would move to reduce funding for [Attorney General William] Barr's personal office as a response to what he called 'continued defiance of Congress and improper politicization of the Department of Justice.' ... and ... in the wake of Barr's refusal to appear before his committee. Passing such a cut would require approval of both the Democratic-controlled House and the Republican-controlled Senate." --s
Oliver Milman of the Guardian: "Solar, wind and other renewable sources have toppled coal in energy generation in the United States for the first time in over 130 years, with the coronavirus pandemic accelerating a decline in coal that has profound implications for the climate crisis.... Coal consumption fell by 15%, down for the sixth year in a row, while renewables edged up by 1%. This meant renewables surpassed coal for the first time since at least 1885...." --s
Sweden. Jon Henley of the Guardian: "Sweden's chief epidemiologist [Anders Tegnell] and the architect of its light-touch approach to the coronavirus has acknowledged that the country has had too many deaths from Covid-19 and should have done more to curb the spread of the virus.... Asked whether too many people in Sweden had died, he replied: 'Yes, absolutely,' adding that the country would have to consider in the future whether there had been a way of preventing such a high toll." --s
Election Results
A King Dethroned. Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "Representative Steve King of Iowa, the nine-term Republican with a history of racist comments who only recently became a party pariah, lost his bid for renomination early Wednesday, one of the biggest defeats of the 2020 primary season in any state. In a five-way primary, Mr. King was defeated by Randy Feenstra, a state senator, who had the backing of mainstream state and national Republicans who found Mr. King an embarrassment and, crucially, a threat to a safe Republican seat if he were on the ballot in November. The defeat was most likely the final political blow to one of the nation's most divisive elected officials...." A BuzzFeed News story is here.
Jennifer Medina of the New York Times: "Ella Jones became the first African-American and first woman elected mayor in Ferguson, Mo., on Tuesday, nearly six years after the city erupted in protests after a white police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, a black teenager.... Ms. Jones, 65, and her opponent Heather Robinett, 49, had both vowed to continue changes enacted after the 2014 shooting of Mr. Brown, including a federal consent decree, a legally binding agreement requiring reforms to a police department. And both had made clear that they supported peaceful protests after the killing of [George] Floyd in Minneapolis, while condemning the violence that has broken out in several cities."
Presidential Race
Caroline Linton of CBS News: "As of early Wednesday, CBS News projected Joe Biden had 1,912 delegates, just shy of the 1,991 delegates needed to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination. With results still coming in from Tuesday primaries, Biden could clinch the nomination soon. Biden picked up wins Tuesday in Indiana, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Dakota, CBS New projected. He also came out on top in the District of Columbia, The Associated Press projected. More than 400 delegates were up for grabs in seven states and Washington D.C. on Tuesday, making it one of the biggest nights since Super Tuesday."
Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Republicans said Tuesday night that they were moving President Trump's convention speech out of Charlotte, N.C., and to another city, after coming to a stalemate with Democratic officials in the state about safety and crowd size restrictions because of the coronavirus.... But Republican officials also said they could still hold other convention business in Charlotte, so as not to break a formal contract they signed with the city more than two years ago.... Mr. Trump tweeted on Tuesday night that Republicans were now 'forced to seek' an alternative to Charlotte for the convention in August.... On Twitter, Mr. Trump blamed [North Carolina Gov. Roy] Cooper [D] for the change of plans.... 'Cooper is still in Shelter-In-Place Mode,' Mr. Trump tweeted, 'and not allowing us to occupy the arena as originally anticipated and promised.'" A Politico story is here. Mrs. McC: The big news: Trump has learned how to spell "mode"; a couple of weeks ago, he spelled it m-o-o-d.
Tal Axelrod of the Hill: "Former officials from the George W. Bush administration have formed a super PAC to support former Vice President Joe Biden's White House campaign. The super PAC, dubbed 43 Alumni For Biden, referring to the 43rd president, was formed Monday, according to a Tuesday filing with the Federal Election Commission." Mrs. McC: Unless I read otherwise, I'll assume the group has Dubya's tacit approval.
Michael Phillips of the Wall Street Journa': "Irene Triplett, the last person receiving a pension from the U.S. Civil War, has died at the age of 90. Ms. Triplett's father, Mose Triplett, started fighting in the war for the Confederacy, but defected to the North in 1863. That decision earned his daughter Irene, the product of a late-in-life marriage to a woman almost 50 years his junior, a pension of $73.13 a month from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Ms. Triplett, who suffered from mental disabilities, qualified for federal financial support as a helpless adult child of a veteran. She died Sunday from complications following surgery for injuries from a fall, according to the Wilkesboro, N.C., nursing home where she lived." Mrs. McC: The Journal let me read the page. If you can't read it, here's a 2016 U.S. News report on Ms. Triplett.
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Back when wingnuts and the usual traffickers in daft conspiracy theories were losing their collective shit as rumors flew, like bats freed from their belfries, about that horrible nee-groe in THEIR White House sending out the black helicopters to threaten god fearin’ real ‘mericans, they were all cleaning the guns and getting ready to shoot to kill.
When the fat little king actually does send out the helicopters to threaten Americans with death and destruction, there’s not a peep out of the gun knobbers or the congressional crooks who profit off and encourage their psychoses. “Oh, it’s okay. It’s lust the Glorious Leader goin’ after the darkies and the libs. Nothin’ to be concerned about.”
In the same vein, when masked gun knobbers show up at state capitol buildings carrying assault rifles and jabbering about murdering elected officials while “protesting” their god given right to get a haircut, were they met with “overwhelming” force? Sent running from tear gas and rubber bullet attacks?
Of course not. Police stood by calmly and let them exercise their right to protest. Besides, those guys were all white Trump voters. Can’t be “dominating” their pals, now can they?
No one should get ahead of themselves thinking that the Orange Menace is sure to lose the upcoming election after his current autocratic stunts. Nixon once rode to a landslide victory promising to sweep anti-war and civil rights protesters from the streets of the nation with his “law and order” schtick. Never underestimate the strength of hatred and the power of maintaining white privilege in getting out the vote.
Despite the too little, too late mewlings about decency from such mustache twirling frauds as Rich Mitch, when it comes time to play the Scary Blacks Want to Murder You and Your Kids card, they won’t hesitate to whip up the same racism, fear, and paranoia that Nixon relied on to slither into the White House in 1968.
Fatty, running the same playbook, with help once again from Russia, and a huge assist from R vote suppression schemes, Electoral College shenanigans, and the Supine Court, could easily force his yuuuge ass back into authoritarian heaven.
And just as an aside, Biden has to do more than show himself to be Not Trump (despite the vital importance of that in the present crises).
In a bit of good news, a statue of a Confederate soldier that has long stood in the city of Alexandria, VA was taken down yesterday.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/02/us/confederate-statue-alexandria-trnd/index.html
When I first started travelling abroad, I thought it astounding to see soldiers canvassing the streets or private security guards taking out the doorways of private universities and banks with giant shotguns slung over their shoulder. I used to feel a naïve pride when I'd explain to others that "oh wow, in the US that couldn't happen, because sending the military into the streets is illegal." American exceptionalism...
Since then, police forces across the nation have been busy buying up the most ridiculous military gear, weapons and vehicles. Fast forward to today, and our Robocops bashing in the heads of peaceful protestors look way more menacing than those armed guards/soldiers I saw years ago. Even if the military is banished by law from our streets, the average cop now already has all the same gear, with worse training.
And now, we're coming full circle. The military soldiers (with bayonets!) are now standing along the police, and you could hardly tell the difference. Some "little green men" are even popping up in Robocop mode with no clear identification, as if some private security contractors à la Erik Prince. The menacing photo of all of these soldiers spread across the Lincoln Memorial steps will be the defining image of the militarization of Drumpf's Amerika.
And the radio silence from every single GOP member (even Rmoney) is the most damning example yet that they would fail to stop an American autocrat from scarring our nation forever, all to save their elected seat so they could later work under the thumb of a Mad Tyrant.
June 3, 2020
A series of "inflection. points," the cliche of the day I could do without.
But underneath and behind all the Pretender misbehavior and all the speculation about its possible effects, me thinks, is his misapprehension of how he "won" the 2016 election.
It was the Electoral College, stupid.
The majority didn't like him then, so why does he keep misbehaving in ways that appeal only to his (slowly shrinking) minority base?
Because he can't help himself.
They are the only source of the praise he needs more than cheeseburgers.
It's interesting to see the contrast in how the "government" appears able to provide plenty of PPE for law enforcement but not for health care providers.
What was the impetus for planning the need for it? Caused by what?
@Ken Winkes: Despite Trump's constant boasting about his humungous Electoral College win, I don't think he quite understands how the Electoral College works. Maybe he thinks it's a lot like Trump "University": an institution that does infinite good because it gives something to Trump.
Of course should Trump lose the Electoral College vote this time around -- as we all believe he must -- it will suddenly become an instrument of a rigged election, necessitating his refusal to abide by its vote & remain in office by extra-Constitutional means, including use of force.
The Atlantic piece by Ann Applebaum ( in my estimation one of our very best journalists and authors) posted yesterday by Anonymous, which I finally finished this morning (it is extremely long since it covers so much territory) is one of the most important journalistic pieces I have read in a long time. The main theme as Anon pointed out in his post yesterday is Complicity––– and how throughout history this action has dire consequences. When Applebaim delves into this country she asks the question:
What would it take for Republican leaders to admit to themselves that Trump's loyalty cult is destroying the country they claim to love?
And the power of Power we see played out yesterday in living color and clouds of smoke. Mass protests cry out for their slice of the pie that is highlighted on graphs as a tiny bit of the whole––maybe colored in dark brown. Somewhere in the night we hear talking heads singing once again:
"Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again after the money's gone....
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as...
If someone will read to Trump this account of the response to a peasant protest in the eleventh century, I am certain he will have an orgasm."Without waiting for orders, Count Raoul immediately took all the peasants into custody, had their hands and feet cut off, and returned them powerless, to their families
Piketty, Capital and Ideology page 66
PD,
The answer to the question is that they (R’s) don’t love the country. If they did, they wouldn’t be traitors to the very idea of America.
They love only the part(s) that benefit them: wealthy donors, fantasy media outlets, corporations—who are not now and never will be people—and those who vote to keep them in power, the haters, the Bible bangers, the racists, the deluded, the misinformed, the misogynistic, the gun nuts, the paranoid, nearly all angry white people, except for the ultra wealthy one percent, who are merely greedy narcissists who cannot imagine a life in which their money does not clearly make them superior.
Anyone or any institution that falls outside those sets, they despise and work tirelessly to undermine, delegitimization, destroy, or simply ignore.
The Republican Party has, for decades now, been transforming itself into an ethics and morality free cult of fearful, power mad, self obsessed, hateful schemers. They have zero connection to the foundational principles of the founders and invoke them onlywhen it suits their latest scam for maintaining power at all costs.
It’s not a mystery. Trump merely happens to be the centerpiece of their biggest scam to date.
Bea, I thought it both gracious and charitable to give Moscow Mitch "the benefit of the doubt". I woulda bet $100 someone else wrote that statement for him. Moscow Mitch has neither grace nor charity as far as I can see. He and the Orange Baboon have what I think of as 'aging ugly': they both get more putrid of character as they age. Sad. They need to be swept off the table like crumbs.
@AK: Here's one of the examples Applebaum cites that corresponds to our constant mantra of "who benefits."
Czesław Miłosz, a Nobel Prize–winning Polish poet, wrote about collaboration from personal experience. An active member of the anti-Nazi resistance during the war, he nevertheless wound up after the war as a cultural attaché at the Polish embassy in Washington, serving his country’s Communist government. Only in 1951 did he defect, denounce the regime, and dissect his experience. In a famous essay, The Captive Mind, he sketched several lightly disguised portraits of real people, all writers and intellectuals, each of whom had come up with different ways of justifying collaboration with the party. Many were careerists, but Miłosz understood that careerism could not provide a complete explanation. To be part of a mass movement was for many a chance to end their alienation, to feel close to the “masses,” to be united in a single community with workers and shopkeepers. For tormented intellectuals, collaboration also offered a kind of relief, almost a sense of peace: It meant that they were no longer constantly at war with the state, no longer in turmoil. Once the intellectual has accepted that there is no other way, Miłosz wrote, “he eats with relish, his movements take on vigor, his color returns. He sits down and writes a ‘positive’ article, marveling at the ease with which he writes it.” Miłosz is one of the few writers to acknowledge the pleasure of conformity, the lightness of heart that it grants, the way that it solves so many personal and professional dilemmas."
@citizen625: I have given McConnell the benefit of the doubt on matters of race since I heard his speech at the dedication of the Capitol statue of Rosa Parks. I'll admit that Mitch may not write much of his stuff, but he has the will to say it, and he doesn't say it as if he's performing a hostage video. This may or may not have something to do with the fact that his wife is not white.
I would like to see just one criminal with a badge be arrested in real time by one of these good apples that people are always going on about. Until the police start policing themselves change is still a long way off.
The Wanking President*
Funny how Fatty hasn’t the first clue what the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, or the Constitution say, but he knows (or thinks he knows) about the Insurrection Act, which has conditions and qualifications of which I am absolutely positive he is ignorant, but it sounds hot: lemme kill somebody!
He’s like the horny teenager who knows nothing about any book he’s ever thumbed through except for the sex scenes.
With Trump it’s the invocation and possibility of violence that gets his little twinkie twitching. If he can threaten death and destruction from whatever bed he’s hiding under, he’s thrilled.
Also, he’s got an Article II. He just doesn’t know what that means. Who cares? Wank away, little donnie.
Terry Gross will have Ann Applebaum on Fresh Air tomorrow (Thursday) discussing the Atlantic article and her new book.
@AK: Well, let's hope our Wanker doesn't see "Doctor Zhivago" on movie night at the White House––this scene would get his widdle pecker in a perpetual stand up position for hours while planning similar exploits. Such a guy––-such a card, he is–-such fun to play with people's lives.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvQLAg16ZD0&feature=youtu.be
Thanks @Linda for the info. Nice to hear from you.
@PD Pepe: Thanks. I think Trump has already seen it. It's where he got his idea to put policemen on horses & make sure they had bayonets.
Busy day in the news here in Conway, so haven't checked into much since this morning. Don't know if anyone in the wider world has commented on Dubya's latest statement, but I see three possibilities.
He has an understandably searing hatred for the Pretender.
He has actually learned something since he was in the White House (doubtful but possible, I guess).
Or he was always more sensible than his Iraq fetish, Darth or conservative racist or monied Republicans allowed him to be (even more unlikely?).
Whatever. As long as he's willing to become a wedge issue, it's fine with me.