Trump’s Paranoia Could Be Hazardous to Your Health
We’re All Communists (Or Globalists Or Deep Staters) Now
Primary actors in the extremist right wing quest for an authoritarian state are upping the ante now that the former president has been charged with a pile of felonies. The political air in the US is being further polluted by testosterone-laced calls to action, with promises of violence injected on social media by fringe characters.
We can thank former president Trump for moving the bar even further toward extra-legal actions with his post-indictment speech.
Via the New York Times:
“This is the final battle,” Mr. Trump said in the speech to several thousand activists, delegates and members of the media who gathered in Columbus, Ga., at a brick building that was once an iron works that manufactured mortars, guns and cannons for the Confederate Army in the Civil War.”
“Either the Communists win and destroy America, or we destroy the Communists,” the former president said, seeming to refer to Democrats. He made similar remarks about the “Deep State,” using the pejorative term he uses both for U.S. intelligence agencies and more broadly for any federal government bureaucrat he perceives as a political opponent. He railed against “globalists,” “warmongers” in government and “the sick political class that hates our country.”
Trump associate/cheerleader, former General Mike Flynn has gone even further, targeting a specific list of former FBI officials, calling them ”less than human, soulless creatures, who hate America…represent the scum of the earth and should be treated as such. And they… deserve a one way ticket to hell.”
Along with all these promises to get even with those he things are persecuting him, Trump has gone so far as to call out special counsel’s Jack Smith’s wife with a mob boss-type threat, saying “I wish her a lot of luck” after railing against her as a “trump hater.”
As per usual, Trump supporters hide behind online anonymity to make brazen threats.
Via Vice:
Trump supporters are making specific threats too. In one post on The Donald titled, “A little bit about Merrick Garland, his wife, his daughters,” a user shared a link to an article about the attorney general’s children.
Under the post, another user replied: “His children are fair game as far as I’m concerned.”
After making comments about the indictments proclaiming a “dark day for America,” the usual establishment suspects like House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the Wall Street Journal have busy attacking the rationale for the Grand Jury’s conclusion that various actions amounted to evidence of crimes being committed.
The Speaker went so far as to try to justify storage of classified documents in a Mar a Lago bathroom with the observation that its door could have been locked.
“What aboutism” is rampant, with ludicrous comparisons being made of accusations about President Biden, along with Bill and Hillary Clinton.
A gaggle of ‘experts’ are going so far as to say Donald Trump isn’t guilty of violating the Espionage Act because there’s no evidence of him actually giving classified information to a foreign power.
Generally speaking, these assertions are proof of two things: A) they haven’t read the actual indictment and B) they are ignorant of the scope and purpose of the Espionage Act.
Messages by once-credible figures are spread by mainstream media outlets operating under the premise that the country is narrowly divided and their responsibility is to straddle a “middle ground” giving “both sides' ' equal credence.
Oliver Willis expounded on this false equivalency
According to this approach, the Republican and Democratic parties are always operating on a 50-50 razor’s edge, with issue after issue sitting right smack dab in the middle of the conservative point of view and the liberal stance.
But this is absolutely nonsensical and a huge lie.
The reality, when you take even the quickest look at a host of issues in public polling, is that conservatives generally exist in a version of the world very different from the one inhabited by a majority of normal Americans. It’s not that America is really some radical socialist left paradise, but generally speaking there is a broad consensus of understanding along the spectrum of center-left moderation to progressive viewpoints, and then off to the side are the frankly bizarre views of conservatives.
Look at this recent Gallup poll on same-sex marriage, for instance. Overall, 71% of Americans support it. We have seen steady gains over a thirty-year period in favor of it. But the one group resistant to it are “religious” conservatives. The normalcy is in favor of equal marriage, the weirdness is opposition to it.
Sadly, this media madness will continue non-stop; admitting they were/are wrong is outside self-imposed boundaries and would shatter sensitive egos. CNN’s collapsing ratings ought to be a clue…
Further, it’s a waste of time to empirically prove MAGAts wrong. They are hard wired to not consider any other possibilities outside of what comes out of Dear Leader’s (or disciples-of-the-moment) line of thinking.
If you need further proof of how much of an outlier the Trump gang are, consider their difficulties in finding legal representation. It would be easier if the former President was asserting innocence and was willing to make a case, but the Trump strategy is all about who Trump is, not what he has done.
Via the Washington Post:
After touching down in Miami on Monday, Trump spent the afternoon interviewing prospective lawyers and meeting with his legal team, along with other top advisers, to discuss the case, in which he is accused of mishandling classified documents and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them, according to people familiar with the sessions. Several prominent Florida attorneys declined to take Trump on as a client after two of the key lawyers handling the documents matter — Jim Trusty and John Rowley — resigned last week, according to people familiar with the matter.
If his advisors are unable to otherwise delay the case, a Florida trial could be scheduled to begin on August 22, the day before the first Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee.
Those of us who conceivably could find ourselves on the lists of enemies coming out of Trumpland need to do two things:
Be safe. Don’t stir up hornet’s nests. Document aggression if possible and make sure to report it. I know the cops are all-too-often MAGA sympathizers; just be matter of fact about reporting what you saw and leave it at that.
Advocate like heck to make sure that every “non-person” in Trump’s sights votes every time they have the opportunity.
Very Interesting News Nuggets
George Soros, Billionaire Investor And Philanthropist, Reportedly Cedes Empire To Son Via Huffpo. This will drive right wingers crazy.
Billionaire investor turned philanthropist George Soros is ceding control of his $25 billion empire to a younger son, Alexander Soros, according to an exclusive interview with The Wall Street Journal published online Sunday.
The 37-year-old, who goes by Alex, told the Wall Street Journal that he is “more political” than his 92-year-old father, who has been a right-wing target for his backing of liberal causes such as reducing racial bias in the justice system. But he noted that the two “think alike.”
Alex said he was broadening his father’s “liberal aims” and embracing different causes including voting and abortion rights, as well as gender equity. He said he aims to keep using the family’s wealth to back left-leaning U.S. politicians.
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Mercedes-Benz beats Tesla for California's approval of automated driving tech Via Reuters
If you see a Mercedes tooling down the freeway at 40 mph, the driver is probably watching YouTube videos.
The permit grants Mercedes-Benz permission to offer its 'DRIVE PILOT' system on California highways in the Bay Area, Central Valley, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego and on interstate highway connecting Southern California to Nevada.
The 'DRIVE PILOT' system can only operate on highways during daylight at speeds not exceeding 40 miles per hour, the DMV said.
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Why insurance companies are pulling out of California and Florida, and how to fix some of the underlying problems Via The Conversation.
Because insurance is a form of gambling and the House never loses.
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Post Script
Thank you, thank you, thank you! for all the kind messages on my birthday.
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Several times since The Indictment, I have wondered if violence would erupt here in San Diego. I don't know most of my neighbors in my apartment complex and I wonder how many of them own guns and are members of his cult. As a precaution, I am going to inventory my stock of canned goods and pantry-stable foods, batteries, toilet paper, emergency lanterns, water, etc. Since that blackout of all of SoCal a few years back, we now know how easy it is to damage the power grid. I find myself wishing I had bars on my windows, a security screen door, and a better way to secure the balcony door other than that flimsy lock. I would chide myself for being far-fetched except I remember that San Diegans participated in the Jan 6 insurrection.
As for Mercedes Benz cars on our freeways at only 40 MPH, I thought the legal minimum speed was 45.
Thank Doug and belated birthday wishes