At 3:29 ET on August 30, 2021—early on the morning of August 31 in Afghanistan—the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan ended. It was the longest war in American history. Among the last to come home were the 13 Americans killed in an ISIS-K attack last Thursday. They arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware Sunday morning from Germany. President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, and 8 aides attended the dignified transfer between the plane and a waiting vehicle.
I guess I just don't understand how people can openly call for violence against others and get away with it. Or how an elected official can suggest revolution is being planned without being brought down/arrested for inciting riot. I sure wish the Jan 6 committee would get on with the investigation and bring some of these people into the light. Show us how they helped plan and finance the insurrection. Please, just give us something other than "demanding that info be preserved" I fear this investigation will last well into 2022, and by that time the rethuglicans will have succeeded in complete voter suppression. (Sorry for this rant...just feeling there is little good in our fellow human being right now.)
Apart from Trumpeting elephants, the current drum beat against President Biden on Afghanistan will precipitously diminish over the coming weeks and months. Almost certainly there will be hearings on why many more Afghans who served the American government were not pre-certified for evacuation. In the Foreign Service I painfully learned the difference between the State Department’s authority to issue visas and the immutable right of the U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to reject or accept those who arrive in the United States.
The USCIS historically has been the naysayer on many attempts to broaden immigration, including responding to emergency situations. The USCIA is constrained by legislation and by a general internal attitude to interpret harsh existing laws and regulations. I would not be surprised if Stephen Miller, Trump’s hatchet man on immigration, played a major role in introducing operational constraints within USCIS. [I have read nothing about the USCIS in recent articles on the failure to swiftly identify and process the multitude of Afghans who had worked for the American government and were endangered by a Taliban takeover.]
After Trump’s one-sided February, 2020 scuttle-and-run agreement with the Taliban [promisse to remove our troops in return for a Taliban promise not to attack them, release of 1000s of imprisoned Taliban fighters and more], THE APPROVAL OF AFGHAN EVACUEES ACTUALLY DECLINED IN 2021. It increased moderately in the first months of President Biden’s administration.
Clearly the pandemic played a significant role in the processing of potential Afghan evacuees. Visa processing was sharply curtailed or even suspended at American consulates. I presume that a large portion of the USCIS staff did not go to the office.
Whatever the reasons, we did a tremendous disservice to those Afghans who had served us and were in personal danger. With urgency and common sense, I believe that far more could have been accomplished before a frenetic evacuation. This could have included legal depositions from American personnel attesting to the service and character of their current and past Afghan employees.
Some will focus on the failure of intelligence prior to the ‘precipitous collapse’ of the Afghan military and police. While Monday morning quarterbacks can have a field day, I believe that the investigation results will be muddy.
Currently President Biden is being targeted on various fronts: 1) he was unprepared for this ‘precipitous collapse’ and its aftermath; 2) he shouldn’t have placed American military into such a dangerous situation in which we were dependent on Taliban security; and 3) our military should have remained in Afghanistan after his August 31st deadline. In my view, 1) can be the topic of an endless circular debates, while 2) and 3) are contradictory.
When the smoke clears, what I find obvious is that President Biden decisively ended our 20 years of war without end and he facilitated, in barely two weeks, the evacuation of over 120,000 human beings under the most vexing and dangerous circumstances. It was a tragedy that over a dozen American military and 170 Afghans were killed and many more wounded by an ISIS-K bomb. From the outset, such an assault was considered highly probable. The U. S. And the Taliban, from mutual self interest, worked together to prevent terrorists attacks. Sadly, they were unable to abort them all.
I applaud Biden for being presidential. On President Truman’s desk was a sign THE BUCK STOPS HERE. In my view, Biden was Trumanesque.
Cawthorn, Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jim Jordan, Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Mo Brooks, Matt Gaetz, Louie Gohmert, Jody Hice, and Scott Perry - the Confederate Traitor Caucus. Interesting to note that only five of them aren't from the Traitor States of the South.
Cawthorn likes to tell people he was admitted to the Naval Academy before his accident, except the truth is he had already been rejected from the academy on application, for unstated "moral grounds." I wonder if they have anything to do with his going to Germany before his election campaign, to visit old Nazi sites. He is in fact a neo-Nazi. (also an incel who was credibly accused of harassing women in college).
I'd love to cast him in the remake of "Kiss of Death," and let him be the one in the wheelchair Tommy Udo straps into the chair then pushes it down the long flight of stairs.
"Far right radical revolutionary" - there's a one word synonym for that word salad. Seven letters, starts with "f" and ends with "t."
These people need to be arrested for treason under the clause "making war on the United States." And the rest of the Trumpscum.
This is just one example of one radical Republican who just happens to be a United States Senator:
'COLD SPRING, Kentucky — Hatred of former President Donald Trump has kept researchers from looking into the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin and other drugs to treat COVID-19, Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul told constituents on Friday.'
'The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control have warned people using ivermectin, a drug used to treat parasitic worm infections in humans and livestock, is dangerous. The FDA went as far as tweeting out a reminder on August 21, "You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y'all. Stop it."
'But Paul encouraged more research'.
"The hatred for Trump deranged these people so much, that they're unwilling to objectively study it," Paul said to the 60 people squeezed into the Cold Spring City Council chambers in this Northern Kentucky suburb just south of Cincinnati. "So someone like me that's in the middle on it, I can't tell you because they will not study ivermectin." (Cincinnati Enquirer)
'Last week, Peter Wehner, who served in the Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush administrations, pointed out in The Atlantic that the right wing has moved to such extremism that former president Trump, whose behavior seemed so shocking in 2015 and 2016, is now being sidelined by lawmakers and pundits who are even more extreme' (The Letter)
Our news stories in newspapers, on the internet, TV stations, cable outlets and social media are frequently bizarre, unbelievable, outlandish, frightening, extreme and untrue. It is wild out there, more unnerving to many than the typical Hollywood horror movie and that's because it is our real-life horror in America. The Letter reminds us that some normal stuff is going on, too.
One of our biggest horror stories that is rarely put into perspective is our enormous wealth gap. How much of the horror going on in America has to do with it. How much are the anti-government, anti-taxes, anti-regulation movements fueled and funded by the Donor Class? Those movements are very good for the superrich and no one else. How much is the 'individualism; anti-authority, anti-facemasks behavior in the country, highlighted recently in a Letter, is stoked by the superrich? The Donor Class doesn't want government in their way, even though it can be a big help to the rest of us.
Deceit, manipulation, propaganda, conspiracies, scapegoating, payoffs and corruption that's the name game in America and many millions of regular folks have been taken in by it -- all the way in. Those 'sheep' are now wild with rage against the people that are not them. The 'sheep' are now very dangerous.
While not exactly the same, we can see parallels of today's trouble in America's past. 'As the United States grew into the world’s leading industrial power during the late 19th century, those atop the economic ladder in America’s Gilded Age accumulated spectacular fortunes. By 1890, the country’s 4,000 millionaires held 20 percent of the country’s wealth, and with that enormous affluence came colossal political corruption.'
'Corporate titans could buy anything they wanted—including politicians. Richard White, professor emeritus of history at Stanford University and author of The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States During Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1896, says the Gilded Age was among the most corrupt eras in American history primarily because of “the rise of corporations and the growth of modern means of communication that intensified the way corruption can work.” (History Stories, A&E Network)
'The wealth of the richest 0.00001% of the U.S. now exceeds that of the prior historical peak, which occurred in the Gilded Age, according to economist Gabriel Zucman.'
'In the late 19th century, the U.S. experienced rapid industrialization and economic growth, creating an inordinate amount of wealth for a handful of families. This era was also known for its severe inequality; and some have called the period that began around 1990 a “Second Gilded Age.” Back then, just four families represented the richest 0.00001% – today’s equivalent is 18 families.'
'Zucman, a French economist whose doctoral advisor was the historical economist Thomas Piketty, author of bestseller “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” released data this week showing that as of July 1, the top 0.00001% richest people in the U.S. held 1.35% of the country’s total wealth. These 18 families include those of Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates.'
'Zucman used real-time data from Forbes for the calculations. In 1913, at the end of the Gilded Age, the Rockefeller, Frick, Carnegie, and Baker families – names all tied to monopolistic power – held 0.85% of the country's total wealth.'
'The richest 0.01% — around 18,000 U.S. families — have also surpassed the wealth levels reached in the Gilded Age. These families hold 10% of the country’s wealth today, Zucman wrote. By comparison, in 1913, the top 0.01% held 9% of U.S. wealth, and a mere 2% in the late 1970s.'
'The increasing concentration of wealth comes as the ultra-rich face more scrutiny for the money they’re not paying in taxes. Recent reports have highlighted that because so much of their wealth consists of unrealized gains in stocks and real estate, they pay little or nothing in income tax. Many CEOs and founders take small salaries given their outsized stock holdings, as lower capital gains tax is preferable to a higher tax on ordinary income.'
Zucman gained fame in 2019 as an architect of then-presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax plan, which aimed to address the fact that the extremely rich pay little in taxes compared to their net worth. The plan would have imposed a 2% tax on net wealth above $50 million and 6% above $1 billion.' (Yahoo Finance)
So subscribers, this wealth gap is a big, big deal. Biden's moves legislatively and by executive order have been to bring the American people to the dinner table He could change the capitalistic equation by seeing to it that the American people get a much bigger piece of the pie. In time, narrowing that gap could also stem the grievance, quiet the anger, lessen the resistance and provide some civics lessons.
At last, a 20 year mistake comes to an ending. Time to take a long deep breath.
Tomorrow we'll resume our attempts to make sense of where this puts us.
Cawthorn, various protestors, and 'pundits' like Carlson are dancing around advocating an armed overthrow of the US Government. That's actionable. They'd best tread carefully.
I'm sure they believe they already are being careful, but by nodding and winking and mugging too hard for the cameras they might easily step over the line. If that happens and their bluff gets called, watch the backwards tapdancing that follows! It should be spectacular.
Again, anarchy is the result of a lack of accountability, and these specimens are counting on that.
Myself, I don't believe they're as immune to consequences as they believe they are.
Besides introducing us to the mental aberration “Narcissistic Personality Disorder” Don the Con early on during his campaigning rallies in 2015 made us aware of “Stochastic Terrorism” when he goaded his cult following from the podium to do violence against anyone in disagreement with his insanity.
Now it has become the norm among those cult followers in the Repugnant Party to use “Scripted Violence” to intimidate ppl with the threat of terrorism.
David Neiwert, who wrote the 2017 book “Alt-America,” defines it as:
“Scripted violence is where a person who has a national platform describes the kind of violence that they want to be carried out. He identifies the targets and leaves it up to the listeners to carry out this violence. It is a form of terrorism. It is an act and a social phenomenon where there is an agreement to inflict massive violence on a whole segment of society. Again, this violence is led by people in high-profile positions in the media and the government. They're the ones who do the scripting, and it is ordinary people who carry it out. ...”
These terms “Stochastic Terrorism with Scripted Violence” are academic and not worded into any laws but they should fall under established concepts such as “Inciting Riots” and it is very troubling that this form of “Hate Speech” is going unchallenged. It is classic “shouting fire in a crowded theater” to the Supreme Court limits on free speech.
We are heading for another violent attack on our government, and I fear that this will take place sooner rather than later. With every day that the overtly seditious activities of Cawthorn et als go unpunished, those odds increase. As the professor noted, it is inspiring lower level politicians to become even more extreme, and honestly, I blame the Justice Department for what is going on. Why is it not going after each and every one of these individuals who threaten government officials? Why is (for example) Steve Lynch not being hauled before a judge this morning and charged with making terroristic threats? Why has that man at the Santa Monica mask mandate vote not been arrested yet? I would assume that he is on video and can be identified. It's on the Justice Department to make these people pay a (criminal) price for their threats and sedition. The longer it does not do so, the worse the threats will become and the more likely that a repeat of 1/6 will take place.
On my, my wife’s and all the other sensible but, unfortunately, minority of voters in the 11th District of NC, I like to apologize for the representation of Madison Cawthorn.
Three anti-vax conservative radio hosts have died from Covid in one month
(Two of the three publicly changed their stance before passing away)
“Bogus,” Dick Farrel called Covid vaccines. “Promoted by people that lied.”
“I’m not taking it, are you kidding me? Mr Anti-Vax?’ said Marc Bernier.
“If you’re not at high risk of dying from Covid then you’re probably safer not getting it,” said Phil Valentine.
All three men, influential conservative radio hosts well known for their vaccine scepticism, went on to die of Covid within a year of their comments, and within just a month of each other.
My next set of posters will be JJ explaining just how many times he did talk with tRUMP on the 6th. Hysterical moment watching him talk in concentric circles while declaring his “uninvolvement” in the riots.
Time for some nation building and promoting democracy at home? I'm relieved my son in the military and his fellow soldiers won't be going to Afghanistan again. I do feel anxiety about deployments they might have here at home to defend democracy, like we saw with the National Guard in the Capitol after January 6. We need voting rights protected as well as so many other initiatives like infrastructure and these efforts to fight childhood poverty. We can do this, though
The language of insurrection, the threats advancing the use of guns and violence, the hatred and madness emanating from a far right that has lost its ethical way, culminate in a GOP whose vision is to advance and rule through fear.
But, at the same time, dear Prof. HCR, you signal, quite rightly, toward all the good that the Biden administration is aiming for. It would, I believe, serve us well to remind ourselves of FDR's poignant words: "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
OK, You scared me tonight. Angry people ready to turn to violence. Why are they so angry? What percent of the population do they represent? What percent of the media airtime and traffic on social media do they get? Isn't threatening people's lives against the law? On the other hand, you did give me some optimism with how the destruction from Ida is being handled and the child tax credit's impact on poverty. Which reality is going to be our future? This seems a lady versus the tiger moment. Which door do we choose?
Has anyone mentioned to Tucker that President Bush started the "terrible" war in Afghanistan? Tucker Carlson told his audience that no leader had apologized for “these terrible decisions” in Afghanistan. How about mentioning Bush/Cheney for starting the whole 20-year disaster and Trump for ending it with no plan?
I agree with those who say it is not worth bothering trying to fact check, provide rational and real talking points, and refer to history as mechanisms to stem the flood of disinformation (it isn't "misinformation" because the flood is deliberate). The only way to deal with this stuff is to be vigilant about charging people for threatening violence, to sue the s**t out of the fascist disinformation organizations and their mouthpieces, and to keep on slogging through the legislative agenda. There are ways to make it clear to people who are resistant to reality that their positions are wrong, but the problem is that most of those types are offended when their ignorance is revealed and they dig in even harder. If you couple that with the panic the extremists feel because their tactics are not working, and you get all kinds of scary scenarios potentially playing out.
I've been thinking that posting pictures of all of these arseholes under the heading "Our Taliban" might be an effective method of presentation.
I guess I just don't understand how people can openly call for violence against others and get away with it. Or how an elected official can suggest revolution is being planned without being brought down/arrested for inciting riot. I sure wish the Jan 6 committee would get on with the investigation and bring some of these people into the light. Show us how they helped plan and finance the insurrection. Please, just give us something other than "demanding that info be preserved" I fear this investigation will last well into 2022, and by that time the rethuglicans will have succeeded in complete voter suppression. (Sorry for this rant...just feeling there is little good in our fellow human being right now.)
Apart from Trumpeting elephants, the current drum beat against President Biden on Afghanistan will precipitously diminish over the coming weeks and months. Almost certainly there will be hearings on why many more Afghans who served the American government were not pre-certified for evacuation. In the Foreign Service I painfully learned the difference between the State Department’s authority to issue visas and the immutable right of the U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to reject or accept those who arrive in the United States.
The USCIS historically has been the naysayer on many attempts to broaden immigration, including responding to emergency situations. The USCIA is constrained by legislation and by a general internal attitude to interpret harsh existing laws and regulations. I would not be surprised if Stephen Miller, Trump’s hatchet man on immigration, played a major role in introducing operational constraints within USCIS. [I have read nothing about the USCIS in recent articles on the failure to swiftly identify and process the multitude of Afghans who had worked for the American government and were endangered by a Taliban takeover.]
After Trump’s one-sided February, 2020 scuttle-and-run agreement with the Taliban [promisse to remove our troops in return for a Taliban promise not to attack them, release of 1000s of imprisoned Taliban fighters and more], THE APPROVAL OF AFGHAN EVACUEES ACTUALLY DECLINED IN 2021. It increased moderately in the first months of President Biden’s administration.
Clearly the pandemic played a significant role in the processing of potential Afghan evacuees. Visa processing was sharply curtailed or even suspended at American consulates. I presume that a large portion of the USCIS staff did not go to the office.
Whatever the reasons, we did a tremendous disservice to those Afghans who had served us and were in personal danger. With urgency and common sense, I believe that far more could have been accomplished before a frenetic evacuation. This could have included legal depositions from American personnel attesting to the service and character of their current and past Afghan employees.
Some will focus on the failure of intelligence prior to the ‘precipitous collapse’ of the Afghan military and police. While Monday morning quarterbacks can have a field day, I believe that the investigation results will be muddy.
Currently President Biden is being targeted on various fronts: 1) he was unprepared for this ‘precipitous collapse’ and its aftermath; 2) he shouldn’t have placed American military into such a dangerous situation in which we were dependent on Taliban security; and 3) our military should have remained in Afghanistan after his August 31st deadline. In my view, 1) can be the topic of an endless circular debates, while 2) and 3) are contradictory.
When the smoke clears, what I find obvious is that President Biden decisively ended our 20 years of war without end and he facilitated, in barely two weeks, the evacuation of over 120,000 human beings under the most vexing and dangerous circumstances. It was a tragedy that over a dozen American military and 170 Afghans were killed and many more wounded by an ISIS-K bomb. From the outset, such an assault was considered highly probable. The U. S. And the Taliban, from mutual self interest, worked together to prevent terrorists attacks. Sadly, they were unable to abort them all.
I applaud Biden for being presidential. On President Truman’s desk was a sign THE BUCK STOPS HERE. In my view, Biden was Trumanesque.
Cawthorn, Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jim Jordan, Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Mo Brooks, Matt Gaetz, Louie Gohmert, Jody Hice, and Scott Perry - the Confederate Traitor Caucus. Interesting to note that only five of them aren't from the Traitor States of the South.
Cawthorn likes to tell people he was admitted to the Naval Academy before his accident, except the truth is he had already been rejected from the academy on application, for unstated "moral grounds." I wonder if they have anything to do with his going to Germany before his election campaign, to visit old Nazi sites. He is in fact a neo-Nazi. (also an incel who was credibly accused of harassing women in college).
I'd love to cast him in the remake of "Kiss of Death," and let him be the one in the wheelchair Tommy Udo straps into the chair then pushes it down the long flight of stairs.
"Far right radical revolutionary" - there's a one word synonym for that word salad. Seven letters, starts with "f" and ends with "t."
These people need to be arrested for treason under the clause "making war on the United States." And the rest of the Trumpscum.
This is just one example of one radical Republican who just happens to be a United States Senator:
'COLD SPRING, Kentucky — Hatred of former President Donald Trump has kept researchers from looking into the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin and other drugs to treat COVID-19, Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul told constituents on Friday.'
'The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control have warned people using ivermectin, a drug used to treat parasitic worm infections in humans and livestock, is dangerous. The FDA went as far as tweeting out a reminder on August 21, "You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y'all. Stop it."
'But Paul encouraged more research'.
"The hatred for Trump deranged these people so much, that they're unwilling to objectively study it," Paul said to the 60 people squeezed into the Cold Spring City Council chambers in this Northern Kentucky suburb just south of Cincinnati. "So someone like me that's in the middle on it, I can't tell you because they will not study ivermectin." (Cincinnati Enquirer)
'Last week, Peter Wehner, who served in the Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush administrations, pointed out in The Atlantic that the right wing has moved to such extremism that former president Trump, whose behavior seemed so shocking in 2015 and 2016, is now being sidelined by lawmakers and pundits who are even more extreme' (The Letter)
Our news stories in newspapers, on the internet, TV stations, cable outlets and social media are frequently bizarre, unbelievable, outlandish, frightening, extreme and untrue. It is wild out there, more unnerving to many than the typical Hollywood horror movie and that's because it is our real-life horror in America. The Letter reminds us that some normal stuff is going on, too.
One of our biggest horror stories that is rarely put into perspective is our enormous wealth gap. How much of the horror going on in America has to do with it. How much are the anti-government, anti-taxes, anti-regulation movements fueled and funded by the Donor Class? Those movements are very good for the superrich and no one else. How much is the 'individualism; anti-authority, anti-facemasks behavior in the country, highlighted recently in a Letter, is stoked by the superrich? The Donor Class doesn't want government in their way, even though it can be a big help to the rest of us.
Deceit, manipulation, propaganda, conspiracies, scapegoating, payoffs and corruption that's the name game in America and many millions of regular folks have been taken in by it -- all the way in. Those 'sheep' are now wild with rage against the people that are not them. The 'sheep' are now very dangerous.
While not exactly the same, we can see parallels of today's trouble in America's past. 'As the United States grew into the world’s leading industrial power during the late 19th century, those atop the economic ladder in America’s Gilded Age accumulated spectacular fortunes. By 1890, the country’s 4,000 millionaires held 20 percent of the country’s wealth, and with that enormous affluence came colossal political corruption.'
'Corporate titans could buy anything they wanted—including politicians. Richard White, professor emeritus of history at Stanford University and author of The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States During Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1896, says the Gilded Age was among the most corrupt eras in American history primarily because of “the rise of corporations and the growth of modern means of communication that intensified the way corruption can work.” (History Stories, A&E Network)
'The wealth of the richest 0.00001% of the U.S. now exceeds that of the prior historical peak, which occurred in the Gilded Age, according to economist Gabriel Zucman.'
'In the late 19th century, the U.S. experienced rapid industrialization and economic growth, creating an inordinate amount of wealth for a handful of families. This era was also known for its severe inequality; and some have called the period that began around 1990 a “Second Gilded Age.” Back then, just four families represented the richest 0.00001% – today’s equivalent is 18 families.'
'Zucman, a French economist whose doctoral advisor was the historical economist Thomas Piketty, author of bestseller “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” released data this week showing that as of July 1, the top 0.00001% richest people in the U.S. held 1.35% of the country’s total wealth. These 18 families include those of Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates.'
'Zucman used real-time data from Forbes for the calculations. In 1913, at the end of the Gilded Age, the Rockefeller, Frick, Carnegie, and Baker families – names all tied to monopolistic power – held 0.85% of the country's total wealth.'
'The richest 0.01% — around 18,000 U.S. families — have also surpassed the wealth levels reached in the Gilded Age. These families hold 10% of the country’s wealth today, Zucman wrote. By comparison, in 1913, the top 0.01% held 9% of U.S. wealth, and a mere 2% in the late 1970s.'
'The increasing concentration of wealth comes as the ultra-rich face more scrutiny for the money they’re not paying in taxes. Recent reports have highlighted that because so much of their wealth consists of unrealized gains in stocks and real estate, they pay little or nothing in income tax. Many CEOs and founders take small salaries given their outsized stock holdings, as lower capital gains tax is preferable to a higher tax on ordinary income.'
Zucman gained fame in 2019 as an architect of then-presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax plan, which aimed to address the fact that the extremely rich pay little in taxes compared to their net worth. The plan would have imposed a 2% tax on net wealth above $50 million and 6% above $1 billion.' (Yahoo Finance)
So subscribers, this wealth gap is a big, big deal. Biden's moves legislatively and by executive order have been to bring the American people to the dinner table He could change the capitalistic equation by seeing to it that the American people get a much bigger piece of the pie. In time, narrowing that gap could also stem the grievance, quiet the anger, lessen the resistance and provide some civics lessons.
At last, a 20 year mistake comes to an ending. Time to take a long deep breath.
Tomorrow we'll resume our attempts to make sense of where this puts us.
Cawthorn, various protestors, and 'pundits' like Carlson are dancing around advocating an armed overthrow of the US Government. That's actionable. They'd best tread carefully.
I'm sure they believe they already are being careful, but by nodding and winking and mugging too hard for the cameras they might easily step over the line. If that happens and their bluff gets called, watch the backwards tapdancing that follows! It should be spectacular.
Again, anarchy is the result of a lack of accountability, and these specimens are counting on that.
Myself, I don't believe they're as immune to consequences as they believe they are.
THE REPUGNANT PARTY INSANE TERRORISTS
Besides introducing us to the mental aberration “Narcissistic Personality Disorder” Don the Con early on during his campaigning rallies in 2015 made us aware of “Stochastic Terrorism” when he goaded his cult following from the podium to do violence against anyone in disagreement with his insanity.
Now it has become the norm among those cult followers in the Repugnant Party to use “Scripted Violence” to intimidate ppl with the threat of terrorism.
David Neiwert, who wrote the 2017 book “Alt-America,” defines it as:
“Scripted violence is where a person who has a national platform describes the kind of violence that they want to be carried out. He identifies the targets and leaves it up to the listeners to carry out this violence. It is a form of terrorism. It is an act and a social phenomenon where there is an agreement to inflict massive violence on a whole segment of society. Again, this violence is led by people in high-profile positions in the media and the government. They're the ones who do the scripting, and it is ordinary people who carry it out. ...”
These terms “Stochastic Terrorism with Scripted Violence” are academic and not worded into any laws but they should fall under established concepts such as “Inciting Riots” and it is very troubling that this form of “Hate Speech” is going unchallenged. It is classic “shouting fire in a crowded theater” to the Supreme Court limits on free speech.
We are heading for another violent attack on our government, and I fear that this will take place sooner rather than later. With every day that the overtly seditious activities of Cawthorn et als go unpunished, those odds increase. As the professor noted, it is inspiring lower level politicians to become even more extreme, and honestly, I blame the Justice Department for what is going on. Why is it not going after each and every one of these individuals who threaten government officials? Why is (for example) Steve Lynch not being hauled before a judge this morning and charged with making terroristic threats? Why has that man at the Santa Monica mask mandate vote not been arrested yet? I would assume that he is on video and can be identified. It's on the Justice Department to make these people pay a (criminal) price for their threats and sedition. The longer it does not do so, the worse the threats will become and the more likely that a repeat of 1/6 will take place.
On my, my wife’s and all the other sensible but, unfortunately, minority of voters in the 11th District of NC, I like to apologize for the representation of Madison Cawthorn.
We will do all we can to remove him in 2022!!
[From the "Karma is a b***h" department]
Three anti-vax conservative radio hosts have died from Covid in one month
(Two of the three publicly changed their stance before passing away)
“Bogus,” Dick Farrel called Covid vaccines. “Promoted by people that lied.”
“I’m not taking it, are you kidding me? Mr Anti-Vax?’ said Marc Bernier.
“If you’re not at high risk of dying from Covid then you’re probably safer not getting it,” said Phil Valentine.
All three men, influential conservative radio hosts well known for their vaccine scepticism, went on to die of Covid within a year of their comments, and within just a month of each other.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/radio-hosts-republican-covid-death-b1911332.html
From Ohio and stalking JJ(Jim Jordan).
My next set of posters will be JJ explaining just how many times he did talk with tRUMP on the 6th. Hysterical moment watching him talk in concentric circles while declaring his “uninvolvement” in the riots.
What a mad mad world! I can only fight this fight to the best of my ability and continue to believe in the power of good over evil.
Time for some nation building and promoting democracy at home? I'm relieved my son in the military and his fellow soldiers won't be going to Afghanistan again. I do feel anxiety about deployments they might have here at home to defend democracy, like we saw with the National Guard in the Capitol after January 6. We need voting rights protected as well as so many other initiatives like infrastructure and these efforts to fight childhood poverty. We can do this, though
The language of insurrection, the threats advancing the use of guns and violence, the hatred and madness emanating from a far right that has lost its ethical way, culminate in a GOP whose vision is to advance and rule through fear.
But, at the same time, dear Prof. HCR, you signal, quite rightly, toward all the good that the Biden administration is aiming for. It would, I believe, serve us well to remind ourselves of FDR's poignant words: "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
OK, You scared me tonight. Angry people ready to turn to violence. Why are they so angry? What percent of the population do they represent? What percent of the media airtime and traffic on social media do they get? Isn't threatening people's lives against the law? On the other hand, you did give me some optimism with how the destruction from Ida is being handled and the child tax credit's impact on poverty. Which reality is going to be our future? This seems a lady versus the tiger moment. Which door do we choose?
Has anyone mentioned to Tucker that President Bush started the "terrible" war in Afghanistan? Tucker Carlson told his audience that no leader had apologized for “these terrible decisions” in Afghanistan. How about mentioning Bush/Cheney for starting the whole 20-year disaster and Trump for ending it with no plan?
I agree with those who say it is not worth bothering trying to fact check, provide rational and real talking points, and refer to history as mechanisms to stem the flood of disinformation (it isn't "misinformation" because the flood is deliberate). The only way to deal with this stuff is to be vigilant about charging people for threatening violence, to sue the s**t out of the fascist disinformation organizations and their mouthpieces, and to keep on slogging through the legislative agenda. There are ways to make it clear to people who are resistant to reality that their positions are wrong, but the problem is that most of those types are offended when their ignorance is revealed and they dig in even harder. If you couple that with the panic the extremists feel because their tactics are not working, and you get all kinds of scary scenarios potentially playing out.
I've been thinking that posting pictures of all of these arseholes under the heading "Our Taliban" might be an effective method of presentation.