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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 3 years

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

June 27, 2021

Heather Cox Richardson

The big news today was a series of interviews that former attorney general William Barr did with Jonathan D. Karl of The Atlantic, in which Barr emphasized that former president Trump’s claims that he had won the 2020 election were “bullshit.”

What is interesting about this is not the idea that Barr stood against Trump’s claims of a win. In fact, shortly after the election, Barr fed the Big Lie. A week after the 2020 election, he overturned Justice Department policy to investigate “substantial allegations” of vote irregularities that “could potentially impact the outcome” of the election. Now he is saying that he took this unusual action because he knew Trump would ask him about allegations of fraud and wanted to be able to say he had looked into them. But his stance fed the idea that Trump had been cheated of victory.

That Barr is trying to spin the past now is a good indicator of current politics. While we are still in a dangerous moment, the former president is losing ground.

Trump’s Big Lie has a number of elements that echo the argument behind the organization of the Confederacy in 1861. Like the Confederates, the Big Lie inspired followers by calling for them not to destroy America, but to defend it. The insurrectionists of January 6, and those who continue to insist the election was stolen, do not think of themselves as domestic terrorists, but as patriots in the mold of Samuel Adams.

“Today is 1776,” Representative Lauren Boebert (R-CO) tweeted on January 6.

The Confederates, too, believed they were defending America. In February 1861, even before Republican President Abraham Lincoln took office on March 4, 1861, lawmakers for the Confederate States of America wrote their own constitution. It was remarkably similar to the United States Constitution—copied from it verbatim, in fact—except for three key changes that they believed made the original constitution better: they defended state’s rights, denied that the government could promote internal improvements, and prohibited any law that denied or impaired “the right of property in negro slaves.”

Confederate leaders convinced ordinary white men in the southern states that defending the expansion of human enslavement would be defending the nation against the “radicals” who valued the principles of equality outlined in the Declaration of independence.

On the basis of that powerful patriotism, they took their states out of the Union shortly after Lincoln was elected president, hurrying to secede while tempers were hot.

But, once they declared an insurrection, they found it hard to keep up enthusiasm for it. Confederate leaders approved the firing on Fort Sumter in April 1861 in part because interest in creating a new nation was fading. The new nation that had seemed exciting and inspiring in the holiday gatherings after the election seemed a little silly in the spring, when attention turned to planting. Sparking a crisis made sure that southern whites did not abandon the Confederacy. And, once the war had begun, white southerners were committed. Wars are far easier to start than to stop.

Trump’s insurrection seems to be facing the same waning enthusiasm that Confederate leaders faced. Saturday night, at his first large rally since January 6, Trump spoke at Wellington, Ohio, about 35 miles west of Cleveland. While attendees responded to his complaints about the election, many left early. Today Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) told CNN’s Jake Tapper, “there's a growing recognition that this is a bit like [professional wrestling]. That it's entertaining, but it's not real. And I know people want to say, yeah, they believe in the 'Big Lie' in some cases, but I think people recognize that it's a lot of show and bombast. But it's going nowhere. The election is over. It was fair….let's move on."

Rather than inspiring continued resistance, Trump increasingly looks like President Richard M. Nixon, whose support eroded as more and more sordid information about his White House came to light. Exposés of the Trump White House recently have shown his cavalier approach to the pandemic that has killed more than 600,000 Americans, and his willingness to employ force against peaceful protesters in summer 2020.

Last week, news broke that the Manhattan district attorney is considering criminal charges against the Trump Organization—news that will likely hurt the organization's ability to borrow money—and prosecutors have given the Trump Organization’s lawyers until Monday afternoon to finish their arguments about why the organization should not be charged. Further, we know a special grand jury is set to meet three times a week until November, suggesting that more information may be forthcoming.

And the ground seems to be giving way under the Big Lie, as well. Last week, the Republican-led Michigan Senate Oversight Committee threw out claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election and reiterated that President Joe Biden won fairly. A Georgia judge threw out most of the lawsuit calling for another inspection of ballots from Fulton County. And a New York court suspended Trump’s lawyer Rudy Guiliani from practicing law after it concluded that Giuliani made "demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump and the Trump campaign in connection with Trump's failed effort at reelection in 2020."

As the idea that the January 6 insurrectionists were not terrorists but patriots has become more and more far-fetched, the radical right has become more and more outrageous. Last week, for example, a contributor to the right-wing conspiracy network OAN repeated the lie that “voter fraud” undermined the 2020 election, and then suggested that those “involved in these efforts to undermine the election” deserve “execution.”

Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced that the House will be organizing a select committee to investigate the January 6 insurrection, and trials for the January 6 insurrectionists will be starting soon. Those trials will likely highlight the belief of the rioters that they were following the lead of then-president Trump to protect the country.

But, rather than looking like heroic patriots, they increasingly look like dupes. Barr’s effort to rewrite his actions is a good indication of which way he thinks the wind is blowing. When he left office shortly before the election, he wrote a glowing letter to his former boss promising to update him “on the Department’s review of voter fraud allegations in the 2020 election and how these allegations will continue to be pursued,” and promoting the rhetoric of those pushing the Big Lie: “At a time when the country is so deeply divided, it is incumbent on all levels of government, and all agencies acting within their purview, to do all we can to assure the integrity of elections and promote public confidence in their outcome.”

Today’s article told a different story: “If there was evidence of fraud, I had no motive to suppress it. But my suspicion all the way along was that there was nothing there. It was all bullshit.”

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Notes:

Lauren Boebert @laurenboebertToday is 1776.5,948 Retweets42,655 Likes

January 6th 2021

http://www.civildiscourse-historyblog.com/blog/2019/7/31/constitutions-of-the-united-states-and-confederate-states-a-comparison

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/06/william-barrs-trump-administration-attorney-general/619298/

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/26/us/politics/trump-rally-ohio.html

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/27/politics/mitt-romney-donald-trump-rallies-cnntv/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/25/politics/trump-organization-weisselberg-charges/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/27/politics/2020-election-falsehoods-voting/index.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-organization-charges-deadline/2021/06/27/d944a822-d5e0-11eb-9f29-e9e6c9e843c6_story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/read-william-barr-s-resignation-letter-to-president-trump/2b0820cb-3890-498a-bd46-c1b248049c70/

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#political #The Big Lie #Civil War #slavery #racism #history #Justice Department #corrupt GOP #criminal GOP

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1americanconservative · 3 years

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darkarfs · 3 years

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From Trump’s recent rally in Wellington, Ohio.

And if you ever needed definitive proof that the man only serves his own hobbled, diabetic ego, it’s the fact that he’s holding rallies after getting his greasy ass handed to him.

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hummingzone · 3 years

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Trump Vents Same Old Election Gripes In Return To Rally Stage In Ohio

WELLINGTON, Ohio (AP) — Former President Donald Trump reprised his election grievances and baseless claims of fraud as he returned to the rally stage Saturday, holding his first campaign-style event since leaving the White House. “This was the scam of the century and this was the crime of the century,” Trump told a crowd of thousands at Ohio’s Lorain County Fairgrounds, not far from Cleveland,…

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#Donald Trump #Joe Biden #Ohio #presidential election #trump rally

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deadlinecom · 3 years

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theculturedmarxist · 5 years

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Monday’s episode of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s “Four Corners” program, “The Christchurch Massacre and the Rise of Right-wing Extremism,” raised serious unanswered questions about how fascist and white supremacist Brenton Tarrant was able to carry out his terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

On March 15, Tarrant, an Australian citizen, killed 50 people and injured 50 more using a semi-automatic rifle. He had spent at least two years planning the massacre in the small city of Dunedin, south of Christchurch, where he trained at a nearby rifle club, wrote his 74-page manifesto and communicated with fascists internationally, including on extreme right message boards on the 8chan website.

The attack has provoked widespread shock and anger in New Zealand, Australia and internationally. At vigils and rallies, many people have demanded to know how it could have happened. The state, however, has sought to severely restrict discussion of the most crucial questions, including the political roots of the massacre. In New Zealand, the censor’s office banned possession and distribution of Tarrant’s fascist manifesto, which outlines the gunman’s political motives and influences—including US President Donald Trump—and connections with extreme right-wing circles internationally.

Canberra and Wellington have refused to explain why the state did not prevent Tarrant’s attack despite his many public statements voicing hatred of immigrants, Muslims and socialists, including threats of violence. The New Zealand police and government insist that Tarrant flew “under the radar” and acted alone, despite his claims that he interacted with many extreme nationalist groups and had received a “blessing” for his attack from Norwegian far-right terrorist Anders Behring Breivik.

“Four Corners” reporter Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop posed the question: “How did [Tarrant] manage to fly completely under the radar while planning a mass murder?” His report suggested that police and intelligence agencies had “underestimated” the threat of white supremacist attacks because they were focused on Islamic extremism; and that they are “drastically underfunded.”

Neither of these explanations stands up to scrutiny. As the “Four Corners” program itself noted, there have been numerous warnings about far-right extremism in Australia and New Zealand, and Christchurch has for decades been known as a centre of neo-Nazi activity.

There have been numerous acts of harassment, intimidation and threats against the city’s Muslim community, including the Al-Noor mosque targeted by Tarrant. In 2016 neo-Nazi Philip Arps was fined $800 for delivering a box of pigs’ heads to the mosque. Police have not explained why they did nothing to protect the mosque following this very clear threat.

Another 18-year-old man, who has not been publicly identified, has been charged with posting threats against the mosque on Facebook days before the massacre. Again, there has been no explanation of why police took no action until after the shooting.

For years, Tarrant posted comments on Facebook praising the fascist and anti-Islamic United Patriots Front in Australia and threatening to kill “Marxists and globalists.” Two days before his attack, “Four Corners” noted, the terrorist “flooded Facebook with posts on extreme right-wing themes… [and] posted photos on Twitter of guns and magazines covered with symbols of his fascist ideology.” None of this triggered any intervention by police.

The timeline of the day of the massacre raises an even more disturbing question: Why was Tarrant not stopped even after he publicly revealed his exact plans?

At midday, he posted links to his manifesto, which clearly identifies his targets, on Facebook. At 1:28 p.m. he shared the document on 8chan along with a message saying he would carry out an “attack against the invaders,” and links to a livestream video. Three minutes later he emailed his manifesto to 70 email addresses, including the prime minister’s office and media organisations. He began live-streaming while driving carefully to the first of two mosques. Tarrant was clearly not worried about being intercepted: his gun is visible in the car and his GPS navigation system can be clearly heard directing him to the first of two mosques. The attack began at 1:40 p.m.

As Robert Evans, an analyst from the Bellingcat think tank, told “Four Corners”, anyone monitoring the neo-Nazi forum would have seen Tarrant’s message and video and “could have reached out to law enforcement in New Zealand and warned them about what was going to happen and cut down the response time before armed police units arrived to intercept them, significantly.”

Instead, the gunman was able to carry out his attack calmly, at one point leaving the mosque, walking casually outside, then returning to shoot any injured people. A total of 41 people died at Al Noor mosque. Tarrant’s video ended after 17 minutes, while he was driving to the smaller Linwood mosque where he continued his killing spree. Tarrant was arrested 36 minutes after the first emergency call was made to police as the attack began, while on his way to a third mosque in Ashburton.

Evans described 8chan as “a 24-hour Klan or neo-Nazi rally where every now and then someone will leave in order to commit a violent attack.” The obvious question, which has not been raised in the media, is: were any of the millions of police and spies in New Zealand, Australia, the US, Europe and elsewhere monitoring the well-known far-right forum? And, if so, why did they apparently do nothing to stop the attack?

Neil Fergus, an analyst from the think tank Intelligent Risks, told “Four Corners” that the gunman’s social media posts should have sounded alarms, but New Zealand’s spy agencies were “not particularly well-served in terms of resources.”

This claim is utterly false. Like previous terrorist attacks internationally, including the September 11, 2001 attack in the US, the Christchurch atrocity is already being used to demand even more anti-democratic powers for New Zealand’s Security Intelligence Service (SIS), Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) and the police. These agencies have received a vast increase in funding, personnel and technical capability over the past two decades. Legal restrictions on their ability to spy on the population are practically non-existent.

Security analyst Paul Buchanan told Radio NZ that in 2017, the year Tarrant moved to New Zealand, police conducted 7,000 warrantless searches, an extraordinary number for a country with fewer than five million people. The GCSB and SIS also have the power to conduct electronic surveillance of anyone in New Zealand under legislation pushed through in 2014, ostensibly aimed at combating terrorism.

The GCSB is part of the Five Eyes network, led by the US National Security Agency, which also includes the spy agencies of Australia, Britain and Canada. As whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed, the NSA and its partners spy on billions of communications all over the world and share information with each other.

There is no innocent explanation for the fact that these agencies, with multi-billion dollar budgets and vast powers and capabilities, failed to monitor Tarrant. The gunman travelled to several countries in Europe, as well as Pakistan, North Korea and, according to some reports, Afghanistan, countries that are under heavy surveillance.

Evans told “Four Corners” that if the gunman had registered as a firearms owner and was commenting on radical Islamic Facebook pages advocating holy war, “I think the governments of New Zealand and... Australia would absolutely have been looking into this person before the shooting.”

While Muslims, environmental groups, pacifist groups and others have been under heavy surveillance, the fascist networks in New Zealand and Australia have been allowed to operate without interference from the state.

The explanation for this is political: the anti-Marxism expressed by Tarrant and the fascist tendencies that inspired him are shared by the political establishment and the state. In his manifesto, Tarrant estimates that hundreds of thousands of members of the police and armed forces in Europe are members of far-right nationalist groups, a statement which raises questions about whether Tarrant had any contact with state agencies.

The main function of the spy agencies and the police over the past century has been to prevent the growth of a socialist movement in the working class. There are countless examples of police infiltration of socialist and leftist groups in the US, Australia and New Zealand, dating back to before the Russian Revolution.

The Christchurch attacks took place in a definite political context of economic breakdown, trade war and growing preparations for war by the US and its allies. Trump, in his violent rants against socialism, expresses openly the fears of the ruling class everywhere, which has been shaken by the upsurge in class struggle over the past year.

The political establishment has increasingly adopted the anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim demagogy of the extreme right in order to divide the working class. Parties such as Australia’s One Nation and New Zealand First, which is a major part of the Labour-led government, have expressed racist and xenophobic views similar to those in Tarrant’s manifesto.

The attack in Christchurch must be taken as a sharp warning of the forces that are being prepared to be used against the working class. Workers and young people internationally must make their own political preparations by building a socialist movement to put an end to the capitalist system and its division of the world into nation-states, which is the source of nationalism, racism and war.

#christchurch #christchurch massacre #alt-right #8chan #new zealand #australia #capitalism #brenton tarrant #cuck right #news #current events #commentary #surveillance state

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thefederalistfreestyle · 6 years

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[. . .] In tune with Miranda, all associated with Hamilton have used every platform to issue a rallying cry for humanity, equality and social justice. Picking up the Olivier Award for his role as vice president Aaron Burr, actor Giles Terera delivered the now much-requoted line: “Diversity is not a policy, it is life.” And Leslie Garcia Bowman, who plays British general Charles Lee in the West End production, points to another frequently shared Hamilton quote: “My favourite line, and it always gets a reaction every night, is when they say, ‘Immigrants, we get the job done’. It is incredible for us to say that because there are so many immigrants in our cast, me being one of them. And to own that line is something that we’re very proud of.” Such is its resonance that a Hamilton Mixtape track titled ‘Immigrants (We Get The Job Done)’ was released last year, with a video featuring rap stars Riz MC (Riz Ahmed), Residente, K’naan and Snow Tha Product. “Even though the story is set in the late 1700s there are still so many topical issues part of human life all of the time,” observes 22-year-old Bowman. Like many in the cast, he has overcome his own obstacles to get into the spotlight. At 15, he was awarded a scholarship to Laine Theatre Arts in London. The problem was the New Zealander lived in Wellington and couldn’t afford the trip over. So he took to the streets to busk his way to London and seven years later is part of the biggest production in the West End. “Even though it is an American story, we made the show our own,” Bowman says. “As Giles Terera said in his Olivier Award acceptance speech, diversity is not a policy, it is life. That’s something that we always try to be ambassadors of all the time, something our company really prides ourselves on; how diverse we are and that we get to share in so many different cultures and put it on a stage in front of London, which is such a diverse city.” Bowman believes part of what makes the London production distinctive is down to the issues on stage being reflected by the experiences of the audience. “It shows that a musical is so much more than a little song and dance on stage,” he continues. “This show is changing people’s lives and we see it. Every night when we take our bow and the house lights come up a little bit and we see the looks on people’s faces and the emotions that they’re feeling. I think the change is different for each person. Then people come to the stage door and they’re trying to express themselves but it’s hard to find the words. It’s happy and sad, funny and painful. It’s an honour to be able to share it eight times a week.” [. . .]

Here’s why ‘Hamilton’ is Britain’s perfect Trump antidote (The Big Issue)

#hamilton #leslie garcia bowman #west end company #the big issue #diversity

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keywestlou · 2 years

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KEY WEST EXPENSIVE TO LIVE IN

KEY WEST EXPENSIVE TO LIVE IN - https://keywestlou.com/key-west-expensive-to-live-in/Front page headline in Key West Citizen this morning: Key West Residents Pay Some Of Highest Monthly Bills In Florida. We had to be told? Those of us who live here know. And it is not getting cheaper. The Citizen was reporting the results of a new study by Doxo. The study indicated Key West residents pay 38.6 percent higher monthly expenses than most other Florida communities. Rent being the largest part of the computation. Key West listed as #4 in the study. The three communities more expensive are Windermere, Pembroke Pines, and Wellington. The Justice Building Blog has a humorous strain which it occasionally exhibits. This morning's one of those. Florida Federal District Court Judge Middlebrooks has been assigned the recent new Trump lawsuit brought by him against Hillary Clinton and others re their attempts to tie Trump to Russia during the 2016 Presidential campaign. Trump's basis for the lawsuit is Bill Clinton appointed Middlebrooks to the judgeship. My opinion: The case won't fly. Will eventually be dismissed. One reason, too many years involved. Clinton was President 1993-2001. Clinton nominated Middlebrooks 1/1997. Middlebrooks was confirmed 5/1997. Hillary ran in 2016. Trump's lawsuit initiated in 2022. Again, too many years involved. Not my reason for seeing the suit failing, however. Trump's sole basis is Bill Clinton made the appointment. Not enough to warrant a disqualification in this matter. A suit based in politics. Political lawsuits of this type are frowned upon. With the background in place, following a few examples of the Justice Building Blog's humor. They are such that Trump might have relied on. Middlebrooks may be of Mexican descent because one of his ancestors was known as El Middlebrooks. From the years 2008-2016, Middlebrooks worked in a court house that had a picture of Obama in the lobby. Middlebrooks likes catsup on his french fries. So does Joe Biden AND so does Hillary Clinton. Middlebrooks was overheard laughing when the former President recommended at a news conference that people drink bleach to kill the COVID-19 virus. Middlebrooks has been frequently seen wearing a mask. Yesterday a vote took place in the House of Representatives. Its primary purpose to express support for NATO. Sixty three Republicans voted against the resolution. The final vote in favor was 362-63. One hundred forty three Republicans did vote in support, as well as 219 Democrats. Helen commented on the vote in this moring's Key West Lou blog: "Anyone concerned for why there is a problem in America right now, need look no further than the pathetic state of Republicans in our country nowadays." A relatively new site recently appeared. Titled: 1440. Presents daily up to date snipits of what is going on in the world. I immediately subscribed. Love it! Why the name 1440? Two reasons. First, the printing press was invented in the year 1440. Second, there are 1440 minutes in a day. The husband/wife team of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have been in the news the past few days. Both testified before the January 6 Committee. Jared on friday. Ivanka, tuesday. Jared testified for 7 hours, Ivanka, 8. Both volunteered to testify. A subpoena was not required for either. Neither took the 5th Amendment. Post interview comments by certain Committee members indicated satisfaction with their testimony. Jared was on a plane flying back from the Middle East when the rally/insurrection began. Though still ongoing when the plane landed, he went straight home. Never attended the event. Ivanka was in Washington January 6. Several times during the day she tried to get her father to do something to stop what was going on. He refused. Her testimony is considered valuable. Are the kids turning on the father? Covering their asses? Could be. The " darling" of the Republican Party! Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. She and Ginni Thomas are destined to walk hand in hand on their way to Hell. Three Republican Senators announced monday they would be voting in support of Judge Jackson. Senators Romney, Murkowski and Collins. Guarantees Jackson will win the Senate vote, though by a close margin. Yesterday, Greene referred to all three as "pro-pedophiles." Greene by so doing revisited the QAnon attack against Senators supporting Jackson. Greene's accusation an "ugly one." You have to dig deep why QAnon is against Jackson. Recall 2016 and Pizzagate. QAnon was promoting the conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton and other Democrats were pedophiles, operated child sex abuse facilities in the basements of certain Washington restaurants, and participated in selling the children into sex slavery. The theory was obviously debunked. However many believed it. Many still do today. Pizzagate was born. A Washington pizza parlor where child sexual activities allegedly were taking place: The Comet Ping Pong pizzeria. Edgar Maddison Welch a 28 year old North Carolinian. He believed. Took his rifle and went to the Comet Pizzeria. His purpose to save the children. He fired his rifle once into the restaurant. No one was injured. He was arrested and charged. Welch plea bargained and made a deal to plead to 4 years. The judge who sentenced him was the same Judge Jackson awaiting her vote by the Senate. QAnon hate Jackson because she sent Welch to jail for 4 years. Those Republicans on the Judiciary Committee who rode her hard are three Senators who hope to be the Republican Presidential candidate in 2024 and are seeking QAnon support. We close with Ukraine and another dastardly Putin deed. Olha Sukheko was the Mayor of a small Ukraine village. The Russians wanted her to collaborate. She refused. She, her husband and son, and two others were killed and buried in a shallow grave. Simply because Sukhenko refused to cooperate. All news reports indicate the Mayor's hands were tied behind her back. No reference is made to the 4 others. Nor is in any media report information whether she was shot in the head execution style or what. May all five rest in peace, as well as all shot dead in the streets the past few weeks everywhere in Ukraine. Putin's brutality knows no end.

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