Old Link Bundle: More Trumpiness

 My tabs are REALLY piling up...

A reminder that Trump has been using government agents to target opposition protests long before the current BLM protests.

"Mr. Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it," 2019 style.

And again. And again.

Remember, Trump's cabinet is just as corrupt and incompetent as he is.

 Reminders that Trump wants to shut down all immigration except rich white people permanently, law be damned: here, here.

Reminders that Trump loves him some white supremacist terrorists: here, here.

Reminders that Trump is himself a white supremacist: here, here. And that he surrounds himself with white supremacists and does nothing about them: here.

Trump on health care: let the corporations run wild, stick you with the bill. Hell, he even wants that to be the case in England.

Reminders that Trump is wholly corrupt not just morally but financially: here, here.

Reminder that Trump believes it's all right for him to make doing his job conditional on electoral support: here. 

Reminders that Trump's tax plan was designed specifically only to benefit people like himself: here, here.

Reminders that Trump uses his power to deliberately cover up his own scandals: here, here.

Reminders that Trump hates the poor: here, here, here.

Reminders that Trump is loading the federal courts with bigots and corrupt dealers wholly unqualified for their roles: here.

Reminder that Trump is absolutely incompetent at foreign policy: here. 

Reminder that Trump believes loyalty goes only one way: here.

Reminder that there is zero evidence that Trump will relinquish power voluntarily: here.

And, finally, reminders that Republicans and conservatives won't lift a finger to stop Trump: here. 

Because they had the chance to stop Trump once, for these reasons, and for others, and chose not to.

Because Trump is exactly what Republicans, as a group, are.

Link Bundle #3

Clearing out yet more old tabs on the browser.

Cop catches his supervisor on video demanding to know why he hasn't arrested enough black people. 

Different cops beat the hell out of a black man, then claim self-defense, not knowing surveillance cameras would prove their lie.

North Carolina Republicans were working to systematically make it difficult if not impossible for Democratic-leaning people to vote.

North Carolina isn't alone in working to disenfranchise voters. Republicans are using wild claims of illegal voters to justify voter purges- despite the fact that the people making the claims are known liars and con men.

A concise description of what the alt-right is. Short: cowardly fascists. 

Another reminder: the alt-right is not about free speech. It's not about tolerance. It's not about anything else except racism, bigotry, and evil. To say "alt-right" is the same thing as to say "KKK", "White Citizens Committee," and "Nazi." It's all the same thing, just wearing a fancy suit and waving a Kekistan flag.

And Trump, let it be always remembered, is their man. He's proven it by his words, his deeds, and the company he keeps. (Note: Ben Rodriguez, a former creative collaborator of mine, has become an ardent follower of Castalia House publisher and Rabid Puppies fascist troll Vox Day, the man quoted in the first linked article for saying, "There is no more Republican vs. Democrat. It is now whites vs. non-whites and white quislings.")

Speaking of Kekistan: How alt-right trolls took an obscure, poorly drawn cartoon and made it the face of hate, racism, and sadism on the Internet.

A common tactic of abusers is to tell their victim, "What's the matter with you? I'm just playing with you!" It's a common lie, and the alt-right uses the "I'm joking" defense for the exact same reasons. The idea is to get the victims to let them continue, to let them grow stronger, to get a tighter grip on them, until escape becomes impossible.

 Written a year ago, before Trump's election, this article is a lot more sympathetic than most would be today. What I take from it: the well-off despise those with less than they have, and the poor whites generally despise non-whites who appear to get government help they themselves are too proud to accept. Oh, and both sides are fervent believers in conspiracies.

Short version: when wealth concentrates, it ceases to circulate, choking the economy. The more concentrated the wealth, the more it tends to concentrate even more, squeezing everyone else.

Short version: self-control is a total myth. Any system that relies on it to function WILL fail.

I must remember to seek out and buy some Penzey's spices.

A thorough coverage of the history of Presidential disability in office, and how government coped- or failed to cope.

A reminder that the world has seen rich businessmen elected to executive office before. The trend is, the richer the businessman, the MORE corrupt his administration.

We are in a new cold war with Vladmir Putin's Russia, even if few in Washington want to admit it. Putin is deliberately spreading misinformation to influence elections around the world. His end goal: to discredit democracy, weaken Russia's enemies, and bring about a world order of totalitarian, white-supremacist regimes. And Putin's support of Trump's campaign, about which more facts come out every day, was part and parcel of that.

And I think I'll stop there for now.

Privilege 1, Justice 0

Well, I'm home and sick as a dog after this past weekend's business trip.

I'm not much up to blogging on stuff today, but I really do have to mention the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the case regarding the FBI search of Rep. William Jefferson's Congressional office.

Rep. Jefferson (D-LA) is currently under indictment on bribery and corruption charges. The New Orleans representative commandeered a helicopter during the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, ordered the pilot to fly him over his home, and then ordered the chopper directly back to base, doing nothing whatever to help his constituents who were still stranded in the flooded area. Later, an FBI investigation found evidence that he had accepted over $500,000 in bribes, including $90,000 they found in a warranted search of his home.

The court case involves a search, with warrant, of his Washington, D. C. office. This office is paid for by the federal government. According to lawyers for Rep. Jefferson and Congress, the search was unConstitutional under the clause that prohibits any prosecution or penalty for anything said during debate on the floor of Congress.

The Supreme Court's dodge of the case means that the appeals court ruling stands- namely, that no search may be made of Congressional offices for any purpose without prior notice to and approval of Congress. In effect, Congresspeople would be able to conduct illegal business in their tax-funded offices, keep incriminating documents there, etc. and be able to stop any effort from outside to get access, even with a warrant.

Obviously Republicans are not the only party who believe that responsibility and accountability are only for the little people... and, sadly, the Supreme Court seems inclined to agree.


(P. S. Obama's magic superdelegate number, as of today, is 109. I'm making no adjustments yet for the second round of Texas caucusing, but after a weekend of up-and-down for Obama, my five-source average superdelegate estimate is Clinton 249, Obama 215.)