The Fall of Roe v Wade: US Politics, June 2022

dropping this teen vogue interview with ruth wilson gilmore here, it's a nice thing to read, somehow positive and realistic at the same time

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/ruth-wilson-gilmore-qa

Her new book is out, haven’t cracked it yet but looks fucking awesome

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/17/us/politics/jan-6-committee-transcripts.html

(revolution is absolutely not batting .000, I mean we only have the framework we have because of violent struggle)

otm. the present day difficulty in the USA is that the forces of reaction are more numerous, better armed, and better trained for violent struggle than those who seek revolution. afaics, the masses are not prepared and are about as likely to side with the reactionaries as to join the revolution.

John Cornyn getting booed for agreeing to the most pointless, watered down gun control bill possible is almost as funny as Gary Johnson getting booed for supporting drivers' licenses.

https://i.imgur.com/iIcBjjP.png

what's especially weird is that, in this story (?) about how colbert's staff did a segment in the capitol and had problems with security, Carlson repeatedly calls it "an insurrection", then admits that he's joking, and then argues that his staff should be held without charge for a year and a half, since the charge of "insurrection" is the same as the charges against the jan 6 people.

i am sorry. i am sorry it had to be this way

I’m out of articles (if it’s in today’s paper I’ll look for a physical edition later today) but this seems like it might be an important piece of reporting.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/18/us/firearm-gun-sales.html

Good morning!

In 2009, a marketing firm hired by Remington to push its Bushmaster AR-15s settled on an ad campaign targeting civilians who “aspired” to be part of law enforcement. The first draft of the new pitch, later obtained by lawyers representing parents of children killed at Sandy Hook, exhorted buyers to use their new rifles to “Clear the Crack House,” “Ice the Perp” and “Save the Hostage.”

The company toned down the language but embraced the idea of trafficking in fears of urban crime and mass shootings, the documents showed

“Would anybody like me to run for president?” Trump asked, as the crowd whistled, cheered and some began chanting “U.S.A.”

But he was hardly the only one testing the waters. Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) who addressed the crowd on Friday morning, walked back and forth across the ballroom stage and predicted that Republicans will win majorities in the House and the Senate in November, and then, holding his hands up he added: “And then in two years — I have a dream,” a reference to the Rev. Martin Luther King.
He paused for applause, and then described the dream of GOP control in Washington. “We will show America how you recover after a gut punch,” Scott said.

Bushmaster AR-15s settled on an ad campaign targeting civilians

Still, hunting accounted for a majority of advertisements in Guns magazine from the 1960s to the late 1990s, according to a survey by Palgrave Communications, an online academic journal. The study found that “the core emphasis” shifted in the 2000s to “armed self-defense,” and that the percentage of hunting-related ads had dropped to about 10 percent by 2019.

Sorry I guess italics code doesn’t persist across paragraph breaks

You want to see how this shit is marketed, pick up one of several survival/prepper mags at your local Bass Pro/CVS.

https://thesurvivaljournal.com/survival-magazines/

https://thesurvivaljournal.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ballistic-magazine.jpg

This magazine is the premier firearms and survival magazine. Well built reputation and high-quality information.
It’s a must-read for all firearms and survival enthusiasts. It’s packed full of guns, bigger guns, survival tips, and even beer.

"survival enthusiasts"

Nice use of Fraktur there.

damn, look at that sweet oz gun. i can't wait to get one and survive

You'll need at least two to survive all the people that only have one.

oh, i keep at least three on me whatever i do. what if i see a spot on the ground and want to dig a hole there? you think i'm using my hands? ok, caveman. i use glock to make a divot and then i use the handle of my oz to dig out some more hole, and then i find gold in the hole and sell it for profit

and if anyone doesn't like that, i'll go back to my backyard and shoot a bunch of targets with my political enemies on there, then make the spiciest chili you've ever heard of and then pump iron, just to deal with the pain of the criticism

Funny — I was at Walgreen's yesterday and they had an issue of that right by the cash register. I didn't look too closely, but based on the cover art I thought it was a video game magazine.

I went to their website just now looking for the cover I saw, but the site doesn't even advertise the magazine. They did have this story, though, which I thought was hilarious:

VIDEO: Youtube Mega-Celeb Jeffree Star Owns a Custom Pink Beretta

File this story into the old saying: “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” Most folks in the 2A community wouldn’t presume YouTube personality and fashion mogul Jeffree Star to have much in common with them. Actually, most die-hard 2A folks probably don’t even know who Star is. But Star apparently shares much more in common with gun folks than some might give him credit. And the recent Jeffree Star Custom Beretta helps tell that story.

Some of out there will likely say “Who cares?,” or “Why does this matter?” Well, in an age where celebrities take the stage seemingly daily to push anti-gun agendas, finding common ground with major stars of any genre remains important. Pro-gun and anti-gun camps are obviously pretty entrenched. But wars on wedge issues take place somewhere in the middle. And Jeffree Star commands a massive audience, one that arguably pushes way left of center. His YouTube page generates 16 million followers. His Beretta video already pushed up to nearly 1 million views to date. Influencers matter these days, and Star looms large in that space.

“… Today we’re going to the Beretta factory; if you don’t what Beretta is baby, it’s one of the most iconic manufacturers of firearms in the world, and today we’re going to their factory because there is a one-of-one Jeffree Star Cosmetics pistol,” Star said on his channel. “Yes, Beretta and Jeffree Star has made a collaboration, a one-of one gun, and today we few all the way here to see it for the very first time!”

OK, big points here for Star right out of the gate. He clearly knows Beretta’s place in the gun world, showing reverence as one the titans of gunmaking. Better still, he put his name and brand all over the messaging. A star of the more contemporary, pop-culture and often left-leaning world, Star instead leans into gun ownership here in a big way.

The next point of common ground for many gun lovers centers on family. So many stories of gun ownership and love of shooting begin with a family member passing down some sort of passion about firearms or shooting. Star’s backstory proves familiar.

“… It’s an honor to be here, let’s start there,” Star said. “Today is just really special because my dad, rest in peace, loved Beretta. he loved firearms so much, so I really wish that he could be here to share this special moment with me today. I know he’s looking down at me like ‘Damn, son you really did that!’ So, they’ve made me a gun, and this is so cool, wild, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with.”

Honestly, the best part of this entire presentation comes from Star’s reaction. Like a kid on Christmas morning, Star acted completely overwhelmed with the finished project. “Oh my God!,” Star aid. “Holy shit … I literally am shook. It’s the perfect pink, it’s so cool. … I can’t breathe … And we get to shoot it today, that’s the best part.”

The custom pistol comes as a 92FSx, built in Beretta’s Italy factory. It features styling pulled straight from the unique branding of Jeffree Stat Cosmetics. The build includes deep pink finishing, a customized, hand-engraved slide and side grips, along with a highly polished barrel and surfaces with gold inlays. The Star logo and customized serial number round out this truly one-of-a-kind pistol build.

“The insane level of detail of this special handgun is matched by a tailor handmade leather gun case, created by our in-house Atelier,” Beretta stated in a Facebook post.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofnLRk6rsys

https://i.imgur.com/sm1bo0Z.jpg

Some of out there will likely say “Who cares?,” or “Why does this matter?” Well, in an age where celebrities take the stage seemingly daily to push anti-gun agendas, finding common ground with major stars of any genre remains important.

this is extremely well-argued

i think one of the reasons i've felt so lonely over the past 39 years is because i haven't really made an effort to find common ground with major stars of any genre. really, i think i was being selfish. it was all about me, when it should have been about me and major stars.

Wouldn't it be great if some members of "the 2A community" could find themselves on common ground with Jeffree Star on this issue and once that was established, maybe...gradually...over time...realize that they have...other interests in common? Interests they haven't necessarily felt comfortable sharing with their shootin' buddies?

any major dude could've told you

Thank, JNJ. Also, the promotion of weaponry is even grosser than I could’ve imagined

I’m gonna just reiterate -

“Well, in an age where celebrities take the stage seemingly daily to push anti-gun agendas, finding common ground with major stars of any genre remains important.”

Anywhere else, “anti-gun” could’ve been profitably replaced by “woke socialist mob,” I guess

I've buried guns all over my backyard, like a squirrel, so when the shit goes down and they've taken all the guns I can just start digging randomly and hopefully find a stash, because I am a survival enthusiast. Just squirrels.

*adds item to do-do list*

• find a major star of any genre and find common ground <<IMPORTANT!!!

Or you could just shoot a couple of people at a protest and then *you* become the star.

weird how badly they need to be accepted by Hollywood Sickos

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna34012

Now we just need to prosecute about half a million more gun nuts who make a habit out of threatening to kill public officials. If we can peg a felony on them lots of states will keep them from legally buying or owning guns. Win-win!

Some interesting positive changes, from a newsletter I subscribe to:

A year ago, Lina Khan became Chair at the Federal Trade Commission, followed a few months later by Jonathan Kanter taking the helm at the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. Khan and Kanter are perhaps the most aggressive proponents of antitrust enforcement in decades, returning competition policy to the basic view that when it comes to corporate power, big is usually bad.

This week, three actions will help flesh out what this new enforcement regime looks like practically. First, Jonathan Kanter at the Antitrust Division filed a statement of interest on a court case asking for the narrowing of the antitrust exemption for Major League Baseball. MLB is embroiled in litigation over its choice to eliminate 40 minor league teams, and has been heavily criticized for mistreating minor league players. It was trying to use its antitrust exemption to get the lawsuit dismissed. With this statement of interest, as well as a series of others, Kanter is using his posture as the chief antitrust enforcer at DOJ to shape the law in a more assertive direction.

Second, on Thursday, the FTC voted to resurrect the Robinson-Patman Act, a bill prohibiting corporate bribery and price discrimination by middlemen that hasn’t been meaningfully enforced since the 1970s. I wrote several chapters in my book on the titanic fight in the 1930s to tame chain stores with this law, and the equally vicious conflict in the 1970s to stop enforcing it. The end of RPA enforcement is why chain stores like Walmart and Amazon took over our retail space, and why dominant middlemen control every area of our economy at this point. It’s worth noting that Robert Bork’s most hated statute was the Robinson-Patman Act, and he considered it a tremendous victory that he helped end the enforcement of the law.

So what happened at the FTC? All five commissioners voted on a policy statement saying that the use of rebates by dominant middlemen in the insulin market were a potential violation of different laws under the jurisdiction of the FTC, including the Robinson-Patman Act. This vote is a signal to every private antitrust lawyer, state attorney general, and judge, that the Robinson-Patman Act can once again be dusted off and used.

Insulin is a great test case for this law, because everyone knows how unfair and inefficient the insulin market truly is. It’s a medication that has been around since 1922, and yet it has been increasing in cost every year for decades. And while the three main producers engage in all sorts of schemes to push up cost, most of the high cost of insulin is actually a result the middlemen named pharmacy benefits managers - CVS Caremark, Cigna (Express Scripts), and United Healthcare (OptumRx) - who manage and control how medicine is priced and sold. PBMs demand rebates of up to 70% for the right to have an insulin company sell their product to patients. These rebates in turn massively drive up the price of insulin.

PBMs are increasingly hated by both parties. Last week, in a separate but related action, the FTC voted 5-0 for an investigation into PBMs, which Republicans like Senator James Lankford cheered on. And now this week, the FTC revealed that the Robinson-Patman Act is coming back. But while PBMs are the immediate focus, there are many other dominant middlemen who are vulnerable to the resurrection of the Robinson Patman Act. Last November, for instance, the FTC launched an investigation into price discrimination by, among other firms, Amazon. Amazon knows it is vulnerable; a few years ago, FTC alums Tim Muris and Jonathan E. Nuechterlein wrote a paper financed by the online giant on why the use of Robinson-Patman to go after a grocery chain in the 1930s was bad for consumers. Their attempt to control the historical narrative is a tell that keeping this law dormant is an important corporate priority.

Even more surprisingly, the vote was not partisan. Christine Wilson and Noah Phillips, the two Republicans on the commission, voted to resurrect this law, and even praised Lina Khan for doing so. So if I’m a middleman who uses rebates, aka corporate bribery, to control a market, I’m very unhappy by what the FTC just did.

The third big policy action was also at the FTC. The commission forced some significant restrictions on private equity firm JAB, which is seeking to roll-up veterinary care clinics nationwide. Under this decree, JAB must get the FTC’s permission to buy up a specialty or emergency veterinary clinic within 25 miles of any JAB-owned clinic in Texas and California. This is the use of an authority called ‘prior approval’ that Khan dusted off last year, and it begins fulfilling a pledge Khan made to address the roll of private equity in monopolization of industries nationwide. The Republicans on the commission, Christine Wilson and Noah Phillips, voted for the decree, but with a statement asserting they think private equity is good. Alas.

What these actions show is that there is a fundamental reorientation of the law happening. In her strategic memo last September, Khan outlined a number of different priorities. She wants to get at root causes of consolidation, address dominant middlemen, and the business trend of private equity and its impact on competitive markets. And Kanter has discussed the need to use his enforcement tools to push the law in useful directions. They are both following through on their pledges. Neither the FTC or DOJ has operationalized the use of these new tools, but that is the next step.

It takes a while to stop a giant ship, turn it around, and get it going in the opposite direction. That’s where we are with antitrust. We started this journey in 2013 or so, and finally got the ship stopped by the end of the Trump administration. Well, the ship has turned around, and it is beginning to move in the right direction. Slowly. But it’s speeding up.

Thought that photo of Merrick Garland was the 42-year old for a second. Conservatives do age poorly.

this video is worth burning a free article for:

https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000008392796/rile-up-the-normies-how-proud-boys-breached-the-capitol.html

it's an 18-minute video using countless sources of footage to outline the proud boys' actions throughout jan 6, and demonstrating how effective they were in overcoming the capitol. at least five different entrances, including the huge, key ones, were breached under their direction and influence. In areas where crowds had been standing for hours, they would arrive and within minutes, confront the capitol cops, distract them, remove the barricades, rile up the crowd (with just the dumbest, sportsy "LET'S GOOOOOOO! USSAAAAA!!" kind of bullshit you've ever heard, which is very effective for crowds of authoritarians), then lead the physical confrontation and breach the entrance, now supported by hundreds of very pumped up "normies" (as the proud boys call them) among their number.

all of us have probably seen a version of this or read about most of this a million times, but this puts it all together in a very coherent way. also, watching, it really drills in that whole regrettable issue where absolutely everyone except for trump and his paramilitary supporters were begging for backup for the cops, and trump very conspicuously just did whatever he did for several hours until he was pretty much forced to tape a (very transparently hostage-like) message asking his goons to back away, congratulating them for being such fine patriots standing up against evil. or whatever the fuck he said. watching the video above, and then remembering what he did, it just makes your fucking blood boil. i am not a fan of the usa but holy shit, fuck all of these people forever and anyone who ever supported them, for a single moment, i still feel that just as much as i did in 2016 when trump won by negative millions of votes

also, knowing that as recently as 2020, the proud boys were the allies of the police, in countless confrontations and assaults on black lives matter protesters. the proud boys openly collaborated with the police, across the country, and everyone that was there knew it. the police refused to wear masks and collaborated with the proud boys. in that summer, there was no one fighting against the proud boys except BLM. the capitol police were likely overwhelmed by the proud boys and their summoned mob of "normies" because they assumed that they were still allies with the idiotic racists they were allied with the previous summer

Interesting, unperson; I had no clue about any of that!

Karl, hopefully that video gets more attention.

Not to diminish their danger, but I amuse myself by thinking of all these American nazis as “the Oath Boys” after an elderly professor from my college fumbled the two groups’ names at a brunch months ago

proud keeping oath believing bitter-clinging right-winging clingers of guns god and liberty

right-winging, bitter-clinging proud clingers of our guns, our God, and our religions, and our Constitution

oops, I forgot to delete my reference notes for that important post

religions and constitution with "liberty", just to make it rhyme. Sarah Palin did not make it rhyme.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw and his staff were violently confronted at the Republican Party of Texas convention a short time ago, when far-right social media activist Alex Stein and others whom witnesses described as Proud Boys began shouting “eyepatch McCain” at him – an attempted insult coined by Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson.

sorry, but lol.

is he going to make a marvel movie commercial about this? like he did with aNtiFa? or nah

The Dark MAGA gang is really developing a hate-on for Crenshaw.

The guy I went to high school with who tried to primary DC was easily beaten, and he's been issuing Cawthorn-esque attack statements on the reg ever since.

I gotta admit “eyepatch McCain” as a shouted taunt just cracked me up

They booed Cronyn on Friday because of that limp gun control bill that wasn't limp enough for their tastes.

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2022/06/17/427222/john-cornyn-booed-at-texas-gop-convention-in-houston/