US Politics, June 2020 — You have to dominate.

if Jenny Durkan wants to be vice president she's welcome to, don't let the door hit her etc

The president is very angry that the governors have allowed citizens to express themselves in public (a thread):

JUST IN: President Trump unloads on the nation's governors on a call, calls on them to step up enforcement: "You have to dominate, if you don’t dominate you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate."

— Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) June 1, 2020

damn guys if you had just waited an hour we could have titled this month's thread "You Have to Dominate"

...or "Activate Him Very Strongly"

Lol i actually requested to rename the thread to "You have to Dominate" in the police brutality thread. I'm game for the change.

Susan Rice and Rachel Maddow on same insane page

Susan Rice on unrest and violence at the George Floyd protests: "This is right out of the Russian playbook as well." pic.twitter.com/WlKwPcq98J

— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) May 31, 2020

Done. The name won't be changed in bookmarks iirc but it will in SNA and BNA. xp

Lol i actually requested to rename the thread to "You have to Dominate" in the police brutality thread. I'm game for the change.

― I am a free. I am not man. A number. (Neanderthal), Monday, June 1, 2020 12:28 PM (four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

be the change you want to see in the world! almost gives me hope.

Have we gotten any response from the governors about being made to look like a bunch of jerks?

not much longer until this recording leaks

via hoos

The US military is now monitoring protests in seven states: Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Colorado, Arizona, Tennessee, Kentucky

Based on docs obtained from the Department of Defense by @kenklippenstein https://t.co/je0DYeTkNF

— Azadeh Shahshahani (@ashahshahani) June 1, 2020

hat tip to fact checking cuz on this excellent NPR codeshift piece about the complex history of the word Boogaloo (with Joe Bataan quote even):
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2020/05/31/864402190/who-owns-boogaloo

and this if you're unfamiliar with the current usage:
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2020/05/27/the-boogaloo-movement-is-not-what-you-think/

"This is right out of the Russian playbook as well."

To be clear what Rice is saying here is NOT that the Floyd protests are directly inspired by or influenced by Russian intelligence agents, but that extreme polarization leading to chaotic violence within any NATO country is a primary goal of Russia's covert policy to destabilize their opponents, and they have been working in the background to heighten polarization everywhere in the west for a very long time. The word agitprop originated in Russia.

In the same way that the USA and other NATO countries cynically promoted a bloody stalemate in the Iran-Iraq War, so as to weaken both nations, the Russians are happy to help to radicalize every element of society in the US and Europe as much as possible, especially to get all of them fighting in the street with lethal weaponry. The more casualties, the more chaos, the better they like it. Once it has its own head of steam, they don't even need to be actively involved any more.

otm

yes

I think you are being excessively generous re Rice

I don't know about Rice personally, but the aim is to spread division. Bots and trolls are very active on social media working to spread disinformation.

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/20/859814085/researchers-nearly-half-of-accounts-tweeting-about-coronavirus-are-likely-bots

ulysses, I really appreciate that NPR piece, have to admit the other blog post was a bit dense for my level of interest in alt-right terminology. This James Brown clip tho:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8Heyz27IX8

It looks like the kids are white, which I would have thought at the time would be taboo on US television.

my understanding is that JB was (rightly) as big and ubiquitous a crossover star as anyone could've been at the time

excessively generous re Rice

Rice was a UN ambassador and a National Security advisor, so her whole mindset is focused on international politics and external threats. That is her immediate concern in the rarified world she lives in, not justice for unarmed black men on the streets. She should know better, but we are formed by our environment.

it would be a little easier to regard Rice and MSNBC dorks breathlessly screaming “Russia” with anything other than contempt if they’d acknowledge our own destabilizing programs abroad

If you can still stand to hear the fucker’s voice (I can’t), PBS put the audio of the call with the governors on YouTube.

You have to sit up and notice when the Russians go courting the NRA and the NRA jumps straight into bed with them. What common interest, one may wonder, would bind these two together? Stuffing America with guns! Nothing sinister there.

our NatSec community certainly wouldn’t know anything about flooding certain regions with guns

I know Trump's awfulness is normalized as fuck but still it's fucking insane that we have nationwide protests turning into riots as the cops brutalize people on the street and the goddamn President of the United States is hiding in his bunker calling on the cops to crack more skulls

our NatSec community certainly wouldn’t know anything about flooding certain regions with guns

pretty sure this isn't news to anyone on this messageboard

our NatSec community certainly wouldn’t know anything about flooding certain regions with guns

idg your position. of course we do this shit. but that doesn't alter the extreme undesirability of having it done to us. And Russia is not doing it to us as a karmic redress of our injustices to other nations, but purely and simply to enhance their own power, as they are doing in Ukraine. this is not a situation where our actions and the Russians neutralize each other. it's a situation where the Russians have been actively fucking up the place where you and I live and that is, ipso facto, a very bad thing for us. if you want proof of that, turn on the television.

Here is transcript of a testy exchange between the president and @GovPritzker of Illinois, per person on call. pic.twitter.com/fNYW8BXkMs

— Katie Rogers (@katierogers) June 1, 2020

Appealing to Trump's concern for the well-being of others is a waste of perfectly good breath.

But that's okay.

sorry but it sounds like buck passing when comfortable libs whine about Russia every time something bad happens here... ESPECIALLY when the things they’re whining about are indistinguishable from what we do in other parts of the world, with the blessing/ direct input of the very people doing the whining, eg Susan Rice.

i still hate having a billionaire governor, but nice one there JB. sure, it may not compare with the devastating zingers we inflict on trump during the imaginary arguments with him that many of us have on an ongoing basis. but it's all too rare to see people frankly criticize him at length to his face (via telephone)

George Floyd’s murder and the fallout is a direct result of the unholy intersection of racism, capitalism, and a militarized police force. Not “Russia”.

Trump: I know you are, but what am I
for the 1000th time

you're the rhetoric

the Pritzker/trump exchange is at 51:40

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhkouev0cp8

Right. Russia is a minor player compared to the history of US society. They do not have control over our past or all the home grown racism and greed that is working itself out in the streets right now. Like the Shiite-Sunni animosity that US policy takes full advantage of, US racism and capitalism were not Russian inventions, but they are Russian opportunities. If you can't see how massive, anonymous flooding of FB and Twitter with agitprop that pushes people further into opposing corners has had a detrimental effect, I can't make you see it.

The Sunni-Shiite analogy I already gave is concrete and apt. A different analogy would be how a fir tree seedling supplies all the power of growth to make a trunk, branches, twigs and needles and merely follows the instructions in its DNA, while sun and water and air are all supplied by the natural environment. But, with some intervention, a bit pruning and shaping, it can be encouraged to look like a Christmas tree instead of a normal fir tree.

Russian intervention is a very little piece of the whole story, but it is true they have done some of the pruning and shaping that got us to here. Susan Rice is not wrong, but she's only right in a very minor and restricted way, and not an especially helpful way to view what is going on.

But fuck the Russians and Putin, too. They are mega-trolling us. The fact that Congress rolled over on this part of the Mueller Report and ignored it is beyond disgraceful.

During his daily covid address on Friday, Pritzker explicitly called Trump a racist, sexist, xenophobe, etc. He splits no hairs with that motherfucker.

"My rhetoric's bigger than yours!"

George Floyd’s murder and the fallout is a direct result of the unholy intersection of racism, capitalism, and a militarized police force. Not “Russia”.

It can certainly be both, and likely is imo. First three are indisputable, but Russia seems pretty adept at utilizing misinformation to stir shit. As adept or more than our own homegrown shit stirrers.

wait by law and order does Trump mean responding to congressional subpeonas

the misinformation is coming from inside the country. punditry is much louder than journalism now, rumours get out of control, and we have a president who actively boosts lunatic fringe theories

No argument from me on that one.

The art of the headline: coming up with something that's just so intriguing, I have to click.

White House defends Trump's handling of protests: 'This President has been leading'

did you read the Mueller Report, treesh? the misinformation is coming from lots of places, including inside the country. one of the Russian tactics is to selectively boost the signal, regardless of the source.

again, this isn't laying everything at their feet. but denying their input is also misinformation.

and, yes, Trump knows all about selective signal boosting. that's one reason they worked hard on his behalf. it does most of their job for them now.

didn't we *just* do this

like a week ago

dunno about *we*, but I didn't write anything like this a week ago and don't recall reading anything like that on ilx.

He means (I think) treeship worried about something or other about Russia and Trump, one of us directing him to the Mueller Report, wash, repeat.

maybe he should read it then

pretty incredibly and damning follow-up to that by @taniel:

Oklahoma is the 5th state to adopt Medicaid expansion via popular initiative. This one is a constitutional amendment too.

Maine (2017). Idaho, Utah, Nebraska (2018). Oklahoma 2020.

In all those states, GOP leaders blocked the expansion, but immense organizing finally expanded.

— Taniel (@Taniel) July 1, 2020

they're trying their best to kill people, but slowly over the course of several years people in some of the most conservative states in the country are forcing them to do it. i have no idea what is keeping the state legislators from proactively doing it other than denial

they hate obama seriously that is all it is

Any popular expansion of the social safety net is a tax they can’t repeal, that’s even more crucial than Obama’s association with it

i know, but...even their own very conservative constituents are begging them to expand it! at some point, doesn't the weird logic have to swing back around? like, they hated obama and the expansion of the social safety net, ultimately, because they thought voters hated it. but when conservative voters across the country force them to confront the idea that maybe things have changed...why not get out ahead of it and show that they can change their minds too?

i should be a republican consultant. "you guys have to stop being such dicks, is the thing"

in other news,

https://www.rollcall.com/2020/06/30/colorado-rep-scott-tipton-ousted-in-primary-by-gun-rights-activist/

https://i.imgur.com/Q94LHxh.png

Boebert owns a restaurant in Rifle, Colorado, where the staff openly carry firearms, according to The Colorado Sun. She also grabbed headlines last year when she confronted Democratic presidential contender Beto O’Rourke over his support for an assault weapons ban and his comment in a debate, “Hell, yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47.”

“I am here to say: Hell, no, you’re not,” Boebert told the former Texas congressman, The Denver Post reported. O’Rourke dropped out of the race in November.

Boebert has also been associated with the QAnon conspiracy theory, which centers on the belief that Trump is fighting a secret campaign against enemies in the “deep state.”

According to Colorado Public Radio, Boebert appeared on a “Q-friendly web show” and said, “I hope that this is real. It only means America is getting stronger and better, and people are returning to conservative values and that’s what I am for.”

I am here to say: Hell, no, you’re not,” Boebert told the former Texas congressman, The Denver Post reported. O’Rourke dropped out of the race in November.

i like the implication there's a causal relationship between these two sentences.

It’s ok, big fella. We know, we know. You got confused. Go to bed. See you in the morning. https://t.co/mheyiM4AmJ

— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) July 1, 2020

"Rifle, Colorado" for July Thread Title.

i like the implication there's a causal relationship between these two sentences. Yeah I spotted that, that was nasty.

jeff sessions' obituary: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/magazine/jeff-sessions.html

I made it half way then may have said "who the fuck cares?" out loud. Goodbye, one of five free Times articles!

caek otm re NPR

I was a booster and frequent contributor for years but it became increasingly difficult for me to sit through oh about 4 years ago.

tbf to NPR I don’t know that they changed much, if at all.

I should put this entire NPR conversation on an "examples of white privilege" thread

SoORRY JOSH!

That article was the Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Islands of Dark Soups of political profiles

No typos there, look up the real games

really goin after that black vote

NYC is cutting Police $’s by ONE BILLION DOLLARS, and yet the @NYCMayor is going to paint a big, expensive, yellow Black Lives Matter sign on Fifth Avenue, denigrating this luxury Avenue. This will further antagonize New York’s Finest, who LOVE New York & vividly remember the....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2020

....horrible BLM chant, “Pigs In A Blanket, Fry ‘Em Like Bacon”. Maybe our GREAT Police, who have been neutralized and scorned by a mayor who hates & disrespects them, won’t let this symbol of hate be affixed to New York’s greatest street. Spend this money fighting crime instead!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2020

ugh fuck this dude forever

Pigs In A Blanket, Fry ‘Em Like Bacon = new thread title

WNYC's local programming is even worse; the midday talk show has a moment of meditation, which at least is a break from the happy-talk host. Bring back [redacted]. xxxxxp

Denigrating This Luxury Avenue

xp since we loves the throes of wite gilt on the npr ilx-psych front-- i stopped listening to npr about 2012-14 ish when more podlike shit became tolerably listenable. i try to get reliable reporting stuff elsewhere. on the downside from this, i now get more commentary shit from EVERYWHERE, and less good news stuff that i'd like, but every half-listen attempt at npr since 2016 has been pretty infuriating. am i gonna listen to inskeep passively swallow bill barr nonsense without serious-ass followups on the regular? no. (i regretted listening to that one).

wow, rifle makes the pages. this front ranger looks at rifle and the hickenlooper candidacy and cynically thinks "oh, you two are fucking secretly made for each other. maybe sen hick will try to shovel $$$$$ at shale-oil again, to make silt happen."

I don't understand why anyone listens to the radio.

^LL Cool J trying to stay relevant in 2020

i didn't either, until i held a mindless data entry temp job for half a year. then, talk radio became my lord and savior

A little confused about why hating NPR is an example of white guilt-- seems to be more an example of hating equivocating liberal nonsense.

I think my inability to fathom listening to the radio is because I'm never in a car. I'm on my couch all day with my laptop open; if I want to listen to music it's either on Spotify or from my own iTunes collection. And listening to a politician being interviewed by a journalist would be torture.

xp tbc my wite gilt comment was unfunny joekishness and i agree with you.

i don't hear inskeep doing that at all, if anything he's irritatingly left-biased with his snarky "oh so you're saying ....blah blah blah"

A little confused about why hating NPR is an example of white guilt-- seems to be more an example of hating equivocating liberal nonsense.

if anything I wld imagine white privilege is listening to NPR and buying its worldview...it strikes me as the audio balm for quickly assuageable white guilt

these ppl "taking their medicine" on their morning drives to work

not to be too trenchant but ilx picking and choosing specific middle class media/experiences/opinions as more or less privileged is like a group of goldfish arguing which side of the bowl is wetter.

it is striking when the BBC portion comes up on NPR, where the host actually acts "tough" questions AND doesn't (as easily) let the interviewee avoid them. It's like the Americans on NPR are terrified of awkward moments.

asks not acts

BBC radio 4 is a rough start to the day emotionally and it’s politically suspect but it’s not aural cottage cheese and it doesn’t do the “the truth is in the middle” thing to the same extent. I get that npr radio is better than talk radio in the US but that’s a low low bar. It’s the best turd in a pile of turds.

Ha xp

Is it fashionable to dislike NPR?

― sound of scampo talk to me (El Tomboto), Tuesday, June 30, 2020 7:26 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Say, isn't it time for a new thread? Or are we just waiting for Trump to hear what stupid thing Trump barfs out before committing to a thread title?

v v true.

Anyway. You know what I meant and wasn't able to coherently write.

voting for "Denigrating this Luxury Avenue" for July

^

okay, going for it.

I think Rand Paul should get the place of honor this month -- "We Shouldn't Presume That A Group Of Experts Somehow Knows What's Best"

US Politics: July 2020 - "Denigrating this Luxury Avenue"

minus all the capital letters

it is striking when the BBC portion comes up on NPR, where the host actually acts "tough" questions AND doesn't (as easily) let the interviewee avoid them. It's like the Americans on NPR are terrified of awkward moments.