Enough With The Cutesy Titles, People Are Dead: US Politics January 2021 pt 2

https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-the-capitol-riot-what-the-parler-videos-reveal

i'm working my way through this as well (it's very long, and very good). and this gets to the idea upthread about the number of people at the coup being relatively small compared to the country, and how that's (imo) misleading:

And what struck me most about them is just how much this assemblage of people assaulting the Capitol reminded me of people I had seen and spoken with over the years at regular Republican campaign events, going all the way back to Sarah Palin’s electric appearances in 2008. At my first Trump rally in 2016, at an airplane hangar outside Dayton, Ohio, I had been amazed by the cross section on display: There were husbands in golf caps with well-manicured wives, frat boys, fathers with sons. All of them, all that year, had thrilled to Trump’s toxic rambles about heroin-toting Mexicans, Democratic voter fraud (a theme he had picked up from plenty of more conventional Republican politicians) and “the swamp” in Congress. Never mind that the Republican Party controlled the lower chamber of the legislature for eight years of the decade and the upper chamber for six.

eh, i should pull a "normal person" and just link to the thing that say what i think and then leave

eh, i can never be a "normal person"

i never want to the be the white person in a group telling everyone else that everything is going to be ok because the violent/fascist white people aren't that big of a deal

that may very well correct, but i would very much prefer to be wrong than to be yelling "EVERYTHING'S FINE" in a movie theater that's burning down

also, the violent/fascist/racist white people already destroyed a lot of what i cared about, so it's exactly a bogeyman

if there's a time to be wary about this, i would think it's now?

so it's ^not^ exactly a bogeyman, i meant. no other typos in there though!

if there's a time to be wary about this, i would think it's now?
exactly. i understand not wanting to engage in it deeply. it's the handwaving away that drives me nuts

I think it's yet another ironic aspect of the constant dread of the past few months. We get used to the possibility of disaster, because it has been always imminent. Not unlike the decades long fear of nuclear apocalypse. The threat, whatever it was, was no less in the 80s than it was in the 60s, say, but no one was doing duck and cover exercises in the '80s.

Not to be alarmist, but really think we should brace ourselves for that xxxxp inside job: vetting so very many troops is difficult (more now in DC than Afghanistan and Iraq combined, according to npr today).

it's the handwaving away that drives me nuts

compared to terrorism coming from outside, political violence organized by white US citizens is much easier to assemble and put into action because of their automatic privileges within society. this makes them especially dangerous. having white skin, a good haircut, slacks and a polo shirt gives a person a free pass, no matter how much poison or explosives they are stockpiling.

i was telling Mr Veg yesterday I’ve been experiencing frustration w a friend back in Australia who whenever we talk about Trump she kind of claims ownership along with me or one ups me like yes she’s counting down the days too & shes going to a zoom inauguration party and it drives me crazy like OMG HES NOT YOUR PRESIDENT THIS IS MY TRAUMA YOU CANT SHARE IT

and mr veg was like, hey he stressed everyone out, not just americans & shes prob stressed bc you are her American friend

which makes sense & i feel less mad now

i’ve internalized so much of the anxiety of the past 4 it kinda freaks me out when i sort of see it laid out like that

I appreciate that take VG, as someone who's often frustrated by that as well

I think I can speak on behalf of Canada when I say that Trump significantly stressed 70% of us out, too.

(The other 30% are superfans)

Australian news seems to have really amped up coverage of US politics in the last few years, there’s only so many deaths by crocodile and you’ve got to fill a 24 hour news cycle with something.

Like many other places we get referred trauma because trump has emboldened our own fascist fucks in the coalition and beyond and the PM is a big trump fan, it’s excused his own worst behaviour.

I try to stand back, but American wife and I lived there for 5 years and have a lot of friends suffering; it’s hard not to internalise it.

lol

it's weird seeing 4x4s drive through different parts of greater vancouver with trump stickers and flags

the amount of trump supporters in canada is a lot more than i'd expect

Never seen a trump sticker but one of my neighbors has a Bernie 2016 sticker on his bike. Which says a lot more about my neighbourhood than Australia in general.

Here’s the letter pic.twitter.com/EEjB9yDmfg

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 18, 2021

Referring to

Dominion sends a cease and desist letter to Mr. My Pillow https://t.co/dYbExkcrW4

— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) January 18, 2021

In New Zealand we have a New Conservative party. They’re pretty much Trump-like in their policies - xenophobic, racist, etc - but only got about 2% of the vote in a electoral system that allows smaller parties a chance at representation. So Trump’s support is limited here, thankfully.

btw KM just to let you know I did an IRL lol at "(Jill)"

Australian news seems to have really amped up coverage of US politics in the last few years, there’s only so many deaths by crocodile and you’ve got to fill a 24 hour news cycle with something.

Also Australian news has largely stopped bothering to hold Australian politicians or other corruption to account, so some extra room was created.

ain't that the truth

Would be a real tragedy if they bankrupted Lindell and sent him back to smoking crack under a bridge.

That is also because of the contrast, IMO, everyone can look across the pacific and smugly say 200milluon in underserved loot to coalition bowlos or 437 indigenous deaths in custody is that bad*. ‘Our PM may be a prick but at least he isn’t trying to burn everything down’ (except when everything burnt down in part due to his and his party’s capture by the fossil fuel industry)

Apologies, we should take this auspol somewhere else.

*it is that bad it both a tradgedy in its own right but also emblematic of over 200 years of degradation and oppression of First Nations people.

here's my take on the My Pillow guy - he never stopped smoking crack. perhaps he took a break from it but he never stopped.

As someone who has smoked crack, I can assure you that there's no way that guy still smokes crack

what's your take on Don Jr. and Kimberly then

As someone who has smoked crack, I can assure you that there's no way that guy still smokes crack

what's your take on Don Jr. and Kimberly then

Alex Jones trying to crash the inauguration:

“This is not a political statement. This is a statement of unity,” @garthbrooks says of accepting Biden’s invitation to perform at the inauguration. pic.twitter.com/k79OR5Trvm

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) January 18, 2021

that logo looks like two tortellini in a breakfast bowl

i.e. Brooks' lunch.

This is super fucking mean and I’m here for it

Don Jr. appears to be on a cocktail that includes cocaine, cocktails, and sedatives, depending on what iteration of Don we're looking at. Wouldn't be surprised if there's Fancy Meth (aka adderall) in there, too, subbed in for the coke.

Not unlike the decades long fear of nuclear apocalypse. The threat, whatever it was, was no less in the 80s than it was in the 60s, say, but no one was doing duck and cover exercises in the '80s.

We watched "The Day After," that was as far as we got.

Meanwhile, in the world of in it to win it:

The My Pillow CEO responds and tells @UrsulaPerano @axios : "I want Dominion to put up their lawsuit because we have 100% evidence that China and other countries used their machines to steal the election." https://t.co/guBEq88M63

— Kate Nocera (@KateNocera) January 18, 2021

this should be fun

bring it

every one of these clowns is 100% abt the double down

Now that he has continued to spread falsehoods about Dominion after being told that they are false, it will be even easier for Dominion to prove “actual malice” by the My Pillow CEO in court. https://t.co/7dyCIiZ4G9

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) January 18, 2021

the unfortunate fallout from all this will be no more game-changing pillows

I didn't realize ex-presidents sometimes get classified briefings. They were just saying on CNN that they're debating whether or not Trump will get them.

Debating?!

Well, we really shouldn't be too hasty until we've heard all sides of the argument. Maybe he promised to be a good boy from now on!

There was an op-ed in the Washington Post the other day about that. A deputy director of national intelligence under Trump argues that his intelligence should be cut off.

If they go forward with that, they'd better start checking eBay on an hourly basis.

why would any ex-president get access to classified info? that's nuts

our system of government is so fucking dumb

I could be wrong, but I think it's that previous presidents are so often called into service for advice by new administrations. Same with former CIA guys, etc.

That’s what I figure.

Well, we really shouldn't be too hasty until we've heard all sides of the argument. Maybe he promised to be a good boy from now on!

Since when has Trump concerned himself with intelligence, anyway?

Or needing actual people to tell him things?

He's so smart he already knows everything, so nobody can tell him anything.