Wednesday Open Thread

21 thoughts on “Wednesday Open Thread”

1. Good morning, all. 

   The western slope of Colorado is enjoying the most spectacular morning of the season, so far. My Cat and I count ourselves as indescribably fortunate to live at the edge of the world. We don’t get a lot of traffic, but we do have wi-fi, so we are very much in touch with the news.

   As we chatted this morning, we were discussing the continuing mystery of why the administration continues to delay (and lie about) testing. A doctor being interviewed said something like, “Until we have comprehensive testing, we can’t be sure of anything”. That then makes it impossible for us to call out the administrations’ lies. Which, I think, is the point.

   Following is an article by Lucian K.Truskott IV from Salon.

   Can we stop tiptoeing around the fact that Trump is behaving like a dictator?

    

   There will come a time when we look back on this week as the moment in our history when we finally understood that we have a man as president who is acting like a fascist dictator. Just look at the headlines from one day’s New York Times alone: “Alarm in Capital as Axes Swing in Growing Post-Acquittal Purge,” “Justice Dept. Acts to Ease Sentence for a Trump Ally.” If either one of those headlines had run on the front page of a major American newspaper before now, not to mention both of them at once, we would have believed as a people, as a citizenry, that we were facing a national crisis. But this week? Wednesday was just another day in Donald Trump’s America.

   The day before that, in what became known as the “Tuesday night massacre,” all four prosecutors in the case against Trump’s longtime friend and political bad boy Roger Stone had resigned in protest of the intervention by Trump and his attorney general, William Barr, to reduce the sentence recommended by the Department of Justice in Stone’s conviction for lying to congressional committees and tampering with witnesses. 

    

   All of this followed closely the “Friday night massacre” of last week, when Trump fired two of the impeachment witnesses against him, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman of the National Security Council and Gordon Sondland, ambassador to the European Union. 

   But two “massacres” in a row was just the beginning. By mid-week, Trump was suggesting that Army officials with court-martial authority over Vindman should “take a look at” punishing him for testifying at the impeachment hearing. On Thursday, the New York Times front page trumpeted, “U.S. Lawyers Fear Removal of a Guardrail: Stone Case Stirs Worry of What’s to Come.” And by Friday morning, a panel of legal pundits on MSNBC were worrying about what would happen when Trump  didn’t merely step in to help allies like Stone but actually began prosecuting his political foes.

   Folks, let’s not mince words: This is the kind of stuff we read about happening in dictatorships like Russia and North Korea and Iran. And yes, it’s the kind of rule by strong-arm fiat that was  practiced by Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany. 

   https://www.salon.com/2020/02/15/can-we-stop-tiptoeing-around-the-fact-that-trump-is-behaving-like-a-dictator/

   A number of us have talked of this, but the realization that fascism is the intent and plan of the Orange Horde is becoming ever more obvious to all. We must take this seriously, call it out for what it is, and fight back. The Orange Destruction and his Billionaire Cabinet are intent on making sure Stephen Millers’ first pronouncement is valid.

   The first time I saw him on television, I remember him saying to the interviewer, “We will not be questioned.” I guess some people thought he didn’t mean it.

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   1. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/dc-circuit-court-don-mcgahn-mueller-testimony.html

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   2. Yes, and add in the sadism we see Trump displaying today, we are in a frightening time.

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   3. Truscott is becoming one of my favorite curmudgeons.

      His comparison of Amb. Bill Walker and Secretary Mike Pompeo is classic:

      Mike Pompeo, secretary of nothing: Unlike Bill Taylor, he's a disgrace to West Point   Pompeo was first in his class at West Point. Now he's first in line to kiss Donald Trump's ass. Quite a career path

      "Pompeo may have graduated first in his class from West Point, but he certainly hasn’t lived up to its motto, “Duty, Honor, Country.” He’s Donald Trump’s secretary of nothing. He’s first to kiss Trump’s ass, but last in loyalty to his troops and to his country. He is a disgrace and a coward."

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   4. At the end of the day, Duke, Trump is only a front. A front for the real "deep state" of the shadowy billionaires that fund the far right wing: Adelson, the Kochs, Mercers, Uihleins, others. And their bought-and-paid-for politicians & ex-politicos like McConnell, Nunes, Pompeo, Huckabee, Gingrich, and others. As an aside, Louie Gohmert from TX isn't smart enough to know he's been bought.

      Also part of the Deep State is the Christian nationalist and dominionist far right; the religious right. And let's not leave out the talking heads like most on Fox, Limbaugh, Bannon, Newsmax, InfoWars, QAnon, and the rest.

      This is not the Republican party of Buckley, Goldwater, Reagan, or the Bushes. Yes, Reagan and the Bushes used these far righties for their own ends. But eventually the tiger becomes big enough that you can't ride it anymore.

      ("Ride the Tiger," Jefferson Starship, 1974.   Grace Slick on lead vocals.)

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2. WOTD from Rachel Bitecofer at Niskanen Center: "Negative Partisanship and the 2020 Congressional Elections"

   For Bitecofer, Democratic success will be about turnout. She makes the point that negative partisanship turns out the base, but it also turns out a DIFFERENT base.

   Here are her Senate 2020 Predictions:

   Likely D
   AZ
   CO

   Lean D
   ME
   NC

   Toss Up
   MT
   KS (if Kobach is R nom)

   Lean R
   AL

   And please do not conflate the strong preference black voters have for Democrats, Biden included, with their turnout rates. In 2016, black voters strongly aligned with Hillary Clinton, but their turnout rates declined relative to 2012 and 2008 because enthusiasm (and negative partisanship) was lower. The same is true of Bernie Sanders and young voters. Sanders was widely supported by young voters in both the 2016 and 2020 cycles, but when I would point to the fact that in 2020, young voter turnout did not increase for Sen. Sanders as evidence that he (and the revolution) was not particularly galvanizing among his supporters — whose turnout did not increase in 2016 over 2008 — well, let’s just say I would get dismissed.

   Let me repeat it here, clearly, so everyone can hear it. If Democrats win the White House and flip the Senate in 2020, it will be because many more young voters and voters of color turn out in 2020 than did in 2016, as was the case in 2018. This surge will be predominantly generated by college-educated voters, and not only white ones because the demographics of America’s suburbs today are profoundly different than they were 30 years ago. Thus, if one endeavors to elect Democrats at any level of office, voter participation and turnout must be the focal point of the campaign’s effort. 

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   1. What’s Amash going to do to the turnout model?

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      1. Bitecofer hasn't said anything about 3rd parties that I've seen in this year's analysis.  But in analyzing 2016, her position was:

         She says she was as surprised Trump won as anyone else, but what struck her in examining the results, and what she saw as getting lost in the postelection commentary, was exactly how many people voted third party—for the Greens, the Libertarians or Evan McMullin, a former CIA operative who was running on behalf of the “Never Trump” wing of the Republican Party.

         Hillary Clinton had run an entire campaign built around classic assumptions: She was trying to pick off Republicans and Republican-leaning independents appalled by Trump. So she chose a bland white man, Tim Kaine, as a running mate; it also explained her policy-lite messaging and her ads. But in the end, almost all of those voters stuck with the GOP.  The voters who voted third party should have been Democratic voters—they were disproportionately young, diverse and college educated—but they were turned off by the divisive Democratic primary, and the Clinton camp made no effort to activate them in the general election.

          

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         1. Third parties were significant because WI, MI and PA were so close.  But as kwtree has demonstrated often, active voter suppression of Democratic voters, especially blacks, was far more important in fascist strategy.

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3.  

   from Maddowblog…

   ON AID TO STATES, TRUMP SEEMS TO HAVE AN EXTORTION PLAN IN MIND

   Last summer, Donald Trump had a phone meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was eager to discuss U.S. military support for his country. But when Zelensky brought up the possibility of purchasing military equipment, his American counterpart quickly tried to change the subject to an unrelated priority.

   "I would like you to do us a favor, though," Trump said, connecting military support to the Republican's expectations that Ukraine would help with Trump's political interests. The illegal extortion scheme led to the American president's impeachment and bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate for his removal from office.

   Trump, of course, nevertheless remains in the White House, where he's still looking for favors from those who need his approval for necessary assistance. Politico reported yesterday:

   President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested that state and local bailout money from the federal government could hinge on whether the immigration policies of the individual governments seeking relief align with Trump administration priorities

    

   The first sign of trouble came during an Oval Office event with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), when the president expressed a willingness to negotiate on providing federal aid to states facing fiscal crises as a result of the pandemic. And what, pray tell, does Trump want to negotiate over?

   "We'd have to talk about things like sanctuary cities, as an example," he said.

   At a separate White House event later in the afternoon, the president again said he's ready to discuss state aid, "but we'd want certain things also, including sanctuary city adjustments."

   Or put another way, Trump understands that governors, mayors, and congressional Democrats hope to extend a lifeline to states during this brutal crisis, and he's willing to listen, but he'd like them to do him a favor, though.

   What do policies surrounding so-called "sanctuary cities" have to do the coronavirus crisis and states facing dire conditions? Nothing. But the president has a political wish list, it's an election year, and he's suddenly under the impression that he has some degree of leverage.

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   1. Sam Stein, who was a guest during that spot, also brought up collected comments from academics about what might lead to another impeachment. They listed a quid pro quo against the states as a leading consideration.

      Dump deserves to be impeached again.

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      1. ….and convicted. 

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         1. "and convicted….." Depends on how close Amy McGrath is polling with Moscow Mitch in his re-election campaign.

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      2. Agree. It doesn't do any good to have laws if there's no one to enforce them. What if there were no enforcement of traffic laws – forget stopping at red lights, go as fast as you want, drive wherever you want, force others off the road?! That's what Congress is allowing the Trump administration to do – violate every law/rule/norm they want to. There is no accountability. Members of Congress are as guilty as Trump is. 

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4. (the same way he looked Mayor Pete in the eye?) 

   Leaving Off Mask At Mayo Clinic, Pence Said He Wanted To Look Workers ‘In The Eye’

   “And since I don’t have the coronavirus, I thought it’d be a good opportunity for me to be here, to be able to speak to these researchers, these incredible health care personnel, and look them in the eye and say ‘thank you.’ “

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   1. Pence hasn’t figured out yet that one doesn’t have to cut eye holes in the medical masks. Just cover your nose and mouth, Pencey-poo.

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      1. Not sure why Ttump’s MisAdministration picked now to all of the sudden avoid wearing their masks in public? . . . 
          

         

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5. May Day looks to be a near-perfect Denver spring day (sunny, low-80s) for the next bigly Nutterpalooza . . .

   . . . ya’ gots your “May Day Mutiny,” “Open Carry at the Capital,” and the “March for Freeedumb,” with more still to be announced, I’m sure . . .

   . . . bring plenty of sunscreen and tin foil! (or not, if you plan to thoroughly irradiate your orange Ttumpself)

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6. On a brighter note — Joe Biden appears to be doing the smart thing and letting Trump have center stage upon which to flail and put on full display the cruel, malicious and incompetent fool we have currently in the White House.

   A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey indicates that Mr. Biden’s messaging on the pandemic is not breaking through, but it also gives him an 11-point edge over Mr. Trump in whom voters trust to handle a crisis — and a nine-point edge in whom they trust to handle the coronavirus crisis specifically. As for the election, multiple new polls show Mr. Biden running ahead of the president in battleground states.

   Much can happen in six months. But there’s no reason to believe that having Mr. Biden more in the president’s face at this time would help him in November. Better for now to keep the election a referendum on Mr. Trump.

   As one former Democratic operative put it, “When a guy is digging his own grave, you don’t fight him for the shovel.”

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   1. “Tar-Baby coronavirus stayed still, and Brer Fox, he lay low…”
      Biden knows what he’s doing.

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7. So is it a real thing that Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are censoring posts now that aren’t WHO compliant?  Cuz I gotta a whole lotta rubes on my feed right now that are losing their damn minds.  Nutter? Can you help us out? 

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