6 thoughts on “Wednesday Open Thread”

1. Senator Tom Sullivan Interview

   A discussion ranging from gun control to unionization to energy

   I like him – he exudes blue collar.

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2. "Fiscal Warlordism." Josh Marshall at TPM

   Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he will begin “winding down” FEMA after this year’s Hurricane season and, perhaps the more significant statement, that he will begin distributing disaster aid directly from the President’s office. In other words, disaster assistance will be the President’s personal gift, an assist for friends and those who display loyalty. It’s part of the broader pattern we can see across the horizon: Trump takes the policing and military powers of the United States and the national tax revenues (drawn disproportionately from the blue states) and uses it to make war on states he considers enemies.

   This has always been the centerpiece of Trumpism even more than authoritarianism, a kind of fiscal warlordism. Disaster relief dollars are a relatively minor expenditure. But we see it aimed at universities, the cut off of funds generally to California and the forced deployment of National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles. The blue states essentially fund the war against themselves.

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3. This just adds to the list of sickening things going on right now, but the use of rubber bullets in most cases seems morally to me as some type of unneccessary use of force, since they can cause serious physical damage to people that more than likely don't deserve it. Colorado passed a bill in 2020 that limited how "less-than-lethal" stuff can be used by officers employed with political subdivisions of the state, and it might be worth a quick gander:

   24-31-905. Prohibited law enforcement action in response to
   protests.

   (1) IN RESPONSE TO A PROTEST OR DEMONSTRATION, A LAW
   ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AND ANY PERSON ACTING ON BEHALF OF THE LAW
   ENFORCEMENT AGENCY SHALL NOT:
   (a) DISCHARGE KINETIC IMPACT PROJECTILES AND ALL OTHER NON-
   OR LESS-LETHAL PROJECTILES IN A MANNER THAT TARGETS THE HEAD,
   PELVIS, OR BACK;
   (b) DISCHARGE KINETIC IMPACT PROJECTILES INDISCRIMINATELY
   INTO A CROWD; OR
   (C) USE CHEMICAL AGENTS OR IRRITANTS, INCLUDING PEPPER SPRAY
   AND TEAR GAS, PRIOR TO ISSUING AN ORDER TO DISPERSE IN A SUFFICIENT
   MANNER TO ENSURE THE ORDER IS HEARD AND REPEATED IF NECESSARY,
   FOLLOWED BY SUFFICIENT TIME AND SPACE TO ALLOW COMPLIANCE WITH
   THE ORDER.

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4. RIP Brian Wilson, a genuinely brilliant composer and producer. 

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   1. Agreed fully, plus here's a belated nod of respect to Sly Stone, who just passed at the same age! 

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5. On May 12, the Justice Department asked Colorado's secretary of state to turn over "all records" relating to 2024 federal elections, as well as preserve any records that remain from the 2020 election — a sprawling request several voting experts and officials told NPR was highly unusual and concerning, given President Trump's false claims about elections.

   Trump's DOJ makes its most sweeping demand for election data yet

   As the article notes, this may well be related to the "Free Tina Peters" lunacy. Griswold will surely tell the administration to go fuck itself. There surely will be armed confrontation between state and federal law enforcement personnel, and Colorado's a pretty good candidate for the first major outbreak. 

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