This morning, Russell Vought, Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced that it was “fake news” that his office would comply with the Congressional impeachment inquiry: The OMB is the office that, on Trump’s orders, withheld aid to Ukraine. This is significant because it means that the OMB is helping Trump …
Yale prof. Timothy Snyder explains what was wrong with Mulvaney’s press conference (the meat starts at 3:30) From Snyder: “Mulvaney’s comment ‘get over it’ is a very economical way of saying get over the facts, get over the particular laws that make this illegal; get over the rule of law.” From Snyder: Mulvaney was essentially …
@ana_safavi asked: What changed is the focus of law enforcement. 100 years ago, all-white police forces mostly put black men in jail. The laws mostly shielded white men and gave them legal superiority. The law of coverture gave men legal dominance over women. Before the New Deal & Civil Rights legislation [white] men could pretty …
There’s a tendency to see the current surge in right-wing anti-democratic, authoritarian norm-breaking as something new in America, and therefore both frightening and baffling. This is wrong—and dangerous. We begin with a distinction between conservatives and reactionaries (also called right wing authoritarians). Conservatives are averse to change. They prefer stability & status quo. Those with …
Trump claims that impeachment is interfering with his ability to do his job. When you consider what Trump—as president—does all day as his “work” it makes sense that the way Pelosi and Schiff are conducting this impeachment is throwing off his game. Yale prof. Timothy Snyder explains that Trump’s “task” is to create crisis & …
The “you’re the puppet” technique being used now by the Trump-Fox-GOP goes like this: “The House is denying Trump due process and thus denying him a fair trial.” To being with, the House inquiry is not akin to a criminal trial. It’s more akin to a grand jury proceeding in which evidence is gathered and …
*term from Yale prof. Timothy Snyder. Step 1: Create a crisis where brown people live. Step 2: When migrants come north to escape crisis, stoke anger against “invaders. Step 3: Enact policies that cause pain among constituents: Take away health care; give tax cuts to rich corporations to create more income inequality, encourage global warming, …
The Putin-Trump Sadopopulist* Playbook in 6 Steps Read More »
The Parnas-Fruman Indictment is here. What a story it tells. First, a summary of the indictment itself. Election laws protect elections from illegal foreign influence and provide transparency to maintain public confidence in elections. Defendants Parnas, Fruman, Correia, and Kukushkin conspired to funnel foreign money to candidates in violation of U.S. election law. They concealed …
If This Was A Movie Plot, Nobody Would Believe It Read More »
New York Magazine’s Yashar Ali reports that there are now multiple reports revealing that Trump’s personal lawyer, the former mayor of New York, Giuliani, is the subject of a federal criminal investigation. Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer is in prison. Now Giuliani? Seeing a pattern? The investigation into Giuliani is of course connected to …
The summary of the phone call between President Donald Trump and newly elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy offers ashocking and illuminating look at how Trump operates, particularly when he purports to conduct foreign policy as president of the United States. But the conversation shouldn’t surprise those who listened to Trump’s personal lawyer and longtime fixer Michael Cohen testify before …
