Saturday, December 19, 2020

America's racial defects are once again exposed.

 


The following essay by Justin Worland was published right after the 2020 election for Time magazine. It basically outlines where we are in America when it comes to race, and why we haven't come as far as we think. 

"In the weeks before the Nov. 3 election, as polling suggested that former Vice President Joe Biden might stand on the precipice of a landslide victory, many who had spent the past four years fighting President Donald Trump took solace in a silver lining: Trump, with his egregious behavior and his penchant for saying the quiet part out loud, had removed a bandage that in recent decades has hidden America’s deepest defects on race. In doing so, many of his opponents believed, he had presented us with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix them.

But election night brought a shock, if not a surprise, for those eager for the country to turn over a new leaf. While Biden remains favored to collect enough electoral votes to win and become the next President, the striking reality of the small gap between the two contenders left many despondent and fearful. This was not the total repudiation of Trump and Trumpism that so many had hoped for. Instead, in some quarters, it amounted to an embrace, with Trump actually increasing the total number of votes he’d received in 2016. Trump removed the gauze, but rather than healing the wound, we may now be watching it fester.

It’s no surprise that many Americans are only now catching on to this country’s long history of systemic racism. In history class, most Americans learn of the past horrors of slavery and Jim Crow, but the line isn’t always drawn to the present. When it is, it’s often presented as a long arc of progress, one that “bends toward justice,” as famously described by Martin Luther King Jr. and often repeated in political rhetoric, most famously by President Barack Obama. But the reality is that race–and racism–continues to profoundly shape American life.

Four years of Trump have accelerated the learning. The COVID-19 pandemic–which has killed people of color at higher rates than their white counterparts–has exposed the health disparities that divide this country. His campaign for “law and order” has only inflamed tensions and further highlighted the mistreatment that many Black Americans are likely to face at the hands of law enforcement. He attempted to schedule a rally on Juneteenth in Tulsa, Okla., the site of a 1921 massacre of Black people, inadvertently bringing attention to both the history of violence against Black Americans and the Juneteenth holiday, which celebrates the freeing of the enslaved. And that was just this year.

Some white Americans have reacted with outrage to this newfound understanding, joining Black Lives Matter rallies and reckoning with race in the workplace, at school and with friends. The marches this summer that captured the nation’s attention, occurring in small towns and metropolises alike, are thought to be the largest mass demonstration in American history, collectively drawing nearly 9% of the country to the streets, according to data-science firm Civis Analytics.

And yet nothing really changed. Gridlock in Washington stymied even modest reform efforts. Trump doubled down, using the unrest to stoke his base’s fears of social unrest and crime with a seemingly endless stream of shock-and-awe television ads and dramatic rhetoric in his speeches. By the end of the summer, the marches still continued, but their strength–and, most important, their resonance with the larger American public–had started to fade. Why that happened and what can be done about it will be the work of the months to come.

When it came time to vote, tens of millions of Americans evidently shrugged off the racism. Many say they don’t like Trump’s handling of race but prefer his approach to the economy. That makes sense: sacrificing the welfare of a minority group for economic prosperity may not be uniquely American, but it is a part of the American DNA. For some others, Trump’s stoking of racial hostilities has been more a feature of his presidency than a bug. At Trump’s rallies, adoring crowds repeated and amplified the President, whether it was his reference to COVID-19 as “Kung flu” or adopting a chant of “Send her back” in reference to Ilhan Omar, a member of Congress born in Somalia.

For centuries, political leaders in the U.S. have used race as a cudgel to shore up support from white Americans, particularly those for whom racial hierarchy afforded a sense of status they otherwise lacked. White Southerners supported slavery–going as far as fighting and dying over it in the Civil War–even though most of them could not afford to own a slave. They did so because it gave them a higher social status. In the 1960s Richard Nixon used the infamous Southern strategy, which created the current electoral map, to stir up fear of Black empowerment and persuade white Southerners to vote for him.

These are Trump’s strategic predecessors. Immersed in data, his campaign built an engagement strategy around speaking to his largely unwavering base and motivating new, largely white voters sold on Trump’s personality and showmanship and his message of grievance. Not relying similarly on data, Trump still effectively channels his campaign’s messaging with constantly calibrated applause lines to test what energizes his audience. Trump’s fanning the flames of racial resentment tells us a lot about who he is; his crowd’s roaring response tells us more about where we are as a nation.

Biden is deeply aware of this fissure. He ran on healing it, and exit polls show he won over voters concerned about racial justice. Betting that most Americans believe in equality and justice, among other democratic values, Biden referred to his campaign as a “battle for the soul of the nation.” With more than 70 million votes received and counting, Biden may be favored to win the election, but to uproot the forces that perpetuate the deeply entrenched racism in this country, it’ll take more than maybe half the country." [Link]

Something else is happening; white Americans are slowly losing their majority status. So now, coupled with racism, you have fear. trump, to his credit, has seen that, and he has done everything in his power to exploit it. It worked for him once, and it almost worked again.

It's why he and so many of his supporters are having such a hard time letting go and accepting the reality that he loss. Sadly for him, there were just enough minorities and conscious white folks voting to deny him a second term. trump is bitter and angry, and so is his base. For them, this election meant more than just having someone in the White House. To them, it was personal. 

122 comments:

dinthebeast said...

" but it is a part of the American DNA"

Fuck that, it is part of the Republican DNA.

-Doug in Sugar Pine

Paradoctor said...

32 days until Biden's inauguration.

mike from iowa said...

One year ago yesterday, drumpf's fat orange ass entered the nmpeachment portal and came out stamped impeached.

PilotX said...

The GOP playbook in its full glory. They're starting the deficit talk early. So now we have to listen to trolls and wingnuts bitch about the debt and deficits while they were silent the last four years as trump ran up record deficits. They just don't give two shits about hypocrisy and should just be ignored as the craven hacks they are.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/12/republican-austerity-warriors-fighting-covid-19-stimulus.html

Paradoctor said...

Austerity for thee but not for me.

PilotX said...

These racists say they hate people of color but voted for an orange dude.

mike from iowa said...

drumpf/noem body count not totally racist...

Last updated: December 20, 2020, 00:46 GMT
United States
Coronavirus Cases:
18,063,206
Deaths:
323,342
Recovered:
10,527,852
Projections
CLOSED CASES
10,851,194
Cases which had an outcome:
10,527,852 (97%)
Recovered / Discharged

323,342 (3%)
Deaths

Gambler2 said...

Minnesota Lawmaker Dies from Virus

December 19, 2020 at 1:42 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 64 Comments

Minnesota state Sen. Jerry Relph (R) died Friday of complications of COVID-19, Minnesota Public Radio reports.

At least five state lawmakers have now died from the virus.

https://politicalwire.com/2020/12/19/minnesota-lawmaker-dies-from-virus/#disqus_thread

Anonymous said...

It's not really useful to say it's only racist business as usual in America, as this and many other articles seem to suggest. There wasn't this kind of derangement in our politics 40 or 50 years ago. Something has changed, and it needs to be explained.

I think Field has hit on one of the factors. White people are on their way to no longer being a majority, so that has raised the possibility that the future of America will be one of a gang-up by people of color against whites, who will be the new persecuted minority. So, for some, there is fear. Which is exacerbated by some of the demands of the "woke left" -- for affirmative action and slavery reparations, for defunding and even abolishing the police. To a lot of whites, those look like a declaration of race war. Or at the very least, they can be massaged into the scariest of threats by right-wing politicians and commentators.

But that's not all. There is simply a lot of economic hardship out there that is the backdrop to the rage. Decades of right-wing economic policy have led to job precarity and wage stagnation that has hit a lot of Americans, and white people are included in that number. Big swaths of rural America have had their local economies damaged by loss of industries, on top of which there was the devastation of the global financial crisis of 2008-9, and now the COVID recession. Unfortunately, instead of blaming the actual culprits for their woes, many whites, particularly blue-collar rural ones, have had their resentments redirected towards scapegoats. They've been told that the cause of everything bad that has happened is foreign governments screwing us, it's Latino illegal immigrants sneaking in and stealing all the jobs, etc.

Which brings me to disinformation. There have now been several decades of disinformation brainwashing people with lies, both through traditional right-wing media and through Internet-based social media, that created this alternate reality that well serves wingnut politicians' desire to get elected to government, but thwarts any possibility of passing policies that would fix the nation's problems. This is how you end up with idiots believing global warming isn't real and COVID isn't real and Democrats are coming to take everyone's guns and Muslims are all terrorists and the global financial crisis happened 12 years ago because misguided liberals forced banks to give loans to irresponsible black people.

Trump didn't create any of this. Not the pre-existing racism or the terrible economic inequality or the false beliefs peddled by wingnut media. He just exploited the hell out of them in order to get elected president, because he is a bad person and he knows how to capitalize on others' misery for his own gain.

Anonymous said...

"Something else is happening; white Americans are slowly losing their majority status. So now, coupled with racism, you have fear. trump, to his credit, has seen that, and he has done everything in his power to exploit it. It worked for him once, and it almost worked again."

Trumpism is a symptom of a White America that is increasingly becoming unhinged because "their" America is increasingly becoming non-White.

This fear and loathing are essential lifeblood for the Trumpism plague.

Or, to borrow a title from an old Public Enemy Song, Trumpism is....

FEAR OF A BLACK PLANET
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1efb1R60BE

Anonymous said...

The best hope for Africans is that there should be few enough of them that the non-failed races will tolerate them as curiosities rather than see them as a threat.

They have obviously chosen confrontation instead.  Typical parasite behavior.

mike from iowa said...

Voting fraud discovered in McCTurtlefuckface's election, winning Dem districts he never carried before and other irregularities in a 19 point blowout with less than 39% approval rating.

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/12/why-the-numbers-behind-mitch-mcconnells-re-election-dont-add-up/

mike from iowa said...

drumpf lawyer, Lin Wood, filed new court brief where he declare it to be ture under "PLENTY" of perjury, instead of penalty of perjury.

Stoopid fucking wingnut lawyers hired by the stoopidest fucking crook the world has ever known


https://www.rawstory.com/lin-wood/

anotherbozo said...

Maybe it should be said that the election was a lot closer than it would have been if we had a fair election. Voter suppression of forty different kinds skewed the vote considerably in Trump's favor. You can tell how many Republican thumbs were on the scale by how loud Trump screamed about 'voter fraud;' a reliable index of what Trump does is what he claims the opposition did. And from the Postmaster General to the Republican governors to all manner of dirty tricks, you can be sure he cheated as much as he possibly could.

Not to say as a nation we're not racist as fuck. But the wound has been exposed to daylight as never before in my lifetime, anyway. Biden's cabinet is looking good, but without Georgia voting for Democratic senators they're going to have a hell of a time getting confirmed, never mind any humane legislation passed.

mike from iowa said...

Even Screwy Louie Dobbs can repent when his ass and Fake Noize's ass are about to get sued for defamation.



https://crooksandliars.com/2020/12/under-threat-lawsuit-dobbs-suddenly-fact

Dobbs gets fact checked and discovers he is a liar.

anotherbozo said...

for those of you who don't follow Michael Harriot and need a laugh (however bitter), check out the 2020 Wipipo Awards - as a white man I had to duck at some of them but I was desperate for a chortle or two.

https://www.theroot.com/the-2020-wypipo-awards-1845886308

Gambler2 ASKA White Woman said...

Anonymous said...

The best hope for Africans is that there should be few enough of them that the non-failed races will tolerate them as curiosities rather than see them as a threat.

They have obviously chosen confrontation instead. Typical parasite behavior.

10:55 AM
--------------------
I see you are back, hiding behind you anonymous title. There are many flaws in you thinking, but reference to parasite behavior is
quite ridiculous. Parasites generally invade in an insidious, gradual, subtle way. Confrontation is not a parasite's style.

And the rest of your post is nonsense too. There are very few "Africans" living in the united States. If you are referring to Americans of purely African decent, there are not so many of them
either. The ancestors of most American Blacks include many white men and women. So you opinions lack a foundation in facts.

Paradoctor said...

Anonymous 10:55 AM: “Typical parasite behavior.”
Said the parasite. Proof: anonymity.

Paradoctor said...

31 days until Biden’s inauguration.

mike from iowa said...

Blacks as curiosities? I hear oodles of wasicu women be curious about BBC. Is that what you meant, anon? Check and see if you wife's mouth has recently been dilated, will you?

dinthebeast said...

Fergus' entire run for the presidency was just a game he was playing with getting people to publicly adore him.
This created two problems: First, he accidentally won, and second, the self-selection process involved filtered for the gullible, the deranged, and the disaffected, leaving him yoked to the interests of basically the worst people in the country.
And he loathes them.
But they are his ticket, and by god he's gonna take the ride.
Not having been bright enough to ask himself ahead of time why no other Republican ever thought his approach would be a good idea, now he is on a ballistic arc and lacking the skills needed to land the plane.
I'd almost feel sorry for him if he weren't such a despicable prick, but he is and I don't.
He doesn't really scare me, his fans scare me, and not in a "they are armed and stupid" sense, instead in a "they vote" sense, that we're gong to have to reckon with in the immediate future.
The armed and stupid have always been with us, and as annoying as the Bundys of the world are, they constitute a very limited threat, especially when compared to the McConnells, Cottons, and Hawleys, and again, their rabid supporters.
Perhaps after the vaccines attenuate the Mad Max feeling of contemporary life, we can get a better handle on some of the lies and insanity that have been boosted and amplified by it.
Then, perhaps, we can try to do something about them.
It's a dicey proposition, and far back in the queue, but what else are we gonna do?

-Doug in Sugar Pine

mike from iowa said...

Beautiful analysis of drumpf, Doug.

Gambler2 said...

Doug,

I agree with you. What bothers me the most is that 70 million people voted for a fucking racist.

dinthebeast said...

About those election bets:

How Oddsmakers Made a Killing Off Trump Supporters

December 20, 2020 at 8:25 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 36 Comments

Slate: “The odds-shifting bonanza on election night, with all that money on the line, was not a sign that the oddsmakers knew something the mainstream media did not. Instead, the Trump spike was the peak of a phenomenon that had been unfolding all year. Many Trump supporters were certain he could not lose, and they plowed so much money into betting on him that they distorted markets in his (and ultimately, the sportsbooks’) favor.”

Said gambling writer Collin Sherwin: “It’s the most irrational market I ever saw.”

John Gruber: “The MAGA types were still wagering real money on Trump after the election had been called for Biden. It was like taking candy from babies who deserved to have their candy stolen.”

-Doug in Sugar Pine

dinthebeast said...

From Carl Newman's Twitter feed:

Burns Like Whisky
Flag of United States
@Scotch_Rox
·
12h
GOP's 2020

Jan: Hoax
Feb: Hoax
Mar: Hoax
Apr: Hoax
May: Hoax
Jun: Hoax
Jul: Hoax
Aug: Hoax
Sep: Hoax
Oct: Hoax
Nov: Hoax
Dec: Vaccine? ME FIRST!!!

-Doug in Sugar Pine

Gambler2 said...

Good one, Doug! LOL!

PilotX said...

“They have obviously chosen confrontation instead. Typical parasite behavior.“

You mean like trying to kidnap a sitting governor because they disagree with a public health decision she made? Agreed, confrontational behavior is parasitic. Very.

Flying Junior said...

We can be thankful that the big push for law and order did not change very many minds. I'm certain the strategists were playing that angle to the hilt with the fervent hopes of painting Trump and the republicans as the guardians of domestic tranquility.

It was a potent sally. But in the end, the only Americans who truly believed that the violent left was burning and destroying our cities were the same people who believed that Biden was being controlled by China.

It was Trump's authoritarian views on law enforcement that first alerted me that something was seriously wrong with this self-serving, slightly demented clown. Trump demanded violence against black protestors at his rallies. He never once gave so much as a nod to any of the high profile cases of racial injustice or violence happening in 2017 or previous years. In the intervening years his facade dropped off completely as he sought to bring down the full force of militarized police departments and even federal troops on hapless protestors. At the same time he winked and mollycoddled v violence and intimidation on the right. Even commending the Proud Boys to stand by as he defended the murderous actions of Kyle Rittenhouse.

No. Outside of his sycophantic base, he wasn't fooling anyone. No converts.

I'm thinking it was one hell of a repudiation. No problem there. We just have seventy million people that don't understand.

Anonymous said...

"It was a potent sally. But in the end, the only Americans who truly believed that the violent left was burning and destroying our cities were the same people who believed that Biden was being controlled by China."

I don't really agree with this. I know people who were horrified by the riots and didn't make much of a distinction between BLM protesters and rioters, but would never have gone in for any of the fruitcake conspiracy fantasies that Trump traffics in. The riots were definitely damaging both for the cause of police reform and for the Democrats, who could be painted as having "allowed" the riots happen (by not unleashing a savage police response against rioters) in the cities they controlled, out of fear of upsetting the black segment of their voter base.

Trump wasn't able to capitalize on "law and order" themes to the point of getting reelected, but that doesn't mean it had no effect in reducing the margin Biden won by, or didn't prevent other Democrats from getting elected to Congress or state governments.

In the end, while it's a big relief that Trump will be gone, this election was not a landslide defeat of Trump, and basically none of his Republican enablers paid any meaningful price for failing to stand up to him, either.

Flying Junior said...

Agreed. It was not the landslide we hoped for and expected.

You can say that the riots hurt the democratic cause. I'm sure there were influences that would not otherwise have been present. But the notion that democratic voters or their elected officials were in any way responsible for violence is a republican fabrication. Civil unrest can be extremely frightening and disturbing. La Mesa, a community not far from my home suffered a bank and a police station burned to the ground. It's horrific. But it was the democrats and the Black Lives Matter activists who stepped in to create islands of peace and healing. Hardcore enforcement and further police oppression is exactly what fuels unrest. I didn't even blink at the riots when Trump was elected. It seemed like a natural thing to me at the time.

Anonymous said...

“But the notion that democratic voters or their elected officials were in any way responsible for violence is a republican fabrication.”

A Republican fabrication that sort of works, as far as many voters are concerned.

BLM, in a way, did cause the riots — by highlighting cases of police brutality that would otherwise have passed unnoticed, thereby fueling lots of anger in the black community. We should hold the police responsible for that anger, because bad cops are the ones engaging in brutality, but a lot of voters don’t delve that deeply into the cause and effect. They just know that there weren’t riots until BLM came along, and now there are. Republicans find it relatively easy to convert that emotional reaction into a claim that BLM actually ARE the rioters, or at least are masterminding them.

Likewise, many voters are not aware of the difficulties in containing riots, particularly while obeying the law on civil liberties. It is easy to convince them that a Democratic mayor simply didn’t try to stop the rioters, because they’re actually on the side of the rioters somehow.

This is a hard tactic for Democrats to defend against, but they’ve got no other choice but to find ways to.

Paradoctor said...

30 days until Biden’s inauguration.

Anonymous said...

"It is easy to convince them that a Democratic mayor simply didn’t try to stop the rioters, because they’re actually on the side of the rioters somehow."

Especially if they're Republican. Republicans are quite stupid and easily manipulated.

Gambler2 said...

Attorney General Bill Barr told reporters Monday that he sees no reason to name a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden, there is no basis for the federal government to seize voting machines, and that he agrees with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's assessment that Russia was behind the massive recent hack of federal agencies.
https://www.axios.com

Anonymous said...

"Attorney General Bill Barr told reporters Monday that he sees no reason to name a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden, there is no basis for the federal government to seize voting machines, and that he agrees with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's assessment that Russia was behind the massive recent hack of federal agencies."

And this would be the reason he got fired. He wasn't willing to give 110% effort in supporting Trump's lies.

Barr's still a bastard, though.

Gambler2 said...

Barr's still a bastard, though.

12:07 PM
-----------
That's for sure. Barr cannot be forgiven for his despicable behavior. He sold us all out. He sold his soul, so to hell with him.

Anonymous said...

Joni Ernst, hypocrite of the day.

You people are insane said...

BLM, in a way, did cause the riots — by highlighting cases of police brutality that would otherwise have passed unnoticed, thereby fueling lots of anger in the black community.

If you REALLY thought black lives mattered, you'd be at least as worked up over the murder of Dajore Wilson by a "BLM" shooter as you would about Breonna Taylor.  You'd care WAY more about her than you would about Laquan McDonald (crazy man weilding a knife) or George Floyd (probably died of a fentanyl overdose).  You'd care about the massive surges in black-on-black murders in major Democrat-run cities around the USA.

But they don't matter to you.

"Black Lives Matter" is just one more lie you choose to believe.

You do it because you are against law and order, against civilization itself.  The lies you spout are weapons of destruction.

Likewise, many voters are not aware of the difficulties in containing riots, particularly while obeying the law on civil liberties.

It's easy to stop riots.  You read the riot act and give people a few minutes to clear the area, then start shooting the violent ones and arresting the remainder.

It's easy to stop looters, vandals and arsonists.  Just shoot them.

It's easy to obey the law about self-defense shootings too, but Democrat prosecuting attorneys won't.

You people are insane said...

But the notion that democratic voters or their elected officials were in any way responsible for violence is a republican fabrication.

You've MURDERED Republicans for wearing MAGA hats.  The people who tried (THREE TIMES) to kill Kyle Rittenhouse were Democrats, one of them a convicted child molester.

If you gave a damn about rioting, vandalism, arson and looting you'd treat everyone doing those things as enemies.  You don't; you treat them as "down with the struggle".  You don't have the brainpower to see through the lies you spout... but we do.

Gambler2 said...

You People Are Insane said:

It's easy to stop riots. You read the riot act and give people a few minutes to clear the area, then start shooting the violent ones and arresting the remainder.

It's easy to stop looters, vandals and arsonists. Just shoot them.
-----------------
Sure it's easy - just destroy the Constitution, create a strong-man dictator and all be well. Right? You are an idiot that thinks he's smart while promoting fascism.

mike from iowa said...

How does one convince a pig to shoot a magat hatted Prowd Boy or other wasicu scumacysts?

dinthebeast said...

"How does one convince a pig to shoot a magat hatted Prowd Boy or other wasicu scumacysts?"

Paint them black.

-Doug in Sugar Pine

dinthebeast said...

"It's easy to stop riots. You read the riot act and give people a few minutes to clear the area, then start shooting the violent ones and arresting the remainder.

It's easy to stop looters, vandals and arsonists. Just shoot them."

It's also easy to stop Pig People from subverting the constitution and killing the republic, just toss them into a wood chipper: BRRRAAATTT!

My friend John works for a big tree service, and they have wood chippers with remote control feed arms that could tear through a crowd of Pig People like a brush pile.

Sound inviting? Didn't think so.

Let's stick with the rule of law instead.

-Doug in Sugar Pine

You people are insane said...

Sure it's easy - just destroy the Constitution, create a strong-man dictator and all be well. Right?

You mean, like Abraham Lincoln, who suspended habeas corpus and jailed editors who wrote against his unwanted war?

You are an idiot that thinks he's smart while promoting fascism.

You are an idiot who doesn't realize that things like the right to jury trial apply when NOT dealing with massive lawless behavior by mobs.  Shooting mobs en masse has been done many times under the Constitution, and I don't see YOU claiming it no longer applies.

Anonymous said...

"My friend John works for a big tree service, and they have wood chippers with remote control feed arms that could tear through a crowd of Pig People like a brush pile."

It sure is easy to dehumanize people of different opinions with names like "Pig People".

Dunno why it's so attractive to be a flaming hypocrite, but it must have something or you wouldn't do it.

Gambler2 said...

To You People Are Insane...

You really need to do some research.

STOP ACCUSING THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT OF IGNORING SO-CALLED “BLACK-ON-BLACK” CRIME
http://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/featured/stop-accusing-black-lives-matter-movement-ignoring-called-black-black-crime/


93% of Black Lives Matter Protests Have Been Peaceful, New Report Finds
"...the incidence of white-on-white murders, which were the largest category. Experts say most murders are intraracial."
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/jun/23/instagram-posts/instagram-graph-misleads-racial-breakdown-homicide/

Alleged 'Boogaloo' extremist charged in killing of federal officer during George Floyd protest
Steven Carrillo and his alleged accomplice "came to Oakland to kill cops," said John Bennett, special agent in charge of the San Francisco division of the FBI.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/airman-charged-killing-federal-officer-during-george-floyd-protests-california-n1231187

Researchers at the Counter Extremism Project, an international policy organization formed to monitor and combat extremist groups, say white supremacists and neo-Nazis have been celebrating the past week of mayhem on the streets. On the Telegram channel of one violent neo-Nazi group, 5,500 followers reportedly were advised that a large protest would provide the perfect opportunity to commit a murder. Another Telegram channel said the time was right to attack synagogues with law enforcement being distracted by the civil unrest, according to CEP.
https://www.voanews.com/usa/whos-behind-violence-george-floyd-protests-us


93% of Black Lives Matter Protests Have Been Peaceful, New Report Finds
https://time.com/5886348/report-peaceful-protests/




Gambler2 said...


'Get a rope!' Armed extremists clash with police while trying to overrun Oregon State Capitol
https://www.rawstory.com/oregon-protest/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6161

dinthebeast said...

"Dunno why it's so attractive to be a flaming hypocrite, but it must have something or you wouldn't do it."

Dunno why you can't read the goddamn point of the comment, which was "let's stick to the rule of law instead" or why you are so thick as to pretend to ignore the comparison with your suggested murder of protesters with my exaggerated suggestion of the chipping of Pig People, which is actually a really bad idea, not only for being extrajudicial murder, but because one can't rely on the Pig People chips to refrain from slithering off and growing into new Pig People.

Anyway, Fergus' brain-wizard of a lawyer has filed a lawsuit under "plenty of perjury" but without any indication as to what constitutes plenty:

https://lawandcrime.com/2020-election/lin-wood-signs-georgia-lawsuit-under-plenty-of-perjury/

-Doug in Sugar Pine

dinthebeast said...

So following in the footsteps of Fergus grifting off of the deaths of more than 300,000 Americans, Kyle Rittenhouse and his family are grifting off of his double murder.

-Doug in Sugar Pine

A Peculiar Indifference said...

Between 2000 and 2018…more than 162,000 black Americans lost their lives to violence…the population of a substantial midsize American city—say Jackson, Mississippi….

The overwhelming majority of these deaths were at the hands of other blacks.  Their lives don't matter.

dinthebeast said...

Virginia's statue of Robert E. Lee in the National Statuary Hall Collection is being replaced by Barbara Rose Johns, the Black teenager whose case joined with others to form the Brown v Board decision that desegregated schools in the south.

-Doug in Sugar Pine

Anonymous said...

"So following in the footsteps of Fergus grifting off of the deaths of more than 300,000 Americans, Kyle Rittenhouse and his family are grifting off of his double murder."

Buy your "Free Kyle" merch now! It will make an excellent Xmas stocking-stuffer for the budding neo-fascist militia member in your life!

A Peculiar Indifference said...

In the United States today, a young black man has fifteen times the chance of dying from violence as his white counterpart.

Because they are violent, but nobody tries to punish them when they misbehave or even counsel them to behave differently.  Their lives don't matter.

Gambler2 said...

A Peculiar Indifference said...

In the United States today, a young black man has fifteen times the chance of dying from violence as his white counterpart.

Because they are violent, but nobody tries to punish them when they misbehave or even counsel them to behave differently. Their lives don't matter.

6:36 PM
--------------
Here's something to ask yourself if you aren't totally indifferent: Where are the guns coming from that young black men and teenagers seem to easily get their hands on by the thousands? As far as I can determine, guns are manufactured and sold predominantly by white people. So since you are so concerned about violence, what are you personally doing to stop the flow of guns to everyone who might misuse them?

mike from iowa said...

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/09/us/connecticut-high-schools-black-latino-studies-trnd/?hpt=ob_blogfooterold

First state to offer high school Black and Latino studies in the nation.

PilotX said...

https://news.yahoo.com/more-300-000-trump-supporters-130842353.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=fb&tsrc=fb

trump hosting a virtual inauguration. Wanna bet some of our trolls will be virtually attending?😆😂

PilotX said...

“In the United States today, a young black man has fifteen times the chance of dying from violence as his white counterpart.“

Looking at specifically gun deaths white males are particularly vulnerable. Is that because they are violent and nobody tries to counsel them or correct their behavior?

Gambler2 said...

3:53
You mean, like Abraham Lincoln, who suspended habeas corpus and jailed editors who wrote against his unwanted war?

You are an idiot who doesn't realize that things like the right to jury trial apply when NOT dealing with massive lawless behavior by mobs. Shooting mobs en masse has been done many times under the Constitution, and I don't see YOU claiming it no longer applies.
---------------------
Lincoln addressed the issue in his message to Congress that July. He justified the suspension through Article I, Section 9, of the Constitution, which specifies a suspension of the writ “when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.”

The situation today is nothing like what Lincoln faced in April 1861. Currently there is no "rebellion, invasion, affecting public safety. There several gangs of hoodlums trying to overturn a legitimate election, but so far the Homeland Security and local police are handling it.

Furthermore there is disagreement to this day as to whether or not Lincoln was justified in suspending Habeas Corpus. At the time, Chief Justice of Maryland, Taney, declared that Lincoln was in error, and that only congress could suspend Habeas Corpus.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lincolns-suspension-of-habeas-corpus-is-challenged

As for "Shooting mobs en masse has been done many times under the Constitution", you need to cite these times with reliable sources. I can't recall this ever happening. If you are referring to the War of the Rebellion aka Civil War, that's a whole other issue.


mike from iowa said...

drumpf/noem body count still churning out bodies by the hundreds...

United States
Coronavirus Cases:
18,454,626
Deaths:
326,668

dinthebeast said...

From Pamela Merritt's Twitter feed:

Erin Ní Bhroin
@ErinNiBhroin
·
Dec 20
Well, it’s taken over 800 years but the Brits are now banned from coming to Ireland

-Doug in Sugar Pine

Gambler2 said...

Concerning Dead People voting in the 2020 presidential election....

“Officials have found a case of a dead person voting,” Business Insider reports.

“Bruce Bartman has been charged with unlawful voting and perjury over allegations that he pretended to be his dead mother to cast a ballot in the November election for President Trump in Pennsylvania.”
https://politicalwire.com/2020/12/21/man-pretended-to-be-his-dead-mother-to-vote-for-trump/

He voted for Trump. HA HA HA HA HA HA

PilotX said...

Bruce Bartman

Is he a DC comic book character? LOL!

dinthebeast said...

Looks like Rudy is in a heap of trouble.

-Doug in Sugar Pine

Anonymous said...

"Looks like Rudy is in a heap of trouble."

Presidential pardon imminent ...

PilotX said...

"Presidential pardon imminent ..."

Not for state charges.

Anonymous said...

“Not for state charges.”

All the news I’ve been seeing about Giuliani refers to federal investigations.

PilotX said...

"Prosecutors for the Southern District of New York have been in communication with Justice Department officials in Washington about gaining access to Giuliani's emails, the two sources said. The SDNY needs Washington's approval before its prosecutors can ask a judge to sign a search warrant for materials that may be protected by attorney-client privilege, according to department policy. It is not known whether that approval has been granted by Washington to the SDNY."

PilotX said...

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/feds-have-discussed-making-legal-request-giuliani-s-electronic-communications-n1250714

Anonymous said...

"Prosecutors for the Southern District of New York have been in communication with Justice Department officials in Washington about gaining access to Giuliani's emails, the two sources said. The SDNY needs Washington's approval before its prosecutors can ask a judge to sign a search warrant for materials that may be protected by attorney-client privilege, according to department policy. It is not known whether that approval has been granted by Washington to the SDNY."

SDNY are federal prosecutors.

PilotX said...

"SDNY are federal prosecutors."

You're right. my bad.

PilotX said...

Newsmax and Fox are forced to retract their baseless claims of voter fraud or be sued by Dominion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2Ol2OJPZYY

PilotX said...

And Smartmatic.

Anonymous said...

“Newsmax and Fox are forced to retract their baseless claims of voter fraud or be sued by Dominion.”

Yeah, it’s the best.

These dirtbags lie constantly, so nothing is funnier than when they screw up and do it in a way that actually does violate our weak defamation laws, and are then forced to publicly admit they lied.

These events come around about as often as the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, so we have to enjoy them while we can.

mike from iowa said...

I was a Junior in High School when Ohio National Guard fired into a gathering of student demonstrators at Kent State University, May 4th, 1970, killing 4 unarmed students to death with the attendant blood gore on nightly news.

mike from iowa said...

Eleven days after Kent State, there was another mass shooting on a campus of a Historically Black University in Mississippi. Not many bother to remember this mass shooting since it involved Black students, local and state pigs and civil rights.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/05/14/jackson-state-shootings-are-often-overlooked-rich-caster-still-remembers/

What about the slaughter of basically unarmed women and children at Wounded Knee in the middle of winter? A number of the killers were awarded top medals for the slaughter and some wasicu killers names are enshrined in Lakota territory after having peaks in the Black Hills named for their murderous hides.

mike from iowa said...

Medals of Honor. For this 1890 campaign, the US Army awarded 20 Medals of Honor, its highest commendation.
Start date: December 29, 1890
Locations: Wounded Knee Creek

Back then the medal of honor used lesser standards than today.

Paradoctor said...

29 days until Biden’s inauguration.

mike from iowa said...

Wasicu privilege raises its ugly head in the US Air Force.

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/531207-air-force-review-finds-black-and-white-service-members-treated-differently

What a fucking surprise, not!

PilotX said...

"These events come around about as often as the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, so we have to enjoy them while we can."


LOL!

dinthebeast said...

So now that the disaster relief bill does not include money for state and local governments that by law can't run deficits, who is it again who is defunding the police?

-Doug in Sugar Pine

dinthebeast said...

There is no god, because Mick the fuck Mulvaney told Maria Bartiromo that "we have to be honest" and was not immediately struck by lightning or swallowed by a crack in the Earth.

-Doug in Sugar Pine

dinthebeast said...

Amy Klobuchar got $15 billion into the disaster relief bill to help independent venues stay open, so whenever the goddamn apocalypse is over we can go see live music again.

-Doug in Sugar Pine

Anonymous said...

Here's something to ask yourself if you aren't totally indifferent: Where are the guns coming from that young black men and teenagers seem to easily get their hands on by the thousands?

Here's something to ask yourself:  why don't they affect anyone else the same way?  What's different about blacks?

As far as I can determine, guns are manufactured and sold predominantly by white people.

In other words, blame Whitey.  But it wasn't Whitey who invented the "no-lackin' challenge".  It wasn't Whitey who invented gangsta rap.  It isn't Whitey gunning down people in "the hood" over "beefs".  Stop blaming Whitey; he's got nothing to do with it.

So since you are so concerned about violence, what are you personally doing to stop the flow of guns to everyone who might misuse them?

I would be more than happy to outlaw the sale of guns to blacks and the possession and handling of guns by blacks.  I would be thrilled to punish gun theft by blacks with long prison sentences.  I'm not indifferent to the problem, and I recognize who is causing it.  Fixing it requires holding blacks accountable, not Whitey.

Gambler2 said...

At 6:07 Anonymous said.....Here's something to ask yourself: why don't they affect anyone else the same way? What's different about blacks?
--------------
It does, Kid. Read the data - lots of white people are killing each other and themselves as well.


So since you are so concerned about violence, what are you personally doing to stop the flow of guns to everyone who might misuse them?
---------------
I'm not the one who brought up concern for violence. That was a guy who calls himself "You people are Insane". Was that you, and now you are hiding behind "Anonymous"?

FYI, violence is down in the United States compared to a few years ago. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/11/20/facts-about-crime-in-the-u-s/

By-the-way, Pew Research is one of the top research companies in the world.

dinthebeast said...

I guess Fergus just has a thing for mass murder:

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/salvadorhernandez/president-trump-pardoned-four-blackwater-contractors

-Doug in Sugar Pine

Anonymous said...

"I guess Fergus just has a thing for mass murder:

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/salvadorhernandez/president-trump-pardoned-four-blackwater-contractors"


Pardoning ALL the bad guys, as long as the people they murdered were brown and/or Muslim.

How many war criminals has Trump freed so far? I've already lost count.

Anonymous said...

Trump also pardoned his crony George Papadopoulos, as well as three wingnut congressmen who committed financial crimes.

And two border patrol agents who killed an unarmed pot smuggler.

An open question: Will Trump start pardoning cops convicted of killing black civilians? Honestly, I wouldn't bet against it.

dinthebeast said...

"Will Trump start pardoning cops convicted of killing black civilians? Honestly, I wouldn't bet against it."

I wouldn't either, but those fucks never need pardons because none of them ever get fucking convicted.

-Doug in Sugar Pine

Anonymous said...

"I wouldn't either, but those fucks never need pardons because none of them ever get fucking convicted."

Not enough of them, but some have been over the last few years. Trump might see that (the convictions) as a problem he could fix.

mike from iowa said...

Pardoning Kenosha Killer Kyle in advance of trial would endear him to magats forever.

Anonymous said...

“Pardoning Kenosha Killer Kyle in advance of trial would endear him to magats forever.”

True, that’d be right up Trump’s alley, but he can’t make those charges go away, because they’re not federal.

Anonymous said...

I would really like to see McConnell’s face today. He spent months grinding and penny-pinching the Dems down to $600 checks and now Trump is throwing a tantrum if the direct payments in the so-called stimulus bill don’t go back up to $2,000.

Of course, this is not because Trump’s heart bleeds for those who are financially struggling during the pandemic, because he’s such a compassionate guy. It’s revenge for McConnell killing off Trump’s effort to cheat his way into a second term, once the Electoral College finished voting for Biden.

Anonymous said...

By the way, White House staff have received memos on how to pack up and leave, starting the first week of January, to make way for the Biden administration.

Reality is setting in, over in Trumpland.

Flying Junior said...

That's fucking obscene about the Blackwater sons of bitches who murdered Iraqi citizens in cold blood just for sport. Obviously there is big political money in this family. These are Trump's peeps so to speak. But I am still disgusted. I don't believe a president, McCain, Romney, Rubio, JEB or even Ted Cruz would have done the same.

Filthy.

Paradoctor said...

28 days until Biden’s inauguration.

MURDERED BLACK CHILDREN DON’T MATTER said...

By the end of July, 24 children under the age of 10 had been shot in Chicago, five of them died. Even the deaths of little children couldn’t make a dent in the violence.

According to an AP report, children in other large cities are being caught in the crossfire. In Columbus, Ohio, 13 children had been murdered by the end of July. A 7-year-old boy in Philadelphia was shot in the head and killed while sitting on his porch. He was caught in the crossfire of a shootout.

The Rev. Michael Pfleger, a Chicago Catholic priest of 40+ years, said the willingness to shoot whoever is near the intended target is the “new normal.” He went on to say, “I don’t think they’re trying to kill kids but I think they’re attitude is, I may not get you, but I know those are your friends and family out there and I will get somebody you know.”

In other words, old black women and little black children are now fair game. They are nothing more than collateral damage in the unrelenting violence of Democrat-run cities with large black populations.

Don’t tell me black lives matter. Black lives don’t even matter to blacks.

https://www.independentsentinel.com/black-on-black-murders-of-old-women-and-children-in-chicago-really-challenging/

dinthebeast said...

The goddamn media is launching the great un-turding of the mound of stinking shit which is Fergus' record as president.

Fuck that.

Make him, his felons, and the goddamn Republican party own every child in a cage, every environmental degradation, every single non black letter law norm that holds the government together shat upon, every bigot and imbecile empowered to attack a minority, every unnecessarily dead covid sufferer, every small business needlessly forever shuttered, every despicably wealthy asshole who didn't have to pay any taxes since 2017, every Republican shitstain now refusing to abide by any future election result, every foreign ally made to question the worth of our alliance, every goddamn strongman autocrat boosted by the fawning adoration of the fucking president of the United States, every woman sexually assaulted by this despicable swine, every federal prosecution squashed by the perversion of a DOJ ordered by this lawless fuck of an attempted leader...

No memory holing of the bad stuff.

Burn the motherfucking lifeboats.

-Doug in Sugar Pine

dinthebeast said...

Using his fourth different stated reason, Fergus just vetoed the NDAA that includes resources for countering Russian cyber aggression.
Now, the congress has the votes to override his veto, just as they have the votes to override his threatened veto of the government funding/covid relief bill.
On that one, the snit he is in over it is supposedly over the size of the relief checks, which he said should be $2,000 instead of $600, so Nancy Pelosi said "OK, let's do it, we'll pass it today by unanimous consent."

-Doug in Sugar Pine

Anonymous said...

“On that one, the snit he is in over it is supposedly over the size of the relief checks, which he said should be $2,000 instead of $600, so Nancy Pelosi said ‘OK, let's do it, we'll pass it today by unanimous consent.’”

The Dems are, of course, going to lean into Trump’s demand, hoping to put pressure on Senate skinflint Mitch McTurtle to offer a bigger, more useful economic aid package.

But, again, Trump made this demand only because he hates Mitch now, since Mitch won’t dismantle democracy so Trump can keep being president.

mike from iowa said...

Dems were holding out for bigger relief checks and as the deadline got closer they gave in to wingnuts on smaller checks so they could coronavirus relief out there. 2k is a nice round number for the needy.

mike from iowa said...

Anonymous said...
By the way, White House staff have received memos on how to pack up and leave, starting the first week of January, to make way for the Biden administration.

Those instructions were immediately repealed leaving them in the dark.

mike from iowa said...

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/531528-body-camera-footage-shows-ohio-cop-shot-black-man-within-seconds-of

Bodycam shows cop wlk up driveway for some reason then it shows a man with his cellphone recording walk towards officer in open garage. Pig retreats and then fires, then he advances to body and screams at him to turn on his stomach. After more screaming orders he grabs deceased by shoulder, rolls him onto his back and walks away, never offering any medical help. There were flashing lights all up and down two or three blocks for some unknown reason and it took several minutes before a sounder of pigs walked up to corpse. Disgusting why no medical help was offered.

mike from iowa said...

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/white-house-management-office-memo-trump-administration-departure

Quick reversal counts for two points.

mike from iowa said...

3239 bodies counted yesterday. body count for today...

Last updated: December 24, 2020, 00:29 GMT
United States
Coronavirus Cases:
18,907,430
Deaths:
334,079

3500 bodies today. It is like this everyday, lately.

Wesley R said...

Happy Holidays Field and everyone on this site. Hopefully 2021 will be a much better year for all.

dinthebeast said...

RIP Leslie West.

-Doug in Sugar Pine

Anonymous said...

Roger Stone and Paul Manafort join the pardon-palooza.

How long until the Trump self-pardon happens?

Gambler2 said...

Anonymous....

How long until the Trump self-pardon happens?

--------------
I'm thinking maybe late evening on January 19, so he can take attention from Biden's big day and turn it on himself?

PilotX said...

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/531207-air-force-review-finds-black-and-white-service-members-treated-differently?fbclid=IwAR1p-2SoKWohCozjISbd2bwRiLeLkZp8jHOE4CnrCjD_OzRBseDPtcSWFrI

PilotX said...

https://thehill.com/homenews/531485-pennsylvania-lieutenant-governor-says-texas-counterpart-owes-him-bounty-money-after

dinthebeast said...

Bye bye Billbarr Buggins, brown in nose and black in heart.

-Doug in Sugar Pine

mike from iowa said...

Mountain. Mississippi Queen Leslie West?

PilotX said...

“Bye bye Billbarr Buggins, brown in nose and black in heart.“

He’ll be on Dancing With the Stars soon.

Paradoctor said...

27 days until Biden’s inauguration.

Gambler2 said...

Morning, Paradoctor,

I've been wondering do ever read "The Prophet" or "Garden of the Prophet?"

Paradoctor said...

Good morning. Do you mean Khalil Gibran? I read his “The Prophet” awhile back, and I recall a few lines. “Work is love made visible.”

Gambler2 said...

Paradoctor, Yes, that's the one. My favorite line is from the "Garden of the Prophet", "I have shot the golden arrows, but I have brought down no game." That's how I feel after talking to someone who tells me there is no reason to vote because the two parties are the same. LOL!

Paradoctor said...

For that kind of birdie you don’t need golden arrows; bait will do. Just ask the oldest political question: what’s in it for you? You might not like the answer but it will be to the point.

dinthebeast said...

"Mountain. Mississippi Queen Leslie West?"

That's the one.

-Doug in Sugar Pine

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