Yesterday, Steve Schmidt posted some history, apropos of the Macron-Biden meeting. I’m sure everyone who reads this blog knows who Lafayette is, but you may still learn some details (including the French for “Lafayette, we are here,” if you don’t speak French.) And I can’t even read the full article (not being a paid subscriber.) Also, I did finish sorting my meds for the coming two weeks.
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Short Takes –
Mother Jones – We Found the Guys Behind the Hunter Biden Porn That Elon Musk Won’t Shut Up About
Quote – I have previously reported on various messages and recordings detailing what Guo and Bannon and their backers were up to in 2020. One thing this material shows is that in October 2020, Bannon—working with Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer—arranged for Guo and his followers to spread salacious videos and pictures from Hunter Biden’s laptop. Click through for tedious details. Surprise, surprise! (NOT) – Republican dirty tricks.
E & E News – Attacks on grid infrastructure in 4 states raise alarm
Quote – The incidents in the Carolinas followed attacks at six substations in Oregon and Washington in October and November. Local news outlets reported on those events this week. Grid security experts said it’s too early to tell whether the incidents were related or unusual in number, but said they showcase a need for the energy industry to be vigilant and prepared. “It remains troubling and highlights how vulnerable is our critical infrastructure,” Richard Mroz, a senior adviser at the grid security advocacy group Protect Our Power, said in an email, referring to the string of incidents. Click through for details. You are probably thnking cyber attacks – I certainly was – but it turns out guns can kill people just as effectively when used on power infrastructure which people need to survive.
Democratic Underground (kpete) – A little girl wrote to Los Angeles Dept of Animal Control asking if she could have a pet unicorn
Quote – Thank you very much for your letter requesting permission to have a unicorn in your backyard. I am pleased to tell you that the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control dies license unicorns under the following conditions:
1. The unicorn must be cared for in compliance with all animal caretaking regulations set forth in Los Angeles County Code Title 10….
5. Any sparkles or glitter used on the unicorn must be nontoxic and biodegradable to insure the unicorn’s good health. Do click through. This is a feel good story we all need – especially after those first two short takes. And there’s more to the story – not to mention some delightful comments.
Glenn Kirschner – Will Oath Keepers convictions ultimately take down Roger Stone, Alex Jones, Mike Flynn and others?
Meidas Touch – Special Counsel Jack Smith GETS TESTIMONY from Former Top Trump Aide Stephen Miller
Ring of Fire – Laptop Repairman Says He’d Testify To Republican House About Hunter Biden
Larry & Paul – Every Political Debate. Ever. (And this is exactly why I don’t watch debates.)
This Baby Husky Thinks She’s Invisible
Beau – Let’s talk about MTG and the marketplace of ideas…. (Empty Greene thinks Communism and Authoritarianism are the same thing. They are not. Theye are not even on the same axis, nor are they even compatible – although Communism is vulnerable to being subsumed by Authoritarianism because ot requires so much mutual trust, which is susceptible to abuse.)
Yesterday, I tried to rest as much as possible.I did manage to get a prison email off the Virgil with some pictures of Joyce Vance’s chickens – and a couple of other pictures – that should lift his spirits when he gets it, although he will still be envious of anyone who can get close to silky chickens. No matter how well it goes, am always wiped out after any of my visits Of course, when I was in my teens and even my twenties, driving used to energize me. That has not been so for many years, and that’s probably a big part of it.
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Short Takes –
The Daily Beast – Republicans Lost the Races Where They Spent the Most
Quote – The Daily Beast reviewed the most expensive House and Senate races in the country, and found that, with a few exceptions, Republican candidates were on the losing end. Republicans lost three of the five most expensive Senate races, per CRP data, with Democrats clinching the top three—Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona. (The Georgia contest, where Sen. Raphael Warnock received the most votes, is headed to a runoff.) While Republicans [won] a slim majority in the House—far below their expectations—Democrats took all five of the most expensive races, according to CRP data.
I’ve never believed that money won elections. Granted that it doesn’t hurt, elections are decided by human beings, and, unless you are paing them directly for their votes, you can’t buy their support with campaign money. Good candidates, creatively promoted, and short, catchy, accurate slogans (“In January, I’ll be better. He will still be a con man”) work better. Some money is needed in order to maximize communication – but after a certain point, the law of diminishing returns hits.
Crooka and Liars – City Of Brotherly Love Welcomes Immigrants That Texas Governor Dumped
Quote – [On the] morning [of November 16], despite earlier denials that this was indeed his plan, Greg Abbott, the wizened little nominal governor of Texas, dropped a busload of immigrants in my city…. “The bus was sent by Gov. Greg Abbott in what he said was an effort to bring the challenges of the border to northern cities. Immigration advocates in Philadelphia called the bus ride a cruel trick played on innocent people who are legally in the United States.” Click through for story. Susie Madrak has some words for Abbott and other Republicans. Does anyone thnk that Abbott and DeSanctimonious will ever get a clue, no matter how often and how dramatically their cruel stunts backfire?
Colorado Encyclopedia – Amendment 2
Quote – Amendment 2 was a ballot initiative passed by Colorado voters in 1992 that prohibited the state from enacting antidiscrimination protections for gays, lesbians, and bisexuals…. Passage of the controversial amendment set the stage for a national debate over the rights of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals, while the ensuing legal struggle was the first legal case affecting homosexuals to reach the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court eventually declared the amendment unconstitutional, setting a precedent for the current struggle for LGBT rights in the United States. Click through for complete history. The Q-Club massagre immediately beought me back to 1992 (although I had to look up the year.) This horrendous vote showcases the worst of our state – and a past the Supreme Court would live to bring us back to. I believe we are better than that, and offer as evidence the fact that we just RE-elected an openly gay governor. But here, and alas world wide, the struggle is far from over.
Glenn Kirschner – Trump’s lawyers believed Clarence Thomas was their best shot at overturning the election results
The Lincoln Project – Country Over Party
Ring of Fire – Popular MAGA ‘Hot Babe’ Influencer Turns Out To Be Chinese Spy (It’s not just because they are easy to fool. It’s because MAGA weakens our democracy. And the more our democracy is weakened, the more of a superior position they are in with regard to us.)
Robert Reich – Debunking the Big Lies Coming From Republicans
Yesterday, I got to see Virgil, which is always positive. I had spent so much time getting a bit ahead here that I hadn’t read all the comments to see who said to say hello, so I assumed you all would have (I knew, for instance, Pat was with family, and I’m sure she would have [since she always does], along with everyone else who does), and just told him hello from y’all. We weren’t able to get the lone deck of cards this time, but for some reason the TV was on – to football – nnd we caught the end of the Bills vs Jets and the beginning of the Buccaneers vs Rams. We got a few laughs. At one point he noticed the clock on the Bills/Jets said 2 minutes to go, and I said, “That should be about a half hour,” which turned out to be not too far off. I do think I will start going an hour earlier and leaving an hour early. I was fine today – mostly – but my drivers license turns into a pumpkin at sunset, which is now getting earlier every day.
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Short Takes –
The Warning – The hypocrisy of business and media elites
Quote – On Thursday, Axios reported a stunning act of political corruption. The corruption was a direct threat against the U.S. Chamber of Commerce made by House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy. His threat is blatant thuggery. It constitutes a grotesque abuse of power. Leader McCarthy demanded that Chamber president and CEO Suzanne Clark be fired. He promised retaliation if the Chamber of Commerce did not submit to his threat. The Washington, DC, access media ignored the threat, while the business leaders who comprise the Chamber executive board have assumed a posture of flaccid opposition and tepid defiance. Click through for article. I guess you can indeed say the silence is deafening – I had no idea about this. I’m no fan of the Chamber – but this is ridiculous.
Gizmodo – Homeland Security Admits It Tried to Manufacture Fake Terrorists for Trump
Quote – The report describes attempts by top officials to link protesters to an imaginary terrorist plot in an apparent effort to boost Trump’s reelection odds, raising concerns now about the ability of a sitting president to co-opt billions of dollars’ worth of domestic intelligence assets for their own political gain. DHS analysts recounted orders to generate evidence of financial ties between protesters in custody; an effort that, had they not failed, would have seemingly served to legitimize President Trump’s false claims about “Antifa,” an “organization” that even his most loyal intelligence officers failed to drum up proof ever existed. Click through for details. Ron Wyden, Oregon’s other Senator, released the report to the public. I’m inclined to say I’m shocked but not suroprised – which has gotten to be a more or less chronic emotional state around here.
Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
As important as this topic is, I almost bypassed the article because of the rampant bothsiderism in the introduction and first section. But eventually, the author has to admit that all the actual violence and threats of violence today are indeed coming from the right. And that this violence and threats of violence can be traced to the deliberate manufacture of political delusion. Conservative thinkers appeas to have replaces Descartes (“I think, therefore I am”) with “I think, therefore it is so.”
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Political violence in America isn’t going away anytime soon
A warning about the threat of political violence heading into the 2022 midterm elections was issued to state and local law enforcement officials by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Oct. 28, 2022.
The bulletin was released the same day that Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s husband was hospitalized after a home invasion by a lone right-wing extremist seeking to harm her.
This incident is the latest in an increasing stream of extremist confrontations taking place across the United States in recent years. These incidents have primarily targeted Democrats, including a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020. But threats from both sides of the political spectrum are up significantly.
And, of course, there was the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, where supporters of a defeated Republican president, acting on a widespread lie he perpetuated, violently attempted to prevent the certification of electoral votes. According to well-documented public evidence, some rioters planned to find and execute both Speaker Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence.
Such incidents reflect a disturbing trend that targets the very fabric, foundation and future of U.S. democracy. But what led to this point?
As a researcher taking a critical and apolitical eye toward security issues, I believe the rise in contemporary right-wing political extremism – and violence – began with an outdated focus in national communications policy.
Police take measurements around House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco home after her husband, Paul Pelosi, was assaulted inside the home on Oct. 28, 2022. Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Media-induced slow burn
Until the late 1980s, the Federal Communications Commission’s Fairness Doctrine required traditional licensed broadcasters to offer competing viewpoints on controversial public issues. But these rules did not apply to cable or satellite providers. As a result, the rise of cable news channels in the 1990s led to highly partisan programming that helped divide American society in the ensuing decades.
This programming fueled increasing polarization in the public and political arenas. Bipartisanship was abandoned in the 1990s, when the Republican Congress under Speaker Newt Gingrich embraced a “scorched-earth” policy of governing. That meant treating the minority party not as the loyal opposition and respected elected colleagues who had differences over policy, but as enemies.
Internet platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and 4Chan allowed anyone, anywhere, to create, produce and distribute political commentary and extremist rhetoric that could be amplified by other users and drive the day’s news cycle.
Political pundits and influencers across the spectrum became less concerned about correctly informing the public. Instead, they stoked outrage in the search for money-generating clicks and advertising dollars. And political parties exploited this outrage to satisfy and energize their voting base or funders.
Philadelphia city commissioners display a voting machine in Philadelphia City Hall on Oct. 24, 2022. Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images
Moderation or censorship?
To combat online extremism, social media companies reluctantly began moderating user posts and sometimes banned prominent users who violated their community standards or terms of service.
In response to what it dubbed “censorship” from Big Tech, the right wing splintered into numerous niche platforms catering to their conspiracy theories and extremist or violent views such as Truth Social – run by former President Trump – Gab, Parler, Rumble and others.
Compared with Democrats, Republicans have mastered this form of gutter politics. One example: Right-wing political figures have mocked Paul Pelosi for being attacked, spread baseless conspiracy theories about his personal life and used the incident for applause lines at campaign rallies.
Accordingly, today’s voters and politicians end up confronting one another in the public sphere not on matters and substance affecting the future of the country, but on fundamental facts and conspiracy theories, or to address distractions often generated by their respective media ecosystems. This is only exacerbated by a prolonged nationwide decline in media literacy and civics education.
Against this backdrop, federal law enforcement has become more vocal in warning about the dangers of domestic political extremism, including a bulletin issued in February 2022. The Oct. 28 DHS bulletin further underscores this concern.
But it’s hard for law enforcement to effectively address political extremism, because speech protected under the First Amendment is a major consideration. Phrases like “I’m fighting for you!” or “Saving our country!” might seem like typical political bluster to one person. But they could be seen by others as an implied call for intimidation or violent action against political opponents, election officials, volunteer poll workers and even ordinary voters.
How does speech turn into violent action? Security specialists and scholars use the term “stochastic terrorism” to capture how a single, hard-to-locate person might be inspired or influenced toward violence by broader extremist rhetoric, as appears to have been the case with the man who allegedly tried to kill Paul Pelosi with a hammer.
Law enforcement’s problem is made worse by right-wing lawmakers who normalize or actively praise the actions of violent extremists, calling them “patriots” and demanding their prison sentences be overturned or pardoned. This helps obscure the actual reasons for such incidents, often by deflecting them into broader conspiracy theories involving their opponents.
Certainly there are controversial left-leaning politicians, pundits, activists and talking points too.
But few – if any – openly disregard the fabric of American government, scheme to overturn democratic elections by force or plot to assassinate politicians.
By contrast, there are over 300 Republican election deniers running for office this year, including many incumbents – the vast majority of whom endorse political violence such as the Jan. 6 attack either by their actions or their silence.
Hope for the best; prepare for the worst
Tensions are high heading into the 2022 midterms. Politicians are making final arguments, and the online messaging machines are spreading campaign information, fundraising requests – and plenty of disinformation as well.
Americans expect a peaceful transfer of political power after elections, but recent history shows we must prepare for the worst. It’s clear that the modern Republican Party is openly and successfully embracing and exploiting misinformation, outrage and attacks on democracy and the rule of law.
Until Republicans actively disavow their extremist rhetoric and the misinformation contributing to it, I believe the likelihood for political violence in America increases with each passing day.
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AMT, the fact is, yes, we need the fairness doctrine or something like it. But we need even more to demand truth in journalism – and in education. Truth – facts – speak for themselves. And what they say is often counter-intuitive. Applying a fairness doctrine to interpretations of fact should take a back seat to actual evidence. And the differences between pure fact, interpretations of fact, and pure opinion need to be recognized and clearly delineated. Just how feasible it is to get to that point from where we are today remains to be seen.
