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You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Resignation

Resignation

by Betty Cracker|  June 1, 20208:40 am| 229 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity, Trumpery

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Reports emerged over the weekend that Trump was briefly taken to the White House bunker on Friday due to protests in nearby Lafayette Park. The protests continued all weekend. Last night, the exterior lights were turned off at the White House. Can’t remember that ever happening before.* I think this guy nailed it:

This is a resignation. It should be taken as a resignation. If your country is in crisis, your cities are burning, your police forces are assaulting, murdering, and kidnapping people, and you turn the lights off and hide? You’re not the President. You’ve resigned your duties. pic.twitter.com/VGtIaOVdtO

— Paul Fischer (@tencents77) June 1, 2020

True in every sense but the technical one, which is unfortunately what counts. So, we’ll be slogging through this multi-faceted catastrophe for the next several months, essentially leaderless and except where hindered by a toxic orange internet troll, while Trump’s Republican enablers continue the smash-and-grab.

From The Post:

Never in the 1,227 days of Trump’s presidency has the nation seemed to cry out for leadership as it did Sunday, yet Trump made no attempt to provide it.

That was by design. Trump and some of his advisers calculated that he should not speak to the nation because he had nothing new to say and had no tangible policy or action to announce yet, according to a senior administration official. Evidently not feeling an urgent motivation Sunday to try to bring people together, he stayed silent.

The loudest mouth in the country wasn’t completely silent yesterday evening: Trump tweet-screamed “FAKE NEWS” and “LAW & ORDER.” But it seemed a bit pro forma, to be honest. He’s said nothing for hours, possibly because Kellyanne and Ivanka each have a hold on one tiny thumb.

Overnight, the #BunkerTrump hashtag was trending on Twitter. There’s nothing worse for a bully than to be revealed as a chickenshit, so the coward will probably amp up the tough guy talk today at some point. Political advisors are split on how Trump should respond, according to The Post:

Some on Trump’s reelection campaign team, as well as some White House staffers, have been pushing for the president to deliver an Oval Office address, and he could decide to do so later in the week. But aides first want him to embark on a listening tour of sorts to develop constructive ideas, according to a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans.

Listening? Ideas? What a fucking joke. Trump is still smarting from the “bad reviews” he got for the disastrous Oval Office address on COVID-19, so it’ll be a challenge for Jared to make him sit still for 10 minutes and recite words off the teleprompter.

I can only think of two words that would be helpful right now: “I resign.”

He wouldn’t even need a goddamn teleprompter for that. Just quit and fucking go away and let us begin the work of de-Trumpification. It will be a multi-generational task.

*Duff the Baker confirmed my suspicions about the unprecedented nature of the White House’s lack of exterior lighting last night:

I have never seen this in my entire life. I lived in DC and worked at a restaurant two blocks from here and rode my bike by the White House every night at around 2am. The lights were always on. This absolutely sums up this administration. Nobody’s home. https://t.co/Uk2rhxE1Wj pic.twitter.com/ACjZtaaRPR

— Duff Goldman (@duffgoldman) June 1, 2020

What a wondrous time it must be for Team Blue political ad designers, with the symbolism pouring down like rain and all. Open thread.

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Reader Interactions

229Comments

  1. 1.

    germy

    June 1, 2020 at 8:44 am

    The president and his family have been shaken by the size and venom of the crowds.

    Trump has told advisers he worries about his safety, while both privately and publicly praising the work of the Secret Service. https://t.co/3O8TvUz4GQ

    — Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) June 1, 2020

    Notably, the persons interviewed mentioned that Trump apparently fears for his own safety, but didn't mention his wife or 14-year-old son. https://t.co/o6PNM9j4D5

    — soonergrunt 🇺🇸 (@soonergrunt) June 1, 2020

  2. 2.

    Hunter Gathers

    June 1, 2020 at 8:47 am

    Nothing but a bunch of Punk Bitches, the lot of them.

  3. 3.

    Betty Cracker

    June 1, 2020 at 8:49 am

    @germy: On brand.

  4. 4.

    Elizabelle

    June 1, 2020 at 8:51 am

    When Americans poured into the streets, to protest the death of a black man at the hands of police …

    Donald Trump turned the lights off. The better to hide.

  5. 5.

    rikyrah

    June 1, 2020 at 8:52 am

    Deep tweet

  6. 6.

    mad citizen

    June 1, 2020 at 8:52 am

    I continue to predict he will resign before the election, and just for fun was tweeting at him last week that he will resign on or before Labor Day weekend. I thought it would be because he won’t be able to cope with a huge November loss, but these two crises making it plain as day he (and his party) have absolutely nothing to offer the nation should hasten the resignation.

    This morning I dreamed I was living on the planet Jupiter.

    “… When you think that you’ve lost everything
    You find out you can always lose a little more

  7. 7.

    rikyrah

    June 1, 2020 at 8:53 am

    @germy: I

    And there is Joe Biden, out meeting with protesters

  8. 8.

    Betty Cracker

    June 1, 2020 at 8:54 am

    The Beast broke free of Ivanka and Kellyanne’s grip and is now tweeting nonsense about the Radical Left and Sleepy Joe blah blah blah. There was this jewel:

    “I don’t see any indication that there were any white supremest groups mixing in. This is an ANTIFA Organization. It seems that the first time we saw it in a major way was Occupy Wall Street. It’s the same mindset.” @kilmeade @foxandfriends TRUE!

    Uh huh.

  9. 9.

    NotMax

    June 1, 2020 at 8:54 am

    Blight House.

  10. 10.

    Barbara

    June 1, 2020 at 8:55 am

    The bitter irony is that whatever degree of fear that Trump feels will never get translated into empathy with people who are at might higher actual risk — of being harmed by extralegal violence or by COVID-19.  They evidently expect us to empathize with his fear, without him ever empathizing with ours.

  11. 11.

    RandomMonster

    June 1, 2020 at 8:55 am

    Your posts are so good, Betty. This really is symbolic of the entire incompetent corrupt rudderless administration.

  12. 12.

    MattF

    June 1, 2020 at 8:56 am

    There’s also the… issue of Trump’s limited attention span. Alexandra Petri nailed that one a while ago. Trump isn’t paying sustained attention to anything. Because he can’t.

  13. 13.

    donnah

    June 1, 2020 at 8:56 am

    Trump will never resign. He never admits when he’s wrong and he will blame anyone and everyone else for all of his tragic failings.

    We have to notice that no Republicans have spoken out strongly against Trump’s lack of leadership. Fatass Mitch weakly mentioned that wearing masks wasn’t a bad thing, but nothing about the protests and with the protests going on WORLDWIDE, no one’s stepped up from the Republican party to suggest that Trump is not acting like a president. He’s barely acting like a human being.

    And to all of those idiots whining about Biden hiding out, he called the Floyd family before Trump did, spoke with them for half an hour and offered condolences and comfort. He also went out to talk to protesters and listened to what they had to say.

    While Trump was hiding behind Secret Service agents.

  14. 14.

    Elizabelle

    June 1, 2020 at 8:57 am

    I don’t understand why Trump returned to DC on Saturday after the space launch in Florida.  He was 140 miles from Mar a Lago.

    What else did he and those around him expect?  It’s amazing to me they were not expecting the protests they got.  If they really wanted to tone it down:  give the protesters an empty White House.

    It’s not like Trump is up to any of the expected presidential duties,  or has any empathy or insight into the situation embroiling the country.

  15. 15.

    Xenos

    June 1, 2020 at 8:59 am

    Maybe I am being pedantic here, but resignation is not quite the correct term.

    Rather, I would use abdication.  Our system of government abhors a vacuum, and here we have an empitness of leadership a the center.  In this context congressional power can be aggressively expanded relative to the executive, and state powers can be aggressively expanded relative to the federal powers.

    Just ignore SOB and watch him try to stop you.  And make him try to reassert moral or leadership authority once he has so clearly given it up.

  16. 16.

    Dupe1970

    June 1, 2020 at 9:01 am

    @Elizabelle: Only thing I can think of is that Secret Service via Mar-a-lago as less secure.

  17. 17.

    OzarkHillbilly

    June 1, 2020 at 9:02 am

    @donnah: He’s barely acting like a human being.

    No, he utterly fails at that too.

  18. 18.

    Elizabelle

    June 1, 2020 at 9:03 am

    @Xenos:  going pedantic again:

    make him try to reassert moral or leadership authority

    he never asserted in the first place.  Donald J. Trump is as wholly unqualified for the presidency today as he was when he first arrived in the Oval Office.

  19. 19.

    dimmsdale

    June 1, 2020 at 9:04 am

    It’s neither a resignation nor an abdication. This simply shows that all he’s ever been (even with all the handwaving, rage-tweeting, and the rest) is a PLACEHOLDER FOR VLADIMIR PUTIN.

    THAT’s his job. Cowering in the bunker, he’s doing his job as intended. Placeholder.

  20. 20.

    NotMax

    June 1, 2020 at 9:06 am

    Some small satisfaction in imagining the hamberders are cold and grease-congealed by the time they make it down there.

    ;)

  21. 21.

    eric

    June 1, 2020 at 9:06 am

    Just as with the pandemic, circumstances provided Trump with an opportunity to regain his footing. But, he didnt; and he didnt, because he cant. Worse, his instincts are to do the one thing that is the exact opposite of what he should do. Even if you do not give a speech, you can at least give the impression that you have a plan, or care (just a little bit). But, trump cannot do that. What Trump and his team fail to recognize, as well as the militarized police chief and union bosses, is that we watch a man get killed in clear violation of every police protocol imaginable, and his fellow officers did nothing. the image of the murderer with his knee on Floyd’s neck, while keeping his hand in his pocket, staring defiantly at the camera shook lots of people. The silence of authorities in the immediate aftermath further amplified the dehumanization of black americans in a way that resembled the overt racism of the pre-civil rights south. Silence is acceptance; acceptance is racism is the core of Trump’s team.

  22. 22.

    Frankensteinbeck

    June 1, 2020 at 9:06 am

    Does anybody know what’s with Twitter screaming about a blackout in DC?  Ah, no, I found it.  There was a power outage in part of Washington DC affecting about 39,000 people.  Then the rumor mill concluded the city was aflame and this was an excuse to gun down protestors.  Well, this is why I don’t trust Twitter news and go look elsewhere.

  23. 23.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    June 1, 2020 at 9:09 am

    Maybe his Caps Lock is stuck.

  24. 24.

    Xenos

    June 1, 2020 at 9:09 am

    @Elizabelle: I can go for round after round of pedantry, but touche. (sorry, can’t get my accent aigu to work on this flipping keyboard)

  25. 25.

    Frankensteinbeck

    June 1, 2020 at 9:10 am

    @eric:

    acceptance is racism is the core of Trump’s team.

    One of the major reasons Trump was elected, one of the major reasons the Republican voting base chose him over all the other options, was the promise that his administration would turn a blind eye to racist violence.  He has fulfilled that promise entirely.

  26. 26.

    WereBear

    June 1, 2020 at 9:13 am

    @NotMax: LOL.

  27. 27.

    hueyplong

    June 1, 2020 at 9:14 am

    I’m pretty fucking pissed that this ultra cool and ultra powerful Antifa has never recruited me.

    First the Deep State gave me the high hat.  Now Antifa.  No doubt the Extra New Black Panthers will also kick me to the curb.  I’d attempt to enlist with FAKE NEWS, but Trump keeps telling me that they’re failing everywhere and therefore not hiring.

    I guess we’re all destined for the Lincoln Project with the other pasty-faced losers.

  28. 28.

    WereBear

    June 1, 2020 at 9:14 am

    @eric: we watch a man get killed in clear violation of every police protocol imaginable, and his fellow officers did nothing. the image of the murderer with his knee on Floyd’s neck, while keeping his hand in his pocket, staring defiantly at the camera shook lots of people

     
    The ones who still have souls to shake.

  29. 29.

    VOR

    June 1, 2020 at 9:15 am

    The MAGAts on Twitter overnight we’re excited about the lights at the White House being turned off. They were saying it was to allow better use of night vision gear by snipers. Boy if those protesters climbed the fence, man would they get what’s coming. The MAGAts seemed excited by the prospect of shooting unarmed fellow citizens.

  30. 30.

    germy

    June 1, 2020 at 9:16 am

    A TrumpTweet from 2014:

    pic.twitter.com/QIkJZGcXYt

    — Niles Edward Francis (@NilesGApol) June 1, 2020

  31. 31.

    rikyrah

    June 1, 2020 at 9:17 am

    In this video, a black woman picks up a brick and returns it to a car with white people and admonishes them not to give bricks to black people to throw so that black people will get in trouble with the police. https://t.co/ZFzAF8gye5— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) June 1, 2020

  32. 32.

    germy

    June 1, 2020 at 9:17 am

    "Aides repeatedly have tried to explain to Trump that the protests were not only about him, but about broader, systemic issues related to race."

    So much contained in one sentence. A tragedy, an outrage, and a farce. https://t.co/jisM7oVczF pic.twitter.com/Zjrt438nbX

    — Eric Umansky (@ericuman) June 1, 2020

    Can’t help but take it personally. As he should.

  33. 33.

    rikyrah

    June 1, 2020 at 9:18 am

    😠😠😠

    Caller from North Minneapolis on @MadisonSiriusXM said area is totally destroyed. Businesses residents rely on no longer exists&their transportation system has been cut off for the past 4 days. If they want to go shopping, they have to “white neighborhoods 10, 15, 20 miles away”.— PragmaticObotsUnite (@PragObots) June 1, 2020

  34. 34.

    Jeffro

    June 1, 2020 at 9:18 am

    @dimmsdale:This simply shows that all he’s ever been (even with all the handwaving, rage-tweeting, and the rest) is a PLACEHOLDER FOR VLADIMIR PUTIN.

     

    Or a puppet, perhaps.  I have heard that line a couple of times… ;)

  35. 35.

    Betty Cracker

    June 1, 2020 at 9:18 am

    @eric: Good point. You know the media would have a slobber-fest if Trump was capable of acting like a real president for even five minutes. Remember how they collectively shrieked like Bieber tweens when Trump ordered some people to bounce rubble on a Syrian airfield that time? But Trump is utterly incapable of taking advantage of that massive, unearned advantage.

  36. 36.

    rikyrah

    June 1, 2020 at 9:19 am

    For 50 years, qualified immunity has protected police officers who abuse their power. My police reform plan proposed eliminating it so police could be held accountable for their actions. https://t.co/kSAbb05PXg— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) June 1, 2020

  37. 37.

    rikyrah

    June 1, 2020 at 9:20 am

    Don't stop at detaining them/handing them over to the police.Hold his head still, and get a good picture of his face BEFORE handing him over. Do this with just a few of the saboteurs, and the protest derailments will stop as more and more police provocateurs are discovered.— Chris loves Films and Stuff (@GoKartMedia) June 1, 2020

  38. 38.

    Betty Cracker

    June 1, 2020 at 9:22 am

    @hueyplong:

    Anyone else an aunt? Let’s form an “Auntie-Fa” group and kick some fascist ass! pic.twitter.com/1QTqOZ4cJ4

    — Betty Cracker 🐊 (@bettycrackerfl) May 31, 2020

    Join us!

  39. 39.

    Jeffro

    June 1, 2020 at 9:22 am

    I like the Fischer tweet A LOT and as much as I want to see the Ill Douche lose in a historic landslide this November, the country doesn’t have to continue to suffer his abuse for five more months.  He’s humiliated – clearly our worst president* ever – for the rest of his hopefully short life either way.

    Would love to see our national snooze media ask GOP Senators their reaction to the WH lights being off, to Twitler fanning the flames from the bunker, how they feel about being dragged down the electoral drain like this, and if they think the president* should resign.  Hell, I’d like to see the media ask trumpov himself that last question at his next “press conference”.

  40. 40.

    germy

    June 1, 2020 at 9:25 am

    You elected a President whose only discernible skill was creating spectacle. That’s about the only thing he delivered on.

    — jelani cobb (@jelani9) May 31, 2020

  41. 41.

    No One of Consequence

    June 1, 2020 at 9:26 am

    @VOR: The lights would not be in front of the snipers… ???

    MAGAts and their reasoning, who can make sense of it?

    Peace, it’s not just for Hippies anymore…

    – NOoC

  42. 42.

    Belafon

    June 1, 2020 at 9:27 am

    Someone suggested that part of the reason for this was so the snipers wouldn’t have to deal with the light. Which is still Trump hiding

  43. 43.

    eric

    June 1, 2020 at 9:28 am

    @VOR: they can always rationalize any of trump’s bad behavior away.  I know it is a tired trope at this point, but if Obama had shut off the lights….OMG.  Plus, you can see the power fantasies that drive Trump and his followers.  What you can see, however, is that the volume of the trump defenders is lower now than it used to be.  these people can defend it to themselves, but the folks on the margin see it as headscratching.

    I am willing to bet that Trump and his team end up doing the pardons all wrong.

  44. 44.

    eric

    June 1, 2020 at 9:29 am

    @No One of Consequence: they always turn the lights off for snipers in the field  wtf.  So much for the daytime scenes in American Sniper.  idiots.

  45. 45.

    germy

    June 1, 2020 at 9:31 am

    Please note the lights are off by 11pm every night. Take it from an observant 11pm newscast producer in DC https://t.co/YeephgxUjz

    — Michael Jaffe (@mjaffeumd) June 1, 202

    So back in 2014, trump tweeted a photo of the “dark” White House and criticized Obama for it.

  46. 46.

    hueyplong

    June 1, 2020 at 9:31 am

    @Betty Cracker: I’m in.

  47. 47.

    Amir Khalid

    June 1, 2020 at 9:33 am

    Donald Trump abdicated the President’s job as soon as he was elected to it. Remember how he blew off the transition briefings scheduled for him? Obama and Biden publicly pleaded with him to do his job and show up, and he just ignored them. But he loves the presidency’s power and privilege and spotlight; for him, they are what being POTUS means. He will be sorely bereft when Biden trounces his ample but sorry ass.

  48. 48.

    RandomMonster

    June 1, 2020 at 9:37 am

    @Jeffro: No puppet! You’re the puppet!

  49. 49.

    different-church-lady

    June 1, 2020 at 9:40 am

    @eric:

    Even if you do not give a speech, you can at least give the impression that you have a plan, or care (just a little bit)

    Caring is off-brand. The only character he knows how to play is the guy who doesn’t give a shit. It’s the only quality his base finds appealing.

  50. 50.

    Leto

    June 1, 2020 at 9:46 am

    I’m catching up on all the morning threads, so don’t know if this was posted already (“FBI Agent” is trending on Twitter right now):

    FBI Agent of South Sudan heritage … being Racially Profiled … See What happened after his arrest & what they did after they found out who he his …

    Other people have posted the next few mins after this particular clip cuts off under the “FBI Agent” tag, but this is a thing of grotesque beauty.

  51. 51.

    Cheryl Rofer

    June 1, 2020 at 9:46 am

    I’ve seen it mentioned that Trump was disappointed when nobody showed up to his rallying call for the MAGAs with guns to come defend him.

    I thought it was noteworthy that NONE of them – not one, so far as I saw on news reports – showed up last night. Anywhere. They may be some of the ones sneaking around causing trouble – one was arrested in Louisville for setting fire to the town hall – but none are willing to show up for Steve Bannon’s race war.

    Pity.

  52. 52.

    Luciamia

    June 1, 2020 at 9:50 am

    Maybe he got confused an d thought it was Halloween. Tell those trick-or-treaters to go home.

  53. 53.

    different-church-lady

    June 1, 2020 at 9:52 am

    @germy: Ah, so his aides no longer think this is fun.

    Any moment now they’ll be telling him Jodl never made the attack.

  54. 54.

    MattF

    June 1, 2020 at 9:52 am

    @Cheryl Rofer: Well, MAGAs appear to be human until they put on their hats. A sort of natural protective camouflage.

    ETA: Also, open carry is very illegal in DC.

  55. 55.

    Edmund Dantes

    June 1, 2020 at 9:53 am

    @germy: tweet is deleted

  56. 56.

    waspuppet

    June 1, 2020 at 9:53 am

    @Amir Khalid: I don’t think he ever really wanted to be president. He certainly didn’t want the actual job; he just wanted to spend four years telling people to make his tweets come true and preen around wearing his sort-of victory like a sad 73-year-old ex-quarterback still wearing his high school letter jacket and talking about the district championship game in ’64.

    Never forget he said, on the record, that he thought being president would be easier than his previous — oh, let’s be generous and call it a “job.”

  57. 57.

    germy

    June 1, 2020 at 9:54 am

    @Leto:

    On the same day that he threatened to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization when the FBI has warned that QAnon could be a driver of extremist violence at home. https://t.co/QDOHXUXwMD

    — Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) June 1, 2020

  58. 58.

    Kay

    June 1, 2020 at 9:56 am

    Even the Trump cultists are unhappy:

    Conservative Fox News political commentator Lisa Boothe wrote on Twitter: “We are leaderless right now and anarchy is winning. Where are our leaders? Where is @realDonaldTrump? There is a leadership vacuum and we need him to fill it. He needs to lead.”

    Lisa still doesn’t get it. It’s not that he won’t. It’s that he can’t.

    National security expert David Reaboi tweeted: “I don’t know who’s preventing Trump from doing the right thing and being forceful tonight. But they shouldn’t be working at the White House.”

    Guffaw. Big manly Trump is being “prevented” from speaking. It’s never his fault.

  59. 59.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 1, 2020 at 9:56 am

    @Leto: Seevral comments in the thread pointing out that this vid is a year old and that there’s no evidence of his actually saying he’s FBI. I have to believe an actual FBI agent would have had that as the first words out of his mouth.

  60. 60.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 1, 2020 at 9:58 am

    @Kay: I actually agree with David Reaboi (an “expert” I’ve never heard of.) The person preventing Trump from acting is Trump, and I agree he should no longer be at the White House.

  61. 61.

    germy

    June 1, 2020 at 9:58 am

    bill barr’s behavior vs. his predecessors. A thread:

    A THREAD on this tweet released by DOJ yesterday. I presume they think it shows an AG hard at work. But on a day when the country was fracturing amid protests over racism & police violence, the photo is a reminder of the absence of civil rts leadership in this DOJ. By contrast.. pic.twitter.com/CUoMCWFzUj

    — Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) May 31, 2020

  62. 62.

    different-church-lady

    June 1, 2020 at 9:59 am

    @waspuppet: He never thought of the presidency as a job. He thought of it as a prize he deserved.

  63. 63.

    Kay

    June 1, 2020 at 10:01 am

    Daily Wire columnist Matt Walsh wrote: “Trump is losing re-election right now as we speak. His failure of leadership is simply staggering. He billed himself as the law and order candidate. He’s done nothing but tweet for a week as the country burns.”

    It’s a joy to watch the cult members turn to Daddy and realize there’s nothing there but a big, loud mouth. Empty. He can’t pull anything out and rise to this because there’s nothing there.

  64. 64.

    Edmund Dantes

    June 1, 2020 at 10:01 am

    @Gin & Tonic: maybe maybe not. But note they were going to arrest a black man on nothing. Hadn’t even checked his ID yet.

    so whether he is fbi or not is irrelevant to what is going on in the video.

  65. 65.

    Redshift

    June 1, 2020 at 10:02 am

    The thing is, the unrest in DC is nowhere near what it is in several other cities, and he’s still pissing his pants in fear. I suspect it’s because it’s a lot of Black people in a majority Black city, and like many racists, he has an unreasonable fear of them.

    I was unsurprised the MAGAts didn’t show up to protect him, they have the same pants-pissing fear.

  66. 66.

    Leto

    June 1, 2020 at 10:02 am

    @Gin & Tonic:  Yeah, read through the comments. White people saying the video is fake, POC responding this is typical experience.

    I have to believe…

    Assumes facts not in literal video evidence right before your eyes.

    *Edit: also what Edmund Dantes said at 64.

  67. 67.

    zhena gogolia

    June 1, 2020 at 10:02 am

    @Kay:

    Yes, exactly.

  68. 68.

    Frankensteinbeck

    June 1, 2020 at 10:03 am

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    I thought it was noteworthy that NONE of them – not one, so far as I saw on news reports – showed up last night. Anywhere.

    Yep.  I called it.  They’re chickenshit cowards who run away when they’re not positive they have the upper hand.  The ones infiltrating the protests were doing a “Let’s you and him fight” routine, which is about the most chickenshit bravado there is.

  69. 69.

    germy

    June 1, 2020 at 10:03 am

    New: Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison will lead prosecutions related to George Floyd's death, Gov. Tim Walz has announced. https://t.co/cK5O1zd6Ew

    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 1, 2020

  70. 70.

    Kay

    June 1, 2020 at 10:04 am

    It isn’t just Trump either- the whole low quality administration are AWOL. They don’t do jack shit as work in any given day. Nothing- no help on COVID, no help on the protests. The country was crippled going into this and not one of them can manage to offer any practical assistance of any kind.

    Rock bottom hires never get better, they always get worse. Mediocre hires can be improved, but these people? Best to get rid of them in 90 days with a probationary period. They’ll never get better, only worse.

  71. 71.

    germy

    June 1, 2020 at 10:05 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    there’s no evidence of his actually saying he’s FBI.

    Well, he’s something, because as soon as they saw his ID they took those cuffs right off.

  72. 72.

    Aleta

    June 1, 2020 at 10:06 am

    The Hill

    The Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) has applied neck restraints at least 237 times in the past five years, rendering the subject unconscious in at least 44 of those cases, according to an analysis of police records by NBC News.

  73. 73.

    oldster

    June 1, 2020 at 10:06 am

    Proposal:

    every demonstration that meets a group of cops should begin by asking the cops to re-affirm their sworn oath of duty. These oaths probably differ by jurisdiction, but here’s an example from the Chief of Police’s association:

    “On my honor, I will never betray my badge, my integrity, my character or the public trust.

    I will always have the courage to hold myself and others accountable for our actions.

    I will always uphold the constitution, my community, and the agency I serve.“

    If the demonstrators ask the cops to swear to it, again, in public, then it might do something for the cops’ behavior.

    If they refuse to swear to it, well, then they admit that they are acting as lawless vigilantes, not officers of the law.

  74. 74.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 1, 2020 at 10:07 am

    Whatever happened to Mattis after he was fired? Have we heard from the noblest of the noble generals who ever lived.

  75. 75.

    Redshift

    June 1, 2020 at 10:07 am

    @waspuppet: He’s repeatedly made it clear he thought he would be King of America, and was only interested in being worshipped and giving orders to everyone.

  76. 76.

    LarrytheRed

    June 1, 2020 at 10:08 am

    It’s the perfect image for Biden. It should appear on every campaign event and mailer.

  77. 77.

    germy

    June 1, 2020 at 10:08 am

    @Aleta:

    Last October, Minneapolis Police Union president Bob Kroll appeared at a Trump rally. Clad in his red “Cops for Trump” T-shirt, Kroll (who has been alleged to be affiliated with white supremacists) gloated that the president had unshackled his officers from the restraints imposed by Trump’s predecessor. “The Obama administration and the handcuffing and oppression of police was despicable,” he told the crowd. “The first thing President Trump did when he took office was turn that around, got rid of the Holder-Loretta Lynch regime and decided to start takin— letting the cops do their job, put the handcuffs on the criminals instead of us.”

    We will never know if that unshackling emboldened Derek Chauvin to murder George Floyd. But the line between the relief demanded by Kroll on behalf of Minneapolis police, and the naked assassination committed on camera by one of his officers, is quite direct.

    https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/05/trumps-george-floyd-obama-protest-police-violence-kneeling.html

  78. 78.

    gene108

    June 1, 2020 at 10:08 am

    I am glad Trump is staying out of this. He’d throw more gasoline on the fire. He’s a hardcore racist, who’d probably want to give the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Derek Chauvin for maintaining law and order.

    He likes watching cops beat up black people. He’s repeatedly spoke positively or tweeted positively on this idea as recently as last week, in his twitter rant about “ominous weapons” and sending attack dogs after protestors at the White House.

    He’s a sick, and twisted person, who lacks all normal human emotions.

  79. 79.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 1, 2020 at 10:09 am

    @Leto: I know this shit happens all the time. Adding fictional elements to the video is counterproductive, IMO.

  80. 80.

    gene108

    June 1, 2020 at 10:11 am

    @Kay:

    Considering, if Trump were to speak out, he would encourage law enforcement to bust heads, it’s probably for the best that he’s in an underground bunker, which hopefully limits his ability to start more riots.

    Look at what he did, with regards to stay at home orders and wearing a mask in public, during a pandemic that’s not going away.

  81. 81.

    Roger Moore

    June 1, 2020 at 10:12 am

    You’re not the President. You’ve resigned your duties.

    The thing is, he has never done his job out of a sense of duty.  He has only done his job when it gratified his ego, lined his pockets, or he was bullied into it by his handlers.  The rest of the time, he pushed the work off on his subordinates. His refusal to do the job now is the way he’s always been; it’s just more obvious because the need is so great.

  82. 82.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 1, 2020 at 10:12 am

    @Gin & Tonic: I answered a question you had for me in a thread several days ago. I wondered if you saw it.

  83. 83.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 1, 2020 at 10:13 am

    @germy: My *impression* is they were looking for an individual, and when they took out his ID, they saw it wasn’t that person.

  84. 84.

    gene108

    June 1, 2020 at 10:14 am

    @Redshift:

    I was unsurprised the MAGAts didn’t show up to protect him, they have the same pants-pissing fear.

    There are enough heavily armed people in this country that are just waiting for the signal to start a race war, who are also die hard Trump supporters that it’s for the best Trump isn’t instigating them, and is in hiding.

  85. 85.

    germy

    June 1, 2020 at 10:14 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Off topic, but have you seen this book review?

    https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2020/06/11/british-pillage-of-india/

  86. 86.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 1, 2020 at 10:15 am

    @schrodingers_cat: No, I didn’t. I was wondering about that.

  87. 87.

    Aleta

    June 1, 2020 at 10:17 am

    NBC

    A man was shot dead in Louisville after police officers and the Kentucky National Guard “returned fire” while clearing a large crowd early Monday.
    Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad said in a statement that at around 12:15 a.m. his officers and the national guard were sent to a parking lot to break up a crowd.

    “Officers and soldiers began to clear the lot and at some point were shot at,” Conrad said in a statement. “Both LMPD and national guard members returned fire, we have one man dead at scene”

  88. 88.

    Barbara

    June 1, 2020 at 10:17 am

    @rikyrah: That guy was not young.  He had a full head of salt and pepper hair.

    We had three days of violence nearly 30 years ago after an altercation between a Black female police officer and a very drunk Hispanic man lunging at her with a knife, which led to him being shot.  Apparently, even though pre-smart phones, there was a lot of evidence (based on arrest records) of people taking metro from the suburbs to “join in.”  There are people who get off on doing or fomenting violence, whether for political or personal ends.  But they aren’t usually pretty clearly over the age of 40.  Someone is going to identify this guy.  Enough of his face was visible.

  89. 89.

    germy

    June 1, 2020 at 10:18 am

    @Gin & Tonic:  My impression was that he was involved in law enforcement himself in some capacity.

    I didn’t know police were so easily convinced by a black man’s “ID”. These cops looked like they found themselves suddenly outranked. My impression is that they saw more than just a driver’s license.  If it were a simple ID, they wouldn’t have tolerated him calling them stupid motherfuckers. They would have gotten him on resisting arrest or assaulting an officer or some other bullshit.

    Henry Louis Gates, Jr. showed his ID, proof that he owned his house, and police still kept the cuffs on.

  90. 90.

    FelonyGovt

    June 1, 2020 at 10:18 am

    @Betty Cracker: He definitely thinks he’s a commentator or observer rather than the person who’s supposed to take some action and lead.

  91. 91.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 1, 2020 at 10:19 am

    @germy: I hadn’t. Thanks I will check it out.

  92. 92.

    waspuppet

    June 1, 2020 at 10:19 am

    @Kay: There never has been. To the (small) extent he actually wanted to be president, it’s simply because it was a thing and he didn’t have it.

     

    @different-church-lady: That’s how he thinks of everything, including women.

    Of all my hot takes and semi-serious predictions, I’m doubling down on one of the two I’m totally serious about: Before he dies, he will say he never actually wanted to be president. Not in the sense of “confessing” anything, but more in the sense of a hi-drama pre-teen who screams “I didn’t ASK to be born you know!” before slamming his bedroom door. (There’s a small but non-zero chance he says this while he’s still in office.)

    (For the record, my other serious prediction is that if he loses he won’t go to Biden’s inauguration. And you can scoff and say “That’s just symbolic” or “Better off without him really” but when it actually happens and you actually see it it’ll be bad.)

  93. 93.

    WaterGirl

    June 1, 2020 at 10:21 am

    I usually read the comments before I post, but I feel compelled to say that Trump has certainly abdicated his duties.  LOSER.

    Also, I REALLY hope that #bunkerbitch is catching on.  I saw that last night and it’s perfect.

    edit: And I see that #15 got there first with abdication.

  94. 94.

    germy

    June 1, 2020 at 10:22 am

    @waspuppet:

    my other serious prediction is that if he loses he won’t go to Biden’s inauguration.

    He’ll watch on TV and live-Tweet it.  Insultingly.

  95. 95.

    debbie

    June 1, 2020 at 10:22 am

    Lovely dream, but no. Trump was just doing his best Dick Cheney impersonation.

  96. 96.

    Fair Economist

    June 1, 2020 at 10:22 am

    I don’t know if it’s linked to the White House lights out and the commentary about it indicating the President was dead (which I saw before I went to bed) but I dreamed about Trump dying last night. I don’t remember from what, but it was something ordinary like a heart attack, not karmic like COVID or a Ceausescu ending. It wasn’t a good dream, surprisingly, because I was worried about Pence winning the election because the media would pump him as having taken action on our various crises and blame Trump for everything wrong.

  97. 97.

    Lapassionara

    June 1, 2020 at 10:23 am

    Seventy-five years ago, the largest anti fascist organization in the world defeated two European countries ruled by fascists. Made up of the US armed forces, the British armed forces, and a collection of Free French forces, Free Polish forces, and other allied forces, these forces completely defeated both Mussolini’s and Hitler’s army. That the infantile person who claims to be president of the U.S. now asserts that people who are against fascism are terrorists is a sign of how far our country has gone off the rails.

  98. 98.

    Elizabelle

    June 1, 2020 at 10:24 am

    @schrodingers_cat:   We have indeed heard from Saint Mattis.  The WaPost gave him some real estate recently.

    James Mattis: Let’s honor the fallen by protecting our fragile experiment in democracy

    This op-ed is adapted from remarks prepared for a Memorial Day address in his hometown, Richland, Wash.

    On Memorial Day this year, we may be keeping social distance from one another, but that cannot detract from the sense of closeness, the sense of community and the sense of shared sacrifice that we feel for one another on a day when we come face-to-face with the human cost of freedom.

    What do we owe our fallen and their families on this day?

    Remembrance, for sure, yet we also owe a keen awareness of what they fought to defend: this great big experiment we call America.

    The Founders — most of whom were military veterans … blah blah blah …

    He name-checks George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and John F. Kennedy. Period.

    The top rated WaPost reader comments:

    While I don’t disagree with the premise, instead of writing this column it it time for Mr. Mattis to speak out about Trump. The American people deserve to know the truth. This applies not just to him but many other ex-members of Trump’s cabinet. (319 “likes”)

    Exactly my thought as well. This is beyond tone deaf, it shows a willingness to ignore the crisis we are facing from someone who had a seat at the table. (180 likes)

    In our history, there were many brave generals and there were many cowards. Its easy to see who is what. Gen Matthis- if you want to say something, get the courage to say it. (34 likes. And ouch!)

  99. 99.

    japa21

    June 1, 2020 at 10:24 am

    @gene108: I don’t know the truth of the situation, but I agree on one thing. There are enough verifiable instances that we don’t need the iffy type of ones as examples.

    Once one the the iffy types gets shown to be false it will be used against all the valid ones.

  100. 100.

    WaterGirl

    June 1, 2020 at 10:24 am

    Trump turning the lights off at the White House reminds me of the time I forgot to buy Halloween candy so I turned all the lights off and went to the back of the house with the dogs.

    PLEASE DON’T NOTICE MY HOUSE AND THAT I FORGOT TO BUY CANDY.

  101. 101.

    Matt McIrvin

    June 1, 2020 at 10:24 am

    @hueyplong: I’m still waiting for my George Soros check.

  102. 102.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 1, 2020 at 10:28 am

    @Gin & Tonic: After your initial petition to immigrate (I-130 or I-140) is received  you get an appointment at the local USCIS to get fingerprinted and photographed. After that is done you can apply for a temporary EAD (Employment Authorization Document) and TP (Travel Permission < has to be 6 months outside the US).

    But this is if you are applying for the green card and you are in the United States. The process outside the United States is handled by the State Dept and is different and called consular processing. Within the United States it is the USCIS (INS before 2001) which handles the change of status applications

  103. 103.

    Aziz, light!

    June 1, 2020 at 10:30 am

    Oh good grief.

    Trump will not quit. His narcissism won’t allow it. Nor will his unindicted crimes.

    People demonstrate peaceably, then militarized, thuggish cops overreact and attack, which drives people crazy. But every further day of property destruction delivers votes to Trump. In 1968, civic unrest got Nixon elected because he promised Law and Order.

    The polls mean nothing and the election will be much closer than we hope.

  104. 104.

    dmsilev

    June 1, 2020 at 10:30 am

    @waspuppet:

    For the record, my other serious prediction is that if he loses he won’t go to Biden’s inauguration. And you can scoff and say “That’s just symbolic” or “Better off without him really” but when it actually happens and you actually see it it’ll be bad.

    That’s actually the norm. Obama didn’t go to Trump’s inaugural, Bush didn’t attend Obama’s, etc. The tradition is the outgoing President flies off while the new one is being sworn in.

  105. 105.

    Betty Cracker

    June 1, 2020 at 10:30 am

    @waspuppet: Both sound like reasonable predictions to me — totally on brand. Do you think Trump being a no-show at the inauguration if he loses (please FSM) will be bad because of the implications for a peaceful transfer of power? If so, I agree, but what REALLY worries me is the 2-1/2 months or so he’ll have in office between losing the election and leaving the White House. Imagine the destructive tantrum he’ll pitch with his stubby paws still on the levers of power…

  106. 106.

    Roger Moore

    June 1, 2020 at 10:30 am

    @gene108:

    There are enough heavily armed people in this country that are just waiting for the signal to start a race war

    I strongly suspect the number of people who are willing to fight in a race war is much, much smaller than the number who are just waiting for someone else to do it. They have their guns because they’re worried about the race war coming to them, but they aren’t going to go looking for a fight.

  107. 107.

    Elizabelle

    June 1, 2020 at 10:32 am

    @dmsilev:   That’s actually not true.  The Obamas were most assuredly at Trump’s (purloined) inauguration. Sad day for all of us.  I think the outgoing president always goes.

    Rick Perlstein has a new book — Reaganland:  America’s Right Turn 1976-1980  — and its cover is a stalwart Jimmy Carter riding in the limo with an ebullient Ronald Reagan on the way to the 1981 inauguration

    (FWIW:  Reagan’s second inauguration was held entirely indoors; no parade.  7 degree weather, with minus 25 with windchill.  I remember feeling bad for the high school marching bands, who were probably bummed at missing their big event.)

  108. 108.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 1, 2020 at 10:33 am

    @schrodingers_cat:  Thanks. They applied after they got married and were living in the US, but then they left the US in November and have not been back. Initially they were expecting her interview to be in August, but obviously that schedule is out the window.

  109. 109.

    Betty Cracker

    June 1, 2020 at 10:33 am

    @Aziz, light!: Nixon wasn’t the incumbent in 1968. Kind of a tough sell to shriek “LAW & ORDER” into the ether when you’re the freaking incumbent! 

    That said, of course the election isn’t in the bag, and no, Trump almost certainly won’t quit. I don’t think anyone is seriously suggesting otherwise.

  110. 110.

    hueyplong

    June 1, 2020 at 10:34 am

    Do we know if Brave Sir Donald has left the bunker yet?

  111. 111.

    Nicole

    June 1, 2020 at 10:35 am

    The only path I could see Trump taking to resignation is if it becomes very clear to him that he’s not going to win in November, in which case I could actually see him resign so that it’s not technically “him” who loses; it’s Pence.  And then he can go on TV until the end of his miserable days claiming that if he’d still been on the top of the ticket, he’d have won.  And the media will eat it up.

    It’s all about avoiding shame for him.

  112. 112.

    dmsilev

    June 1, 2020 at 10:36 am

    @Elizabelle: I thought they flew off before it. Maybe my memory is playing games with me; wouldn’t be the first time…

  113. 113.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    June 1, 2020 at 10:36 am

    Have left my somnambulant state and have jumped off the sidelines. I’m participating in arraignments of arrested protestors, and it is all a deliberate clusterfuck. Rather than designating multiple judges, we have one to process dozens of cases – a young woman who is married to a Blue Lives Matter loving cop, who enjoys the enthusiastic endorsements of the various local FOP lodges.

    Lawyers aren’t allowed to visit their clients in jail, and many names didn’t make the docket for reasons, and the detainees are being kept in temporary fencing while awaiting their “due process”. This will take days, and it shouldn’t. Judge is blasé, and more worried about the maintenance of distancing between lawyers that she isn’t addressing the bullshit process that the jail has imposed to punish people awhile.

    The chief public defender has a decent appellate staff that is perfectly capable of filing writs, but is so beholden to so many constituencies for funding that he won’t address it. The whole justice system is corrupted beyond repair and we lawyers are complicit.

  114. 114.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 1, 2020 at 10:36 am

    @Gin & Tonic: From what I understand they have stopped consular processing since the pandemic hit.

  115. 115.

    HumboldtBlue

    June 1, 2020 at 10:38 am

    5 years ago,
    @BarackObama
    proclaimed, in a way that nobody could question, that he was unafraid of what anybody thought about him supporting an historically oppressed group.

  116. 116.

    Jeffro

    June 1, 2020 at 10:38 am

    @waspuppet:Never forget he said, on the record, that he thought being president would be easier than his previous — oh, let’s be generous and call it a “job.”

     

    Never forget, that when he offered Kasich the VP spot, that came with the promise of Kasich being able to run both domestic *AND* foreign policy while trumpov simply ran around the country ‘making America great again’.

    He should have just gotten himself a radio show and spared us all this abuse.

  117. 117.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 1, 2020 at 10:39 am

    @dmsilev: So who are the people in this photo?

  118. 118.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 1, 2020 at 10:40 am

    @schrodingers_cat: Right. So it doesn’t appear she’d be allowed into the US at this point.

  119. 119.

    West of the Cascades

    June 1, 2020 at 10:40 am

    When I think of bunkers and out-of-touch, mentally-unstable leaders who issue insane and often contradictory orders to their fawning subordinates, the movie “Downfall” comes to mind.

  120. 120.

    WaterGirl

    June 1, 2020 at 10:41 am

    @Aleta: The police fired into a crowd?  With real bullets???

  121. 121.

    Elizabelle

    June 1, 2020 at 10:41 am

    @dmsilev:   I am quite sure that would have been Michelle’s preference!

    Felt so badly for the Obamas — and especially for Hillary Clinton — to have to sit through that buffoon’s “American Carnage” speech.  Painful.  (I did not watch, and never have.)

  122. 122.

    germy

    June 1, 2020 at 10:42 am

    He’s almost talking like he expects Biden to be the next president, and so he has gotten a head start on criticizing the Biden administration:

    Sleepy Joe Biden’s people are so Radical Left that they are working to get the Anarchists out of jail, and probably more. Joe doesn’t know anything about it, he is clueless, but they will be the real power, not Joe. They will be calling the shots! Big tax increases for all, Plus!
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 1, 2020

  123. 123.

    Elizabelle

    June 1, 2020 at 10:42 am

    @West of the Cascades:   It’s free on Amazon Prime.

    Boy, has it found its moment.  (Great film.  Saw it in the theatres.  RIP Bruno Ganz.)

  124. 124.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 1, 2020 at 10:43 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Good luck, hope everything gets resolved soon.

  125. 125.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 1, 2020 at 10:43 am

    @Aziz, light!: In my view, the election will be closer than we hope if Trump gets more than his own vote.  That being said, unrest and violence do drive votes, but they generally don’t drive them to the incumbent.

    No one should take Trump’s defeat for granted.  At the same time, we shouldn’t live in fear that anything that happens could work out in his favor.

  126. 126.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    June 1, 2020 at 10:43 am

    @Aleta:

    They shot indiscriminately into a crowd in response to a single round.

    They killed a very sweet guy who runs a barbecue stand.

  127. 127.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    June 1, 2020 at 10:44 am

    @WaterGirl:

    Yes.

  128. 128.

    germy

    June 1, 2020 at 10:44 am

    NOVEMBER 3RD.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 1, 2020

    I agree.

  129. 129.

    A Streeter

    June 1, 2020 at 10:44 am

    @dmsilev:

    I thought they flew off before it.

     

    They still haven’t flown off; the Obamas kept living in DC to allow their younger daughter to finish the high school she’d started.

  130. 130.

    Jeffro

    June 1, 2020 at 10:46 am

    Slightly OT but I see that Tom Cotton is calling for the 101st Airborne to be deployed in American cities against the mighty ‘Antifa’…commentors on that tweet are noting that between him, Hawley, Crenshaw, and Haley, we are still going to be up against one insaaaaane opposition party in 2024.

    But, you know, one crisis at a time.

  131. 131.

    HumboldtBlue

    June 1, 2020 at 10:47 am

    John Oliver just told Tucker Carlson to go fuck himself and proceeded to call him a human boat shoe.

  132. 132.

    different-church-lady

    June 1, 2020 at 10:48 am

    @dmsilev: Nixon was the only one who did that.

  133. 133.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 1, 2020 at 10:48 am

    @dmsilev:

    That’s actually the norm. Obama didn’t go to Trump’s inaugural, Bush didn’t attend Obama’s, etc. The tradition is the outgoing President flies off while the new one is being sworn in.

    Say what now? Both Obamas, both Clintons, and at least one Bush (can’t remember about Laura) attended Trump’s inauguration. They were right there on the platform. There are pictures and everything. And Bush most certainly attended Obama’s first inauguration.

  134. 134.

    Jinchi

    June 1, 2020 at 10:50 am

    you turn the lights off and hide? You’re not the President.

    They turned out all the lights! Like they were under siege by snipers?  This really shows the panic in the Trump administration. And to think he was cheering this on in Michigan, just a few weeks ago.

    Some protesters with guns — which are allowed in the state house — went to the Senate gallery, where a senator said some armed men shouted at her, and some senators wore bulletproof vests.

    I’d laugh but I worry that one of Trump’s “young ones on the front line” might take him up on his threat to start shooting people.

  135. 135.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 1, 2020 at 10:50 am

    @HumboldtBlue:

    John Oliver just told Tucker Carlson to go fuck himself and proceeded to call him a human boat shoe.

    Ooh ooh ooh! Source, please? Or, even better, video link?

  136. 136.

    Barbara

    June 1, 2020 at 10:52 am

    @Lapassionara: I have been reading a book called The Sun and Her Stars, which is about a woman named Sarah Viertel who decamped with her husband from a successful career in European theater, based in Berlin, in 1928, and spent the better part of the next 15 years trying to help other mostly German and Austrian refugees in the arts.  She was one of the individuals in the film industry who organized social and financial support for some of the more notable people Varian Fry rescued (e.g., Heinrich Mann).

    Anyhow, within 10 years, many of these people whose lives had been upended by Nazis had their lives upended again by HUAC and associated waves of paranoia.  On the one hand, it’s easy to say that we had defeated Germany, now an ally, and so moved on to USSR, but it is still shocking how primed so many were — not only to forgive Nazis but to view pre-war anti-Nazi activism as pro-communist, and to forget all about fascism as a bad thing.  The book has its limitations but it is a very succinct summary of American cultural currents both before and after WWII. Viertel herself ended up being exiled from the film industry over suspected pro-communist leanings even though all three of her sons enlisted for service in WWII and her brother and his family lost their lives in Ukrainian mass killings of Jews.

  137. 137.

    Jeffro

    June 1, 2020 at 10:53 am

    @germy: “Vote for me!  I’ll keep the crazy, insulting tweets coming for four more years!”

    You know Biden’s team is already working on that response.  =)

  138. 138.

    Charluckles

    June 1, 2020 at 10:54 am

    Personally I don’t think Trump will resign, but it won’t surprise me if it happens.  He’s a spoiled narcissist. Throwing a tantrum and then taking his ball and going home does not seem that far of a stretch for him.  If you look at his past he does have a history of quitting, declaring victory and walking away to let others pick up the pieces.

  139. 139.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    June 1, 2020 at 10:55 am

    They’re charging people with Riot 1 for curfew violations (a felony), and issuing blanket “no firearms” orders.

  140. 140.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 1, 2020 at 10:58 am

    Angela Merkel says she won’t come to a G7 meeting in Washington; Britain says it is opposed to re-admitting Russia to the G7. Trump’s global leadership is going great.

  141. 141.

    Jeffro

    June 1, 2020 at 10:58 am

    @Jeffro: OOOoooo!  Cotton’s also calling for

    “…if necessary, the 10th Mountain, 82nd Airborne, 1st Cav, 3rd Infantry – whatever it takes to restore order.  No quarter for insurrectionists*, anarchists, rioters, and looters.”

    *do people waving the Confederate flag count, Tom?

    What a psycho!  But hey, he’s an American Senator so I guess we’d better take him seriously and have him on all the Sunday shows, right snooze media?

  142. 142.

    Jinchi

    June 1, 2020 at 10:58 am

    @germy: “Aides repeatedly have tried to explain to Trump that the protests were not only about him, but about broader, systemic issues related to race.”

    I don’t believe that any Trump aides would use the phrase “broader systemic issues”, never mind suggest that any problem is “not only about him”.

    Not unless they were fired immediately after.

  143. 143.

    LeftCoastYankee

    June 1, 2020 at 10:59 am

    “Melania, turn off the lights, maybe they’ll think we’re not home.”

    I hope the Secret Service has good mental health coverage in their insurance.  Being around that much fucking hate and insanity isn’t healthy.

  144. 144.

    OGLiberal

    June 1, 2020 at 11:01 am

    @Betty Cracker: Well, it appears that Trump believes that if there are white supremacists involved it’s a direct reflection on him.  Why would that be?  Does he agree with white supremacists?  Does he think/know that white supremacists support him?  Why so invested in proving that there are no white supremacists involved?

  145. 145.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    June 1, 2020 at 11:01 am

    @Jeffro:

    Posse comitatus anyone?

  146. 146.

    Baud

    June 1, 2020 at 11:01 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Trump is already a lame duck. Let’s make it official in November.

  147. 147.

    Betty Cracker

    June 1, 2020 at 11:02 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: You’re doing the lord’s work, sir. Thank you.

    @HumboldtBlue: “Human boat shoe” — that’s PERFECT!

  148. 148.

    Betty Cracker

    June 1, 2020 at 11:04 am

    @OGLiberal: Isn’t that interesting? Sort of like when he went on that “MAGA LOVES BLACK PEOPLE” rant this weekend, making it clear that “MAGA” and “BLACK PEOPLE” are two separate categories.

  149. 149.

    Lapassionara

    June 1, 2020 at 11:04 am

    @Barbara: That sounds like an interesting book. I think the US probably had lots of Nazi sympathizers before the war, as did Britain. They went dormant for a while, but re-emerged once the USSR became the evil enemy.

    It’s a constant battle.

  150. 150.

    MattF

    June 1, 2020 at 11:05 am

    @Jeffro: Cotton is also aggressively blaming China for the pandemic. Trump-with-a-brain.

  151. 151.

    jl

    June 1, 2020 at 11:05 am

    ‘By design’ I guess you can say that. If your troops are on the battlefield and the general is a raging cowardly lunatic on the sauce, and its better to keep him out of way cowering and stewing in a hole under his command tent, and you decide to drink himself to sleep, I guess you could say that was ‘by design’ too. Whatever got them through the night was by some sort of design.
    But, it’s a new day. They got a design for that? I kind of doubt it.

  152. 152.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 1, 2020 at 11:09 am

    @Baud:

    Oh good line! BTW in a sea of despair that was the last week one bright spot was a Zoom call for local Dem activists on what we can do to take back the WH, senate, and retain the Congress. We had people from Sarah Gideon’s campaign and people helping to flip PA and NC blue talk to us.

  153. 153.

    jl

    June 1, 2020 at 11:10 am

    As for antifa versus boolah-boolah boys (or whatever they’re called) in Hawaiian shirts, versus white supremacists, involved in the looting, I’m not sure what to think.

    Seems to be some straight up business first organized crime organizations of some sort doing seriously organized and logistically sophisticated looting in SF Bay Area. If that is the case, that also would be a sensitive topic for Trumpsters and Trump to address. Too close to home.

  154. 154.

    HumboldtBlue

    June 1, 2020 at 11:10 am

    Barack Obama
    How to Make this Moment the Turning Point for Real Change

  155. 155.

    zhena gogolia

    June 1, 2020 at 11:10 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    Thanks for your work.

  156. 156.

    Amir Khalid

    June 1, 2020 at 11:11 am

    @OGLiberal:

    Does he agree with white supremacists?

    Trump is a white supremacist.

  157. 157.

    Ella in New Mexico

    June 1, 2020 at 11:12 am

    @germy:

    “Aides repeatedly have tried to explain to Trump that the protests were not only about him, but about broader, systemic issues related to race.”

    To be honest, I’m sure a certain element of the level of violence we’re witnessing at these protests is the release of the background rage people are holding towards Trump.

    “It” actually may be, albeit, unconsciously and in places not directly outside the White House, about him, and he knows it.  So of course they try to soothe his ego.

  158. 158.

    PaulWartenberg

    June 1, 2020 at 11:13 am

    Even when the city was under direct threat of terror strikes back on Sept. 11 2001, I don’t recall ANY report of the White House lights getting turned off like that.

    As though the protesters would think “Oh hey, trump’s not home, let’s all go away and wait to come back when he’s there.”

    Christ, what a level of public cowardice to show at a time when we need leadership to calm the nation.

    But that’s the problem, isn’t it. trump CANNOT WILL NOT calm the nation. he and his buddies – both Russian and Republican – need to keep this nation divided so they can profit from it. The last thing we need is any effort of “leadership” from him.

    That is how terrifying our current crisis is.

  159. 159.

    germy

    June 1, 2020 at 11:13 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/john-oliver-loses-it-on-tucker-carlson-over-george-floyd-protest-coverage-fuck-you?via=twitter_page

  160. 160.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 1, 2020 at 11:16 am

    @MattF: And less charisma than even the Orange One.

  161. 161.

    Citizen Alan

    June 1, 2020 at 11:18 am

    @Jeffro: Even better. The Nazi swine is running unopposed this year,

  162. 162.

    eponymous coward

    June 1, 2020 at 11:18 am

    If he wants to be in a bunker, I can think of something he can do there that has historical precedent.

  163. 163.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 1, 2020 at 11:20 am

    Donald is a complete failure.  He’s nothing more than a criminal, and not in the Hans Gruber sense, either.

    The Lincoln Project has a new ad out that features the Dixie Swastika and calls it what it is: a flag of treason.  Anyone who flies it, waves it around, sticks it on a pick’emup truck bumper, is a traitor and a racist.  Period.  End of discussion.

  164. 164.

    Laura Too

    June 1, 2020 at 11:20 am

    I am going on 6 days of no sleep so please excuse lack of eloquence. I am fully behind the protesters. I have no problem seeing the police station burn or Target and the pharmacies being looted. That they burned our local businesses is painful because our neighborhood needs them. I want it known far and wide that the domestic terrorist are here and in force. They are targeting our black owned businesses and taking advantage of the curfew. Last night they burned another black barbershop. Let that sink in. A black owned barbershop. The second one to be targeted. Not any other buildings around it. That is to send a message. During the day they are coming in and planting devices around the city so if they get caught they won’t have them on them and also so that someone else can come and grab them. This is organized. We as a city know we are on our own. They tell us to have our garden hoses ready and bathtubs filled to fight fires. There is a lot more to this and they are using legitimate outrage to further their ends. https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/businesses-burned-in-overnight-fire-in-north-minneapolis

  165. 165.

    Miss Bianca

    June 1, 2020 at 11:21 am

    @Kay:

    It’s a joy to watch the cult members turn to Daddy and realize there’s nothing there but a big, loud mouth. Empty.

    Oh, Kay, I’m so glad you’re back. : )

  166. 166.

    trollhattan

    June 1, 2020 at 11:22 am

    @Jinchi:

    TBF there were reports of IJN Zeros approaching the coast. You can’t be too careful.

  167. 167.

    Miss Bianca

    June 1, 2020 at 11:23 am

    @Laura Too: Oh, Lord. I am so sorry. Is there anything we can do for you? I have friends in Minneapolis and I feel so helpless.

  168. 168.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 1, 2020 at 11:23 am

    @Jeffro: I’d still like to know how this asshole avoided being Niedermayer’d when he was “leading” a platoon in Iraq.  I’d love to have a beer with some of his NCOs and get the real skinny on this Nazi fuck.

  169. 169.

    patrick II

    June 1, 2020 at 11:25 am

    I have read comments here over time wondering why, with all of the criminal fascism being exercised by the fascist regimes, and by fascist regimes I mean Trump and the various state government and police departments and ICE, that are suppressing human and political rights, why have there been no protests in the street? There finally are. This is not a surprise, but an inevitability. No one could be treated this badly for this long without some sort of reaction.

  170. 170.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 1, 2020 at 11:25 am

    @Amir Khalid: Without question.

  171. 171.

    trollhattan

    June 1, 2020 at 11:26 am

    @germy:

    Actual gibberish, I Can’t Tell what he’s Trying to Say. Also, why is he not also accusing Dems of wanting Open Borders? Has Miller gone into hiding? “Boss, boss, don’t forget the Mexicans!”

  172. 172.

    MisterForkbeard

    June 1, 2020 at 11:27 am

    @Aziz, light!: The thing you’re missing here is that Nixon wasn’t president in 1968 and could run on fixing the problem.

    Trump has been promising Law and Order for years and got this. No one trusts him on this, and for good reason. On the other hand, Biden can legit promise law & order because this shit didn’t happen during his previous terms. And you can see that today: Biden is getting a lot of respect for his response, while Trump is sort of flailing around.

  173. 173.

    trnc

    June 1, 2020 at 11:28 am

    The protests continued all weekend. Last night, the exterior lights were turned off at the White House.

    Criminy. He lives in the most protected private residence in the country, if not the world. I’ll be sure to mention this the next time some asshole calls us snowflakes.

  174. 174.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 1, 2020 at 11:28 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Russia is what happens when organized crime takes over the apparatus of the state.

  175. 175.

    patrick II

    June 1, 2020 at 11:28 am

    According to the Virginia Pilot, there was a long march here at the Virginia Beach beachfront.  It was going along peacefully, some small fires set in the street, a very few windows broke, but then the police decided to break it up with tear gas, one police car drove into the crowd, another pickup truck waving a large American flag drove towards the crowd.  Chaos ensued.

  176. 176.

    Miss Bianca

    June 1, 2020 at 11:30 am

    @Roger Moore:

    I strongly suspect the number of people who are willing to fight in a race war is much, much smaller than the number who are just waiting for someone else to do it. They have their guns because they’re worried about the race war coming to them, but they aren’t going to go looking for a fight.

    I strongly suspect you’re right.

  177. 177.

    Jeffro

    June 1, 2020 at 11:33 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: he’s a nasty little weasel, but he’s not worth it.  That’s why.

    I don’t worry about him nearly as much as some of the others mentioned (Hawley, Haley, Crenshaw, etc).  They’re lying, deceptive vipers and for the most part they know how to *sound* like they’re not crazy/completely racist/Koch-bought.

  178. 178.

    Miss Bianca

    June 1, 2020 at 11:34 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Damn, dude.

    Thanks for the update.

     

    @Barbara: Oh, I want that book! With any hope, our library courier service will be up and running again soon, so I can order it through interlibrary loan.

  179. 179.

    artem1s

    June 1, 2020 at 11:38 am

    given who we are talking about I wouldn’t have bet there were any circumstances that would lead to the Orange Plague resigning. But now that he has failed Wall Street’s directives to get the country back open again, I’m rethinking that position. It’s looking more and more like and endgame for even and EC win.  And I do think he would quit rather than be embarrassed by an epic loss.

  180. 180.

    trnc

    June 1, 2020 at 11:39 am

    @PaulWartenberg: Even when the city was under direct threat of terror strikes back on Sept. 11 2001, I don’t recall ANY report of the White House lights getting turned off like that.

    I assume turning off the lights in Trump Tower was standard practice every Halloween.

  181. 181.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    June 1, 2020 at 11:40 am

    In this atmosphere of deliberate fuckery when the police feel free to fire indiscriminately into a crowd, killing a beloved barbecue guy, also consider a system that provides the illusion of due process.

    Consider Kentucky’s 2020 Teacher of the Year, locked up this weekend. A decent man, he taught all 3 of my kids.

    They can’t find his file. His lawyer is here, advocating release, the judge says “we were reviewing that one”, but he doesn’t have paperwork here or in jail.

    He’s getting amazing amounts of due process. So very deliberate.

    And to note – this judge is going through Pretrial reporting data harder and longer than did the judge who signed that bullshit warrant that got Brionna Taylor killed.

  182. 182.

    Amir Khalid

    June 1, 2020 at 11:43 am

    Liverpool FC’s senior squad takes a knee for George Floyd.

  183. 183.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 1, 2020 at 11:47 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: What I’m seeing now is attribution to BoJo’s official spokesperson – the UK will veto any attempt to return Russia to the G7.

  184. 184.

    sdhays

    June 1, 2020 at 11:47 am

    @A Streeter: As I recall, they did go for a long, well-deserved vacation in Hawaii, though.

  185. 185.

    MattF

    June 1, 2020 at 11:50 am

    Trump is berating state officials.

  186. 186.

    HumboldtBlue

    June 1, 2020 at 11:51 am

    Art Acevedo, Houston Chief of Police “DONT FOLLOW THAT BULLSHIT”

  187. 187.

    scribbler

    June 1, 2020 at 11:51 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:   That’s awful, and so depressing to hear.   Thank you for being there, to do what you can.  And thank you for keeping us informed.

  188. 188.

    HumboldtBlue

    June 1, 2020 at 11:54 am

    Biden will have a virtual roundtable today at 1 p.m. with Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, his campaign says. Usually it would be the president convening such key mayors.

  189. 189.

    scribbler

    June 1, 2020 at 11:55 am

    @Laura Too:  My heart goes out to you and all of your neighbors living through this nightmare.  It’s so important to get these truths out there – thank you!

  190. 190.

    Seanly

    June 1, 2020 at 11:56 am

    One of the anti-Trump Republicans, Rick Wilson, tweeted that if Trump were to give a speech, we’d get Donnie Mumbles where Trump reads it in his flat monotone.

    I tried embedding the tweet, but I’m terrible at linking stuff, but it was my first thought.

    And the media isn’t even talking about how the president is failing to lead right now. Nor are they talking about the police riots going on.

  191. 191.

    trnc

    June 1, 2020 at 11:57 am

    @Laura Too: I am fully behind the protesters. I have no problem seeing the police station burn or Target and the pharmacies being looted. That they burned our local businesses is painful because our neighborhood needs them.

    IMHO, I don’t think damaging and looting private businesses is okay, regardless of my own feeling about any specific corporation. I think it’s misguided AND I think it gives the usual yahoos a reason to dismiss the actual reasons for the protest. I think the looting especially was more due to people taking advantage of the chaos rather than making it a part of the protest. I don’t even condone burning police department buildings, even though that may be more directly related to the protests. As bad as some cops are, there are also good cops who will be less able to carry out their legitimate duties if they don’t have a police station.

    On top of all that, have any civilian employees been hurt or killed as a result of the building damage or looting? If we say it’s OK to burn a Target, some people will take that as a tacit approval to hurt Target employees.

    I don’t want to belittle the situation your neighborhood faces from damage of local business, but once a protest turns into a mob willing to do damage, it’s hard to get them to agree to boudaries of any kind.

    edit: I understand what you’re saying about the organized factions taking advantage of the legitimate protest.

  192. 192.

    Laura Too

    June 1, 2020 at 11:58 am

    @Miss Bianca: Thank you, that is sweet. when I can catch my breath over all of this I would like to do an On The Road post if it will be accepted. Everyone can see the disaster porn on TV but I want to show the real neighborhood. The pop up food pantries because there are no grocery stores now, the people with brooms and buckets cleaning up in a toxic stew of chemicals, the rainbow of colors who are trying to create change through love. There are a couple of fund raisers I can link to that are legit, I know the people running them and trust that they will distribute to those who deserve it.

  193. 193.

    WaterGirl

    June 1, 2020 at 12:01 pm

    @patrick II: I can’t count the times that I have said “Why are we not rioting in the streets?”

  194. 194.

    Mike in NC

    June 1, 2020 at 12:01 pm

    The neo-Confederate senator from Arkansas — Tom Cotton — who’s the likely Republican presidential candidate in 2024, has called for sending in the military to quash the protesters. The GOP is dropping all pretense of not being a fascist organization.

  195. 195.

    yellowdog

    June 1, 2020 at 12:01 pm

    @Redshift: DC isn’t majority Black anymore, only 40%, vs. about 70% in the 70s. Combination of a lot more Hispanics and gentrifying young people.

  196. 196.

    Kay

    June 1, 2020 at 12:03 pm

    @MattF:

    Trump is berating state officials.

    Of course he is. It’s the only work he does. Yesterday he was demanding to speak to the manager of the United States.

    Liberals like the state officials who criticize him, like the mayor of DC does, but I prefer the state officials who treat him like an annoying, irrelevant 6th grader. I think that’s more insulting.

  197. 197.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 1, 2020 at 12:03 pm

    @Seanly:  Your comment editing window has to be in Text mode, not Visual, for the embed to work.

  198. 198.

    trnc

    June 1, 2020 at 12:05 pm

    @trnc:

    @Laura Too: Tried to edit my comment, but too late. I understand what you’re saying about the organized factions taking advantage of the legitimate protest.

  199. 199.

    Ruckus

    June 1, 2020 at 12:05 pm

    @donnah:

    This.

    But maybe we should offer him a bankruptcy filing. He has failed at this the same way he’s failed at everything else, let him solve it the same way. The details of which are that he’s no longer president and for that he gets something something, rambling on for 20 pages with big words he’d never understand and in the fine print he’s banned from ever being in or speaking in public again but he gets a luxury apt in a federal facility in CO.

  200. 200.

    Laura Too

    June 1, 2020 at 12:05 pm

    Great, now 45 wants governors to hump the legs of protesters. Look like “jerks” if they don’t “dominate” the protesters? WTAF??????

  201. 201.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 1, 2020 at 12:06 pm

    @Mike in NC: Didn’t he go to Harvard Law? Did he get an F in Constitution or something?

  202. 202.

    Kay

    June 1, 2020 at 12:06 pm

    @HumboldtBlue:

    This is so smart. Obama did the same thing after Bush went AWOL on the financial crash. Bush just disappeared. The only person we saw was Hank Paulson. Obama stepped right in.

    Bush, at least, had the excuse of being termed out.

  203. 203.

    Barbara

    June 1, 2020 at 12:06 pm

    @Lapassionara: The book discusses the extensive pro-Nazi activities that occurred in the Los Angeles area during the 1930s.

  204. 204.

    Barbara

    June 1, 2020 at 12:09 pm

    @Mike in NC: I don’t think Tom Cotton ever had a pretense to begin with.

  205. 205.

    Ruckus

    June 1, 2020 at 12:11 pm

    @germy:

    Can’t help but take it personally. As he should.

    Well he is the leader of the all racism, all the time party, so, yeah.

  206. 206.

    Kay

    June 1, 2020 at 12:15 pm

    Robert Costa
    @costareports
    ·40m
    I’m in touch with someone who’s on the governors’ call with President Trump right now. They and others listening in are alarmed. The president is urging governors to take back the streets, not be “weak,” and use force as the nation faces growing racial unrest.

    Most governors are more popular than President Trump and the Trump Administration. They’re nearly all more competent. I would suggest they not take advice from the hackish, corrupt low quality hires in that administration. Stand up to him, or better yet, ignore him. He and his employees don’t work very hard. Give it three days and they’ll be on to something else.

  207. 207.

    Ruckus

    June 1, 2020 at 12:18 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    Yep. He did win? an election after all, didn’t he……

  208. 208.

    Jinchi

    June 1, 2020 at 12:18 pm

    Antifa?

    Authorities have identified a truck driver who was arrested after he drove through a crowd protesting on I-35W in Minneapolis as Bogdan Vechirko

    He drove a tanker truck at high speed into a crowd of about 1,000 marchers on an otherwise empty highway. The video is pretty shocking (Youtube so watch out for Trump ads). Luckily the crowd could see him coming and scattered out of the way, otherwise he could have killed dozens.

  209. 209.

    WaterGirl

    June 1, 2020 at 12:19 pm

    @Laura Too:  We’ll do a special guest post whenever you put that together.  I believe Elizabelle is also putting together a before-and-after post on Richmond, Virginia, which will also be a guest post.

    If anyone on the front lines wants to do a guest post, let us know.

  210. 210.

    Laura Too

    June 1, 2020 at 12:19 pm

    @Kay: Governor Walz is doing a good job and knows the laws. He was in the guard for 24 years and was a teacher. He is great at breaking it down, sometimes over and over. I’m guessing he listened politely, thought “WTAF” and went on about his planning for the day that he was already doing.

  211. 211.

    WaterGirl

    June 1, 2020 at 12:20 pm

    @trnc: I used the wayback machine and snuck your edit in for you.

  212. 212.

    Jinchi

    June 1, 2020 at 12:20 pm

    @Kay: I’m in touch with someone who’s on the governors’ call with President Trump right now. They and others listening in are alarmed.

    It’d be nice if audio leaked of these calls with the governors.

  213. 213.

    Laura Too

    June 1, 2020 at 12:27 pm

    @WaterGirl: Thanks, I would love to. I have poured heart and soul in to the neighborhood for 21 years. It isn’t perfect but we are working on it. Anyone interested can google Angela Connely for a lesson in how to get shit done. She was told to wait her turn to run until the incumbent retired. Nope, and she got an army behind her and took the election. I was privileged to work for her. Her election night party was awesome. So yeah, these are the stories I want told.

  214. 214.

    Uncle Cosmo

    June 1, 2020 at 12:29 pm

    @Lapassionara: “Seventy-five years ago, the largest anti fascist organization in the world defeated two European countries ruled by fascists. Made up of the US armed forces, the British armed forces, and a collection of Free French forces, Free Polish forces, and other allied forces

    most notably including the Red Army, which did the bulk of the fighting and the dying and overwhelmed the Wehrmacht even when the Nazis all but denuded the Western Front in a desperate attempt to hold them back.

    FTFY. Maybe it strikes you as pedantic, but IMHO waaaaaaay too many Murkins are under the misapprehension that our guys beat Hitler all by themselves, when in fact the Western Allies could never even have gotten across the Channel were it not for the Red hordes tying up several million German troops in the East.

    Our countrymen need to acknowledge – if necessary, by having the fact repeatedly and relentlessly shoved into their smug faces – that the Red Army won the war in Europe. Not any of the other forces arrayed against Hitler. This is just a fact. And they might have won it without a single allied soldier landing in France. The primary contribution of the Western Allies to Hitler’s defeat was the stream of trucks, jeeps, & other supplies shipped to the Soviets via Lend-Lease – which they more than paid for in blood. (NB They didn’t need weaponry – they were quite capable of making massive amounts of excellent weapons in the factories they’d literally wrenched up from their western lands, sent east just in front of the advancing enemy, and rebuilt from ground up in the Urals.)

    /rant

  215. 215.

    Laura Too

    June 1, 2020 at 12:31 pm

    @Jinchi: Russian op? I was going to go with friends but I would have to bike and I knew if shit went down I don’t have the lung capacity to get out fast. I was right, they were teargassed and had to flee. They teargassed to get everyone to flee. They knew it was a tanker, they weren’t sure if it was going to blow up. We had seen the helicopters go with the water-but that’s been pretty common because of the car fires so did’t pay that much attention.

  216. 216.

    Ruckus

    June 1, 2020 at 12:34 pm

    @Fair Economist:

    Yes it is entirely possible and plausible that shitforbrains could die at any time, but I doubt he will. That’s the easy way out and while it doesn’t require him to do anything but stop breathing, it’s not in his nature. He always does anything and everything wrong, he always makes it worse for everyone else as he’s getting away. And it would be best for the country, and that is just not the shitforbrains way. Unless he could declare bankruptcy and walk away thinking he won, he won’t die and he won’t quit. And for all his faults, he knows he can’t do that, and he knows, once again, that he hasn’t won.

    And mike dense would not be any better at this than shitforbrains.

  217. 217.

    Just Chuck

    June 1, 2020 at 12:39 pm

    @trnc: A good (perhaps not the right word) part of me wants to see the police stations burn like matchsticks until the motherfuckers figure out that they’re accountable to the people.  But the logical part of me knows that this tactic doesn’t actually do any good.

    I have a good friend who’s a police officer, and he’s the mellowest, kindest, quiet-tempered person I know.  But he knows where the rage is coming from, and agrees with me when I tell him that there’s a reason no one says”Fuck the Fire Department”.

  218. 218.

    Subsole

    June 1, 2020 at 12:40 pm

     

     

    @germy:  Is it actually possible these spongebrained poltroons genuinely have no idea that 55% of their fellow USians loathe them?

    Like, they are such deliberately vile people I had to assume they knew.

    They spent four years hurting us and laughing about it and they’re SURPRISED at the volume of venom?

    Yeshua Hussein bar Abba, be a fence.

  219. 219.

    germy

    June 1, 2020 at 12:45 pm

    @Jinchi:

    audio:

    HEAR IT: Trump calls state officials "weak," insists they must dominate, and vows to "clamp down" in DC. pic.twitter.com/ARsIhAvCJe— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) June 1, 2020

  220. 220.

    Just Chuck

    June 1, 2020 at 12:46 pm

    @Subsole: Dude, these are the people who’ve decided to appropriate the word “deplorable” for themselves.  They not only don’t care about the disdain they’re held in, they welcome it.

  221. 221.

    Subsole

    June 1, 2020 at 12:52 pm

    @Betty Cracker:  Y’know the thing that pisses me off-

    Actually, wait. Lemme back up.

    One of the myriad indignities that has drifted up from this bottomless well of insults to God, nature, man and Euclidean reality to momentarily gall me no end before sinking back into the muck to be replaced by another facet of this man’s fractal assholery is that he never has an original thought. Ever.

    Brian Kilmeade shits in his mouth, he chews it like cud, then spits it out onto his twitter feed.

    Always. He always references some dumbfuck FNC race-pimp.

     

    Like, seriously. We better fuckin’ multi-drone Rupert for this shit.

    And his bitch wife.

    And his bastard whelps.

    Ugh.

     

     

    How are y’all?

  222. 222.

    Subsole

    June 1, 2020 at 12:57 pm

    @Just Chuck:

    Yeah. Fair point. Shit’s just a bit much today.

  223. 223.

    Draco7

    June 1, 2020 at 1:18 pm

    Something I haven’t seen come up in the comments: as some of you are aware, RW/neo-Nazi/white supremacist organizations have been recommending that their members join the police force(s) where possible. Minneapolis police have never not been racist and violent*, but there is a possibility that the murder of George Floyd was intended to be a trigger incident coordinated with one or more of these organizations.

    What you see is an officer deliberately committing a murder knowing that it was being recorded on video. The  officer could bet on no prosecution/conviction, but also accept disciplinary actions “for the cause”.  The one thing I note is that the instigators within the protests were ready to roll on a short timeline. My experience from the protests during the Viet Nam section of the Endless War is that there were always embedded LEO provocateurs, but they were typically at the planned demonstrations as opposed to spontaneous.

    *longtime former resident of Minneapolis’ Longfellow neighborhood, now in exurbs.

  224. 224.

    Matt McIrvin

    June 1, 2020 at 1:18 pm

    @Just Chuck: Trump himself doesn’t welcome it; that’s the weird thing. He does what he does, damages and insults people willy-nilly, and he still takes it as a personal injury and outrage that anyone out there might not like him. He can’t connect cause and effect.

  225. 225.

    Taobhan

    June 1, 2020 at 2:56 pm

    Donald Trump increasingly reminds me King Louis XVI of France in early January 1793.

  226. 226.

    Ruckus

    June 1, 2020 at 2:56 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    For all we see right now, some people don’t really know that this goes back a long time. Yes shitforbrains was a registered democrat for a few years, but he was raised by a slumlord father, in his image. He’s been a massive racist for a long time. And it isn’t coming home to roost, it’s always been there – the Central Park 5?

  227. 227.

    Ruckus

    June 1, 2020 at 3:00 pm

    @Draco7:

    There are a few of us here who think the same thing, even without the training or experience. It’s happened too fast, and too organized to not be part of at least a rudimentary plan. And with their magic leader filling the top spot, I believe that they think this is the/an ideal time to start a race war.

  228. 228.

    PJ

    June 1, 2020 at 3:06 pm

    @Barbara: I remember the Mt. Pleasant riot.

  229. 229.

    planetjanet

    June 1, 2020 at 6:52 pm

    @dmsilev: So why is Bush in this picture?

     

     https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1356406/mediaviewer/rm875308032

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