Protest

George Floyd died in police custody last week. Protests erupted nationwide followed by what Andrew O'Hehir calls a police riot. An autopsy requested by his family determined that the death was a homocide. An officer involved is under arrest.

Naturally, an ignorant, racist "leader" only knows how to make the situation worse.

Brittany Wong says it's not enough to not be racist--we need to be antiracist. And Sirry Alang emphasizes that whites can't be silent--words matter and actions matter.

Update (June 2):  More demonstrations as Fuckface threatens to deploy the federal military in U.S. cities and rightwing assholes egg him on. Cody Fenwick denounces the most dangerous criminals.

There’s no question that the police are committing widespread unjustified abuses of the citizenry and the press.

[M]any of the officials now decrying petit theft have stood by and clapped as the president commits his own version of unabashed robbery.

Update (June 3):  After the police attack on protesters in Washington, D.C. for a presidential photo opportunity, James Miller resigned from the Defense Science Board and blasted Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.

You may not have been able to stop [Fuckface von Clownstick] from directing this appalling use of force, but you could have chosen to oppose it. Instead, you visibly supported it.

Anyone who takes the oath of office must decide where he or she will draw the line: What are the things that they will refuse to do? I must now ask: If last night’s blatant violations do not cross the line for you, what will?

Former chair of the joint chiefs of staff, Mike Mullen, says he "cannot remain silent".

It sickened me yesterday to see security personnel – including members of the National Guard – forcibly and violently clear a path through Lafayette Square to accommodate the president’s visit outside St. John’s Church.

Whatever [von Clownstick's] goal in conducting his visit, he laid bare his disdain for the rights of peaceful protest in this country.

Our fellow citizens are not the enemy and must never become so.

Dan Froomkin notices a changed perspective in news reports and says "it's entirely appropriate for the press to stop pretending that it's just business as usual". And Heather Digby Parton shows how this president compares poorly to his predecessors for handling chaos.

[N]one responded by whining publicly that it was all a conspiracy to damage them politically. Right or wrong, none of them used the crisis as an excuse to stage a photo-op for a campaign ad.

[Dear Leader] only knows how to put on a show, and that's all he is doing. But it's a dangerous show. He is inciting his own voters with this loose talk about "domination," and deliberately creating an environment that could lead to disaster if someone, somewhere, makes a tragic mistake. Real leaders try to calm the waters in these situations in order to reduce that risk. He is doing the opposite.

Also, Amanda Marcotte believes the strongman ploy is backfiring.

[His 2016 win] depended heavily on that margin of voters who are uncomfortable with his racism but somehow convinced themselves he was preferable to the alternative. The harder [Fuckface] makes it for those people to bury their head in the sand, the harder it will be for them to suck it up and vote for him again. His recent antics could make that very difficult indeed. He thought he could "dominate" the protesters, but at least for the moment they have the upper hand.

Update (June 5):  ACLU along with Black Lives Matter, the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed a lawsuit against the Administration for actions in Washington, D.C.  Scott Michelman:

The President’s shameless, unconstitutional, unprovoked, and frankly criminal attack on protesters because he disagreed with their views shakes the foundation of our nation's constitutional order. And when the nation's top law enforcement officer becomes complicit in the tactics of an autocrat, it chills protected speech for all of us.

Retired Marine General John Allen says the June 1 threat by Dear Leader to send in federal troops against anti-racism demonstrators "may well signal the beginning of the end of the American experiment". And even former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis is "angry and appalled" by the actions of his old boss.

[Fuckface von Clownstick] is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership.

When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens — much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside.

Update (June 6):  Lucian Truscott claims there is "a clear sign that the military leaders are turning against [Dear Leader]" and cites a letter from the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, Mark Milley, sent to other military leaders. The letter defends the Constitution after a "contentious" meeting with Fuckface before the photo op walk.

This document is founded on the essential principles that all men and women are born free and equal, and should be treated with respect and dignity. It also gives Americans the right to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly. We in uniform — all branches, all components, all ranks — remain committed to our national values and principles embedded in the Constitution.

Update (June 9):  Melanie McFarland has some thoughts for "white allies".

And Amanda Marcotte doesn't see any bravery on one side of the issue.

All that tough guy posturing is a pathetic effort to conceal the fearfulness that defines conservatism.

[Fuckface] never really picks on someone his own size — ask the dozens of women who have accused him of sexual assault — and he sends his lawyers to deal with the thousands of people he has screwed over in his time. The man has likely never had a moment of true courage in his life. Any fan thrilled by his bullying ways is just exposing that they're as big a coward as he is.

Update (June 13):  Heather Digby Parton says the June 1 incident may have been a turning point.

What followed over the next few days was astonishing. One high-ranking retired military officer after another, led by former Defense Secretary Mattis, stepped up to condemn the use of the military for political purposes. Some were more pointed than others but it was clear that they were all on the same page. It's more than reasonable to assume they were speaking for the active-duty brass, who would have had to resign en masse if they wanted to make this point.

And Cody Fenwick notes Dear Leader just isn't up to the task of leadership on multiple issues.

It seems obvious, given the broad popularity of many of demands from the Black Lives Matter movement, that [Fuckface] would benefit himself by taking it seriously. A talented politician could have seized this moment, taken whatever he thinks are the best ideas that address the protesters’ concerns, and presented them as a win for all Americans. [He] surely has enough credibility with his base that he could sell them on some modest reforms. He could then be hailed as a uniter and champion of bipartisanship.

Update (June 15):  Melanie McFarland argues the protests have had a greater impact this year rather than previous years due to a "captive audience".

[B]etween the pandemic, massive unemployment, recession, quarantine separation and the rest of the hard-knock avalanche that is 2020, mainstream America was made to finally admit, en masse and out loud, that something is very wrong with the system.

More white people are being exposed to messages such as that from Trevor Noah about a "social contract" that has become meaningless.

[S]ome members of the society, namely Black people, watch time and time again how the contract that they have signed with society is not being honored by the society that has forced them to sign it with them. There is no contract if law and people in power don't uphold their end of it.

Update (June 16):  Incredibly enough, there's still debate over the removal of Confederate statues. Bob Cesca outlines the history of the "Lost Cause" and the persistance of racism since the Civil War.

One of the most dominant prongs of the Lost Cause was the characterization of Blacks as a common enemy of both northern and southern whites. Mythologists believed that if white people were fighting Black people, then white people wouldn't fight each other again. The goal of smearing African Americans as the enemy of white America involved the whole-cloth fabrication of cultural myths about African Americans, emerging at the dawn of the 20th century and beyond. Architects of the mythology felt that Black people didn't possess a cultural identity and therefore identities could be entirely invented for them by white supremacists.

All told, the Lost Cause has been one of the most successful disinformation campaigns in world history. Its themes continue to be intrinsic to the white misperception of post-Civil War racial history, including [Fuckface's] "heritage" defense of military base names, his defense of Charlottesville white supremacists, and his fetish for law enforcement violence. Likewise, his routine attacks against African-American journalists (e.g., Yamiche Alcindor of PBS and Don Lemon of CNN), athletes (e.g., former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick) and lawmakers (e.g., "Low IQ" Rep. Maxine Waters) invariably echo the stereotypes of the Lost Cause.

Update (June 17):  Dear Leader lets us know which side he's on by speaking in code:

We must build upon our heritage, not tear it down.

Sophia McClennen documents absurd racist arguments.

Update (June 18):  I don't recall reading about this before now.

On June 4, [Black Lives Matter's] Washington, D.C., chapter and five individuals filed a novel and potentially far-reaching federal lawsuit against [Attorney General Bill] Barr, [Fuckface von Clownstick], Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, Army Chief of Staff General James McConville and other law enforcement officials, alleging their First and Fourth Amendment rights were violated when peaceful demonstrators were violently removed from Lafayette Square, just outside the gates of the White House, on the evening of June 1.

This make me happy.

Of all the defendants sued in the case, Barr is the only one cited in both his "individual" and "official" capacities. All the others, including [Orangeman], are being sued only in their official roles as government actors. The distinction, while technical, is important because only officials sued in their individual capacities can be held personally liable for damages caused by their actions.

Update (June 26):  The Minneapolis City Courncil has voted to disband the Police Department in favor of a Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention. Voters will decide whether to amend the city charter in November.

And in an interview with Chauncey DeVega, Cornel West talks about courage I doubt I could find.

Remember what Martin King Jr. told the marchers in Birmingham. He said, "When you come to this movement, I want you to put on your cemetery clothes, because the people who we are fighting are themselves willing to die. And if we are not willing to die, we'll never win."

Remember and draw strength from Martin King Jr. and his wisdom when he said, "I'd rather be dead than afraid."

We must come to the freedom struggle with our cemetery clothes and be coffin-ready, because these folks are willing to die. You have got to keep fighting. Don't give up. Don't sell out. Don't cave in. You've got to stay in motion. You've got to keep on pushing and fighting, no matter what. Be faithful until death, until you can't push no more, and then it's over. You pass it on to the next generation and that is what is most crucial.

Update (July 2):  Haydar Khan is concerned that the protests are at risk of being co-opted in defense of neoliberalism.

[F]ar from suffering Occupy’s flash in the pan fate, the movement and its energy, rooted in the very real concerns over police brutality, racism, and economic inequality are in danger of being repurposed.

If corporations really cared about black lives or worker lives in general, they would drop all opposition to unions and give labor a place at the bargaining table. No, the reason is that corporations wish to the shape the national discussion, redirecting attention away from broader issues of class and corporate greed.

Update (July 17):  This is rather alarming:

Demonstrators in Portland, Oregon, say federal officers driving unmarked vans have been stopping to detain people during late-night protests this week, a legally dubious move that local officials are condemning.

Dear Leader is allowing a secret police force to essentially kidnap people for protesting. Zakir Khan:

I think Portland is a test case. They want to see what they can get away with before launching into other parts of the country.

Update (July 18):  Ken Cuccinelli from the Department of Homeland Security:

This is a posture we intend to continue not just in Portland but in any of the facilities that we’re responsible for around the country.

Update (July 19):  David Atkins warns that Republicans have motivation to use the Portland actions as a model for handling the November election.

[I]t opens the possibility of a terrifying abuse of power. We could end up seeing armed private contractors hired by the RNC and affiliated conservative organizations to intimidate Democratic-leaning voters, bolstered by camouflage-wearing taxpayer-funded rifle-toting border patrol agents aggressively checking papers of every voter in line in the guise of "securing against voter fraud" on the president’s orders. This would be happening during the most tense presidential election in our lifetimes during a raging pandemic, often in lines in which voters must wait 8 to 10 hours to vote due to restricted polling places in minority communities–also a blatant suppression attempt enabled by the Supreme Court’s voiding of many of the protections of the Voting Rights Act. The likelihood that these actions would be met with immediate enraged protest would be very high. Election Day violence unheard of since the Civil Rights era could ensue, which would give [Dear Leader] an excuse to instigate further crackdowns across the country as election day continues.

Update (July 21):  Tensions are building in Portland. Michael Dorf:

The idea that there’s a threat to a federal courthouse and the federal authorities are going to swoop in and do whatever they want to do without any cooperation and coordination with state and local authorities is extraordinary outside the context of a civil war.

Juan Cole sees the expansion to other cities as part of the re-election strategy.

It now appears clear that part of that strategy is to send federal agents dressed like Iraq War troops to Democratic-run cities, on the pretext of protecting federal property, and then for them to attack and provoke Black Lives Matter and Defund the Police protesters, causing violence to escalate and using it… to scare the suburbs. The exercise also has the advantage for [Fuckface] of entrenching a new form of secret police and of turning federal agents into instruments of his authoritarianism.

David Lindorff notes the U.S. has been moving in this direction since at least 2001.

Under [the Authorization for Use of Military Force] as well as the ironically named Patriot Act passed the same year which basically codifies a whole raft of police-state measures that eviscerate most of the articles in the Bill of Rights, presidents have assumed he mantel of dictators.

[Von Clownstick], moving beyond his two predecessors and building on their own predations against Constitutionally protected freedoms, has simply moved the federal forces of authoritarian repression out into the open.

[He] has tossed out any concerns about public outrage, and, apparently fearful of being pushed out of power in this November’s election, appears to be going for broke with a full assumption of unrestrained police power.

Andrew O'Hehir sees two dangerous possibilities.

[E]ven the language we use to describe these events grows slippery — another consequence of encroaching authoritarianism, which drains the meaning out of ordinary words. These police are not real police, and the protesters in Portland (and many other places) have moved past the Black Lives Matter agenda to something much larger and more difficult to define. They are standing up against autocracy, I think we can say, while these so-called police are trying to enforce it.

What's the endgame strategy here? Is all of this "purely political," as Kate Brown said, aimed at terrifying a few white suburbanites in "battleground states" into believing that only [Agent Orange] can save them from rampaging antifa hordes who want to steal their homes for government-funded Black Marxist communes? Or is this an ingenious backdoor attempt at imposing martial law, Keystone Kops-style (since the actual military wouldn't do it), with a hopeful eye toward canceling or nullifying the election and declaring democracy on hold?

Update (July 23):  Amanda Marcotte knows the clashes between federal cops and protesters is all about the campaign photo-op.

Violence and racism may not be a winning message in this year of historic turmoil and change, but at this point, it's all [Fuckface] and his party have left.  

Update (July 25):  In Portland, 3000 protesters were dispersed by federal agents using tear gas. And in an interview with Chauncey DeVega, Ruth Ben-Ghiat discusses what fascism means in the U.S. at the present moment.

[T]o see CNN and other major media outlets finally use the word "authoritarianism" to describe [Dear Leader] and this administration means that things are really bad in America right now.

The reality is that today's authoritarianism works differently than it did in previous incarnations. Today's version of fascism does not need one-party states, for example.

One of the reasons so many people are scared is that to admit the truth about [Fuckface] and authoritarianism then means they have to do something about it. Many people do not want to take that leap.

White Americans are now discovering what people of color have long known, that we do not have a real democracy in this country.

Update (July 29):  Bob Cesca says flat out that Fuckface von Clownstick is the first fascist president.

As soon as [he] chose to unleash federal stormtroopers in reaction to protesters, deploying an army of faceless thugs into American cities armed with allegedly non-lethal weapons, the Rubicon was crossed. There's no going back until, at the very least, [Dear Leader] is ousted from power and held accountable for the unconstitutional horror show he's manifested.

Update (July 30):  There are plans for federal agents to withdraw from Portland, but with conflicting statements from Federal and local officials.

Update (August 23):  Randall Horton had the pleasure of discovering his role in the growth of a young person's activism.

After the George Floyd public execution in Minneapolis, along with the subsequent and ongoing protests across the nation and around the globe, I received an email from a young woman majoring in criminal justice whom I've the pleasure of mentoring off and on since her freshman year when she was 18 years of age. I will call her M. M began the correspondence by letting me know the past few weeks had led her to reflect deeply on the issue of race and inclusion as it pertains to the United States. M wanted me to know that, "Dr. Horton, I was a product of a broken system that failed to tell the whole truth, and without being enrolled in your first-year composition class, I easily could have stayed that way. You were the first black teacher/professor that I ever had (and to this day, the only one who has educated me on such important topics)." This short but impactful confessional made me reflect on the day I lectured on the Central Park Five case from 1990 to M's class, which none of my white students were familiar with. I remember their utter disbelief and questioning of how a system of justice could convict these five young men and have them endure a trauma from which they are still trying to recover.

I truly believe we are living a flashpoint moment. The idea of addressing systemic changes within society requires mobilization and action by young people of various cultures and ethnic groups, and yes, white people are crucial to this movement. My student was letting me know the American white mind is awakening. However, in this woke state, M added, "I recognize it should not be the job of black people in America to teach white people about systemic racism and how it has fueled the issues of police brutality and our corrupt criminal justice system." This is the reflection of an awakening mind filled with fire and passion, ready to dismantle the old power structures in search of something more equitable for us as human beings.