Here We Are

[Content Note: Authoritarianism; abuse of power; threats and harassment.]

These are the first three pieces we published at Shareblue today:

1. Katie Paris: "Trump's Inaugural Committee succeeds in barring Women's March from Lincoln Memorial."

First reported by the Guardian: "[T]he National Park Service, on behalf of the Presidential Inauguration Committee, filed documents securing large swaths of the national mall and Pennsylvania Avenue, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial for the inauguration festivities. None of these spots will be open for protesters."

2. Tommy Christopher: "Kellyanne Conway alarmingly advocates 'consequences' for criticizing Trump."

In yet another extraordinary pronouncement which has gone virtually unnoticed, senior adviser Kellyanne Conway lamented the fact that people like labor leader Chuck Jones think they can criticize President-elect Donald Trump without suffering consequences. Yes, she actually said "consequences": "People feel like with Donald Trump, they have license to say whatever the heck they want about this guy, with no consequences, with no blowback. The guy has a right to defend himself. And he rarely draws first blood. It's when he is attacked, he likes to set the record straight."

3. Me: "Defiant union leader is tired of Trump’s lies; will not be silenced."

As a result of Trump's reckless tweeting, prioritizing his own brittle ego over Jones' safety, Jones began receiving threatening phone calls.

...What Jones is facing is the inevitable result of the incoming Trump administration's chilling campaign to intimidate critics and dissenters: Tweeting about private individuals and reporters and groups and TV shows to whose commentary the president-elect objects; threatening selective retribution against companies; quashing protests; and the unconscionable public stance that criticizing the president should have consequences.
Trump is no longer a private citizen. He is the President-elect of the United States of America, which carries with it the enormous power of the office he will soon occupy.

He is no longer just a reality TV show star picking fights with other celebrities (which was bad enough). The personal power imbalance between the President and every other citizen is extreme, and, if not respected for its immense potential to harm when wielded capriciously, the consequence will be a breathtaking and unprecedented abuse of that power.

Against citizens of his own nation.

He hasn't even been inaugurated yet. This is not normal.