We Resist: Day 329

One of the difficulties in resisting the Trump administration, the Republican Congressional majority, and Republican state legislatures (plus the occasional non-Republican who obliges us to resist their nonsense, too, like we don't have enough to worry about) is keeping on top of the sheer number of horrors, indignities, and normalization of the aggressively abnormal that they unleash every single day.

So here is a daily thread for all of us to share all the things that are going on, thus crowdsourcing a daily compendium of the onslaught of conservative erosion of our rights and our very democracy.

Stay engaged. Stay vigilant. Resist.

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Here are some things in the news today:

Earlier today by me: Net Neutrality: Today Is (Probably) the Day; Trump Is Our Greatest Threat to National Security; and Today in Rape Culture.

Well, it happened. The FCC voted along party lines to rescind Net Neutrality. Sob.

There is no shortage of people who believe Washington is not listening to their concerns, their fears, their desires. Add the @FCC to the list.

Today's decision to roll back #NetNeutrality is wrong and shows enormous contempt for public opinion.

I dissent.

— Jessica Rosenworcel (@JRosenworcel) December 14, 2017

Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel both gave impassioned defenses, while Ajit Pai and his conservative minions treated the entire thing like a fucking joke.

I am gutted. This is such terrible news. The future of the internet looks very grim, and so does the future of a whole lot of other things as a result. Fuck.

Meanwhile...

"Internet traffic coming into and out of Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and other companies was briefly redirected through a Russian provider on Wednesday, in what appears to have been a deliberate move." https://t.co/s0uGSzLqTz

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) December 14, 2017

Dan Goodin has more at Ars Technica: "Suspicious" Event Routes Traffic for Big-Name Sites Through Russia.

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[Content Note: Guns; mass violence.] Today marks 5 years since the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. At the Guardian, Lois Beckett has a moving piece on how "the families of the 20 children and six educators killed have taken very different paths to honor the lives of their loved ones. Some family members have chosen to remain intensely private. Others have become prominent advocates for gun violence prevention. No single campaign represents all 26 families."

Judd Legum and Kira Brekke at ThinkProgress: Fox News and Congressional Republicans Are Laying the Groundwork for Trump to Fire Mueller. "Fox News hosts and commentators are aggressively pushing to have Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller fired and to end the investigation into Russian collusion in the 2016 election. It appears to be a highly coordinated effort to prepare the Republican base for Mueller's firing and the firestorm of criticism that would follow if Trump went down that path. ...In a raucous hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, Republicans channeled their inner Hannity and used an appearance by [Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein] to savage Mueller. The message was unmistakable: If Trump attempts to fire Mueller, he won't encounter much resistance from Republicans in Congress."

Steven Zeitchik at the Washington Post: Disney Buys Much of Fox in Mega-Merger That Will Shake World of Entertainment and Media. "The announcement resets the Hollywood power grid. Disney, the nation's largest studio by box office returns and the company behind the Marvel and 'Star Wars' franchises, is acquiring Fox, the third-largest studio by that metric, known for the blockbuster 'X-Men' and 'Avatar' franchises as well as a host of mid-budget crowd-pleasers and critically acclaimed films. It also brings brands such as FX, National Geographic and 'The Simpsons' into the same fold as ESPN and ABC — all part of Disney's gamble that a beefed-up company will be better equipped to tackle a slew of Silicon Valley giants." One of the biggest media mergers in history, just in time for Net Neutrality to hit the skids.

[CN: Trans hatred] Melanie Schmitz at ThinkProgress: Roy Moore Refuses to Concede as New Campaign Video Targets Transgender People, Liberal Judges. "Failed U.S. Senate candidate and accused child molester Roy Moore dug in his heels on Wednesday evening with a new campaign video in which he blasts progressives, abortion, and the LGBTQ community while simultaneously refusing to concede to special election victor, Doug Jones. 'We are…in a struggle to preserve our republic, our civilization, and our religion, and to set free a suffering humanity,' Moore says. 'The battle rages on. In this race, we have not received the final count to include military and provisional ballots. This has been a very close race, and we are awaiting certification by the [Alabama] secretary of state.'" Jesus fucking Jones, this guy.

Jie Jenny Zou at the Guardian: Fueling Dissent: How the Oil Industry Set Out to Undercut Clean Air.

The state's environmental regulator — the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality — has been criticized for not making things better. In fact, it's followed in the footsteps of Big Oil's biggest lobby, the American Petroleum Institute, which has forestalled progress on ozone for decades. Using consultants also hired by API, the commission has spent millions of taxpayer dollars in an effort to question scientific evidence linking particulate matter and ozone with bronchitis, asthma and premature death.

Air quality is the new frontier for climate-change skeptics long tied to API. The institute has fueled uncertainty on climate by producing what critics call misleading scientific and economic studies. Now, by attempting to discredit established research on ozone and fine particles, API and its cadre of doubters are trying to undermine the Clean Air Act — the landmark US law credited with saving millions of lives.

This, as hospitals have decided it's more profitable to neglect asthma than fix it.

[CN: Doctor misconduct; abuse] Marwa Eltagouri at the Washington Post: He Was a Renowned Surgeon — Until a Doctor Found His Initials Burned on a Patient's Liver. "Simon Bramhall, 53, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault by beating after he used an electric beam — typically used to seal blood vessels — to mark 'SB' into a man's and woman's livers during their transplant operations in 2013, according to the Telegraph. Doing so usually isn't harmful, as the marks would typically fade. But the woman's liver did not heal normally. During her follow-up operation, doctors allegedly discovered Bramhall's initials, the Telegraph reported. ...The General Medical Council in February issued a warning to Bramhall, saying his conduct didn't meet the standards required of a doctor, the Guardian reported." Ya think?!

[CN: Death penalty; disablism] Addy Baird at ThinkProgress: 90 Percent of All Executions in 2017 May Have Involved People Who Were Innocent or Had Disabilities. "New research shows significant evidence of mental illness, brain damage, intellectual disability, severe trauma, or possible innocence in nearly 90 percent of capital punishment executions carried out in 2017, according to a report compiled by the Death Penalty Information Center. ...Several had evidence of multiple impairments. Additionally, the report found that five of the 23 people who were executed this year had received 'glaringly deficient legal representation' or were denied substantial judicial review." Goddammit. End the death penalty NOW.

Public Policy Polling: Voters Think Trump Should Resign Over Harassment Allegations. "PPP's newest national poll finds that a majority of voters think Donald Trump should resign from the Presidency because of the allegations of sexual harassment against him. 53% think Trump should step down to just 42% who think he should remain in office. 53% of voters believe the women who have accused Trump of harassment, to 31% who think they aren't telling the truth." Yeesh.

And finally, in good resistance news...

Connor Sheets at AL.com: How a Former Sharecropper in an SUV Helped Drive Doug Jones to Victory in Alabama's Black Belt. "For the past two-and-a-half decades, [59-year-old Perman Hardy] has dedicated much of her free time to...trying to ensure that every single person in Lowndes County shows up to the polls for every election in Alabama. A native of the unincorporated community of Collirene, she has done about as much as one person possibly could to boost turnout in the impoverished, majority-black county with a population of just 10,458 people. 'That's my goal is to make sure everyone votes. That's always been my goal. This is what I do every election,' she said." Blub. That is what a patriot looks like.

What have you been reading that we need to resist today?