We Resist: Day 550

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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Earlier today by me: So What Happened While I've Been Away? and DIY Guns, Care of the Trump Regime and Today in Anti-Choice Terrorism.

Here are some more things in the news today...

Oliver Laughland at the Guardian: Trump Says Iran Will 'Suffer Consequences' After Speech by Iranian President Rouhani. "Donald Trump has threatened Iran with 'consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before' in a late-night, all capital-letter tweet. The post, sent at 11.24 pm ET on Sunday night, came after the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, warned the U.S. about pursuing a hostile policy against his government, suggesting that 'war with Iran is the mother of all wars.' Rouhani did not rule out peace, however, according to comments reported by the Iranian state news agency, IRNA. The U.S. president, who returned to the White House on Sunday evening after spending the weekend at his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey, addressed his tweet directly to Rouhani, warning the president to 'NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN.'"

That the Republican Party tolerates and abets this behavior should serve as a pointed reminder that Trump is not, and has never been, an anomaly of modern conservatism. He is the Final Boss. https://t.co/UhBQxK0CUY

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) July 23, 2018

Lachlan Markay and Asawin Suebsaeng at the Daily Beast: John Kelly Signed off on a 'Purge' of Scott Pruitt Loyalists from EPA. "The Trump White House has moved quickly to force out a trio of staffers loyal to former scandal-plagued Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation. One administration source described it as a 'purge' of Pruitt loyalists that was orchestrated by a White House staff that had, for months, clashed with the ex-administrator and his team over ethical lapses and lavish personal spending and travel."

Pruitt needed to go, and people loyal to him despite his aggressive lack of ethics are clearly problematic, but the fact that we are constantly hearing about "purges" in the federal government is not good. Especially considering that the rationale here is dubious, at best. Pruitt was unethical AF, but so is the president. Which indicates that this isn't really about ethics; it's about loyalty. Like I said: Not good.

Andy Towle at Towleroad: Rachel Maddow: It Seems That Trump's Lawyers Leaked the Secret Michael Cohen Recording. "Maddow spoke with Vanity Fair's Emily Jane Fox, who told her that the recording was deemed 'privileged' which means there were only two parties that had it. Said Maddow: 'That means prosecutors would never have gotten it. So that means the only people that would've had access to this thing at Michael Cohen's lawyers and [Donald] Trump's lawyers. ...What appears to have happened here is that [Donald] Trump's lawyers found out this tape existed. For obvious reasons they apparently realized it might be a potentially pretty ugly thing for the president to have exposed or have brought up in court as a surprise. And so today the president's lawyers themselves appear to have leaked the existence of this tape to get ahead of the story.'"

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Isaac Stanley-Becker at the Washington Post: Comey Cautions Democrats Against 'Socialist Left'. "James B. Comey, the former FBI director and a registered Republican most of his adult life, is trying out a new role: armchair strategist for the Democratic Party. Days after urging voters to paint the country blue in the midterm elections this fall, Comey took to Twitter on Sunday to caution Democrats not to move too far to the left. ...'Democrats, please, please don't lose your minds and rush to the socialist left,' Comey tweeted. 'This president and his Republican Party are counting on you to do exactly that. America's great middle wants sensible, balanced, ethical leadership.'"

I'd like to thank whoever saw fit to include my tweet on Comey in the above-linked article, especially with this stellar intro!

You can always count on me for the "colorful language"! I am nothing if not a reliable "color commentator" on national politics. Please, national press, always quote my "colorful" tweets but never anything I write about Donald Trump, Mike Pence, et. al. two years before anyone in your papers ever does.

Christ.

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[Content Note: Nativist violence; domestic violence; abuse. Covers whole section.]

Casey Quinlan at ThinkProgress: Pence Stumps for Brian Kemp, Who Said He'd 'Round up Criminal Illegals' in His Truck. "On Saturday, Vice President Mike Pence supported Georgia gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp in the GOP primary race. You may remember Kemp for his ad boasting that he had a big truck in case he had to 'round up some criminal illegals and take 'em home myself.' [Donald] Trump took to Twitter last week to express his support for Kemp. He tweeted, 'Brian is tough on crime, strong on the border and illegal immigration.' Pence told the crowd in Macon, Georgia, on Saturday, 'Brian Kemp will bring the kind of leadership to the Statehouse that [Donald] Trump has brought to the White House.'" Shiver.

"What I can tell you is that the protection of domestic violence victims is a priority for my office, and any attempt in the courthouse to detain a domestic-violence victim clearly frustrates our ability to protect them," Merriweather said. Appalling.https://t.co/jOZ7fYgLpU

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) July 21, 2018

Rebekah Entralgo at ThinkProgress: ICE Detained an Undocumented Mom for Paying Her Traffic Ticket. "A 24-year-old Guatemalan mother of three named Maria was held behind bars in the Martin County Jail earlier this year before Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents transferred her to the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach, Florida. Her crime? Voluntarily paying a $150 traffic fine while being undocumented. As first reported by the Miami New Times, Maria was handcuffed and thrown in jail for the fine, even though she had paid a $750 bond to leave. The facility kept her money and kept her behind bars until ICE arrived." Fucking hell.

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[CN: Environmental harm; environmental racism. Covers whole section.]

Ayana Byrd at Colorlines: New Report Details How Poorly the EPA Handled Flint Water Crisis. "While much of the finger pointing surrounding the Flint water crisis targets local and state officials in Michigan, the federal government was far from blameless. And now, a new report from within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) details the extent of its culpability. [On July 19], Arthur A. Elkins, inspector general for the EPA, released a 74-page report based on the agency's response and actions related to the crisis. The Office of Inspector General is an independent office within the EPA that is charged with helping the agency operate effectively. In its report, the office stressed that the EPA was passive in its efforts to remedy the problem, and said that it must strengthen its oversight of state drinking water programs to prevent another Flint." Which will never happen under the Trump Regime, sob.

BREAKING: Trump administration will seek to revoke California’s authority to regulate automobile emissions, including its mandate for electric car sales, according to three people familiar with the plan https://t.co/uUuemDobDq pic.twitter.com/27qYsdkbew

— Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) July 23, 2018

Maggie Stone at Earther: Scandinavia Is on Fire. "A spate of incredibly hot, dry weather has descended on Scandinavia, contributing to the worst wildfire outbreak in recent memory. ...Northern Scandinavia has been roasting for days, with temperatures climbing over 20 degrees Fahrenheit above normal well north of the Arctic circle, thanks to an intense high-pressure ridge that's parked itself over the region. By early afternoon local time on Thursday, a station in northern Finland hit 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit), and a number of others had blown past 30 degrees Celsius (84 Fahrenheit), capping off a week of extreme heat that Severe Weather Europe dubbed 'amazing.' ...The same region is seeing an extraordinary outbreak of wildfires riding on the back of the heat wave. On Wednesday, the Guardian reported that at least 11 wildfires were burning in the far north above the Arctic circle, with dozens more smoldering across the wider region."

An even hotter day far inside the Arctic circle! Scorching heat in far northern Europe! https://t.co/suR5BUWu17 pic.twitter.com/wZIu40AOui

— severe-weather.EU (@severeweatherEU) July 18, 2018

[CN: Video may autoplay at link] Junko Ogura, Kaori Enjoji, and James Griffiths at CNN: Japan: Deadly Heat Wave Continues as Temp Hits Record 41.4C Near Tokyo. "Dozens of people have died across Japan as the country continues to swelter under scorching summer temperatures. At least 44 people have died since July 9, with 11 dying on Saturday alone according to Kyodo News, as temperatures remained around 38 degrees Celsius (99F) in central Tokyo Monday. In nearby Kumagaya, the mercury rose to 41.1 degrees (105.98F), the highest ever on record in Japan, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, almost 12 degrees hotter than average temperatures at this time of year. ...The authorities have forecast extreme high temperatures — exceeding 35C (95F) — for most of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu islands, with northerly Hokkaido the only one of the country's four main islands to escape the scorching heat."

Jonathan Watts at the Guardian: Earth's Resources Consumed in Ever Greater Destructive Volumes. "Humanity is devouring our planet's resources in increasingly destructive volumes, according to a new study that reveals we have consumed a year's worth of carbon, food, water, fibre, land, and timber in a record 212 days. As a result, the Earth Overshoot Day — which marks the point at which consumption exceeds the capacity of nature to regenerate — has moved forward two days to 1 August, the earliest date ever recorded. ...While ever greater food production, mineral extraction, forest clearance, and fossil-fuel burning bring short-term (and unequally distributed) lifestyle gains, the long-term consequences are increasingly apparent in terms of soil erosion, water shortages, and climate disruption."

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