We Resist: Day 608

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.

* * *

Earlier today by me: Life Preservers in a Toxic Sea and A Tale of Two Senators.

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

[Content Note: Sexual assault] Lauren Gambino at the Guardian: Trump: 'Very Hard to Imagine' Anything Happened Between Kavanaugh and Accuser. "Donald Trump has said it would be 'very hard' to imagine anything happened between his supreme court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused him of sexual assault decades ago. ...[He also] continued to vigorously defend his nominee, calling him an 'outstanding man' with an 'unblemished record' and lamenting the hardship this has placed on Kavanaugh's wife and two young daughters." Goddammit I hate him so much.

Literally the ONLY times when Trump publicly exhibits empathy are for sexually abusive guys. It's very striking. They touch his heart in a way no one else does. https://t.co/KTZuyoDi0p

— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) September 18, 2018

[CN: Video may autoplay at link] Chris Strohm at Bloomberg: FBI, DOJ Plan Redactions Despite Trump's Document Order. "Donald Trump has demanded the 'immediate declassification' of sensitive materials about the Russia investigation, but the agencies responsible are expected to propose redactions that would keep some information secret, according to three people familiar with the matter. The Justice Department, FBI, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence are going through a methodical review and can’t offer a timeline for finishing, said the people, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the sensitive matter."

[Previously: Trump Declassifies Documents in Brazen Authoritarian Move.]

Kate Riga at TPM: Trump on Sessions: 'I Don't Have an Attorney General. It's Very Sad.' "Donald Trump beat up on Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday, saying that he doesn't 'have an attorney general' and that he's 'very sad' about it. ...'I'm so sad over Jeff Sessions because he came to me,' Trump told the Hill. 'He was the first senator that endorsed me. And he wanted to be attorney general, and I didn't see it.' ...'And my worst enemies, I mean, people that, you know, are on the other side of me, in a lot of ways, including politically, have said that was a very unfair thing he did,' he told the Hill, looping back to Sessions' recusal. 'We'll see how it goes with Jeff. I'm very disappointed in Jeff. Very disappointed.'"

John Wagner and Matt Zapotosky at the Washington Post: 'I Should Have Fired Him Before I Got Here': Trump Says He Regrets Not Firing Comey Sooner. "Trump said Tuesday that he regrets not firing James B. Comey as FBI director sooner, asserting that he should have done so while still a candidate for president — an option that was not actually available to him. 'If I did one mistake with Comey, I should have fired him before I got here,' Trump said in an interview with Hill.TV. 'I should have fired him right after the convention, say I don't want that guy. Or at least fired him the first day on the job. ...I would have been better off firing him or putting out a statement that I don't want him there when I get there.'"

WHAT THE FUCK IS HE EVEN TALKING ABOUT?! ARGH.

* * *

Kira Lerner: Georgia Voters Warn Midterm Election Security Is in Danger. "Georgia is one of just five states that will not use paper ballets in the upcoming midterms, after a judge denied a motion late Monday that would have required the state to move away from its electronic touch screen machines. In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg pointed to the limited time remaining to switch the state's election systems ahead of November's vote, although she said that security concerns are legitimate and warned that 'further delay is not tolerable' in 'confronting and tackling the challenges before the state's election balloting system.'"

* * *

Justin Sink at Bloomberg: Poland Offers 'Fort Trump' as Name If U.S. Builds Military Base.

[Donald] Trump said the U.S. is looking "very seriously" at establishing a permanent military base in Poland — and Polish President Andrzej Duda, eager to secure a deal, suggested it be named "Fort Trump."

Trump raised the possibility of a new U.S. base in Poland in a meeting with Duda in the Oval Office on Tuesday. He said at a news conference with the Polish leader that Duda had offered to pay more than $2 billion toward construction.

"Poland is willing to make a very major contribution to the United States to come in and have a presence in Poland," Trump said in the Oval Office. "If they're willing to do that, it's something we will certainly talk about."

Duda, whose country is wary of Russian aggression in neighboring Ukraine, suggested during the news conference that a base could be named after Trump.

...The construction of a base would risk provoking Russian President Vladimir Putin even as Trump has gone to lengths to improve relations with the Kremlin.

I don't even know where to begin with this garbage, but let's start here: Why does the media continue to talk about Trump as though he's a typical president?! That last quoted sentence is absurd. Obviously the objective of the base wouldn't really be to prevent Russian aggression. For crying out loud.

[Content Note: Deadly explosions] Last Friday, I wrote about a strange and troubling series of explosions in three Massachusetts communities, which left one person dead, dozens injured, and many people displaced from their homes after officials called for widespread evacuations. At the time, I said that I feared it was the first significant cyberattack on our utility grid.

This AP piece (wire at Washington Post) has not disabused me of my concerns: Lawsuit Filed Against Gas Company After Massachusetts Blasts. "A letter sent by the state's U.S. senators to executives at Columbia Gas and its parent company, NiSource, on Monday said the pressure in natural gas pipelines was 12 times higher than it should have been. 'The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has reported that the pressure in the Columbia Gas system should have been around 0.5 pounds per square inch (PSI), but readings in the area reached at least 6 PSI — twelve times higher than the system was intended to hold,' the letter said. The pressure spike registered in a Columbia Gas control room in Ohio, the senators said in the letter, which requests a reply by Wednesday." Welp.

Tom Embury-Dennis at the Independent: Container Ship Crosses Arctic Route for First Time in History Due to Melting Sea Ice. "A commercial container ship has for the first time successfully navigated the Northern Sea Route of the Arctic Ocean, a route made possible by melting sea ice caused by global warming. Maersk Line, the world's biggest container shipping company, told The Independent its ship, Venta Maersk, was expected to reach its final destination of St. Petersburg next week. ...With help from Russia's most powerful nuclear icebreaker, it followed the Northern Sea Route up through the Bering Strait between Russia and Alaska, before travelling along Russia's north coast and into the Norwegian Sea."

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