We Resist: Day 644

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Thursday, October 25, 2018
a black bar with the word RESIST in white text

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: Explosive Devices Sent to Liberals: The Latest and Trump Regime Continues Attack on Transgender People.

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

In good news, Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum handed Ron DeSantis his ass in their debate last night!

[Content Note: White supremacy and spelled-out racist slur.]

Debate Moderator: Mr. Gillum, I'll give you a chance to respond now.

Gillum: Well, let me first say: My grandmother used to say, "A hit dog will holler." [crowd cheers and applauds] And it hollered through this room. Mr. DeSantis has spoken. First of all, he's got neo-Nazis helping him out in this state; he has spoken at racist conferences; he accepted a contribution — and would not return it — from someone who referred to the former President of the United States as a Muslim n-i-g-g-e-r. When asked to return that money, he said no! He's using that money to now fund negative ads. Now, I'm not calling Mr. DeSantis a racist; I'm simply saying the racists believe he's a racist.
BOOM.

* * *

[CN: Nativism; border militarization] Dan Lamothe and David Nakamura at the Washington Post: Pentagon Plans to Dispatch 800 More Troops to U.S.-Mexico Border in Response to Migrant Caravan. "The Trump administration is expected to deploy additional U.S. troops to assist in security operations at the southern border in response to a caravan of migrants traveling north on foot through Mexico, three U.S. officials confirmed Thursday. The plan calls for about 800 more troops, including some active-duty forces primarily from the Army, to join a growing border mission called for by [Donald] Trump, one official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because an official announcement had not been made."

Like I keep saying: When a president talks about closing and militarizing a border, it's not just to keep people out; it's to keep people in.

[CN: Fascism; terrorism] Andy Towle at Towleroad: Rather Than Unite Against Political Violence, Trump Attacks 'Fake News' Media Hours After CNN Pipe Bomb Mailings. "Donald Trump blamed the 'mainstream media fake news' for the 'anger in our society' hours after White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders admonished CNN President Jeff Zucker for 'attacking and dividing' by criticizing Trump's attacks on the media. The exchange came in the wake of a series of suspicious pipe bomb devices were sent to CNN and prominent Democrats around the country."

Michael Tomasky at the Daily Beast: A President Who Hates Half the Country Doesn't Get to Call for 'Unity'. "I've cringed in these last few hours to hear journalists on TV or radio discussing Trump's appeal for magnanimity last night in Wisconsin as if we're supposed to take it seriously. Are they kidding? Yes, they are words the president spoke, and so they have to be reported. But they don't have to be discussed earnestly. They need and deserve to be discussed derisively and placed in the real-life context they merit." Correct.

Kate Riga at TPM: Gingrich: Media Has 'Earned' Label of Enemy of the People. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said at a Thursday Axios event that while [Donald] Trump's calling the press the 'enemy of the people' drives partisanship, news outlets have 'earned it.'" Just as a reminder, Newt Gingrich hates citizen journalism, too. One presumes his delicate constitution can only tolerate rank propaganda.

[CN: Murder] Tamer El-Ghobashy and Kareem Fahim at the Washington Post: Saudi Arabia, in Latest Reversal, Says Khashoggi's Killing Was Premeditated.
Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor said on Thursday that Jamal Khashoggi was killed in a planned operation, citing information it received from Turkish investigators in Istanbul, according to a statement from the kingdom's Foreign Ministry.

It is the latest reversal by Saudi authorities, who last week said Khashoggi was killed accidentally in a fistfight at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul by "rogue" agents. [Donald] Trump had initially said that explanation was credible, but in recent days expressed doubts, calling it "the worst cover-up ever."

According to the statement, a joint Saudi-Turkish investigative team "indicates that the suspects in the incident had committed their act with a premeditated intention."
No shit.


Meanwhile... Frank Dale at ThinkProgress: Trump Claims 'I Rarely Use a Cellphone' in Tweet Sent from iPhone. "Donald Trump responded to a New York Times report that Russia and China are spying on calls made from his personal cell phones in a pair of tweets on Thursday morning. Despite claiming 'I rarely use a cellphone,' CBS News' Sara Cook noticed that both of Trump's tweets were sent from his iPhone. All eight of Wednesday's tweets from Trump's account were also sent via the Twitter app on his iPhone."

Jennifer Bendery at the Huffington Post: Senate's Out? Nobody's Around? Perfect Time to Advance Trump's Court Picks, Says GOP. "Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has held two hearings in the past week, despite virtually every senator being back home ahead of the Nov. 6 elections. Even Grassley wasn't at his hearings: Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) chaired the first one, last week, and Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) chaired Wednesday's hearing. Not a single Democrat could attend either hearing. Only one other Republican, Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah), was present. That means, between those two hearings, that three of Trump's circuit court nominees and seven of his district court nominees sailed through without any real questions."

Ken Dilanian and Anna Schecter at NBC News: Mueller Has Evidence Suggesting Stone Associate Knew Clinton Emails Would Be Leaked. "Special counsel Robert Mueller's office has obtained communications suggesting that a right-wing conspiracy theorist might have had advance knowledge that the emails of Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman had been stolen and handed to WikiLeaks, a source familiar with the investigation told NBC News. Mueller's team has spent months investigating whether the conspiracy theorist, Jerome Corsi, learned before the public did that WikiLeaks had obtained emails hacked by Russian intelligence officers — and whether he passed information about the stolen emails to Donald Trump associate Roger Stone, multiple sources said."

Dan Friedman at Mother Jones: Text Messages Show Roger Stone Was Working to Get a Pardon for Julian Assange. "In early January, Roger Stone, the longtime Republican operative and adviser to Donald Trump, sent a text message to an associate stating that he was actively seeking a presidential pardon for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange — and felt optimistic about his chances. 'I am working with others to get JA a blanket pardon,' Stone wrote, in a January 6 exchange of text messages obtained by Mother Jones. 'It's very real and very possible. Don't fuck it up.' Thirty-five minutes later Stone added: 'Something very big about to go down.' ...As Mueller's team zeroes in on Stone, they have examined his push for an Assange pardon — which could be seen as an attempt to interfere with the Russia probe — and have questioned at least one of Stone's associates about the effort."

* * *


* * *

[CN: Climate change; extreme weather. Covers entire section.]

Brian Kahn at Earther: U.S. Pacific Territories Took a Major Beating from Super Typhoon Yutu.
Super Typhoon Yutu continues to tear across the western Pacific after striking the tiny Northern Mariana Islands on Thursday local time. The U.S. commonwealth now faces a major cleanup after a direct hit from one of the strongest storms on record to make landfall anywhere in the world.

Super Typhoon Yutu struck the two islands of Tinian and Saipan, home to most of the tiny commonwealth's roughly 53,000 residents. It brought maximum sustained winds of up to 180 mph with gusts above 200 mph. That made it the equivalent of an extremely strong Category 5 hurricane, which is classified as any storm with winds in excess of 156 mph.

"We just went through one of the worst storms I've seen in all my experience in emergency management," Homeland Security and Emergency Management special assistant Gerald Deleon Guerrero said in a statement.

As it moved away from shore and day broke, the damage has become clear. The islands have been transformed by the storm as infrastructure was ripped to shreds by Yutu's powerful winds.

"We do not have power, and many, if not most, telephone poles were blown down," Ashley Beck, a resident of Saipan, told Earther. "Even concrete poles were damaged. I just drove along the two major roads in Saipan, and there are long stretches of road where every single telephone pole is down. It took months for some parts of the island to get power after the last major typhoon, Soudelor, so that is the concern now."

Yessenia Funes at Earther: A Pacific Hurricane Completely Washed Away This Hawaiian Island. "The days of islands vanishing under the waves are here. Hurricane Walaka, a monster storm that roared through the Pacific Ocean earlier this month, wiped out a tiny Hawaiian island known for harboring green sea turtles and endangered monk seals. Scientists with the Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed the disappearance of East Island Monday, according to the Honolulu Civil Beat, and the realization has been unsettling. The 11-acre island located more than 500 miles from O'ahu is nearly all underwater after Walaka swept right over it."

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

Shakesville is run as a safe space. First-time commenters: Please read Shakesville's Commenting Policy and Feminism 101 Section before commenting. We also do lots of in-thread moderation, so we ask that everyone read the entirety of any thread before commenting, to ensure compliance with any in-thread moderation. Thank you.

blog comments powered by Disqus