We Resist: Day 664

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: The Cost of Not Listening to Women, on the Women Not Listened To and Today in Misogyny Dressed Up as Revolution. And ICYMI late yesterday: Today in Trump's Campaign of Stochastic Terrorism.

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

[Content Note: Wildfires; death and displacement] Dani Anguiano and Gabrielle Canon at the Guardian: California Wildfires: Statewide Death Toll Rises to 50. "The statewide death toll in California's wildfires reached 50 late on Tuesday, as authorities reported six more deaths in the Camp fire in the north of the state. ...Authorities in northern California have ramped up the search for more victims buried in rubble left by the blaze that incinerated the town of Paradise [where] more than 200 people remain missing... Officials said earlier Tuesday that the fire had grown to 195 sq miles. Firefighters report that the fire is 35% contained and National Weather Service meteorologist Aviva Braun said early Tuesday that the high winds that helped spread the blaze have begun to diminish. Air quality in the area, which has been hazardous in recent days, is expected to worsen as light winds cause smoke to settle, Braun said."

Suggestions on ways to help can be found here. Please feel welcome and encouraged to suggest other ways to help in comments.

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Kira Lerner at ThinkProgress: Abrams Campaign Wins Court Rulings as Push for a Runoff Election Continues. "A week after the midterm election left Georgia's gubernatorial race too close to call, Democrat Stacey Abrams is refusing to concede and the campaign is winning court orders, allowing the counting of votes to continue. Abrams hopes that Republican candidate Brian Kemp's vote total will drop below 50 percent, forcing a runoff in the race for Georgia's governor's mansion. In a ruling late Monday, a federal judge in Atlanta ordered Georgia to ensure that provisional ballots aren't unlawfully rejected and to wait until Friday to certify the election results."

As I said yesterday: "I'm hearing an awful lot of 'Beto 2020!' stuff, and the longer Abrams fights, the more I wonder why it isn't 'Abrams 2020!' that's dominating my social media. Because it damn well should be."

In other Democratic Women Getting It Done news...

Jeff Cox at CNBC: Maxine Waters Says Easing Banking Regulations 'Will Come to an End' When She Takes Committee Chair. "Rep. Maxine Waters, poised to take over the powerful House Financial Services Committee when the new Congress convenes in January, laid down the law Wednesday about the future of banking regulation. Speaking ahead of remarks by Randal Quarles, the Federal Reserve's vice chair of oversight for the banking industry, the California Democrat said efforts to loosen the reins on Wall Street financial institutions won't be tolerated should she be committee chair, as expected. 'Make no mistake, come January, in this committee the days of this committee weakening regulations and putting our economy once again at risk of another financial crisis will come to an end,' Waters said."

Rebecca Traister at the Cut: 46 Minutes with Barbara Lee. "Lee is running for chair of the House Democratic Caucus, the party's No. 5 leadership role, held most recently by Joe Crowley. ...Lee is no purist and believes in the mechanisms of power, leverage, and, sometimes, compromise. She sees a path forward for progressives — not outside the system, as she used to believe, but by making use of it. Even without the Senate, her party's return to the House majority will enable it, she says, to pursue a 'bold legislative agenda.' She wants to reduce health-care and prescription-drug costs, present an infrastructure bill that would create good jobs with high wages, and 'retake the role of oversight and investigation' with regard to corruption in the Trump administration."

Senator Dianne Feinstein (press release): Feinstein Calls for Judiciary Committee Hearings with Whitaker, Sessions. "Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today called on Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to quickly call committee hearings with Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker and fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions. ...In that letter, Feinstein wrote: 'The circumstances surrounding Attorney General Sessions' departure raise serious questions, including whether the appointment is lawful and the possible impact on Special Counsel Mueller's investigation.'"

It's almost like valuing and supporting experienced women know what the fuck they're doing results in good policy and oversight. Huh.

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Meanwhile, on the other side of the aisle...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAHHAHHAHAHAHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA 🌋 https://t.co/iFwBgWBDSG

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 13, 2018

And: Marco Rubio at the Wall Street Journal: Trump Is Right About Nationalism. (As I noted on Twitter: "I don't know if it's more embarrassing for Marco Rubio that he wrote this heap of trash, or more embarrassing for the Wall Street Journal that they published it.")

And: Betsy Woodruff at the Daily Beast: Justice Department Memo Declares Matt Whitaker Appointment Is Legal. The same Justice Department which Matt Whitaker was just appointed to lead?! Oh.

At Daily Kos, Mark Sumner notes that the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel's memo cites, as its only relevant example of an acting attorney general who was appointed by a president despite having not been previously confirmed by the Senate, the 1866 appointment of Henry Stanbery by President Andrew Jackson.

[Stanbery was] the man who defended Johnson at his impeachment trial. Johnson appointed Stanberry to attorney general without Senate approval. Which was actually a major factor in his impeachment.

After surviving impeachment by a single vote, Johnson reappointed Stanberry to be AG as a way of delivering a final groin kick to his opponents in the Senate. He then put Stanberry up for the Supreme Court. Rather than watch Johnson bypass them again, the Senate moved to reduce the number of seats on the Supreme Court to keep Stanberry out.

A near impeachment. A revolt in the Senate. Three Supreme Court seats sliced away. And that is the incident that Trump's DOJ is citing to explain why it's okay to make Matt Whitaker acting AG.

Fucking hell.

And finally on this subject...

Millions of Americans are eager for a new political party. And we’re very eager to get rid of @realdonaldtrump, the worst president in U.S. history.

Gov. John Kasich sees an opening for a third party run for president https://t.co/4qAcnPHA4X

— Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) November 14, 2018

No.

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Paul Sonne and Shane Harris at the Washington Post: U.S. Military Edge Has Eroded to 'a Dangerous Degree,' Study for Congress Finds. "The United States has lost its military edge to a dangerous degree and could potentially lose a war against China or Russia, according to a report released Wednesday by a bipartisan commission that Congress created to evaluate the Trump administration's defense strategy. The National Defense Strategy Commission, comprised of former top Republican and Democratic officials selected by Congress, evaluated the Trump administration's 2018 National Defense Strategy, which ordered a vast reshaping of the U.S. military to compete with Beijing and Moscow in an era of renewed great-power competition."

The Trump Regime, of course, just wants more nukes and a space force. Preferably a space force armed with nukes. But what we really need, maybe more than anything else, is better preparation for cyberattacks.

Case in point: Ryan Browne at CNN: Russia Jammed GPS During Major NATO Military Exercise with U.S. Troops.

The Russian military jammed GPS signals during a major NATO military exercise in Norway that involved thousands of US and NATO troops, the alliance said Wednesday, citing the Norwegian government.

The NATO exercise, Trident Juncture, concluded Sunday and involved some 50,000 personnel. It was labeled the alliance's largest exercise since the Cold War. Non-NATO members Finland and Sweden also participated in the exercise.

A spokesperson for the Norwegian ministry of defense acknowledged the jamming to CNN, which it said took place between October 16 and November 7, and said it would defer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on further questions to Russian authorities.

"Norway has determined that Russia was responsible for jamming GPS signals in the Kola Peninsula during Exercise Trident Juncture. Finland has expressed concern over possible jamming in Lapland," NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu told CNN Wednesday.

"In view of the civilian usage of GPS, jamming of this sort is dangerous, disruptive and irresponsible," she added.

Asked about the report of Russian jamming, NATO's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance was aware of the reports but did not offer additional information.

Well, shit.

Naturally, Trump might not care about Russia jamming military equipment, but, if Russia can do it, so can other countries he might be less inclined to forgive.

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[CN: Homophobia; nativism] Andy Towle at Towleroad: LGBTQ Splinter Group from Migrant Caravan Is First to Arrive in Tijuana, Will Seek Asylum in U.S. "A group of LGBTQ migrants who split off from the main migrant caravan because of discrimination are the first to arrive in Tijuana, weeks ahead of the others. NPR reports: 'About 80 migrants, the majority of whom identify as LGBT, splintered off from the larger group in Mexico City after weeks of what they say was discriminatory treatment by local residents and other travelers, Honduran migrant Cesar Mejia told reporters at a news conference on Sunday. 'Whenever we arrived at a stopping point the LGBT community was the last to be taken into account in every way. So our goal was to change that and say, 'This time we are going to be first,'' Mejia said.' ...Most are planning to request asylum in the U.S. based on the fact that they are persecuted in their home countries, although Trump last week moved to restrict asylum for those crossing the border from Mexico."

WOW

"Since the tax cuts were passed, the 1,000 largest public companies have actually reduced employment, on balance. They have announced the elimination of nearly 140,000 jobs — which is almost double the 73,000 jobs they say they have created" https://t.co/Rstdx4jyxW

— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) November 13, 2018

Ian Millhiser at ThinkProgress: Supreme Court to Hear a Subtle But Terrifying Threat to Obamacare. "In a sensible world, Virginia House of Delegates v. Bethune-Hill would have nothing whatsoever to do with the Affordable Care Act. On its surface, Bethune-Hill is a racial gerrymandering case which, the Supreme Court announced on Tuesday, will be heard by the Court for the second time. Yet Bethune-Hill also presents a difficult issue regarding when non-parties to a federal lawsuit may appeal lower court decisions to a higher authority. And this technical question could have tremendous implications for Obamacare. Depending on how the Supreme Court rules in Bethune-Hill, this seemingly irrelevant gerrymandering dispute could enable the Trump administration to collude with a highly partisan judge to shut down the Affordable Care Act in a bevy of red states."

[CN: White supremacy] Danielle Corcione at Rewire.News: Hate Group Figures Are Coming to Philadelphia's Pro-Police Rally. "Prominent far-right figures and fascist groups are planning to come to Philadelphia on November 17, when local right-wing organizers, including those affiliated with white supremacist groups, are expected to congregate at a 'We The People' rally in the city's historic district. Many Philadelphians aren't welcoming these organizations. ...The rally is slated for Independence Hall, steps away from the National Museum of American Jewish History." Rage seethe boil.

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