We Resist: Day 684

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: Mueller Reportedly Close to Wrapping It Up and U.S. Citizen Detained and Targeted for Deportation by ICE and Ugh, Biden, No.

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

Alex Isenstadt and John Bresnahan at Politico: Emails of Top NRCC Officials Stolen in Major 2018 Hack.

The House GOP campaign arm suffered a major hack during the 2018 election, exposing thousands of sensitive emails to an outside intruder, according to three senior party officials.

The email accounts of four senior aides at the National Republican Congressional Committee were surveilled for several months, the party officials said. The intrusion was detected in April by an NRCC vendor, who alerted the committee and its cybersecurity contractor. An internal investigation was initiated and the FBI was alerted to the attack, said the officials, who requested anonymity to discuss the incident.

However, senior House Republicans — including Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), and Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) — were not informed of the hack until Politico contacted the NRCC on Monday with questions about the episode. Rank-and-file House Republicans were not told, either.

Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), who served as NRCC chairman this past election cycle, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Committee officials said they decided to withhold the information because they were intent on conducting their own investigation, and feared that revealing the hack would compromise efforts to find the culprit.

Likely story. In any case, if they weren't all compromised before (they were all compromised before), they are now.

Allan Smith at NBC News: 'Banana Republic Dictators': Democrats Fume over Last-Minute GOP Power-Grabs in Wisconsin and Michigan. "Democrats fought back Monday as Republican legislators in Wisconsin and Michigan moved to strip power from them after the GOP lost a series of crucial races last month. In Wisconsin, Republicans pressed ahead with a lame-duck session — the first held in eight years — to give GOP Gov. Scott Walker the opportunity to limit the power of his successor, Democratic Gov.-elect Tony Evers. In Michigan, meanwhile, Republicans introduced bills late last week to diminish the powers of the incoming Democratic governor, secretary of state and attorney general as well." Shades of Mike Pence's attack on Glenda Ritz in Indiana. I keep telling you: Indiana is conservatives' laboratory for terrible policy and authoritarian maneuvers.

Lauren Gambino at the Guardian: Trump's Truce with China: 'Let the Negotiations Begin'.

Trump, who refuses to use Twitter's thread function, has appeared to finish his thoughts on the ongoing trade negotiations with China. The series [of tweets] in full:

"[1] The negotiations with China have already started. Unless extended, they will end 90 days from the date of our wonderful and very warm dinner with President Xi in Argentina. Bob Lighthizer will be working closely with Steve Mnuchin, Larry Kudlow, Wilbur Ross and Peter Navarro..... [2] ......on seeing whether or not a REAL deal with China is actually possible. If it is, we will get it done. China is supposed to start buying Agricultural product and more immediately. President Xi and I want this deal to happen, and it probably will. But if not remember,...... [3] ....I am a Tariff Man. When people or countries come in to raid the great wealth of our Nation, I want them to pay for the privilege of doing so. It will always be the best way to max out our economic power. We are right now taking in $billions in Tariffs. MAKE AMERICA RICH AGAIN [4] .....But if a fair deal is able to be made with China, one that does all of the many things we know must be finally done, I will happily sign. Let the negotiations begin. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

Yikes. He is the Tariff Man; he is the walrus; he doesn't understand how ellipses work.

By way of reminder that Donald is not the only Trump who is totes the worst:

It's telling that Eric Trump believes that disagreement within a family is "disrespect." Authoritarianism begins at home. https://t.co/pEiEw1sA9c

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) December 4, 2018

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John Dingell at the Atlantic: I Served in Congress Longer Than Anyone: Here's How to Fix It. "There are many reasons for this dramatic decline [in Americans' trust of government institutions]: the Vietnam War, Watergate, Ronald Reagan's folksy but popular message that government was not here to help, the Iraq War, and worst of all by far, the Trumpist mind-set. These jackasses who see 'deep state' conspiracies in every part of government are a minority of a minority, yet they are now the weakest link in the chain of more than three centuries of our American republic. Ben Franklin was right. The Founders gave us a precious but fragile gift. If we do not protect it with constant vigilance, we will most certainly lose it."

Definitely take the time to read Dingell's entire piece. This is a good reminder that: 1. John Dingell is a national treasure; and 2. Ageism is garbage. This guy's got better ideas at age 92 than most politicians have in their prime.

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[Content Note: Nativism] Rebekah Entralgo at ThinkProgress: ICE Threatens New Jersey After State Implements Pro-Immigrant Policy. "One day after New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal unveiled the state's new 'Immigrant Trust Directive,' a spokesperson for the ICE office in Newark told NBC New York in a statement that ICE raids will 'likely increase' as a result of the directive. 'The probability is that at-large arrests and worksite enforcement operations, which already exist, will likely increase due to the fact that ICE [Enforcement and Removal Offices] will no longer have the cooperation of the jails related to immigration enforcement,' ICE spokesman Emilio Dabul told the outlet in an email." Fuck ICE. Goddammit.

[CN: Nativism; eliminationist violence] Justin Glawe at the Daily Beast: Facebook Lets Users Post About Killing Immigrants and Minorities. "Facebook users freely post about killing immigrants, minorities, and public figures in spite of the company's terms of service that clearly prohibit threats of violence and hate speech. The company just two weeks ago touted new technology it says detects 52 percent of hate speech before anyone reports it. (Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed the technology caught 90 percent of pro-ISIS and al Qaeda content.) Yet that technology didn't catch more than 100 instances in the last six months of Facebook users advocating to shoot or kill others, according to a Daily Beast review." Fuck Facebook, too.

That sure is a headline. https://t.co/3vH5GKbbTy

— Chuck Wendig (@ChuckWendig) December 4, 2018

[CN: Sexual assault; rape culture] Pilar Melendez at the Daily Beast: Jeffrey Epstein Apologizes in Settlement to Avoid Civil Trial and Testimony by Sex Accusers. "A civil trial involving politically connected financier and registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein ended before it even began Tuesday with the two sides announcing a last-minute settlement and the billionaire issuing an apology. ...Three of Epstein's accusers were expected to testify before the surprise announcement of a settlement just before jury selection was about to begin, though none were present Tuesday. ...Epstein lawyer Scott Link then read out an apology statement that was part of the settlement, financial terms of which were not disclosed."

So first this guy's criminal trial is circumvented by a Trump lackey, shutting down further investigation, and now his civil case is abruptly settled, shutting down his victims from offering public testimony. JFC.

[CN: Homophobia] Andy Towle at Towleroad: Worried About 'Fashionable' Homosexuality, Pope Francis Says Gays Should Not Be Accepted into Catholic Ministry. "Pope Francis said gay people should not join the Catholic priesthood in lengthy remarks from a new book, The Strength of a Vocation, which was released yesterday in Italy. Asked about the high percentages of gay people in the priesthood, Francis responded: 'It's something that worries me. We have to discern with seriousness and listen to the voice of the experience that the Church has. When discernment is not used, problems increase. As I said before, it may be that at the moment they are accepted maybe they do not show their faces [as gay people], but later they appear.'" There's more trash where that came from. Your progressive pope, for ya!

[CN: Misogyny]

Imagine winning the first EVER women's Ballon d'Or.

Then giving an unbelievable speech about how big this is for women's football.

Then asking little girls to believe in themselves.

THEN being asked to twerk. Fuck off dude. pic.twitter.com/MkbL5KZalD

— Frances Silva (@fasilva11) December 3, 2018

[CN: Wildfires; environmental damage] Yessenia Funes at Earther: California Wildfires Emitted as Much Carbon as the State's Entire Power Sector in 2018. "We know California wildfires can be deadly: Look no further than the Camp Fire in northern California that killed at least 88 people last month. A new analysis from the U.S. Geological Survey reminds us that these disasters can also be a slow killer through the pollution and greenhouse gases they emit. On Friday, the Department of Interior announced new findings that show that this year's wildfire season in California released the equivalent of 68 million tons of carbon dioxide. That's roughly how much carbon the state's electricity sector releases in an entire year."

[CN: Animal harm; environmental damage] Alan Grabinsky at the Guardian: Axolotls in Crisis: The Fight to Save the 'Water Monster' of Mexico City. "Carlos Sumano, who is steering my canoe through the floating gardens, or chinampas, says that sort of unfettered use has taken its toll on the ecosystem. During his six years working in Xochimilco, Sumano has come across everything from pushchairs to television sets in canals. Water pollution has also affected the region's most unique creature: the axolotl. ...The wild axolotl is racing towards extinction. A 2003 study in Xochimilco by the Mexican Academy of Sciences found an average of 6,000 axolotls for each sq km; the latest survey, in 2015, has that number down to 36. The loss of the axolotl is traumatic for Mexico City: The creature is vital not only to its ecosystem but also to its imagination. Murals and graffiti depicting the animal are ubiquitous: In fact, an axolotl recently won a contest for an emoji to represent the city."

[CN: Climate change] Matt McGrath at the BBC: Sir David Attenborough: Climate Change 'Our Greatest Threat'. "The naturalist Sir David Attenborough has said climate change is humanity's greatest threat in thousands of years. ...Sir David said: 'Right now, we are facing a man-made disaster of global scale. Our greatest threat in thousands of years. Climate change. If we don't take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon.'"

[CN: Climate change] Steven Mufson at the Washington Post: 'A Kind of Dark Realism': Why the Climate Change Problem Is Starting to Look Too Big to Solve. "As the 24th U.N. conference on climate change kicks off this week, a steady drumbeat of scientific reports have sounded warnings about current climate trajectories. One warned of the need to curb global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius — 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit — over pre-industrial levels instead of the widely accepted target of 2 degrees Celsius. Another warned of the growing gap between the commitments made at earlier U.N. conferences and what is needed to steer the planet off its current path to calamitous global warming. If it sounds downbeat, that's because it is. The world has waited so long that preventing disruptive climate change requires action 'unprecedented in scale,' the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said."

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