We Resist: Day 789

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 Fannie: Social Media and Disinformation Watch, #2. And by me: Corruption and Malice: A Day in the Trump Presidency and Supreme Court Rules Immigrants Can Be Detained without Bond Hearing Even Years After Release.

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

Jim Mustian and Larry Neumeister at the AP: Records Show FBI Was Probing Michael Cohen Long Before Raid. "The FBI was investigating [Donald] Trump's former personal attorney and fixer for nearly a year before agents raided his home and office, documents released Tuesday show. The search warrant, while heavily redacted, offered new details about the federal inquiry of Cohen's business dealings and the FBI raids of his Manhattan home and office. It shows the federal inquiry into Michael Cohen had been going on since July 2017 — far longer than had previously been known." Welp.

Kate Riga at TPM: Rosenstein Extending Stay at DOJ Indefinitely. "Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is extending his stay at the Department of Justice for at least 'a little longer,' according to Tuesday NBC reporting. Slated to leave in mid-March, Rosenstein has reportedly spoken to Attorney General William Barr about staying for an indefinite amount of time." Hmm.

Sara Fischer at Axios: Another Trump Facebook Election. "While Democrats' campaign launches have sucked up national attention, [Donald] Trump's re-election campaign has quietly spent nearly twice as much as the entire Democratic field combined on Facebook and Google ads, according to data from Facebook and Google's political ad transparency reports, aggregated by Bully Pulpit Interactive. Why it matters: Political advertising strategists say that this level of ad spend on digital platforms this early in the campaign season is unprecedented." (Emphasis mine.)

Relatedly:

"The High Court in London heard on Monday that Cambridge Analytica was up to its old tricks from beyond the grave — by surreptitiously trying to halt investigations that could expose allegedly nefarious tactics before the company was shut down for good." https://t.co/Cobx4BDPgL

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 19, 2019

This election is going to be so ugly. Unregulated social media is the authoritarian's dream and the democrat's nightmare.

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Kenneth P. Vogel and Katie Benner at the New York Times: Lobbying Case Against Democrat with Ties to Manafort Reaches Key Stage. "A decision about whether to prosecute Mr. Craig, who was White House counsel for President Barack Obama during his first year in office, is expected in the coming weeks, people familiar with the case said. The investigation centers on whether Mr. Craig should have disclosed work he did in 2012 — while he was a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom — on behalf of the Russia-aligned government of Viktor F. Yanukovych, then the president of Ukraine. The work was steered to Mr. Craig by Paul Manafort, who was then a political consultant collecting millions of dollars from clients in former Soviet states."

So, after working for Obama, this guy went on to do work for Putin's pal Yanukovych, which means that every major opponent of Hillary Clinton's in both the 2016 and 2008 elections have ties to someone who worked for Yanukovych, including Bernie Sanders (Tad Devine) and Donald Trump (Paul Manafort). And so did Obama's 2008 Republican opponent, John McCain (Manafort and Rick Gates).

The question I now need answered is whether Gregory Craig had anything to do with establishing the back channel communication between the Kremlin and the Obama administration treasury officials during the 2016 election.

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WHAT NOW https://t.co/MXNxeYyhS7

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 18, 2019

Now: The State Department won't release any transcript of Pompeo's briefing with "faith-based media only," nor a list of who was invited, who attended, and whether a range of faiths was included.

— Michelle Kosinski (@MichLKosinski) March 19, 2019

I don't even know what to say about that, other than: WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.

Well, I'll also note that this shit sounds a lot more like Mike Pence than it does like Donald Trump.

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Brian Stelter at CNN Business: Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan Joins Board of Fox Corporation. "Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is joining the board of the newly slimmed-down Fox Corporation, the parent company of Fox News." Yeah, that sounds about right. "Ryan and Rupert Murdoch have been friendly for many years. In 2014, he named Ryan as a presidential contender he had 'particular admiration for.' Some observers said Ryan's appointment reflected the cozy relationship between Fox and the modern-day Republican Party." Haha ya think?!

[Content Note: Homophobia; misogynoir] Andy Towle at Towleroad: Anti-Gay Flyers Target Lesbian Chicago Mayoral Candidate Lori Lightfoot with Lies and Hate. "Lori Lightfoot would make history as Chicago's first black female mayor and the city's first openly gay mayor should she be elected in the April 2 run-off election. This week, anti-gay flyers targeted Lightfoot outside black churches in the city, the Sun-Times reports. The flyers feature photos of Lightfoot and her wife Amy Eshelman with the words, 'The Gay Equality Act!!! It's Our Turn' with another line that reads 'The Feminist and Gay Movement Have Come Full Circle.'" For fuck's sake.

And last but certainly not least... [CN: Flooding; displacement] E.A. Crunden at ThinkProgress: The Midwest's Flooding Crisis Is a Terrifying Preview of Climate Impacts to Come.

Deadly and historic flooding is plaguing states across the Midwest, isolating entire towns and upending the region in what experts worry is an ominous preview of future climate change impacts.

National media has been slow to cover the tragedy, which has left several states, including Nebraska, Missouri, and Iowa, all reeling from turbulent weather conditions. As of Sunday, nine million people across 14 states were under a flood advisory.

...In a statement Friday, Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) said, "Nebraska has experienced historic flooding and extreme weather in nearly every region of the state."

Nebraska is experiencing its worst flooding in half a century. At least three people are dead after several major rivers in the state rose to record levels. The Missouri, Platte, and Elkhorn rivers all crested over the weekend to record-shattering levels in the aftermath of last week's "bomb cyclone" — a massive weather event that brought high-speed winds, snow, and heavy rain to the region.

The historic flooding is the result of rain coupled with a considerable amount of pre-existing water on the ground. February brought a record-setting 30 inches of snow to the state, which locked in several inches of water. With eastern Nebraska's rivers already higher than usual following the state's fifth-wettest season in 124 years, the bomb cyclone unleashed a mountain of water, submerging parts of the region.

...Other states are preparing for flooding impacts. In Iowa, nearly 2,000 people at eight different locations have been evacuated in the past seven days. Minnesota, Wisconsin, and South Dakota are also bracing themselves for flooding, along with Missouri and Kansas.

Goddamn.

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