We Resist: Day 813

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: Today in Trump's Vile Nativist Agenda and Primarily Speaking.

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

[Content Note: Nativism; abuse; concentration camps] Courtney Kube and Julia Ainsley at NBC News: Trump Advisers Discussed Whether Military Could Build and Run Migrant Detention Camps.

When some of [Donald] Trump's top national security advisers gathered at the White House Tuesday night to talk about the surge of immigrants across the southern border, they discussed increasing the U.S. military's involvement in the border mission, including whether the military could be used to build tent city detention camps for migrants, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the conversations.

During the meeting, the officials also discussed whether the U.S. military could legally run the camps once the migrants are housed there, a move the three officials said was very unlikely since U.S. law prohibits the military from directly interacting with migrants. The law has been a major limitation for Trump, who wants to engage troops in his mission to get tougher on immigration.

This administration is a relentless nightmare. It is only a matter of time before Trump changes the law so that it is no longer "a major limitation" for him.

This regime is just openly (openly enough that it makes the news, anyway) discussing military-run concentration camps. And, given that there are already detention camps where several adults and children (that we know of) have died, I have to wonder if the desired takeaway from this leaked news is that Trump is still (allegedly) abiding by the law, so that we don't further scrutinize what's happening at the existing camps.

Meanwhile... Tal Kopan at the San Francisco Chronicle: Trump's New Attorney General Launches Fresh Changes to Immigration Courts. "The Justice Department is on the verge of issuing rule changes that would make it easier for a handful of appellate immigration judges to declare their rulings binding on the entire immigration system, The Chronicle has learned. The changes could also expand the use of single-judge, cursory decisions at the appellate level — all at the same time as a hiring spree that could reshape the court."

Matt Shuham at TPM: Rosenstein Defends Barr: 'This Notion That He's Trying to Mislead People' Is 'Bizarre'. "Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein defended Attorney General William Barr's handling of special counsel Robert Mueller's final report in an interview with The Wall Street Journal Thursday. Referring to Barr's initial four-page summary of Mueller's mammoth report, Rosenstein told the Journal that the attorney general was 'being as forthcoming as he can, and so this notion that he's trying to mislead people, I think is just completely bizarre.'" Yes, wherever would anyone get the idea that Bill Barr is a mendacious shitwheel? But I'm sure Rosenstein is right. People who give public interviews about their bosses are always super honest in their assessments.

* * *

Zack Ford at ThinkProgress: Trump's Accusations of 'Treason' Are a Hallmark of Fascism.

Donald Trump likes to describe anyone who disagrees with him as "treasonous." This week, in a span of less than 24 hours, he used the phrase to describe both the individuals who conducted the Mueller investigation as well as Democratic lawmakers who disagree with his border policy. But not only is Trump misusing the word, he's doing so in a way that appears to intentionally inflame political divisions.

The word "treason" has a very specific — and very narrow — meaning written right into the U.S. Constitution. It refers to "levying war" against the states or "adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort." According to U.S. treason law, the word "enemies" refers to a nation or organization with which the United States is in an open or declared war.

Virtually none of Trump's references to "treason" meet this definition.

...Trump tries to frame his positions as the only positions that actually serve the interests of the country. As slogans like "Make America Great Again" and "America First!" indicate, he's attempting to co-op patriotism, such that any opposition to Trump is by extension anti-American. Thus, asking for cooperation means exactly the same thing as asking for obedience, and being rebuffed is the same as betrayal.

In an interview last year, Washington University law professor Greg Magarian drew this exact conclusion, describing the president as setting up a logic under which "anyone who votes against Trump in the next election will be guilty of treason. Any person who criticizes Trump is guilty of treason. The mere act of allegiance to the opposition political party is treason. Trump is America, and America is Trump."

If that kind of leadership model sounds like fascism, that's not a coincidence. When cultural theorist and media researcher Umberto Eco laid out 14 properties of fascism in his 1995 essay "Eternal Fascism," among them was "disagreement is treason."

Also common among fascist regimes:

Corruption. Lulu Ramadan at the Palm Beach Post: Undisclosed Cash Flowed at Trump Inaugural Ball with Ties to China, Embattled Saipan Casino. See also Spencer S. Hsu at the Washington Post: W. Samuel Patten Sentenced to Probation After Steering Ukrainian Money to Trump Inaugural.

Oppression. Hallie Jackson and Courtney Kube at NBC News: Trump's Controversial Transgender Military Policy Goes into Effect. See also AP Staff at the Guardian: Ohio Governor Signs 'Heartbeat' Law Severely Restricting Abortion.

Cronyism. David Cay Johnston at the Daily Beast: Here's the Law That Requires Mnuchin to Turn Over Trump's Taxes, or Lose His Office and Go to Prison.

Nepotism. Elaina Plott at the Atlantic: Inside Ivanka's Dreamworld. "I asked [Trump] why he didn't nominate [Ivanka to the United Nations]. 'If I did, they'd say nepotism, when it would've had nothing to do with nepotism. But she would've been incredible.' Warming to the subject, he said, 'I even thought of Ivanka for the World Bank …She would've been great at that because she's very good with numbers.'"

Just for a start.

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