We Resist: Day 862

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: Trump Announces 5% (and Increasing) Tariffs on Goods Imported from Mexico and Primarily Speaking.

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

[Content Note: Violence; death] Shinhye Kang at Bloomberg: North Korea Executed Envoy over Trump-Kim Summit, Chosun Reports. "North Korea executed its former top nuclear envoy with the U.S. along with four other foreign ministry officials in March after a failed summit between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump in Vietnam, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported. Kim Hyok Chol, who led working-level negotiations for the February summit in Hanoi, was executed by firing squad after being charged with espionage for allegedly being co-opted by the U.S., the newspaper said, citing an unidentified source. The move was part of an internal purge Kim undertook after the summit broke down without any deal, it said." My god.

And let us recall that mere days ago, Trump was agreeing with Kim Jong Un in order to take a swipe at Joe Biden. And, yes, the Trump administration has known for some time about the executions. Absolutely revolting.

[CN: Nativism] Ian Kullgren, Ted Hesson, and Anita Kumar at Politico: Trump Weighs Plan to Choke Off Asylum for Central Americans. "Donald Trump is considering sweeping restrictions on asylum that would effectively block Central American migrants from entering the U.S., according to several administration officials and advocates briefed on the plan. A draft proposal circulating among Trump's Homeland Security advisers would prohibit migrants from seeking asylum if they have resided in a country other than their own before coming to the U.S., according to a Homeland Security Department official and an outside advocate familiar with the plan. If executed, it would deny asylum to thousands of migrants waiting just south of the border, many of whom have trekked a perilous journey through Mexico."

This is a violation of international law, but no one empowered to hold Trump accountable for it is willing to do so. So he will continue to regard international law with utter contempt.

And domestic law, too.

[CN: Nativism; child abuse] Abigail Hauslohner and Maria Sacchetti at the Washington Post: Hundreds of Minors Held at U.S. Border Facilities Are There Beyond Legal Time Limits. "Federal law and court orders require that children in Border Patrol custody be transferred to more-hospitable shelters no longer than 72 hours after they are apprehended. But some unaccompanied children are spending longer than a week in Border Patrol stations and processing centers, according to two Customs and Border Protection officials and two other government officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the unreleased data. One government official said about half of the children in custody — 1,000 — have been with the Border Patrol for longer than 72 hours, and another official said that more than 250 children 12 or younger have been in custody for an average of six days."

[CN: Misogyny; queer hatred] Nahal Toosi at Politico: State Department to Launch New Human Rights Panel Stressing 'Natural Law'.

The Trump administration plans to launch a new panel to offer "fresh thinking” on international human rights and "natural law," a move some activists fear is aimed at narrowing protections for women and members of the LGBT community.

The new body, to be called the Commission on Unalienable Rights, will advise Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, according to a notice the State Department quietly published Thursday on the Federal Register.

"The Commission will provide fresh thinking about human rights discourse where such discourse has departed from our nation's founding principles of natural law and natural rights," states the notice, which is dated May 22.

Several human rights activists said Thursday that they were surprised by the move and trying to learn details. Some privately said they worry that talk of the "nation's founding principles" and "natural law" are coded signals of plans to focus less on protecting women and LGBT people.

..."I don't think this is the advisory committee for expanding rights," quipped Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), a congressman who held the same assistant secretary role in the administration of President Barack Obama.

We are so doomed.

Dan Lamothe, Missy Ryan, and Paul Sonne at the Washington Post: McCain Warship Incident Raises Questions About a Changing Military Culture Under Trump. "A dust-up over who directed and knew about White House efforts to obscure the USS John S. McCain ahead of [Donald] Trump's visit to Japan has raised new questions about whether the military's culture is changing under a president who has challenged institutional norms. ...The situation has highlighted a debate about whether Defense Department leaders have permitted the politicization of the military under Trump, who has frequently used military events to deliver campaign-rally-style speeches." That is far too fucking polite.

[CN: Video may autoplay at link] Daniel Moritz-Rabson at Newsweek: U.S. Economy Slips from First to Third Place in Global Competitiveness Ranking Amid Trump's Tariffs. "The United States lost its spot as the world's most competitive economy amid an ongoing trade war with China, according to an annual ranking from the IMD World Competitiveness Center. Both Singapore and Hong Kong had more competitive economies than the U.S., per the report, which evaluates 63 countries on 235 measures. High fuel prices and fluctuations in the dollar's value diminished the confidence-boosting impact of Trump's tax policies, said the center. ...The ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China has inflicted uncertainty upon, and caused rapid fluctuations among, global financial markets. [Donald] Trump's regular tweeting has further contributed to market shifts."

For 3rd time in a week, a single Republican lawmaker has blocked the US House from passing the $19B billion disaster relief bill. https://t.co/1RW2y1KJqI

— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) May 31, 2019

Maanvi Singh at the Guardian: U.S. Rollback of Protected Areas Risks Emboldening Others, Scientists Warn. "America's reputation as an international conservation leader is under threat in the wake of unprecedented rollbacks, according to the most comprehensive effort yet to track the erosion of protected wilderness areas and national parks around the world. ...The study, authored by 21 international scientists, warns that U.S. efforts to cut back protections could embolden other countries to follow suit. 'The recent legal changes that have scaled back protections in the U.S. are just unprecedented,' said Mike Mascia, a senior vice-president at Conservation International and the report's senior author. 'And they send a dangerous message to the rest of the world.'"

AG Barr, basically: "Valar Morghulis" https://t.co/tZgcLm3WaU

— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) May 31, 2019

Dracarys!

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