rawstory--2020-10-18--Historian warns America is already in its own ‘slow-motion Reichstag Fire’

Donald Trump continues to make it clear that he does not intend to leave office peacefully if he is defeated by Joe Biden and the Democrats on Election Day .
Moreover , Donald Trump considers any election in which he is not the “ winner ” to be null and void .
Trump ’ s appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the United States Supreme Court is an obvious quid pro quo to secure his “ reelection ” if his attorneys and other agents can sufficiently sabotage the vote on Election Day and beyond .
This article first appeared in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ followed the authoritarian ’ s playbook when he bragged to his supporters at a rally in North Carolina that U.S. Marshalls essentially executed Michael Reinoehl , an anti-fascist activist accused of killing a right wing paramilitary member during protests in Oregon last August .
Celebrating the extra-judicial killings of one ’ s political “ enemies ” is a common feature of fascist authoritarian regimes and the types of leaders admired and imitated by Donald Trump .
Donald Trump ’ s commitment to and use of political violence is a matter of public record @ @ @ @ @ @ @ include how Trump ’ s followers in Michigan allegedly planned to kidnap and possibly murder Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer .
During his debate with Joe Biden , Trump also commanded white supremacist paramilitaries to be prepared to attack his and their “ enemies ” if he loses on Election Day or is otherwise removed from office .
Trump also wants Joe Biden and other leading Democrats imprisoned and perhaps even executed because he deems them to be “ guilty ” of “ treason ” and a “ coup ” attempt against him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ William Barr have also threatened to use the United States military against the American people if they dare to protest the outcome of the 2020 Election if Trump somehow finds some extra-legal ( if not outright illegal ) way to stay in office .
Because he is a political sadist and master of misery and pain , Donald Trump is using the coronavirus pandemic as a weapon to physically and emotionally abuse the American people in order to make them more compliant and subservient to his regime .
Like other autocrats and authoritarians @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and human devastation caused by the coronavirus pandemic to personally enrich himself , his family , and allies as a way of guaranteeing the latter ’ s loyalty .
In all , as with his obsessive rhetoric about “ law and order , ” like other fascist authoritarians Donald Trump and his regime define the “ law ” in ways that benefit themselves and disregard the law when it does not serve their interests .
Through that logic democracy is a tool for the Trump regime to stay in power indefinitely if they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outcome on Election Day and beyond if they are voted out of office by the American people .
Trump ’ s strategy of attacking America ’ s democratic norms , institutions , and culture is a constant torrent where the targets are corrupted , weakened , and then finally routed through sheer exhaustion .
In a new essay at The Bulwark , senior Democratic Party strategist James Carville summarizes this existential moment of crisis for the United States as : The Trump regime has created a defense in depth against the American people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s defensive strategy consists of how those Americans and others who are expecting one dramatic and climactic assault on the country ’ s democracy have been lulled into a type of complacency and surrender .
As wielded by Donald Trump and other fascist authoritarians , the poison they have injected into the country ’ s body politic and democracy is actually quite slow acting , where the victim becomes used to chronic pain before finally succumbing .
Why does America ’ s mainstream news media continue to avoid describing Donald Trump and his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they afraid of ?
How has that evasion helped to empower and normalize Trumpism ?
In what ways have Donald Trump and his regime used the coronavirus — and the pain and social injustice it has revealed and made worse — as a weapon against democracy and the American people ?
In an effort to answer these questions , I recently spoke with Timothy Snyder .
He is a Professor of History at Yale University and the author of the bestselling books “ On Tyranny : Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Russia , Europe , America.
” His new book is “ Our Malady : Lessons in Liberty from a Hospital Diary.
” At the end of this conversation , Timothy Snyder warns that the United States is in the midst of a years-long slow-motion Reichstag Fire emergency that Election Day 2020 may not resolve .
You can also listen to my conversation with Timothy Snyder on my podcast “ The Truth Report ” or through the player embedded below .
Donald Trump ’ s attacks on democracy are escalating .
He continues to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outcome of the election if he loses to Joe Biden and the Democrats .
There are some public voices who have been warning about Trump and authoritarianism and fascism for several years .
You are foremost among them .
Why did more people not listen to the warnings ?
It is structural .
At present it is harder to reach people who do not already agree with you .
This is true even for those of us with a public platform and big audience .
More contact is virtual and less in person @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people .
Ultimately , it is very hard to reach people before an algorithm does .
By then a person ’ s mind is already made up one way or another .
The second answer is that many Americans really like authoritarianism .
Sure , the conventional wisdom says that Americans like freedom .
Some of them do .
Some of them do not .
The Americans who do not like freedom are not going to be reached or otherwise have their minds changed .
It is as simple as that .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reaching people and more about getting them to take action .
People sometimes ask me , “ Why do you preach to the choir ?
” To get people to do things .
It is not enough to have the correct idea .
If people act , even if it is a small thing , that makes a difference .
And of course , there is the challenge of the American exceptionalism consensus .
The belief that America is insulated from authoritarianism because of our institutions took a long time to fight through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of my book “ On Tyranny.
” Why are so many journalists and other members of the political class continually surprised by Donald Trump ’ s cruelty and assaults on democracy and norms ?
Trump is not changing .
He is only getting worse .
Why be surprised ?
Such a reaction is very crippling and ultimately counterproductive .
It helps Trump to win .
That denial is a function of what I describe as “ the politics of eternity.
” There is an ongoing stream of small to medium-level provocations from authoritarian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a positive hit to their supporters and a negative hit to their opponents .
Everyone becomes addicted to the experience , be it pleasant or unpleasant .
What you are describing is how many in the news media and elsewhere wait for Donald Trump to do the latest most outrageous thing — and then it is reported as being outrageous .
That gives them a hit of sorts , a jolt to the system .
Then they wait for the next outrageous thing , and so on .
But the problem is that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ offer context for what is happening .
Too many people are still defaulting to these ideas that America ’ s “ institutions ” are going to solve the problems of authoritarianism and Trumpism .
Or history is somehow on America ’ s side .
If a person does not have some way of theorizing what Donald Trump is , then everything he does is a surprise to them .
If you lack the theoretical framework to understand Trump and what is happening , then you will also lack an understanding of how to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ helpless .
So many of the discussions are still focused on Donald Trump and what he is not .
What we need to be able to do is to say what Trump is .
Once you say what Trumpism really is , then you can start to fight it .
We talk about the pandemic as though it is a series of failures .
No , the pandemic is not a series of failures .
It is the “ achievement ” that Donald Trump is going to be most remembered for .
More @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a type of “ achievement ” for Trump .
It took real effort to make that happen .
I ’ m not saying that he intended it from beginning to end .
I ’ m not saying that there was a plot in January that 300,000 will be dead in December .
What I am saying is that outcome is a result of the decisions made by Donald Trump .
If the American people and most of the mainstream news media and other observers keep seeing Donald Trump in terms of omissions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ normal politician ” then we do not see and understand him for what he really is , whatever that may be .
Donald Trump is a white man .
He is old .
He wears a tie .
What could he possibly be except somewhere in the zone of normal ?
That erroneous assumption contributes to why so many people are still surprised by his behavior .
Donald Trump is evil .
His movement is evil .
They meet all the criteria for evil .
Yet , there is a willful avoidance of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the mainstream news media , political elites , and other opinion leaders and public voices .
If they admit that Donald Trump and his movement are evil , then there is an obligation to do something about it .
To my eyes , that avoidance is a defense mechanism that will not save them or anyone else from Trump and his movement .
Evil is a helpful word to use here .
I have been using that language in my new book “ Our Malady.
” There is an almost taboo-like hesitation to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ discussions of Trump and his movement .
As long as we are avoiding discussions of good and evil then his behavior is normalized .
Avoiding that language of good and evil also leaves the public with a hope that this crisis will somehow turn back to normal .
There is a psychological dynamic at work here too .
If a person did not name Trumpism as evil before , then it is hard to name it as such later on .
If a political commentator or other observer did not see the danger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2016 then they are probably not getting it correct now even at this late point .
I think your word “ fear , ” though , is very well taken .
But I ’ d push that out in a different direction .
Fear is also an important concept here .
Trump is running for reelection based on fear – much more so than in 2016 .
In 2016 , it was a mix .
Trump and his campaign were talking about infrastructure .
They were trying to go to the left of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2020 , it ’ s now just pure fear .
A fear that Black people are going to rape white women in the suburbs , and they are going to burn down the cities .
The pandemic is either Black people ’ s fault or it is a conspiracy , or it is not really happening .
Fear is being consciously created and then manipulated .
The Democrats are really running against a Reichstag Fire .
The Democrats are not really running against a political party and Donald Trump ’ s campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Democrats that Trumpism is a type of political and social movement , and normal politics , those old rules , no longer apply here in America ?
History shows that people can learn to like pain .
They can also learn to like inflicting pain on others .
That is what the Democrats are up against .
They are not competing against some theory of politics where voters and the public are purely rational and motivated by “ the issues.
” Donald Trump is a president who happily circulates as much pain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his people are going to suffer for him — and they ’ re going to enjoy suffering because of their idea that other people are suffering more .
Trump ’ s supporters are suffering for a cause which is other people , Black people , immigrants , some Other , suffering more than they are .
Should the Democrats therefore imitate Donald Trump and the Republicans ?
The fact that there is now a Trump death cult does not mean that there should then be a Biden death cult .
That would be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The coronavirus intersects with American fascism , Donald Trump , and his movement – including the Republican Party as a whole .
How are you making sense of that relationship ?
Because I was so close to death , the significance of those observations and experiences was brought home to me more than it would have been otherwise .
America ’ s racial and economic inequality is all the more obvious in life or death situations .
The coronavirus of course reveals those disparities in an even more stark light .
Even before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where America does not have universal health care .
Why ?
Because there is some type of practical everyday consensus that it is OK to have bad health care in this country .
Such disparities in treatment are racial : In America we do not have a right to health care because then that would mean that Black people and Brown people and immigrants and so on would also have access to health care and then somehow abuse it — so goes the racist logic and history in this country .
Health care @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for white people in another way as well .
The argument that is made to white people is “ you are the frontiersmen , you ’ re the rugged individualists.
” In that imaginary , white people know not to talk about pain or disease .
There is the sadism then of some white people being pleased because they suffer less than other people .
And you have the masochism of those same white people being willing to suffer , basically for nothing .
When the first reports of the coronavirus begin in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it is taking the life of Blacks and Hispanics and Native Americans at a much higher rate than whites .
Now that we have more numbers , it is much more fatal .
In America white people live longer than Black people .
Once that fact is widely known it becomes normalized .
For many white people , it is normal for Black people and Brown people to suffer more than them .
What do we know about the connections between a humane society and authoritarianism ?
There is a strong connection .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” I explore this .
For example , on an individual level , when you can ’ t talk , you do not have freedom of speech .
When you can ’ t move , you do not have freedom of assembly .
When you do not think that you are going to have a future , then freedom is no longer a meaningful concept .
If you can not afford health care , you ’ re afraid .
If you ’ re ashamed to talk about health care , you ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ aware of that the access to health care is going to be competitive and somebody who ’ s less sick than you might come ahead of you because they have better insurance and better connections or whatever it might be , then you are less free .
Pandemic or not , it all creates a situation where there is not an unnecessary reservoir of anxiety and fear .
And that totally unnecessary reservoir of anxiety and fear can be directed to other places .
The talent that Donald Trump has is to either @ @ @ @ @ @ @ anxiety and fear that already exists in America and to direct it in the ways that he wants to .
Authoritarianism works through taking abuse and trauma and pushing it in other directions .
Donald Trump understands that he can not win a free and fair election .
Trump knows that the pandemic and the economic downturn can give him the sources of energy that he just might be able to use to stay in power some other way than an election .
Donald Trump is in “ the worse , the better @ @ @ @ @ @ @ abuse , pain , trauma , fear and related things .
Evil understands evil .
Trump understands that the more anxiety and fear is out there , the larger the chances he must somehow turn the election in his direction and then pick up the pieces .
Election Day is imminent .
How do you respond to those critics who would say that , “ You were talking about a Reichstag Fire !
It didn ’ t happen !
You are an alarmist .
Hysterical !
None of that happened !
” What @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we are in a slow-motion Reichstag Fire right now .
That is what is happening .
Donald Trump is not as skilled as Hitler .
He doesn ’ t work as hard as Hitler .
He doesn ’ t have the same level of confidence as Hitler , but he ’ s clearly looking for that Reichstag Fire emergency .
Trump tried to make Black Lives Matter into that emergency .
“ Antifascists ” and “ thugs ” and “ law and order ” and so on is part of that effort @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Reichstag Fire work .
If Trump is not successful , then that is a credit to the people who are resisting .
Donald Trump is not involved in a political campaign ; it is emergency politics in the constant search of an emergency .
Whether Trump and his allies can line up the emergency politics with the emergency , I do not know .
But that is all that Trump and his allies have got on their side — and it all they are going to have through to Election Day .

Donald Trump continues to make it clear that he does not intend to leave office peacefully if he is defeated by Joe Biden and the Democrats on Election Day. Moreover, Donald Trump considers any election in which he is not the "winner" to be null and void. Trump's appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the United States Supreme Court is an obvious quid pro quo to secure his "reelection" if his attorneys and other agents can sufficiently sabotage the vote on Election Day and beyond.
This article first appeared in Salon.
On Thursday, Trump again followed the authoritarian's playbook when he bragged to his supporters at a rally in North Carolina that U.S. Marshalls essentially executed Michael Reinoehl, an anti-fascist activist accused of killing a right wing paramilitary member during protests in Oregon last August.
Celebrating the extra-judicial killings of one's political "enemies" is a common feature of fascist authoritarian regimes and the types of leaders admired and imitated by Donald Trump.
Donald Trump's commitment to and use of political violence is a matter of public record. Two of the most recent examples include how Trump's followers in Michigan allegedly planned to kidnap and possibly murder Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer. During his debate with Joe Biden, Trump also commanded white supremacist paramilitaries to be prepared to attack his and their "enemies" if he loses on Election Day or is otherwise removed from office.
Trump also wants Joe Biden and other leading Democrats imprisoned and perhaps even executed because he deems them to be "guilty" of "treason" and a "coup" attempt against him. Donald Trump and his Attorney General William Barr have also threatened to use the United States military against the American people if they dare to protest the outcome of the 2020 Election if Trump somehow finds some extra-legal (if not outright illegal) way to stay in office.
Because he is a political sadist and master of misery and pain, Donald Trump is using the coronavirus pandemic as a weapon to physically and emotionally abuse the American people in order to make them more compliant and subservient to his regime. Like other autocrats and authoritarians, he is also using the economic and human devastation caused by the coronavirus pandemic to personally enrich himself, his family, and allies as a way of guaranteeing the latter's loyalty.
In all, as with his obsessive rhetoric about "law and order," like other fascist authoritarians Donald Trump and his regime define the "law" in ways that benefit themselves and disregard the law when it does not serve their interests. Through that logic democracy is a tool for the Trump regime to stay in power indefinitely if they "win" and to disregard the outcome on Election Day and beyond if they are voted out of office by the American people.
Trump's strategy of attacking America's democratic norms, institutions, and culture is a constant torrent where the targets are corrupted, weakened, and then finally routed through sheer exhaustion.
In a new essay at The Bulwark, senior Democratic Party strategist James Carville summarizes this existential moment of crisis for the United States as:
Very seldom in American history have there been periods when people can nobly wage a crusade to create real and lasting change. But when these crusades do occur, when those moments arrive, what we do to vanquish the threat to freedom builds something everlasting into the framework of our society. The American Revolution, the Civil War, World War II, Seneca Falls, Stonewall, and Selma, were all historical flashpoints where Americans displayed their patriotism against oppressive forces in a resounding way. These movements overthrew an empire, ended slavery, staved off totalitarianism, and paved the way for the establishment of fundamental civil rights and liberties for women, LGBTQ+ and black Americans. We find ourselves again at such a turning point. Donald Trump's authoritarian presence behind the Resolute Desk is amongst the gravest threats America has ever faced from within. And Americans have risen to meet this threat.
The Trump regime has created a defense in depth against the American people. A key part of Trump's defensive strategy consists of how those Americans and others who are expecting one dramatic and climactic assault on the country's democracy have been lulled into a type of complacency and surrender.
As wielded by Donald Trump and other fascist authoritarians, the poison they have injected into the country's body politic and democracy is actually quite slow acting, where the victim becomes used to chronic pain before finally succumbing.
Why does America's mainstream news media continue to avoid describing Donald Trump and his regime as fascist authoritarians? What are they afraid of? How has that evasion helped to empower and normalize Trumpism?
In what ways have Donald Trump and his regime used the coronavirus — and the pain and social injustice it has revealed and made worse — as a weapon against democracy and the American people?
In an effort to answer these questions, I recently spoke with Timothy Snyder. He is a Professor of History at Yale University and the author of the bestselling books "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century" and "The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America." His new book is "Our Malady: Lessons in Liberty from a Hospital Diary."
At the end of this conversation, Timothy Snyder warns that the United States is in the midst of a years-long slow-motion Reichstag Fire emergency that Election Day 2020 may not resolve.
You can also listen to my conversation with Timothy Snyder on my podcast "The Truth Report" or through the player embedded below.
Donald Trump's attacks on democracy are escalating. He continues to say that he will not respect the outcome of the election if he loses to Joe Biden and the Democrats. There are some public voices who have been warning about Trump and authoritarianism and fascism for several years. You are foremost among them. Why did more people not listen to the warnings?
It is structural. At present it is harder to reach people who do not already agree with you. This is true even for those of us with a public platform and big audience. More contact is virtual and less in person. It is also harder to surprise people. Ultimately, it is very hard to reach people before an algorithm does. By then a person's mind is already made up one way or another.
The second answer is that many Americans really like authoritarianism. Sure, the conventional wisdom says that Americans like freedom. Some of them do. Some of them do not. The Americans who do not like freedom are not going to be reached or otherwise have their minds changed. It is as simple as that.
In my view, it is less about reaching people and more about getting them to take action. People sometimes ask me, "Why do you preach to the choir?" To get people to do things. It is not enough to have the correct idea. If people act, even if it is a small thing, that makes a difference.
And of course, there is the challenge of the American exceptionalism consensus. The belief that America is insulated from authoritarianism because of our institutions took a long time to fight through. That myth was the direct target of my book "On Tyranny."
Why are so many journalists and other members of the political class continually surprised by Donald Trump's cruelty and assaults on democracy and norms? Trump is not changing. He is only getting worse. Why be surprised? Such a reaction is very crippling and ultimately counterproductive. It helps Trump to win.
That denial is a function of what I describe as "the politics of eternity." There is an ongoing stream of small to medium-level provocations from authoritarian movements and leaders. Those actions give a positive hit to their supporters and a negative hit to their opponents.
Everyone becomes addicted to the experience, be it pleasant or unpleasant. What you are describing is how many in the news media and elsewhere wait for Donald Trump to do the latest most outrageous thing — and then it is reported as being outrageous. That gives them a hit of sorts, a jolt to the system. Then they wait for the next outrageous thing, and so on. But the problem is that there is no thinking or theory to offer context for what is happening.
Too many people are still defaulting to these ideas that America's "institutions" are going to solve the problems of authoritarianism and Trumpism. Or history is somehow on America's side. If a person does not have some way of theorizing what Donald Trump is, then everything he does is a surprise to them. If you lack the theoretical framework to understand Trump and what is happening, then you will also lack an understanding of how to push back against it. You are helpless.
So many of the discussions are still focused on Donald Trump and what he is not. What we need to be able to do is to say what Trump is. Once you say what Trumpism really is, then you can start to fight it.
We talk about the pandemic as though it is a series of failures. No, the pandemic is not a series of failures. It is the "achievement" that Donald Trump is going to be most remembered for.
More than 200,000 people dead from the pandemic is a type of "achievement" for Trump. It took real effort to make that happen.
I'm not saying that he intended it from beginning to end. I'm not saying that there was a plot in January that 300,000 will be dead in December. What I am saying is that outcome is a result of the decisions made by Donald Trump. If the American people and most of the mainstream news media and other observers keep seeing Donald Trump in terms of omissions such as "he is not a normal politician" then we do not see and understand him for what he really is, whatever that may be.
Donald Trump is a white man. He is old. He wears a tie. What could he possibly be except somewhere in the zone of normal? That erroneous assumption contributes to why so many people are still surprised by his behavior.
Donald Trump is evil. His movement is evil. They meet all the criteria for evil. Yet, there is a willful avoidance of using that language to describe him by the mainstream news media, political elites, and other opinion leaders and public voices. If they admit that Donald Trump and his movement are evil, then there is an obligation to do something about it. To my eyes, that avoidance is a defense mechanism that will not save them or anyone else from Trump and his movement.
Evil is a helpful word to use here. I have been using that language in my new book "Our Malady." There is an almost taboo-like hesitation to move into truly ethical judgments in our discussions of Trump and his movement. As long as we are avoiding discussions of good and evil then his behavior is normalized. Avoiding that language of good and evil also leaves the public with a hope that this crisis will somehow turn back to normal.
There is a psychological dynamic at work here too. If a person did not name Trumpism as evil before, then it is hard to name it as such later on. If a political commentator or other observer did not see the danger of Trump and his movement back in 2016 then they are probably not getting it correct now even at this late point.
I think your word "fear," though, is very well taken. But I'd push that out in a different direction.
Fear is also an important concept here. Trump is running for reelection based on fear – much more so than in 2016. In 2016, it was a mix. Trump and his campaign were talking about infrastructure. They were trying to go to the left of the Democrats on some issues. Whereas in 2020, it's now just pure fear. A fear that Black people are going to rape white women in the suburbs, and they are going to burn down the cities. The pandemic is either Black people's fault or it is a conspiracy, or it is not really happening. Fear is being consciously created and then manipulated. The Democrats are really running against a Reichstag Fire. The Democrats are not really running against a political party and Donald Trump's campaign.
How can we better explain to the Democrats that Trumpism is a type of political and social movement, and normal politics, those old rules, no longer apply here in America?
History shows that people can learn to like pain. They can also learn to like inflicting pain on others. That is what the Democrats are up against. They are not competing against some theory of politics where voters and the public are purely rational and motivated by "the issues."
Donald Trump is a president who happily circulates as much pain as he can on the rationale that his people are going to suffer for him — and they're going to enjoy suffering because of their idea that other people are suffering more. Trump's supporters are suffering for a cause which is other people, Black people, immigrants, some Other, suffering more than they are.
Should the Democrats therefore imitate Donald Trump and the Republicans? The fact that there is now a Trump death cult does not mean that there should then be a Biden death cult. That would be absurd on any number of levels.
The coronavirus intersects with American fascism, Donald Trump, and his movement – including the Republican Party as a whole. How are you making sense of that relationship?
Because I was so close to death, the significance of those observations and experiences was brought home to me more than it would have been otherwise. America's racial and economic inequality is all the more obvious in life or death situations. The coronavirus of course reveals those disparities in an even more stark light.
Even before 2020 begins we are in a system where America does not have universal health care. Why? Because there is some type of practical everyday consensus that it is OK to have bad health care in this country. Such disparities in treatment are racial: In America we do not have a right to health care because then that would mean that Black people and Brown people and immigrants and so on would also have access to health care and then somehow abuse it — so goes the racist logic and history in this country.
Health care in the United States overlaps with race for white people in another way as well. The argument that is made to white people is "you are the frontiersmen, you're the rugged individualists." In that imaginary, white people know not to talk about pain or disease. There is the sadism then of some white people being pleased because they suffer less than other people. And you have the masochism of those same white people being willing to suffer, basically for nothing.
When the first reports of the coronavirus begin in March and April it was clear that it is taking the life of Blacks and Hispanics and Native Americans at a much higher rate than whites. Now that we have more numbers, it is much more fatal. In America white people live longer than Black people.
Once that fact is widely known it becomes normalized. For many white people, it is normal for Black people and Brown people to suffer more than them.
What do we know about the connections between a humane society and authoritarianism?
There is a strong connection. In my new book "Our Malady" I explore this.
For example, on an individual level, when you can't talk, you do not have freedom of speech. When you can't move, you do not have freedom of assembly. When you do not think that you are going to have a future, then freedom is no longer a meaningful concept.
If you cannot afford health care, you're afraid. If you're ashamed to talk about health care, you're less free. If you're aware of that the access to health care is going to be competitive and somebody who's less sick than you might come ahead of you because they have better insurance and better connections or whatever it might be, then you are less free. Pandemic or not, it all creates a situation where there is not an unnecessary reservoir of anxiety and fear. And that totally unnecessary reservoir of anxiety and fear can be directed to other places.
The talent that Donald Trump has is to either generate that anxiety or to take the anxiety and fear that already exists in America and to direct it in the ways that he wants to. Authoritarianism works through taking abuse and trauma and pushing it in other directions.
Donald Trump understands that he cannot win a free and fair election. Trump knows that the pandemic and the economic downturn can give him the sources of energy that he just might be able to use to stay in power some other way than an election. Donald Trump is in "the worse, the better" territory now, because he understands abuse, pain, trauma, fear and related things. Evil understands evil. Trump understands that the more anxiety and fear is out there, the larger the chances he must somehow turn the election in his direction and then pick up the pieces.
Election Day is imminent. How do you respond to those critics who would say that, "You were talking about a Reichstag Fire! It didn't happen! You are an alarmist. Hysterical! None of that happened!" What would you tell such people?
Obviously, we are in a slow-motion Reichstag Fire right now. That is what is happening. Donald Trump is not as skilled as Hitler. He doesn't work as hard as Hitler. He doesn't have the same level of confidence as Hitler, but he's clearly looking for that Reichstag Fire emergency. Trump tried to make Black Lives Matter into that emergency. "Antifascists" and "thugs" and "law and order" and so on is part of that effort. Donald Trump keeps trying to make the Reichstag Fire work.
If Trump is not successful, then that is a credit to the people who are resisting. Donald Trump is not involved in a political campaign; it is emergency politics in the constant search of an emergency. Whether Trump and his allies can line up the emergency politics with the emergency, I do not know. But that is all that Trump and his allies have got on their side — and it all they are going to have through to Election Day.


rawstory--2020-10-18--Trump will run again in 2024 is he loses in November: Former White House official

In an interview with The Australian , former senior White House adviser Steve Bannon suggested that Donald Trump will make another run for the presidency in 2024 should he go down to defeat on November 3rd .
According to a report in the Daily Mail , Bannon claimed the president would not go away quietly knowing he has a base of hardcore supporters waiting for his return .
Saying “ You ’ re not going to see the end of Donald Trump , ” Bannon first claimed he thinks the president can pull out a win with little more than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a third run could be in the offing if Trump comes up short .
“ I ’ ll make this prediction right now : if for any reason the election is stolen from or in some sort of way Joe Biden is declared the winner , Trump will announce he ’ s going to run for re-election in 2024 , ” he said in the interview .
“ Bannon also predicted the election result will go to the Supreme Court and may even be conferred to the House of Representative in January , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ‘ won ’ t be settled anytime soon ’ ” the report adds .
The former White House official who also helmed the president ’ s 2016 presidential run was recently arrested on two charges of criminal fraud and is facing maximum penalties of 20 years for each charge if convicted .
You can read more here .

In an interview with The Australian, former senior White House adviser Steve Bannon suggested that Donald Trump will make another run for the presidency in 2024 should he go down to defeat on November 3rd.
According to a report in the Daily Mail, Bannon claimed the president would not go away quietly knowing he has a base of hardcore supporters waiting for his return.
Saying "You’re not going to see the end of Donald Trump," Bannon first claimed he thinks the president can pull out a win with little more than two weeks to go, before suggesting a third run could be in the offing if Trump comes up short.
"I’ll make this prediction right now: if for any reason the election is stolen from or in some sort of way Joe Biden is declared the winner, Trump will announce he’s going to run for re-election in 2024," he said in the interview.
"Bannon also predicted the election result will go to the Supreme Court and may even be conferred to the House of Representative in January, saying the outcome will be contentious and ‘won’t be settled anytime soon’" the report adds.
The former White House official who also helmed the president's 2016 presidential run was recently arrested on two charges of criminal fraud and is facing maximum penalties of 20 years for each charge if convicted.
You can read more here.


rawstory--2020-10-18--Donald Trump Jr. says dad’s ‘next move’ is to ‘break up’ FBI: ‘He has to get rid of these things’

Donald Trump Jr. on Sunday called on his father to “ break up ” the FBI if he wins a second term .
During an interview on Fox News , host Maria Bartiromo asked the president ’ s son what his father would do if the FBI does not do his bidding by smearing the son of Democratic nominee Joe Biden and by preventing Democrats from increasing the use of mail-in ballots .
“ We have to keep fighting , ” Trump replied .
“ We ’ re fighting with one leg and two arms tied behind our back .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ have the mainstream media that ’ s willing to at this point , not even just boost the other side , but literally run cover for what would arguably be the biggest corruption scheme in American political history .
This is the stuff that makes Watergate look like kindergarten.
” According to the younger Trump , the FBI tried to “ knowingly peddle ” information about his father ’ s connections to Russia .
“ They refuse to acknowledge their own corruption , ” he explained .
“ And the reality is , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he has to break up the highest level of the FBI .
He has to get rid of these things .
And more importantly , maybe break up the swamp in general.
” “ You know , why is the Department of the Interior headed out of Washington ?
” Trump asked .
“ Why don ’ t we spread all of those things up throughout America ?
” “ That ’ s Donald Trump ’ s next move , ” he predicted , “ if I ’ m him and if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will .
Because what ’ s going on is disgusting .
This is the stuff of communist China !
” Watch the video below from Fox News .

The indictment describes Individual 1 as talking about a draft speech on or about Oct. 21, 2020, that falsely declared victory and alleged voter fraud. It matches what was found by the House Select Committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack and the attempt to overthrow the 2020 election. Fitton wrote a draft speech he emailed to Trump through two aides on Oct. 31.
POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?
That matches material the Jan. 6 congressional committee released last year, revealing that Fitton had written a draft speech and emailed it to Trump via two aides on Oct. 31, noting he had recently discussed the draft with the then-president.
“Dear Mr. President,” the email begins. “Please see below a draft statement as you requested.”
They can't say with absolute certainty that Fitton is the one, but it's their best guess. Just Security agreed with the assessment, naming Fitton, too.
Individual 2, they believe, is a fake elector that was among one of the most engaged, based on the descriptions in the indictment, according to both sites. No name is included.
Individual 3 is likely Boris Epshteyn, one of Trump's longtime aides that has provided legal advice. The indictment says that he was on stage with Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, and Sidney Powell, which narrows things down.
He sent an email that investigators have from John Eastman where he admits to constitutional questions about the Electoral Count Act before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which “could invite counter views that we do not believe should constrain Pence.”
Just Security agreed that Epshteyn is Individual 3, specifically citing Act 109 of the indictment.
Individual 4, the Daily Beast confirmed is Robert Sinners, who ran operations for Election Day for the Trump campaign. Indicted co-conspirator David Shafer, former Republican Party chair of Georgia, and Sinners exchanged emails on Nov. 20, 2020, which claimed that indicted Georgia bail bondsman Scott Hall “has been looking into the election on behalf of the President at the request of [Trump adviser] David Bossie." He then asked Individual 4 to contact Hall and lend a hand.
Just Security also named Sinners, saying that "the same email is accounted for in Curling v. Raffensperger ."
Sinners now works "with an institutional bulwark that brooked some of the most severe abuse and violent threats while holding the Trump team’s anti-democratic efforts at bay—the office of Georgia’s GOP Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger," said the Beast.
Individuals 5 and 6 are likely Bernie Kerik (5), and Phil Waldron (6). Kerik is the longtime Rudy Giuliani pal that was in the war room at the Willard Hotel on Jan. 6. But he was also chatting with Waldron about a conspiracy theorist in Texas who had a PowerPoint roadmap to overturning the election using China and Venezuela.
Just Security agreed, too, noting that the two men are in some of the same places or meetings as previously known. Waldron, for example, told The Washington Post that he was at the Nov. 25 meeting.
"The indictment then puts Individuals 5 and 6 together during similar back-to-back presentations that Giuliani’s team made days later to a group of Arizona GOP lawmakers. Kerik describes those meetings in detail to the Jan. 6 committee, matching details in the indictment," the Beast concluded.
Individual 7 was unknown to the Daily Beast, but Just Security can narrow it down to five people: "G. Michael Brown or others on email chain: James Fitzpatrick, Shawn Flynn, Thomas Lane, Valerie McConahay."
"Act 77 of the indictment alleges that Mike Roman sent an email on 12/14/2020 to Robert Sinners, Individual 7, and others stating: 'Please send me an update as soon as the State Electoral College has adjourned and all paperwork is secured.'"
The House Select Committee had the email, showing the possible people that were also on the email.
Individual 8 appears to be Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, both sites said. He was a state senator at the time, and was one of the 16 fake electors.
"The indictment makes it easy to identify Individual 8, who is portrayed as a central figure in the alleged fake elector scheme, appearing in 11 overt acts," said the report. "But the glaring tip that Willis included might not sit well with the purportedly anonymous Individual 8. Last year, Jones successfully barred the DA from publicly naming him in connection with the grand jury probe."
Still, he was quoted from an identifiable Dec. 7 tweet, that Rudy Giuliani shared.
“Georgia Patriot Call to Action: today is the day we need you to call your state Senate & House Reps & ask them to sign the petition for a special session,” the tweet says. “We must have free & fair elections in GA & this is our only path to ensuring every legal vote is counted. @realDonaldTrump.”
Jones is the author, making it easy to identify him. He refused to comment, but did attack D.A. Fani Willis on Twitter for "pursuing 'political vendettas of the past' and spending 'millions of taxpayer dollars' on the sprawling criminal investigation for 'the sole purpose of the furthering of her own political career.'"
Individual 9 the Daily Beast thinks is former Georgia Republican Party treasurer Joseph Brannan, but Just Security isn't as certain. They only identify 9 as a fake elector.
"Individual 9 is alleged in the indictment to have been on the receiving end of a Dec. 10 email from indicted pro-Trump lawyer Ken Chesebro, who is said to also be unindicted co-conspirator 5 in Smith’s federal indictment," said the Beast.
The House Select committee has an email from that as well, showing Chesebro trying “to help coordinate with the other 5 contested States, to help with logistics of the electors in other States hopefully joining in casting their votes on Monday.”
The recipients match Brannan's description, the report explained, which also featured indicted former Georgia GOP chair David Shafer along with “unindicted co-conspirator Individual 9.” The two other people on the email are women, and 9 is referred to as male.
Individuals 10-19 are all fake electors both sides aid.
Individual 20, which was cited by some of the legal analysts after the indictment dropped, was someone that was in the Oval Office during one of the key meetings on 12/18/2020. While the Daily Beast won't say, Just Security narrows it down to Michael Flynn, Patrick Byrne, or Emily Newman.
Individual 21, the Beast said was unknown, but Just Security identifies Todd Sanders or Conan Hayes. They use Act 91, which refers to an email sent by Sidney Powell that mentions both men along with Waldron, who was identified as Individual 6. The email was also included in the records from Curling v. Raffensperger.
Individual 22 would reportedly be the other of Todd Sanders or Conan Hayes.
Individual 23, which the Beast also said was unknown. Citing Act 115, Just Security said that Individual 23 was on one of the phone calls with Harrison Floyd and others on Jan. 3, 2021, at 8:11 p.m. Act 27 also references a four-way call that included Floyd, Trevian Kutti, Stephen Lee, and individual 23 on Jan. 5, 2021.
Individual 24 is Alex Cruce, Just Security said, using Act 143 which references the individual flying into Coffee County with Scott Hall, something Cruce admitted in Curling v. Raffensperger.
Individual 25, both sites believe to be Doug Logan, the CEO of the Cyber Ninjas.
Act 154 refers to Misty Hampton, one of the people who allowed Individual 25 into non-public areas of the Coffee County Election Board offices on Jan. 18, 2021. The videos were reported by ABC News and showed Logan and Jeff Lenbert being allowed in on that time. Act 150 refers to Individual 25 downloading the information from the county and putting it on legal technology company Sullivan Strickler's ShareFile, which showed Logan downloading the data on several dates in Jan. 2021.
Individuals 26 and 27, Just Security writes are probably Michael Pospieszalski or Jovan Pulitzer. They cite Acts 151 and 152 accusing Individuals 26 and 27 of downloading Coffee County data. There were six people who did this according to Curling v. Raffensperger. Others have already been identified, leaving these two men.
Individual 28, both believe is Jim Penrose, a former National Security official who ultimately went to work for Sidney Powell. Act 155 alleging an email on April 22, 2021 to SullivanStrickler COO Paul Maggio, asking that the voting data taken from Coffee County be sent to an attorney working with Powell.
“On or about the 22nd day of April 2021, unindicted co-conspirator Individual 28, whose identity is known to the grand jury, sent an email to the chief operations officer of SullivanStrickler LLC directing him to transmit all data copied from Dominion Voting Systems equipment at the Coffee County Board of Elections & Registration Office in Coffee County, Georgia, to unindicted co-conspirator Individual 30, whose identity is known to the grand jury, an attorney associated with Sidney Katherine Powell and the Trump campaign,” the indictment says.
Individual 29 is likely Jeffrey Lenberg, the Beast and Just Security believes, citing Act 154 of the indictment. Lenberg was with Logan on Jan. 18, 2021, when going into the board of elections.
Individual 30 is probably Stefanie Lambert, the sites agree, citing Act 155.
Jim Pemrose, though to be Individual 28, sent an email that was available in Curling v. Raffensperger, indicating Stefanie Lambert was to get the data from Coffee County. Penrose wrote to send the materials to "the same address as before," and "[i]nvoice Stefanie Lambert for the work like last time."
The Daily Beast spoke to Lambert's lawyer, Michael Smith, who said, “My client is a brilliant and zealous advocate for her clients. Stefanie Lambert has done nothing illegal. Like all law firms, Lambert hires experts to opine on potential cases or cases in active litigation. She intends to file suit against any person or entity falsely implying her legal work was improper.”
Read both reports at Just Security and the Daily Beast for significantly more details.


rawstory--2020-10-19--DOJ argues Trump’s denial that he raped E Jean Carroll was an official presidential act: report

On Monday , according to The New York Times , the Department of Justice argued in court that they have cause to act as President Donald Trump ’ s defense against advice columnist E. Jean Carroll ’ s defamation suit — because the president ’ s denial that he raped her was in his capacity as president of the United States , not as an individual .
“ Ms .
Carroll has said that Mr. Trump raped her in a department store two decades ago and then falsely denied the attack , branding her a liar and harming her reputation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Feuer .
“ But Justice Department lawyers say that even though the allegation concerns an incident that occurred decades before Mr. Trump became president , his denial was still an official act because he ‘ addressed matters relating to his fitness for office as part of an official White House response to press inquiries . '
” Attorney General William Barr first moved for the DOJ to act as counsel for Trump several weeks ago .
“ On Sept. 8 , the Justice Department took the highly unusual step of seeking to intervene @ @ @ @ @ @ @ though the lawsuit revolved around an event that allegedly occurred in the 1990s , long before Mr. Trump became president , ” said the report .
“ Using a law designed to protect federal employees from defamation suits when they perform their duties , Mr. Barr sought to transfer the lawsuit from state court to Federal District Court in Manhattan and to substitute the federal government for Mr. Trump as the defendant.
” Barr has defended the move , claiming that it is “ done frequently ” and “ the little tempest that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the bizarre political environment in which we live .
”

Trained in political science and the law, he has no formal education in disaster preparedness or response. And prior to his current role, he never held a full-time job dedicated to emergency management.
Instead, his main qualification was being chief of staff to then-mayor Alan Arakawa. But in that role, he told Civil Beat Tuesday, he assisted during emergency operations. And he said he participated in online FEMA trainings and workshops throughout the years.
In 2017, Andaya beat out 40 other applicants for the job, Maui Now reported at the time.
As the mayor’s administration was coming to a close, a panel of government officials – which said it was independent of the mayor – chose Andaya for the civil service role.
Civil Beat reviewed Andaya’s experience after historic Lahaina was swallowed by an inferno last week, killing scores of residents and visitors who never saw it coming.
The Maui Emergency Management Agency had the authority to issue siren warnings that might have alerted people. After Andaya’s agency decided not to sound them, many survivors reported they only became aware of the fire when they saw and smelled smoke.
Andaya said sounding the sirens wasn’t an option officials considered because they’re “mainly used for tsunamis.” That’s why they’re mostly located on the coast, he said.
But the state’s own website says the sirens are useful for many kinds of emergencies.
“The all-hazard siren system can be used for a variety of both natural and human-caused events; including tsunamis, hurricanes, dam breaches, flooding, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, terrorist threats, hazardous material incidents, and more,” the site states.
Andaya wasn’t on the island when the fires started, and he hasn’t made any appearances at press conferences since the disaster occurred.
Asked about Andaya’s resume, David Hafner, a retired telecommunications planner for the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, questioned whether his relative inexperience affected his agency’s performance in a crisis.
“It’s a good ol’ boy network,” Hafner said. “This time it cost lives.”
Hafner said it’s “absolutely essential” for emergency management leaders to have experience in the field so they make the right decisions both before and after disasters strike.
Not having it, he said, “can lead to grave mistakes in judgment.”
Andaya’s hiring came at a time when Hawaii’s counties had just taken on increased responsibility for disaster response, according to Hafner. State emergency management officials used to be the designated authority to respond to emergencies, he said, but an update to the law in 2014 put the counties in the driver’s seat.
Asked about Andaya’s LinkedIn resume, Colin Moore, a political scientist at the University of Hawaii, said he was shocked by the emergency administrator’s lack of relevant experience. He said the public is owed an explanation.
“It’s a legitimate question to ask why the person leading the county emergency services agency has no clear background in fire, police, public health, the usual emergency services backgrounds,” he said.
“Having that on-the-ground experience, you develop the instincts and the connections to be able to perform a job like this. And if you just have general government experience, there is just no opportunity to have that kind of on-the-ground knowledge that often is really useful in a crisis.”
Andaya said as a former member of the mayor’s cabinet, he was qualified for the job.
“Whenever there was an activation in the emergency operations center, we were involved,” he said. “To say that I have no experience or no background in emergency management is not correct.”
‘Political Influence’ A Concern
Andaya, 52, is from Maui and graduated from HP Baldwin High School.
He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from the University of Hawaii Manoa. He also has a law degree from the UH Richardson School of Law, although he never became a licensed attorney, according to the Hawaii State Bar Association’s online database.
He began his career clerking for Maui Judge Artemio Baxa. He then worked for the law office of Lynn Araki-Regan, an attorney who is the wife of Arakawa’s managing director, Keith Regan.
When Andaya vacated his position as chief of staff, it was filled by Araki-Regan, who was by then the county budget director. Regan said he had no involvement in Andaya’s hiring.
From the early 2000s onward, Andaya has held leadership positions in Maui’s Department of Housing and Human Concerns and worked as the assistant to the chancellor of UH’s Maui College, according to his LinkedIn resume. He is married to Rowena Dagdag-Andaya, a former elementary school teacher who served as Maui’s public works director and now works in Maui’s Office on Aging.
Andaya was Arakawa’s chief of staff from 2011 through 2017. That year, the mayor appointed him acting administrator of MEMA, and he became permanent by the end of that year.
In contrast, Honolulu’s emergency management director, Hiro Toiya, has technical training in emergency response, worked for years as a preparedness planner for the Hawaii health department and rose up the ranks of Honolulu’s Department of Emergency Management. He worked there for more than seven years before becoming the director.
Asked how he stood out among a pool of 40 job candidates, Andaya said Maui doesn’t have a lot of emergency management professionals to begin with. He noted that he had to take an exam and based on his score was determined to be a finalist.
“You would have to question the civil service process if you can believe that politics was involved,” he said. “This is something that my predecessors have to go through as well.”
Before Andaya was hired, there were concerns in Maui’s political scene that the county was considering someone who wasn’t qualified.
“In the past, this position has sometimes been filled by individuals without the proper emergency response background.”
Former Maui County Council Chairman Mike White
In July 2017, the chair of the Maui County Council at the time, Mike White, took the unusual step of writing a Maui News column warning that the job of emergency management was too important to be “subject to political influence.”
“In the past, this position has sometimes been filled by individuals without the proper emergency response background,” White wrote.
“The administration must search for well-qualified candidates who can make a seamless transition in leading our Emergency Management Agency. The stakes are too high and our community has grown to a point where emergency coordination has become quite sophisticated in its implementation.”
In his column, White praised the outgoing emergency management chief, Anna Foust, who had previously worked for years leading the Maui branch of the Red Cross. White emphasized her expertise.
“During her tenure, she used her emergency response experience and training to help guide the county to keep citizens safe during hurricane warnings and watches, flooding events and tsunami warnings,” White wrote.
Civil Beat wasn’t able to reach White for comment.
Panel Of Specialists Chose Andaya
On Tuesday, Arakawa’s former managing director, Keith Regan, said that politics was not a factor in Andaya’s hiring. Asked why Andaya was the best candidate, Regan said he didn’t know because he wasn’t on the hiring committee. But he was adamant there was “zero” political influence in the process.
“This was a straightforward civil service process,” said Regan, who is now the state comptroller.
When Regan ran for Maui County Council in 2015, Andaya was his campaign manager. This year, Andaya wrote a letter of support of Regan’s nomination to state comptroller.
Regan noted that the hiring panel included numerous experts in the field. Maui Now identified them at the time as then-Maui Police Chief Tivoli Faaumu; then-Maui Fire Chief Jeff Murray; Elton Ushio, administrator of the Kauai Emergency Management Agency; and Vern Miyagi, then-administrator of the Hawaii State Emergency Management Agency.
At the time, Ushio was quoted by Maui Now as saying Andaya’s “proven leadership abilities, executive level experience, and impressive knowledge of emergency management” made him a great fit for the job. Murray cited Andaya’s familiarity with government processes, his “institutional knowledge of the various emergency incidents” in recent years, and his then-recent work as acting leader of the department.
“These are not people that, you know, are just political people,” Regan said. “They’re people who understand emergency management and are going to make the right choice for the community.”
In a statement, former HI-EMA director Miyagi said the public’s focus should be on working together on response and recovery.
“Herman Andaya and his staff at MEMA are really good people,” he said. “They carried Maui successfully through numerous hurricanes, floods, and other disasters.”
He said the public should wait for the attorney general’s investigation before drawing conclusions.
Civil Beat left messages with the other hiring committee members on Tuesday, but they were not returned. Former mayor Arakawa also did not respond to a request for comment.
“Herman is a very skilled, experienced, knowledgeable, professional individual,” Regan said. “I trust that is making the right decisions … There is no question in my mind that he cares about that community, and he’s going to do everything he can to keep that community safe.”


rawstory--2020-10-20--Party switcher has Republicans panicked they are going to lose another Senate seat

A lifelong Republican who switched parties after President Donald Trump ’ s election could blow up Mitch McConnell ’ s Senate majority .
Barbara Bollier is running as a Democrat for Senate in Kansas , and polls show she has a shot at becoming the state ’ s first non-Republican senator since Franklin Roosevelt was president , reported Politico .
Trump won 103 of the state ’ s 105 counties in 2016 , but four of them backed the Democrat in 2018 ’ s gubernatorial race and suburban voters are highly motivated to push the president out of office .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ] back in Washington , and that ’ s why a Trump person can vote [ for me ] , ” Bollier said .
“ They want change — they can have that .
But they know I ’ ll stand up to him , and believe me , I will.
” Bollier , an anesthesiologist who ’ s encouraged masks and social distancing at her campaign events , is running against two-term GOP Rep. Roger Marshall , an OB-GYN who agrees with the president that “ we can ’ t let this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democrat doesn ’ t explicitly talk about flipping the Senate or mention Trump when speaking to voters , but she freely criticizes GOP former Gov .
Sam Brownback , whose tax cuts wrecked the state budget and drove her from the Republican Party .

In new allegations revealed Wednesday, Texas House investigators accused suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton of engaging in a complex cover-up to hide his relationship with real estate investor Nate Paul as senior aides grew increasingly concerned about Paxton’s willingness to use his office to benefit Paul.
The subterfuge allegedly included Paxton and Paul creating an Uber account under an alias so they could meet each other and so the attorney general could visit the woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair.
And once Paxton learned several high-ranking officials in his office reported his behavior to the FBI, the House impeachment managers alleged, he took immediate steps to cover up his relationship with Paul, including wiring a $122,000 payment to a Paul-affiliated company in an effort to hide home renovations that Paul had provided for free.
POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?
The allegations, outlined in a series of filings with the Texas Senate’s court of impeachment, shed new light on the relationship between Paul and Paxton that is at the core of his impeachment proceedings.
Among the new claims: Top deputies in the attorney general’s office persistently warned Paxton that Paul was a “crook” and that there was no merit to his claims that he had been unfairly treated by law enforcement, and that the two met at least 20 times in spring and summer 2020, sometimes discussing the FBI investigation into Paul’s faltering real estate empire.
Paxton “blindly accepted Paul’s conspiracy,” impeachment managers alleged. “Senior Staff urged Paxton to stay away. But when it came to Paul, Paxton was immune to reason.”
Paul was arrested in June on federal felony charges of lying to financial institutions to secure business loans.
Responding to Paxton’s pretrial motions that seek to dismiss all 20 articles of impeachment, including four that will not be included in the Sept. 5 impeachment trial, House managers also detailed multiple actions in which Paxton allegedly sought to use his office to benefit Paul.
They alleged that Paxton conducted a “sham criminal investigation” into Paul’s “adversaries,” routinely overriding concerns from agency staff who told him that Paul was a “criminal” and that Paxton needed to “get away.”
Instead, House managers alleged, Paxton became increasingly “entangled in Paul’s web of deceit” and “went to great lengths” to hide his relationship with Paul — using a burner phone and secret email accounts, ditching his security detail and using the fake Uber name to be “ferried to his lover’s or Paul’s properties more than a dozen times.”
In response to Paul’s favors — including allegedly employing the woman and paying to remodel Paxton’s home — Paxton “continually abused the power of his office to advance Paul’s aims,” House managers alleged.
In one instance, Paxton allegedly told agency staff that he did not want the office to assist law enforcement “in any way” with an investigation into Paul, who Paxton claimed was being “railroaded” and needed “unprecedented” access to sensitive information about his case.
After meeting with “alarmed” senior staff, Paxton allegedly demanded files about Paul’s criminal case that included an unredacted FBI letter that identified individuals involved in a 2019 raid on Paul’s home and businesses.
“Paxton held onto the file for more than a week,” House managers wrote. “Ultimately, OAG did not disclose the information to Paul. But Paxton did.”
In another instance, Paxton was accused of issuing a legal opinion that staved off a pending foreclosure sale of Paul’s businesses at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. House investigators cited two agency employees who said they were forced to work through the night to produce the opinion while Paxton frequently called them.
Paxton “sounded like someone was holding him hostage,” one of the staffers told investigators.
The opinion, which Paxton allegedly edited himself, was published at 1 a.m. Aug. 2, 2020, and said foreclosure proceedings posed a public health threat — despite the state’s “open for business” mantra throughout the pandemic, managers said.
The next day, managers alleged, Paul cited the opinion to successfully delay the foreclosures.
“It is hard to imagine a more blatant abuse of Paxton’s office,” House managers wrote.
Paxton’s legal team had filed more than a dozen motions to dismiss all articles of impeachment, often arguing that the underlying allegations were baseless or fell under the legitimate duties of the attorney general’s office.
His attorneys also accused the Texas House of trying to “overturn the will of voters” who reelected Paxton to a third term last year despite various public scandals dating to 2015. One argument stressed that Paxton cannot be impeached for alleged misconduct that predated his most recent election under the so-called “prior-term doctrine.” And they downplayed some of the allegations he faces, saying that, even if true, they are not severe enough to warrant his removal from office.
Paxton’s lawyers also attacked two bribery-related impeachment articles, saying there was no evidence of a “quid pro quo” and that Paxton’s ties to Paul were nothing more than “a personal relationship with a constituent and that the constituent found something the Attorney General did to be agreeable in some way.”
Under rules adopted by the Senate, any pretrial motion to dismiss or quash an article of impeachment must be voted on by senators. A majority — 16 senators — can approve dismissal of an article, placing an early test on the determination of the chamber’s 19 Republicans to allow a trial on the allegations. Those votes are set to be taken shortly after the trial begins in September.
In a written response, filed with the Senate on Tuesday and made public Wednesday, the impeachment team challenged other pretrial assertions from Paxton’s lawyers, who claimed the articles of impeachment were deficient because they failed to list specific laws that Paxton allegedly broke.
“Impeachable offenses need not be indictable crimes,” the House team argued. “Impeachment in Texas seeks to protect against conduct that undermines the integrity of the office, disregards constitutional duties and oaths of office, abuses government process and power, and adversely impacts the system of government.”
What’s more, the team argued, many of the articles listed particular crimes, and several detailed “how Paxton abused his office for his own personal benefit or that of Nate Paul and business entities controlled by Paul.”
More broadly, the managers emphasized that the impeachment trial is not a criminal or civil proceeding, as Paxton’s side has implied. In one new filing, the managers wrote that an impeachment trial is “a unique, if not mostly Political, with a capital ‘P’, proceeding — i.e., an action by the representatives of the people challenging official actions that are contrary to the public interest.”
That view aligns with the view that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Senate and is acting as judge in the impeachment trial, offered in a TV interview Tuesday.
“It’s not a criminal trial. It’s not a civil trial. It’s a political trial,” Patrick told the Fox affiliate in Houston.
The House managers also asked the Senate to dismiss Paxton’s motion to quash the articles or return them to the House to add more detail to the allegations. The managers said the demand shows a “fundamental misunderstanding” of how impeachment works, arguing that the Texas Constitution does not require the level of detail common in a civil or criminal proceeding.
“A person can be impeached without an indictment, therefore Paxton does not have any right to demand more details,” the managers said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.


rawstory--2020-10-20--Ivanka Trump could be targeted for multiple corruption investigations after her dad leaves office

President Donald Trump ’ s scurrilous attacks on Joe Biden ’ s son could turn the spotlight onto his eldest daughter ’ s shady dealings .
Ivanka Trump , who ’ s a senior adviser in the White House alongside her husband Jared Kushner , has been the subject of repeated ethics complaints detailing her alleged corruption , according to The Daily Beast ’ s Dean Obeidallah .
“ If Hunter Biden had received a lucrative deal from a foreign country on the very same day his then-vice president father was meeting with the leader of that foreign country , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — would be calling that out as sleazy and possibly illegal , ” Obeidallah writes .
“ But Ivanka Trump has done that and worse and we don ’ t hear a peep.
” The non-partisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics ( CREW ) has been tracking Ivanka Trump ’ s unethical conduct back to early 2017 , and has filed complaints covering , among other things , her dealings with China and asked for an investigation into her and Kushner ’ s real estate holdings .
“ In April 2017 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dined with Chinese President Xi Jinping , the Chinese government granted preliminary approval for Ivanka ’ s long-sought-after trademarks for her namesake fashion brand , ” Obeidallah writes .
“ Another jaw-dropping example of possible blatant corruption , as CREW detailed , came when Ivanka received preliminary approval for additional trademarks from China ’ s government on June 7 , 2018 , ” he adds .
“ What else happened on June 7 , 2018 ?
Her father agreed to lift sanctions against the massive Chinese telecommunication company ZTE , which is partly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trumps aren ’ t even trying to hide the conflicts !
” CREW has asked the Department of Justice whether Ivanka Trump and her husband personally benefited from a new tax law that she had worked on , and the watchdog is cataloguing possible violations right up through last week — when she allegedly violated the Hatch Act eight times in 48 hours .
“ These allegations demand a full investigation to determine Ivanka and her father ’ s possible role in these sweetheart deals , ” Obeidallah writes .
“ Despite what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because your last name is Trump does not mean you are above the law .
”

President Donald Trump's scurrilous attacks on Joe Biden's son could turn the spotlight onto his eldest daughter's shady dealings.
Ivanka Trump, who's a senior adviser in the White House alongside her husband Jared Kushner, has been the subject of repeated ethics complaints detailing her alleged corruption, according to The Daily Beast's Dean Obeidallah.
"If Hunter Biden had received a lucrative deal from a foreign country on the very same day his then-vice president father was meeting with the leader of that foreign country, Trump — and many in the media — would be calling that out as sleazy and possibly illegal," Obeidallah writes. "But Ivanka Trump has done that and worse and we don’t hear a peep."
The non-partisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has been tracking Ivanka Trump's unethical conduct back to early 2017, and has filed complaints covering, among other things, her dealings with China and asked for an investigation into her and Kushner's real estate holdings.
"In April 2017, on the very same day Trump dined with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Chinese government granted preliminary approval for Ivanka’s long-sought-after trademarks for her namesake fashion brand," Obeidallah writes.
"Another jaw-dropping example of possible blatant corruption, as CREW detailed, came when Ivanka received preliminary approval for additional trademarks from China’s government on June 7, 2018," he adds. "What else happened on June 7, 2018? Her father agreed to lift sanctions against the massive Chinese telecommunication company ZTE, which is partly owned by the Chinese government. The Trumps aren’t even trying to hide the conflicts!"
CREW has asked the Department of Justice whether Ivanka Trump and her husband personally benefited from a new tax law that she had worked on, and the watchdog is cataloguing possible violations right up through last week -- when she allegedly violated the Hatch Act eight times in 48 hours.
"These allegations demand a full investigation to determine Ivanka and her father’s possible role in these sweetheart deals," Obeidallah writes. "Despite what Donald and Ivanka may believe, just because your last name is Trump does not mean you are above the law."


rawstory--2020-10-21--Trump has ‘routinely gossiped’ that Dr. Fauci was auditioning ‘to get a job at CNN’: report

On Tuesday , The Daily Beast reported that President Donald Trump is now convinced that Dr. Anthony Fauci is trying to play to the media to get positive attention , or maybe even a job .
“ In recent months , Trump has routinely gossiped with close associates and advisers that Fauci is behaving like a member of anti-MAGA ‘ resistance ’ commentators , ” reported Erin Blanco .
“ In the past few weeks , the president has told multiple people that he believes Fauci is angling to earn the media ’ s adulation and that it at times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disease expert is ‘ audition [ ing ] ’ or ‘ trying to get a job at CNN , ’ according to two sources with knowledge of his private comments.
” “ The result has been increasingly open bitterness from the president towards Fauci even as the pandemic has worsened across the country , ” said the report .
“ President Trump has not indicated that he plans to fire Fauci , multiple individuals who ’ ve spoken to Trump about the doctor said , in large part because of the political and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And Fauci recently told The Daily Beast that he has no plans to quit , no matter how uncomfortable or disorderly the COVID task force gets.
” Fauci , as one of the most prominent members of the coronavirus task force , has gained widespread national trust for his public health recommendations — many of which Trump has blown off .
Although Fauci has generally tried to stay diplomatic and apolitical in his analyses , he recently suggested he was not surprised the president was infected , which inflamed the president ’ s @ @

On Tuesday, The Daily Beast reported that President Donald Trump is now convinced that Dr. Anthony Fauci is trying to play to the media to get positive attention, or maybe even a job.
"In recent months, Trump has routinely gossiped with close associates and advisers that Fauci is behaving like a member of anti-MAGA 'resistance' commentators," reported Erin Blanco. "In the past few weeks, the president has told multiple people that he believes Fauci is angling to earn the media’s adulation and that it at times appears to him that the famous infectious disease expert is 'audition[ing]' or 'trying to get a job at CNN,' according to two sources with knowledge of his private comments."
"The result has been increasingly open bitterness from the president towards Fauci even as the pandemic has worsened across the country," said the report. "President Trump has not indicated that he plans to fire Fauci, multiple individuals who’ve spoken to Trump about the doctor said, in large part because of the political and media backlash that would invariably ensue. And Fauci recently told The Daily Beast that he has no plans to quit, no matter how uncomfortable or disorderly the COVID task force gets."
Fauci, as one of the most prominent members of the coronavirus task force, has gained widespread national trust for his public health recommendations — many of which Trump has blown off. Although Fauci has generally tried to stay diplomatic and apolitical in his analyses, he recently suggested he was not surprised the president was infected, which inflamed the president's anger.


rawstory--2020-10-21--University of Florida students get threatening emails warning them to vote for Trump — or else

On Tuesday , the Miami Herald reported that University of Florida students are receiving threatening emails with the subject line “ Vote for Trump or else !
” “ Alachua County officials were made aware of the emails on Tuesday morning .
In one of the emails , the sender told a voter to ‘ vote for Trump on Election Day or we will come after you , ’ according to a copy obtained by the Miami Herald , ” reported Ana Ceballos and Carli Teproff .
“ ‘ Change your party affiliation to Republican to let us know you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ the email said .
‘ We will know which candidate you voted for .
I would take it seriously if I were you . '
” County officials and the FBI are reportedly investigating the emails .
The messages came from an address called “ [ email protected ] , ” a seeming reference to the pro-Trump group the Proud Boys .
However , Vice ’ s Tess Owen spotted a number of red flags suggesting that the messages did not really come from the Proud Boys , and may have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Boys Chairman Henry “ Enrique ” Tarrio Jr. claims the group was a victim of spoofing and said , “ To whoever did this , I condemn these people.
” “ The first thing I did was panicked for a brief moment , ” said a UF journalism major who received the email and requested anonymity from the Herald .
However , she said she is not deterred by the voter intimidation tactic , adding , “ I am still going to vote .
”

On Tuesday, the Miami Heraldreported that University of Florida students are receiving threatening emails with the subject line "Vote for Trump or else!"
"Alachua County officials were made aware of the emails on Tuesday morning. In one of the emails, the sender told a voter to 'vote for Trump on Election Day or we will come after you,' according to a copy obtained by the Miami Herald," reported Ana Ceballos and Carli Teproff. "'Change your party affiliation to Republican to let us know you received our message and will comply,' the email said. 'We will know which candidate you voted for. I would take it seriously if I were you.'"
County officials and the FBI are reportedly investigating the emails.
The messages came from an address called "info@officialproudboys.com," a seeming reference to the pro-Trump group the Proud Boys. However, Vice's Tess Owen spotted a number of red flags suggesting that the messages did not really come from the Proud Boys, and may have been originated somewhere in Eastern Europe. Proud Boys Chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio Jr. claims the group was a victim of spoofing and said, "To whoever did this, I condemn these people."
"The first thing I did was panicked for a brief moment," said a UF journalism major who received the email and requested anonymity from the Herald. However, she said she is not deterred by the voter intimidation tactic, adding, “I am still going to vote.”


rawstory--2020-10-21--Ex-Fox News anchor Ed Henry attached 15 explicit photos to a court filing to slut-shame his victim:

Ex-Fox News anchor Ed Henry attached 15 explicit photos to a court filing to slut-shame his victim: report

Fox News correspondent Ed Henry was accused Tuesday night of “ slut-shaming ” his alleged rape victim with 15 salacious @ @ @ @ @ attached to a court filing in order to seek dismissal of a sexual-abuse lawsuit aimed @ @ @ @ @ .
“ That Defendant Henry would double down on his abusive conduct by engaging in @ @ @ @ @ shaming is simply abhorrent , ” said Michael J. Willemin , attorney for Henry ’ @ @ @ @ @ News reporter/producer Jennifer Eckhart , wrote in a letter Tuesday to U.S. District Judge Ronnie @ @ @ @ @ the case .
“ [ I ] t is obvious that Defendant Henry chose to @ @ @ @ @ intimate images of Eckhart to humiliate and retaliate against her for her decision to speak @ @ @ @ @ ” Eckhart continued , “ Sexual predators like Ed Henry are experts at coercion and @ @ @ @ @ keep them silent .
His disgusting and degrading tactic did not work on me as @ @ @ @ @ of him .
”

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?
Still, Ron DeSantis refuses to expand Medicaid, even though 93 percent of the cost is covered with money from Washington, DC. It’s the principle of the thing, apparently: he’s one of 11 red state governors who believes that working poor people simply shouldn’t get health coverage. After all, they didn’t have the good sense to be born into a wealthy family!
Michael, 30, lives in Orlando and has asthma, but running his little business buying and selling used furniture hasn’t earned him enough to cover his medical bills and to pay rent. He recently got an eviction notice, telling the Florida Health Justice Project:
“I was given a list of homeless shelters to choose from but I hope it doesn’t come to that.”
Ron DeSantis is just fine with this. Cruelty is his trademark.
Violence, hate, bigotry, and cruelty are the four cardinal points of fascism. Compassion and concern for the greater good, for the poor and weak, for the victims of fate and accident have no place in the fascist world.
Historians and political observers have been predicting that America would get our very own Mussolini ever since the days of Barry Goldwater. And there’s been no shortage of candidates: bribe-taking Nixon; Central American fascist-loving Reagan; Gitmo torturing and war-lying Bush; and, of course, Trump.
But with Ron DeSantis, we may finally be facing an all-American politician who has Mussolini’s guile, ruthlessness, and willingness to see people die to advance his political career, all while being smart and educated enough to avoid the easily satirized buffoonishness of Trump.
Mussolini was a famously short man who strutted with his muscular chest pushed out and his chin jutted forward, just like DeSantis, who Trump says is musclebound, likes to do.
Both men were socially awkward, craved power, lacked empathy, displayed casual cruelty, sucked up to the wealthiest men in the nation, and demonized opposition politicians — literally calling or implying their fellow citizens are “the enemy” (a favorite trick of Hitler and Orbán, as well) — to encourage their followers to support them or entertain the rhetoric of violence and threats of violence to achieve political ends.
Miriam, a single parent of two young children, discovered a lump in her breast but postponed visiting the doctor for months because she had no health insurance with her job as a housekeeper.
Finally, she realized the potential gravity of her situation.
“I needed to live to be there for my children,” she said.
She got treatment through the charity ward of a hospital, but even that treatment came with a cost of $2,183. She slipped behind in the $200 monthly payments when her job vanished with the pandemic and now she’s struggling to pay the $1783 she still owes in co-payments from her treatments. She’s been sent to collection and is living in fear of what’s next when the court finally comes after her.
Ron DeSantis is just fine with this. Cruelty is his trademark.
George Washington, in his Farewell Address, warned us of the possible rise of politicians like DeSantis who would suggest other Americans are enemies of the nation’s values, who would exaggerate policy differences in war-like terms, and who would ascribe the most evil of motives and intentions to simple political opponents.
“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism.”
But it wasn’t just that calling other politicians enemies or attributing evil motivations to them produced dissension and could tear a society apart, although those concerns were at the top of Washington’s mind.
He also knew that such rhetoric was the platform from which a literal strongman could arise in America, destroying the democracy he’d fought the Revolutionary War to create:
“But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism,” he told the nation. “The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.”
Such a warlike approach to politics, Washington said, could only lead in one direction:
“It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection.”
Such rhetoric, Washington argued, produces:
“A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.”
It’s been 225 years since George Washington uttered those words. And now we’re here.
Hipolito, the father of four, is worried about his life’s partner, the mother of their children.
“My wife has been in pain for weeks now but we can’t afford to find out why,” Hipolito told the Florida Health Justice Project. “I swear, I’m very afraid. She is pale and suffering every day.”
He notes that his wife hasn’t visited the doctor because their family can’t afford the expense when they must also house, feed, and clothe their kids on his job as a cook.
Ron DeSantis is just fine with this. Cruelty is his trademark.
Arresting black men for voting, terrifying them and ruining their lives while making sure they all get paraded in chains before the cameras.
Threatening public school teachers with prison for simply teaching history.
Lying about medical science regarding vaccines to suck up to the Trump base, resulting in fewer Floridians being protected from a disease that is killing literally hundreds of Americans every day.
Using rhetoric that feeds bigotry and hate against gay, lesbian, and trans people.
Intimidating the college board so they strip the Black Lives Matter movement out of their advanced placement African-American Studies curriculum.
Lying to asylum-seekers to get them on a plane to Martha’s Vineyard as a stunt to elevate his own political fortunes.
Ron DeSantis is just fine with all of this. Cruelty is his trademark.
Ignoring the health and safety of his state’s citizens, DeSantis led Florida into a veritable Covid Armageddon, letting (as of January 16th) 84,176 of his citizens die from the disease. As former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CBS’ Face The Nation:
“They let the virus spread largely unchecked in terms of personal mitigation. People weren't wearing masks. They weren't encouraged to wear masks. Vaccination was encouraged for the elderly population, but not widely… So they made policy choices, and the consequence was an infection that largely engulfed most parts of the state.”
After this orgy of death and disease, at the end of 2021 about 12 percent of Florida’s population — almost 2.6 million — still lacked any form of medical insurance because of DeSantis’ refusal to expand Medicaid for low-income people.
And now as many as 2 million more Floridians will join the ranks of the uninsured in the coming months.
Ron DeSantis is just fine with this. Cruelty is his trademark.


rawstory--2020-10-20--Trump tax returns show he held a bank account in China — as he spent years pursuing business deals t

Trump tax returns show he held a bank account in China — as he spent years pursuing business deals there: report

On Tuesday , as part of their series on President Donald Trump ’ s tax returns , The New York Times revealed that the president has held a previously unknown bank account in China , as he spent years pursuing business deals in the country .
“ Mr .
Trump ’ s own business history is filled with overseas financial deals , and some have involved the Chinese state , ” reported Mike McIntire , Russ Buettner , and Susanne Craig .
“ He spent a decade unsuccessfully pursuing projects in China , operating an office there during his first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with a major government-controlled company.
” “ And it turns out that China is one of only three foreign nations — the others are Britain and Ireland — where Mr. Trump maintains a bank account , according to an analysis of the president ’ s tax records , which were obtained by The New York Times , ” continued the report .
“ The foreign accounts do not show up on Mr. Trump ’ s public financial disclosures , where he must list personal assets , because they are held under corporate names @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are not clear .
The Chinese account is controlled by Trump International Hotels Management L.L.C.
, which the tax records show paid $ 188,561 in taxes in China while pursuing licensing deals there from 2013 to 2015.
” Trump Organization attorney Alan Garten said that Trump “ opened an account with a Chinese bank having offices in the United States in order to pay the local taxes ” required to do business in the region .
The president has sought throughout the campaign to claim that Joe Biden is soft on China and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family ’ s supposed business interests there .

"You mentioned the concept of accountability and how it is not something that Donald Trump is particularly familiar with," said anchor Alex Wagner. "I wonder what you think of the peril that he keeps putting himself in, legally speaking, by lashing out at prosecutors. Targeting judges. Speaking badly about the very people who will determine his fate. And being, effectively, not threatened, but potentially forced to pay a price for that in the form of a trial date that has moved, or a fine, or even the possibility of being incarcerated while he awaits trial. Do you think that there is anything at this point that could force Donald Trump to stop the vitriol and to stop the tweets and the rants? Or is he going to push it as far as he possibly can?"
POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?
"The short answer is no, he is not going to be able to stop himself," said Mary Trump. "There has been a really interesting shift over the last few months or couple of years. the way in which he is presenting himself in social media, the kind of attacking nature, and the aggressiveness, that used to be a strategy for him."
"You know, he used to throw temper tantrums strategically to get his way," she continued. "It is not strategy anymore."
"He is literally doing what he has done in other contexts, which is pushing the envelope to see how much he could get away with, which obviously, until this time, has been everything," she added. "But, the unconscious fear, terror, and especially if you have a fear of humiliation is so strong, that he cannot course correct and realize that what he's always done is, this time, not going to get him what he wants. In fact, quite the opposite."
Watch the video below or at the link.


rawstory--2020-10-20--‘Whiny orange baby’ Trump mocked for his panicked threat to scoop CBS on his own interview meltdown

On Tuesday , following reports that President Donald Trump stormed out of a “ 60 Minutes ” interview with Lesley @ @ @ @ @ , the president tweeted that he is considering releasing footage ahead of CBS , to @ @ @ @ @ “ FAKE and BIASED ” interview .
Commenters on social media laughed at the president @ @ @ @ @ over the content of the exchange .

"I just want to go back to Giuliani for a second, since you know these characters all so well," said anchor Joy Reid. "I want to read you what The New York Times — there was an opinion piece by one of his biographers, Andrew Kirtzman and David Holly what they wrote about Rudy has become. They wrote this. 'Faced with the political irrelevance and collapsing client base that would accompany Mr. Trump's defeat, in 2020, he seemingly made a Faustian bargain, working to undermine democracy in order to save his career.' I feel like it was a few years before that. What do you make of the fact that the RICO guy is now the RICO defendant?"
POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?
"Well, it's Shakespearean in its dimensions, because Rudy was an evangelist about the rule of law in a very draconian way," said O'Brien. "And he used RICO, I think, to great effect, as we all know to go after the mob. The argument being that you could never touch the people at the head of the mob families, because they were very good at insulating their own actions from their minions who went out there, soldiers out on the street, who did the crimes. Rudy said, it was very important to attach what lower-level people did to the people orchestrating the schemes. Shades of Donald Trump much later. Everybody who has been pulled up in the January 6th investigation has complained that they came there because Trump asked them to come here. They thought they were doing what they had been told to do, and yet Trump wasn't being held accountable."
"The argument against RICO being used by Fani Willis to go after Trump is then that it's overreach," continued O'Brien. "That it should only go after organized crime. But the statute is meant to go against organized criminal conspiracies, not necessarily just conspiracies that Italian mobsters were targeted for. And in that context, one of Giuliani's biggest cases in addition to the commission case targeting the mobsters was Wall Street. He brought down Drexel Burnham. He targeted Michael Milken, he cited the person in the financial web involving insider trading and financial fraud. He himself recognized that RICO wasn't a statute that should only be used against people we traditionally call organized criminals. Fani Willis, as you noted in your opening, has also adapted it to target other people, including drug dealers. And so, I think that the idea that this thing that he created has now come around and snapped him up is both ironic but overdue because he sold himself out and he sold himself out to Trump."
"It's a reminder how easily Trump corrupts people in his orbit, but he can only corrupt them if they're corruptible," O'Brien added. "And Rudy, for all of his finger-wagging over the years at people of color for being street criminals, mobsters and many others for not following the rule of law, has now shown he's just as base and just as craven as any number of the people he once prosecuted."
Watch the video below or at the link here.


rawstory--2020-10-20--Trump ripped after mask-shaming Lesley Stahl: ‘You’ve spent 9 months blasting masks’

President Donald Trump has spent the past year attacking those who wear a mask , even going so far as to bully his own White House staff for wearing a mask , demanding reporters take their masks off and claiming his opponent ’ s mask is too big .
Speaking to a Pennsylvania crowd in September , Trump asked if they kew “ a man that likes a mask as much ” as former Vice President Joe Biden .
“ It gives him a feeling of security , ” Trump said .
“ If I was a psychiatrist , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ big issues.
” He continued his attacks at the debate .
“ When needed , I wear masks .
I don ’ t wear masks like him , ” Trump said of Biden .
“ Every time you see him , he ’ s got a mask .
He could be speaking 200 feet away from them , and he shows up with the biggest mask I ’ ve ever seen.
” Trump tested positive for COVID-19 two days after the statement .
The Wall Street Journal observed that White House staff rarely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do so and when on Air Force One , it ’ s even less frequent .
“ I don ’ t agree with the statement that if everybody wears a mask , everything disappears , ” Trump told Fox News host Chris Wallace on July 19 .
To make matters worse , Trump ’ s own campaign team doesn ’ t wear masks , despite rules that they do so .
“ Facing no threat of enforcement , the Trump campaign has continued to make its own rules on coronavirus protections , said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speak freely , ” Politico reported in July .
“ For instance , staff have been told to wear masks outside the office , in case they ’ re spotted by reporters , but they ’ ve been instructed that it ’ s acceptable to remove them in the office , the individuals said , adding that staff also publicly joke about the risk of coronavirus and play down the pandemic ’ s threat.
” His attack on Stahl earned a lot of criticism from those online , one for his anti-mask policies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mocking him for obviously having such a tough time in the “ 60 Minutes ” interview that he is already having to do damage control .
Lesley Stahl already had the coronavirus back in May , which is probably why she doesn ’ t feel the need to wear a mask .
There are cases of people getting COVID-19 more than once , so it ’ s unclear if Stahl has the antibodies required for fighting the virus but most survivors of the virus do .
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