#would be an insult to the Capitol Police

[muddypolitics]

(via Jan. 6 Defendant Shuns Trump’s Pardon, Likening ‘Stop the Steal’ to a ‘Cult’ - The New York Times)

Pamela Hemphill, 71, of Boise, Idaho, who served 60 days in prison, said it would be “an insult to the Capitol Police” if she accepted the pardon.

One person redeemed is better than none.

Why aren’t there more patriots out there?

[urialnathanonwright]

Trump's Pardons: A Betrayal of Justice and an Assault on Democracy

Ladies and gentlemen, what we are witnessing is nothing short of a seismic assault on justice, accountability, and the very fabric of our democracy. Former President Donald J. Trump, in a decision that reeks of contempt for the rule of law, has pardoned virtually every individual involved in the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Let’s be crystal clear about what this means. This isn’t just a political calculation. This isn’t just a nod to his most fervent supporters. This is a brazen act of undermining the foundational principles that govern our nation — a nation built on the belief that no one, not even those who chant your name in rallies, is above the law.

For Trump to issue such sweeping pardons, including for individuals who violently assaulted police officers — men and women who put their lives on the line to protect this nation — is beyond abhorrent. It’s an insult to every officer who stood on the front lines, to every American who believed in accountability, and to every democracy-loving citizen who watched in horror as the Capitol was desecrated.

The excuse offered by Trump and his allies. That these individuals have "suffered enough" or that the justice system is "broken." Let me tell you what’s broken: the moral compass of anyone who believes that attacking the very heart of American democracy can be washed away with a stroke of a presidential pen.

Michael Fanone, a hero who endured a stun gun to his neck and countless injuries in defense of this country, called it “outrageous.” And he’s right. It’s a betrayal of every officer who bled, every family who mourned, and every citizen who believed that justice would be served.

And yet, this should come as no surprise. This is who Donald Trump is. A man whose primary loyalty is to himself and his political expediency, not to the Constitution he swore to uphold. He’s a man who equates the loss of his Twitter account with the suffering of those imprisoned for storming the Capitol, who sees justice not as blind but as something to be wielded as a weapon against his enemies and a shield for his allies.

To those who claim Trump was merely keeping a campaign promise: shame on you. Promises to undermine justice and exonerate the guilty are not campaign promises — they are threats. They are warnings of a descent into autocracy.

Let us be unequivocal: pardoning those who participated in an insurrection is not leniency. It’s complicity. It sends a message to every extremist, every would-be rioter, and every authoritarian that violence in the name of power will be forgiven, that the ends justify the means, and that the rule of law is nothing more than an inconvenience.

We must stand united against this. Not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans. Because if we allow this to stand, we are tacitly accepting that our democracy, our rule of law, and our very identity as a nation can be traded away for political expediency and applause lines at rallies.

Donald Trump may have pardoned them, but history will not. The arc of the moral universe may be long, but it bends toward justice — and it will not bend for Donald Trump.

[deadpresidents]

Hypothetically what do you think would have happened if the january 6 rioters had gotten to pence or pelosi before they got safe?

At this point, I almost dread answering questions like this anymore because I know the kind of hate mail it will unleash for the next few days, but it's important to keep talking about what happened on January 6, 2021 since so many people are trying to normalize it. That includes many people whose lives were in danger that day, as well as the former President who tried to hold on to power by encouraging his supporters to launch a violent insurrection and is now referring to those who have been brought to justice for attempting a coup as "patriots" and "hostages".

I genuinely believe that there were people in that crowd who would have killed Vice President Pence, Speaker Pelosi, and certain Congressional leaders if they had reached them on January 6th. I think there are people in that crowd who were ready to hold lawmakers hostage. Why else did they have handcuffs and zip ties? To help the Capitol Police maintain order? (Oh yeah...that's right, thanks for reminding me: they violently attacked the police -- some even beat police officers with the "Blue Lives Matter" flags that they brought with them.) Now, I do not think that everybody who was at the Capitol on January 6th -- or even the majority of those who took part in the insurrection -- were willing to go that far. I think a lot of them got swept up in what was happening and went with the flow. That doesn't excuse what they did. The flow that they got swept up in was still a fucking insurrection, and anyone who took part in that deserves to be held accountable. But I think there were certain elements embedded throughout that crowd that were much more organized and prepared to fully execute their plans for a coup after disrupting the certification of the Electoral College votes.

I actually think Vice President Pence was probably in more danger than even Speaker Pelosi or some of the Democratic leaders because Trump was so actively calling him out in the days and hours before the insurrection. I think that's why Pence is so adamant now about not supporting Trump. I mean, think about how disgustingly loyal and subservient Pence was to Trump throughout those four years until basically the first few days of January 2021. But even as other Republican leaders are crumbling and offering their allegiance to Trump again in 2024, Pence is standing by his decision not to endorse or support Trump, and I think that's because he realizes that Trump absolutely almost got him (and his family, who were with him in the Capitol on that day) killed on January 6th. Shit, even Mitch McConnell has folded and endorsed Trump again despite the fact that Trump has spent the last three years not only insulting him but also making racist attacks and questioning McConnell's wife's loyalty to the United States all because Elaine Chao had the audacity to resign from Trump's Cabinet in the wake of the insurrection. Yet Mike Pence -- who spent the better part of four years following Trump around like Paul Heyman follows Roman Reigns...

...THAT same Mike Pence is steadfastly refusing to endorse Trump because he has personal experience about how real of an existential threat Trump is. Some of those people at the Capitol were very serious about following through on their chants to "Hang Mike Pence", and not only does Pence realize that, but he also knows now that Trump -- who refused to take actions that would have helped clear the Capitol more quickly -- said "he deserves it" when hearing about those chants.

That's what is so scary about the insurrection, its aftermath, and the Trump Republican Party's redefinition of what happened that day. It almost worked. They stormed the United States Capitol and invaded both chambers of Congress. They carried Confederate flags into the United States Capitol -- even the fucking Confederate States of America didn't successfully invade Washington, D.C. and plant their flag in the Capitol. They were willing to hurt and probably kill some of America's elected leaders. And the people who helped plan and instigate the events of January 6th have spent the three-plus years since then learning from their mistakes and figuring out how to be successful next time. And guess what? "Next time" is only a few months away.

[mariacallous]

Pundits spent the past week expressing wonderment at how Donald Trump has lumbered back into the White House with a massive show of dominance and power. What they missed is that he’s already done more damage to the two most valuable assets of the office — its legitimacy and institutional power — than any prior presidency.

Trumpers have relished the chaos and utter dysfunction they’ve rapidly and deliberately sown, calling it a “shock and awe” operation. Leaving to one side the perversion of likening a president’s governance to the mass bombardment of a military adversary, the comparison of the start of Trump’s second term to the beginning of George W. Bush’s failed Iraq War may prove to be very apt, in a catastrophic sort of way.

While many are already unfurling “Mission Accomplished” banners for The Donald, there are many red flags flying.

Trump damages himself by pardoning cop beaters

Trump has long favored pardoning friends and cronies, as well as the friends and cronies of his friends and cronies. He apparently thinks arbitrarily exercising the pardon power brings him closer to the dictatorial status he aspires to.

But by making one of his first presidential acts pardoning nearly every one of the insurrectionists — including among them those who beat, bear sprayed, crushed, and concussed police officers — Trump immediately diminished himself and his office.

During a particularly unhinged news conference, during which Trump ranted about Southern California’s water supply being shut down by a nefarious plumber who closed a “valve,” the newly inaugurated president casually admitted how little thought or consideration he had given to the vile crimes he was excusing.

In response to a reporter asking why he pardoned an insurrectionist who had tased a Capitol Police Officer in the neck, an apparently befuddled Trump responded with “Well, I don’t know,” and then said he would “take a look” at it. (Watch below.)

As if to attempt to make up for letting off the violent insurrectionists, Trump followed up his cop-beater pardons by pardoning a cop responsible for killing a guy he was chasing for riding a moped without a helmet, as well as the partner who helped cover up the crime. That only amplified the (accurate) impression that Trump has departed from basic standards of decency.

The consequence of the debacle extended well beyond Trump himself. Before he issued his blanket pardons and commutations, his toadies offered assurances that he would not be so irresponsible as to let the violent insurrectionists off. These lackeys were immediately beclowned by Trump’s actions, and then, of course, leapt into action by offering embarrassing excuses for the Leader’s actions.

These apologists aside, a number of Republicans took the rare step of criticizing Trump’s first major presidential action, which a poll showed 58 percent of Americans disagreed with. It’s not a great opening look for a would be populist strongman.

The embrace of fascism

While Trump was busy letting off cop beaters and inviting the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers to become part of the “political conversation,” his top White House advisor, Elon Musk, was focused on directly associating the new regime with fascism at home and abroad.

During an inauguration day address, an ebullient Musk flashed two Hitler Salutes at a gathering of Trump supporters. Musk’s apologists later claimed, variously, that he had actually been giving a “Roman Salute” or — in an insult to persons on the spectrum — asserted that Musk’s salute was a product of his alleged “Asperger’s syndrome.”

Musk himself, however, couldn't be bothered to come up with such excuses. Instead, he responded to criticisms of his Sieg Heils with a tweet replete with National Socialist “humor,” including: “Some people will Goebbels anything down!“ and “Bet you did nazi that coming.” He even managed to include juvenile “anti-woke” humor in his Nazi tweet, saying: “His pronouns would’ve been He/Himmler!”

Lest there be any doubt that the presidential consigliere’s predilection for fascism is real, Musk later in the week addressed followers of the German far right nationalist party, AfD, and urged them to “move beyond” their “past guilt” and “get excited about a future for Germany.” (Watch below.)

Trump, for his part, has so far remained largely mum about his closest advisor’s now unmistakable embrace of fascism, even while leaders of the AfD attended his inauguration. By entering office announcing their proud association with the far right, Trump and his team of extremists are marginalizing themselves.

Open and notorious illegality

The massive stack of executive orders Trump signed provided the first indications of a serious problem: He and his cronies are simultaneously confirming their status as chronically sloppy bumblers while doing their best to destroy some of the very governmental institutions that GOP presidents, including Ronald Reagan, have used to implement the kind of rightwing policies Trump claims to favor.

Overreaching and amateurish executive orders are nothing new for Trump. He stumbled during his first weeks in office in 2017 when he tried to implement a “Muslim ban” that federal judges repeatedly recognized to be illegal and galvanized resistance throughout the country.

During recent months, Trump associates claimed they had carefully prepared to avoid the stumbles of his first term. It was therefore all the more surprising that, during the first couple of days of his second one, Trump signed many EOs that are patently illegal and gratuitously offensive to many constituencies Trump and his party have come to rely on.

For example, Trump signed an executive order that made a terrible argument for the false proposition that the president has authority to deny citizenship to the children of people born in this country. The order, which purports to deny citizenship to US-born children of undocumented immigrants, is at direct odds with the first clause of the 14th Amendment. Indeed, the order is chock full of embarrassingly false assertions of

It therefore should have come as no surprise when a federal judge appointed by Reagan imposed a temporary restraining order preventing the Executive Order from being enforced, stating that it is “blatantly unconstitutional” and observing: "I've been on the bench for four decades, I can't remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one is." Similar rulings are all but certain to come soon, and it seems highly likely that Trump has set himself up for an early, major — and entirely unnecessary — loss at the Supreme Court.

On Monday night, Trump made another blatantly lawless move, ordering his budget office to put a total freeze on “all federal financial assistance.” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed yesterday that the administration’s goal is “to ensure that all of the money going out from Washington DC is in a line with the president's agenda," but those dollars are appropriated by Congress and should flow regardless of Trump’s whims. Leavitt told reporters that organizations concerned about making payroll in light of the freeze should simply directly reach out to OMB Director Russ Vought, ignoring that fact that Vought hasn’t even been confirmed yet and that the order likely violates federal law.

Trump also unleashed a series of initiatives directed at the favorite bugaboo of the far right: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, otherwise known as civil rights. Trump left no doubt that his administration will be welcoming to invidious discrimination, including by revoking an executive order issued by Lyndon Johnson in 1965 requiring government contractors to ensure that their employees are “treated during employment, without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.”

Lest there be any doubt that the Trump administration is doing its very best to gin up an anti-civil rights movement, the Department of Defense ordered its educational personnel to censor training videos about the historic Tuskegee Airmen, until it was publicly shamed into retreating. The administration also established a hotline to snitch on suspected civil rights workers.

While the fair treatment of members of minority groups repulses a relatively small cohort of bigots among the MAGA base, such a governmental assault on non-white Christian Americans is a problematic cause for Trump, who has been trumpeting his purportedly outsized ability to garner votes from Latinos and Black Americans.

Nihilism

In recent days, Trumpers could be heard cackling in joy over the chaos that Trump’s reckless executive orders caused throughout the federal workforce. One apparent goal of this strategy is to drive as many people out of the government as possible.

The “be careful what you wish for” adage, however, could not more aptly apply. In situations like this, it’s always those who have the most sought-after skills and expertise that exit an organization, taking with them essential knowledge and abilities.

Trump’s moves may seem brilliant to nihilists who take glee in blowing up large portions of the government regardless of the consequences. But, as George W. Bush learned during Katrina, people get mighty angry when they find essential government services they rely on have been stripped away or placed in the hands of stooges.

Just as importantly, these attacks on governmental agencies and the personnel that constitute their essential infrastructure will hobble Trump’s efforts to carry out his extremist agenda. His acolytes imagine that they can restock the government with fellow extremists who just happen to have the skills and expertise required to ensure essential functions are preserved. It’s as if Trumpers don’t remember the huge costs past presidents — including Trump — have paid for putting cronies in charge, particularly during emergencies.

The first test is already upon us, as Trump confronts a rapidly escalating bird flu epidemic that is already resulting in egg prices far above those Trump used against Biden during the 2024 campaign. This is happening even as Trump is effectively inviting mission critical scientists and inspectors to leave the government’s employ.

On a longer term basis, Trump is already well on the road to doing just what the most successful far right president, Reagan, deliberately avoided — blowing up the institutions that will be essential to any actually successful effort to “remake” government.

As Reagan and his advisors recognized, it was essential to maintain the foundational infrastructure and prestige of lynchpin agencies like the DOJ, Treasury, and State Departments. Without them, a president’s powers are drastically diminished. But Trump and his acolytes are too enraptured by the flames and explosions resulting from the bombs they have been lobbing at public servants to think much about the potential consequences, including for their own agenda.

While Trump has been playing the role of The Great Dictator and ruling by decree, trouble’s been brewing. He just decamped to the sort of place he will spend much of the next four years, a golf course at a Trump resort. He’s summoned GOP lawmakers to Florida to pay him large sums and discuss perhaps the most important task of Trump’s next two years, but one he clearly finds uninteresting — passing critical legislation.

Trump and his sidekick Musk came close to causing a government shutdown, for absolutely no reason, just before Christmas. Since that time, Trump has evinced a characteristic lack of interest in the nuts and bolts of passing budgetary legislation. He reportedly told congressional leaders to come up with a way to get the debt ceiling raised to pay for his tax cuts and report back to him.

While Trump tries to keep his distance from the excruciatingly difficult task of passing anything through a House that has only a nominal Republican majority, he has also reportedly demanded that Congress pass a single, massive piece of legislation encompassing his entire agenda. It will renew and expand his unpopular tax cuts for the rich and gut essential programs — likely including ones for veterans, healthcare, education, housing, and nutrition.

The problem is that Trump and his team can’t afford to lose more than a couple of GOP votes to pass such a bill. Passage therefore requires a yes from pretty much every Republican lawmaker, from the “budget hawk” extremists to those in perilous positions in swing districts.

This, of course, is where the rubber hits the road. Many of the massive cuts in spending that GOP leaders have been floating will hit key Republicans constituencies even as Trump pushes for even more tax cuts slanted in favor of the ultra rich. Trump and his party are pursuing this strategy despite the fact that similarly regressive tax legislation, as well as a failed attempt to gut the Affordable Care Act, contributed to a major midterm loss for the GOP during Trump’s first term.

Trump is relying on fear and relentless pressure (the only type of politics he understands) to compel reluctant GOP lawmakers to vote for a bill that seems likely to doom some of them in under two years. But if only a few of them conclude that passage of Trump’s “one big beautiful bill” is likely to end their careers, it could be delayed and stripped down. Furthermore, successfully passing the bill on a party line vote could impose huge political costs on Trump and his entire party, given how unpopular key elements of it are likely to be.

In the meantime, Trump’s popularity — which while at a high for him, remains below 50 percent — could well start to decline, lessening his appearance of political invincibility.

Opportunities presented by disaster

Readers should not construe this assessment of Trump’s opening moves as a prediction of either his political demise or triumph.

Trump and his crew are plainly at war with democracy and are determined to stay in power regardless of how unpopular their policies may be. But the unpopularity of many of Trump’s policies, as well as the sheer idiocy of many of the his actions and those of his cronies, offer real opportunities to the opposition.

Whatever happens, nobody will be able to blame Trump and his party for failing to provide their opponents with a lot of ammunition to fight back.

[schraubd]

Hostage Situation

While it wasn't on my formal list, I propose that one of our collective new year's resolutions be to remember that one does not, under any circumstances, have to hand it to Elise Stefanik: Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) went after Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) on Sunday after Stefanik called those found guilty of crimes related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riots “hostages,” claiming that her divisive remarks are part of her efforts to join former President Trump’s 2024 ticket. [....]  “I have concerns about the treatment of Jan. 6 hostages,” [Stefanik] said. “We have a rule in Congress of oversight over our treatment of prisoners. And I believe that we’re seeing the weaponization of the federal government against not just President Trump, but we’re seeing it against conservatives.” In the immediate aftermath of January 6, Stefanik was vocal in demanding the Justice Department prosecute those responsible “to the fullest extent of the law.” But that was then, and this is now, and now Stefanik sees an opportunity to pander. That Stefanik is a craven opportunistic weasel is too clear to need remarking on at this point. Kudos also to Raskin for taking the obvious but nonetheless necessary shot: Raskin also demanded that Stefanik apologize for her comments, pointing to approximately 130 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza amid the brutal war with Israel. “People convicted of violently assaulting police officers and conspiring to overthrow the government are not ‘hostages,’” he said on X. “Stefanik must apologize to the families of 130 people being held hostage by Hamas right now. Her pandering to Trump is dangerous.” Israelis being raped and brutalized in Hamas captivity are "hostages". Insurrectionists imprisoned after being duly convicted for crimes following due process of law are not. Simple. And while Stefanik's casual insult towards actual hostages is hardly the primary story, anything that dims the ill-gotten luster Stefanik "earned" via her bad faith grandstanding about campus antisemitism is worth applauding. (Actually, I'll make one more observation here, which is that somehow prison abolitionists -- who might agree in concept with characterizing workaday criminal convicts as "hostages" and certainly would support greater scrutiny of how we treat prisoners -- have somehow managed to resist any "well, I may not like her, but you've got to hand it to Stefanik ..." temptations. Fancy that.). via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/MK1Gs2l

[385bookreviews]

1.45.4 The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

SPOILERS

Pages: 528

Read Time: 9 hours and 58 minutes

Overall Rating: 4.5★ Storyline: 4★ Dialogue: 3★ Characters: 5★

Genre: YA Dystopian

TWs for the book: Violence, death, murder, child death, war, blood, cannibalism, poisoning, gun violence, classism, gore, injury, child abuse, toxic relationship, death of a parent, confinement, toxic friendship, torture, police brutality, grief, execution, animal cruelty, animal death, su*c*de/thoughts/attempts, alcohol, drug use/abuse/addiction, physical abuse, gaslighting, emotional abuse, vomit, medical content, fire/fire injury, xenophobia, medical trauma, genocide, forced institutionalization, panic attacks, bullying, colonization, mental illness, slavery, kidnapping, hate crime, misogyny/sexism, stalking, dementia, trafficking, terminal illness, abandonment, chronic illness, racism, bombing, eating disorder, self harm, deportation, ableism, domestic abuse, infidelity, miscarriage

POV: Third person; Coriolanus Snow

Time Period/Location: Over the span of around 6 months in Panem, the new name for a fictional, dystopian version of North America, set 64 years before the first The Hunger Games.

First Line: Coriolanus released the fistful of cabbage into the pot of boiling water and swore that one day it would never pass his lips again.

The story centers around Coriolanus Snow, the future president of Panem we see antagonizing Katniss and Peeta throughout The Hunger Games series. 10 years after the rebellion of the districts and their defeat by the Capital, Coriolanus and his cousin Tigris and their grandmother are still feeling the affects of it. Tigris and Coriolanus have lost both of their parents, and the family has lost their fortune, barely managing to maintain appearances that they are still wealthy. Coriolanus goes to the Academy, and has plans to attend University the next year, but only if he can manage to win a prize by mentoring a tribute in that years Hunger Games.

He feels insulted by being given a District 12 tribute but hopes he can turn it around upon seeing the charismatic singer, Lucy Gray Baird, put on a performance at the Reaping and capture everyone's attentions. He waits for her at the train station and offers her a white rose from his grandmother's garden. She only takes a petal of it, but resolved, he rides in the caged truck bed with her to where the tributes are to be kept. This ends up with him and the rest of the tributes being dumped into the monkey house at the zoo. He is embarrassed, but Lucy Gray tells him to own it, and he plays it off for the news cameras. After being removed, Dean Casca Highbottom, who seemingly has a vendetta against him and knows of his family's poverty, gives him a demerit. Dr. Gaul, a mad scientist and head gamemaker overseeing the student's projects, commends him. Coriolanus continues to visit Lucy Gray at the zoo, along with Sejanus, a fellow classmate who Coriolanus despises but keeps on his good side anyways. Sejanus and his family were from District 2 but became wealthy Capitol citizens when his father supplied weapons to the Capitol during the war. Sejanus is guilt ridden by this, made worse by the fact that the tribute he is supposed to mentor was a classmate of his in District 2. He offers food to the tributes, but his tribute Marcus refuses to take anything. During school, Coriolanus and Dr. Gaul come up with new ideas for getting the citizens of the Capitol and all of Panem involved in the Games, such as betting on tributes and sending food into the arena, seeking to make it some kind of sporting event. On a trip back to the zoo with some of his other mentors to give the tributes food, Arachne Crane, the mentor of the District 10 girl, is killed by her through the bars of the enclosure. The District 10 girl Brandy is then shot by the Peacekeepers.

After this, Coriolanus and another classmate Clemensia are chosen by Dr. Gaul to put together a project explaining how to make the betting and food donation system for the Games work. Clemensia is too distraught to do the project, but Coriolanus finishes it on his own. They are summoned by Dr. Gaul to her lab where she is working on genetically engineered rainbow colored snakes. If the snakes are familiar with your scent, they are friendly and calm, but if not and you approach them, they attack you with venom. Dr. Gaul put the project papers in the snake tank and asks Coriolanus to lift them out, which he does without issue, however when Clemensia tries, she is bitten and begins to die and is whisked away to the hospital. Dr. Gaul says this happened because they lied about doing the project together when he did it on his own. Coriolanus sings the anthem of Panem at Arachne's funeral, and Brandy's body is dragged through the streets. The rest of the tributes are paraded through while shackled to the back of a truck. After this it is arranged for the tributes to tour the arena with their mentors, when suddenly bombs go off. Both District 6 tributes are killed along with their mentors, twins Diana and Apollo Ring. Lucy Gray rescues Coriolanus instead of trying to escape. The District 1 tributes are shot by Peacekeepers as they try to escape, the District 2 girl dies, and Marcus, Sejanus' District 2 boy, escapes. After his recovery, Lucy Gray begs Coriolanus to believe that she can actually win the Games and they begin plotting how she can do so. Before the Games begin, Coriolanus gives Lucy Gray an old compact of his mother's so she can smuggle rat poison into the arena. She gives him a kiss and tells him he has stolen her heart.

The boy tribute from District 5 dies before the Games can begin, so only 14 tributes enter the arena. They find Marcus' body beaten and tortured but still alive hung up on metal poles. This enrages Sejanus and he has an outburst in the Academy and leaves. The District 7 girl Laminia kills Marcus as an act of mercy. Dill, the girl from District 11, dies of illness some hours later. After an uneventful first day, Coriolanus returns home to find Sejanus' mother, and she says that Sejanus has disappeared and not come home since his outburst. That's when they spot him on TV in the arena, sprinkling bread crumbs on Marcus' body, something that was done to the dead in District 2. Dr. Gaul calls Coriolanus, demanding he come to the arena and rescue Sejanus. When he goes in, Sejanus refuses to leave, wanting to make a statement with his death, but Coriolanus convinces him otherwise. On their way out, Coriolanus is forced to kill Bobbin, a District 8 tribute.

As a way to cover up for his son's stunt, Sejanus' father creates the Plinth Prize for the mentor who's tribute wins the Hunger Games. It is a full ride scholarship to University, which is something Coriolanus desperately needs in order to be able to go because of his family's poverty. Sol, the girl from District 5, is killed almost immediately the second morning of the Games. Lucy Gray and Jessup, the District 12 boy, finally emerge from their hiding places, but it is clear that he has rabies and is trying to kill Lucy Gray. Coriolanus and Lysistrata, Jessup's mentor, send in huge amounts of bottled water, which trigger Jessup's hydrophobia and cause him to fall to his death. When Coriolanus arrives home he learns that his family will lose their apartment due to a new tax bill that they can't afford to pay.

On the third day, Mizzen and Coral from District 4 and Tanner from District 10 kill Laminia, who has been safe up on top of the rafters. Coral and Mizzen immediately turn on Tanner and kill him. Reaper from District 11, the most feared tribute, emerges and starts lining up all of the dead bodies. His mentor Clemensia, who was hospitalized for very long and deformed from the snake venom, cruelly refuses to give him any food as he isn't killing anyone. Gaius, one of the mentors in the program, died from his injuries from the bombing on the arena. Coriolanus discovers Dr. Gaul is planning on dropping the mutated snakes that bit Clemensia into the arena. He decides to drop a handkerchief that Lucy Gray had been using in the snake pit before it is put into the arena so that the snakes will not attack Lucy Gray.

Wovey from District 8 emerges the next day, only to immediately foam at the mouth and die. Coriolanus suspects Lucy Gray killed her with rat poison. Dr. Gaul announces Gaius' death and sets the snakes loose in the arena. Circ from District 3 is killed, along with Coral. Lucy Gray, however, emerges from the tunnels singing to the snakes, and they wrap around her dress and her arms perfectly at peace.

The next morning Teslee from District 3 uses drones to knock Mizzen down from the rafters and he falls to his death. Treech from District 7 kills Teslee with an ax to the skull. Lucy Gray emerges and he goes to attack her as well, but she runs and hugs him before he can swing at her and attaches a snake to his neck. The venom kills him. Lucy Gray taunts Reaper until he decides to drink from a puddle of water she poisoned with rat poison and he dies, making her the winner of the 10th Hunger Games. Before he can celebrate his victory, Coriolanus is sent to Dean Casca Highbottom, who reveals the handkerchief he dropped in the snake tank and the compact with the rat poison. With his cheating revealed, he has no choice but to give up his victory and join the Peacekeepers.

As a Peacekeeper Coriolanus goes to District 12 as he hopes to be able to see Lucy Gray there. He is beginning to consider su*c*de when Sejanus appears, having also joined the Peacekeepers. Sejanus was also given the choice Coriolanus was of expulsion or Peacekeepers, but he agreed to do so as long as Coriolanus could officially graduate the Academy with High Honors. Coriolanus resolves to take the officer's test to move up in the Peacekeepers. He makes plans to see Lucy Gray at a performance of her and her band, The Covey Bairds. He is forced to witness the execution of a rebel, who tells his lover to run before being hung from a tree. At the Hob, Coriolanus sees Lucy Gray perform, and they are about to reunite when her spurned lover Billy Taupe appears and causes a fight. Sejanus and Coriolanus leave the base the next day to go visit Lucy Gray and her family. She sings Coriolanus a song she wrote about the hanging the previous day, called The Hanging Tree. They talk and say it was written in the stars for them to be together. When Coriolanus and Lucy Gray return to the house, Sejanus and Billy Taupe are seen conversing, and Sejanus is drawing him a map of the Peacekeeper base and Sejanus admits they were discussing the girl who the rebel who had been hung told to run. She was captured by the Peacekeepers. Lucy Gray tells Billy Taupe off, and Coriolanus begins to suspect Sejanus as being a rebel sympathizer. Coriolanus writes a letter to Dr. Gaul as if he is still having lessons with her, telling her of what he is learning by being in the Districts.

The soldiers are assigned a new task of shooting jabberjays and mockingjays, but only after they assist Capital scientists in trapping 100 of each. Coriolanus is thrilled that his ideas are being heard, as he hates the fact that the mockingjays exist, seeing them as being out of control. When they go to see the Covey perform again, Coriolanus finds Sejanus sneaking around the Hob and decides to keep a closer eye on him. Lucy Gray confesses that Billy Taupe wants her to run away with him up north. While working with the jabberjays, Sejanus comes up to Coriolanus to confess something to him, and Coriolanus presses record on a remote so the jabberjay records the conversation. Sejanus tells him he is going to run away and go north with Billy Taupe, and needs Coriolanus' help to free the captured girl. Coriolanus refuses to help and tries to talk him out of it but fails, and then sends the jabberjay off knowing that Dr. Gaul will hear of Sejanus' treason. Lucy Gray and Coriolanus walk in on Billy Taupe and Sejanus trading illegal weapons, and Lucy Gray diffuses the situation by saying she'll go north with Billy Taupe. Then Mayfair Lip, the mayor's daughter that Billy Taupe cheated on Lucy Gray with, appears and threatens to reveal the whole scheme, so Coriolanus, not wanting him and Lucy Gray to look like rebels, shoots Mayfair, and then another rebel present named Spruce shoots Billy Taupe when he tries to stop Lucy Gray from leaving. Spruce runs off with the guns that have Coriolanus' fingerprints, but is brought to the Peacekeeper base the next day severely wounded. Sejanus is then arrested and executed for treason.

Coriolanus is told that he is being sent off to become an officer, but with Spruce now dead he is worried that the guns with his fingerprints will show up eventually, and he decides to run away with Lucy Gray. In the time that it takes for them to get to their usual hangout spot deep in the woods, Coriolanus has already decided that this kind of life isn't for him. In the abandoned cabin he finds the guns with his DNA and realizes he can go back and become an officer, but Lucy Gray runs off, realizing he plans to go back and that he betrayed Sejanus. He chases after her, and she planted her orange scarf by a snake that bites him. He fires the gun at random into the woods but can't tell if he killed Lucy Gray or not. He throws the guns into the lake and makes it back to the base. The next day he gets on a hovercraft bound for District 2 so he can become an officer. He is sent to the Capital instead and is greeted by Dr. Gaul. Him becoming a Peacekeeper was a plot of hers the whole time, and she had him honorably discharged and enrolled at the University.

He becomes an apprentice gamemaker, and became the heir to Sejanus' family fortune as they didn't know he was the reason he died and adopted him as their new son. He finally learns the truth as to why Dean Casca hated him so much. Him and Coriolanus' father were friends at the University and given a project by Dr. Gaul to come up with a way to punish the Districts after a war, he joked that they should have the Hunger Games. Coriolanus' father turned the assignment in to Dr. Gaul, betraying Casca's trust, and making him the creator of the Hunger Games. It is left unsure whether or not Lucy Gray ran away into the woods or if she died, as back in District 12 it is speculated the mayor had her killed. He uses rat poison to kill Dean Casca, and the book ends with his family motto: "Snow lands on top."

Coriolanus Snow (Coryo): This was an incredible backstory for Snow. You know that he's going to turn out evil, but at the same time you are rooting for him to be a good person and to win the Games early on in the book. Getting to finally see his internal monologue and his motivations and logic, and how he was shaped by Dr. Gaul, really puts the rest of the book series into perspective. He isn't a loveable protagonist whatsoever, and at the end of the book when he is a Peacekeeper you really start to get his true perspective of things. He never loved Lucy Gray, but saw her as his, an object and a possession, a toy that he eventually got bored of. He saw the mockingjays as an affront to the control of the Capitol, like a mockery. This series puts into perspective everything Katniss did later on and her entire symbolization and why it was so triggering to Snow and why he hated her so much.

Lucy Gray Baird: I agree with a lot of the character evaluations of her that I have seen that she is not meant to be similar to Katniss, but rather to Peeta. They both are able to manipulate audiences and put on a show, and I believe this is why Snow targets Peeta and uses him the way he does in Mockingjay. Lucy Gray wasn't what he wanted her to be, so he discarded her when she wasn't useful. I like that they ended her story mysteriously, with you not knowing whether or not she died or if she escaped on her own and made it north.

Sejanus Plinth: Following the theory that Peeta reminds Snow of Lucy Gray, Katniss reminds him of Sejanus. Sejanus was arguably more influential in Snow's life than Lucy Gray, and his "betrayal" affected Snow more. This might explain why Snow treated Katniss more like a peer, and Peeta more like toy. As for Sejanus himself, I enjoyed his character a lot, just wishing he was less naive and didn't trust Snow like he did.

Tigris Snow: We see Tigris in the Hunger Games, a mutated person altered beyond recognition and wanting Snow dead. I so desperately need to know what happened between The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Mockingjay that turned their close relationship to the point that she wanted him dead.

Storyline: Watching Snow transform into the monster we know him as was an immensely compelling storyline. You slowly watch his downfall into authoritarianism and cruelty and it's a painful read but so, so good. Suzanne Collins gave so much backstory and explanation for things that happen later. None of it felt forced or thrown in there just because. Things like The Hanging Tree song and Snow's connection to it being fully explained makes the rest of the series feel so much more real and everything has a lot more significance than it did. Also learning that Snow (with the help of Dr. Gaul) made the Games into the spectacle we see in the original trilogy ties everything together in the best way possible.

Representation: Pluribus, a club owner and smuggler close with the Snow family reveals that he used to have a husband. One of the Covey Baird girls has a girlfriend.

Summary: The writing style between this book and what I remember of the original books is definitely different, and it was weird to me at first but ultimately, as it's from Snow's perspective, it makes total sense and adds to things. Snow is an unreliable narrator from the jump, but you don't really realize that until nearing the end of the book. This book really just adds to the series as a whole and takes to an impossibly high standard for an already legendary dystopian YA series.

Quotes: "I'm so blameless I'm choking on it."-Sejanus Plinth (pg. 73) "He comforted himself with the thought that she was old and no one lived forever." (pg. 161)

[mightyflamethrower]

Do you, or do you not believe this event happened as described?

If you believe the event happened as described, you are an idiot.

No Capitol Security officer would treat even a potential Member of Congress in this manner, and if they did so, they would be fired on the spot. Members of Congress are given deference to the extent that they don’t even have to go through security, and security officers are encouraged to memorize the faces of members for this reason.

Further, if a security pin were stolen it would be reported quickly for this reason–they are meaningless if there are lost ones in the wild. And if the Security guy thought it was stolen he would have detained her.

Blah blah blah. You can come up with a million reasons not to believe that this happened, but two stand out: 1) it is inconceivable that such an event happened and the American public didn’t hear about it, especially from Barbara Lee, who is a race-baiter extraordinaire; and 2), most examples of shocking racial incidents turn out to be hoaxes. It is almost axiomatic these days.

That’s not to say that racism has disappeared in America, or anywhere else for that matter. People are tribal by nature, and race is one of many things that can trigger a negative tribal reaction, just as it can trigger an unreasonable positive reaction in some people. The celebration of “people of color” these days as some special group is just as absurd as thinking that having less melanin in your skin makes you special.

But people are people. In my family, the prejudice is aimed more at Southerners than racial groups–my father freely admits, now that I have pounded him for it, that he has an instinctive bias against Southerners. A lot of Black people distrust Whites, and vice-versa. And all reasonable people are prejudiced against the French.

But events like the one Barbara Lee described don’t happen in modern America. Overt racism is so taboo that, generally speaking, you can only exhibit it against White people. You can hate Whites for being Whites all you want, but otherwise, you are socially punished (and legally, often) for disparaging others’ races.

This is not secret knowledge. It pervades our society, and in an environment where a door pull can become a noose at the whim of a Black man, no Capitol Police officer is going to insult a Black congresswoman like that.

In the annals of things that never happened, this is the one that happened the least.

Verdict: she is a bald-faced liar.

I'm convinced...............they believe their own lies.

[bouncinghedgehoginblackandwhite]

BREAKING: The infamous "MAGA granny" who served prison time for her role in the January 6th attack puts the other insurrectionists to shame by rejecting drump’s pardon because she was "wrong" to storm the Capitol.

This is a powerful moral stand....

"Accepting a pardon would only insult the Capitol Police officers, rule of law and, of course, our nation," Pamela Hemphill told the BBC. She recognizes that she was wrong to join the riot and deserved to be convicted

"We were wrong that day. We broke the law. There should be no pardons," she added.

Hemphill pleaded guilty in 2022 to a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing at the Capitol Building. Three additional misdemeanor charges were dropped and she spent two months in prison, received three of probation, and was forced to pay $500 in restitution.

"I pleaded guilty because I was guilty, and accepting a pardon also would serve to contribute to their gaslighting and false narrative," Hemphill said.

"A lot of people have been telling me to take the pardon, and then others are very happy that I’m not, but this, this has to do with part of my amends,” she said on CNN.

"They’re trying to rewrite history. That January 6 was not an insurrection, and I don’t want to be a part of that. It was, it was an insurrection. It was a riot," she went on.

"The DOJ was not weaponized against me. In fact, I had a wonderful judge and I’m lucky I didn’t get more time, but I don’t want any part of no pardon," she added.

It's refreshing to see that at least one of the MAGA insurrectionists has seen the error of their ways and taken responsibility for their crimes. Her courage just makes the shame of the others all the more pronounced.

Drump's mass pardon of roughly 1,500 insurrectionists will go down in history as one of the most lawless acts ever taken by an American president.

Please like and share!

[todaysamlearned]

Today I learned that you likely can't refuse a presidential pardon.

[friday-911]

"MAGA Granny" refuses pardon!

"Accepting the pardon would be an insult to the Capitol Police officers, to the rule of law, to our nation," Hemphill, 71, said Tuesday, per the Idaho Statesman.

"The J6 criminals are trying to rewrite history by saying that it was not a riot; it wasn't an insurrection. I don't want to be a part of their trying to rewrite what happened that day."

[boricuacherry-blog]

Felon President Pardons over 1,000 Violent Criminals in the U.S.; deports foreign citizens who haven't committed any violent crimes

But one woman who has served time for taking part in the U.S. Capitol riot four years ago has refused a pardon from Trump, saying:

"We were wrong that day."

Pamela Hemphill, who pleaded guilty, said there should be no pardons for the rioters, stating:

"Accepting a pardon would only insult the Capitol police officers, rule of law, and of course, our nation."

Hemphill went on to say she felt she was brainwashed by Trump to join what she called the "MAGA cult." She has since come to the light.

Officer Fanone has been forced to request an order of protection against Rodriguez, as he now fears for his life, since Rodriguez has confidently stated he will commit more crimes on American soil, and shows no remorse for the violent acts he committed.

Unfortunately, the current President, who is coincidentally a felon himself, doesn't seem to be tough on crime when it comes to American citizens. What other criminals will he pardon next?

Well, he's also pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who sold an abundance of illegal drugs on the dark web for years.

[rcarrasquillo19]

Trump Pardoned Her for Storming the Capitol. ‘Absolutely Not,’ She Said.

[mariacallous]

WASHINGTON — Speaking at antisemitism event on Thursday, Donald Trump doubled down on attacks on American Jews — those who do not vote for him.

He suggested that Jews would be to blame if he loses in November. He also said American Jews who vote for Democrats harm American interests, in an escalation of his standard rhetoric.

Trump made the comments at an event Thursday evening called “Fighting Antisemitism,” sponsored by the Israeli-American casino magnate Miriam Adelson, one of the biggest donors to his campaign. The room at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., was packed with dozens of supporters of the former president, including donors and Orthodox Jews who repeatedly cheered him.

Trump has for years made the claim that American Jews who mostly vote for Democrats are mentally ill, and this year, he has taken to saying that Jews who vote for Democrats need to “have their head examined.” He has also repeatedly said Israel will be destroyed if he loses the election, a prediction he repeated Thursday.

But in this speech, he also said Jews would be at fault if he loses, citing the low percentage of Jewish voters who have historically supported him. He referenced a poll he said he saw showing that he could receive 40% of the Jewish vote — which itself would be a marked increase for him from 2016 and 2020.

“I will put it to you very simply and gently. I really haven’t been treated right, but you haven’t been treated right, because you’re putting yourself in great danger, and the United States hasn’t been treated right,” he said. “The Jewish people would have a lot to do with the loss if I’m at 40%. Think of it, that means 60% are voting for Kamala.”

The speech was one of two Trump gave to Jewish audiences in Washington on Thursday. He also spoke at the Israeli American Council’s conference following the “Fighting Antisemitism” event. He had also been scheduled to visit a kosher restaurant in a Hasidic Brooklyn neighborhood earlier in the day, but that campaign stop was canceled after the restaurant owner died.

Trump told both audiences Thursday night that he would “deport the foreign jihad sympathizers and Hamas supporters from our midst” and restore a ban on travel from several Muslim-majority countries that he instituted in 2017. The ban was opposed at the time by a broad range of Jewish groups.

“I will ban refugee resettlement from terror-infested areas like the Gaza Strip,” he said. “And we will seal our border and bring back the travel ban. Remember the famous travel ban? We didn’t take people from certain areas of the world because I didn’t want to have people ripping down and burning our shopping centers and killing people. We’re not taking them from infested countries.”

The IAC does not necessarily represent all Israeli Americans; while Trump was speaking, another group launched called American-Israelis for Kamala.

“The initiative was formed to share the perspectives of Israeli Americans — who are deeply involved in and touched by what happens in Israel — with other Jewish voters to share why love for Israel motivates them to vote for Harris,” said the group’s announcement. Some of the organizers were identified with UnXeptable, a group that organizes solidarity protests with Israelis who oppose the polices of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump’s laments about the majority of Jews who vote against him — and who are expected to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris — were a theme of the night.

“It’s craziness to say, I’m at 40%,” he said of the poll. “When I heard that number today, just came out today — when I heard that number today —I think it was insulting to our country. It was insulting to Israel.”

It also represented a shift that Trump explicitly said that American Jews who vote for Democrats harm American interests; he has previously said they don’t show sufficient loyalty to Israel.

Democrats and a number of Jewish activists have said his rhetoric about Jewish Democrats is antisemitic, a claim that Halie Soifer, the head of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, repeated Thursday in response to his speech. The Jewish Council for Public Affairs also denounced the speech, as it had done the last time he gave a speech on antisemitism in August, when he said Jews who vote for Democrats are mentally unstable.

“Trump continues to label Jews who don’t support him as disloyal and crazy, to play into dangerous dual loyalty tropes, and to blame Jews for a potential electoral loss,” the liberal-leaning public affairs group said.

Trump repeated and expanded his attacks on New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate majority leader and most senior Jewish elected official in U.S. history.

“Chuck Schumer is a Palestinian,” Trump said, the latest time he has used the identity as a pejorative. “What the hell happened to him?”

Appearing to make a joke, he added, “I saw him the other day, he was dressed in one their robes, you know. That’ll be next.”

Trump said, as he has in the past, that Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel would not have happened if he were president. He also repeated claims that Israel would be wiped out within two years if he is not elected. “Israel, in my opinion, within a period of two or three years, will cease to exist,” he said. “It’s going to be wiped out.”

He repeated that claim an hour or so later when he addressed the Israeli American Council’s conference elsewhere in the city.

“Israel will be faced with total annihilation,” he told the conference. “You have a big protector in me, you don’t have a big protector on the other side.”

Jews who vote for Democrats should “have their head examined,” he said to cheers. “Tel Aviv and Jerusalem will become unlivable war zones.”

Before the “Fighting Antisemitism” event, Trump met with Andrei Kozlov, an Israeli held hostage for months by Hamas who was rescued in an Israeli military operation in June, and brought him onstage during the event. Trump also met with families of hostages held by Hamas and killed by the terror group.

Also Thursday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, met with families of Israeli Americans still held hostage.

Trump also told the “Fighting Antisemitism” group, referring to Harris, that “Israel has to defeat her.” He added, “It’s the most important election in the history of Israel.”

Adelson introduced Trump at both events, held at hotels on opposite sides of Washington’s northwest quadrant. She urged audiences to thank Trump as a champion of Israel.

“You should already have made your mind on who to vote for, Donald J. Trump,” she told the “Fighting Antisemitism” gathering. “He is a true friend of the Jewish people.”

Trump echoed the line at the Israeli American conference. “If you want Israel to survive, you need Donald J. Trump as the 47th president of the United States.”

[mitigatingacademics]

{10.07.2024 + 10.08.2024}

Fav coworker is at Disneyland.

She literally left on a plane after our last shift together.

To add insult to the left behind, the last night of my work week was spent with the coworker that allows for no personal productivity. 

...and he was on a roll, having just come off his rest days. 

Democrats control the weather and Helene was engineered to provide access to resources inside the mountains. 

Lasers from China are the reason for California wildfires. 

'Illegals' in California are 'voting' conservative because they've escaped the communism of Cuba. 

[He saw a FB reel from the Republican National Convention where someone made a big deal about 169 delegates being pledged to Trump from California. He took this to mean the most liberal state in the union is going conservative. A quick Google shows Kamala got 482 delegates from California, so...]

...and then, somehow, re: J6 -- it's entirely possible that the "mob" was 'peaceful,' it's a matter of interpretation', and Trump waiting hours to address the issue wasn't problematic, he shouldn't have addressed it at all, just let it play out. 

Me: So, just let them assassinate an entire joint session of Congress? 

Him: ... Where were the Capitol Police? 

The irony of wanting to wrap my hands around his neck...

Liz says there's no place for violence in our politics. 

Liz says there's no place for violence in our politics. 

Liz says there's no place for violence in our politics. 

Lord help me. 

He started in about how there was an 'election' in North Carolina that resulted in the people voting against mining in the mountains and how it's 'really convenient' that those people lost their homes a few months later. 

This, of everything, I found somewhat worth fact checking.

[I had not, at any point, indicated that there *would not* be fact checking. 😂]

I Googled 'North Carolina vote against mining.'

Coworker was *not* impressed by the first result: 

CBS: Hurricane Helene Conspiracy Theories About Lithium Mining, Weather Control Spread Widely 

Searching among those results for something 'unbiased:' 

PBS: Disinformation and Conspiracy Theories Cloud Helene Recovery Efforts in Hard-Hit Areas 

He came back with: "But who is donating to PBS?" ... VIEWERS LIKE YOU, SIR. 

Ultimately, maybe the 'election' he heard about was a 'poll.'

Alternatively, maybe all the evidence of that 'election' and its results have been scrubbed from the internet. They can do that, you know. 

He also said the $750 in immediate emergency funds to displaced individuals was insulting. When I explained that wasn't the extent of the aid being offered and asked what he would consider 'not insulting,' he said he didn't think the government should be giving any money at all. 

Churches should be helping the people, he said. Then he went off on a tangent about how FEMA has no right to attempt to gather, organize, and direct resources.  

Basically, whatever you do, it's going to be wrong. 

I tried to interject that the Republican Governor of North Carolina has said publicly, many times, when asked about Trump's claims that aid isn't forthcoming due to impacted areas being 'red,' that Biden was in touch from the beginning and said whatever was needed would be provided, they just needed to ask. 

Coworker: Why isn't he there?! 

Me: He's an 80 year old man. You want him to contribute physically? 

Coworker: He's the President! He should be there! 

Me: Are you familiar with the resources necessary to support a Presidential motorcade? 

Coworker: No. 

🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Not that he would have pulled a Trump and tossed paper towels at hurricane victims, but Biden has actually been praised for having the insight to stay away from the impacted area for the time being. 

You can't reason with folks like this, though.   

Thankfully, I finished Issue 4 the previous night. (I miss you, fav! 😢) 

I found the second half much more entertaining - my mind engages more effectively when I disagree with what I'm reading. 

I also decided, given that I chose to pay $250 for the subscription [and 250 points towards purchasing Bar Prep materials that I won't need for like, 7 years, if ever, and am not likely to purchase from Quimbee, anyway], to see what Quimbee had to say about the relevant cases. 

[Much] later, I got my Covid and Flu vaccines...and the now traditional iced coffee reward. This time a Caramel Apple Iced Latte.

About an hour ago I received an e-mail informing me that my manager has submitted her Letter of Recommendation. 🙌🙌

I'm so relieved that, if I wasn't completely mentally spent, I might actually cry. 🤣

For now, I'm gonna crash soon - for probably about 12 hours (that's what happened last time and why we get our vaccines on our rest days) and hopefully wake up refreshed, inoculated and prepared to submit law school applications before vacation so that I can actually enjoy the trip! 🙌

[worldofwardcraft]

American terrorist.

October 26, 2023

Watch The Sopranos or The Godfather or Goodfellas, and you'll get a pretty fair notion of how Mafia bosses operate. They never come right out and say, "I want you to murder Joey Peanuts." Instead, they'll say something like, "That rat Joey should be taken care of." And because he's done business with mobsters his whole life, this is also how Donald Trump deals with those he considers enemies. He says something offensive about somebody, then sits back and waits for his obedient MAGA foot soldiers to take action.

It's called stochastic terrorism, the public demonization of a person or group that results in the incitement of a violent act. We saw a chilling example of this on January 6, 2021, when Trump told a crowd of supporters that the presidential election was stolen and they should all march to the Capitol.

He didn't specifically instruct them to break into the building, attack the Capitol police, disrupt Congress and murder the vice president. But that's what he hoped would happen. In true mob boss fashion, Trump merely told them, "If you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore."

Trump's repeated grievance that the election was stolen inspired a nationwide wave of death threats and harassment against election administrators — from secretaries of state to the lowest-level local poll workers. However, now that he's been indicted for 91 separate felonies, Trump has turned the attention of his MAGA henchmen to the judges, prosecutors and witnesses in those cases.

At his cult rallies and on his failing social media platform, Trump regularly calls Special Prosecutor Jack Smith "deranged," New York AG Letitia James a "Trump hater," Arthur Engoron (the judge in his fraud case) a "radical left judge," and Tanya Chutkan (the judge in his election subversion case) a "radical Obama hack." He has also issued rabble-rousing insults and accusations about witnesses, court employees and potential jurors.

As a result, nearly all of the above have received threats from Trump's minions. For instance, The New York Times reported how a woman called Judge Engoron's chambers and said that if Trump were not reelected next year, “we are coming to kill you.”

Both judges have issued partial gag orders in an attempt to moderate Trump's dangerous discourse. Still, unable to keep his big bazoo shut, Trump continues to emit inflammatory statements. Like the one he posted the day after his arraignment in August: "If you go after me, I'm coming after you." A terroristic threat from a mob boss? Sure sounds like it.