98 U.S. cities where protesters were tear-gassed recently, as we know, for protesting the murder of an American citizen by a police officer on the streets of Minneapolis.
And yes, Kansas City, Missouri, you're on the list. Our own Kansas City, Missouri police force gassed fellow citizens.
Not legal in war but a-okay for our police to use on tax-paying, American citizens here on our streets.
Maureen Dowd poses a great question today in the New York Times:
"How could we possibly, in a brief stretch, have gone from the euphoria of our first black president to the desolation of racial strife ripping apart the country?"
Great statement from the protest locally I heard on the evening news. It was said by a speaker at the protest this past Sunday, I believe, by one of the organizers, on the Plaza:
After President Trump's apparent orders to use tear gas on peaceful protesters at the White House yesterday so he could get a photo opportunity for himself, of himself, holding a Bible in front of a church, the stuff is hitting the fan, so to speak. Herewith, just a few quotes and articles on it all.
Just some of the headlines from the last 24 hours.
“This is an awful man, waving a book he hasn’t read, in front of a church he doesn’t attend, invoking laws he doesn’t understand, against fellow Americans he sees as enemies, wielding a military he dodged serving, to protect power he gained via accepting foreign interference, exploiting fear and anger he loves to stoke, after failing to address a pandemic he was warned about, and building it all on a bed of constant lies and childish inanity.”
-- Robert Hendrickson, Rector at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Tucson, Arizona.
Another minister in Washington said this but I can't find his name, unfortunately.
"You had a Bible in your hand. It's clear you don't have it in your heart."
This is the disturbing, possibly frightening aspect of the Trump administration and its handling of national issues.
“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”
This is my biggest fear and concern about this President and for our nation. This is how he is most dangerous. He's bad enough at attacking Democracy and our Constitution, no exaggeration, but this is where he gets most frightening.
There's a Covid-19 rebellion brewing in Pennsylvania, where counties led by Republicans and some businesses have said they'll defy Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf's restrictive orders.
Wolf has said he'll withhold stimulus funding from those counties if they ignore his orders. He's taken a tiered strategy to reopening the state and moved scores of counties to a new, more open "yellow" phase. Some of those still on "red" don't want to wait for the state anymore.
President Donald Trump, naturally, cheered on the counties on Twitter on Monday, and accused Democrats of trying to slow-walk the opening to hurt him in November. (For Trump, it's always about Trump, even if it's actually about public safety.)
The President's tweet:
"The great people of Pennsylvania want their freedom now, and they are fully aware of what that entails. The Democrats are moving slowly, all over the USA, for political purposes. They would wait until November 3rd if it were up to them. Don't play politics. Be safe, move quickly!
He, this President, is stoking dangerous fires here. He is fomenting confrontation, at least, if not out and out rebellion and/or violence instead of cooperation among us. In the face of the worst not just pandemic but killing, deadly and international pandemic in the last more than 100 years, this President is urging people to rebel and revolt instead of work together. And he has a history of it, too.
This is where he is most dangerous. Most dangerous to us all, to the nation. This President and his administration are legitimately a threat to Democracy, the Constitution and the rule of law, all 3.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump called the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election a "hoax" while on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
I said, 'You know, it's a very appropriate time, because things are falling out now and coming in line showing what a hoax this whole investigation was, it was a total disgrace, and I wouldn't be surprised if you see a lot of things happen over the next number of weeks,"' Trump told reporters about his conversation with Putin.
I'm telling you, folks, you just can't make this stuff up.
Yet they still support this man. If it were anyone, anyone else but Donald Trump, this would be unbelievable.
This President and his administration are legitimately a threat to Democracy and our Constitution and the rule of law, all 3, no exaggeration, provably, verifiably, documentably.
Adding to the fact that this has been the most protested administration, both before and after it took office and, again, both nationally as well as internationally, there is now this.
Look at that. It's incredible.
--A total of 10 people already resigned in less than 6 months of an otherwise entirely new administration.
--Four people left the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency. Or what used to be the Environmental Protection Agency, anyway. Now it's the Fossil Fuel Protection Agency, it seems.
--And a total of four people were fired from this administration. So far.
Yet one more indication and example of the turmoil of this man Trump and his administration.
There were, as I pointed out earlier, an unprecedented number of protests not just all across the nation, which I don't believe ever occurred before, but all across the world, as well, and on all 7 continents.
So here we are, one week later and he's done it again. First, across the nation.
It's important we both know and keep in mind that all of these protests are, in fact, not just unprecedented for even a US President but especially a just-inaugurated President. Two weekends in a row of protests in the home nation and across the globe and we're only 9 days in to the administration.
Lots of us across the nation predicted a Trump Presidency would be turbulent. None of us, I think it's safe to say, thought it would be this much. It seems clear it's going to be a far wilder ride with this man, this Mr. Donald J. Trump than we would have ever imagined.
A friend wrote this today on his Facebook page. I had written something similar to it some time back:
"I feel it in my gut it's gonna be a hot summer, with occupy protests , crime, an ugly election cycle, possible world economic turmoil, tears, laughter , presidente, guiness, musica, bad rap blasting, good hip hop, great movies, commercial crap, hot sex, beaches, fun nights...and hot days and hurricanes....prepare for the ride..."
Two articles were brought to my attention, purely by chance, on Facebook today. The first points to statistics showing that the world is less violent today than we were in the past: ‘The Better Angels of Our Nature’Believe it or not — and I know that most people do not — violence has declined over long stretches of time, and today we may be living in the most peaceable era in our species’ existence. The decline, to be sure, has not been smooth; it has not brought violence down to zero; and it is not guaranteed to continue. But it is an unmistakable development, visible on scales from millennia to years, from the waging of wars to the spanking of children. (Links to aticle and book, below). But at the same time as all this less violence and improvements in societies around the world are happening, the US is choosing to more and more militarize our police--and heavily so. Check out what happened just yesterday in Virginia at a women's protest for reproductive rights.
Added to this, look at how the police were equipped to respond to these citizens of the state.
I ask you, does that not seem like a tremendous over-reach, on the part of the police and government? That's the first question. Then, secondly, whatever happened to the "people's right to protest" and the First Amendment and First Amendment Rights and First Amendment guarantee of Free Speech? Added to all this is the fact that the US House of Representatives has created HR 347 and it has passed through Congress. It states that the American people will no longer be allowed to peaceably assemble to petition the government when certain government officials are nearby, whether they know it or not. This is yet another abbreviation of our First Amendment Rights of Free Speech. Finally, there are two more bills proposed in Congress right now, HR 3166 and S. 1698 also known as the Enemy Expatriation Act, sponsored by Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Charles Dent (R-PA). This bill would give the US government the power to strip Americans of their citizenship without being convicted of being 'hostile' against the United States. In other words, you can be stripped of your nationality for 'engaging in, or purposefully and materially supporting, hostilities against the United States.' Legally, the term 'hostilities' means any conflict subject to the laws of war but considering the fact that the War on Terror is a little ambiguous and encompassing, any action could be labeled as supporting terrorism. Since the Occupy movement began, conservatives have been trying to paint the protesters as terrorists." Has our own US government become paranoid about its citizens having and keeping our First Amendment Rights of Free Speech? It seems like Congress and this administration, too, at times, is flipping out. My only point is to ask today and hopefully make people think and demand more--restraint in this case--of our government. Links: http://www.truth-out.org/propaganda-windfall-imperial-state-steven-pinker-decline-violence/1330875517; http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/books/review/the-better-angels-of-our-nature.html?pagewanted=all; http://www.amazon.com/Better-Angels-Our-Nature-Violence/dp/0670022950; http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/01/06/new-bill-known-as-enemy-expatriation-act-would-allow-government-to-strip-citizenship-without-conviction/
They αre αɴoɴyмoυѕ.
They αre leɢιoɴ.
They do ɴoт ғorɢιve.
They do ɴoт ғorɢeт.
But are they tedious?
And tiresome? Are they effective? Are they achieving anything?
Following is a breif YouTube video shot at the University of California-Davis of President Linda Katehi as she walked to her car last week, after the University Police pepper-sprayed peaceful, protesting students on campus, apparently at least with her awareness, if not her explicit direction:
I think it very powerful. We will overcome.
Rather suddenly, a bit more British history has resonance for America and Americans: "Guy Fawkes was an Englishman who tried to blow up the House of Parliament in the early 17th century as part of a plot to give Catholics more power amid a Protestant monarchy. He failed, then killed himself to avoid execution, but became a British folk hero whose effigy is burned each Nov. 5, Guy Fawkes Day, a rough British counterpart to Halloween."Links: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/fashion/guy-fawkes-mask-is-big-on-wall-street-and-halloween.html?_r=1; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_fawkes
"Slavery is the legal fiction that a person is property. Corporate personhood is the legal fiction that property is a person." --From an "Occupy Wall Street" t-shirt.
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