Heil Trump!

If you're watching, you may have seen Sheila Buck, a Tulsa resident, arrested for trespassing outside the Trump rally. She had a ticket, so clearly the trespassing charge was a ruse. She was wearing an "I Can't Breathe" T-shirt and rally staff asked the Tulsa police to remove her from the line. At the time everything was peaceful.

What is this? A blatant violation of her right to speak her mind under the First Amendment--the first of probably many crimes that will come out of this insane rally.

Diogenes is taking today off to watch the circus and tally up the Constitutional violations. As distasteful as it is, we urge you to watch, too.

If you want to see tyranny in action, here it is.


--- Richard Brown,  6/20/2020

A British View Of Trump

Here is a forwarded post from another writer that a Facebook friend sent to me. This is the first and likely the last time I've used another person's work in toto, but it's so wonderfully written and so spot on that I just had to share it. I think it's valuable to have our opinions and positions validated by someone from "outside."

--- Diogenes, 6/18/20

 

Trump I’ve Read

• Apr. 24th, 2020 at 11:38 AM

“Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?” Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote the following response:

A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.

Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.



And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead. There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:
• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.
• You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum. God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.

And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created?' If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.

 

 

Here's the link to the original: https://coming42.livejournal.com/479179.html?utm_source=fbsharing&utm_medium=social

 

 

 

Juneteenth, Part 2

The BOK (Bank of Oklahoma) Center in Tulsa is a typical indoor multievent arena with a capacity of just over 19,000 people. Its stainless steel and glass exterior wraps around its central axis in a graceful semi-spiral, contrasting with the more traditional skyline.

On Saturday it could well become the site of a mass contagion.

The coronavirus swamp will begin to bubble as soon as a hundred or so people have formed a line. This will be a festival-seating event, so that line will start long before the event, with everyone pressed tightly together, pushing forward--I can almost hear the virus smacking its lips. When the rally begins at 7 p.m. CDT, many if not all seats will be filled and hardcore fans will be on the floor in front of the stage. Let the culling begin.

At a roundtable conference June 15, Mike Pence, speaking of COVID-19, said: "The number of cases in Oklahoma has declined precipitously"¹ in the past couple of weeks.

Don't think so. Speaking of the same time period, Reuters News reported "In Oklahoma, where President Donald Trump plans to hold an indoor campaign rally on Saturday, new cases rose 68% to 1,081 in the second week of June, while the positive test rate increased to 4%, from 2% the previous week."²

Also on June 15, CNN reported "There was a 'meaningful increase' in cases of coronavirus last week in the city, according to the statement [from the Tulsa Health Department]. As of Friday, there had been 1,443 total confirmed cases of coronavirus in Tulsa County, and 62 deaths."³

Tulsa health officials are understandably concerned about the potential danger to their citizens; the mayor is at best indifferent, but has also voiced concern. At this writing an attempt to stop the rally has been blocked by a Tulsa judge, but the case is moving through the courts.

The Trump campaign claims to expect as many as 40,000 people to attend the rally, but at present they haven't decided what to do with any overflow crowd. With the heat index forecast to reach nearly 100 on Saturday, one hopes they find someplace with air conditioning.

For an outfit that spent months denying COVID-19 even existed, the campaign is doing its best to contain it. Attendees will have to consent not to hold the campaign liable if they contract the virus, and campaign representatives have said attendees will be furnished with masks and sanitizer, but they will not be advised to wear the masks. (Just where did those masks come from? Has the campaign been sitting on thousands of masks all along? If so, why weren't they donated for medical use?)

The Moron-in-Chief won't be masked, meaning most of his followers won't be, either. And the most rabid will be right up front: beer-bellied skinhead yobs whose entire vocabulary consists of four-letter words pumping their fists and hopefully spraying the Chinaman from Oklahoma with billions of coronavirus particles.

This rally is going to be big, loud, boisterous, and protested. There will likely be a sea of COVID-19 in the air inside and right-wing berserkers with guns outside. We can only hope Tulsa survives.


--- Diogenes, 6/17/2020

Bonus article: "The Remarkable Idiocy Of Holding A Trump Rally In Tulsa: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/15/opinions/the-remarkable-idiocy-of-holding-a-trump-rally-in-tulsa-sepkowitz/index.html


 ¹ Rev Transcript Library: https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/donald-trump-june-15-roundtable-transcript-fighting-for-americas-seniors
 ² Reuters News: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-trends-graphic/covid-19-cases-surging-in-alabama-south-carolina-and-oklahoma-idUSKBN23N1OP
 ³ CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/15/politics/tulsa-rally-coronavirus/index.html

Juneteenth, Part 1

Juneteenth is all over the news, as well it should be. This Friday, June 19, will mark the 155th anniversary of the holiday commemorating the final emancipation of slaves in the United States. It is celebrated widely as Independence Day for African-Americans and their friends, and also as an observance of freedom from tyranny.

June also marks a great American tragedy. Over the course of two days, May 31 to June 1, 1921, a white mob invaded the black section of Tulsa, Oklahoma, burning virtually all buildings in the area and killing an unknown number of African-Americans (estimates range as high as 300). It remains the worst example of race violence in this country's history.

The weekend of this Juneteenth is likely to be the date on which America's past and present collide disastrously. Black freedom will have been celebrated on Friday, and the Tulsa massacre anniversary will still be in many minds when the Racist-in-Chief comes to town to hold one of his Hitleresque rallies.

The original schedule had the rally on the 19th, but Trump, mirabile dictu, actually listened to someone and had it moved to the 20th. Does it really matter? There will be protests. How could there not be? An openly racist politician is coming to a city on the heels of a massive celebration for people of color, and where not quite a century ago hundreds of black people were killed by a raging mob of whites.

Everyone within driving distance who has a social conscience should turn out to protest the Unspeakable One's insensitivity and blatant racism. Be careful. Given the tendency of Trump's rallies to draw right-wing crazies of all types, including the KKK and some armed berserkers, violent clashes are all but guaranteed.

The Trump campaign is estimating as many as 40,000 could attend the rally, twice the capacity of the event venue--although it wouldn't be surprising if that's an inflated number. There has been some suggestion of going to an outdoor venue for the overflow, but if the projected forecast of 92 degrees with a 97-degree heat index and possibility of thunderstorms holds, the weather could cause a disaster of its own.

The Tulsa police are an unknown factor. Earlier this month Tulsa Police Chief Travis Yates said, "All of the research says we're shooting African-Americans about 24% less than we probably ought to be, based on the crimes being committed."¹ That might say something about what to expect.

Tomorrow: COVID-19 goes to a rally.


--- Diogenes, 6/16/2020



¹ Tulsa Public Radio: https://www.publicradiotulsa.org/post/tpd-major-police-shoot-black-americans-less-we-probably-ought

Finding Reality In Fiction

". . . the bellwether of a crumbling democracy is always a violation of human rights. Look at Nazi Germany. North Korea. Ghana under Kwame Nkrumah. Iraq under Saddam Hussein , , ,"

That insightful statement was spoken neither in Congress nor in a campaign address. It is a line from the CBS political drama "Madam Secretary." 

From its premiere in 2014 the show took on big contemporary issues, and in early 2018 it began dealing with unpresident Trump. The Great Pretender is never mentioned by name, but issues stemming from his policies, his tyrannical views, and his actions have appeared in several episodes. 

To note just a few: the president becomes unhinged, declares himself the most powerful man in the world, and threatens an attack against Russia; he is only stopped when the Cabinet invokes Article 25 of the Constitution, relieving him of duty; a narcissistic Arizona governor declares his state to be exempt from federal law, talks about building a border wall, and begins rounding up and deporting Mexican nationals, separating children from their families; and an episode denouncing nationalism features Madeleine Albright, Hillary Clinton and Colin Powell in cameo roles.

Watching these issues unfold in a dramatic setting away from the hateful personage of Trump is instructive. When the emotional veil is lifted it becomes possible to evaluate the event objectively and get a good sense of how it would play out in the real world. This is helpful because it provides an opportunity to compare the fiction to reality and determine if our judgment on it was deserved, or if we were just having a knee-jerk reaction to Trump.
 
If "Madam Secretary" is unique it is because the producers and writers always get the laws right. Watching a season can provide great insight into the Constitution and its power.

Politics and the arts have interacted for centuries, but it was only with the advent of mass entertainment--cinema and television--that an effective message could be delivered to large audiences.     

One other example occurred in May of 1992 when a Republican vice-president from Indiana seeking re-election gave a speech about family values. In that speech he criticized a TV character for choosing to be an unwed mother. The veep was Dan Quayle. The character was Murphy Brown, played by Candice Bergen in the eponymous comedy.

In a response that made the front page of the New York Times, Bergen fired back, ridiculing Quayle for using a fictional character to make a policy point and defending single mothers. The feud carried on for only a very few episodes, but the story was picked up by late-night comedians, Quayle became the butt of many jokes, and George H. W. Bush was denied a second term.

I'm sure there are other shows being aired that also attack Trump indirectly. Please add a comment if you know of one.


--- Diogenes, 6/15/2020