Buried deep down in this Atlantic article is some absolutely fucking terrifying information, summed up here by Forbes: “The push to appoint electors would be framed in terms of protecting the people’s will,” an unnamed Trump-campaign legal adviser tells The Atlantic, adding, “The state legislatures will say, ‘All right, we’ve been given this constitutional power. We don’t think the results of our own state are accurate, so here’s our slate of electors that we think properly reflect the results of our state.’” The chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party says, on the record, that he has discussed appointing loyal electors with the Trump campaign: "It is one of the available legal options set forth in the Constitution.” The actions of Trump don't surprise me. The actions of so many others willing to shred democracy and usher in tyranny, just so that they maintain power? That continues to surprise me. Also, thanks, rrrrr, for trying to stay vigilant. I think many hubskiers feel like this content is polluting what they wish was a Trump-free safe space. And I get it, outrage fatigue set in probably a few years ago for most of us, but any aversion to this dismantling of American democracy plays right into Trump's hands. So get mad, Hubski! Mad at Trump. Mad at me for posting and promoting this shit. Get mad that I feel like you should be mad! And then get ready to mask the fuck up, because we've probably got some shit to do in January. Edit: To be very clear, I am only advocating for peaceful assembly. Strictly non-violent demonstrations. But probably outside the White House, and it's going to be hell to get there, and hell to stay for a while.The Atlantic report claims that sources in the Republican Party at the local and national levels confirm “the Trump campaign is discussing contingency plans to bypass election results and appoint loyal electors” in red battleground states.
Frankly, I don't mind the Trump bashing, but I just don't have the energy for it most of the time. We all should stay informed about what our government is doing even in the best of times. And we should all be self-critical, too. Rah-Rah-ing is part of what got us into this mess, and we need to reflect on what went wrong when it's all over (it will be one day...the US has seen dark times before, too). I hope we all remember that we all need each other, and we can't hate 50% of the voters of the country. If Trump brings us anything good it will be that he gives us an opportunity to reset the broken bone that was America pre-Trump. Continuing the Trump bashing by all means, but keep in mind that he's as much of a symptom than a disease.
I think it's finally happening. Enough scientists are looking around and saying "Maybe I can afford to skip this grant cycle to help guarantee future grant cycles still exist". It's time to show people why they should trust science and scientists. Bumrushing them from a moral high ground standpoint is obviously not going to work. Cold logic? Doubtful. Not engaging enough. Personally, I'm going for comedy. It could be too late, of course, but exactly like you're saying, it's not like if Biden actually manages to move into the White House, the cultural rot is washed away overnight. If I don't really try, I'm going to a) go crazy and b) hate myself forever. Sorry if if this overlaps a bit too much with other recent content I've posted. So I've started an influence operation / social movement with another grad student. But I'm gonna be the one exclusively on camera because they're dating an international grad student, and are thus worried about work visa renewal if we're implicated in political dissidence. Hence, y'know, yet another reason to launch an influence operation craftily (I hope) denouncing fascism.
Step aside, lazy both-sides-ism, Judd is having none of it: Wow, imagine that, a journalist able to merely point out that a "response" offered in defense of anti-democratic political maneuvering has no actual substance and doesn't address the underlying behavior. Can you imagine being part of the White House press pool, and having Lying Barbie trot out for the 50th time to yell over you and ignore follow up questions addressing her lies, but apparently you didn't learn shit from Spicer, the 'Mooch, Huckabee-Sanders, so you don't feel any need to change your tactics? Like someone's pressing the press secretary on Trump's latest treason, and she's like "THAT WILL BE ALL", then she calls on you, and you're like "Ah, it says here on my clipboard that I'm supposed to help you pivot away from accountability". And I know, there's not much money in journalism these days, but the Old Guard have gotten pwned at the podium. sigh OK, anyway, it's time to make like twenty goddamn constitutional amendments. Maybe we could go full sequel with Constitution 2: When an Entire Party Pushes the 'Treason' Button.In response, a spokesperson for Tabas did not claim he was misquoted or deny that Tabas had discussed the possibility with the Trump campaign. Instead, the spokesperson described The Atlantic article as "an out of context, pre-emptive farce that projects conspiracy, delay and even violence onto Republicans."
I've been wondering what the net effect would be of just boycotting. The Democrats boycotting the SCOTUS hearings. The press boycotting the briefing room. Etc, etc. This monster gets its power from the attention. SCOTUS is going to be a joke either way. McEnany is going to lie through her teeth either way. Why should they have an audience?
I think most career journalists know that 'DMs are open' is the journalism equivalent of self-publishing your book on Amazon. I mean, if you can't text Giuliani on deep background you might as well be a blogger. The 4th Estate has long since become an ADU in the back yard.
This one delighted me (source): We've found a horcrux, everyone! This looks like the first subject where communication from the top completely stops. White House spokespeople are apparently on their own. For posterity: We have switched Judds, and this Judd will receive no attaboys. I hadn't thought about how the NYT is no doubt strategically dumping all this in the hours leading up to the first debate, thanks for pointing that out, Judd #2.In response to a request for comment [on NYT's coverage of Trump's tax records], a White House spokesman, Judd Deere, did not dispute any specific facts. Instead, he delivered a broad attack, calling the article “fake news” and “yet another politically motivated hit piece full of inaccurate smears” appearing “before a presidential debate.”
This is an interesting read, and I recommend it... but with a grain of salt. This is one of those articles that clearly articulates all of the worst case scenarios... almost to the point that it had a ring of familiarity to the fear mongering stuff I've come to expect from Fox News and other conservative rags. I think it's TOTALLY the right choice to energize your base, and to inspire people to action... but this piece was just downright terrifying. I'm not clarvoyant enough to see what is going to happen, but holy crap this was stark. And bonus points for making me think about three words that aren't in my every day vocabulary: hove, pettifoggery, and simulacrum.
I read three quarters of it and had an earnest sit-down with my wife about what Rubicon we'd have to cross before we fled to Canada. I did this fully knowing that it's a fear-mongering Atlantic article. I completely gave in to my Gell-Mann amnesia. She pointed out that it was ridiculous. Trump has been largely disastrous down-ticket. The Republicans are already dealing with legitimacy issues. She's right - all this hypothetical Trump ram-rodding is of zero benefit to everyone else. Which is not to say he won't do it. But Trump's secret stormtrooper force is a hundred border patrol guys in rented minivans. My wife then pointed out that fuckin' hell, married white people in Seattle have the least to worry about in a Trump dictatorship and that really, we owe it to all of our minority employees to fuckin' keep it together and help out everyone else. Her instincts are better than mine. I rationalized that I speak redneck, know how to shoot, can identify tires by their tread and can trace my lineage back to the Old 300 on one side and the DAR on the other (although the jury's still out on that one). I may have a "make racists afraid again" patch on my backpack but I look a lot more Proud Boy than Antifa. And frankly, I have much stronger ties to the Republicans than I do the Democrats around here. The problem with articles like this one is they are much better at making everybody panic than they are at making everybody act. It gave me a sense of hopelessness that I haven't felt in years.
The thing the GOP seem to be burying their heads in the ground about is that the will of the people can only be ignored for so long. And the people who they have to ignore are suddenly the rich people, who will refuse to be ignored, as opposed to the democrats' historically poor constituency. The collapse of GOP support in the suburbs in the mid-term elections was a striking feature of the new political alignment in America. We may have a perfect storm this year to keep Trump in office due to the voting problems that covid is inevitably going to cause, but winning might be the worst thing that the GOP could hope for right now. It will get ugly for them. I think that mk referred to them the other day as the dog that caught the car. Maybe that was you. Either way it was apt.
A friend of mine called Trump the dog that caught the car the Saturday after the election. That assessment presumed that he would face repercussions. He hasn't - not yet. The real problem with electing a craven opportunist is that it will drive out everyone principled and leave governance to craven opportunists. I'm no Paul Ryan fan but I'll give him this - he bailed when it became clear that his agenda did not align with Trump's. Unfortunately our constitution was written for craven opportunists - electoral college, 2/5ths human black people, the Senate - and the ones that are left standing will fly the plane into the ground before they relinquish the yoke because they're - say it with me - craven opportunists. The thing that saves us is when the calculus for craven opportunists says "don't go Trump."
Yes, and I guess I'm still optimistic that we will get to that point before it's too late. Other times I feel like Asimov hit the nail on the head, and we're the Foundation sinking into decadence and nepotism that is beyond repair.The thing that saves us is when the calculus for craven opportunists says "don't go Trump."
Asimov cribbed it from Toynbee, who did the World History Magnum Opus before the Durants but after JG Frazer. "Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder." He wrote 12 volumes to prove his point. The quote is at the beginning of Volume 4, which I have around here somewhere, but haven't quite been able to stomach. Of course, the thought wasn't original to him, either, nor Thomas Cole, Nor Gibbon.
Thanks for the reminder, Steve. I keep reading these articles about Trump refusing to step down even in the face of a dramatic defeat, and it gives me anxiety of a sort I've never felt from electoral politics. I need a reminder that the internet exists as it does solely to increase reader "engagement", and articles such as this are a good way of doing that. My brother spends too much time on Twitter, and he swears he's moving to Japan should Trump be reelected. The internet, present website excluded, has turned into such a horrible place that it causes friends and family to turn on one another (literally, my mom and her brother, who were super close, didn't speak for a year after Trump was elected because of a Facebook fight). Fear mongering == boku bucks on the internet. That's unfortunately a lot easier to see when the other guys are doing it.