Joyce, what's missing is a concerted federal response to hold all of the terrorists accountable and contain them. By all, I mean Ohio senator JD Vance, Donald Trump the person(s) issuing threats, the terrorists marchers, the terrorists vandalizing property - all of these thugs.
I read that the Dayton FBI Field office is involved, but this in no way is protecting the good and innocent people of Springfield and all Ohioans.
I know Springfield and have been there often through the years. I also know the ability of GOPers to terrorize, and that's exactly why I left Ohio years ago, vowing never to return. Unless one experiences terror close up by their so-called neighbors and local officials, one can't know how it limits, confines and ruins lives. I know it, and I'm furious that it's the basis of government and public behavior in Ohio.
I’m hoping that the Act Blue and all door to door groups in red states advise on Election Day to:
1. Bring water and energy bars because poll closures will manifest in longer lines. Not forgetting that in some states, it’s now against the law to pass out water to those waiting to vote no shit. This is pure Russia.
2. Bring a folding chair or a box to sit on.
3. Especially important, take Imodium the night before so one doesn’t need to leave the line to go to the bathroom. There likely is a law against getting back into the original place in line.
I sent Code Blue (I think or Act Blue) a letter outlining these important steps but probably no one read them.
Absolutely mind-blowing that rule about passing out water to people in line to vote. When I first read about it, I could not believe it. Russia, indeed.
I live in GA, too. Fortunately I have not faced any really long lines whether I have been early voting or during the regular times.( I live in the Norcross area.) I will add that most of my friends are dedicated voters, so it isn't that people are not showing up. I am sure it is different in other areas.
I live in rural West Central GA and usually early vote. Fortunately, we don't have long lines either (county population is 20,000 and I would guess 1/2 are eligible to vote and probably only 50% - 65% of eligibles participate in a general election). I know and trust the poll workers and poll watchers, even though I know who most support. From reporting from the AJC, it appears that some GA precincts have long lines and that people have had to leave to use the bathroom or there is no shade and they get overheated/dehydrated. It is not only ridiculous that no one is allowed to hand out water to folks standing for hours in heat, it's a health hazard.
I’m volunteering with the county Democrats and the League of Women Voters—probably the first time I’m actually DOING something since SDS in college. We all need to step up this time around!
Bea, what I don't understand is how that kind of law can be legal anywhere, closing polls so long lines form, then denying people the ability to provide water and food in the heat? That is insane! How is it that law has not been publicly challenged in our courts. If the Supreme Court hears it and rules that it is legal, it will be interesting to see which appalling 17th century or earlier jerk they bring up to defend their stupid position as they have for Roe v. Wade and the Trump immunity case. That would be another reason we need a better Supreme Court, one that is not nearly all Catholic, wrapped up in their own fake holiness, but bought by the rich mostly white corporations and rich owners and individuals of inherited wealth. We do need to do better!
I apologize, but I'm trying to bump this post to the top, Andrew's art will make you cry:
Andrew Sheldon
10 hrs ago
Joyce, I consulted on both the Blanton and Cherry prosecutions and was so very happy to work with Doug and Robert and others in your office. It was the highlight of my career. One of the results of working so closely with the survivors is some pain. Here is a link to my attempt to resolve it through art: https://designrr.page/?id=319246&token=1640095784&h=3496
Jason Orcamoon
Andrew - This awesome post will be lost in the sorting so I'm bumping it to the top! ❤️
Meredith
2 hrs ago
Thank you for sharing, so distressing, your paintings are very poignant
We write postcards to potential voters in Georgia and Florida, raising these risks and urging people to vote early! The concerns you raise are not being ignored! You can volunteer to become part of the solution.
Got that right Kathleen. 61 years later almost to the hour, per the OHIO TV station WDTN at 10:44 AM Eastern:
"Wittenberg University has cancelled all campus events for Sunday [9/15] after receiving a bomb threat."
Big difference though campus police the "Springfield Police Division and the FBI are investigating the threat". IMO whether a cell phone or old fashioned hard wired telephone called in the heinous threat against lawful immigrants & J D Vance's constituents, the Perp(s) will be arrested.
Recommend a Grand Jury for Wreck & Vance. Exhibit A for the jurors is a video tape of J D. Vances' numerous & appalling admissions in response to Dana Bash who called him out repeatedly.
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! My Uncle taught a world religions course there; he and my 5 wonderful cousins lived in Springfield. I loved to go there. It was so pretty.
A commenter on another site suggested that the town charge trump, a very big fee for security, paid in advance, if he wants to come to the town. I hope that the Secret Service would rule it out as too dangerous.
As one who lives in El Paso, where trump has never paid his bill from when he visited - and which BTW is the largest outstanding of such bills - I would say good luck in getting any fees of any size paid in advance. I would recommend that he be banned from the town.
Good for them. I think El Paso tends to be too trusting? I couldn't get the article you linked because I am not a subscriber, but I'm glad that Tucson is smart.
Need to identify who have been spreading the BS and establish that there have been damages. "Armed neo-Nazi members of Blood Tribe – a hardcore white supremacist group, according to the Anti-Defamation League – flew flags bearing swastikas and marched through a prominent downtown street while a jazz and blues festival was taking place nearby in August.
One witness to the march, who declined to be interviewed by the Guardian due to fearing for their family’s safety after being doxed by rightwing extremists online, reported that members of the group pointed guns at cars and told people to “go the fuck back to Africa”.
A Springfield police representative, however, appeared to downplay the scene, telling local media that the hate group’s march was “just a little peaceful protest”.
Several days later, a leading member of Blood Tribe who identified himself as Nathaniel Higgers, but whose real name is Drake Berentz, spoke at a Springfield city commission meeting.
(A) No person shall violate section 2903.21, 2903.22, 2909.06, or 2909.07, or division (A)(3), (4), or (5) of section 2917.21 of the Revised Code by reason of the race, color, religion, or national origin of another person or group of persons.
(B) Whoever violates this section is guilty of ethnic intimidation. Ethnic intimidation is an offense of the next higher degree than the offense the commission of which is a necessary element of ethnic intimidation.
If Trump or Vance directed their BS against an individual, they'd be accountable for defamation, but defamation is not a crime in Ohio.
However as to intimidation, it's not a stretch for Ohio to ask Trump and Vance to cease and desist or suffer criminal consequences under Ohio Code section-2927.12.
Also not a stretch to warn Trump and Vance that they will be labelled as terrorists just like Al Quaeda.
As a Ohio resident, I can tell you the fascists are in charge here. It's embedded in the local governments, the county seats, and most obviously, in the statehouses. Plus, the police departments seem to be 'in the fold'. I've been saying for some time that Ohio is the fascist laboratory, and once they figure out how to make it work here, they then spread the fascism to the other states. If it's to be stopped, it needs to stop here first.
Michele, and there's Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and the rest of the Confederacy except maybe Virginia and Georgia which is not sure which direction it wants to go. Then pick up Idaho, North and South Dakota, Wyoming and Oklahoma, it is clear this fascist movement is pretty powerful and pervasive in the white states. I think a lot of this grew because nothing was done to prosecute or even charge those who have been actively threatening people all over this country for decades (ah, they didn't mean anything by it). There are more people who care about what is our democracy, but our governmental structure often favors the scared white men, just as our founders planned it. We can change that because it is 248 years later and we don't have to live by those old beliefs of white male supremacy anymore especially since we, that is the rest of us are the majority. Now, we have to prove we along with those white men who also care about this democracy are willing to vote for what is right. Harris and Walz, and Democrats up and down the ballot everywhere until Republicans can start caring about the people of this nation, all of us, instead of just the scared white people they have been working so hard to elect for the past 50 years or so.
Reading what you have written gives me insight into what I felt while reading the Mayor's response. His city is falling apart and he utters words that certainly don't make the Haitian Community feel any safer. It seems he could be much more forcefu.l
Since the failed insurrectionist and his weird running mate are making these comments on public media, it could be argued that they are crossing state lines and thus committing a federal hate crime, but Merrick Garland hasn't been a stellar example of anti-hate activity either. The short term solution remains defeating the GOP up and down the ballot 51 days hence; the longer term solution is improved education for our citizenry and greater understanding on all of our parts for those who aren't quite the same as us no matter the difference.
Yost, among the fascist leadership here in the Most Corrupt State of Ohio, has already repeated the failed insurrectionist's claims. All he's good for is perpetuating the corruption, and running 'legal' interference.
Linda - Christofascists is a term I was introduced to in Joyce's comments section. I like how it captures these RShit MAGIDIOTS in one hybrid word. They plan to steal the election and install Donald Chump as their golden idol. They are on a mission from their god. I don't think that Joe Biden and Merrick Garland are up to the task of stopping them. I hope I'm wrong.
Jason, I was introduced to the term Christofascists by Andra Watkins above. My understanding from the moment of JDV's appointment as VP candidate is that the plan is really to install JDV, not DT as president, and now Heather Cox Richardson has mentioned it too. JDV is in place to use Article 25 to claim DT is unfit to lead, and thus take over. I would love to see that come up in some campaign ads.
Wait, what? Trump and Vance are repeating and amplifying racist lies by a neo Nazi group? This little detail should be part of MSM's messaging about them. This one little fact can change minds, even if Trump's 1/6 and everything else hasn't yet.
It's not going to change the minds of people who may recoil from the words "Nazi" and "fascist", and who insist they aren't "racist" because they don't wear white hoods and no cross has been burned in their neighborhood -- but have voted for Trump twice and will do so again. And as to the MSM's "messaging", well, I wouldn't hold my breath.
It is a very powerful fact - that Trump is repeating Nazi lies - among my friends whose families were decimated in the Holocaust. It is an unassailable emotional response when someone questions why you won't for Trump. "I understand you want Trump's side's policies, but I cannot vote for a neo-Nazi sympathizer." It's an emotional punch which will remain in someone's mind.
But how many Trump supporters have "families who were decimated in the Holocaust" or family members who fled violence in Central America or Somalia or Syria? Oh, I'm sure some of them do, and I'm afraid Trump will make some headway among people who are sickened by what's happening in Gaza aided and abetted by U.S. policy and U.S. arms, but at the same time Trump's coalition has been dominated from the beginning by white people who are mostly fine with all of the above. They've dominated the GOP since at least the late 1960s and their roots go deeper than that.
I have been saying for the past two years that Trump has been "othering" Immigrants like the Nazi's "othered" the Jews. I know Nazi history and recognize when someone is using fascist rhetoric. This is helped by reading Prof. Ruth Ben-Ghiat's Strongmen. I also read Prof. Kathleen Belew's Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America. As someone who is Brown-skinned German and American, I have known the racist histories of both my countries which I began learning about in high school and then studied history in university. While Nazi's borrowed racist ideas from the US, the US also borrowed racist ideas from Europe.
Actually, he doubled down, lying that he was just repeating what his constituents told him, white-washing his involvement by a) saying he condemns bomb threats and denying that his comments had anything to do with the sudden soate of bomb threats and b) saying the MSM are all agog about "a dozen Proud Boys" marching, when the lie was actually picked up and weaponized by a different group that is Neo-Nazi, not just Christian Nationalist.
His interviewer, Dana Bash, almost never argues with her guests, but she did this time, letting him dig up enough dirt for others to recognize and point.
JD Vance is almost more vile than TFFG, if only because he's nowhere near as stupid..
Since JDV will be president if Trump wins because he will use article 25 to claim Trump is incompetent, we should be paying close attention to him too.
Honestly Bill Katz, they are baiting those who do hate racism and the Nazi story line to ignite that very reaction. We must not play into their hand but when will these off spring if the George Wallace era and thinking be brought to task by those who can and should enforce the laws that are on the books
I would love to see trump & vance labelled as terrorists AND therefore pursued by the DOJ. What they are doing IS a crime. They don't care about real facts, like that immigrant crime is notably less than crime by the rest of us.
Daniel, as always, thanks for the information about the law in Ohio. Unfortunately, I don't see any official in Springfield, OH doing anything to stop the potential violence until someone is hurt or killed. These are hard times in a Republican state that has lost its way some time ago and can't seem to stand up against the right-wing, terrorist bullying by Vance and a whole cadre of other white men who think they are better than everyone else when they are merely boys who never had to grow up emotionally, and are permitted to act out their childhood fears on their fellow Ohioans and whoever else gets in their way. It is shameful!
I don't know that he's been sentenced anywhere that would make him subject to a violation. Judge Merchan was to have passed sentence next Wednesday, but that's been postponed until after the election. Possibly the failed insurrectionist or his legal team was aware of the possibility you mention and that was part of their motivation in asking for the postponement of sentencing.
Dave, I believe she is referring to the DC case, where one of the terms of his continued freedom (as opposed to incarceration) while waiting for trial is to not do certain things... I don't remember specifically, but generally speaking... don't break laws and probably don't incite violence. I wish I remembered the specifics better.
You may be correct Sherry, but since that trial is at the center of the misbegotten Presidential immunity argument, I don't know if Judge Chutkan would be willing to go down that road or if Jack Smith would be too excited about it either. It's mostly normal people who understand how they'd be treated for the same crimes that are having a hard time accepting what the Felon Candidate is getting away with.
They would not be able to claim "free speech, First Amendment, as there is an exception for inciting violence... ironically...I believe it came from an Ohio case.
oyez.org/cases/1968/492, a 1969 case dealing with free speech, the Court finally replaced " clear and present danger " with the “imminent lawless action” test. This new test stated that the state could only limit speech that incites imminent unlawful action. This standard is still applied by the Court today to free speech cases involving the advocacy of violence.
I have wondered why Biden hasn’t sent in the National Guard but I imagine that it would be deemed not helpful in some way what with how the right would spin the response.
Ohio's history with calling in the National Guard is the murder of innocents (Kent State). Republicans will throw that in Biden/Harris' face. Biden isn't going to even discuss that unless the GOPers call for it, and that's a trap, too.
God only knows what these brain dead half-wits will get away with because Biden and Garland are too hog-tied by that term. And DeWine isn’t about to make call either.
Meanwhile, Sherrod Browns stock is rising! ( so is Tester’s, Kunce’s , etc)
Very true. The true, Mary. I think the trumpists are playing chicken with a federal response. The President could certainly justify an extreme measure to stop the domestic terrorist threats To towns and elections. BUT this would fall right into Maga hands because they are “itching” for an excuse to use their stockpile of guns on everyone they hate.
Nancy & Mary - Unfortunately a federal response may well be necessary. If state governors activate their Guard units and use them to stop vote counts in Blue counties, that can reverse the outcome and save the likes of Ted Cruz in Texas where Colin Allred may well win a fair election. POTUS must be ready to take command of those troops by activating them.
Mary - POTUS can activate state Guard units and he best activate all Red state governor Guard units from 1 NOV to 1 FEB if he wants them under his command instead of under the command of RShits like Abbott and Noem.
Funny you say this because when I have traveled out further west, I purposely gassed up before entering Ohio so I didn’t need to stop before leaving the west Ohio border. Ya I was overly dramatic but with drug addiction among the white population, I didn’t want to stop.
Your first sentence is the last sentence!!!! This is all…, this must be done or our federal agencies simply add to the terrorism by not being there. If there ever was a time in our history to take the reins and demand justice this is it. We’ve allowed too many evil, ugly, incidents that identify us as a country. There is no taking it back… it has been done.
Now, all the GOD fearing , blathering hypocrites can start to wash their own complicity down the drain by showing remorse concerning their denial of TRUTH!
I demand ,as a tax paying employer of government agencies that they get off their asses and do the job they seem to think makes them important. That is arrest and imprison those who dare to terrorize the rest of us with their morbid sense that they have the right to spew hate and evil. No more !
Let’s fight back at least politically inasmuch as law enforcement seemingly is very slow to achieve much! By acting effectively,we can protect not only key senators such as Sherrod Brown in Ohio,Jon Testa in Montana,elect Rueben Gallegos in AZ, defeat Scott in Florida,Hawley in Missouri,and maybe even Cruz in Texas! How?Please go to www.TurnUp.US which in my humble opinion is the must effective voter registration effort in all these key states in registering Community College students based on support for abortion rights,gun safety and fighting climate change! Achieving their goal of 100,000 new young voters in these key states as well as 23 “truly competitive” House races in the next two months is KEY to the survival of our Democracy!Please help today & it’s tax deductible because it focuses registration only on these issues not candidates! Thank you!
We definitely need to defeat Ted Cruz. One of my neighbors has a yard sign that says "Ted Cruz for Texas". What BS!! He is not and never has been for Texas, and if nothing else, his behavior with the huge electrical outage a couple of winters ago, when he went to Cancun to avoid the cold, says it all.
Thank you Gigi. Mistake corrected. I actually edit all the time, but I'm sure that auto-correct got me this time and I didn't see it. Trust me, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near Ted Cruz anywhere in the world. Wherever he lives in Texas is too close.
Whoa! We've been down this road before. In 1798, President Adams and the Federalist Congress enacted an infamous law called the Sedition Act of 1798. Incidentally, the law, itself, was a significant improvement over the way people in power had viciously retaliated against critics for hundreds of years. The statute expressly protected speech unless the government proved (beyond a reasonable doubt) that it was "false" and asserted with "malice."
The far greater problem (than the law, itself) was how people in power viciously and maliciously abused that law. Secretary of State Pickering and SCOTUS Justice Chase were such abusive maniacs that they knowingly and blatantly violated the law (and our Constitution) to persecute people for all kinds of speech that the Sedition Act clearly did not make criminal.
They did all that right before the election of 1800. Their abuses of power so incensed Americans that President Adams and many members of Congress were voted out of office, and Justice Chase earned the distinction of being the only SCOTUS justice ever impeached. Chase very narrowly escaped being convicted and removed from SCOTUS.
So beware what you wish for. Public officials rightly should be very careful about using criminal prosecutions to punish speech.
Trump and Vance have done to the Haitian community in Springfield what Giuliani did to Moss and Freeman in Georgia. They should be sued in Federal court for inciting terrorism and in civil court for destroying the reputation of an entire community. These MAGA terrorists have no idea of the courage it took for people to flee the gang terror in their homeland and to come to a totally different culture to embark on a new life. It's high time the disrupters learn that the right to free speech does not include the right to lie about another person. Furthermore, with Vance stating that he will fabricate stories so that the news media "covers what's happening in America," one must question what lies he (& Trump) would tell the American public when in office. MAGA supporters should be asked to consider that before they elect a fascist regime.
Thanks, Bill. I wish everyone knew how easy and rewarding it is. I make it fun, too: lots of bright-colored pens, good tunes in the background, and a little bowl of M&Ms for a treat :-)
This is why, in addition to getting as many people as I can to register to vote (I do so at work at the clinic, and I'm up to #64), I have volunteered to knock on doors in the predominantly republican town where I work. In no way do I want to revert to the '60's. We must never go back.
As an “eastern coastal” liberal I was in the Deep South for the first time this summer on a Civil Rights trip with a group of educators. It was revelatory to see what have become sacred spaces where innocent people lost their lives simply because of the color of their skin and the determination to keep alive the myth of white supremacy. It is mind boggling (or maybe not at all) that we are still fighting this battle of hatred of the “other.” As Harris-Waltz say: we’re not going back. And as Joyce says every day: we’re in this together. Have a plan, write letters, canvas, phone, “do something!”
I really wish that the haters who try to keep "others" down, would actually meet and talk with some of them. They would find out that they had more in common than not. There is so much good in other cultures, so much we could learn from them. I know that these people would refuse to open their minds to any "others". It's very sad to me that they are so insecure about who they are.
I was listening to an On Point episode that I found really interesting in terms of fine tuning the discussion about race, with Coleman Hughes. He said there will always be racism, just like there will always be murder. That point stuck out for me. There will always be hatred. But it should never, ever reside in leadership offices in this country.
That is the critical issue: that it not exist in leadership - corporate, association, local, state or Federal govt, military, police, etc. It does. It does in religious leadership where one hopes it really wouldn’t. It seems when people know others as individuals the walls of hate begin to fall. Until those in such as the MAGA Party find a way to incite it. I despair while working to change it.
WE ARE NOT GOING BACK! Those beautiful, intelligent looking young girls who passed on September 15 1963, they are one reason we are not going back - and also for millions of hatefully, wrongfully persecuted people world-over.
How many innocent people’s lives need to be ruined by this MAGA cult before we make it stop? Why are some people still battling for their rights 60 years on? I’m praying for us to “turn the page”!! Vote for Freedom. Vote for Harris/walz. Thank you Joyce 🙏🏼
Good question. Ken White in an oldie but goodie podcast called Make No Law provides a good answer (discussing a SCOTUS decision that, coincidentally, specifically protected the speech of klansmen in Ohio a mere year after the murders at issue in Joyce's post):
“ I HEAR THAT….” This is the phrase that Trump has learned to use in his rallies to spew out the most venomous and vicious slanders and lies believing that he can always claim that he can’t vouch for their veracity, thereby protecting him from defamation law suits, and insisting that he’s only passing along to his cult followers what he heard on the grapevine.
“I hear that the Haitian immigrants are eating your cats and dogs…” “ I hear that Kamala got all the questions before the debate…” “ I hear that Kamala had an earpiece during the debate that she used to get told what to say …”
Trump has absolutely no moral guardrails and no ability to distinguish between right and wrong. He is a walking pollutant of putrefaction in which no villainy is beneath him.
We can only imagine the extent of evil that he could inflict upon Americans and the world, having the Supreme Court bestow upon him absolute immunity for anything and everything he does, including murder.
Frequently Trump uses the weasel phrase “I HEAR” before speaking of Haitians in Springfield eating cats and dogs or that millions of people are freed from jails and mental hospitals so that they can immigrate to the United States.
I HEAR that Trump is a fornicating felon who had a traitorous bromance with Putin.
I HEAR that Trump has spent over $150,000,000 (of other people’s $$$) to avoid being tried in federal and state courts, while threatening judicial revenge to his political opponents, were he to slither back in the White House.
I HEAR that Trump swore an oath to support the Constitution and then trashed it and got over 140 security officers killed and wounded.
I HEAR that Trump has an unresolved 2010 tax matter still pending with the IRS, while he seeks to offer fat cats and corporations further none-fair-tax-freebies.
I HEAR that cats and dogs are raining on Trump because of his buddy noVANCEage.
I HEAR that Trump despises nasty Black women.
I KNOW that all of the above is true and verified by non-Fox sources.
So who are the people giving him the money? Right. They’ve been identified. Let’s interview them and let’s do a way with citizens United. Once we win. Because we will win. There are more of us than them. We won last time with an old experienced and gracious white guy. And now we have the youth on our side and a fierce warrior as our next leader.
Citizens United has to go, but the only way that can happen is with a Democratic trifecta in November. Your first idea smacks of the intimidation tactics DeSatan is employing in Florida re the abortion petition. I haven't followed that too closely, but I wonder if anyone has been arrested for telling the "jack-booted thugs" to go bleep themselves. That would be a nice story to run in advance of the election.
Funny how trump doubles and triples down on Haitians eating people’s pets despite the originator’s recantation and the harm it’s causing but no mention of a white US governor shooting her puppy to death….
"No ability to distinguish between right and wrong" is the definition of a sociopath. Even knowing that, it's difficult for me to grasp that there is no villainy beneath him.
And in his being baited by his idolized “strongmen” when the stakes are even greater on the world. Flattery from them is as easy bait as pointing out his flawed views by Kamala and others.
Warren Buffet once commented that "Honesty is a very expensive gift; don't expect it from cheap people." This personifies what is going on in the American political arena at present. Cheap people, for whom the truth is only a transactional occurence to be bartered, sold, and traded traffic in lies and reveal only enough of the truth to lure the rubes into their web of deceit.
Felonious Trump has become the poster child for future zealot and cult leader wannabes. Racism, xenophobia, fascism, islamopohia, anti-semitism, no problem. Step right up and he'll teach you how to divide and conquer. One only needs to look at his guest list at Mar-A-Lago...Laura Loomer, Nick Fuentes, David Duke, et al to begin to understand what comforts felonious Trump. To vote for such a bent person defys logic.
Today’s WaPo has an article about the Taliban making it even more horrific for women there. What the MAGAts - local, state, Federal - want to do is similar: ban books and teaching many lessons, cross check women getting abortions or care for miscarriages, imprison doctors who provide emergency pregnancy care should it result in the death of a fertilized egg* and on and in. A Theocracy is a greater fear in the US.
*Not answered, in addition to how he’d pay for to deport millions of people, now including immigrants here LEGALLY or how his tariffs would pay landlords and companies and communities for no workers or their taxed incomes and the ripping apart of families, are the IVF for all and the resulting fertilized egg storage.
I know that through the ages hate has been part of the fabric of organized religions--hate, intimidation, torture, and ruin. For a while, I was puzzled at why someone today could call themselves Christian and support the hate that flows from DT and his followers; but then as I thought back through history, that's been the stance of those who committed some of the worst atrocities--under the banner of religion. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised any longer.
I think you are absolutely correct, Nancy. The inquisitions and the like, prove it. And the fact that (as I understand it) that these "christians" base everything on the Old Testament, which includes "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth", makes them make more sense, although I can't believe that God would ever have wanted his people to be haters, like these people are.
Exactly! My understanding of today's churches in our country is that they are based, appropriately, on the New Testament. However, it seems like when you get into the mega-churches, they end up going the way of their power hungry pastor. It's clear to me that quite a few churches have gotten into being hateful and xenophobic, and are therefore totally unrelated to Christianity. I will say that I am sure that in the part I quoted above, it was about justice, albeit a primitive form of justice, not about hating. To my mind hating comes from deep-seated feelings of insecurity.
They must. His followers justify their beliefs. In a PBSNewsHour an interview with a young-looking grandmother she said she was a Christian and believed Trump was the most Christian of the candidates. One must believe as he does that to hate is divine to support him. I despair with you.
I live in a city that's 80% Latino (Mexican), and I have a neighbor who I'm pretty sure is of that heritage, and yet she has trump/vance signs out, along with signs for other republican candidates (like Ted Cruz for Texas - are you kidding me? He is?). She has seemed nice enough when I've talked to her, but she has surveillance signs on her iron fence, a welcome sign on her garage, and a metal structure around her front door that has no doorbell. Talk about mixed messages! I pass her house every day on my exercise walk, and I never cease to be amazed at the mixed messages she sends.
You made me laugh. Trump made me laugh, too. I laughed out loud when I heard Trump invoke Viktor Orban in a nationally-televised presidential debate. I couldn't believe he could be so stupid as to admit that he wants what Orban has (see
In politics, stupidity and malice too often are inseparable. Dismissing malice as mere stupidity is dangerous when considering what moves masses. Hate makes great (rallies and ratings). It is a tried and true political formula.
When Trump rants and raves about stupid things (including about rally sizes), don't laugh. He's not being merely stupid or petty. He's telling us who he is. More importantly, he's telling us who he wants to be and what he's willing to do to get there. He's doing the same by spreading stories to inspire hate against people who look or think different from Trump's base. Trump evidently would sell his soul--some would say he has sold his soul--to secure rallies the size of someone Trump clearly considers a role model.
It's not just Trump who likes Orban. There are some MAGA congressmen/women who think his illiberal democracy is just hunky dory. He spoke at CPAC to a cheering crowd of MAGA fools. MAGA (former) Republicans are fans of Orban and Putin. They are unAmerican and the farthest thing from patriots.
The good news is that the Hungarians are fed up after 14 years of rule by their illiberal prime minister and his sidekicks. To wit, a legitimate and sizable opposition party, The Tisza, has emerged, led by Peter Magyar, an intelligent, good-looking young politician who was once a member of Victor Orban's FIDESZ Party and knows where the regime's soft spots are. There are MANY. The challenger is building a movement that plans to sweep the FIDESZ from power come the 2026 national elections.
I personally don't think trump is adequately explained by stupidity. He is stupid, yes, but what he does also comes across as malice. In truth, though, what he does is all about promoting himself in whatever way he thinks will work, so it may not actually be malice - I think malice is usually intentional, and the only thing intentional about trump is using whatever he can to "win".
Clearly Trump has crossed a line with his despicable rant against the Haitian community in Ohio. My question is whether he has crossed a legal line with unprotected speech, much like his conduct on Jan. 6. I would love your opinion on this. Certainly the Haitian community could file a defamation case against Trump and ask for injunctive relief and compensatory and punitive damages. But could the justice department also file a criminal complaint under the Civil Rights Act of 1968? If so, where is Merrick Garland?
And the immigrants in Aurora, CO, who he has denigrated and threatened with “bloody removal”. He said he’d send the Haitians “back to” Venezuela. Will those from that country be sent to Haiti? Geography and kindness are not his strong suits.
Other than hate and manipulation, what is his strong suit? The guy has none. He’s a fumbling idiot. He doesn’t even know what’s in the constitution. What’s in the first amendment? Someone should ask him.
Good question. Ken White in an oldie but goodie podcast called Make No Law provides a good answer regarding the potential for government prosecution (discussing a SCOTUS decision that, coincidentally, specifically protected the speech of klansmen in Ohio a mere year after the murders at issue in Joyce's post):
But one thing worth keeping in mind is that the purported concept of "unprotected speech" is a misconception. The Constitution protects all speech and speakers with due process of law under the 5th or 14th Amendment. If the government wants to prove someone committed a crime with speech, the government must prove each material fact beyond a reasonable doubt. If someone wants to sue for, e.g., defamatory speech, they must prove each material fact with evidence that is clear and convincing.
In New York Times Co. v. Sullivan in 1964, SCOTUS emphasized that it doesn’t matter what “label” anyone slaps on any speech (e.g., defamation, obscenity, threat, hate speech). No mere label can make any speech or speaker unprotected by due process of law.
Joyce, what's missing is a concerted federal response to hold all of the terrorists accountable and contain them. By all, I mean Ohio senator JD Vance, Donald Trump the person(s) issuing threats, the terrorists marchers, the terrorists vandalizing property - all of these thugs.
I read that the Dayton FBI Field office is involved, but this in no way is protecting the good and innocent people of Springfield and all Ohioans.
I know Springfield and have been there often through the years. I also know the ability of GOPers to terrorize, and that's exactly why I left Ohio years ago, vowing never to return. Unless one experiences terror close up by their so-called neighbors and local officials, one can't know how it limits, confines and ruins lives. I know it, and I'm furious that it's the basis of government and public behavior in Ohio.
Trump/Vance have SWATTED a city in Ohio.
They have prank-called the nation. It won't stop.
Trump keeps inventing crimes—now a new form of terrorism.
I’m hoping that the Act Blue and all door to door groups in red states advise on Election Day to:
1. Bring water and energy bars because poll closures will manifest in longer lines. Not forgetting that in some states, it’s now against the law to pass out water to those waiting to vote no shit. This is pure Russia.
2. Bring a folding chair or a box to sit on.
3. Especially important, take Imodium the night before so one doesn’t need to leave the line to go to the bathroom. There likely is a law against getting back into the original place in line.
I sent Code Blue (I think or Act Blue) a letter outlining these important steps but probably no one read them.
Absolutely mind-blowing that rule about passing out water to people in line to vote. When I first read about it, I could not believe it. Russia, indeed.
GA, actually. My state.
I live in GA, too. Fortunately I have not faced any really long lines whether I have been early voting or during the regular times.( I live in the Norcross area.) I will add that most of my friends are dedicated voters, so it isn't that people are not showing up. I am sure it is different in other areas.
I live in rural West Central GA and usually early vote. Fortunately, we don't have long lines either (county population is 20,000 and I would guess 1/2 are eligible to vote and probably only 50% - 65% of eligibles participate in a general election). I know and trust the poll workers and poll watchers, even though I know who most support. From reporting from the AJC, it appears that some GA precincts have long lines and that people have had to leave to use the bathroom or there is no shade and they get overheated/dehydrated. It is not only ridiculous that no one is allowed to hand out water to folks standing for hours in heat, it's a health hazard.
Florida, too. Unreal! Why am I here?
Maybe so that you can help turn around Florida??
I’m volunteering with the county Democrats and the League of Women Voters—probably the first time I’m actually DOING something since SDS in college. We all need to step up this time around!
Bea, what I don't understand is how that kind of law can be legal anywhere, closing polls so long lines form, then denying people the ability to provide water and food in the heat? That is insane! How is it that law has not been publicly challenged in our courts. If the Supreme Court hears it and rules that it is legal, it will be interesting to see which appalling 17th century or earlier jerk they bring up to defend their stupid position as they have for Roe v. Wade and the Trump immunity case. That would be another reason we need a better Supreme Court, one that is not nearly all Catholic, wrapped up in their own fake holiness, but bought by the rich mostly white corporations and rich owners and individuals of inherited wealth. We do need to do better!
I apologize, but I'm trying to bump this post to the top, Andrew's art will make you cry:
Andrew Sheldon
10 hrs ago
Joyce, I consulted on both the Blanton and Cherry prosecutions and was so very happy to work with Doug and Robert and others in your office. It was the highlight of my career. One of the results of working so closely with the survivors is some pain. Here is a link to my attempt to resolve it through art: https://designrr.page/?id=319246&token=1640095784&h=3496
Jason Orcamoon
Andrew - This awesome post will be lost in the sorting so I'm bumping it to the top! ❤️
Meredith
2 hrs ago
Thank you for sharing, so distressing, your paintings are very poignant
We write postcards to potential voters in Georgia and Florida, raising these risks and urging people to vote early! The concerns you raise are not being ignored! You can volunteer to become part of the solution.
Wear Depends.
I am in no way kidding.
How is this our nation????
Got that right Kathleen. 61 years later almost to the hour, per the OHIO TV station WDTN at 10:44 AM Eastern:
"Wittenberg University has cancelled all campus events for Sunday [9/15] after receiving a bomb threat."
Big difference though campus police the "Springfield Police Division and the FBI are investigating the threat". IMO whether a cell phone or old fashioned hard wired telephone called in the heinous threat against lawful immigrants & J D Vance's constituents, the Perp(s) will be arrested.
Recommend a Grand Jury for Wreck & Vance. Exhibit A for the jurors is a video tape of J D. Vances' numerous & appalling admissions in response to Dana Bash who called him out repeatedly.
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! My Uncle taught a world religions course there; he and my 5 wonderful cousins lived in Springfield. I loved to go there. It was so pretty.
I get it; it's Make America Hate Again.
How is this not akin to or worse than yelling fire in a crowded theater? So, where the hell is our AG?
#merrickgarlanddoyourjob
It started when he rode down that escalator. He wants us all to live his nightmare.
Stochastic terrorism, sadly not novel at all.
A commenter on another site suggested that the town charge trump, a very big fee for security, paid in advance, if he wants to come to the town. I hope that the Secret Service would rule it out as too dangerous.
As one who lives in El Paso, where trump has never paid his bill from when he visited - and which BTW is the largest outstanding of such bills - I would say good luck in getting any fees of any size paid in advance. I would recommend that he be banned from the town.
Tucson AZ required a deposit against total fees this month. https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-deposit-rally-space-bill-unpaid-rally-election-campaign-2024-9
Good for them. I think El Paso tends to be too trusting? I couldn't get the article you linked because I am not a subscriber, but I'm glad that Tucson is smart.
Need to identify who have been spreading the BS and establish that there have been damages. "Armed neo-Nazi members of Blood Tribe – a hardcore white supremacist group, according to the Anti-Defamation League – flew flags bearing swastikas and marched through a prominent downtown street while a jazz and blues festival was taking place nearby in August.
One witness to the march, who declined to be interviewed by the Guardian due to fearing for their family’s safety after being doxed by rightwing extremists online, reported that members of the group pointed guns at cars and told people to “go the fuck back to Africa”.
A Springfield police representative, however, appeared to downplay the scene, telling local media that the hate group’s march was “just a little peaceful protest”.
Several days later, a leading member of Blood Tribe who identified himself as Nathaniel Higgers, but whose real name is Drake Berentz, spoke at a Springfield city commission meeting.
“I’ve come to bring a word of warning. Stop what you’re doing before it’s too late,” Berentz told Springfield’s mayor, Rob Rue. “Crime and savagery will only increase with every Haitian you bring in.”https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/14/neo-nazis-springfield-ohio-haitian-immigrants
Ohio has a law against ethnic intimidation.
(A) No person shall violate section 2903.21, 2903.22, 2909.06, or 2909.07, or division (A)(3), (4), or (5) of section 2917.21 of the Revised Code by reason of the race, color, religion, or national origin of another person or group of persons.
(B) Whoever violates this section is guilty of ethnic intimidation. Ethnic intimidation is an offense of the next higher degree than the offense the commission of which is a necessary element of ethnic intimidation.
https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2927.12
The use of terror is less effective when there are consequences. DOJ and Homeland Security have terrorist watchlists. The FBI has a Terrorist Screening Center. https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/ten-years-after-the-fbi-since-9-11/just-the-facts-1/terrorist-screening-center-1
If Trump or Vance directed their BS against an individual, they'd be accountable for defamation, but defamation is not a crime in Ohio.
However as to intimidation, it's not a stretch for Ohio to ask Trump and Vance to cease and desist or suffer criminal consequences under Ohio Code section-2927.12.
Also not a stretch to warn Trump and Vance that they will be labelled as terrorists just like Al Quaeda.
As a Ohio resident, I can tell you the fascists are in charge here. It's embedded in the local governments, the county seats, and most obviously, in the statehouses. Plus, the police departments seem to be 'in the fold'. I've been saying for some time that Ohio is the fascist laboratory, and once they figure out how to make it work here, they then spread the fascism to the other states. If it's to be stopped, it needs to stop here first.
That aligns with my experience.
It has spread. Texas is an example.
Um, I don't think that it spread TO Texas. I think Texas has been a spreader -- for many years.
True!!
Michele, and there's Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and the rest of the Confederacy except maybe Virginia and Georgia which is not sure which direction it wants to go. Then pick up Idaho, North and South Dakota, Wyoming and Oklahoma, it is clear this fascist movement is pretty powerful and pervasive in the white states. I think a lot of this grew because nothing was done to prosecute or even charge those who have been actively threatening people all over this country for decades (ah, they didn't mean anything by it). There are more people who care about what is our democracy, but our governmental structure often favors the scared white men, just as our founders planned it. We can change that because it is 248 years later and we don't have to live by those old beliefs of white male supremacy anymore especially since we, that is the rest of us are the majority. Now, we have to prove we along with those white men who also care about this democracy are willing to vote for what is right. Harris and Walz, and Democrats up and down the ballot everywhere until Republicans can start caring about the people of this nation, all of us, instead of just the scared white people they have been working so hard to elect for the past 50 years or so.
Florida and Oklahoma too.
Reading what you have written gives me insight into what I felt while reading the Mayor's response. His city is falling apart and he utters words that certainly don't make the Haitian Community feel any safer. It seems he could be much more forcefu.l
Ohio is just one of the many states that has already implemented parts of Project 2025.
While those warnings are valid and would be a good idea, Dave Yost, the Ohio AG and a candidate for Governor, isn't quite a dispassionate observer and is unlikely to issue them. https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2024/09/13/ohio-attorney-general-dave-yost-joins-conspiracy-chorus-about-haitians-in-springfield/
Since the failed insurrectionist and his weird running mate are making these comments on public media, it could be argued that they are crossing state lines and thus committing a federal hate crime, but Merrick Garland hasn't been a stellar example of anti-hate activity either. The short term solution remains defeating the GOP up and down the ballot 51 days hence; the longer term solution is improved education for our citizenry and greater understanding on all of our parts for those who aren't quite the same as us no matter the difference.
Yost, among the fascist leadership here in the Most Corrupt State of Ohio, has already repeated the failed insurrectionist's claims. All he's good for is perpetuating the corruption, and running 'legal' interference.
When cops refuse to enforce the law, they can become perps. https://www.justice.gov/crt
DOJ on the job. https://www.justice.gov/crt/settlements-and-lawsuits
Let us remember that JD Vance is a Christian Nationalist. Here Andra Watkins who is an expert on Christian Nationalism explains what they believe.
https://thefulcrum.us/democracy/project-2025-christian-nationalism
Linda - Christofascists is a term I was introduced to in Joyce's comments section. I like how it captures these RShit MAGIDIOTS in one hybrid word. They plan to steal the election and install Donald Chump as their golden idol. They are on a mission from their god. I don't think that Joe Biden and Merrick Garland are up to the task of stopping them. I hope I'm wrong.
Jason, I was introduced to the term Christofascists by Andra Watkins above. My understanding from the moment of JDV's appointment as VP candidate is that the plan is really to install JDV, not DT as president, and now Heather Cox Richardson has mentioned it too. JDV is in place to use Article 25 to claim DT is unfit to lead, and thus take over. I would love to see that come up in some campaign ads.
Wait, what? Trump and Vance are repeating and amplifying racist lies by a neo Nazi group? This little detail should be part of MSM's messaging about them. This one little fact can change minds, even if Trump's 1/6 and everything else hasn't yet.
It's not going to change the minds of people who may recoil from the words "Nazi" and "fascist", and who insist they aren't "racist" because they don't wear white hoods and no cross has been burned in their neighborhood -- but have voted for Trump twice and will do so again. And as to the MSM's "messaging", well, I wouldn't hold my breath.
It is a very powerful fact - that Trump is repeating Nazi lies - among my friends whose families were decimated in the Holocaust. It is an unassailable emotional response when someone questions why you won't for Trump. "I understand you want Trump's side's policies, but I cannot vote for a neo-Nazi sympathizer." It's an emotional punch which will remain in someone's mind.
But how many Trump supporters have "families who were decimated in the Holocaust" or family members who fled violence in Central America or Somalia or Syria? Oh, I'm sure some of them do, and I'm afraid Trump will make some headway among people who are sickened by what's happening in Gaza aided and abetted by U.S. policy and U.S. arms, but at the same time Trump's coalition has been dominated from the beginning by white people who are mostly fine with all of the above. They've dominated the GOP since at least the late 1960s and their roots go deeper than that.
I have been saying for the past two years that Trump has been "othering" Immigrants like the Nazi's "othered" the Jews. I know Nazi history and recognize when someone is using fascist rhetoric. This is helped by reading Prof. Ruth Ben-Ghiat's Strongmen. I also read Prof. Kathleen Belew's Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America. As someone who is Brown-skinned German and American, I have known the racist histories of both my countries which I began learning about in high school and then studied history in university. While Nazi's borrowed racist ideas from the US, the US also borrowed racist ideas from Europe.
Vance lied/ denied all of it this morning on Face The Nation. Because of course he did.
Actually, he doubled down, lying that he was just repeating what his constituents told him, white-washing his involvement by a) saying he condemns bomb threats and denying that his comments had anything to do with the sudden soate of bomb threats and b) saying the MSM are all agog about "a dozen Proud Boys" marching, when the lie was actually picked up and weaponized by a different group that is Neo-Nazi, not just Christian Nationalist.
His interviewer, Dana Bash, almost never argues with her guests, but she did this time, letting him dig up enough dirt for others to recognize and point.
JD Vance is almost more vile than TFFG, if only because he's nowhere near as stupid..
Since JDV will be president if Trump wins because he will use article 25 to claim Trump is incompetent, we should be paying close attention to him too.
Trump and Vance are no longer merely fascists, but by repeating and amplifying those lies they have crossed the line into Nazism themselves.
Again, I have pointed to this above. Trump is a racist, and JDV is a Christian Nationalist. CNs believe in the Curse of Ham.
https://project2025istheocracy.substack.com/p/christian-nationalists-and-the-curse?utm_source=publication-search
This all makes me so sad. I hear this isn’t who we are. Well, it is who a whole group
of Americans are.
Had I been there, my gut inclination would have been to buy an AK and confront them. I have no tolerance for racist, neo-Nazis.
Honestly Bill Katz, they are baiting those who do hate racism and the Nazi story line to ignite that very reaction. We must not play into their hand but when will these off spring if the George Wallace era and thinking be brought to task by those who can and should enforce the laws that are on the books
I would love to see trump & vance labelled as terrorists AND therefore pursued by the DOJ. What they are doing IS a crime. They don't care about real facts, like that immigrant crime is notably less than crime by the rest of us.
Daniel, as always, thanks for the information about the law in Ohio. Unfortunately, I don't see any official in Springfield, OH doing anything to stop the potential violence until someone is hurt or killed. These are hard times in a Republican state that has lost its way some time ago and can't seem to stand up against the right-wing, terrorist bullying by Vance and a whole cadre of other white men who think they are better than everyone else when they are merely boys who never had to grow up emotionally, and are permitted to act out their childhood fears on their fellow Ohioans and whoever else gets in their way. It is shameful!
Personally I think the military should be called out, and Trump and JD Vance should be charged with inciting violence.
I can't understand why Trump's terrorism behavior doesn't violate his probation terms. He's a convicted felon who hasn't even paused his criminality.
I don't know that he's been sentenced anywhere that would make him subject to a violation. Judge Merchan was to have passed sentence next Wednesday, but that's been postponed until after the election. Possibly the failed insurrectionist or his legal team was aware of the possibility you mention and that was part of their motivation in asking for the postponement of sentencing.
Dave, I believe she is referring to the DC case, where one of the terms of his continued freedom (as opposed to incarceration) while waiting for trial is to not do certain things... I don't remember specifically, but generally speaking... don't break laws and probably don't incite violence. I wish I remembered the specifics better.
You may be correct Sherry, but since that trial is at the center of the misbegotten Presidential immunity argument, I don't know if Judge Chutkan would be willing to go down that road or if Jack Smith would be too excited about it either. It's mostly normal people who understand how they'd be treated for the same crimes that are having a hard time accepting what the Felon Candidate is getting away with.
So true, Dave.
They would not be able to claim "free speech, First Amendment, as there is an exception for inciting violence... ironically...I believe it came from an Ohio case.
oyez.org/cases/1968/492, a 1969 case dealing with free speech, the Court finally replaced " clear and present danger " with the “imminent lawless action” test. This new test stated that the state could only limit speech that incites imminent unlawful action. This standard is still applied by the Court today to free speech cases involving the advocacy of violence.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/395/444
Shire, many thanks for this probably largely unknown history. Want to let you know the second link no longer works ...
Thank you, I inserted another link that is better, I hope!
I have wondered why Biden hasn’t sent in the National Guard but I imagine that it would be deemed not helpful in some way what with how the right would spin the response.
Ohio's history with calling in the National Guard is the murder of innocents (Kent State). Republicans will throw that in Biden/Harris' face. Biden isn't going to even discuss that unless the GOPers call for it, and that's a trap, too.
Too worried about ‘election inference’ !!!
God only knows what these brain dead half-wits will get away with because Biden and Garland are too hog-tied by that term. And DeWine isn’t about to make call either.
Meanwhile, Sherrod Browns stock is rising! ( so is Tester’s, Kunce’s , etc)
We need to protect ALL of our citizens.
💙💙💙
Exactly!
The President can't "send in" the National Guard. The Governors of each state have the authority over their state's Guard.
Very true. The true, Mary. I think the trumpists are playing chicken with a federal response. The President could certainly justify an extreme measure to stop the domestic terrorist threats To towns and elections. BUT this would fall right into Maga hands because they are “itching” for an excuse to use their stockpile of guns on everyone they hate.
Nancy & Mary - Unfortunately a federal response may well be necessary. If state governors activate their Guard units and use them to stop vote counts in Blue counties, that can reverse the outcome and save the likes of Ted Cruz in Texas where Colin Allred may well win a fair election. POTUS must be ready to take command of those troops by activating them.
Mary - POTUS can activate state Guard units and he best activate all Red state governor Guard units from 1 NOV to 1 FEB if he wants them under his command instead of under the command of RShits like Abbott and Noem.
Absolutely.
Funny you say this because when I have traveled out further west, I purposely gassed up before entering Ohio so I didn’t need to stop before leaving the west Ohio border. Ya I was overly dramatic but with drug addiction among the white population, I didn’t want to stop.
Lobsternanny,
Your first sentence is the last sentence!!!! This is all…, this must be done or our federal agencies simply add to the terrorism by not being there. If there ever was a time in our history to take the reins and demand justice this is it. We’ve allowed too many evil, ugly, incidents that identify us as a country. There is no taking it back… it has been done.
Now, all the GOD fearing , blathering hypocrites can start to wash their own complicity down the drain by showing remorse concerning their denial of TRUTH!
I demand ,as a tax paying employer of government agencies that they get off their asses and do the job they seem to think makes them important. That is arrest and imprison those who dare to terrorize the rest of us with their morbid sense that they have the right to spew hate and evil. No more !
Make America Think again!!!!!
Let’s fight back at least politically inasmuch as law enforcement seemingly is very slow to achieve much! By acting effectively,we can protect not only key senators such as Sherrod Brown in Ohio,Jon Testa in Montana,elect Rueben Gallegos in AZ, defeat Scott in Florida,Hawley in Missouri,and maybe even Cruz in Texas! How?Please go to www.TurnUp.US which in my humble opinion is the must effective voter registration effort in all these key states in registering Community College students based on support for abortion rights,gun safety and fighting climate change! Achieving their goal of 100,000 new young voters in these key states as well as 23 “truly competitive” House races in the next two months is KEY to the survival of our Democracy!Please help today & it’s tax deductible because it focuses registration only on these issues not candidates! Thank you!
We definitely need to defeat Ted Cruz. One of my neighbors has a yard sign that says "Ted Cruz for Texas". What BS!! He is not and never has been for Texas, and if nothing else, his behavior with the huge electrical outage a couple of winters ago, when he went to Cancun to avoid the cold, says it all.
FYI Susan—you’ve got a typo, unless you went to Cancun with Ted. 😥Tap the 3 buttons to edit. 💙
Thank you Gigi. Mistake corrected. I actually edit all the time, but I'm sure that auto-correct got me this time and I didn't see it. Trust me, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near Ted Cruz anywhere in the world. Wherever he lives in Texas is too close.
Whoa! We've been down this road before. In 1798, President Adams and the Federalist Congress enacted an infamous law called the Sedition Act of 1798. Incidentally, the law, itself, was a significant improvement over the way people in power had viciously retaliated against critics for hundreds of years. The statute expressly protected speech unless the government proved (beyond a reasonable doubt) that it was "false" and asserted with "malice."
The far greater problem (than the law, itself) was how people in power viciously and maliciously abused that law. Secretary of State Pickering and SCOTUS Justice Chase were such abusive maniacs that they knowingly and blatantly violated the law (and our Constitution) to persecute people for all kinds of speech that the Sedition Act clearly did not make criminal.
They did all that right before the election of 1800. Their abuses of power so incensed Americans that President Adams and many members of Congress were voted out of office, and Justice Chase earned the distinction of being the only SCOTUS justice ever impeached. Chase very narrowly escaped being convicted and removed from SCOTUS.
So beware what you wish for. Public officials rightly should be very careful about using criminal prosecutions to punish speech.
We need to start a trend: #MAGAterrorists
Trump and Vance have done to the Haitian community in Springfield what Giuliani did to Moss and Freeman in Georgia. They should be sued in Federal court for inciting terrorism and in civil court for destroying the reputation of an entire community. These MAGA terrorists have no idea of the courage it took for people to flee the gang terror in their homeland and to come to a totally different culture to embark on a new life. It's high time the disrupters learn that the right to free speech does not include the right to lie about another person. Furthermore, with Vance stating that he will fabricate stories so that the news media "covers what's happening in America," one must question what lies he (& Trump) would tell the American public when in office. MAGA supporters should be asked to consider that before they elect a fascist regime.
Thanks for sharing a former insider's viewpoint.
We need to call all of them out on these hateful acts.
We won’t go back (we must not). Harris-Walz 2024.
Partner with FT 6 to make it a blue tsunami.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/all-volunteer-ops
Daniel, I partnered up with FT6. Just finished another 50 postcards. I'm bragging, here!
I am doing free texting on the bring your own phone plan with Field Team 6. It’s easy free and a must if you want a democracy after next January.
Shawna, this is so exciting! Thank you! Anybody else want to help? I love FT 6: https://www.mobilize.us/ptp
Brava
Thanks, Bill. I wish everyone knew how easy and rewarding it is. I make it fun, too: lots of bright-colored pens, good tunes in the background, and a little bowl of M&Ms for a treat :-)
I have 40 some odd to go. Mine are going to Nevada but don’t need to be sent til late next month.
I’m almost finished with 100 going to Arizona.
You're a Rock Star, Gammyjill!
Me, too.
We totally rock, Marsha!!!
This is why, in addition to getting as many people as I can to register to vote (I do so at work at the clinic, and I'm up to #64), I have volunteered to knock on doors in the predominantly republican town where I work. In no way do I want to revert to the '60's. We must never go back.
As an “eastern coastal” liberal I was in the Deep South for the first time this summer on a Civil Rights trip with a group of educators. It was revelatory to see what have become sacred spaces where innocent people lost their lives simply because of the color of their skin and the determination to keep alive the myth of white supremacy. It is mind boggling (or maybe not at all) that we are still fighting this battle of hatred of the “other.” As Harris-Waltz say: we’re not going back. And as Joyce says every day: we’re in this together. Have a plan, write letters, canvas, phone, “do something!”
I really wish that the haters who try to keep "others" down, would actually meet and talk with some of them. They would find out that they had more in common than not. There is so much good in other cultures, so much we could learn from them. I know that these people would refuse to open their minds to any "others". It's very sad to me that they are so insecure about who they are.
I was listening to an On Point episode that I found really interesting in terms of fine tuning the discussion about race, with Coleman Hughes. He said there will always be racism, just like there will always be murder. That point stuck out for me. There will always be hatred. But it should never, ever reside in leadership offices in this country.
That is the critical issue: that it not exist in leadership - corporate, association, local, state or Federal govt, military, police, etc. It does. It does in religious leadership where one hopes it really wouldn’t. It seems when people know others as individuals the walls of hate begin to fall. Until those in such as the MAGA Party find a way to incite it. I despair while working to change it.
WE ARE NOT GOING BACK! Those beautiful, intelligent looking young girls who passed on September 15 1963, they are one reason we are not going back - and also for millions of hatefully, wrongfully persecuted people world-over.
Thank you, Joyce 💟
Vote out this ruinous, hate-filled creature🌊💙🇺🇸🌊💙🇺🇸🌊💙🇺🇸
Domestic terrorists should be held accountable. Bottom line. I don't care who they are. No one should live in fear of their life.
How many innocent people’s lives need to be ruined by this MAGA cult before we make it stop? Why are some people still battling for their rights 60 years on? I’m praying for us to “turn the page”!! Vote for Freedom. Vote for Harris/walz. Thank you Joyce 🙏🏼
I agree. Doesn’t this fall into the category of hate speech? Why is this not prosecuted?
Good question. Ken White in an oldie but goodie podcast called Make No Law provides a good answer (discussing a SCOTUS decision that, coincidentally, specifically protected the speech of klansmen in Ohio a mere year after the murders at issue in Joyce's post):
https://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/make-no-law/2020/10/imminent-lawless-action/
“ I HEAR THAT….” This is the phrase that Trump has learned to use in his rallies to spew out the most venomous and vicious slanders and lies believing that he can always claim that he can’t vouch for their veracity, thereby protecting him from defamation law suits, and insisting that he’s only passing along to his cult followers what he heard on the grapevine.
“I hear that the Haitian immigrants are eating your cats and dogs…” “ I hear that Kamala got all the questions before the debate…” “ I hear that Kamala had an earpiece during the debate that she used to get told what to say …”
Trump has absolutely no moral guardrails and no ability to distinguish between right and wrong. He is a walking pollutant of putrefaction in which no villainy is beneath him.
We can only imagine the extent of evil that he could inflict upon Americans and the world, having the Supreme Court bestow upon him absolute immunity for anything and everything he does, including murder.
Frequently Trump uses the weasel phrase “I HEAR” before speaking of Haitians in Springfield eating cats and dogs or that millions of people are freed from jails and mental hospitals so that they can immigrate to the United States.
I HEAR that Trump is a fornicating felon who had a traitorous bromance with Putin.
I HEAR that Trump has spent over $150,000,000 (of other people’s $$$) to avoid being tried in federal and state courts, while threatening judicial revenge to his political opponents, were he to slither back in the White House.
I HEAR that Trump swore an oath to support the Constitution and then trashed it and got over 140 security officers killed and wounded.
I HEAR that Trump has an unresolved 2010 tax matter still pending with the IRS, while he seeks to offer fat cats and corporations further none-fair-tax-freebies.
I HEAR that cats and dogs are raining on Trump because of his buddy noVANCEage.
I HEAR that Trump despises nasty Black women.
I KNOW that all of the above is true and verified by non-Fox sources.
So who are the people giving him the money? Right. They’ve been identified. Let’s interview them and let’s do a way with citizens United. Once we win. Because we will win. There are more of us than them. We won last time with an old experienced and gracious white guy. And now we have the youth on our side and a fierce warrior as our next leader.
Citizens United has to go, but the only way that can happen is with a Democratic trifecta in November. Your first idea smacks of the intimidation tactics DeSatan is employing in Florida re the abortion petition. I haven't followed that too closely, but I wonder if anyone has been arrested for telling the "jack-booted thugs" to go bleep themselves. That would be a nice story to run in advance of the election.
Funny how trump doubles and triples down on Haitians eating people’s pets despite the originator’s recantation and the harm it’s causing but no mention of a white US governor shooting her puppy to death….
"No ability to distinguish between right and wrong" is the definition of a sociopath. Even knowing that, it's difficult for me to grasp that there is no villainy beneath him.
And in his being baited by his idolized “strongmen” when the stakes are even greater on the world. Flattery from them is as easy bait as pointing out his flawed views by Kamala and others.
Warren Buffet once commented that "Honesty is a very expensive gift; don't expect it from cheap people." This personifies what is going on in the American political arena at present. Cheap people, for whom the truth is only a transactional occurence to be bartered, sold, and traded traffic in lies and reveal only enough of the truth to lure the rubes into their web of deceit.
Felonious Trump has become the poster child for future zealot and cult leader wannabes. Racism, xenophobia, fascism, islamopohia, anti-semitism, no problem. Step right up and he'll teach you how to divide and conquer. One only needs to look at his guest list at Mar-A-Lago...Laura Loomer, Nick Fuentes, David Duke, et al to begin to understand what comforts felonious Trump. To vote for such a bent person defys logic.
Today’s WaPo has an article about the Taliban making it even more horrific for women there. What the MAGAts - local, state, Federal - want to do is similar: ban books and teaching many lessons, cross check women getting abortions or care for miscarriages, imprison doctors who provide emergency pregnancy care should it result in the death of a fertilized egg* and on and in. A Theocracy is a greater fear in the US.
*Not answered, in addition to how he’d pay for to deport millions of people, now including immigrants here LEGALLY or how his tariffs would pay landlords and companies and communities for no workers or their taxed incomes and the ripping apart of families, are the IVF for all and the resulting fertilized egg storage.
What a reminder of what and who we are facing! The hate is so despicable and yet my good religious neighbors have kept their Trump signs in place.
Do they hate “others” as Trump suggests? I’m ashamed!
I know that through the ages hate has been part of the fabric of organized religions--hate, intimidation, torture, and ruin. For a while, I was puzzled at why someone today could call themselves Christian and support the hate that flows from DT and his followers; but then as I thought back through history, that's been the stance of those who committed some of the worst atrocities--under the banner of religion. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised any longer.
I think you are absolutely correct, Nancy. The inquisitions and the like, prove it. And the fact that (as I understand it) that these "christians" base everything on the Old Testament, which includes "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth", makes them make more sense, although I can't believe that God would ever have wanted his people to be haters, like these people are.
If you solely believe/follow the Old Testament, how can you call yourself a Christian when that time was before the birth of Christ???
Exactly! My understanding of today's churches in our country is that they are based, appropriately, on the New Testament. However, it seems like when you get into the mega-churches, they end up going the way of their power hungry pastor. It's clear to me that quite a few churches have gotten into being hateful and xenophobic, and are therefore totally unrelated to Christianity. I will say that I am sure that in the part I quoted above, it was about justice, albeit a primitive form of justice, not about hating. To my mind hating comes from deep-seated feelings of insecurity.
Has anybody heard of Thomas Paine and his book The Age of Reason?
I've heard of it, but never read it. Your point is??
They must. His followers justify their beliefs. In a PBSNewsHour an interview with a young-looking grandmother she said she was a Christian and believed Trump was the most Christian of the candidates. One must believe as he does that to hate is divine to support him. I despair with you.
I live in a city that's 80% Latino (Mexican), and I have a neighbor who I'm pretty sure is of that heritage, and yet she has trump/vance signs out, along with signs for other republican candidates (like Ted Cruz for Texas - are you kidding me? He is?). She has seemed nice enough when I've talked to her, but she has surveillance signs on her iron fence, a welcome sign on her garage, and a metal structure around her front door that has no doorbell. Talk about mixed messages! I pass her house every day on my exercise walk, and I never cease to be amazed at the mixed messages she sends.
“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity” -- Hanlon's razor.
You made me laugh. Trump made me laugh, too. I laughed out loud when I heard Trump invoke Viktor Orban in a nationally-televised presidential debate. I couldn't believe he could be so stupid as to admit that he wants what Orban has (see
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/donald-trump-viktor-orban-praise-20240911.html).
In politics, stupidity and malice too often are inseparable. Dismissing malice as mere stupidity is dangerous when considering what moves masses. Hate makes great (rallies and ratings). It is a tried and true political formula.
When Trump rants and raves about stupid things (including about rally sizes), don't laugh. He's not being merely stupid or petty. He's telling us who he is. More importantly, he's telling us who he wants to be and what he's willing to do to get there. He's doing the same by spreading stories to inspire hate against people who look or think different from Trump's base. Trump evidently would sell his soul--some would say he has sold his soul--to secure rallies the size of someone Trump clearly considers a role model.
It's not just Trump who likes Orban. There are some MAGA congressmen/women who think his illiberal democracy is just hunky dory. He spoke at CPAC to a cheering crowd of MAGA fools. MAGA (former) Republicans are fans of Orban and Putin. They are unAmerican and the farthest thing from patriots.
The good news is that the Hungarians are fed up after 14 years of rule by their illiberal prime minister and his sidekicks. To wit, a legitimate and sizable opposition party, The Tisza, has emerged, led by Peter Magyar, an intelligent, good-looking young politician who was once a member of Victor Orban's FIDESZ Party and knows where the regime's soft spots are. There are MANY. The challenger is building a movement that plans to sweep the FIDESZ from power come the 2026 national elections.
I personally don't think trump is adequately explained by stupidity. He is stupid, yes, but what he does also comes across as malice. In truth, though, what he does is all about promoting himself in whatever way he thinks will work, so it may not actually be malice - I think malice is usually intentional, and the only thing intentional about trump is using whatever he can to "win".
The two are not mutually exclusive.
I agree with you.
Thanks for the attribution. I have used that quote myself without knowing its origin.
Clearly Trump has crossed a line with his despicable rant against the Haitian community in Ohio. My question is whether he has crossed a legal line with unprotected speech, much like his conduct on Jan. 6. I would love your opinion on this. Certainly the Haitian community could file a defamation case against Trump and ask for injunctive relief and compensatory and punitive damages. But could the justice department also file a criminal complaint under the Civil Rights Act of 1968? If so, where is Merrick Garland?
And the immigrants in Aurora, CO, who he has denigrated and threatened with “bloody removal”. He said he’d send the Haitians “back to” Venezuela. Will those from that country be sent to Haiti? Geography and kindness are not his strong suits.
Other than hate and manipulation, what is his strong suit? The guy has none. He’s a fumbling idiot. He doesn’t even know what’s in the constitution. What’s in the first amendment? Someone should ask him.
Good question. Ken White in an oldie but goodie podcast called Make No Law provides a good answer regarding the potential for government prosecution (discussing a SCOTUS decision that, coincidentally, specifically protected the speech of klansmen in Ohio a mere year after the murders at issue in Joyce's post):
https://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/make-no-law/2020/10/imminent-lawless-action/
But one thing worth keeping in mind is that the purported concept of "unprotected speech" is a misconception. The Constitution protects all speech and speakers with due process of law under the 5th or 14th Amendment. If the government wants to prove someone committed a crime with speech, the government must prove each material fact beyond a reasonable doubt. If someone wants to sue for, e.g., defamatory speech, they must prove each material fact with evidence that is clear and convincing.
In New York Times Co. v. Sullivan in 1964, SCOTUS emphasized that it doesn’t matter what “label” anyone slaps on any speech (e.g., defamation, obscenity, threat, hate speech). No mere label can make any speech or speaker unprotected by due process of law.
I wish there were a way to show appreciation without the 'like' button😢
I agree! I wanted to agree with the "Brown Shirts are here" comment, but I didn't want to "like" it!
🇺🇸💙🇺🇸💙
You like because you agree with the comments not the ideology
Agree.
Can one change the text next to the heart to "AGREE"?
Classic scapegoating right out of the Fascist playbook. The Brown Shirts are here.
Trump and JD Vance are the head of a terrorist group
They are also traitors to our nation. They need to be treated as such.
Exactly.