Krystal Ball looks at a NYT op-ed that showcases what Bernie voters really think of Joe Biden, and discusses the powerlessness of the working people on the left.
Monday, April 20, 2020
Krystal Ball: Is the left willing to pay THIS price to claim power?
Krystal Ball looks at a NYT op-ed that showcases what Bernie voters really think of Joe Biden, and discusses the powerlessness of the working people on the left.
Trump’s ‘LIBERATE MICHIGAN!’ tweets incite insurrection. That’s illegal.
At the Washington Post, Mary McCord makes a simple, basic, and apt point on the president's support for protestors of coronavirus shut-downs in various states: over and above the idiocy of it in this disease-ridden moment, he's promoting insurrection. Tom
"President Trump incited insurrection Friday against the duly elected governors of the states of Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia. Just a day after issuing guidance for re-opening America that clearly deferred decision-making to state officials — as it must under our Constitutional order — the president undercut his own guidance by calling for criminal acts against the governors for not opening fast enough.
"Trump tweeted, “LIBERATE MINNESOTA!” followed immediately by “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” and then “LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!” This follows Wednesday’s demonstration in Michigan, in which armed protestors surrounded the state capitol building in Lansing chanting “Lock her up!” in reference to Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and “We will not comply,” in reference to her extension of the state’s coronavirus-related stay-at-home order. Much smaller and less-armed groups had on Thursday protested on the state capitol grounds in Richmond, Va., and outside the governor’s mansion in St. Paul, Minn.
“Liberate” — particularly when it’s declared by the chief executive of our republic — isn’t some sort of cheeky throwaway. Its definition is “to set at liberty,” specifically “to free (something, such as a country) from domination by a foreign power.” We historically associate it with the armed defeat of hostile forces during war, such as the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control during World War II. Just over a year ago, Trump himself announced that “the United States has liberated all ISIS-controlled territory in Syria and Iraq.”
"In that context, it’s not at all unreasonable to consider Trump’s tweets about “liberation” as at least tacit encouragement to citizens to take up arms against duly elected state officials of the party opposite his own, in response to sometimes unpopular but legally issued stay-at-home orders. This is especially so given the president’s reference to the Second Amendment being “under siege” in Virginia, where Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam just signed into law a number of gun-safety bills passed during the most recent session of the state general assembly — bills that prompted protests by Second Amendment absolutists at the state capitol in January, leading Northam to declare a state of emergency and temporarily ban firearms from the capitol grounds due to the threat of violence.
"This legal tactic can keep neo-Nazi protests out of your city
"It’s an echo of the “Second Amendment remedies” rhetoric of the 2010 midterm election. It’s clearly a violation of federalism principles, and it’s quite possibly a crime under federal law. And insurrection or treason against state government is a crime in Virginia, Michigan and Minnesota, as well as most states. Assembling with others to train or practice using firearms or other explosives for use during a civil disorder is also a crime in many states. But the president himself is calling for just that.
"Regardless of whether the tweets are criminal on their own, more importantly, they are irresponsible and dangerous. Private armed militias recently expressed eagerness to support the president’s veiled call to arms when he shared a comment on Twitter suggesting that if he were impeached and removed from office, it could lead to civil war:
"Just a day before, the Oath Keepers Twitter account tweeted, in an apparent reference to the president, that “All he has to do is call us up. We WILL answer the call.” Months before, vigilante groups responded to Trump’s frequent rhetoric about an “invasion” on America’s southern border by deploying to the border and illegally detaining migrants while heavily armed, dressed in military fatigues and calling themselves the “United Constitutional Patriots.”
"Trump has a bully pulpit unlike an ordinary citizen. His twitter account boasts over 77 million followers, but many more see his tweets when they’re retweeted by others, posted on other social media and covered by media outlets. He is prolific, having tweeted more than 50,000 times. And he is influential: his three “liberation” tweets have been retweeted and “liked” hundreds of thousands of times. We are not talking about a typical person when we consider the impact of his statements.
"That’s why we can’t write these tweets off as just hyperbole or political banter. And that’s why these tweets aren’t protected free speech. Although generally advocating for the use of force or violation of law is protected (as hard to conceive as that may be when the statements are made by someone in a position of public trust, like the president of the United States), the Supreme Court has previously articulated that where such advocacy is “inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action,” it loses its First Amendment protection. The president’s tweets — unabashedly using the current crisis to encourage a backlash against lawful and expert-recommended public health measures, falsely claiming a Second Amendment “siege” and calling for insurrection against elected leaders — have no place in our public discourse and enjoy no protection under our Constitution."
As "Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated" says at his daily press rallies, "who could have ever predicted something like this happening?" 🤦♂️
DEFINING INSANITY....AND FASCISM
snip:
Trump's tweets pushed many online extremist communities to speculate whether the president was advocating for armed conflict, an event they’ve termed “the boogaloo."
Trump's tweets pushed many online extremist communities to speculate whether the president was advocating for armed conflict, an event they’ve termed “the boogaloo."
The truth about Trump from one Republican governor
The truth about Trump from one Republican governor
Blunt talk is a welcome breath of fresh bipartisan air in a country now divided by its reaction to COVID-19.
Ever since the coronavirus hit America, Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland has been doing something rare and wonderful for a Republican: speaking truth about President Trump.
It happened again on Sunday, when CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Hogan about the president’s assertion that America’s coronavirus testing capacity is “fully sufficient” to begin opening up the country.
“I think this is probably the number one problem in America, and has been from the beginning of the crisis, the lack of testing," replied Hogan. The Trump administration, he added, is trying to ramp up its response — “but to try to push this off, to say that the governors have plenty of testing and they should just get to work on testing, somehow we aren’t doing our job, is just absolutely false.” Boom.
Democratic governors like Andrew Cuomo of New York and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan get lots of love when they spar with Trump. But blunt talk from Hogan, the head of the National Governors Association, is a welcome breath of fresh, bipartisan air in a country now divided by its reaction to COVID-19. No one will ever write odes to the ordinary blazer stretched around his frame, and his delivery is not high theater. But his straight talk is more valuable than a Dow Jones surge. It’s the only antidote that matters against Trump’s daily dose of poisonous mendacity. On Monday, Trump tweeted again that states, not the federal government, should be in charge of testing.
Hogan also responded honestly to Tapper’s question about protesters — including those in Maryland — who, with encouragement from Trump, are calling on their governors to open up their states for business, noting that the president’s own guidelines call for 14 days of confirmed cases of COVID-19 to decline before that should happen. Hogan said he understood the frustration, but "to encourage people to go protest your own plan . . . it just doesn’t make any sense. We’re sending completely conflicting messages out to the governors and to the people, as if we should ignore federal policy and federal recommendations.”
On testing, Hogan got back-up from Republican Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio, who told NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday that his state “really needs help” from the federal government. Meanwhile, during a Sunday appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation, Republican Governor Charlie Baker also talked about the financial help Massachusetts needs from “the feds.” But Hogan has been calling for that, plus more test kits and protective gear, since the country and his state first started battling the coronavirus. Earlier this month, he told The New York Times, ”I knew that taking quick decisive action was better than hesitating. I think the public was not where I was on the knowledge. There were folks saying this is no big deal, it’s not as bad as the flu, it’s going to disappear. And I was saying, ‘No, it’s worse.’”
Hogan told Tapper he was first alerted to the coronavirus on Feb. 9, during the annual winter meeting of the National Governors Association, when governors were briefed by Dr. Anthony Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hogan declared a state of emergency on March 5 and changed a stay-at-home advisory to an order on March 30.
Like Baker, Hogan governs a blue state; Maryland Democrats outnumber Republicans by two to one. However, he still faces resistance from protesters who want him to reopen parts of the state.
At one of his press briefings, Trump said that “some of the governors have gotten carried away” with their lockdown orders. Through Twitter, Trump has encouraged protesters in Michigan, Minnesota, and Virginia to “liberate” their states. Asked about that on CNN, Hogan said, “Look, we’re doing everything we possibly can to reopen in a safe manner. But I don’t think it’s helpful to encourage demonstrations and encourage people to go against the president’s own policy.”
That simple truth should be shouted from every state house in America, no matter what political party a governor belongs to.
RSN: FOCUS: Bernie Said We Could Govern Ourselves
20 April 20
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20 April 20
FOCUS: Bernie Said We Could Govern Ourselves
Akash Mehta, Jacobin
Mehta writes: "What made Bernie Sanders different from any major presidential candidate in our lifetimes was that he didn't pitch himself as the most qualified pilot - he demanded that we pilot the plane ourselves."
Akash Mehta, Jacobin
Mehta writes: "What made Bernie Sanders different from any major presidential candidate in our lifetimes was that he didn't pitch himself as the most qualified pilot - he demanded that we pilot the plane ourselves."
t every step, Bernie Sanders’s political opponents have contrasted themselves to him by appealing to their own competence and expertise. Clinton: “I’m a progressive who gets things done.” Warren: “I’ve got a plan for that.” Biden: “Let’s talk about progressive. Progressive is getting things done.”
Andrew Cuomo — the newest celebrity of the Democratic Party, a close friend and ally of its presidential nominee, and an increasingly likely 2024 presidential candidate — has risen to stardom on just such an appeal. Propelled by widespread (though highly dubious) praise of his management of the pandemic, his approval ratings and public image have taken flight.
Cuomo has long cultivated the aura of managerial effectiveness. When his challenger Cynthia Nixon pointed to decades of activism as her qualification for office, Cuomo replied that the governorship “is not a job about politics. It’s not about advocacy — it’s about doing. It’s about management.” Last year, he told a reporter:
I know how to do what everybody’s talking about doing. They’re all talking about how to fly an airplane. None of them have flown. And that’s a big difference when you get in the seat and you buckle the seat belt. And we just had a guy who spoke about flying a plane. And never flew. It’s not as easy as it looks.
This is a seductive and soothing vision of leadership, especially in turbulent times of impending crashes. We so badly want leaders who “know what they’re doing,” who have access to some kind of expertise — managerial skill, the right cadre of expert advisers, a capacity of political judgment we can’t specify because, after all, we haven’t had to “make those calls” ourselves — that qualifies them to steer the helm.
We need specialized expertise in government, of course. But what made Bernie different from any major presidential candidate in decades was that he didn’t just pitch himself as the most qualified pilot. He demanded of us that we pilot the plane ourselves.
He didn’t soothe or reassure us — he roused us to work. That work now continues. It will be long and hard going. And it will take overcoming our fears that we aren’t qualified, that we’ll crash the plane unless we leave it to the experts.
This is what “Not me, Us” always meant. It’s why we always planned to be in the streets, win or lose. It’s why our campaign was aligned with grassroots groups like the Sunrise Movement and the Democratic Socialists of America, through which we will continue to build our movement beyond 2020.
We’ll be told that we don’t know what we’re doing, that we’re “blowing smoke” and are “blue-sky puffers” (whatever that means), as Cuomo recently characterized Bernie in contrast to Biden’s supposed no-nonsense pragmatism. We’ll be equated with the Trump 2016 supporters who cast themselves as heroic passengers wresting back control from the hijackers of Flight 93, even as we expose and defuse ersatz populism by offering the real thing. We’ll be mocked for presumptuousness — maybe the New Yorker will rerun its cartoon of a boorish man in an airplane standing up to exclaim, “These smug pilots have lost touch with regular passengers like us. Who thinks I should fly the plane?”
Politics does require technocratic know-how and expertise; part of what it means to pilot the plane collectively is to appoint those among us with the requisite training to operate the flight controls. It’s hardly the populist left that needs this reminder: on the most consequential policy issues — from health care to deficit spending to, most strikingly, climate change — it is the Left that offers the informed and pragmatic way forward, while the “moderates,” intoxicated by ideology, ignore the experts and fly the plane straight into the ground.
Yet the problem with the establishment is not that it doesn’t have enough policy wonks on the payroll. To critique it primarily on grounds of inefficacy or incompetence would be to buy into the premise that the current pilots, at least of our preferred airline, are trying to take us where we want to go, that they have different theories on how to avoid storms and harness winds and utilize limited fuel and do whatever else pilots do, but are all aiming at basically the same place.
Bernie lost because Democratic voters bought that premise. They agreed with him on the issues, but were persuaded that Biden was a more amiable and effective means toward the same ends. Among the most urgent tasks for the Left, then, is to show that the establishment is not oriented toward the people’s interests or responsive to their will.
Cuomo’s record is a good place to start. The austerity budget he just forced through the New York legislature — cutting Medicaid in a pandemic, locking up thousands in death-trap prisons, leaving the homeless to fend for themselves with only the added company of thousands of soon-to-be-evicted tenants, starving the state even as it confronts the world’s worst economic contraction since the Great Depression — shows that we are not in safe hands. The problem is not that the establishment doesn’t know how to fly; it’s that it’s flying in the wrong direction.
The pilots cannot be trusted. We have to storm the cockpit.
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