Trump Disgraces America Every Day

[donquixote99]

That would really be dominating the battlespace!

[Chicks]

Protesters, ACLU sue over use of force at White House ahead of Donny's church visit

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/04/polit...clu/index.html

The lawsuit says the administration-directed police had "no legitimate basis to destroy the peaceable gathering" of people protesting the death of George Floyd.

"This case is about the President and Attorney General of the United States ordering the use of violence against peaceful demonstrators who were speaking out against discriminatory police brutality targeted at Black people," reads the lawsuit.

[Chicks]

Heather Cox Richardson
June 4, 2020 (Thursday)

The large picture today is of a president increasingly isolated as protests increase and establishment figures turn against him and the politics he represents.

That large picture is made up of many individual moments.

Protests continued for a tenth day today in the face of ongoing police brutality. That statement is going to anger some readers, but hoo, boy, the images of the police attacking peaceful protesters and journalists are going to be in textbooks in a few years, and our great grandchildren are going to ask how on earth this happened.

Confusion over who the troops in Washington, D.C. actually are turned into anger today. The mayor of the city, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, rejected the White House push to take control of D.C. police, and did not request any help from outside the city. Nonetheless, the streets have been full of men in unidentifiable uniforms without name tags. Identification is customary on military personnel.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi demanded from Trump “a full list of the agencies involved and clarifications of the roles and responsibilities of the troops and federal law enforcement resources operating in the city. Congress and the American people need to know who is in charge, what is the chain of command, what is the mission, and by what authority is the National Guard from other states operating in the capital.”

Contrary to reports from those present, Attorney General William Barr said today that the protesters in Lafayette Square on Monday whom police cleared out with tear gas and rubber bullets were violent, and that officials “could not continue to protect” federal property. Barr was, perhaps, responding to a tweet from Richard W. Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration. On Tuesday, Painter tweeted “Attorney General Barr personally ordered an attack on peaceful people in the courtyard of a church. He should be impeached and removed from office immediately for that and everything else he has done to destroy the rule of law in America.”

There are also small—very small-- cracks in Trump’s Republican support in Congress. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) praised General James Mattis’s statement opposing Trump and said she is not sure she’ll vote for the president's reelection in the fall. “I think there are… important conversations that we need to have as an American people amongst ourselves about where we are right now," she said. Trump immediately vowed he would work to unseat her when her term is up in 2022.

The Senate Intelligence Committee approved a measure that would require presidential campaigns to report to federal authorities any offers made by foreign individuals to influence elections, including campaign donations or coordination with a campaign. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) is following Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) in his deep concern over foreign attacks on our elections. The bill passed thanks to Democrats and the crossover vote of Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), but Senate Republicans plan to defeat this provision when it comes to the floor of the Senate.

And Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), has said he will block two of Trump’s appointees from nomination until the president adequately addresses his removal of the inspectors general of the Intelligence Community and the State Department. The White House has refused to account for those firings, instead reiterating that the president has the authority to fire the men. Notably, though, the stalled nominations were for the undersecretary for arms control and international security at the State Department and the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, important positions both, but probably nothing that will badly hamper the president. If Grassley had wanted the threat to have teeth, he could have put a hold on judicial appointments, which Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has continued to push through at a cracking pace even during this crisis week in American history.

Trump is literally behind a wall, now, as officials have ordered the White House compound barricaded behind fences, and metal enclosures as if it were a military base.

The Washington Post wrote: "The White House is now so heavily fortified that it resembles the monarchical palaces or authoritarian compounds of regimes in faraway lands — strikingly incongruous with the historic role of the executive mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, which since its cornerstone was laid in 1792 has been known as the People’s House and celebrated as an accessible symbol of American democracy.”

The Secret Service says the changes are in effect only until June 10.

[Chicks]

#BunkerBoy’s Photo-Op War
Is this an authoritarian crackdown by Donald Trump or just another politicized spectacle?

https://www.newyorker.com/news/lette...s-photo-op-war

[Chicks]

Donny's chief of staff of 2 years says he agrees that Donny is bad for the country

https://www.businessinsider.com/john...country-2020-6

Is there anyone left who worked for this corrupt administration who hasn't condemned this madman?

[Oerets]

George is looking down indeed...............



https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...tail&FORM=VIRE

[Chicks]

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Lashing out at critics who have charged him with building a wall around the White House to protect himself from peaceful protesters, Donald Trump claimed on Friday that the purpose of the wall is to prevent staffers from quitting en masse.

“The wall is not to keep people out. It’s to keep people in,” Trump angrily told reporters. “If anyone thinks he’s going to quit this White House, he’s going to have to climb over a ten-foot wall first.”

Trump added that he was considering invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807 to put down further rebellions by the Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper.

“Between the wall and the Insurrection Act, no one is getting out,” he said. “No one.”

Trump also dismissed reports that he had spent much of the week hiding under his desk.

“I have been inspecting the area under my desk,” he said. “There are no problems.”

[Chicks]

We are witnessing the birth of a movement — and the downfall of a president*
We've reached a turning point in the Trump era. The 2020 campaign is in the streets and he's losing

https://www.salon.com/2020/06/06/we-...f-a-president/

But even more extraordinary than the retired officers who spoke out was the letter from the current chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Mark A. Milley, which was leaked to conservative pundit Bill Kristol on Thursday. Milley is said to have had a contentious meeting with Trump in the Oval Office on Monday before joining him in his infamous "walk" down the street cleared by police and National Guard soldiers. According to David Ignatius of the Washington Post, Milley, "whose temper can match Trump's...was vocal in reiterating his advice to the president against mobilizing troops, according to three knowledgeable sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity." That is Washington-speak for "they were yelling at each other."

Sent to all of the other chiefs of staff for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard and commanders of combatant commands, Milley's letter is unlike anything I have seen, and I've been around the military since I was born in an Army field hospital in occupied Japan in 1947.

He reminded everyone in uniform of their oath to support and defend the Constitution. I've never seen that done before. All service members take the same oath, but they don't go around reminding each other about it. Milley wrote of the Constitution, "This document is founded on the essential principles that all men and women are born free and equal, and should be treated with respect and dignity. It also gives Americans the right to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly. We in uniform — all branches, all components, all ranks — remain committed to our national values and principles embedded in the Constitution." He went on to note specifically that the National Guard "is operating under the authority of state governors."

For a military man, this comes close to a call for insurrection. Milley's message is written in a code that everyone in uniform will understand implicitly. By reminding every member of the military that the soldiers currently deployed on the street around the country are not there under the authority of the president, and by reminding them of their oath to the Constitution, he is telling them that the military will not be carrying out any un-American orders issued by Donald Trump. Late Friday, Secretary of Defense Esper disarmed the National Guard doing riot duty in Washington, ordering them to turn in their weapons and ammunition. He also ordered all active duty troops amassed outside the capital earlier in the week by the White House to be sent home. He issued both orders without consulting the White House.

These generals are not politicians, but all their statements are as political as any I've ever seen by senior officers, retired or active duty. It's the equivalent of lining up howitzers on Pennsylvania Avenue and aiming at the White House.

I'll bet Trump rues the day he appointed "Mad Dog" Mattis as secretary of defense. They don't go out and make statements like this without talking to one another. Mullen and Mattis were said to have been aware of Milley's confrontation with the president at the time they wrote their articles on Tuesday and Wednesday. Milley and his fellow generals and admirals are giving a clear sign that the military leaders are turning against Trump. Colin Powell will reportedly be next, in an appearance on one of the Sunday morning shows.

The military is the most reliably conservative institution this country has. But inside the military establishment, the signals are being sent. They have announced that they are more reliable as defenders of the rights of their fellow citizens than the police. Without stepping over the line into insubordination, they have made it as clear as they can that their loyalty isn't to the president. It's to the Constitution.

I don't think we have to worry about the military following illegal orders from Trump. At least for now, they're on our side.

[bobabode]

Originally Posted by Chicks

We are witnessing the birth of a movement — and the downfall of a president*
We've reached a turning point in the Trump era. The 2020 campaign is in the streets and he's losing

https://www.salon.com/2020/06/06/we-...f-a-president/

That is really good news. Thanks, Chicks.

[donquixote99]

Originally Posted by Chicks

We are witnessing the birth of a movement — and the downfall of a president*
We've reached a turning point in the Trump era. The 2020 campaign is in the streets and he's losing

https://www.salon.com/2020/06/06/we-...f-a-president/

The generals are signaling they will support the Constitution. Two problems:

1. There are ways for it to get pretty murky which side the Constitutional side is.
2. Some lower officers, some units, may break for Trump.

Trump will figure out who's loyal to him, and they will become the Washington garrison. We'll have to get through them to get rid of him.