1/ It's definitely maddening that our country is on the verge of a fascist takeover by the GOP & a majority of Americans - and the entire press corps - is acting as if this will be a normal election
But.
I think this is actually a silver lining. Not kidding.
2/ The only way Trump (ym'sh) has been able to succeed has been to fake that everything is normal. This is Barr's main trick; how he nerfed the Mueller report etc.
But when they get sloppy & act too overt, the public outrage is enormous. See: Lafayette Square, or USPS
3/ That most Americans are expecting to vote in Nov. & have their vote counted is a major benefit to stop them successfully stealing the election. No white guy thinks it's OK for Barr's DOJ/DHS troops to seize ballot boxes or stop mail vote counting
4/ The entire premise of the hyper "LawAndOrder" gambit has been to say that street-fighting and lawlessness is something DJT is against. Barr's goons showing up & stopping the vote, or Florida sending electors against the popular vote win, or anything as overt as the Bible stunt
5/ They've avoided these things because they're trying to act as if everything is normal. It's like how W Bush launched two wars without a draft or taxes by sending National Guard & mercenaries. They normalcy is their only cover
They burst that and they're exposed
6/ Mind you, they may think the exposure is worth it. But they've avoided an overt fascist power grab so far, and given the backlash after the Bible Stunt & even after Floyd's murder, show me that they are afraid of going that far
And I think they should be afraid
7/ The GOP success has been to act as if everything is normal. I'm certain (no data, sorry) that most Americans absolutely won't accept *overt* fascist theft.
We who are scared right now are a small minority. We're educated: we know what will happen b/c we know the past
8/ As I said right at the top: we scared people are driven crazy by the majority acting as if everything is normal, but I'm using this to prove my point: the moment the normal bubble is broken, the GOP will lose.
9/ That article describes how a non-violent uprising taking to the streets, if it's 3.5% of the population, has been enough to topple governments. That's 11 million Americans
We can do that number EASILY, b/c a fascist grab would spark at least the same # as the Floyd protests.
10/ Acc. to the Wiki, the Floyd protests were 15-26 million.
Florida making new electors or DHS troops seizing ballot boxes etc would be that and more b/c the goofy 'undecided' voter's view of America, the Myth of Liberty, will need to be preserved
11/ My perspective may feel Pollyannaish, but I also believe the GOP will try their fascist power grab in as subtle a way possible. My point is that if they get desperate & turn overt, they risk the backlash of the very normalization they've depended on to get as far as they have
12/ It's possible that Barr will force open conflict because that may be his only exit plan. But I believe that will lead to a major non-violent backlash. It'll be chaos & historic, but the docile people we see expect stability & will reject chaos.
13/ This is part of the 4th comfort in my pinned thread. I'm using many of the panel discussion results I've read as support, the perspective of interviews & the MSM normalizing as well.
198.02/ #ChochmatNashim for #AchareiMot & #Kedoshim 5783. @ChochmatNashim
It's going to be hard updating the 5784 edition before Shabbas, so please enjoy this "classic" version from last year. Divrei Torah from Orthodox women scholars on the parsha. drive.google.com/file/d/136A4pd…
@ChochmatNashim 198.03/ The jig is up, the news is out, they finally found her... Mazal Tov and congratulations to my wife, Dr. Rebecca Cypess, on her new position as Dean of Stern College and Yeshiva College! BE"H her new position will allow her to help heal academia. yu.edu/news/yu/yeshiv…
196.03/ #NachasAlert: My son has a big article (pages 4-6) in this week's Torah journal from his high school #Metzora-#HaGadol. Enjoy! drive.google.com/file/d/1uNKU5O…
195.02/ Happy #Eclipse2024 Day for all who celebrate. Here's an interesting article about the halakhic implications of an eclipse by Rabbi Dov Linzer: blogs.timesofisrael.com/solar-eclipse-…
195.03/ #Eclipse2024 My extended family went to a place of 100% totality and took this picture a few minutes ago. For me its 90% and can't be photographed (which is one reason I said shehechiyanu). Not paskening for anyone else, but for me this is a religious experience.
194.02/ #ChochmatNashim for #Shemini 5784.
@ChochmatNashim
Downloadable PDF with working links to Divrei Torah by Orthodox women scholars on the parsha and other topics of the week. #Shmini #HaChodesh drive.google.com/file/d/1bFHTfW…
193.03/ #NachasAlert: Final (so far) tally of times my son leyned Megillah seven times; 3 last night, four times today. Including once for a home-bound Shoah survivor. So proud.
192.02/ So today is #ZayinAdar and Saint Patrick's Day during Ramadan. What could go wrong?
192.03/ There's a resonance in having a fast that commemorates a community sacrifice for soldiers fighting a defensive war against raging antisemites. #TaanitEsther