Rep. Hastings was also one of 31 Democrats who led the #StopTheSteal movement in the 2004 presidential election by opposing the certification of Ohio's vote total, which declared George W. Bush the winner over John Kerry. Many Dems believed (and still do) the count was fraudulent
When I began writing about politics in 2005, the view that Karl Rove had used fraudulent Diebold machines to alter the vote totals in Ohio to steal John Kerry's victory from him was prevalent. 31 House Dems, along with Sen. Barbara Boxer, objected to certification of Ohio's vote.
(Dems also, of course, widely believe their 2000 election victory was stolen from them by the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore, and also that their 2016 presidential defeat was illegitimate due to Russian interference). So: no legitimate defeats since 1988.
This is the reason that leaders around the world -- Merkel, Macron, AMLO and numerous others -- objected so loudly when Silicon Valley removed Trump from the internet, even as US journalists swooned. They see that this kind of oligarchical censorship is anti-democratic tyranny:
If Google's policy -- that you get banned for saying *anything* about COVID-19 that deviates from the views of WHO, Dr. Fauci & friends -- were in place in March, 2020, then you'd have been banned for *urging people to wear masks*. That's when WHO/Fauci were anti-mask.
Listen to Mexican President López Obrador after tech monopolies banned Trump in January, 2021, warning of the serious dangers posed by online censorship to basic democracy and its ability to survive -- warnings repeated by Germany, France & EU officials:
No basis to assume AOC is responsible for this without evidence, but regardless, this is a very serious incident if the Capitol Police are dispatching armed police officers to citizens' homes in response to non-violent criticisms of a politician's statements. It's repressive.
It's totally unacceptable for the Capitol Police to dispatch armed officers of the state to the home of a citizen to interrogate them over tweets criticizing a politician, and since it was done in @AOC's name, she should speak out about it, too:
There should be an immediate investigation into what led the Capitol Police to dispatch armed officers to the home of a citizen to interrogate him about tweets he posted critical of AOC. If they come to your house without a warrant, tell them to fuck off.
For anyone surprised about what @lhfang reported today about @GovHowardDean, you shouldn't be: Dean has long been one of the sleaziest swamp creatures in DC, monetizing his political influence to serve the worst corporate & militarist entites:
Dean has been so upset with Lee Fang's characteristically relentless reporting about all of his sleazy legalizing influence-peddling that Dean, in 2016, decided to muse that perhaps the Intercept is funded by Russia or Iran: that's how deranged he is.
(Sincerest apologies in advance to Gov. Dean if my pointing this out incites anyone to tweet anything critical or unpleasant about or to him).
Of the 5 people whose deaths are connected to the Capitol riot, 4 were pro-Trump supporters:
* 2 of heart attack
* 1 of amphetamine poisoning
* 1 from homicide (Ashli Babbitt)
* Still do not know the "cause and manner of death" for Off. Sicknick.
So: 3 months after the NYT & national press corps drowned US discourse over a month with a harrowing but false story about a pro-Trump mob bashing Officer Sicknick's skull in with a fire extinguisher, they still can't say what caused his death on Jan 7:
Here's a reminder of just a small portion of what the national press said over and over about Officer Sicknick's death -- just completely false, with very little retraction or explanation. Watch:
This was one of the most infuriating parts of the Trump era. I started writing about politics to denounce Bush/Cheney lawlessness & their attacks on civil liberties. Watching those who did that rebuild their careers by marching under the "rule of law" banner was nauseating.
The central purpose of the neocon project during Bush/Cheney was to eliminate all legal constraints. The overarching theory was that the President could do anything -- start wars, bomb, kill, kidnap, spy on Americans -- no matter what the law said.
Neocons migrated back to the Dem Party and now are its most vocal and loyal supporters not because they abandoned those theories -- they didn't -- but because, *before Trump*, they concluded that is the Party now most hospitable to their warped agenda.
On Mother's Day in 2019, I obtained a massive archive of materials from Brazil's most powerful officials. The reporting we did changed the country, and our lives.
I regard the book as at least as much about journalism and democracy in general as it is about Brazil.
In terms of both the dangers and threats, but also the societal changes it fostered, I regard the journalism I was able to do with the courageous team of young journalists at @TheInterceptBr as being as intense & consequential as the Snowden reporting. This book tells that story.