What have we learned:

1. Terrorists can act with impunity so long as they are white; they can attack police, lay siege to any capitol, openly carry guns to legislatures, plot kidnappings, kill, and even dress like dystopian Price Is Right contestants while doing so, 1/ and will calmly walk away, unscathed, toting mementos.

2. Not only will they face few, if any, consequences; they will take selfies with the police charged with protecting us from them

3. Lawmakers egging on the terrorists will face no consequences either.

2/

Of all people to invite in to your party to utterly destroy you and shred your reputations, this maniacally vain, impulsively lying, language garbling boor. A man who raided a charity for his personal gain. Who stole from veterans. 1/ Who created a fake university, defrauding thousands. Who betrays our allies, blithely leaving them to certain death, and cozies up to despots. Putin smiles, the West crumbles, Erdogan’s goons attack peaceful protesters on American soil with impunity, 2/

An Open Note About Andy @xtcfans

First off, for 30+ years, I’ve absolutely adored writer Andy Partridge. It’s hard to put into cogent words how profoundly his work has impacted (and improved) my own, and burrowed into my heart and life. 1/ Through mutual friends I was able to tell him this a few times over the years, which I considered an honor. I had feasted at his beautifully laid out table; being able to honestly say thank you was a joy.

So the disaster of past two days has been tough, and my role painful. 2/

An Open letter to @LindseyGrahamSC

Senator,

You recently wrote:

“Democrats all-encompassing hatred of President Trump and unwillingness to work with him -– on things that matter to the American people –- will be one of the chief reasons he gets reelected.”, 1/ as if the now reflexive recoiling at Trump by a wide variety of Americans is free-floating and irrational.

Nothing could be further from the truth, which is part of what makes this period, as Trump falters and his multiple misdeeds come to light, so profoundly dangerous. 2/

The Trump era, with all of its offenses and ugliness, will end. But here our biggest troubles will begin.

The Red Hats, now emboldened, will look for a savvy, competent leader, unlike Trump, to complete what he unleashed. 1/ Disinformation will be rampant, divisions sown among coalitions most threatening to autocracy, all manner of provocations large and small. Competent, careful governance will be critical as the nation rebuilds. It’s going to be slow, difficult, and people are going to be angry. 2/

2018. A year of triumphs, of hope, of devastating loss, of art, of fog, of adjusting, of growth. New cousins, strengthened and strained bonds, major milestones.

1/ 2018 started with us adjusting to the loss of our dog President Willie, and me with a health issue that had me on my back and/or seeing specialists with big question marks looming over us. 2/

When I hear former GOPers lament, correctly, about the moral and ethical rot at the center of Trumpism, and wail “what happened to the GOP??”, I shake my Gen X head.

1/ Trumpism is the natural, predictable, inevitable endpoint of what was always at the center of your beloved GOP, at least since ‘68:

2/

Yes, the “Left” expressed disgust. So did many previously on the “Right”. The profound dismay was grounded in moral and ethical concerns, shared across a wide swath of political view, pointedly not ideological — no such fury was raised over Gorsuch.

1/ The process itself stank to high heaven — the hiding of over 90% of relevant work papers, the laughably limited FBI followup, the disgraceful partisan conspiracy theories read as a statement by the now Associate Justice, 2/

Look at the rallies, the crowds erupting in delight at mocking the disabled, the Gold Star family, the assault victim. The ecstatic reception to McConnell’s breaking norms, rushing through unwritten and unvetted bills.
1/ Look at the flattery of White Supremacy and its nauseating adherents. Look at the dismissal of daily glaring lies, both petty and outrageous, from the WH on down through the entire party apparatus. Look at the young children locked up alone in increasing numbers,
2/

An important point about the previous post: it was not about partisanship. Frankly, the politicization of the high court arguably starts with the Bork nomination and the scorched earth campaign the Democrats laid in to derail his seat. I’m well aware of that, 1/ as much as I’m aware that elections have consequences.

I purposely left out Merrick Garland, the clumsy obfuscation of relevant work documents of the nominee during his time as a partisan operative (for reference on that, read David Brock’s account of their time together), 2/

My core issue with Judge Kavanaugh goes far deeper than the accusations of drunken sexual violence; as terrible as that is, both he and Dr. Ford are entitled to the presumption of innocence prior to a fair hearing.

1/ So, let’s assume for the moment that he has no memory of the incident and therefore sees himself as innocent. Fair.

That being the case, he has options. 2/

Every last person involved in this hideous, illegal, and unconscionable “policy” of torturing innocent children as a deterrent to others/negotiating tactic, from its authors on down to its lackeys and enablers, should be extradited to stand trial in international court. 1/

https://twitter.com/secnielsen/status/1008467103857463298

Wrong is wrong. Forget about appealing to morals, ethical standards, basic humanity — you clearly possess none of the above in sufficient number to stop your pathetic excuses and outright weak attempts to lie your way out. It is outrageous. 2/