A continuation of events surrounding the drug war and related social issues of Baja California and Mexico. Keeping an eye on Seig Heil Trump. We are still trying to restore all blogs from 2006 which were hacked by Linton Robinson and his team, famous for supporting the Baja Trump Towers on one of his real estate sites. Highlights of Paris-Simone's favorite music !!
There is such a long way to go, but to me I'm beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel. You might think I'm being naive, and I'm not sure if the tears coming out of my eyes right now are due to the so far positive breakthroughs we are seeing on the news or knowing and fully aware of the rocky road which lays ahead for all of us.
Here are the current updates, including the subsiding violence on the streets, Espey breaking with Trump (so he'll get the axe in the next week or so), Mad Dog Mattis (Semper Fi) throws a one two punch at Trump finally, the amazing charges against the officers involved with George Floyd's murder, everything:
St. Paul police chief to officers who think force against Floyd was reasonable: "Turn your badge in"
From CNN's Adrienne Vogt
Todd Axtell, the police chief of St. Paul, Minnesota, said that if any officers think that the use of force against George Floyd was reasonable, they should turn in their badges.
“We have been dealing with traumatic and challenging times, but…I want to make sure that all chiefs and sheriffs throughout this country join me in this clearing call to our officers. When they watch that video, if they think in any way, shape or form that that’s acceptable or reasonable uses of force — I told my officers, if they think that's reasonable, I want you to turn your badge in to me and do it immediately,” Axtell told CNN’s Poppy Harlow.
Axtell said that there is systemic racism embedded in most systems in the United States.
“It is not just in police departments across this country. My goodness, there’s systemic racism within pretty much everything in this country,” he said. “…If we turn a blind eye to that, we're never going to move forward together.”
Axtell marched alongside protesters yesterday.
“It was such a touching moment for me personally to be in solidarity with a lot of the pain that's occurring throughout our city and throughout this country. Now is our moment to move forward together, use this tragedy as an opportunity to do what has been needed to be done for many, many years,” Axtell said.
“I think it’s a false choice to think that you can't decry injustice within the criminal justice system and systems throughout this entire country and also support the great women and men of law enforcement throughout this entire country who are good human beings. I think we can do both,” he added.
Watch:
"Until we fix the systemic racism throughout our communities, throughout this country, people who are underserved...[are] going to continue to intersect with the criminal justice system at higher rates."
There is such a long way to go, but to me I'm beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel. You might think I'm being naive, and I'm not sure if the tears coming out of my eyes right now are due to the so far positive breakthroughs we are seeing on the news or knowing and fully aware of the rocky road which lays ahead for all of us.
Here are the current updates, including the subsiding violence on the streets, Espey breaking with Trump (so he'll get the axe in the next week or so), Mad Dog Mattis (Semper Fi) throws a one two punch at Trump finally, the amazing charges against the officers involved with George Floyd's murder, everything:
St. Paul police chief to officers who think force against Floyd was reasonable: "Turn your badge in"
From CNN's Adrienne Vogt
Todd
Axtell, the police chief of St. Paul, Minnesota, said that if any
officers think that the use of force against George Floyd was
reasonable, they should turn in their badges.
“We
have been dealing with traumatic and challenging times, but…I want to
make sure that all chiefs and sheriffs throughout this country join me
in this clearing call to our officers. When they watch that video, if
they think in any way, shape or form that that’s acceptable or
reasonable uses of force — I told my officers, if they think that's
reasonable, I want you to turn your badge in to me and do it
immediately,” Axtell told CNN’s Poppy Harlow.
Axtell said that there is systemic racism embedded in most systems in the United States.
“It
is not just in police departments across this country. My goodness,
there’s systemic racism within pretty much everything in this country,”
he said. “…If we turn a blind eye to that, we're never going to move
forward together.”
Axtell marched alongside protesters yesterday.
“It
was such a touching moment for me personally to be in solidarity with a
lot of the pain that's occurring throughout our city and throughout
this country. Now is our moment to move forward together, use
this tragedy as an opportunity to do what has been needed to be done for
many, many years,” Axtell said.
“I
think it’s a false choice to think that you can't decry injustice
within the criminal justice system and systems throughout this
entire country and also support the great women and men of law
enforcement throughout this entire country who are good human beings. I
think we can do both,” he added.
Watch:
"Until
we fix the systemic racism throughout our communities, throughout this
country, people who are underserved...[are] going to continue to
intersect with the criminal justice system at higher rates."
This one takes the cake - only a con artist would attempt this; and please note the Archbishop's and other's reactions:
"A woman religious and protesters in Washington gather near the Capuchin College June 2 as President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump visited the nearby St. John Paul II National Shrine. (CNS/Tyler Orsburn)"
"Catholic activists, nuns, laypeople and local residents protested in front of St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington during President Donald Trump's visit there June 2.
Trump's visit came a day after his controversial appearance in front of St. John's Episcopal Church, across from the White House, where he posed for photos holding up a Bible. Federal authorities used rubber bullets and smoke cannisters to disperse peaceful protesters in front of the White House before Trump, accompanied by aides, walked to St. John's.
Earlier on June 2, Washington Archbishop Wilton Gregory issued a statement criticizing the use of the shrine for Trump's visit. The John Paul II Center is operated by the Knights of Columbus.
"I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree," Gregory said.
The archbishop also highlighted the use of force against protesters on June 1, saying St. John Paul II would not "condone the use of tear gas and other deterrents to silence, scatter or intimidate them for a photo opportunity in front of a place of worship and peace."
Stephen Schneck, executive director of the Franciscan Action Network, told NCR over the phone, "It's absolutely inappropriate for the president of the United States to be using a Catholic facility like the shrine for a photo op for his reelection. We have to insist that the Catholic Church in the United States maintain its distance from a person who represents nothing that our church represents."
Trump was accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump. They arrived at the shrine around 11:30 a.m., according to a White House pool report.
Around 2,000 people were demonstrating in front of the shrine, said Schneck.
Franciscan Sr. Marie Lucey told NCR she was "distressed" by the visit. "St. John Paul II said racism is a sin. And we believe the president is promoting racist policies. We are here to say 'Black Lives Matter'; we are here to say unless things change, we are going to be destroyed as a country." Protesters held signs reading "Black Lives Matter," "I Can't Breathe" and "Veni Sancte Spiritus." Others prayed the rosary.
"As Catholics, we needed to make sure our voices were heard, that we are not in agreement with his policies and that the black lives matter to the Catholic community," said Maggie Conley, a member of the justice team of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas.
Susan Gunn, director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, said she was representing all the religious in her organization and that first and foremost on their minds was the death of George Floyd. Floyd, a 46-year-old black man from Minneapolis, was killed on May 25 after an arresting officer pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. His death has sparked protests across the country.
"We are here to say his name, and Breonna Taylor and Ahmed Aubrey. Our Christian faith calls us to recognize the tremendous suffering of our brothers and sisters. I believe it's absolutely shameful that the Knights of Columbus is hosting the president at this time at the St. John Paul II National Shrine, our great pope, a man of peace," she said.
Trump's visit to the shrine coincides with the anniversary of St. John Paul II's visit to Poland in 1979. The president's visit was planned before the current protests erupted after Floyd's death.
Social Service Sr. Simone Campbell, executive director of Network, a Catholic social justice lobby, condemned Trump's repeated call for violence against protesters and said she hoped he learned from St. John Paul II's history.
"President Trump is now using the Catholic faith in another photo op to defend his appalling refusal to address racism and police violence in the United States. He is trying to create a false dichotomy of peaceful protesters versus the Church. That could not be further from the truth, and any Christian who believes it does not understand Jesus's message," Campbell said in a statement.
The demonstration was called last night by members of various Catholic organizations, including Pax Christi International, Maryknoll and the DC Catholic Coalition.
Demonstrators said they came prepared in case the police fired tear gas and flash grenades. "My wife wrote down her daughter's telephone number on her arm. But so far, the police have been polite," said Schneck.
They praised Gregory's statement and hoped that more bishops would speak up. "This is a moment of leadership and clarity. It's time for the bishops to recognize the Gospel and the values it articulates in personal life," said Judy Coode, project coordinator of the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative of Pax Christi International. "
"WASHINGTON — Retired senior military leaders condemned their successors in the Trump administration for ordering military units on Monday to rout those peacefully protesting police violence near the White House.
As military helicopters flew low over the nation’s capital and National Guard units moved into many cities, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and General Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, publicly aligned themselves behind a president who chose tear gas and rubber bullets to clear peaceful protesters from a park so that he could stage a photo op at a nearby church.
In so doing, Mr. Esper, who described the country as a “battlespace” to be cleared, and General Milley, who wore combat fatigues on the streets of the capital, thrust the two million active-duty and reserve service members into the middle of a confrontation in which the “enemy” is not foreign, but domestic.
The reaction has been swift and furious.
Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote on Twitter that “America is not a battleground. Our fellow citizens are not the enemy.” Gen. Tony Thomas, the former head of the Special Operations Command, tweeted: “The ‘battle space’ of America??? Not what America needs to hear … ever, unless we are invaded by an adversary or experience a constitutional failure … ie a Civil War.”
Adm. Mike Mullen, another former chairman, wrote in the Atlantic: “Whatever Trump’s goal in conducting his visit, he laid bare his disdain for the rights of peaceful protest in this country, gave succor to the leaders of other countries who take comfort in our domestic strife, and risked further politicizing the men and women of our armed forces.”
Television networks broadcast images of General Milley and Mr. Esper walking behind Mr. Trump as he crossed Lafayette Square Monday evening to pose for a photo holding a Bible in front of St. John’s church. Earlier in the day, Mr. Esper joined the president’s call with governors, saying, “We need to dominate the battlespace” — a comment that set off a torrent of criticism.
More than 40 percent of active-duty and reserve personnel are people of color, and orders to confront protesters demonstrating against a criminal justice system that targets black men troubled many.
The Air Force’s top enlisted airman took to Twitter to express his anger.
“Just like most of the Black Airmen and so many others in our ranks … I am outraged at watching another Black man die on television before our very eyes,” Kaleth O. Wright, the chief master sergeant of the Air Force, said in a Twitter thread, citing the names of black men who died in police custody or in police shootings.“I am George Floyd … I am Philando Castile, I am Michael Brown, I am Alton Sterling, I am Tamir Rice.”
Neither Mr. Esper nor General Milley knew when they went to the Oval Office Monday that they would be taking part in the president’s photo op, Pentagon officials said. Nor did they know, officials said, that law enforcement personnel would be firing tear gas and rubber bullets on protesters in Lafayette Square before they crossed that park with Mr. Trump.
During the meeting in the Oval Office, which officials said became heated, General Milley and Attorney General William P. Barr argued against invoking the Insurrection Act to override governors and send active-duty troops to states where there are protests. They were able to get Mr. Trump to hold off for now, but the president nonetheless ordered active-duty troops deployed to the one place where he did not have to go through governors: the District of Columbia.
After the Oval Office meeting, officials said, Mr. Trump said he wanted to review personnel who were deployed outside the White House. Along with a number of White House staff members, Mr. Esper and General Milley joined the president — and prompted outrage.
“Ridiculous. General Milley, who I respect, is embarrassing himself,” Michael McFaul, the former United States ambassador to Russia under President Barack Obama, said on Twitter. “I worked 3 years at the White House at the National Security Council. I never once saw Admiral Mullen come to the building ready for war.”
The Pentagon has yet to say how many soldiers it is deploying to Washington, per Mr. Trump’s order. Defense Department officials have given varying numbers, from 500 to “thousands.”
One Pentagon official said that the troops deploying to the capital might not be limited to the military police. The official, who said that decisions were still being made, added that the troops were coming from Ft. Bragg in North Carolina, Ft. Drum in New York and might also, surprisingly, include the so-called Old Guard ceremonial unit. The Old Guard provides security for Washington and escort to the president.
The order to deploy active-duty troops to confront protesters and looters prompted one military official to liken the order to Mr. Trump requesting his own “palace guard.”
This week, Mr. Trump said, without elaborating, that General Milley was in charge of the effort to confront the protesters and looters.
At the Pentagon, officials expressed surprise at the president’s comments, and referred questions to the White House. But officials noted that all National Guard members now deployed in the United States are under the authorities of the governors. Defense Department officials said that if those troops are federalized — that is, put under the power of the president rather than governors — that would normally be done under the auspices of United States Northern Command, which oversees military units on American territory, and not the office of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff.
Representative Adam Smith, Democrat of Washington and the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, called on Tuesday for Mr. Esper and General Milley to testify before lawmakers about the potential deployments of United States military personnel to states.
As soldiers arrived on Monday, clad in camouflage uniforms and clutching riot shields labeled “military police” to reinforce the line of crowd control officers guarding Lafayette Square yards from the White House, the crowd of about 400 protesters responded with verbal taunts. “Fascists!” some yelled. Others booed. A few shouted expletives.
Around 10 p.m., the military stepped up its attempts to suppress the protesters. A crowd making its way through the Chinatown area of Washington had gone relatively unbothered by law enforcement, having snaked across town, blocking roads and chanting “We can’t Breathe,” “George Floyd” and “Hands up, don’t shoot.” The group, for the most part, was peaceful.
A Black Hawk helicopter, followed by a smaller medical evacuation helicopter, dropped to rooftop level with its searchlights aimed at the crowd. Tree limbs snapped, nearly hitting several people. Signs were torn from the sides of buildings. Some protesters looked up, while others ran into doorways. The downward force of air from the rotors was deafening.
The helicopters were performing a “show of force” — a standard tactic used by military aircraft in combat zones to scatter insurgents. The maneuvers were personally directed by the highest echelons of the Washington D.C. National Guard, according to a military official with direct knowledge of the situation. The Guard did not respond to a request for comment.
The deployment is also challenging for National Guard units, which inherited a legacy from the Revolutionary War militia, the citizen-soldiers who were ready to put down their plows and pick up weapons to defend their country. Today, when the National Guard can be dispatched for an array of missions — like combat duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, helping with flood relief or providing assistance to coronavirus victims — that balance is more complicated.
Members of the Guard generally report to the governor of their state, but when units come under the command of the president, federal law prohibits them from being used domestically except under some very limited circumstances.
As of Tuesday morning, governors in 28 states and the District of Columbia had activated more than 20,400 National Guard troops to assist state and local law enforcement in support of civil unrest operations, the National Guard said.
In the current unrest, military personnel specialists say, the Guard is caught between expressing anguish over the killing of a black man, George Floyd in Minneapolis, and supporting civilian authorities in quelling the violent protests and looting that followed.
“Most of the soldiers will have sympathy for the peaceful protesters and be angry about Floyd’s death, but they’re probably angry at the violence as well,” said Peter D. Feaver, a professor of political science at Duke University who has studied the military for decades. “It puts them in a fraught position.”
Thank You to the "Ethical" Reporters.....
Thomas Gibbons-Neff is a reporter in the Washington bureau and a former Marine infantryman. @tmgneff
Helene Cooper is a Pentagon correspondent. She was previously an editor, diplomatic correspondent and White House correspondent, and was part of the team awarded the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, for its coverage of the Ebola epidemic. @helenecooper
Eric Schmitt is a senior writer who has traveled the world covering terrorism and national security. He was also the Pentagon correspondent. A member of the Times staff since 1983, he has shared three Pulitzer Prizes. @EricSchmittNYT
Jennifer Steinhauer has been a reporter for The New York Times since 1994. She has worked on the Metro, Business and National desk, and served as City Hall bureau chief and Los Angeles bureau chief before moving to Washington in 2010. She is the author of a novel, two cookbooks and the upcoming book "The Firsts" the story of the women of the 116th Congress. @jestei
“Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.”
Thomas Fleming writes in The Smithsonian Magazine that in 1814 Dolly Madison was glad of her husband and then president James Madison’s
“decision to station 100 militiamen under the command of a regular Army colonel on the White House lawn. Not only was it a gesture of protection on his part, it was also a declaration that he and Dolley intended to stand their ground. The president then decided to join the 6,000 militiamen who were marching to confront the British in Maryland. Dolley was sure his presence would stiffen their resolve.”
True, these measures did not forestall a brief British capture, for 26 hours, of the capital, during which fires were set to the White House and the Capitol but then extinguished by a hurricane that drove the British back to their damaged ships. This was during the astonishingly inaccurately named “War of 1812.”
Still, Madison’s attempt to stand his ground and his joining of the militiamen headed to Maryland were brave moves that reflected well on one of the greatest of American statesmen.
So much for tragedy.
In the past few days we saw the second defense of Washington, DC, by Donald J. Trump. On Friday night as protesters approached the White House, Trump was rushed to a special bunker where he was secure from the shadowy Antifa menace of unemployed Starbucks baristas, Trotskyite undergraduates at George Washington University, and radical feminist dog-walkers from Adams Morgan.
After he thus covered himself in glory and the news got out, Trump was mortified and needed to reassert himself.
On Monday in a call with governors he berated them for looking weak. This is, I believe, called “projection” in psychiatry, though most psychiatrists have been stumped for the past three and a half years, which may account for their plummeting numbers in the Trump era.
SecDef Mark Esper, confusing largely peaceful protest of social injustice with Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, hearkened back to the language of his days as an infantryman in the Gulf War, and urged governors to “dominate the battle space” in putting down the Baathist African-American putsch in Louisville-on-the-Tigris. Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton has cleverly escaped being committed to an asylum by standing next to Ted Cruz as much as possible, in comparison to whom he seems slightly sane. Occasionally the optical illusion evaporates, however, as when on Monday Cotton urged that the 101st Airborne Division be sent in and that they grant “no quarter” to looters, i.e. should shoot them on sight with no due process and no opportunity to surrender. However much he might be nostalgic for the days of American war crimes in Iraq, they cannot so easily be replicated in Oakland and Cleveland.
But the morphing of the tragic into farce was nowhere better exemplified than at the White House, where a petulant Trump, his face the color of a blood orange (what happens when he blushes) from having been exposed as a bunker-asylee, called out the military police to expel protesters illegally from LaFayette Park near the White House, so that he and his imperial coterie could walk to St. John’s Episcopal Church, Trump could briefly raise a Bible, and then they could walk back.
Jared and Ivanka both came along even though neither could understand what the Anglican church had to do with it all. Was it that Henry VIII founded it and he also went through a lot of women, though he had more effective ways of getting rid of the ones that palled than a mere non-disclosure agreement? Javanka was unused to walking as opposed to being carried by corporals in palanquins, and agreed their scuffed Guccis needed immediately to be replaced.
So to recap, Madison stationed 100 militiamen around the White House as it was under siege from the Redcoats. Trump stationed a few dozen MPs around it as it was under siege from latte-drinking, bicycling, Georgetown-shopping, Foucault-spewing demonstrators. Both Madison and Trump were determined to stay in the DC area. Madison joined with 6,000 troops to defend the capital. Trump hid in a bunker. Madison accompanied his old friend Gen. Lafayette to Monticello in 1824. Trump sullied the French freedom fighter’s good name by violating the First Amendment at a park named for him (the government is not to take away “the right of the people peaceably to assemble”). Madison introduced the Bill of Rights to the constitutional convention. Trump used it to wipe his watermelon-sized ass. Madison championed the separation of religion and state. Trump held up a Bible in front of a church to signal to the more benighted white evangelicals that he wouldn’t let the Kenyans from shithole countries get uppity on his watch."
~~~~~~
Oh shazam what can I say ? Author ! Author ! Brilliant !
This one takes the cake - only a con artist would attempt this; and please note the Archbishop's and other's reactions:
"A woman religious and protesters in Washington gather near the Capuchin
College June 2 as President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump
visited the nearby St. John Paul II National Shrine. (CNS/Tyler Orsburn)"
"Catholic activists, nuns, laypeople and local residents
protested in front of St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington
during President Donald Trump's visit there June 2.
Trump's visit came a day after his controversial appearance in front
of St. John's Episcopal Church, across from the White House, where he
posed for photos holding up a Bible. Federal authorities used rubber
bullets and smoke cannisters to disperse peaceful protesters in front of
the White House before Trump, accompanied by aides, walked to St.
John's.
Earlier on June 2, Washington Archbishop Wilton Gregory issued a
statement criticizing the use of the shrine for Trump's visit. The John
Paul II Center is operated by the Knights of Columbus.
"I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility
would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a
fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend
the rights of all people even those with whom we might
disagree," Gregory said.
The archbishop also highlighted the use of force against protesters on
June 1, saying St. John Paul II would not "condone the use of tear gas
and other deterrents to silence, scatter or intimidate them for a photo
opportunity in front of a place of worship and peace."
Stephen Schneck, executive director of the Franciscan Action Network,
told NCR over the phone, "It's absolutely inappropriate for the
president of the United States to be using a Catholic facility like the
shrine for a photo op for his reelection. We have to insist that the
Catholic Church in the United States maintain its distance from a person
who represents nothing that our church represents."
Trump was accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump. They arrived at
the shrine around 11:30 a.m., according to a White House pool report.
Around 2,000 people were demonstrating in front of the shrine, said Schneck.
Franciscan Sr. Marie Lucey told NCR she was "distressed" by the
visit. "St. John Paul II said racism is a sin. And we believe the
president is promoting racist policies. We are here to say 'Black Lives
Matter'; we are here to say unless things change, we are going to be
destroyed as a country."
Protesters held signs reading "Black Lives Matter," "I Can't Breathe" and "Veni Sancte Spiritus." Others prayed the rosary.
"As Catholics, we needed to make sure our voices were heard, that we
are not in agreement with his policies and that the black lives matter
to the Catholic community," said Maggie Conley, a member of the justice
team of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas.
Susan Gunn, director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns,
said she was representing all the religious in her organization and that
first and foremost on their minds was the death of George Floyd. Floyd,
a 46-year-old black man from Minneapolis, was killed on May 25 after an
arresting officer pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for eight minutes
and 46 seconds. His death has sparked protests across the country.
"We are here to say his name, and Breonna Taylor and Ahmed Aubrey.
Our Christian faith calls us to recognize the tremendous suffering of
our brothers and sisters. I believe it's absolutely shameful that the Knights of Columbus is hosting the president at this time at the St. John Paul II National Shrine, our great pope, a man of peace," she said.
Trump's visit to the shrine coincides with the anniversary of St. John
Paul II's visit to Poland in 1979. The president's visit was planned
before the current protests erupted after Floyd's death.
Social Service Sr. Simone Campbell,
executive director of Network, a Catholic social justice lobby,
condemned Trump's repeated call for violence against protesters and said
she hoped he learned from St. John Paul II's history.
"President Trump is now using the Catholic faith in another photo op
to defend his appalling refusal to address racism and police violence in
the United States. He is trying to create a false dichotomy of peaceful
protesters versus the Church. That could not be further from the truth,
and any Christian who believes it does not understand Jesus's message,"
Campbell said in a statement.
The demonstration was called last night by members of various
Catholic organizations, including Pax Christi International, Maryknoll
and the DC Catholic Coalition.
Demonstrators said they came prepared in case the police fired tear
gas and flash grenades. "My wife wrote down her daughter's telephone
number on her arm. But so far, the police have been polite," said
Schneck.
They praised Gregory's statement and hoped that more bishops would
speak up. "This is a moment of leadership and clarity. It's time for the
bishops to recognize the Gospel and the values it articulates in
personal life," said Judy Coode, project coordinator of the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative of Pax Christi International. "
"WASHINGTON —
Retired senior military leaders condemned their successors in the Trump
administration for ordering military units on Monday to rout those
peacefully protesting police violence near the White House.
As
military helicopters flew low over the nation’s capital and National
Guard units moved into many cities, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and
General Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
publicly aligned themselves behind a president who chose tear gas and
rubber bullets to clear peaceful protesters from a park so that he could
stage a photo op at a nearby church.
In
so doing, Mr. Esper, who described the country as a “battlespace” to be
cleared, and General Milley, who wore combat fatigues on the streets of
the capital, thrust the two million active-duty and reserve service
members into the middle of a confrontation in which the “enemy” is not
foreign, but domestic.
The reaction has been swift and furious.
Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote on Twitter
that “America is not a battleground. Our fellow citizens are not the
enemy.” Gen. Tony Thomas, the former head of the Special Operations
Command, tweeted:
“The ‘battle space’ of America??? Not what America needs to hear …
ever, unless we are invaded by an adversary or experience a
constitutional failure … ie a Civil War.”
Adm. Mike Mullen, another former chairman, wrote in the Atlantic: “Whatever Trump’s goal in conducting his visit, he laid bare his disdain for the rights of peaceful protest
in this country, gave succor to the leaders of other countries who take
comfort in our domestic strife, and risked further politicizing the men
and women of our armed forces.”
Television
networks broadcast images of General Milley and Mr. Esper walking
behind Mr. Trump as he crossed Lafayette Square Monday evening to pose
for a photo holding a Bible in front of St. John’s church. Earlier in the day, Mr. Esper joined the president’s call with governors, saying, “We need to dominate the battlespace” — a comment that set off a torrent of criticism.
More
than 40 percent of active-duty and reserve personnel are people of
color, and orders to confront protesters demonstrating against a
criminal justice system that targets black men troubled many.
The Air Force’s top enlisted airman took to Twitter to express his anger.
“Just
like most of the Black Airmen and so many others in our ranks … I am
outraged at watching another Black man die on television before our very
eyes,” Kaleth O. Wright, the chief master sergeant of the Air Force,
said in a Twitter thread, citing the names of black men who died in police custody or in police shootings.“I am George Floyd … I am Philando Castile, I am Michael Brown, I am Alton Sterling, I am Tamir Rice.”
Neither
Mr. Esper nor General Milley knew when they went to the Oval Office
Monday that they would be taking part in the president’s photo op,
Pentagon officials said. Nor did they know, officials said, that law
enforcement personnel would be firing tear gas and rubber bullets on
protesters in Lafayette Square before they crossed that park with Mr.
Trump.
During the meeting in the Oval Office,
which officials said became heated, General Milley and Attorney General
William P. Barr argued against invoking the Insurrection Act to override
governors and send active-duty troops to states where there are
protests. They were able to get Mr. Trump to hold off for now, but the
president nonetheless ordered active-duty troops deployed to the one
place where he did not have to go through governors: the District of
Columbia.
After the Oval Office
meeting, officials said, Mr. Trump said he wanted to review personnel
who were deployed outside the White House. Along with a number of White
House staff members, Mr. Esper and General Milley joined the president —
and prompted outrage.
“Ridiculous.
General Milley, who I respect, is embarrassing himself,” Michael McFaul,
the former United States ambassador to Russia under President Barack
Obama, said on Twitter.
“I worked 3 years at the White House at the National Security Council. I
never once saw Admiral Mullen come to the building ready for war.”
The Pentagon has yet to say how many
soldiers it is deploying to Washington, per Mr. Trump’s order. Defense
Department officials have given varying numbers, from 500 to
“thousands.”
One Pentagon official
said that the troops deploying to the capital might not be limited to
the military police. The official, who said that decisions were still
being made, added that the troops were coming from Ft. Bragg in North
Carolina, Ft. Drum in New York and might also, surprisingly, include the
so-called Old Guard ceremonial unit. The Old Guard provides security
for Washington and escort to the president.
The
order to deploy active-duty troops to confront protesters and looters
prompted one military official to liken the order to Mr. Trump
requesting his own “palace guard.”
This
week, Mr. Trump said, without elaborating, that General Milley was in
charge of the effort to confront the protesters and looters.
At
the Pentagon, officials expressed surprise at the president’s comments,
and referred questions to the White House. But officials noted that all
National Guard members now deployed in the United States are under the
authorities of the governors. Defense Department officials said that if
those troops are federalized — that is, put under the power of the
president rather than governors — that would normally be done under the
auspices of United States Northern Command, which oversees military
units on American territory, and not the office of the chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of staff.
Representative
Adam Smith, Democrat of Washington and the chairman of the House Armed
Services Committee, called on Tuesday for Mr. Esper and General Milley
to testify before lawmakers about the potential deployments of United
States military personnel to states.
As
soldiers arrived on Monday, clad in camouflage uniforms and clutching
riot shields labeled “military police” to reinforce the line of crowd
control officers guarding Lafayette Square yards from the White House,
the crowd of about 400 protesters responded with verbal taunts.
“Fascists!” some yelled. Others booed. A few shouted expletives.
Around
10 p.m., the military stepped up its attempts to suppress the
protesters. A crowd making its way through the Chinatown area of
Washington had gone relatively unbothered by law enforcement, having
snaked across town, blocking roads and chanting “We can’t Breathe,”
“George Floyd” and “Hands up, don’t shoot.” The group, for the most
part, was peaceful.
A Black Hawk
helicopter, followed by a smaller medical evacuation helicopter, dropped
to rooftop level with its searchlights aimed at the crowd. Tree limbs
snapped, nearly hitting several people. Signs were torn from the sides
of buildings. Some protesters looked up, while others ran into doorways.
The downward force of air from the rotors was deafening.
The
helicopters were performing a “show of force” — a standard tactic used
by military aircraft in combat zones to scatter insurgents. The
maneuvers were personally directed by the highest echelons of the
Washington D.C. National Guard, according to a military official with
direct knowledge of the situation. The Guard did not respond to a
request for comment.
The deployment is also challenging for
National Guard units, which inherited a legacy from the Revolutionary
War militia, the citizen-soldiers who were ready to put down their plows
and pick up weapons to defend their country. Today, when the National
Guard can be dispatched for an array of missions — like combat duty in
Iraq or Afghanistan, helping with flood relief or providing assistance
to coronavirus victims — that balance is more complicated.
Members
of the Guard generally report to the governor of their state, but when
units come under the command of the president, federal law prohibits
them from being used domestically except under some very limited
circumstances.
As of Tuesday morning,
governors in 28 states and the District of Columbia had activated more
than 20,400 National Guard troops to assist state and local law
enforcement in support of civil unrest operations, the National Guard
said.
In the current unrest, military
personnel specialists say, the Guard is caught between expressing
anguish over the killing of a black man, George Floyd in Minneapolis,
and supporting civilian authorities in quelling the violent protests and
looting that followed.
“Most of the
soldiers will have sympathy for the peaceful protesters and be angry
about Floyd’s death, but they’re probably angry at the violence as
well,” said Peter D. Feaver, a professor of political science at Duke
University who has studied the military for decades. “It puts them in a
fraught position.”
Thank You to the "Ethical" Reporters.....
Thomas Gibbons-Neff is a reporter in the Washington bureau and a former Marine infantryman. @tmgneff
Helene
Cooper is a Pentagon correspondent. She was previously an editor,
diplomatic correspondent and White House correspondent, and was part of
the team awarded the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting,
for its coverage of the Ebola epidemic. @helenecooper
Eric
Schmitt is a senior writer who has traveled the world covering
terrorism and national security. He was also the Pentagon correspondent.
A member of the Times staff since 1983, he has shared three Pulitzer
Prizes. @EricSchmittNYT
Jennifer
Steinhauer has been a reporter for The New York Times since 1994. She
has worked on the Metro, Business and National desk, and served as City
Hall bureau chief and Los Angeles bureau chief before moving to
Washington in 2010. She is the author of a novel, two cookbooks and the
upcoming book "The Firsts" the story of the women of the 116th Congress.
@jestei
“Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and
personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time
as tragedy, the second time as farce.”
Thomas Fleming writes in The Smithsonian Magazine that in 1814 Dolly Madison was glad of her husband and then president James Madison’s
“decision to station 100 militiamen under the command of a regular Army
colonel on the White House lawn. Not only was it a gesture of protection
on his part, it was also a declaration that he and Dolley intended to
stand their ground. The president then decided to join the 6,000
militiamen who were marching to confront the British in Maryland. Dolley
was sure his presence would stiffen their resolve.”
True, these measures did not forestall a brief British capture, for
26 hours, of the capital, during which fires were set to the White House
and the Capitol but then extinguished by a hurricane that drove the
British back to their damaged ships. This was during the astonishingly
inaccurately named “War of 1812.”
Still, Madison’s attempt to stand his ground and his joining of the
militiamen headed to Maryland were brave moves that reflected well on
one of the greatest of American statesmen.
So much for tragedy.
In the past few days we saw the second defense of Washington, DC, by Donald J. Trump.
On Friday night as protesters approached the White House, Trump was rushed to a special bunker
where he was secure from the shadowy Antifa menace of unemployed
Starbucks baristas, Trotskyite undergraduates at George Washington
University, and radical feminist dog-walkers from Adams Morgan.
After he thus covered himself in glory and the news got out, Trump was mortified and needed to reassert himself.
On Monday in a call with governors he berated them for looking weak.
This is, I believe, called “projection” in psychiatry, though most
psychiatrists have been stumped for the past three and a half years,
which may account for their plummeting numbers in the Trump era.
SecDef Mark Esper, confusing largely peaceful protest of social
injustice with Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, hearkened back to
the language of his days as an infantryman in the Gulf War, and urged
governors to “dominate the battle space” in putting down the Baathist
African-American putsch in Louisville-on-the-Tigris. Arkansas Sen. Tom
Cotton has cleverly escaped being committed to an asylum by standing
next to Ted Cruz as much as possible, in comparison to whom he seems
slightly sane. Occasionally the optical illusion evaporates, however,
as when on Monday Cotton urged
that the 101st Airborne Division be sent in and that they grant “no
quarter” to looters, i.e. should shoot them on sight with no due process
and no opportunity to surrender. However much he might be nostalgic for
the days of American war crimes in Iraq, they cannot so easily be
replicated in Oakland and Cleveland.
But the morphing of the tragic into farce was nowhere better
exemplified than at the White House, where a petulant Trump, his face
the color of a blood orange (what happens when he blushes) from having
been exposed as a bunker-asylee, called out the military police to expel
protesters illegally from LaFayette Park near the White House, so that
he and his imperial coterie could walk to St. John’s Episcopal Church,
Trump could briefly raise a Bible, and then they could walk back.
Jared and Ivanka both came along even though neither could
understand what the Anglican church had to do with it all. Was it that
Henry VIII founded it and he also went through a lot of women, though he
had more effective ways of getting rid of the ones that palled than a
mere non-disclosure agreement? Javanka was unused to walking as opposed
to being carried by corporals in palanquins, and agreed their scuffed
Guccis needed immediately to be replaced.
So to recap, Madison stationed 100 militiamen around the White House
as it was under siege from the Redcoats. Trump stationed a few dozen
MPs around it as it was under siege from latte-drinking, bicycling,
Georgetown-shopping, Foucault-spewing demonstrators. Both Madison and
Trump were determined to stay in the DC area. Madison joined with 6,000
troops to defend the capital. Trump hid in a bunker. Madison
accompanied his old friend Gen. Lafayette to Monticello in 1824. Trump
sullied the French freedom fighter’s good name by violating the First
Amendment at a park named for him (the government is not to take away
“the right of the people peaceably to assemble”). Madison introduced
the Bill of Rights to the constitutional convention. Trump used it to
wipe his watermelon-sized ass. Madison championed the separation of
religion and state. Trump held up a Bible in front of a church to
signal to the more benighted white evangelicals that he wouldn’t let the
Kenyans from shithole countries get uppity on his watch."
~~~~~~
Oh shazam what can I say ? Author ! Author ! Brilliant !
From CNN - Wow, what an IDIOT ! Staged Publicity Stunt by The Expert....or...after 24 hours in the bunker Trump gets religion? Nah, c'mon.....
Breaking from CNN...peaceful protesters assaulted in D.C., even staunch Republicans are rejecting his fascist moves, even the Bishop of St. John's said basically Trump is full of shit and many Governor's are rejecting his call to deploy the Military on to the streets of America: Latest Updates From George Floyd Protests
"In a recent statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi referred to the firings of [State Department inspector general] and the other inspectors general as ” dangerous.”
“The President must cease his pattern of reprisal and retaliation against the public servants who are working to keep Americans safe,” she said, “particularly during this time of global emergency.”
Like bullies on the playground Trump sits back and hollers :”see if you can make me.” Media and centrist Democrats resistance to Trump’s growing list of serious crimes has at worst been little more than admonishments and a best invocation of largely unenforceable Constitutional principles.
Johns Hopkins political theorist William Connolly warns us that : “Though the US differs in important ways from Germany in the thirties there are affinities that might lead us to see German experience as a cautionary tale “
Connolly points out that “Immediately after Hitler became Chancellor, Nazi use of the radio for national rallies accelerated, street violence increased, and defilement of opponents intensified. A three ring circus. The idea was to link all opponents together, above all to identify Social Democrats with Communists through invective and to treat Jews as the “red thread” tying both movements together ..”
Connolly emphasizes the ways in which agenda, narratives, and even bodily expression build on each other and in proper circumstances coalesce in a fierce attack on democracy. Trump has colluded with Russia, suppressed voting, shut down government, misallocated Congressionally authorized funds, tried to hide information about the seriousness of the Covid virus. He has advocated physical violence against political opponents and voiced support for such violence when it occurs. Engaged in an ongoing obstruction of justice regarding Russia and withheld publicly relevant information about his personal finances. Trump no longer runs with the benefit of a booming economy, but for that reason he is even more to be feared. He is at his worst and most vicious when cornered.”
Connolly offers no definitive prediction of a Reichstag event, the burning of the German legislative chamber providing Hitler with a pretext for martial law and a brutal crackdown on opposition parties. He does worry about the destructive, mutually intensifying interaction of climate crisis and global pandemic. Global capitalism’s expansionary tendencies exacerbate inequality., providing fertile ground for flourishing of this and subsequent deadly viruses. Should deaths make an upward spiral this summer, a real possibility given Trump’s determination to restart a normal economy that exists only in his mind, social unrest might follow. Trump, cornered, may authorize Barr to arrest some of those whom he routinely vilifies. In this context it is worth remembering that it was when the body bags started coming home on national TV that Lyndon Johnson lost support for the Vietnam War. Trump’s opponents best be aware of the many uses to which such a catastrophe could be put.
These considerations make electoral defeat of Trump imperative. A second term, especially if Republicans took the House, would leave him completely unconstrained. Franklin and Marshall labor scholar Van Gosse worries about the possible emergence of an “illiberal democracy,” (are we already partly there?). He describes the process:
1. The packing of the judiciary.
2. The planting of loyalists in all the key decision-making positions of the government.
3. Foment violence by paramilitaries.
4. Use police to take control of the state’s monopoly on legitimate violence.
Under such a regime it is likely that Social Security would be privatized, environmental and occupational regulations further decimated. Public health institutions and practices eviscerated.
But a return to the pre-Trump normal is neither possible nor desirable. For one thing there is no guarantee that Trump will accept results if he loses. In addition normal centrist Democrat agendas and narratives were insensitive to the anxieties that paved the way for Trump. Guard rails to save us from the likes of Trump were never adequate to begin with and have been largely obliterated. What was best in those rails were products of broad social movements. (Link to How DOES a Democracy Die? ) Now is the time to build a movement across race class and gender to democratize all facets of our social and economic lives. Such a movement is a long time project, but working toward it now may prepare us for some of the more (https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/) aspirational-fascismimmediate dangers that lie ahead."
About the Author
John Buell has a PhD in political science, taught for 10 years at College of the Atlantic, and was an Associate Editor of The Progressive for ten years. He lives in Southwest Harbor, Maine and writes on labor and environmental issues. His most recent book, published by Palgrave in August 2011, is "Politics, Religion, and Culture in an Anxious Age." He may be reached at jbuell@acadia.net
~~~~~
Speaking of "Fomenting Violence By Paramilitaries", how about this one:
I wish that he would have just kept walking when he was on his way to St. John's. Actually, this guy has much better advise.
However, someone other than me (because no one listens to me) needs to tell Trump to go back to his bunker - hey Trump, why don't you just end it there, like your buddy Adolf ? I'm glad I made dinner early tonight, chicken tomatillo...let me know if you want the recipe. I'll be back, we're watching what the fat fascist will do next.....and Paris is pissed off ! WOOF !!
From CNN - Wow, what an IDIOT ! Staged Publicity Stunt by The Expert....or...after 24 hours in the bunker Trump gets religion? Nah, c'mon.....
Breaking from CNN...peaceful protesters assaulted in D.C., even staunch Republicans are rejecting his fascist moves, even the Bishop of St. John's said basically Trump is full of shit and many Governor's are rejecting his call to deploy the Military on to the streets of America: Latest Updates From George Floyd Protests
"In a recent statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi referred to the
firings of [State Department inspector general] and the other inspectors
general as ” dangerous.”
“The President must cease his pattern of reprisal and retaliation
against the public servants who are working to keep Americans safe,” she
said, “particularly during this time of global emergency.”
Like bullies on the playground Trump sits back and hollers :”see if
you can make me.” Media and centrist Democrats resistance to Trump’s
growing list of serious crimes has at worst been little more than
admonishments and a best invocation of largely unenforceable
Constitutional principles.
Johns Hopkins political theorist William Connolly
warns us that : “Though the US differs in important ways from Germany
in the thirties there are affinities that might lead us to see German
experience as a cautionary tale “
Connolly points out that “Immediately after Hitler became Chancellor,
Nazi use of the radio for national rallies accelerated, street violence
increased, and defilement of opponents intensified. A three ring
circus. The idea was to link all opponents together, above all to
identify Social Democrats with Communists through invective and to treat
Jews as the “red thread” tying both movements together ..”
Connolly emphasizes the ways in which agenda, narratives, and even
bodily expression build on each other and in proper circumstances
coalesce in a fierce attack on democracy. Trump has colluded with
Russia, suppressed voting, shut down government, misallocated
Congressionally authorized funds, tried to hide information about the
seriousness of the Covid virus. He has advocated physical violence
against political opponents and voiced support for such violence when it
occurs. Engaged in an ongoing obstruction of justice regarding Russia
and withheld publicly relevant information about his personal finances.
Trump no longer runs with the benefit of a booming economy, but for that
reason he is even more to be feared. He is at his worst and most
vicious when cornered.”
Connolly offers no definitive prediction of a Reichstag event, the
burning of the German legislative chamber providing Hitler with a
pretext for martial law and a brutal crackdown on opposition parties. He
does worry about the destructive, mutually intensifying interaction of
climate crisis and global pandemic. Global capitalism’s expansionary
tendencies exacerbate inequality., providing fertile ground for
flourishing of this and subsequent deadly viruses. Should deaths make an
upward spiral this summer, a real possibility given Trump’s
determination to restart a normal economy that exists only in his mind,
social unrest might follow. Trump, cornered, may authorize Barr to
arrest some of those whom he routinely vilifies. In this context it is
worth remembering that it was when the body bags started coming home on
national TV that Lyndon Johnson lost support for the Vietnam War.
Trump’s opponents best be aware of the many uses to which such a
catastrophe could be put.
These considerations make electoral defeat of Trump imperative. A second
term, especially if Republicans took the House, would leave him
completely unconstrained. Franklin and Marshall labor scholar Van Gosse worries about the possible emergence of an “illiberal democracy,” (are we already partly there?). He describes the process:
1. The packing of the judiciary.
2. The planting of loyalists in all the key decision-making positions of the government.
3. Foment violence by paramilitaries.
4. Use police to take control of the state’s monopoly on legitimate violence.
Under such a regime it is likely that Social Security would be
privatized, environmental and occupational regulations further
decimated. Public health institutions and practices eviscerated.
But a return to the pre-Trump normal is neither possible nor
desirable. For one thing there is no guarantee that Trump will accept
results if he loses. In addition normal centrist Democrat agendas and
narratives were insensitive to the anxieties that paved the way for
Trump. Guard rails to save us from the likes of Trump were never
adequate to begin with and have been largely obliterated. What was best
in those rails were products of broad social movements. (Link to How
DOES a Democracy Die? ) Now is the time to build a movement across race
class and gender to democratize all facets of our social and economic
lives. Such a movement is a long time project, but working toward it now
may prepare us for some of the more
(https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/) aspirational-fascismimmediate
dangers that lie ahead."
About the Author
John Buell has a PhD in political science, taught for 10 years at College of the Atlantic, and was an Associate Editor of The Progressive
for ten years. He lives in Southwest Harbor, Maine and writes on labor
and environmental issues. His most recent book, published by Palgrave
in August 2011, is "Politics, Religion, and Culture in an Anxious Age."
He may be reached at jbuell@acadia.net
~~~~~
Speaking of "Fomenting Violence By Paramilitaries", how about this one:
I wish that he would have just kept walking when he was on his way to St. John's. Actually, this guy has much better advise.
However, someone other than me (because no one listens to me) needs to tell Trump to go back to his bunker - hey Trump, why don't you just end it there, like your buddy Adolf ? I'm glad I made dinner early tonight, chicken tomatillo...let me know if you want the recipe. I'll be back, we're watching what the fat fascist will do next.....and Paris is pissed off ! WOOF !!
