One of the things I most resent about the four interminable years of the Trump administration is the proliferation of mind-bogglingly unworthy people who were elevated to positions of power. It would be preferable to dismiss them as idiots unworthy of our time and attention but ignoring them is dangerous—and their numbers continue to grow. Their most recent addition is double-murderer Kyle Rittenhouse who has been embraced by the right because he killed two people. There is literally nothing else to recommend him.
“You’re a hero to millions,” Rittenhouse was told after receiving a rock star reception at AmericaFest, a Turning Point USA event held last week. This is a continuation of the right’s march towards fascism and yet another step in increasing the tolerance of the masses towards anti-social behavior. Rittenhouse told the crowd he might sue the media for the way they covered his trial. Like other right-wing threats, this one was deliberately non-specific. It will just hang there to be resurrected in the future, either to stir up the base or to deflect.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, whose only crime, as far as I can tell, is getting as many Americans vaccinated as possible so they don’t die, continues to receive death threats.
Projection continues to be one of the right’s most prominent methods of communication. “I am tired of having Godless people who hate America run this country! You and I are going to take this country back!” said a member of the most un-Christian, anti-democratic coalition in Congress.
The right has abandoned all pretense of subtlety and besides embracing the worst of the worst are literally telling their followers to reject education. “I am proudly a college dropout. Unless you are becoming a doctor or lawyer or engineer, I highly encourage you to drop out,” says the guy who thinks beating up a rotten tree trunk makes him look manly. It seems that even the most vile congresspeople got Thomas Jefferson’s memo about an educated citizenry, though, and realize that ignorance is a very valuable tool for them.
The January 6th Committee continues to subpoena witnesses. Not surprisingly, those most directly involved in the insurrection, most closely aligned with Donald, and with, theoretically, the most legal exposure, continue to stonewall.
The latest to be called is Congressman Scott Perry (R-PA) who allegedly attempted to replace acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen (who took over after Bill Barr resigned on 12/23/20) with Department of Justice attorney, and toady par excellence Jeff Clarke who, if installed, was fully prepared to use the DoJ to advance the lie that the 2020 election had been stolen from Donald.
In keeping with the current standard of Republican governance, Perry tweeted his refusal to cooperate with the Committee: “I decline this entity’s request and will continue to fight the failures of the radical Left who desperately seek distraction from their abject failures of crushing inflation, a humiliating surrender in Afghanistan, and the horrendous crisis they created at our border.”
Ever the hypocrite, Donald once said, “If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth?” So far, Jeffrey Clarke, John Eastman (architect of the memo outlining the myriad ways in which Mike Pence could overturn the election), Roger Stone (whose retinue on January 6th consisted of Oath Keepers), and Alex Jones (liar and tormentor of Sandy Hook families) have all pleaded the Fifth.
Steve Bannon and Mark Meadows, Donald’s fourth and final chief of staff, didn’t even bother to show up. And Michael Flynn, because he’s a sociopathic coward, is filing a restraining order against Nancy Pelosi.
President and Jill Biden were answering children’s calls to NORAD’s Santa tracker hotline, when a man named Jared Schmeck hijacked his child’s chat with the president to say (among other things)“Merry Christmas. Let’s go, Brandon,” the right-wing’s new code for “Fuck you, Biden.” Schmeck was exercising his First Amendment right to be an asshole by cursing out the president of the United States in front of children (including his own) who just wanted to know where Santa Claus and his present-laden sleigh was. Thanks to the First Amendment, Mr. Schmeck was not arrested, nor did he in any way have his speech curtailed by the government. (Just a reminder: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances). The rest of us, however, also have the First Amendment right to let Schmeck know what we think of him. It has become fairly common on the right, however, to confuse the First Amendment with total impunity to say whatever the hell they want with no consequences.
I have no idea how many times Schmeck has since been interviewed, but yesterday he demonstrated how badly his First Amendment rights are being trampled upon by showing up as a guest on Steve Bannon’s podcast. Wearing a red MAGA hat he claimed the NORAD call was his chance to “express my displeasure,” (children be damned) and then, completely contradicting earlier statements, he said “Trump is my president. . . . the election was 100% stolen.” My guess is Schmeck will be a Republican member of Congress soon.
So far, December 2021 has been the month with the highest average cases of COVID in New York City since the beginning of the pandemic. Last week cases rose over 400% every day over the previous 14-day average. Today that increase was 644%.
Under such circumstances it seems insane that states would restrict the ability of local authorities to safeguard the public from the ravages of COVID but that’s exactly what’s happening in 19 states where public health officials are being sidelined.
A particularly rabid member of the House tweeted this yesterday (because apparently even with Jack Dorsey gone Twitter still fails to follow its own terms of service):
Yes, let’s just stop making sure our children stay alive and healthy.
And, in more terrible news for President Biden (at least if you’re The New York Times’ Dean Baquet), Christmas sales defied expectations despite inflation (TM The New York Times) and alleged problems with the supply chain. It’s a Christmas miracle!
Under (and off) the radar
Despite the fact that cases of omicron are doubling every two to three days, five red states are extending unemployment benefits to employees who were fired for cause by refusing to comply with vaccine mandates. This, of course, completely disincentivizes compliance with company vaccine mandates. Like SB8—the anti-women, anti-choice, pro-vigilante law in Texas—this dangerous trend will undoubtedly spread to other red states like wildfire.
Weaponizing Incivility