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#heatherCoxRichardson Zach Everson of Public Citizen’s Trump Accountability Project noted that when Trump left office in 2021, his businesses were mainly real estate and hospitality and he had massive amounts of debt coming due. At the time, he had no interests in crypto and Trump Media didn’t exist.
Today the DOJ announced a settlement with right-wing activist Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security official who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with Russian operative and ambassador Sergey Kislyak before Trump took office. Trump later pardoned him, and Flynn worked to overturn results of the 2020 presidential election to say Trump won.
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“These people are already up to no good, so we gotta win first. We win, and then Katie Bar the door. Believe me, the gates of hell, my hell will be unleashed.”
— Retired Gen. Michael Flynn, when asked at the Freedom Festival if he’d “sit at the head of a military tribunal to not only drain the swamp, but imprison the swamp, and on a few occasions, execute the swamp.”
#MikeFlynn #GOPWeirdos #DonaldTrump #TrumpWillLose2024 #Project2025 #NoRepublicansEverAgain #VoteBlueUpAndDown #USPol
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The origin story of the proposed executive order is murky, but it appears to trace back to a network of pro-Trump activists who have spent years pushing conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
One of them is
#Peter #Ticktin, a Florida lawyer who has known Trump since the two attended the New York Military Academy as teenagers.Ticktin represented his former classmate in a 2022 civil suit accusing Hillary Clinton and others of conspiring to smear Trump with claims that his 2016 campaign colluded with Russia.
A federal judge later dismissed the suit and sanctioned Trump’s attorneys
—including Ticktin
—finding that the suit amounted to the “deliberate use of the judicial system to pursue a political agenda.”Ticktin currently represents #Tina #Peters, the former Colorado elections clerk who was sentenced to nine years in prison for her role in a 2021 breach of her office’s voting machines.
In an interview, Ticktin told us he wrote what he described as a “precursor” to the 17-page draft executive order that has been circulating since April of last year.
“I'm not sure exactly who prepared this one,” he said of the version dated April 12,
which he provided to Democracy Docket last month.But Ticktin said he believed the April 12 version of the draft order was “really well done”
—well done enough that he emailed it to the president.Ticktin said his outreach to government officials about the draft executive order also extended to #Kurt #Olsen, the White House director of “election security and integrity.”
Olsen, an attorney, represented Texas in its unsuccessful post-2020 suit to overturn Trump’s loss.
He was later sanctioned by a federal judge for advancing “false, misleading and unsupported factual assertions” in Kari Lake’s failed bid to challenge her 2022 gubernatorial loss in Arizona.
Now, as a White House official, Olsen has reportedly been tasked with leading a probe to reexamine the 2020 race.
Last month, an unsealed FBI search warrant affidavit revealed that a criminal inquiry into election irregularities in Fulton County began with a referral from Olsen.
According to Ticktin, others involved with the effort surrounding the draft order include #Michael #Flynn, the former national security adviser who twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI before receiving a sweeping pardon from Trump in December 2020;
#Patrick #Byrne, the former Overstock.com CEO and prominent election skeptic;
and #Stefanie #Lambert, an attorney who is awaiting trial in Michigan over allegations that she illegally accessed voting tabulators in an attempt to prove that the 2020 election was stolen.
Both Flynn and Byrne have repeatedly and publicly advocated for Trump to declare a national emergency ahead of the upcoming election.
Authorship of the April 12 draft is difficult to pin down,
but several figures connected to the election-denial movement say they had a hand in shaping it.A key figure is "#Juan O. #Savin",
the nom de plume of #Wayne #Willott, a private investigator turned QAnon influencer who has cultivated a significant following in far-right conspiracy circles.Savin is perhaps best known among QAnon followers as the subject of a theory that he is actually John F. Kennedy Jr.
—who died in a plane crash in 1999
—living under an assumed identity.Beyond his QAnon celebrity, however, Savin has formed notable political connections:
In 2021, he co-founded the "America First Secretary of State Coalition", which worked to place election-denying candidates in charge of state elections in key swing states.
The coalition received significant funding from "The America Project",
the organization co-founded by Flynn and Byrne.In a recent appearance on the right-wing program "Nino’s Corner", Savin said he reviewed an early version of the executive order during Trump’s re-election campaign in the summer of 2024.
Finding that version “inadequate,” he assembled a coalition of “legal minds” and “election experts”
to formulate a new version of the proposed order.According to Savin, the group met for several days in Washington, D.C. shortly after the inauguration.
Over the following months, he said, the coalition produced approximately 13 drafts before arriving at the 17-page version circulated that spring.
The page count may not be coincidental:
Within QAnon lore, the number 17 carries symbolic meaning,
because “Q” is the 17th letter of the alphabet,
and believers often treat the number as a coded signal. -
Powerful conservative funds hand out #millions to pro-Trump far-right groups
Two powerful conservative non-profits have donated millions of dollars to a number of
pro-Trump groups led by key far-right allies
#Stephen #Miller,
#Charlie #Kirk
and others that have promoted election #denialism, #extremist anti-immigrant policies and legal challenges to bolster the #Maga movement.
Based in Wisconsin, the ♦️Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation♦️
and the ♦️Bradley Impact Fund ♦️in 2022 separately
doled out six- and seven-figure checks
to groups such as Miller’s America First Legal and Kirk’s Turning Point USA,
and other Trump-friendly bastions such as the #Heritage #Foundation and Michael Flynn’s #America’s #Future.Watchdog groups that track money in politics say the 🔥Bradley Foundation🔥
and the closely-tied 🔥Bradley Impact Fund 🔥
have become increasingly influential in funding the #Maga ecosystem in recent years as Trump is all but certain to be the Republican 2024 presidential nominee.
#HarryBradley
#BradleyImpactFund
#LyndeAndHarryBradleyFoundation
#FedSoc #HeritageFoundation
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/16/trump-rightwing-groups-funds?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other -
The New Apostolic Reformation is a rapidly accelerating and underreported Christian extremist movement that promotes dominionism, the belief that Christians have a mandate from God to control the government, media, education, & all other aspects of society. It works closely with Mike Flynn, Rep. MTG, Lauren Boebert, and other MAGA leaders. I wrote about the NAR in detail here. #NAR #dominionism #ChristianNationalism #7M #7MM https://buckscountybeacon.com/2022/08/underreported-and-massive-theocratic-movement-joins-forces-with-michael-flynn-and-roger-stone/
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From Q & A returns with subscriber questions on Trump Term Two and Sarah Kendzior's answers.
"SK: I am not sure who is casting the Trump admin — they don’t appoint, they cast — but they’re doing something clever in that they are choosing people known for opposing the very agendas they are about to enforce. This means the propaganda is prewritten and may be effective at playing down the severity of the threat."
"Michael #Flynn is a much more seasoned operative. He is a foreign agent for #Russia and Turkey, a coup plotter, and a skilled propagandist. He never went away, and he has been grooming Trump supporters for civil war. He’s an Iran War hawk — and on top of that, he’s out for revenge on his domestic enemies. I’m more worried about Flynn than Gabbard, whether or not he gets in the administration. He is in the shadow administration, and that’s the one that counts."
https://sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/just-answering-many-questions -
The word “fascist” gets thrown around a lot in politics -- but it’s hard to find a more apt one for “#Unhumans,” which came out last month.
The book argues that leftists don’t deserve the status of human beings
— that they are, as the title says, unhumans
— and that they are waging a shadow war against all that is good and decent, which will end in apocalyptic slaughter if they are not stopped. “As they are opposed to humanity itself, they place themselves outside of the category completely, in an entirely new misery-driven subdivision, the unhuman,” write Posobiec and Lisec.The endorsement of the book by prominent Republicans is a reminder of how #extremist and far away from reality the #Republican Party is now.
Trump’s running mate JD #Vance wrote a blurb for it
and so did Tucker #Carlson, Donald Trump #Jr., and Michael #Flynn, Trump’s National Security Advisor.
Steve #Bannon wrote the foreword.
These guys are weird and unhinged and dangerous because they are somehow at the center of the Republican Party.
https://kottke.org/24/08/the-undisguised-extremism-of-the-republican-party -
CW: USpol; Flynn vows "the gates of hell... will be unleashed" if Trump wins
If that sounds bad on its own, consider that it's in response to a question posed at a Christian nationalist rally about *executing* Trump's political enemies.
They are making it incredibly, blindingly clear that if elected, they will rule as bloody, murderous despots.
#Election2024 #TrumpIsAFascist #fascism
#TrumpIsANazi #ChristianNationalism #USpol #CWUSpol -
Powerful conservative funds hand out #millions to pro-Trump far-right groups
Two powerful conservative non-profits have donated millions of dollars to a number of
pro-Trump groups led by key far-right allies
#Stephen #Miller,
#Charlie #Kirk
and others that have promoted election #denialism, #extremist anti-immigrant policies and legal challenges to bolster the #Maga movement.
Based in Wisconsin, the ♦️Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation♦️
and the ♦️Bradley Impact Fund ♦️in 2022 separately
doled out six- and seven-figure checks
to groups such as Miller’s America First Legal and Kirk’s Turning Point USA,
and other Trump-friendly bastions such as the #Heritage #Foundation and Michael Flynn’s #America’s #Future.Watchdog groups that track money in politics say the 🔥Bradley Foundation🔥
and the closely-tied 🔥Bradley Impact Fund 🔥
have become increasingly influential in funding the #Maga ecosystem in recent years as Trump is all but certain to be the Republican 2024 presidential nominee.
#HarryBradley
#BradleyImpactFund
#LyndeAndHarryBradleyFoundation
#FedSoc #HeritageFoundation
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/16/trump-rightwing-groups-funds?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other -
Powerful conservative funds hand out #millions to pro-Trump far-right groups
Two powerful conservative non-profits have donated millions of dollars to a number of
pro-Trump groups led by key far-right allies
#Stephen #Miller,
#Charlie #Kirk
and others that have promoted election #denialism, #extremist anti-immigrant policies and legal challenges to bolster the #Maga movement.
Based in Wisconsin, the ♦️Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation♦️
and the ♦️Bradley Impact Fund ♦️in 2022 separately
doled out six- and seven-figure checks
to groups such as Miller’s America First Legal and Kirk’s Turning Point USA,
and other Trump-friendly bastions such as the #Heritage #Foundation and Michael Flynn’s #America’s #Future.Watchdog groups that track money in politics say the 🔥Bradley Foundation🔥
and the closely-tied 🔥Bradley Impact Fund 🔥
have become increasingly influential in funding the #Maga ecosystem in recent years as Trump is all but certain to be the Republican 2024 presidential nominee.
#HarryBradley
#BradleyImpactFund
#LyndeAndHarryBradleyFoundation
#FedSoc #HeritageFoundation
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/16/trump-rightwing-groups-funds?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other -
Powerful conservative funds hand out #millions to pro-Trump far-right groups
Two powerful conservative non-profits have donated millions of dollars to a number of
pro-Trump groups led by key far-right allies
#Stephen #Miller,
#Charlie #Kirk
and others that have promoted election #denialism, #extremist anti-immigrant policies and legal challenges to bolster the #Maga movement.
Based in Wisconsin, the ♦️Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation♦️
and the ♦️Bradley Impact Fund ♦️in 2022 separately
doled out six- and seven-figure checks
to groups such as Miller’s America First Legal and Kirk’s Turning Point USA,
and other Trump-friendly bastions such as the #Heritage #Foundation and Michael Flynn’s #America’s #Future.Watchdog groups that track money in politics say the 🔥Bradley Foundation🔥
and the closely-tied 🔥Bradley Impact Fund 🔥
have become increasingly influential in funding the #Maga ecosystem in recent years as Trump is all but certain to be the Republican 2024 presidential nominee.
#HarryBradley
#BradleyImpactFund
#LyndeAndHarryBradleyFoundation
#FedSoc #HeritageFoundation
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/16/trump-rightwing-groups-funds?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other -
Powerful conservative funds hand out #millions to pro-Trump far-right groups
Two powerful conservative non-profits have donated millions of dollars to a number of
pro-Trump groups led by key far-right allies
#Stephen #Miller,
#Charlie #Kirk
and others that have promoted election #denialism, #extremist anti-immigrant policies and legal challenges to bolster the #Maga movement.
Based in Wisconsin, the ♦️Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation♦️
and the ♦️Bradley Impact Fund ♦️in 2022 separately
doled out six- and seven-figure checks
to groups such as Miller’s America First Legal and Kirk’s Turning Point USA,
and other Trump-friendly bastions such as the #Heritage #Foundation and Michael Flynn’s #America’s #Future.Watchdog groups that track money in politics say the 🔥Bradley Foundation🔥
and the closely-tied 🔥Bradley Impact Fund 🔥
have become increasingly influential in funding the #Maga ecosystem in recent years as Trump is all but certain to be the Republican 2024 presidential nominee.
#HarryBradley
#BradleyImpactFund
#LyndeAndHarryBradleyFoundation
#FedSoc #HeritageFoundation
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/16/trump-rightwing-groups-funds?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other -
@georgetakei @annietime
State Libraries are incredibly important for public libraries as they provide legislative leadership at both the state and federal level, funneling money to both public and school libraries in their respective states. I am retired now after nearly 40 years in public libraries and am pretty horrified to read that someone like Michael Flynn is now calling librarians “Marxist thugs.” I think that’s very dangerous, the kind of language that incites violence. This is serious shit and I hope ALA’s friends and supporters will speak out.
#PublicLibraries #librarians #MarxistThugs #AmericanLibraryAssociation #EmilyDrabinski -
@froomkin Possibly no one at the Capitol, although that seems to be pretty unlikely regarding pre-Jan 6 pro-Trump unrests.
The one, who asked the DoD for National Guard assistance ahead of expected Jan 6 rioting was D.C.'s mayor, Muriel Bowser — possibly facing resistence obstructing security measures by Mike Flynn's brother at the DoD.#DefendAmerica #DefendDemocracy #Democracy #Jan6 #Insurrection #Overthrow #CourtMartialFlynn #MikeFlynn
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/unmitigated-liars-charles-michael-flynn-jan-6-earl-matthews_n_61ae9740e4b0f76117b2a654
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/washington-dc-mayor-calls-in-national-guard-ahead-of-pro-trump-protests_n_5ff43732c5b65a922911520d -
The New Apostolic Reformation is a rapidly accelerating and underreported Christian extremist movement that promotes dominionism, the belief that Christians have a mandate from God to control the government, media, education, & all other aspects of society. It works closely with Mike Flynn, Rep. MTG, Lauren Boebert, and other MAGA leaders. I wrote about the NAR in detail here. #NAR #dominionism #ChristianNationalism #7M #7MM https://buckscountybeacon.com/2022/08/underreported-and-massive-theocratic-movement-joins-forces-with-michael-flynn-and-roger-stone/
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The New Apostolic Reformation is a rapidly accelerating and underreported Christian extremist movement that promotes dominionism, the belief that Christians have a mandate from God to control the government, media, education, & all other aspects of society. It works closely with Mike Flynn, Rep. MTG, Lauren Boebert, and other MAGA leaders. I wrote about the NAR in detail here. #NAR #dominionism #ChristianNationalism #7M #7MM https://buckscountybeacon.com/2022/08/underreported-and-massive-theocratic-movement-joins-forces-with-michael-flynn-and-roger-stone/
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The New Apostolic Reformation is a rapidly accelerating and underreported Christian extremist movement that promotes dominionism, the belief that Christians have a mandate from God to control the government, media, education, & all other aspects of society. It works closely with Mike Flynn, Rep. MTG, Lauren Boebert, and other MAGA leaders. I wrote about the NAR in detail here. #NAR #dominionism #ChristianNationalism #7M #7MM https://buckscountybeacon.com/2022/08/underreported-and-massive-theocratic-movement-joins-forces-with-michael-flynn-and-roger-stone/
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The New Apostolic Reformation is a rapidly accelerating and underreported Christian extremist movement that promotes dominionism, the belief that Christians have a mandate from God to control the government, media, education, & all other aspects of society. It works closely with Mike Flynn, Rep. MTG, Lauren Boebert, and other MAGA leaders. I wrote about the NAR in detail here. #NAR #dominionism #ChristianNationalism #7M #7MM https://buckscountybeacon.com/2022/08/underreported-and-massive-theocratic-movement-joins-forces-with-michael-flynn-and-roger-stone/
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Year in and year out, #Christian #nationalists strategize and organize via a seemingly never-ending stream of
conferences, trainings, and other offerings conducted or provided by influential Christian political nonprofits such as:♦️Turning Point USA (TPUSA), an extremist student group co-founded by Charlie #Kirk and Bill #Montgomery, who died of COVID-19 complications. TPUSA’s specialty is training students to harass “liberal” professors and public school boards. It partners with far right propagandist Jack Posobiec, who is infamous for his viral propaganda campaigns, including the “groomers” campaign launched against Disney after it withdrew support for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Kirk hopes to open his own network of private Christian academies across the country.
♦️Wallbuilders, a nonprofit founded by pseudo-historian David #Barton, a leading opponentof the separation between church and state. Barton–who offers “biblical citizenship training” with ♦️Patriot Academy founder Rick #Green–also promotes the militant “black robe regiment” movement and wrote a book about it.
♦️United in Purpose (UIP), a Christian data targeting firm founded by convicted embezzler Bill #Dallas. UIP’s board has included David Barton and former congressman Bob #McEwen. UIP was involved in a massive voter data breach in 2015, as we previously reported. In or around 2020, UIP formed a group called♦️ Ziklag, which pairs wealthy Christian donors with Christian political projects and organizations. UIP also launched a website called EveryLegalVote.com, which promoted “Stop the Steal” rallies and related “action items,” although UIP’s name was removed from the website soon after it launched. (Image via @visionsurreal.)
♦️Truth and Liberty Coalition, which focuses on taking over public school boards in Colorado and beyond. The nonprofit is led by Andrew #Wommack who owns the Charis Bible College franchise and has said that members of the LGBTQ community should wear warning labels on their foreheads. Truth and Liberty’s board of directors includes Wallbuilders founder David Barton and NAR leader Lance #Wallnau, who has said that we must “destroy the public education system before it destroys America,” as reported in Elle Hardy’s book 🔹Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity is Taking Over the World. 🔹Truth and Liberty’s website includes a list of “influencers” that includes Rep. Lauren #Boebert (R-CO).
Truth and Liberty has worked with John #Guandolo of Understanding the Threat. Guandolo is a disgraced former FBI agent and anti-Muslim activist. As first reported by Right Wing Watch, Guandalo “has begun offering training sessions for right-wing citizens on how to take over their towns, arrest their mayors, and destroy the lives of anyone who objects by publicly humiliating them, getting them fired…, and forcing them to move.”♦️Patriot Academy founded by Rick #Green. The organization partners with David Barton (of Wallbuilders) in providing “biblical citizenship training.”
♦️The Oak Initiative founded by Rick #Joyner who advocated a military coup against Obama in 2013 or 2014. Rep. Louie #Gohmert (R-TX) attended one of their summits virtually in 2015. NAR leaders Lance Wallnau and Cindy Jacobs are on the board.
♦️The Council for National Policy, a secretive umbrella and strategy group for billionaires and the leaders of most prominent Christian Right organizations. Steve #Bannon, KellyAnne #Conway, Ali #Alexander, Charlie #Kirk, Ginni #Thomas, Cleta #Mitchell, Bill #Dallas, Tony #Perkins, and Ralph #Reed have all been members. Michael #Flynn has been involved with them too.♦️The Family Research Council founded by Tony #Perkins, which hosts the influential 🔸Pray Vote Stand Summit 🔸(previously the Values Voter Summit) and a pastors roundtable called 🔸“Watchmen on the Wall.”
♦️The Faith and Freedom Coalition (FFC) founded by Ralph #Reed. FFC’s website says that FFC knocked on more than 8 million doors before the midterm election and held its annual 🔸Road to Majority Policy🔸 conference in June this year. Its website says the conference “equips attendees with the knowledge and connections they need to drive engagement and voter turnout. The June 2022 gathering accelerated conservatives further down the road to majority ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.”
♦️The Family Leader, which held a Family Leadership summit in July this year. Its president and CEO is Bob Vander #Plaats. Its website called its annual summit the “Midwest’s biggest gathering of Christians seeking cultural transformation in the family, church, government and more.”
♦️Focus on the Family, the
♦️Family Institute, and the
♦️Dobson Policy Center founded by James #Dobson. Focus on the Family has offices and partnerships around the world. Focus on the Family and Family Research Center helped craft and promote the bill that recently made Arkansas the first state to ban gender-affirming care for minors, -
“The End Times are nigh. The Prodigal Son returns to Madison Square Garden.” John Buss @repeat1968
Good Day, Sky Dancers!
I was lucky that working with students last night interfered with any attempt to turn on the Fascist Rally at the World’s Most Famous Arena. This wasn’t exactly Ali against Frazier or Holyfield vs Lewis. This was more like #DonOld vs the Majority of the country. The opening bouts were lame.
My short take on this is it was basically a Crazy Old Cult Leader warming his brood up for the Ultimate Kool-Aid moment. Unfortunately, we previewed that on January 6, so I hope that law enforcement agencies are prepared. The Ultimate Chaos Agent is making his play for a coup
This brings me to this dangerous conspiracy theory making the rounds. To think, I was simply walking the dog around the block! I got told a conspiracy theory by a short-order cook at a local bar who has said crazy things before, so I thought I’d look into it to prove him wrong. His favorite spiel is that the right wing and the left wing are the same, and the government is corrupt. Which is partially correct. Look at Jill Stein and Robert Kennedy hooked up with the Fascists and Putin. If you take populism to its furthest corners of the right and the left, they eventually bump butts with each other. However, the left wing and the right in the United States do not wield the same power, and they are not of equal size. There’s no real leftist power in this country. The billionaire class has been funding the extreme right-wing for decades now, and it shows. Polls on issues show that most Americans agree on the major things. The problem is that the political system does not play towards consensus.
This guy insisted the DOD is sneaking a policy to Congress to approve the use of military force on civilians. Now, if DJT was in power, I believe he’d try that, although it would take a lot more than a policy of the DOD or an act of Congress to amend the Constitution. Even when I came back to show him the actual act to show him it says nothing of the kind, he insisted he’d read it, and that’s what he said. But when I invested it, I thought, wow, that looks like the will of the Ultimate Chaos Agent!
This link leads to DOD DIRECTIVE 5240.01 (DOD INTELLIGENCE AND INTELLIGENCE-RELATED ACTIVITIES, AND DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE COMPONENT, ASSISTANCE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES AND OTHER CIVIL AUTHORITIES.) It’s short, and the language is easy to comprehend. So, I did some research, and now I think it’s important enough of the conspiracy theory in light of the Prepare for War rally in Madison Square. Here’s what I found with a little dank rabbit hole exploring. “Far-Right Suggests Military Just Authorized Lethal Force Against Americans Ahead of the Election. It Didn’t. As Trump warns about an “enemy from within,” a Defense Department directive set off a firestorm on alt-tech social media. But the Insurrection Act is the real threat, experts say.” This is from a Blog Called The War Horse and it’s written by Sonner Kehrt.
Just as former president Donald Trump told Fox News last week that he wanted to use the U.S. military to “handle” what he called the “enemy from within” on Election Day, an obscure military policy was beginning to make the rounds on social media platforms favored by the far right.
The focus? Department of Defense Directive 5240.01.
The 22-page document governs military intelligence activities and is among more than a thousand different policies that outline Defense Department procedures.
The Pentagon updated it at the end of September. Although military policies are routinely updated and reissued, the timing of this one—just six weeks before the election and the same day Hurricane Helene slammed into the Southeast—struck right-wing misinformation merchants as suspicious.
They latched onto a new reference in the updated directive—“lethal force”—and soon were falsely claiming that the change means Kamala Harris had authorized the military to kill civilians if there is unrest after the election.
That’s flat-out not true, the Pentagon and experts on military policy told The War Horse.
“The provisions in [the directive] are not new, and do not authorize the Secretary of Defense to use lethal force against U.S. citizens, contrary to rumors and rhetoric circulating on social media,” Sue Gough, a Department of Defense spokesperson, said Wednesday night.
But as Trump doubles down on his “enemy from within” rhetoric, DOD Directive 5240.01 continues to gain traction among his supporters as ostensible proof that Harris, not Trump, wants to use the military against American citizens.
By early last week, “5240.01” began to spike on alt-tech platforms such as Rumble, 4chan, and Telegram, as well as on more mainstream platforms like X, according to an analysis by The War Horse and UC Berkeley’s Human Rights Center.
On Ron Paul’s Liberty Report, a YouTube show, the former Texas congressman told viewers that the policy meant that the country is now a “police state.” Republican Maryland congressman Andy Harris told Newsmax host Chris Salcedo last Wednesday that he was concerned the Defense Department was pushing through policies without congressional oversight.
“This is exactly what the Democrats said Trump would do. And they’re doing it,” he said. “This means that after an election, they could declare national emergency and literally call out the Army in the United States.”
Former Trump national security adviser and retired Army Lieutenant Gen. Michael Flynn tweeted the policy update out to his 1.7 million followers, just as he shared the week before a video suggesting the military had manipulated the weather to focus Hurricane Helene’s deadly fury on Republican voters in the South.
“Republican election fraud season is in full swing.” John Buss, @repeat1968
I really see this as a way to ensure their well-armed militia shows up at the local courthouse or state house well-armed when the vote count starts meaningfully leaning towards a Harris/Walz Administration. The ACLU has had this policy firmly in its FOIA grip since 1982. The documents are out there with no commentary or urgent lawsuits filed. You would think they’d be interested.
The Center for Informed Policy at the University of Washington is more interested in those conspiracy theories. “Rumors rapidly spreading about reissued Department of Defense Directive 5240.01” explains the right wing’s angst on this one in its 2024 U.S. ELECTIONS RAPID RESEARCH BLOG.
Key Takeaways
- Early last week, rumors started to spread between multiple social media platforms and across political communities online about a recently reissued Department of Defense Directive 5240.01 that documents procedures when there is a potential use of lethal force.
- Some online communities have speculated that the directive’s changes are timed with the upcoming election, with some suggesting without evidence that the intent behind the change is that the government is planning to use force against Americans.
- The viral spread could be exploiting a data void – a situation where there is no reliable information about a topic in search results — given there are no published fact-checks or traditional journalist coverage of the directive’s changes.
Just Security calls it “Much Ado About Nothing.” Oddly enough, this was an article my neighborhood weirdo was about to show me when he read the title and then suddenly closed it, and just as I said oh, Just Security is a reliable source. They conclude with this, which is similar to a thought in The War Horse. That’s the real danger is the Insurrection Act that Trump used to go after George Floyd Protestors with the National Guard. His stated goal was to support local law enforcement in Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., on May 30, 2020. You probably will remember this culminating with the upside-down bible event. The ACLU is very interested in that event.
To be sure, there are good reasons to be concerned about the federal government’s power to use the armed forces domestically against Americans, but the new language in Directive 5240.01 is not one of them. The Insurrection Act represents a far greater danger. It gives the president broad discretion to use the military as a domestic police force and contains virtually no safeguards to prevent abuse. The Brennan Center for Justice, where we work, has put forward a comprehensive proposal for reforming the Insurrection Act, and a bipartisan group of former national security officials convened by the American Law Institute has similarly called for Insurrection Act reform. Those who are currently sounding the alarm about Directive 5240.01 would do well to refocus their energies on that critical task.
I just messaged it off to one of the MSNBC Anchors I chat with on occasion, so I’m about to see if I can get someone serious journalism on it with the hope of getting rid of the data void.
So, before I tackle the main event, I have one more nerdy article to suggest. This is about the odds makers. This is from Good Authority. The analysis is provided by Josh Clinton. “Poll results depend on pollster choices as much as voters’ decisions. Simple changes in how to weight a single poll can move the Harris-Trump margin 8 points.”
There is no end of scrutiny of the 2024 election polls – who is ahead, who is behind, how much the polls will miss the election outcome, etc., etc. These questions have become even more pressing because the presidential race seems to be a toss-up. Every percentage point for Kamala Harris or Donald Trump matters.
But here’s the big problem that no one talks about very much: Simple and defensible decisions by pollsters can drastically change the reported margin between Harris and Trump. I’ll show that the margin can change by as much as eight points. Reasonable decisions produce a margin that ranges from Harris +0.9% to Harris +8%.
This reality highlights that we ask far too much of polls. Ultimately, it’s hard to know how much poll numbers reflect the decisions of voters – or the decisions of pollsters.
The 4 key questions for pollsters
After poll data are collected, pollsters must assess whether they need to adjust or “weight” the data to address the very real possibility that the people who took the poll differ from those who did not. This involves answering four questions:
1. Do respondents match the electorate demographically in terms of sex, age, education, race, etc.? (This was a problem in 2016.)
2. Do respondents match the electorate politically after the sample is adjusted by demographic factors? (This was the problem in 2020.)
3. Which respondents will vote?
4. Should the pollster trust the data?
To show how the answers to these questions can affect poll results, I use a national survey conducted from October 7 – 14, 2024. The sample included 1,924 self-reported registered voters drawn from an online, high-quality panel commonly used in academic and commercial work.
After dropping the respondents who said they were not sure who they would vote for (3.2%) and those with missing demographics, the unweighted data give Harris a 6 percentage point lead – 51.6 % to 45.5% – among the remaining 1,718 respondents.
You may read more details about those factors at the link. I try not to put my students to sleep during statistics lectures, so I certainly won’t do it to you. The reporting and clips on the Madison Square Garden Rally kept me up most of the night. I felt like the child in grade school watching the teacher thread the film through those blue projectors only to see things my Dad didn’t want to remember about World War 2. I don’t know about you, but my school district did not hold back on the World War 2 experience. One of my high school teachers wrote a book on his experience as a prisoner taken during the Battle of the Bulge. I was surrounded by friends’ parents and my parents’ friends who were Veterans. We watched the films of the 1936 Olympics and heroes like Jesse Owens and, of course, all the Hitler and Mussolini public speeches. If you were like little me, I couldn’t understand who could fall for any of that.
I also saw films of the United States turning away Jewish people in ships fleeing Europe and films of the internment of Japanese-Americans. All of these seemed surreal to me at the ripe old age of 11.
Now, I know more. Now I can identify people that just love to goosestep with whom I would not share the location of any modern day Anne Frank.
Tom Toles Editorial Cartoon
CNN Analyst Stephen Collinson has this analysis. “Trump unveils the most extreme closing argument in modern presidential history.” The MAGA movement is about hating and eliminating everyone who isn’t like them.
Donald Trump anchored his bid to win a second White House term next week on searing anti-migrant fear at a rally at Madison Square Garden, doubling down on his promise for a massive deportation program on Day 1 to reverse an “immigrant invasion.”
As the ex-president’s allies defend him against Democratic claims he is a “fascist” and an authoritarian in waiting, based in part on warnings by his ex-chief of staff John Kelly, Trump on Sunday delivered a screed that may augur the most extreme presidency in modern history if he beats Democratic nominee Kamala Harris on November 5.
“The United States is an occupied country,” Trump said, as Democrats projected messages on the exterior of the storied New York City arena, reading “Trump is Unhinged” and “Trump praised Hitler.”
The huge rally was billed as the launch of the final stage of Trump’s bid to pull off one of the greatest comebacks in American political history after trying to overturn the result of the last election and leaving office in disgrace in 2021. Before he spoke, some of the ex-president’s top supporters flung race-based and vulgar rhetoric. Former congressional candidate David Rem called Harris the “antichrist” and “the devil,” while others lashed out at Hillary Clinton, “illegals” and homeless people. Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”
This is from Politico. The analysis is by Andrew Howard. “Fallout spreads from racist rhetoric at Trump’s MSG rally. “What you saw last night is a divisive America. That’s race-baiting. It’s all the things that we were doing in the ‘30s and ‘40s,” former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said Monday.”
Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally Sunday evening was supposed to provide his closing argument against Kamala Harris. Instead, Trump and his supporters are being forced to answer for hateful and racist rhetoric delivered from the podium Sunday night with just eight days left in the campaign.
The comments, while reminiscent of many made by Trump in the campaign’s final weeks, were made by a comedian early in the night’s schedule and were supposed to be jokes. Now, they are dominating the news cycle and putting Trump’s campaign on the backfoot with just under a week until the election.
Longtime Trump adviser Peter Navarro is calling the comedian, Tony Hinchcliffe, “the biggest, stupidest asshole that ever came down the comedy pike” after he called Puerto Rico a “floating island of hot garbage” during his often-vulgar opening set.
And Trump’s opponents are using the rally as proof of the former president’s divisiveness, going as far as likening the rhetoric from Sunday’s rally to the sinister 1939 Nazi rally that took place in the same venue.
“My reaction is that was a combination of 1933 Germany, 1939 Madison Square Garden last night,” former Trump adviser Anthony Scaramucci said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Monday morning. “What you saw last night is a divisive America. That’s race baiting. It’s all the things that we were doing in the ‘30s and ‘40s.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.), called Sunday night’s event a “hate rally.”
“This was not just a presidential rally, this was not just a campaign rally. I think it’s important for people to understand these are mini January 6 rallies, these are mini Stop the Steal rallies,” she said on “Morning Joe.”
Florida GOP Rep. Byron Donalds blamed the media for the backlash surrounding Sunday’s rally during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday, saying the media is too focused on “fear-mongering” and not “the facts and the substance.”
“So to the New York Daily News, is it a racist rally if you have a Black man from Florida who’s originally from New York speaking at the rally? I don’t think so,” Donalds said. Still, Donalds distanced himself from Hinchcliffe’s comments.
“I didn’t agree with what the comedian said. None of us did,” Donalds said. “When it came out, we were all like, ‘Wait what? Who? Did that get out? No, no, no.’ Nobody agreed with that. Nobody.”
Last night, Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott, up for reelection this year in a state heavily populated with Puerto Ricans, wrote on social media that the “joke bombed for a reason,” and “Puerto Ricans are amazing people and amazing Americans!”
Yet another Floridian, GOP Rep. María Elvira Salazar, was also quick to condemn the comedian. “This rhetoric does not reflect GOP values,” she wrote in a post on X Sunday evening.
Early Monday morning, the Harris campaign was quick to jump in, highlighting headlines in 17 newspapers, eight clips from TV shows, and 29 other statements from politicians, celebrities and journalists.
Famous Puerto Ricans rushed to bolster Harris, including pop-phenom Bad Bunny, along with Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin.
Hinchcliffe’s backlash-inducing comments were not limited to Puerto Rico. The comedian also made a crude remark about “carving watermelons” after seeing a Black man in the audience. Another opener, businessman Grant Cardone, likened Harris’ advisers to “pimp handlers.”
And Trump adviser Stephen Miller, who has shaped many of Trump’s immigration policies, said Americans are having their jobs “looted and stolen from them” and sent to foreign countries.
I always turn to Historian Heather Cox Richardson for the final thoughts.
I stand corrected. I thought this year’s October surprise was the reality that Trump’s mental state had slipped so badly he could not campaign in any coherent way.
It turns out that the 2024 October surprise was the Trump campaign’s fascist rally at Madison Square Garden, a rally so extreme that Republicans running for office have been denouncing it all over social media tonight.
There was never any question that this rally was going to be anything but an attempt to inflame Trump’s base. The plan for a rally at Madison Square Garden itself deliberately evoked its predecessor: a Nazi rally at the old Madison Square Garden on February 20, 1939. About 18,000 people showed up for that “true Americanism” event, held on a stage that featured a huge portrait of George Washington in his Continental Army uniform flanked by swastikas.
Like that earlier event, Trump’s rally was supposed to demonstrate power and inspire his base to violence.
Apparently in anticipation of the rally, Trump on Friday night replaced his signature blue suit and red tie with the black and gold of the neofascist Proud Boys. That extremist group was central to the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and has been rebuilding to support Trump again in 2024.
On Saturday the Trump campaign released a list of 29 people set to be on the stage at the rally. Notably, the list was all MAGA Republicans, including vice presidential nominee Ohio senator J.D. Vance, House speaker Mike Johnson (LA), Representative Elise Stefanik (NY), Representative Byron Donalds (FL), Trump backer Elon Musk, Trump ally Rudy Giuliani, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., right-wing host Tucker Carlson, Trump sons Don Jr. and Eric, and Eric’s wife, Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump.
Libbey Dean of NewsNation noted that none of the seven Republicans running in New York’s competitive House races were on the list. When asked why not, according to Dean, Trump senior advisor Jason Miller said: “The demand, the request for people to speak, is quite extensive.” Asked if the campaign had turned down anyone who asked to speak, Miller said no.
We could see the signs that he knew he probably wouldn’t win the minute Biden backed out. We could taste the panic in the air. We know his campaign is already spending more time in the Court trying to fuck with elections than with the ground game he delegated to Musk, who is out there basically running a personal game show with a million-dollar giveaway for attention.
Marc Elias and his team have been in court for the Harris/Walz campaign, which has been fighting Trump’s legal team that is “flooding the zone” with lawsuits and election tricks. #DonOld is clearly not physically or mentally capable of carrying on a campaign that requires giving cogent speeches and long hours. The only thing he excels at is creating chaos. “Marc Elias, Voting Rights Attorney, joins Nicolle Wallace on Deadline White House with a look at the work that Trump allies and attorneys are doing ahead of the 2024 Election in order to create doubt and confusion which will enable Donald Trump to deny the results of the 2024 Election should he lose again. ”
Here are the arguments for the Ultimate Chaos Agent in the Wallace/Elias interview.
The question is, will creating chaos be enough to bring the Republic and the voting and judicial systems to their knees? Can he knock out the Constitution, or will We the People knock him out on November 5th. We need the KO. These things keep me awake at night with my stomach churning and jumping like a kid about to take his ACTs.
What’s on your reading and blogging list today?
https://skydancingblog.com/2024/10/28/mostly-monday-reads-squall-at-the-square/
#DonOld #Repeat1968 #electionFraud #Fascist #HeatherCoxRichardson #JohnBuss #MadisonSquareGardenTrumpRally #MAGARacists #MarcElias #OctoberSurprises #posseComitatus #TheUltimateChaosAgent #voterSuppression #WhiteChristianNationalists #Xenophobes
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“The End Times are nigh. The Prodigal Son returns to Madison Square Garden.” John Buss @repeat1968
Good Day, Sky Dancers!
I was lucky that working with students last night interfered with any attempt to turn on the Fascist Rally at the World’s Most Famous Arena. This wasn’t exactly Ali against Frazier or Holyfield vs Lewis. This was more like #DonOld vs the Majority of the country. The opening bouts were lame.
My short take on this is it was basically a Crazy Old Cult Leader warming his brood up for the Ultimate Kool-Aid moment. Unfortunately, we previewed that on January 6, so I hope that law enforcement agencies are prepared. The Ultimate Chaos Agent is making his play for a coup
This brings me to this dangerous conspiracy theory making the rounds. To think, I was simply walking the dog around the block! I got told a conspiracy theory by a short-order cook at a local bar who has said crazy things before, so I thought I’d look into it to prove him wrong. His favorite spiel is that the right wing and the left wing are the same, and the government is corrupt. Which is partially correct. Look at Jill Stein and Robert Kennedy hooked up with the Fascists and Putin. If you take populism to its furthest corners of the right and the left, they eventually bump butts with each other. However, the left wing and the right in the United States do not wield the same power, and they are not of equal size. There’s no real leftist power in this country. The billionaire class has been funding the extreme right-wing for decades now, and it shows. Polls on issues show that most Americans agree on the major things. The problem is that the political system does not play towards consensus.
This guy insisted the DOD is sneaking a policy to Congress to approve the use of military force on civilians. Now, if DJT was in power, I believe he’d try that, although it would take a lot more than a policy of the DOD or an act of Congress to amend the Constitution. Even when I came back to show him the actual act to show him it says nothing of the kind, he insisted he’d read it, and that’s what he said. But when I invested it, I thought, wow, that looks like the will of the Ultimate Chaos Agent!
This link leads to DOD DIRECTIVE 5240.01 (DOD INTELLIGENCE AND INTELLIGENCE-RELATED ACTIVITIES, AND DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE COMPONENT, ASSISTANCE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES AND OTHER CIVIL AUTHORITIES.) It’s short, and the language is easy to comprehend. So, I did some research, and now I think it’s important enough of the conspiracy theory in light of the Prepare for War rally in Madison Square. Here’s what I found with a little dank rabbit hole exploring. “Far-Right Suggests Military Just Authorized Lethal Force Against Americans Ahead of the Election. It Didn’t. As Trump warns about an “enemy from within,” a Defense Department directive set off a firestorm on alt-tech social media. But the Insurrection Act is the real threat, experts say.” This is from a Blog Called The War Horse and it’s written by Sonner Kehrt.
Just as former president Donald Trump told Fox News last week that he wanted to use the U.S. military to “handle” what he called the “enemy from within” on Election Day, an obscure military policy was beginning to make the rounds on social media platforms favored by the far right.
The focus? Department of Defense Directive 5240.01.
The 22-page document governs military intelligence activities and is among more than a thousand different policies that outline Defense Department procedures.
The Pentagon updated it at the end of September. Although military policies are routinely updated and reissued, the timing of this one—just six weeks before the election and the same day Hurricane Helene slammed into the Southeast—struck right-wing misinformation merchants as suspicious.
They latched onto a new reference in the updated directive—“lethal force”—and soon were falsely claiming that the change means Kamala Harris had authorized the military to kill civilians if there is unrest after the election.
That’s flat-out not true, the Pentagon and experts on military policy told The War Horse.
“The provisions in [the directive] are not new, and do not authorize the Secretary of Defense to use lethal force against U.S. citizens, contrary to rumors and rhetoric circulating on social media,” Sue Gough, a Department of Defense spokesperson, said Wednesday night.
But as Trump doubles down on his “enemy from within” rhetoric, DOD Directive 5240.01 continues to gain traction among his supporters as ostensible proof that Harris, not Trump, wants to use the military against American citizens.
By early last week, “5240.01” began to spike on alt-tech platforms such as Rumble, 4chan, and Telegram, as well as on more mainstream platforms like X, according to an analysis by The War Horse and UC Berkeley’s Human Rights Center.
On Ron Paul’s Liberty Report, a YouTube show, the former Texas congressman told viewers that the policy meant that the country is now a “police state.” Republican Maryland congressman Andy Harris told Newsmax host Chris Salcedo last Wednesday that he was concerned the Defense Department was pushing through policies without congressional oversight.
“This is exactly what the Democrats said Trump would do. And they’re doing it,” he said. “This means that after an election, they could declare national emergency and literally call out the Army in the United States.”
Former Trump national security adviser and retired Army Lieutenant Gen. Michael Flynn tweeted the policy update out to his 1.7 million followers, just as he shared the week before a video suggesting the military had manipulated the weather to focus Hurricane Helene’s deadly fury on Republican voters in the South.
“Republican election fraud season is in full swing.” John Buss, @repeat1968
I really see this as a way to ensure their well-armed militia shows up at the local courthouse or state house well-armed when the vote count starts meaningfully leaning towards a Harris/Walz Administration. The ACLU has had this policy firmly in its FOIA grip since 1982. The documents are out there with no commentary or urgent lawsuits filed. You would think they’d be interested.
The Center for Informed Policy at the University of Washington is more interested in those conspiracy theories. “Rumors rapidly spreading about reissued Department of Defense Directive 5240.01” explains the right wing’s angst on this one in its 2024 U.S. ELECTIONS RAPID RESEARCH BLOG.
Key Takeaways
- Early last week, rumors started to spread between multiple social media platforms and across political communities online about a recently reissued Department of Defense Directive 5240.01 that documents procedures when there is a potential use of lethal force.
- Some online communities have speculated that the directive’s changes are timed with the upcoming election, with some suggesting without evidence that the intent behind the change is that the government is planning to use force against Americans.
- The viral spread could be exploiting a data void – a situation where there is no reliable information about a topic in search results — given there are no published fact-checks or traditional journalist coverage of the directive’s changes.
Just Security calls it “Much Ado About Nothing.” Oddly enough, this was an article my neighborhood weirdo was about to show me when he read the title and then suddenly closed it, and just as I said oh, Just Security is a reliable source. They conclude with this, which is similar to a thought in The War Horse. That’s the real danger is the Insurrection Act that Trump used to go after George Floyd Protestors with the National Guard. His stated goal was to support local law enforcement in Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., on May 30, 2020. You probably will remember this culminating with the upside-down bible event. The ACLU is very interested in that event.
To be sure, there are good reasons to be concerned about the federal government’s power to use the armed forces domestically against Americans, but the new language in Directive 5240.01 is not one of them. The Insurrection Act represents a far greater danger. It gives the president broad discretion to use the military as a domestic police force and contains virtually no safeguards to prevent abuse. The Brennan Center for Justice, where we work, has put forward a comprehensive proposal for reforming the Insurrection Act, and a bipartisan group of former national security officials convened by the American Law Institute has similarly called for Insurrection Act reform. Those who are currently sounding the alarm about Directive 5240.01 would do well to refocus their energies on that critical task.
I just messaged it off to one of the MSNBC Anchors I chat with on occasion, so I’m about to see if I can get someone serious journalism on it with the hope of getting rid of the data void.
So, before I tackle the main event, I have one more nerdy article to suggest. This is about the odds makers. This is from Good Authority. The analysis is provided by Josh Clinton. “Poll results depend on pollster choices as much as voters’ decisions. Simple changes in how to weight a single poll can move the Harris-Trump margin 8 points.”
There is no end of scrutiny of the 2024 election polls – who is ahead, who is behind, how much the polls will miss the election outcome, etc., etc. These questions have become even more pressing because the presidential race seems to be a toss-up. Every percentage point for Kamala Harris or Donald Trump matters.
But here’s the big problem that no one talks about very much: Simple and defensible decisions by pollsters can drastically change the reported margin between Harris and Trump. I’ll show that the margin can change by as much as eight points. Reasonable decisions produce a margin that ranges from Harris +0.9% to Harris +8%.
This reality highlights that we ask far too much of polls. Ultimately, it’s hard to know how much poll numbers reflect the decisions of voters – or the decisions of pollsters.
The 4 key questions for pollsters
After poll data are collected, pollsters must assess whether they need to adjust or “weight” the data to address the very real possibility that the people who took the poll differ from those who did not. This involves answering four questions:
1. Do respondents match the electorate demographically in terms of sex, age, education, race, etc.? (This was a problem in 2016.)
2. Do respondents match the electorate politically after the sample is adjusted by demographic factors? (This was the problem in 2020.)
3. Which respondents will vote?
4. Should the pollster trust the data?
To show how the answers to these questions can affect poll results, I use a national survey conducted from October 7 – 14, 2024. The sample included 1,924 self-reported registered voters drawn from an online, high-quality panel commonly used in academic and commercial work.
After dropping the respondents who said they were not sure who they would vote for (3.2%) and those with missing demographics, the unweighted data give Harris a 6 percentage point lead – 51.6 % to 45.5% – among the remaining 1,718 respondents.
You may read more details about those factors at the link. I try not to put my students to sleep during statistics lectures, so I certainly won’t do it to you. The reporting and clips on the Madison Square Garden Rally kept me up most of the night. I felt like the child in grade school watching the teacher thread the film through those blue projectors only to see things my Dad didn’t want to remember about World War 2. I don’t know about you, but my school district did not hold back on the World War 2 experience. One of my high school teachers wrote a book on his experience as a prisoner taken during the Battle of the Bulge. I was surrounded by friends’ parents and my parents’ friends who were Veterans. We watched the films of the 1936 Olympics and heroes like Jesse Owens and, of course, all the Hitler and Mussolini public speeches. If you were like little me, I couldn’t understand who could fall for any of that.
I also saw films of the United States turning away Jewish people in ships fleeing Europe and films of the internment of Japanese-Americans. All of these seemed surreal to me at the ripe old age of 11.
Now, I know more. Now I can identify people that just love to goosestep with whom I would not share the location of any modern day Anne Frank.
Tom Toles Editorial Cartoon
CNN Analyst Stephen Collinson has this analysis. “Trump unveils the most extreme closing argument in modern presidential history.” The MAGA movement is about hating and eliminating everyone who isn’t like them.
Donald Trump anchored his bid to win a second White House term next week on searing anti-migrant fear at a rally at Madison Square Garden, doubling down on his promise for a massive deportation program on Day 1 to reverse an “immigrant invasion.”
As the ex-president’s allies defend him against Democratic claims he is a “fascist” and an authoritarian in waiting, based in part on warnings by his ex-chief of staff John Kelly, Trump on Sunday delivered a screed that may augur the most extreme presidency in modern history if he beats Democratic nominee Kamala Harris on November 5.
“The United States is an occupied country,” Trump said, as Democrats projected messages on the exterior of the storied New York City arena, reading “Trump is Unhinged” and “Trump praised Hitler.”
The huge rally was billed as the launch of the final stage of Trump’s bid to pull off one of the greatest comebacks in American political history after trying to overturn the result of the last election and leaving office in disgrace in 2021. Before he spoke, some of the ex-president’s top supporters flung race-based and vulgar rhetoric. Former congressional candidate David Rem called Harris the “antichrist” and “the devil,” while others lashed out at Hillary Clinton, “illegals” and homeless people. Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”
This is from Politico. The analysis is by Andrew Howard. “Fallout spreads from racist rhetoric at Trump’s MSG rally. “What you saw last night is a divisive America. That’s race-baiting. It’s all the things that we were doing in the ‘30s and ‘40s,” former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said Monday.”
Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally Sunday evening was supposed to provide his closing argument against Kamala Harris. Instead, Trump and his supporters are being forced to answer for hateful and racist rhetoric delivered from the podium Sunday night with just eight days left in the campaign.
The comments, while reminiscent of many made by Trump in the campaign’s final weeks, were made by a comedian early in the night’s schedule and were supposed to be jokes. Now, they are dominating the news cycle and putting Trump’s campaign on the backfoot with just under a week until the election.
Longtime Trump adviser Peter Navarro is calling the comedian, Tony Hinchcliffe, “the biggest, stupidest asshole that ever came down the comedy pike” after he called Puerto Rico a “floating island of hot garbage” during his often-vulgar opening set.
And Trump’s opponents are using the rally as proof of the former president’s divisiveness, going as far as likening the rhetoric from Sunday’s rally to the sinister 1939 Nazi rally that took place in the same venue.
“My reaction is that was a combination of 1933 Germany, 1939 Madison Square Garden last night,” former Trump adviser Anthony Scaramucci said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Monday morning. “What you saw last night is a divisive America. That’s race baiting. It’s all the things that we were doing in the ‘30s and ‘40s.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.), called Sunday night’s event a “hate rally.”
“This was not just a presidential rally, this was not just a campaign rally. I think it’s important for people to understand these are mini January 6 rallies, these are mini Stop the Steal rallies,” she said on “Morning Joe.”
Florida GOP Rep. Byron Donalds blamed the media for the backlash surrounding Sunday’s rally during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday, saying the media is too focused on “fear-mongering” and not “the facts and the substance.”
“So to the New York Daily News, is it a racist rally if you have a Black man from Florida who’s originally from New York speaking at the rally? I don’t think so,” Donalds said. Still, Donalds distanced himself from Hinchcliffe’s comments.
“I didn’t agree with what the comedian said. None of us did,” Donalds said. “When it came out, we were all like, ‘Wait what? Who? Did that get out? No, no, no.’ Nobody agreed with that. Nobody.”
Last night, Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott, up for reelection this year in a state heavily populated with Puerto Ricans, wrote on social media that the “joke bombed for a reason,” and “Puerto Ricans are amazing people and amazing Americans!”
Yet another Floridian, GOP Rep. María Elvira Salazar, was also quick to condemn the comedian. “This rhetoric does not reflect GOP values,” she wrote in a post on X Sunday evening.
Early Monday morning, the Harris campaign was quick to jump in, highlighting headlines in 17 newspapers, eight clips from TV shows, and 29 other statements from politicians, celebrities and journalists.
Famous Puerto Ricans rushed to bolster Harris, including pop-phenom Bad Bunny, along with Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin.
Hinchcliffe’s backlash-inducing comments were not limited to Puerto Rico. The comedian also made a crude remark about “carving watermelons” after seeing a Black man in the audience. Another opener, businessman Grant Cardone, likened Harris’ advisers to “pimp handlers.”
And Trump adviser Stephen Miller, who has shaped many of Trump’s immigration policies, said Americans are having their jobs “looted and stolen from them” and sent to foreign countries.
I always turn to Historian Heather Cox Richardson for the final thoughts.
I stand corrected. I thought this year’s October surprise was the reality that Trump’s mental state had slipped so badly he could not campaign in any coherent way.
It turns out that the 2024 October surprise was the Trump campaign’s fascist rally at Madison Square Garden, a rally so extreme that Republicans running for office have been denouncing it all over social media tonight.
There was never any question that this rally was going to be anything but an attempt to inflame Trump’s base. The plan for a rally at Madison Square Garden itself deliberately evoked its predecessor: a Nazi rally at the old Madison Square Garden on February 20, 1939. About 18,000 people showed up for that “true Americanism” event, held on a stage that featured a huge portrait of George Washington in his Continental Army uniform flanked by swastikas.
Like that earlier event, Trump’s rally was supposed to demonstrate power and inspire his base to violence.
Apparently in anticipation of the rally, Trump on Friday night replaced his signature blue suit and red tie with the black and gold of the neofascist Proud Boys. That extremist group was central to the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and has been rebuilding to support Trump again in 2024.
On Saturday the Trump campaign released a list of 29 people set to be on the stage at the rally. Notably, the list was all MAGA Republicans, including vice presidential nominee Ohio senator J.D. Vance, House speaker Mike Johnson (LA), Representative Elise Stefanik (NY), Representative Byron Donalds (FL), Trump backer Elon Musk, Trump ally Rudy Giuliani, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., right-wing host Tucker Carlson, Trump sons Don Jr. and Eric, and Eric’s wife, Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump.
Libbey Dean of NewsNation noted that none of the seven Republicans running in New York’s competitive House races were on the list. When asked why not, according to Dean, Trump senior advisor Jason Miller said: “The demand, the request for people to speak, is quite extensive.” Asked if the campaign had turned down anyone who asked to speak, Miller said no.
We could see the signs that he knew he probably wouldn’t win the minute Biden backed out. We could taste the panic in the air. We know his campaign is already spending more time in the Court trying to fuck with elections than with the ground game he delegated to Musk, who is out there basically running a personal game show with a million-dollar giveaway for attention.
Marc Elias and his team have been in court for the Harris/Walz campaign, which has been fighting Trump’s legal team that is “flooding the zone” with lawsuits and election tricks. #DonOld is clearly not physically or mentally capable of carrying on a campaign that requires giving cogent speeches and long hours. The only thing he excels at is creating chaos. “Marc Elias, Voting Rights Attorney, joins Nicolle Wallace on Deadline White House with a look at the work that Trump allies and attorneys are doing ahead of the 2024 Election in order to create doubt and confusion which will enable Donald Trump to deny the results of the 2024 Election should he lose again. ”
Here are the arguments for the Ultimate Chaos Agent in the Wallace/Elias interview.
The question is, will creating chaos be enough to bring the Republic and the voting and judicial systems to their knees? Can he knock out the Constitution, or will We the People knock him out on November 5th. We need the KO. These things keep me awake at night with my stomach churning and jumping like a kid about to take his ACTs.
What’s on your reading and blogging list today?
https://skydancingblog.com/2024/10/28/mostly-monday-reads-squall-at-the-square/
#DonOld #Repeat1968 #electionFraud #Fascist #HeatherCoxRichardson #JohnBuss #MadisonSquareGardenTrumpRally #MAGARacists #MarcElias #OctoberSurprises #posseComitatus #TheUltimateChaosAgent #voterSuppression #WhiteChristianNationalists #Xenophobes
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John #Hagee is the founder and leader of
🔸Christians United for Israel, 🔸
which boasts 10 million members
-- more than the total population of American Jews.
#CUI was founded in 2006 after the publication of Hagee’s book “Jerusalem Countdown,”
which asserts that a U.S.-Israel war against Iran is both biblically prophesied and necessary to bring about the battle of #Armageddon and the Second Coming.
Two years later, John McCain rejected Hagee’s endorsement in the 2008 presidential campaign, after a sermon of Hagee’s surfaced describing Hitler as fulfilling God's will by hastening the return of Jews to Israel.
But Hagee is just one figure in the still-poorly-understood #Christian #dominionist movement that’s supporting Trump and MAGA Republicans in general.
Their goal is to remake America into a right-wing Christian #theocracy.Canadian scholar André Gagné’s recent book “American Evangelicals for Trump: Dominion, Spiritual Warfare, and the End Times” does much to explain the #evangelical wing of that movement, known as the
🔸New Apostolic Reformation🔸, drawing on its own own words.
Three high-profile NAR leaders
— Lance #Wallnau, Paula #White-#Cain and Dutch #Sheets
— were intimately involved in bringing Trump to power,
supporting him and then
fighting to keep him in power after the 2020 election.
They're just the tip of the iceberg.
Since 2020, Gen. Michael #Flynn, Trump’s short-lived national security adviser, has been a co-leader of the
“ReAwaken America Tour,”
which is connected to multiple NAR figures, as Jennifer Cohn reported in 2022.
Just this month, Salon contributor Frederick Clarkson of Political Research Associates reported on Wallnau’s latest political venture, dubbed the
“Courage Tour,” which targets 19 counties that “are going to determine the future of America.”
https://www.salon.com/2024/05/26/cracking-the-christian-nationalist-code-a-glossary-for-the-confused/ -
"Es ist unglaublich": US-Meteorologen erhalten Morddrohungen, da Hurrikan-Verschwörungen zunehmen
Die Stürme #Helene und #Milton haben eine Zunahme von #Fehlinformationen ausgelöst, die von #Trump und anderen #Republikanern geschürt werden
#Meteorologen, die den Vormarsch des Hurrikans Milton [1] verfolgen, sind Ziel einer Flut von #Verschwörungstheorien, dass sie das #Wetter kontrollieren, und erhalten Beschimpfungen und sogar #Morddrohungen. Dies geschieht inmitten einer beispiellosen Zunahme von Fehlinformationen, da zwei große #Hurrikane die #USA getroffen haben.
Seit Hurrikan Helene [2] vor zwei Wochen sechs Bundesstaaten verwüstet und mehrere hundert #Todesopfer gefordert hat und Milton am Mittwoch auf #Florida getroffen ist, sind eine Reihe von #Unwahrheiten und #Drohungen im Umlauf.
Laut dem Leiter [3] der Federal Emergency Management Agency (#Fema) hat das Ausmaß der Fehlinformationen, die von Donald Trump und seinen Anhängern geschürt wurden, die Fähigkeit, von Hurrikanen betroffenen Gemeinden zu helfen, behindert.
Die in #Michigan ansässige Meteorologin Katie #Nickolaou sagte, dass sie und ihre Kollegen die Hauptlast vieler dieser #Verschwörungstheorien zu tragen hatten, da sie Nachrichten erhalten haben, in denen behauptet wurde, es gäbe Hurrikane der Kategorie 6 (die es nicht gibt), dass Meteorologen oder die #Regierung Hurrikane erzeugen und lenken (was nicht der Fall ist) und sogar, dass Wissenschaftler getötet und Radargeräte zerstört werden sollten.
"Ich habe noch nie erlebt, dass ein Sturm so viele Falschinformationen nach sich zieht. Wir haben gerade überall Feuer gelöscht, die durch falsche Informationen entstanden sind", sagte Nickolaou.
"Eine Menge Leute haben mir unterstellt, ich hätte den Hurrikan verursacht und gelenkt, und es gibt Leute, die glauben, wir hätten das #Wetter unter #Kontrolle. Ich musste darauf hinweisen, dass ein Hurrikan die Energie von 10.000 #Atombomben hat und wir nicht hoffen können, das zu kontrollieren. Aber es hat eine Wendung zu einer gewalttätigeren #Rhetorik gegeben, insbesondere mit Leuten, die sagen, dass diejenigen, die Milton erschaffen haben, getötet werden sollten."
In einem Beitrag, der sich an Nickolaou richtete, hieß es: "Stoppt die Atmung derer, die sie und ihre Partner erschaffen haben." Sie antwortete [4]: "Meteorologen zu ermorden, wird Hurrikane nicht aufhalten. Ich kann nicht glauben, dass ich das gerade schreiben musste."
"Die Leute haben mich mit einer Fülle von Schimpfwörtern belegt, Leute haben mir gesagt, ich solle den Mund halten und mich hinsetzen, Leute, die denken, es sei in Ordnung, das Doppler-Radar auszuschalten, weil sie glauben, dass es das Wetter kontrolliert", sagte Nickolaou. "Es verschlingt viel Arbeit und Freizeit, sich mit all dem zu befassen. Es ist sehr anstrengend."Als Helene und dann Milton im Golf von Mexiko an Fahrt aufnahmen, wurde eine Vielzahl von Fehlinformationen verbreitet, wie z. B. Behauptungen von Trump, dass der #FEMA das Geld für die Überlebenden der Hurrikane ausgegangen sei, weil es an illegale #Einwanderer verteilt worden sei. Auch gewalttätige Drohungen sind inzwischen an der Tagesordnung. In Beiträgen auf #TikTok [5], #Facebook und X (früher bekannt als #Twitter wird behauptet, dass FEMA-Mitarbeiter geschlagen oder "verhaftet, erschossen oder aufgehängt werden sollten, sobald sie gesichtet werden".
Noch absurder ist, dass mehrere der engsten Verbündeten von Trump grundlos behauptet haben, die Bundesregierung würde Hurrikane irgendwie kontrollieren. "Hurrikan Helene war ein ANGRIFF, der durch Wettermanipulation verursacht wurde", behauptete [6] ein Video, das von Michael #Flynn, einem ehemaligen nationalen #Sicherheitsberater von Trump, geteilt wurde.
"Ja, sie können das Wetter kontrollieren", schrieb Marjorie Taylor #Greene [7], eine #rechtsextreme #Kongressabgeordnete, letzte Woche auf X. "Es ist lächerlich, dass irgendjemand lügt und sagt, dass es nicht möglich ist."
Dieser steile Anstieg an Unwahrheiten hat eine scharfe Reaktion von Joe #Biden [8] hervorgerufen, der Trump für einen "Ansturm von Lügen" verantwortlich gemacht und dem ehemaligen Präsidenten geraten hat, "sich ein Leben zu besorgen".
"Es ist mehr als lächerlich", sagte Biden über die Behauptungen, die im Zusammenhang mit der Wetterkontrolle aufgestellt werden. "Es ist so dumm. Das muss aufhören."Obwohl Menschen Hurrikane verschlimmern können, indem sie fossile #Brennstoffe verbrennen und so einen heißeren #Ozean und eine heißere #Atmosphäre schaffen, die Hurrikanen mehr Energie verleihen, können sie einzelne Stürme nicht erzeugen, kontrollieren oder lenken. Außerdem ist der #Katastrophenhilfefonds der FEMA für von Hurrikanen betroffene Gemeinden getrennt von und unabhängig von den Geldern, die für die Unterbringung von #Migranten ausgegeben werden.
Für #Meteorologen sind die Erfahrungen rund um Helene und Milton jedoch nur eine extreme Fortsetzung eines Trends, bei dem die Öffentlichkeit ihre Informationen zunehmend von extremen Online-Persönlichkeiten und nicht von Experten erhält, so Chris #Gloninger, ein ehemaliger TV-#Meteorologe und #Klimaforscher, der wegen seiner Prognosen zur #Klimakrise bedroht wurde [9].
"Die moderne Republikanische Partei hat eine Armee von Menschen, die in den sozialen Medien mit einer riesigen #Fangemeinde diese Fehlinformationen verbreiten", sagte Gloninger. "Ich sehe, wie meine ehemaligen Kollegen Drohungen erhalten, ich erhalte Nachrichten, dass wir Hurrikane in rote Staaten lenken. Es ist unglaublich, ich habe so etwas noch nie bei einer Katastrophe erlebt."
Gloninger sagte, dass Meteorologen "einen Punkt des #Burnouts erreichen werden. In welchem anderen Beruf werden Menschen dafür angegriffen, dass sie einfach nur ihre Arbeit machen? Wir versuchen lediglich, Leben und Eigentum bei extremen #Wetterbedingungen zu schützen."
Links:
1 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/hurricane-milton
2 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/hurricane-helene
3 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/07/hurricane-helene-trump-misinformation
4 https://x.com/weather_katie/status/1843836479103217844
5 https://www.mediamatters.org/tiktok/tiktok-misinformation-about-hurricane-helene-has-spurred-calls-violence-against-fema
6 https://www.mediamatters.org/hurricanes/hurricane-milton-grows-so-do-conspiracy-theories-falsely-attributing-hurricanes-weather
7 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/07/marjorie-taylor-greene-hurricane-helene
8 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/joebiden
9 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/16/chris-gloninger-tv-weather-man-climate-crisisÜbersetzung [Nicht authorisiert]: Thomas Trueten
Danke an @muellertadzio für den Hinweis auf den @guardian Beitrag!
https://climatejustice.social/@muellertadzio/113292913075273037
#CapitalismIsADeathCult #CrisisWhatCrisis #Klima #Klimakatastrophe #Fake
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I never thought I would be writing a post like this. Before I became a Christian, I never cared enough about the Bible to write such a post, and after I became a Christian, I quickly became convinced that it was inerrantly inspired, so that any errors that may exist in particular copies or particular translations were the results of human sloppiness, not part of the original Bible. I knew that there were some difficulties with the text (e.g. 1 Samuel 13:1: how old was Saul when he became king?), but those were obviously not the original state of the text. I remember seeing other peoples’ lists of “errors in the Bible” and thinking that most of them I could explain rather readily, but that I could supply a more challenging list if I were motivated to do so. I wasn’t.
But now I am writing such a post, for a different reason. This post isn’t motivated by any animosity toward the Bible itself, nor to those who believe what it says. But in the context in which I now find myself, a context in which the group of people most likely to spread lies, to oppose public health measures, and to advocate violent responses to unfavorable election results are also the group of people most likely to say that they believe the Bible, I have been struggling to maintain my faith that the Bible is true. Certain passages to me have come to seem false, not passages about historical facts (for which we rarely have contrary evidence) so much as assertions about spiritual realities. And I have no one with whom I can discuss these issues (I know only one person willing to discuss them, but she can’t discuss them without damaging her health), so I am posting them here hoping that perhaps there is someone out there who can talk some sense into me. I welcome correction on any point, though I can no longer ignore the realities of the society around me, namely that conservative white Christians are the deadliest group in my society. And while I can readily acknowledge that there is so much we don’t know, I can’t pretend that the evidence, such as it is, favors what I used to believe about the Bible.
Of course, in arguing that the Bible contains errors, we must recognize the complexities of interpretation. It is obvious that many interpretations of a particular text may be erroneous without the text itself being in error. Indeed, John 21:23 calls attention to this, as some early Christians were interpreting John 21:22 as implying that the “beloved disciple” would not die (an interpretation maintained today by Mormons, apparently), but the following verse indicates that that is not a necessary interpretation of Jesus’s words. So for someone to conclude that the Bible itself is in error, one must consider all plausible interpretations, and weigh the unlikelihood of progressively less plausible interpretations against the unlikelihood of the Bible being false. (Since some people believe that it is impossible for the Bible to be false, then they will believe interpretations that strike me as very implausible. I will refer to some below.) Nevertheless, there are some places where I cannot come up with any plausible interpretation of the biblical text, and therefore where it seems to me, from my limited perspective, that there are spiritual errors in the Bible.
Christians do not continue to sin?
1 John 3:9 says, “No one who is born of God will continue to sin.” This is a famous verse indicating the incompatibility of Christian life and continuing sinfulness. But it is tricky to reconcile with reality, and comparing different versions indicates numerous small variations in interpretation. Of course we all know that Christians do sin (as affirmed, for example, by 1 John 1:8 and 10!), so this must be saying something else. That is why it is important to interpret the present tense verse as “continues to sin” rather than a simple present “ever sins.” But even so, we see lots of Christians continuing to sin, for example, by continuing to spread lies that extensive voter fraud changed the outcome of the 2020 US presidential election, or by continuing to oppose life-saving public health protocols. One might be tempted to defend this verse by saying it refers only to Jesus, who was sinless! But that is impossible in context: the following verse says, “By this (i.e. lack of sin) it may be seen who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not do what is right is not of God, nor he who does not love his brother” (1 John 3:10). We are clearly talking about plural people, more than Jesus alone. Well okay, someone might say that this makes clear that the election deniers and public health opposers are not of God, not really children of God or begotten by him. I’m open to that view. But if so, then we run into difficulty with 1 John 5:1: “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” This sets a rather low bar for people to count as born of God. So in a society where the most consistently evil people are those who believe Jesus is the Christ, it is not possible for both 1 John 3:9 and 1 John 5:1 to be true. Either 1 John 3:9 is false, and people “born of God” do continue in sin, or such people are not “born of God” at all (as per 1 John 3:10), despite believing Jesus is the Christ, and 1 John 5:1 is false. If such a society exists, these verses are not universally true in all contexts. And such a society does exist, where I live.
Ask and it will be given to you?
Matthew 7:7 famously reports Jesus encouraging prayer by saying, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” This is not my experience. I have asked for certain outcomes in prayer and not received them. There are various tactics to try to defend the veracity of these verses. For example, it is often noticed here, as in 1 John 3, that the imperative verbs are present tense, implying a continuing aspect: “Keep asking… keep seeking… keep knocking.” The idea is that if you haven’t received it yet, you just need to keep on asking. Such an approach seeks to make the verses unfalsifiable, since there is no point at which one can claim to have asked enough, but unfortunately the idea can still be falsified by certain changes of situation that preclude further asking. I remember when a pair of very premature twins were born, and we were praying for both of them to recover, and one did while the other died. The end. When Donald Trump caught Covid in September 2020, I prayed that he would recover from the disease and repent of his Covid-minimization. He recovered from the disease, but never repented of his minimization of the disease, and his post-election-day rallies to spread his election lies led to the biggest spike in Covid deaths to that point in the pandemic. And it’s not just me: Paul prayed for healing from some affliction, and was reportedly told by God to stop praying (2 Corinthians 12:8-9).
Some people try to rescue verses like this by claiming that “if you pray, you will get an answer, but that answer might be no.” But in fact this verse and the many others like it (e.g. Matthew 18:19; 21:22; John 14:13-14; 15:7, 16; 16:23-24, and others not by Jesus) are not saying “every prayer will be answered.” They are consistently saying “you will receive what you ask for.”
Some people, no doubt reflecting some of the “if” statements in the parallel promises, suggest that if prayer is unanswered, then there is some defect in the prayer. For example, James 4:3 says, “You ask and you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you can spend it on your pleasures.” Mathew 18:19 suggests that people who agree on prayer will receive what they agree about, although it doesn’t say that a single person praying will therefore not be heard. John 14:13-14 and 16:23-24 suggest asking in the name of Jesus, hence that addendum to many Christians’ prayer. Matthew 21:22 suggests praying in faith, and John 15:7 and 16 suggest “abiding in Christ.” None of these are mentioned in Matthew 7:7, but perhaps they are taken to be implicit. The problem for me is that even when I have prayed in ways that agree with all of those requirements, I still have not received what I prayed for. Either the promises are false, or there is some further requirement not revealed in scripture. But if this promise of granted prayer is never actualized due to some nitpicky defect in every fallen human prayer or person, then it is not a meaningful promise after all. It does not defend the truth of the promise to make it irrelevant.
One last approach may be more successful, after a fashion, and it is that in fact ancient Christian authors like Augustine and John Chrysostom did not understand this verse to be a promise for prayer to be fulfilled in general. Perhaps they took their clue from a gospel parallel. Matthew’s report of the Sermon on the Mount continues, “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9-11). Yet in the parallel passage, Luke identifies the “good gifts” more specifically: “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13). Whatever their inspiration, Augustine and Chrysostom interpreted Matthew 7:7 to apply only to requests to God for a Christian character (cf. James 1:5). On this reading, these verses are not a general promise that prayers will be answered, but only prayers for godliness will be reliably answered. This might make the verse true (although I must say I have observed many Christians who seem to have prayed to God for a godly character and not received it!), but in any case it does not mean what most Christians today think it means. On this reading, if true, the verses are not a general incentive to pray, and one would have to take a similar deflecting defense to all the many promises of answered prayer. Yet this type of redefinition of the scope of the promise does not seem to me successful with Jesus’s parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8), which Jesus interprets as promising that God will “bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night” (v. 7). Yet we see injustices perpetrated against Christians (especially Black American Christians) that are never redressed (the Tulsa Race Massacre and the lynching of Emmett Till, for example). So I don’t think that this approach, despite its prestigious patristic pedigree, can rescue these promises of answered prayer from being simply false. I would vastly prefer to believe that promises ascribed to Christ were always true.
“There is no peace, the Lord said, for the wicked” (Isaiah 49:22; 57:21)
Jared Kushner, Roger Stone, and Michael Flynn might provide evidence to the contrary. Indeed, complaining about the peaceful state of the wicked is a theme elsewhere in the Bible. Jeremiah complained to God, “Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?” (Jeremiah 12:1). Job complained that the poor “glean the vineyard of the wicked man” (Job 24:6). Psalm 73 complains, “I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they have no pangs; their bodies are sound and sleek” (Psalm 73:3-4), among many other benefits of being wicked. So I have no idea what these verses in Isaiah could mean, when so many other parts of the Bible testify to the opposite.
Is hell eternal?
I used to believe that hell was eternal. I took no pleasure from the idea, since I was a convert to Christianity who has not been followed into the religion by almost any of my relatives. But it seemed to me that the biblical testimony is clear enough (thinking especially of Isaiah 66:24, quoted by Jesus in Mark 9:48 and parallels, but also Matthew 25:46), and I believed the Bible to be inerrant. I had and have no use for the wishful thinking of people who believe to be true what they wish were true, regardless of the evidence. But I was convinced.
My conviction on the matter has been shaken, in part because of the reality that in a society where the churches are the most evil people around, if God welcomes the churches to eternal life and condemns the non-Christians to eternal hell, then God is participating in wickedness. And if God sends people to hell who have not received revelation (the problem of “those who have not heard”), I now see that that makes God simply unjust. To use an analogy from my line of work, if I as a teacher give students a test at the end of the semester, and some of them I gave instructions and others I did not give any instructions, and those who did not get instructions get an F when they fail the exam, there would be complaints to the school, and rightly so! God is a better teacher than I am.
But reasoning by analogy can easily be faulty. Spurred by such considerations (which I blogged about here), I then reexamined the biblical evidence, and found a plurality of views on what happens to people after death in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. The clearest contradictions are the passages in the Old Testament which assert that the dead are not raised (Job 7:9; Psalm 88:10; Isaiah 26:14 but see v.19), and the debate over whether the dead are conscious (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10; Psalm 6:5; 115:17; Isaiah 38:18-19 vs. Ezekiel 32:22-32; Job 26:5; Isaiah 8:19). And it is possible that the punishment place is permanent without every individual experiencing it eternally, which may suggest that the problem is not the falsity of the text but instead the interpretation. Only “the beast” and “the false prophet” of Revelation are explicitly said to be tormented “day and night forever and ever” (Rev. 20:10), though Isaiah seems to include “those who rebelled against me” among those suffering eternally (Isaiah 66:24). I think that sending most of humanity to eternal punishment would make God unjust and sadistic. I don’t know what to think instead; universal salvation, to my mind, seems equally to founder on statements that God is just. So it seems to me that the Bible is wrong when it speaks of unending torment of the wicked (or wrong when it speaks of God as just, I suppose, but I hope not).
Are God’s Attributes Obvious?
Paul wrote to the Romans, “Ever since the creation of the world [God’s] invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). It is important to his thought that people who do not believe in God are without excuse, because otherwise God would be unjust for condemning the faithless, which is the flip side of Paul’s message of salvation by faith. Now, I have above average education in the philosophy of religion, and there are long debates about whether any argument can demonstrate that God even exists, much less what attributes God might have. Indeed, it seems to me, as someone who wants the existence and attributes of God to be obvious, and who is smarter than the average bear, that I am still unable to frame a convincing argument without simply presuming the conclusion (circular reasoning). The closest I can come is an argument that a powerful personal entity seems to exist and/or intervene sometimes and much of the rest of the time pay no attention or not exist. What is obvious to someone is largely a function of the culture they grew up with, and I did not grow up in a Christian household or Christian culture. Paul did grow up in a household that believed in the God of the Bible, and he (like most ancient people) never seems to have given much thought to the possibility that no god exists. I’m not saying that Paul and the Bible are wrong for asserting that God exists, but it seems clear to me that divine attributes are in fact not universally obvious, as required by Paul’s line of argumentation in Romans 1.
The Book of Revelation
Some parts of the book of Revelation take a lot of explaining to make it not false, not so much for the passages that are obscure, but for the ones that are too clear. In Revelation 22:7, Jesus says, “I am coming quickly” (cf. 1:3; 12:12). It has been almost 2000 years. It seems to me that the only possible way for this to be held true is through a move like C. S. Lewis wrote in the voice of his Christ-character Aslan: “I call all time soon.” But if that is the case, then “quickly” or “soon” simply becomes meaningless, and the only reason to include the term is deceptive. There’s also the clear problem that the numeration of the twelve tribes of Israel in Revelation 7 has both Joseph and Joseph’s son Manasseh, which can be explained by understanding Joseph with reference to Ephraim, but then there is also Levi, so Dan gets left out of the list, with no meaning ascribed to that omission. If “the time is near” (so Rev. 1:3), then the drying up of the Euphrates never happened (Rev. 16:12). There never was an army of two hundred million cavalry, and now horses are not used in warfare, so there is never likely to be such an army in the future (Rev. 9:16), unless I suppose there is somehow a major technological collapse without a demographic collapse but with a horse-breeding explosion (that would be a miracle). “The great city which has dominion over the kings of the earth” (Rev. 17:18) was clearly Rome and Rome’s empire, but there were many more emperors of Rome than the seven or eight anticipated in 17:9-11, nor indeed was pagan Rome destroyed until after it had converted to Christianity (Rev. 18:4-8). While Rome, after Christianization, has been captured, it’s “smoke” does not “go up forever and ever” (Rev. 19:3), nor did the destruction of Rome signal the beginning of the reign of God, in any discernible sense (Rev. 19:6). Nor could there be a city fifteen hundred miles square at Jerusalem, to say nothing of fifteen hundred miles high (Rev. 21:16). For all these reasons, it looks like the book of Revelation was simply a false prophecy.
Conclusion
I welcome correction and pushback on any of these points. But it seems to me that the easiest explanation is simply that the Bible contains erroneous theology and spiritual claims at certain points. Nor can one rescue the situation by finding an infallible canon within the canon: one might note that I think there are errors in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, in the words ascribed to Jesus as well as the words of Paul and the catholic epistles and Revelation. There is no portion of the Bible that I think is simply true in all that it teaches.
And if that is the case, then believing the Bible simply because it says something is foolish. The theological claims of the Bible need to be evaluated. But this leads to a major difficulty, in that most theological claims in the Bible are not able to be verified from any other source. The bulk of the Bible’s teaching about God and human spirituality therefore exists in a limbo where it is neither falsifiable nor verifiable. In such a framework, it is all too easy for individuals to take the parts they like, and in the absence of a solid anchor which can be reasoned about, most Christians’ theology is reduced to wishful thinking. I don’t like this conclusion; in fact, I find it horrifying. But at present I see no escape from it.
https://theophiletos.wordpress.com/2023/12/03/spiritual-errors-in-the-bible/
#1John #1Samuel #2Corinthians #Augustine #Bible #BookOfEzekiel #BookOfIsaiah #BookOfJeremiah #contradictions #Ecclesiastes #electionLies #GospelOfJohn #GospelOfLuke #GospelOfMark #GospelOfMatthew #Hell #inerrancy #injustice #Jesus #Job #JohnChrysostom #LetterOfJames #LetterToTheRomans #logicalFallacies #NewTestament #OldTestament #prayer #Psalms #RevelationOfJohn #SermonOnTheMount #truth #wishfulThinking
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Good Morning!!
Mark Quinn, Radioactive Nurseries, 2010
The corporate media continues to bash President Biden and ignore Donald Trump’s insane rally speeches and his frightening plans for our future.
Trump held a rally last night after at least 10 days of golfing instead of campaigning. The rally wasn’t in a swing state though–he held it at his Doral golf course in Florida. Why isn’t the media calling him lazy?
Here’s a summary of the looney word salad Trump spewed last night. From @ArtCandee on Twitter:
Oh boy. Trump’s Doral rally tonight was a doozy. Let’s recap it:
He started off by bragging about his golf course instead of apologizing for being an hour late and leaving people waiting all day under a heat advisory.
He said he didn’t know what NATO was.
He bragged that “being indicted is a lot of fun.”
He claimed “tens of thousands” of people showed up to this sad little rally.
He later said “45,000 people” when it barely looked like 2k people were there.
He froze like a deer in headlights for 10 straight seconds.
He praised Laura Loomer and repeatedly called her “amazing.”
He’s mad that Kamala Harris laughs and called her “L-a-f-f-i-n’ Kamala,” proving what we already knew that bro can’t spell.
He said he wants a “no holds barred” debate without moderators this week. Essentially the two of them screaming at each other. Super dumb idea. Especially when Biden is hosting the NATO summit.
He also challenged President Biden to a golf tournament this week when President Biden is busy meeting with NATO leaders and doing his job.
He said Biden “doesn’t know what a synagogue is.”
He thinks you have to stop electric cars every hour.
He complained about the heat only 16 minutes in, when those people waited all day and he still showed up an hour late.
He said someone told him that he looks “great in a bathing suit.” Barf.
He called the fictional Hannibal Lecter “a lovely man” and compared him to immigrants.
He said migrants are “preying on everybody.”
He forgot how to say “feared” and said “field.” He said he’d be the “greatest president that God has ever created.”
He claimed Hunter Biden is running the country.
He babbled about facelifts.
He said he was going to bring Tom Homan back into his administration, a guy who helped author Project 2025 which he claims to know nothing about.
He claimed Biden has more homes than him.
He said we’ll become “energy independent” when we already are right now.
He complained some more about the hot weather.
He asked why “sweaty” golf caddies “never touched me, never hugged me, never kissed me.”
He made fun of Chris Christie’s weight while claiming he was standing up for him. Mighty rich.
He said the U.S. is turning into “communist Cuba or socialist Venezuela.”
He struggled to pronounce some of his sycophants’ names.
He called Don Jr. “a great talent” and that he has a “great wife” even though he’s not married to Kimberly Guilfoyle.
He said how much he loves his family showing up when his wife Melania and favorite daughter Ivanka didn’t even bother going.
He said “October 7th would not have happened” if he was President.
He said Israel “had no money.”
He said “we have nuclear submarines and five warships in Cuba,” essentially calling himself a Russian.
He said Biden has abandoned Cuba when he was the one who nixed Obama’s plan to reopen trade and travel to Cuba.
He said people get “shot, mugged, raped” when visiting the Washington Monument in DC.
He said he will protect the second amendment and “innocent life” in the same breath.
He told people to “vote whenever you want.”
He played a song performed by J6 insurrectionists and people who beat up police officers.
He read his teleprompter cue to speak quickly out loud.
He said that getting rid of energy efficiency in appliances will “keep our enemies at bay.”
He called the United States of America “a third-world country” and said we’re “a joke.”
He said President Biden “isn’t legally allowed to stand trial.”
He’s claiming that the stock market is high because of MAGA winning the election in November, and that it will crash like during the Great Depression if he loses.
He said it’s “easier to get fentanyl than groceries.”
He forgot how to say the word “economy.”
He said he’d rather take money from small dollar donors instead of the wealthy.
He said they’re “going to take over our Capitol.”
He lied like he breathes.
And we all know the media won’t cover HALF of this absolute train wreck.
Hibiscus by Hiroshige (1845)
In contrast, here is President Biden’s schedule for today:
10:00 AM: The President receives the President’s Daily Brief
10:45 AM: The President departs the White House en route to the AFL-CIO Headquarters.
11:00 AM: The President drops by a meeting of national union leaders at the AFL-CIO Headquarters.
11:45 AM: The President departs the AFL-CIO Headquarters en route to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
12:15 PM: The President welcomes NATO Allied Leaders to the NATO Summit and participates in a Welcome Handshake and NATO Family Photo.
1:00 PM: The President participates in Working Session I of the NATO Summit.
4:30 PM: The President departs the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, arrives at White House at 4:35.
5:30 PM: The President hosts a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom.
7:40 PM: The President and The First Lady host an official arrival ceremony for NATO Allies and partners.
8:00 PM: The President and The First Lady host a dinner with NATO Allies and partners
Here’s another Trump story that isn’t being covered by the corporate media. From Raw Story: Congressman shames media for ignoring Trump’s name in newly released Epstein documents.
House Democrats met Tuesday to discuss President Joe Biden’s candidacy, but one lawmaker wanted to know why the press has spent a second week on that story instead of looking at recently released Florida court documents in the Jeffrey Epstein case.
“We hear a lot from our constituents on different issues,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) said at the news conference Tuesday. “But something I’ve heard that doesn’t seem to be being covered are the Epstein files.”
He explained that Trump is all over the documents with photos of him as well as rape allegations from children. The details have trended on the social media site X under the tag #TrumpPedoFiles.
“And by the way, he was convicted in a civil court for sexual assault and convicted in a state court for 34 felonies. Donald Trump should drop out of the race,” said Lieu….
In a surprise move, Circuit Judge Luis Delgado ordered the documents be released last week, shortly before the Fourth of July holiday.
“The testimony taken by the Grand Jury concerns activity ranging from grossly unacceptable to rape — all of the conduct at issue is sexually deviant, disgusting, and criminal,” the judge wrote.
Palm Beach County Clerk of Courts Joseph Abruzzo worked for the past three years trying to get the records released to the public, The Washington Post reported.
“The public, and the victims specifically, want to know how he was able to get a slap on the wrist and go on for decades, continuing these heinous acts to hundreds, or more, underage girls or women,” he said.
Trump called Epstein many times between 2004 and 2006, the Post cited from the documents….
Insider’s Jacob Shamsian explained that Trump is the likely individual referred to as “Doe 174.” It identified the individual as saying, “I wish her well,” when referring to Epstein’s girlfriend and accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is now serving 20 years in prison for her involvement….
“It’s easy to see where Trump fits into them,” Insider said. “They are all transcripts of depositions from Ransome, Giuffre, and Epstein’s Palm Beach housekeeper Juan Alessi, all of whom were asked about Epstein’s relationships with celebrities and other powerful people.”
Alex Katz, Red Roses with Blue, 2001
Trump has been trying to dissociate himself from the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025,” even though most of the people working on it are former members of the first Trumpadministration.
Norman Eisen and Joshua Kolb at Slate: There’s a Reason Trump Is Suddenly Lying About Project 2025.
With all the focus in recent weeks on President Joe Biden’s age-related limitations, it’s worth remembering that Donald Trump’s incessant falsehoods and self-proclaimed desire to be a dictator on Day 1 make him far more unfit for the presidency. The latest Trump lie that should be garnering more attention is his attempt to distance himself from Project 2025: “I know nothing about Project 2025,” he posted on Truth Social last week. “I have no idea who is behind it.” That statement is demonstrably false. It reflects an attempt to deceive American voters about the dictatorship a second Trump term would bring.
The reasons that Trump is unfit are manifest. He is a convicted felon and inveterate liar who coddles the nation’s adversaries and threatens its allies. His 30-plus falsehoods in the debate were no less disqualifying than Biden’s age. But most concerning of all are his plans for autocracy, which we document in our American Autocracy Threat Tracker. We detail Trump’s own promise to be a dictator “on Day 1” of his presidency, to “terminate” or reject the Constitution, and to stretch the law to carry out his extreme policies—such as mass deportations (by military force if necessary) and concentration camps for immigrants lacking permanent legal status.
Dictatorship cannot of course be accomplished by one person alone. That’s why, in our Threat Tracker, we also document the autocratic proposals made by Trump’s campaign, allies, and enablers. First among them—and until now embraced by Trump—are the Heritage Foundation and its Project 2025, an 887-page document that outlines how Trump could arrogate unprecedented power in the presidency and eradicate checks on presidential control. In our tracker, we catalog how Project 2025 “proposes to dismantle or radically overhaul the Departments of Justice and State; eliminate the Departments of Homeland Security, Education, and Commerce; radically repurpose other agencies; and eviscerate the professional civil service.” One “immediate priority” discussed by leaders of Project 2025 are proposals for Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act to suppress domestic dissent and violence.
That plan exemplifies the danger lurking beneath this extreme project, as hinted at by last week’s discussion of bloodshed. The president of the Heritage Foundation, Project 2025’s parent organization, Kevin Roberts, said, “We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.” The Heritage Foundation subsequently quote-tweeted this clip with one word: “Yes.”
Contrary to Trump’s disavowal, Project 2025 has been conceived, staffed, and endorsed by a plethora of Trump insiders—including some of the former president’s most senior and influential advisers. Notably, John McEntee, a powerful figure in the Trump administration as the director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, is a senior adviser to the effort and has helped spearhead its lists of potential Trump administration staffers. And Stephen Miller, a top Trump aide, is “one of the most powerful architects” of Project 2025, Axios has reported.
The list of Trump-affiliated figures who have played a role in Project 2025 does not stop there. It also includes Ben Carson, Trump’s ex–secretary of housing and urban development; Peter Navarro, the White House trade adviser under Trump; and Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget under Trump. Vought is yet another central player in the former president’s orbit: He drafted a key chapter in Project 2025 and is now the policy director for the committee writing the Republican National Committee’s policy platform. And there are many other lower-profile Trump advisers involved in Project 2025, as we discuss in our Threat Tracker.
Meanwhile, Trump’s super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., has been running ads promoting a website called Trump Project 2025. And figures like Miller and Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt have previously appeared in online advertisements promoting Project 2025.
Read more at Slate.
Roses and Lillies by Henri Fantin-Latour (1888)
This morning, Raw Story published an investigative article by Jordan Green and Mark Alesia: Trump’s ‘secretary of retribution’ has a ‘target list’ of 350 people he wants arrested.
Retribution is at the center of Donald Trump’s third presidential election campaign.
“I am your warrior,” Trump proclaimed earlier this year. “I am your justice, and for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.”
Trump’s loyal surrogates have duly embraced the project — perhaps no one more zealously than Ivan Raiklin, a retired Army Reserve lieutenant colonel and former U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency employee, who bills himself as the former and would-be president’s “future secretary of retribution.”
Raiklin is seeking to enlist so-called “constitutional” sheriffs in rural, conservative counties across the country to detain Trump’s political enemies. Or, as he says, carry out “live-streamed swatting raids” against individuals on his “Deep State target list.”
“This is a deadly serious report,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told Raw Story. “A retired U.S. military officer has drawn up a ‘Deep State target list’ of public officials he considers traitors, along with our family members and staff. His hit list is a vigilante death warrant for hundreds of Americans and a clear and present danger to the survival of American democracy and freedom.” [….]
The list Raiklin has been circulating since January is extensive.
It includes numerous Democratic and Republican elected officials; FBI and intelligence officials; members of the House Select January 6 Committee; U.S. Capitol Police officers and civilian employees; witnesses in Trump’s two impeachment trials and the Jan. 6 committee hearings; and journalists from publications ranging from CNN and the Washington Post to Reuters and Raw Story — all considered political enemies of Trump.
Julie Farnam, a former U.S. Capitol Police employee named on the list who as assistant director of intelligence and interagency coordination warned about the potential for violence in advance of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, said she would not be intimidated by the list.
“Any hit list is designed to impart the silence and fear of those named on it,” Farnam told Raw Story. “But silence is victory for those who write such lists. Conversely, speaking the truth without fear will always be the undoing of those who seek to intimidate and spread hate in our world. I can never be silenced.”
In addition to Farnam, the list includes nine current or former U.S. Capitol Police employees. The agency declined to comment for this story.
Raw Story is not publishing the full list given the potential risk posed to people unaware that they’re on it.
Many of the people on the “retribution” list are journalists. This story is behind a paywall, but those are the basics. Here’s a bit more:
Who is Ivan Raiklin?
As the 2020 election approached, conspiracy minded Trump supporters with active Twitter accounts were in abundance. Most never broke through the incessant MAGA noise, or merely added another note to its election denialism dissonance.
Raiklin was different.
He was a seasoned veteran with a background in military intelligence who wound up playing a small but significant role in the effort to overturn the 2020 election in Trump’s name.
Bouquet of Flowers by Edouard Manet (1882)
Following a distinguished career in the U.S. Armed Forces in which he served as a military attaché to the former Soviet Republic of Georgia and foreign affairs specialist assigned to the Ukraine Crisis Team, Raiklin left the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2017 to run for U.S. Senate in Virginia, according to the Washington Post.
At the time, Raiklin’s candidacy in 2018 provided little indication of the MAGA loyalist relishing the destruction of Trump’s enemies that he would become….
Following his disappointing foray into electoral politics, Raiklin began his turn toward Trump’s MAGA movement.
In 2019, he appeared at a QAnon-themed fundraiser for retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, whom Raiklin met in 2010. (Flynn and Raiklin have become close in recent years, with Raiklin urging Trump to select Flynn as his vice presidential running mate and Flynn featuring Raiklin in his current speaking tour.)
Roughly a week after the 2020 election, when major media outlets had called the election for Democratic candidate Joe Biden, Raiklin went on Alex Jones’ conspiracy theory show InfoWars and confidently predicted that Trump would ultimately obtain the necessary number of electoral votes to secure reelection.
“I absolutely guarantee it,” he said. “One hundred percent. Unequivocally. Full stop. There is no possibility that he does not reach 270.”
It’s a classic example of how Trump’s followers often act on Trump’s wishes or anticipate his desires without receiving specific directives.
For months, Trump had been saying that the only way he’d lose the election is if Democrats stole it through fraud. Now, Trump had lost, and Raiklin was arguing that Trump was winning, against all evidence.
Raiklin, in essence, operates as an agent of Trumpism independent of Trump.
And as the 2024 election nears, the same dynamic is apparent: Trump articulates the broad themes, and his supporters scramble to put them into practice.
“Stand back and stand by” set the stage for the Jan. 6 insurrection in 2021, and now, “I am your retribution” serves as a solicitation to supporters such as Raiklin to put together specific plans for retribution against Trump’s political enemies.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for the NYT and WaPo to cover this story. They are working overtime trying to normalize Trump, while attacking Biden.
And what about Trump’s good buddy in Russia? Anna Conkling at The Daily Beast: Putin Set Up Terminator-Style Skynet AI Network to Attack the U.S.
The Justice Department announced on Tuesday that the U.S. has disrupted a Russian disinformation campaign involving Artificial intelligence-powered bots that created fake profiles on the X social media platform.
It’s President Vladimir Putin’s answer to the terrifying Skynet artificial intelligence network from the Terminator movies.
Government officials seized two internet domains and searched through 968 X accounts that they accuse Russia of using to create an AI “bot farm,” which the department said “Used elements of AI to create fictitious social media profiles—often purporting to belong to individuals in the United States—which the operators then used to promote messages in support of Russian government objectives,” according to the statement.
The U.S. action was, “The first in disrupting a Russian-sponsored Generative AI-enhanced social media bot farm,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray.
The court document read that the operation was devised by the deputy editor-in-chief at RT, formerly known as Russia Today, a Kremlin-run Russian news organization based in Moscow, in 2022. The goal was to spread RT’s standard television news broadcast on social media. It was part of a Kremlin-approved and funded project run by a Russian intelligence officer.
NBC News: Russia aims to undermine Biden in November election, intel officials say.
Russia’s efforts to influence this year’s U.S. election through information warfare have the same aim as in previous elections — to undermine President Joe Biden’s campaign and the Democratic Party and weaken public confidence in the electoral process, intelligence officials said Tuesday.
Lilacs in a Window by Mary Cassatt (1880)
Russia’s election influence operations, which include covert social media accounts and encrypted direct messaging channels, are targeting key voter groups in swing states to exploit political divisions in the U.S. and erode support for Ukraine in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion, officials with the Office of the Director National Intelligence, or ODNI, told reporters.
Asked whether Russia’s information campaign is trying to boost or undermine one of the presidential candidates, an ODNI official said: “We have not observed a shift in Russia’s preferences for the presidential race from past elections, given the role the U.S. is playing with regard to Ukraine and broader policy toward Russia.”
In its assessments of previous elections dating to 2016, the intelligence community concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime sought to sway American public opinion in favor of Donald Trump’s candidacy and denigrate the Democratic Party and its presidential nominees.
Former U.S. intelligence officials and regional analysts say the Kremlin has long viewed Trump as more sympathetic to Russia, citing his frequently expressed skepticism toward the NATO alliance, his reluctance to criticize Putin and his critical portrayal of Ukraine’s government.
Other stories worth checking out:
Raw Story: Senators file official demand for criminal investigation of Clarence Thomas.
Politico: Member of Justice Sotomayor’s security detail shoots armed carjacker near her home.
The Daily Beast: MAGA Senator Josh Hawley Advocates for Being a Christian Nationalist.
CBS News: Navy sailor tried to access Biden’s medical records multiple times.
Joyce Vance at Civil Discourse: Trump’s Party Issues a Platform.
Talking Points Memo: Lies, Lewd Texts, ‘Sexualized Relationship’ At Center Of Trump-Appointed Fed Judge’s Abrupt Resignation.
The Daily Beast: MSNBC Anchor Goes After WH Reporter’s ‘Rage’ During Press Briefing.
That’s it for me today. I hope you are having a pleasant Wednesday.
https://skydancingblog.com/2024/07/10/wednesday-reads-its-biden-vs-the-media-maga-and-putin/
#IvanRaiklin #JeffreyEpsteinFiles #NATO #Project2025 #Russia #TrumpRetributionList #TrumpPedoFiles #VladimirPutin
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Wednesday Reads
Good Day!!
The Epstein Files are leading the news again, as Congress returns and Epstein survivors speak out publicly. Trump is not happy about it and is threatening any Republicans who vote for the files to be released.
The House Oversight Committee released some Epstein files yesterday they received from Pam Bondi, but they were the same ones that have been available for a long time–the same duplicates that Bondi gave to right wing influencers back in in February. Apparently, the DOJ is going to keep releasing the same stale, heavily redacted files over and over again.
A rally is taking place right now in Washington. Julie K. Brown and Emily Goodin at The Miami Herald: As many as 100 Epstein victims will attend Washington rally Wednesday.
As many as 100 survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and other victims of sexual abuse are expected to attend a rally Wednesday in Washington, D.C. as a bipartisan Congressional effort gains steam to force the U.S. Department of Justice to make public its controversial files on the disgraced sex trafficker.
Annie Farmer, left, and Courtney Wild, far right, both women who say they were molested by Jeffrey Epstein when they were teenagers, faced the wealthy sex offender in 2019 inside of a Manhattan courtroom. Emily Michot. Miami Herald
Two lawmakers, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) are pushing for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives that would mandate U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to release the files on the Epstein case. The lawmakers are holding a press conference 10:30 a.m. Wednesday on the steps of the U.S. Capitol with 10 survivors, some of whom have not spoken publicly before. In advance of the press conference, some 100 survivors are expected at a rally organized by several victim advocate groups near the Capitol.
“The voices of survivors have been omitted from the conversation for far too long,” said Lauren Hersh, National Director of World Without Exploitation, one of the groups organizing the event.
“This is the moment to stand united to ensure that those who’ve been exploited and abused are heard loud and clear.”
Epstein victims have mobilized in recent weeks as his convicted accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, appears to be pressing for a pardon from President Donald Trump. In July, she was interviewed by Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, and was then moved from a maximum federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida, to a minimum-security prison in Texas. The lawmakers also could be using Wednesday’s event as a form of public pressure. Massie and Khanna’s resolution – if it passes the House – would then have to be passed by the Senate before going to President Trump for his signature. It’s unclear how quickly Senate Republicans will want to bring the matter to the floor and whether Trump would sign it.
Yesterday a group of Epstein survivors met with House members. From yesterday’s
Guardian: Trump faces new Epstein headache as Congress returns from recess.
Congress returned to session on Tuesday, and with it comes a political headache for Donald Trump in the form of renewed attention on the investigation into the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and his death, a subject that the president has sought to avoid in recent weeks.
While the president got a month-long break from the Epstein issue when lawmakers left town for the annual August recess – with the House of Representatives wrapping up a day early because of the controversy over Epstein – the calm will probably end quickly. Representatives from both parties have planned press conferences and legislative maneuvers intended to put pressure on the Trump administration for more transparency over Epstein, whose suicide while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges in 2019 has been the subject of conspiracy theories the president amplified while on the campaign trail.
The Republican congressman Thomas Massie announced he had filed a legislative maneuver known as a discharge petition that could force a vote in the House on legislation mandating the release of investigative files related to Epstein, over the objections of the speaker, Mike Johnson.
Represenatives Ro Kanna and Thomas Massie
The petition needs 218 signatures to succeed and is expected to attract support from most, if not all, Democrats as well as some Republicans, but it is unclear if it will prevail. However, even if the bill passes, it still must be approved by the Senate, and it is unclear if the majority leader, John Thune, will allow it to be considered.
Meanwhile, victims of Epstein are on Capitol Hill to meet with Johnson, a source familiar with the speaker’s schedule told the Guardian. They will also sit down with lawmakers on the House oversight committee, which is investigating the government’s handling of the financier’s case.
The Democratic congresswoman and oversight committee member, Ayanna Pressley, said the encounter “is a step toward the healing, accountability, and transparency survivors deserve”.
“As the oversight committee continues its investigation, I continue to demand the release of the full, unredacted Epstein files with the names of survivors protected,” she added.
Nancy Mace, Lauren Bobert and Marjorie Taylor Greene plan to vote for the discharge petition, according to MSNBC. Nancy Mace, who has talked publicly about her sexual assault, left the meeting early after having a “full-blown panic attack,” according to Newsweek:
Representative Nancy Mace, Republican of South Carolina, left a closed-door House Oversight Committee briefing with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse on Tuesday after she said she suffered a “full-blown panic attack.”
Representative Mace wiped tears as she exited the meeting, and she later said in a statement that she was “sweating, hyperventilating and shaking.” [….]
The closed-door briefing formed part of the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into how federal agencies handled Epstein’s case and the release of related records. Lawmakers said it was intended to give survivors a direct forum to convey their experiences to Congress, as per The Hill.
Mace’s emotional departure drew attention because she had publicly identified herself as a survivor of sexual assault earlier this year. Her previous congressional remarks about alleged abusers also prompted a federal defamation suit that a judge later dismissed on immunity grounds….
Lawmakers convened a closed-door Oversight Committee briefing with several women who have identified themselves as victims of Jeffrey Epstein and members of his network as the committee pursued documents and testimony related to the case.
Cameron Adams at The Daily Beast: Frantic Trump Tries to Kill Vote to Force Open Epstein Files.
The White House has warned Republican rebels in Congress that pushing for the full release of the Jeffrey Epstein pedophile abuse files would be seen as “a very hostile act” by President Donald Trump….
Kentucky Rep. Massie, and Californian Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna have led a bipartisan push in the House for the GOP to be transparent about Epstein.
A tearful Nancy Mace leaves the meeting with Epstein survivors.
“People want these files released,” Massie said. “I mean, look, it’s not the biggest issue in the country. It’s taxes, jobs, the economy; those are always the big issues. But you really can’t solve any of that if this place is corrupt.”
“There’s a major pressure campaign from the White House right now, and also from the speaker,” Massie said on Tuesday. “But I think there are enough Republicans who are listening to their constituents and care about these victims that we’ll get the 218 signatures we need.”
Greene, a normally full-throated Trump ally who has disagreed with him over the Epstein case, backed Massie in a post on X.
“I’m committed to doing everything possible for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein. Including exposing the cabal of rich and powerful elites that enabled this,” she wrote. “I’m proud to be signing @RepThomasMassie‘s discharge petition.”
A White House official told CNN, “Helping Thomas Massie and Liberal Democrats with their attention-seeking, while the DOJ is fully supporting a more comprehensive file release effort from the Oversight Committee, would be viewed as a very hostile act to the administration.”
Massie also suggested that “Trump ‘may be covering for some rich and powerful people’ in Epstein files,” according to The Hill.
Courts rejected some of Trump’s fascist policies yesterday.
Charlie Savage at The New York Times: L.A. Ruling Complicates Trump’s Threats to Send Troops to More Cities.
A federal judge’s ruling that President Trump has been using troops illegally to perform law enforcement functions in Los Angeles will — if it stands — pose impediments to any plans Mr. Trump may have for sending the military into the streets of other cities, like Chicago.
Mr. Trump has made those threats in the context of his anti-crime operation in Washington, D.C., which has involved both civilian federal agents and National Guard troops under federal control. But because the District of Columbia is not a state, the federal government has greater latitude to use the Guard there.
The Posse Comitatus Act, enacted in 1878, makes it illegal to use federal troops for domestic policing under normal circumstances. So to keep from running afoul of that law, Mr. Trump would need a legal rationale for deploying troops to cities like Chicago.
Judge Charles Breyer
One potential model for Mr. Trump might be the reasoning his administration offered for sending troops to Los Angeles over the summer, ostensibly to protect federal agents and facilities. But on Tuesday, Judge Charles Breyer of the Federal District Court in San Francisco held that the administration has been using those troops too expansively.
The judge barred the federal government from using troops anywhere in California to engage in “arrests, apprehensions, searches, seizures, security patrols, traffic control, crowd control, riot control, evidence collection, interrogation, or acting as informants.” [….]
There are reasons for caution at this stage. An appeals court has already overturned an earlier decision by Judge Breyer, in which he tried to strike down Mr. Trump’s assertion of federal control of California National Guard troops over the objections of the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom.
But if other courts adopt Judge Breyer’s reasoning, it would limit Mr. Trump’s ability to use the operation in Los Angeles as a precedent to justify deploying federal troops into other cities to fight crime.
Devon Cole at CNN: Federal appeals court says Trump unlawfully invoked the Alien Enemies Act for deportations.
A divided federal appeals court on Tuesday said President Donald Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to rapidly deport alleged Venezuelan gang members is unlawful and blocked its use in several southern states, issuing another blow to Trump’s invocation of the 18th century law.
The Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 2-1 ruling that Trump cannot move forward with using the sweeping wartime authority for deportations in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. The president has not leaned on the 1798 law for removals since mid-March, when his invocation of it sparked the first in a series of legal challenges.
Tuesday’s ruling is notable because it’s likely the vehicle through which the issue will reach the Supreme Court for the justices to potentially review Trump’s use of the law in full.
The Fifth Circuit’s opinion, penned by Judge Leslie Southwick and joined by Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez, concluded that a “predatory incursion” by members of the gang, Tren de Aragua, had not occurred, as Trump claimed as a reason for invoking the act.
“We conclude that the findings do not support that an invasion or a predatory incursion has occurred. We therefore conclude that petitioners are likely to prove that the AEA was improperly invoked,” Southwick wrote.
Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who represents Venezuelan detainees in north Texas who are challenging Trump’s effort to deport them under the Alien Enemies Act, said that the appeals court “correctly held that the administration’s unprecedented use of the Alien Enemies Act was unlawful because it violates Congress’ intent in passing the law.”
Cecilia Kang at The New York Times: Federal Appeals Court Reinstates an F.T.C. Commissioner Fired by Trump.
A federal appeals court on Tuesday reinstated a Democrat who was fired by President Trump from the Federal Trade Commission earlier this year, dealing a blow to Mr. Trump’s monthslong attempt to permanently remove her from the consumer protection and antitrust enforcement agency.
In a split 2-to-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said that the Trump administration’s attempt to block the commissioner, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, from resuming her role at the F.T.C. had “no prospect of success.” The court said that Mr. Trump had fired her without cause rather than on the required grounds of “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”
Rebecca Kelly Slaughter
In March, Mr. Trump dismissed Ms. Slaughter and another Democrat, Alvaro Bedoya, in an attempt to assert control over agencies that regulate companies and workplaces. A letter to one of the commissioners, which was reviewed by The New York Times, said: “Your continued service on the F.T.C. is inconsistent with my administration’s priorities.”
Mr. Bedoya fought the dismissal but resigned in June, citing financial reasons. Ms. Slaughter pressed on with her suit to resume her role at the F.T.C., saying she was fired without cause, and in July a federal court ruled in her favor. The Trump administration filed for a stay of that decision with the appeals court, whose decision on Tuesday rejected its arguments.
Trump may have committed a war crime yesterday.
Jennifer Hansler at CNN: US military kills 11 in strike on alleged drug boat tied to Venezuelan cartel, Trump says.
The United States conducted a deadly military strike against an alleged drug boat tied to the cartel Tren de Aragua, President Donald Trump said Tuesday.
The US president said 11 people were killed in the strike in “international waters.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the “lethal strike” as taking place in the “southern Caribbean” against “a drug vessel which had departed from Venezuela.”
The use of military force against Latin American drug cartels represents a significant escalation by the Trump administration and could have serious implications for the region.
“Earlier this morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. TDA is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro, responsible for mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
“Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE!” he wrote.
Read more at CNN.
Lethal force against a civilian vessel in international waters is a war crime if not in self-defense. If not in self-defense, only non-lethal actions, such as warning shots or disabling fire, are allowed."Not yielding to pursuers" or "suspected of carrying drugs" doesn't carry a death sentence.
There’s no evidence the small speedboat was carrying drugs or even whether it was headed for U.S. waters. From The Guardian: US conducts ‘kinetic strike’ against drug boat from Venezuela, killing 11, Trump says.
The development will add to fears over a possible military clash between Venezuelan and US troops after the US sent war ships and marines into the Caribbean last month as part of what Trump allies touted as an attempt to force Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro, from power.
Officially, Trump’s naval buildup is part of US efforts to combat Latin American drug traffickers, including a Venezuelan group called the Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns) which Trump officials accuse Maduro of leading.
In August the US announced a $50m reward for Maduro’s capture – twice the bounty once offered for Osama bin Laden. In July, Trump signed a secret directive greenlighting military force against Latin American cartels considered terrorist organizations, including the Venezuelan group.
Republican party hawks and Trump allies have celebrated those moves as proof the White House is determined to end Maduro’s 12-year rule. “Your days are seriously numbered,” Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, declared recently, encouraging Maduro to flee to Moscow.
Maduro’s allies have also claimed that a regime-change operation is afoot, with Maduro himself this week warning that White House hardliners were seeking to lead Trump into “a terrible war” that would harm the entire region.
“Mr President Donald Trump, you need to take care because Marco Rubio wants to stain your hands with blood – with South American, Caribbean blood [and] Venezuelan blood. They want to lead you into a bloodbath … with a massacre against the people of Venezuela,” Maduro said.
The article quotes experts who doubt Trump plans for “a military intervention.” I don’t know. Trump is pretty crazy.
Trump apparently feels left out after his idols Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Xi Jinping meet in China and watch a military parade.
BBC News: Putin and Kim join Xi in show of strength as China unveils new weapons at huge military parade.
The watching world saw a significant display of diplomatic unity in Beijing today, as China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un met in public for the first time.
Alongside a vast military parade marking 80 years since the country’s victory over Japan in World War Two, the meeting formed part of a day of statements for Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Putin, Xi, and Kim lead huge military parade in China.
Crowds of over 50,000 in Tiananmen Square witnessed laser weapons, nuclear ballistic missiles, and even robotic wolves – a display that will now be heavily scrutinised by Western defence officials, our security correspondent writes.
All but two Western leaders chose not to attend the parade, while 26 heads of state joined. Xi inspected the waiting ranks of thousands of troops from the roof of his state vehicle, before warning the world must “never return to the law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak” in a speech.
After the parade, diplomacy continued with handshakes and hugs marking the end of Putin and Kim’s two-and-a-half hour meeting.
Putin invited Kim to Russia after the pair discussed North Korea’s contribution to Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.
Emily Atkinson at BBC News: Trump accuses Xi of conspiring against US with Putin and Kim.
US President Donald Trump has accused Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping of conspiring against the US with the leaders of Russia and North Korea.
Trump’s comments came as China hosted world leaders at its largest-ever Victory Day parade in Beijing on Wednesday – a showcase of China’s military might.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un as you conspire against the United States of America.”
Trump previously rejected suggestions that the warming of relations between China, Russia and other nations poses a challenge to the US on the global stage.
As if that is surprising. They are enemies of the U.S., even if Trump looks up to them.
On social media, the US president also mentioned the “massive amount of support and ‘blood'” the US gave China during World War Two. China’s parade marks 80 years of Japan’s surrender in the war and China’s victory against an occupying force.
“Many Americans died in China’s quest for Victory and Glory. I hope that they are rightfully Honored and Remembered for their Bravery and Sacrifice!”
Xi was joined at the parade by 26 heads of state, including Kim and Putin – viewed by some observers as a message to the Western nations that have shunned them.
China has sought to position itself as a possible counterweight to the US since Trump’s tariffs rocked the global economic and political order.
Trump has pitched his tariffs as essential to protecting American interests and industry. It appears that any diplomatic cost is something he is willing to pay.
Asked by the BBC if he believed Beijing and its allies were attempting to form an international coalition to oppose the US, Trump said: “No. Not at all. China needs us.”
More idiotic thoughts from Trump at the link.
More interesting stories to check out:
Eoin Higgins at MSNBC: A political novice’s campaign to unseat Sen. Susan Collins is off to a strong start.
Aaron Glantz at The Guardian: Alarm after FBI arrests US army veteran for ‘conspiracy’ over protest against Ice.
Randy Kaye and Rachel Clark at CNN: Epstein survivor says his impact on her is clear from her school yearbooks.
Amanda Marcotte at Salon: Trump’s long weekend of humiliation.
Avery Lotz at Axios: Hegseth: Hegseth: Venezuela mission won’t stop “with just this strike.”
Those are my offerings for today. What’s on your mind?
#AlienEnemiesAct #DonaldTrump #EpsteinFiles #EpsteinSurvivors #FTC #JeffreyEpstein #KimJongUn #NicolasMaduro #PosseComitatusAct #RebeccaKellySlaughter #RepNancyMace #RepRoKhanna #RepThomasMassie #VenezuelaDroneStrike #VladimirPutin #XiJinping
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Year in and year out, #Christian #nationalists strategize and organize via a seemingly never-ending stream of
conferences, trainings, and other offerings conducted or provided by influential Christian political nonprofits such as:♦️Turning Point USA (TPUSA), an extremist student group co-founded by Charlie #Kirk and Bill #Montgomery, who died of COVID-19 complications. TPUSA’s specialty is training students to harass “liberal” professors and public school boards. It partners with far right propagandist Jack Posobiec, who is infamous for his viral propaganda campaigns, including the “groomers” campaign launched against Disney after it withdrew support for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Kirk hopes to open his own network of private Christian academies across the country.
♦️Wallbuilders, a nonprofit founded by pseudo-historian David #Barton, a leading opponentof the separation between church and state. Barton–who offers “biblical citizenship training” with ♦️Patriot Academy founder Rick #Green–also promotes the militant “black robe regiment” movement and wrote a book about it.
♦️United in Purpose (UIP), a Christian data targeting firm founded by convicted embezzler Bill #Dallas. UIP’s board has included David Barton and former congressman Bob #McEwen. UIP was involved in a massive voter data breach in 2015, as we previously reported. In or around 2020, UIP formed a group called♦️ Ziklag, which pairs wealthy Christian donors with Christian political projects and organizations. UIP also launched a website called EveryLegalVote.com, which promoted “Stop the Steal” rallies and related “action items,” although UIP’s name was removed from the website soon after it launched. (Image via @visionsurreal.)
♦️Truth and Liberty Coalition, which focuses on taking over public school boards in Colorado and beyond. The nonprofit is led by Andrew #Wommack who owns the Charis Bible College franchise and has said that members of the LGBTQ community should wear warning labels on their foreheads. Truth and Liberty’s board of directors includes Wallbuilders founder David Barton and NAR leader Lance #Wallnau, who has said that we must “destroy the public education system before it destroys America,” as reported in Elle Hardy’s book 🔹Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity is Taking Over the World. 🔹Truth and Liberty’s website includes a list of “influencers” that includes Rep. Lauren #Boebert (R-CO).
Truth and Liberty has worked with John #Guandolo of Understanding the Threat. Guandolo is a disgraced former FBI agent and anti-Muslim activist. As first reported by Right Wing Watch, Guandalo “has begun offering training sessions for right-wing citizens on how to take over their towns, arrest their mayors, and destroy the lives of anyone who objects by publicly humiliating them, getting them fired…, and forcing them to move.”♦️Patriot Academy founded by Rick #Green. The organization partners with David Barton (of Wallbuilders) in providing “biblical citizenship training.”
♦️The Oak Initiative founded by Rick #Joyner who advocated a military coup against Obama in 2013 or 2014. Rep. Louie #Gohmert (R-TX) attended one of their summits virtually in 2015. NAR leaders Lance Wallnau and Cindy Jacobs are on the board.
♦️The Council for National Policy, a secretive umbrella and strategy group for billionaires and the leaders of most prominent Christian Right organizations. Steve #Bannon, KellyAnne #Conway, Ali #Alexander, Charlie #Kirk, Ginni #Thomas, Cleta #Mitchell, Bill #Dallas, Tony #Perkins, and Ralph #Reed have all been members. Michael #Flynn has been involved with them too.♦️The Family Research Council founded by Tony #Perkins, which hosts the influential 🔸Pray Vote Stand Summit 🔸(previously the Values Voter Summit) and a pastors roundtable called 🔸“Watchmen on the Wall.”
♦️The Faith and Freedom Coalition (FFC) founded by Ralph #Reed. FFC’s website says that FFC knocked on more than 8 million doors before the midterm election and held its annual 🔸Road to Majority Policy🔸 conference in June this year. Its website says the conference “equips attendees with the knowledge and connections they need to drive engagement and voter turnout. The June 2022 gathering accelerated conservatives further down the road to majority ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.”
♦️The Family Leader, which held a Family Leadership summit in July this year. Its president and CEO is Bob Vander #Plaats. Its website called its annual summit the “Midwest’s biggest gathering of Christians seeking cultural transformation in the family, church, government and more.”
♦️Focus on the Family, the
♦️Family Institute, and the
♦️Dobson Policy Center founded by James #Dobson. Focus on the Family has offices and partnerships around the world. Focus on the Family and Family Research Center helped craft and promote the bill that recently made Arkansas the first state to ban gender-affirming care for minors, -
Year in and year out, #Christian #nationalists strategize and organize via a seemingly never-ending stream of
conferences, trainings, and other offerings conducted or provided by influential Christian political nonprofits such as:♦️Turning Point USA (TPUSA), an extremist student group co-founded by Charlie #Kirk and Bill #Montgomery, who died of COVID-19 complications. TPUSA’s specialty is training students to harass “liberal” professors and public school boards. It partners with far right propagandist Jack Posobiec, who is infamous for his viral propaganda campaigns, including the “groomers” campaign launched against Disney after it withdrew support for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Kirk hopes to open his own network of private Christian academies across the country.
♦️Wallbuilders, a nonprofit founded by pseudo-historian David #Barton, a leading opponentof the separation between church and state. Barton–who offers “biblical citizenship training” with ♦️Patriot Academy founder Rick #Green–also promotes the militant “black robe regiment” movement and wrote a book about it.
♦️United in Purpose (UIP), a Christian data targeting firm founded by convicted embezzler Bill #Dallas. UIP’s board has included David Barton and former congressman Bob #McEwen. UIP was involved in a massive voter data breach in 2015, as we previously reported. In or around 2020, UIP formed a group called♦️ Ziklag, which pairs wealthy Christian donors with Christian political projects and organizations. UIP also launched a website called EveryLegalVote.com, which promoted “Stop the Steal” rallies and related “action items,” although UIP’s name was removed from the website soon after it launched. (Image via @visionsurreal.)
♦️Truth and Liberty Coalition, which focuses on taking over public school boards in Colorado and beyond. The nonprofit is led by Andrew #Wommack who owns the Charis Bible College franchise and has said that members of the LGBTQ community should wear warning labels on their foreheads. Truth and Liberty’s board of directors includes Wallbuilders founder David Barton and NAR leader Lance #Wallnau, who has said that we must “destroy the public education system before it destroys America,” as reported in Elle Hardy’s book 🔹Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity is Taking Over the World. 🔹Truth and Liberty’s website includes a list of “influencers” that includes Rep. Lauren #Boebert (R-CO).
Truth and Liberty has worked with John #Guandolo of Understanding the Threat. Guandolo is a disgraced former FBI agent and anti-Muslim activist. As first reported by Right Wing Watch, Guandalo “has begun offering training sessions for right-wing citizens on how to take over their towns, arrest their mayors, and destroy the lives of anyone who objects by publicly humiliating them, getting them fired…, and forcing them to move.”♦️Patriot Academy founded by Rick #Green. The organization partners with David Barton (of Wallbuilders) in providing “biblical citizenship training.”
♦️The Oak Initiative founded by Rick #Joyner who advocated a military coup against Obama in 2013 or 2014. Rep. Louie #Gohmert (R-TX) attended one of their summits virtually in 2015. NAR leaders Lance Wallnau and Cindy Jacobs are on the board.
♦️The Council for National Policy, a secretive umbrella and strategy group for billionaires and the leaders of most prominent Christian Right organizations. Steve #Bannon, KellyAnne #Conway, Ali #Alexander, Charlie #Kirk, Ginni #Thomas, Cleta #Mitchell, Bill #Dallas, Tony #Perkins, and Ralph #Reed have all been members. Michael #Flynn has been involved with them too.♦️The Family Research Council founded by Tony #Perkins, which hosts the influential 🔸Pray Vote Stand Summit 🔸(previously the Values Voter Summit) and a pastors roundtable called 🔸“Watchmen on the Wall.”
♦️The Faith and Freedom Coalition (FFC) founded by Ralph #Reed. FFC’s website says that FFC knocked on more than 8 million doors before the midterm election and held its annual 🔸Road to Majority Policy🔸 conference in June this year. Its website says the conference “equips attendees with the knowledge and connections they need to drive engagement and voter turnout. The June 2022 gathering accelerated conservatives further down the road to majority ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.”
♦️The Family Leader, which held a Family Leadership summit in July this year. Its president and CEO is Bob Vander #Plaats. Its website called its annual summit the “Midwest’s biggest gathering of Christians seeking cultural transformation in the family, church, government and more.”
♦️Focus on the Family, the
♦️Family Institute, and the
♦️Dobson Policy Center founded by James #Dobson. Focus on the Family has offices and partnerships around the world. Focus on the Family and Family Research Center helped craft and promote the bill that recently made Arkansas the first state to ban gender-affirming care for minors, -
Year in and year out, #Christian #nationalists strategize and organize via a seemingly never-ending stream of
conferences, trainings, and other offerings conducted or provided by influential Christian political nonprofits such as:♦️Turning Point USA (TPUSA), an extremist student group co-founded by Charlie #Kirk and Bill #Montgomery, who died of COVID-19 complications. TPUSA’s specialty is training students to harass “liberal” professors and public school boards. It partners with far right propagandist Jack Posobiec, who is infamous for his viral propaganda campaigns, including the “groomers” campaign launched against Disney after it withdrew support for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Kirk hopes to open his own network of private Christian academies across the country.
♦️Wallbuilders, a nonprofit founded by pseudo-historian David #Barton, a leading opponentof the separation between church and state. Barton–who offers “biblical citizenship training” with ♦️Patriot Academy founder Rick #Green–also promotes the militant “black robe regiment” movement and wrote a book about it.
♦️United in Purpose (UIP), a Christian data targeting firm founded by convicted embezzler Bill #Dallas. UIP’s board has included David Barton and former congressman Bob #McEwen. UIP was involved in a massive voter data breach in 2015, as we previously reported. In or around 2020, UIP formed a group called♦️ Ziklag, which pairs wealthy Christian donors with Christian political projects and organizations. UIP also launched a website called EveryLegalVote.com, which promoted “Stop the Steal” rallies and related “action items,” although UIP’s name was removed from the website soon after it launched. (Image via @visionsurreal.)
♦️Truth and Liberty Coalition, which focuses on taking over public school boards in Colorado and beyond. The nonprofit is led by Andrew #Wommack who owns the Charis Bible College franchise and has said that members of the LGBTQ community should wear warning labels on their foreheads. Truth and Liberty’s board of directors includes Wallbuilders founder David Barton and NAR leader Lance #Wallnau, who has said that we must “destroy the public education system before it destroys America,” as reported in Elle Hardy’s book 🔹Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity is Taking Over the World. 🔹Truth and Liberty’s website includes a list of “influencers” that includes Rep. Lauren #Boebert (R-CO).
Truth and Liberty has worked with John #Guandolo of Understanding the Threat. Guandolo is a disgraced former FBI agent and anti-Muslim activist. As first reported by Right Wing Watch, Guandalo “has begun offering training sessions for right-wing citizens on how to take over their towns, arrest their mayors, and destroy the lives of anyone who objects by publicly humiliating them, getting them fired…, and forcing them to move.”♦️Patriot Academy founded by Rick #Green. The organization partners with David Barton (of Wallbuilders) in providing “biblical citizenship training.”
♦️The Oak Initiative founded by Rick #Joyner who advocated a military coup against Obama in 2013 or 2014. Rep. Louie #Gohmert (R-TX) attended one of their summits virtually in 2015. NAR leaders Lance Wallnau and Cindy Jacobs are on the board.
♦️The Council for National Policy, a secretive umbrella and strategy group for billionaires and the leaders of most prominent Christian Right organizations. Steve #Bannon, KellyAnne #Conway, Ali #Alexander, Charlie #Kirk, Ginni #Thomas, Cleta #Mitchell, Bill #Dallas, Tony #Perkins, and Ralph #Reed have all been members. Michael #Flynn has been involved with them too.♦️The Family Research Council founded by Tony #Perkins, which hosts the influential 🔸Pray Vote Stand Summit 🔸(previously the Values Voter Summit) and a pastors roundtable called 🔸“Watchmen on the Wall.”
♦️The Faith and Freedom Coalition (FFC) founded by Ralph #Reed. FFC’s website says that FFC knocked on more than 8 million doors before the midterm election and held its annual 🔸Road to Majority Policy🔸 conference in June this year. Its website says the conference “equips attendees with the knowledge and connections they need to drive engagement and voter turnout. The June 2022 gathering accelerated conservatives further down the road to majority ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.”
♦️The Family Leader, which held a Family Leadership summit in July this year. Its president and CEO is Bob Vander #Plaats. Its website called its annual summit the “Midwest’s biggest gathering of Christians seeking cultural transformation in the family, church, government and more.”
♦️Focus on the Family, the
♦️Family Institute, and the
♦️Dobson Policy Center founded by James #Dobson. Focus on the Family has offices and partnerships around the world. Focus on the Family and Family Research Center helped craft and promote the bill that recently made Arkansas the first state to ban gender-affirming care for minors, -
Year in and year out, #Christian #nationalists strategize and organize via a seemingly never-ending stream of
conferences, trainings, and other offerings conducted or provided by influential Christian political nonprofits such as:♦️Turning Point USA (TPUSA), an extremist student group co-founded by Charlie #Kirk and Bill #Montgomery, who died of COVID-19 complications. TPUSA’s specialty is training students to harass “liberal” professors and public school boards. It partners with far right propagandist Jack Posobiec, who is infamous for his viral propaganda campaigns, including the “groomers” campaign launched against Disney after it withdrew support for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Kirk hopes to open his own network of private Christian academies across the country.
♦️Wallbuilders, a nonprofit founded by pseudo-historian David #Barton, a leading opponentof the separation between church and state. Barton–who offers “biblical citizenship training” with ♦️Patriot Academy founder Rick #Green–also promotes the militant “black robe regiment” movement and wrote a book about it.
♦️United in Purpose (UIP), a Christian data targeting firm founded by convicted embezzler Bill #Dallas. UIP’s board has included David Barton and former congressman Bob #McEwen. UIP was involved in a massive voter data breach in 2015, as we previously reported. In or around 2020, UIP formed a group called♦️ Ziklag, which pairs wealthy Christian donors with Christian political projects and organizations. UIP also launched a website called EveryLegalVote.com, which promoted “Stop the Steal” rallies and related “action items,” although UIP’s name was removed from the website soon after it launched. (Image via @visionsurreal.)
♦️Truth and Liberty Coalition, which focuses on taking over public school boards in Colorado and beyond. The nonprofit is led by Andrew #Wommack who owns the Charis Bible College franchise and has said that members of the LGBTQ community should wear warning labels on their foreheads. Truth and Liberty’s board of directors includes Wallbuilders founder David Barton and NAR leader Lance #Wallnau, who has said that we must “destroy the public education system before it destroys America,” as reported in Elle Hardy’s book 🔹Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity is Taking Over the World. 🔹Truth and Liberty’s website includes a list of “influencers” that includes Rep. Lauren #Boebert (R-CO).
Truth and Liberty has worked with John #Guandolo of Understanding the Threat. Guandolo is a disgraced former FBI agent and anti-Muslim activist. As first reported by Right Wing Watch, Guandalo “has begun offering training sessions for right-wing citizens on how to take over their towns, arrest their mayors, and destroy the lives of anyone who objects by publicly humiliating them, getting them fired…, and forcing them to move.”♦️Patriot Academy founded by Rick #Green. The organization partners with David Barton (of Wallbuilders) in providing “biblical citizenship training.”
♦️The Oak Initiative founded by Rick #Joyner who advocated a military coup against Obama in 2013 or 2014. Rep. Louie #Gohmert (R-TX) attended one of their summits virtually in 2015. NAR leaders Lance Wallnau and Cindy Jacobs are on the board.
♦️The Council for National Policy, a secretive umbrella and strategy group for billionaires and the leaders of most prominent Christian Right organizations. Steve #Bannon, KellyAnne #Conway, Ali #Alexander, Charlie #Kirk, Ginni #Thomas, Cleta #Mitchell, Bill #Dallas, Tony #Perkins, and Ralph #Reed have all been members. Michael #Flynn has been involved with them too.♦️The Family Research Council founded by Tony #Perkins, which hosts the influential 🔸Pray Vote Stand Summit 🔸(previously the Values Voter Summit) and a pastors roundtable called 🔸“Watchmen on the Wall.”
♦️The Faith and Freedom Coalition (FFC) founded by Ralph #Reed. FFC’s website says that FFC knocked on more than 8 million doors before the midterm election and held its annual 🔸Road to Majority Policy🔸 conference in June this year. Its website says the conference “equips attendees with the knowledge and connections they need to drive engagement and voter turnout. The June 2022 gathering accelerated conservatives further down the road to majority ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.”
♦️The Family Leader, which held a Family Leadership summit in July this year. Its president and CEO is Bob Vander #Plaats. Its website called its annual summit the “Midwest’s biggest gathering of Christians seeking cultural transformation in the family, church, government and more.”
♦️Focus on the Family, the
♦️Family Institute, and the
♦️Dobson Policy Center founded by James #Dobson. Focus on the Family has offices and partnerships around the world. Focus on the Family and Family Research Center helped craft and promote the bill that recently made Arkansas the first state to ban gender-affirming care for minors,