Culture Warriors category archive

Per the EFF, if appears as if the Trump maladministration wants to keep his wannabe secret police as secret as they can. A snippet:

The Trump administration has restricted the First Amendment right to record law enforcement by issuing an unprecedented nationwide flight restriction preventing private drone operators, including professional and citizen journalists, from flying drones within half a mile of any ICE or CBP vehicle.

In January, EFF and media organizations including The New York Times and The Washington Post responded to this blatant infringement of the First Amendment by demanding that the FAA lift this flight restriction. Over two months later, we’re still waiting for the FAA to respond to our letter.

The First Amendment guarantees the right to record law enforcement. As we have seen with the extrajudicial killings of George Floyd, Renée Good, and Alex Pretti, capturing law enforcement on camera can drive accountability and raise awareness of police misconduct.

Rick Strom points out that “I was just following orders” is a defense that is precedented.

At the Psychology Today website, Guy P. Harrison explores the attraction of fascism. Here’s his list of the characteristics of fascist regimes; I think it will sound familiar.

• Authoritarian style leadership
• Simplistic symbolism and mass rallies
• Extreme, pathological patriotism
• Anger over the loss of an idealized past that never existed
• Exploitation of racist fears and racial divisions
• Overt politicization of law enforcement
• Call for “traditional” hierarchical gender roles at the expense of women’s rights/opportunities
• Military aggression against other countries and territories
• Undermining of elections and democratic values
• Overt corruption
• Restrictions and attacks on the free press
• Heavy use of lying and propaganda
• Editing of history to promote accommodating myths and minimize the real histories of marginalized people

I commend his article to your attention as a worthwhile read in these times in which truth, justice, and the American way are being Trumpled from within.

. . . demonstrate every day the reality of Republican family values.

Via the Las Vegas Sun, Carlos De Loera posits that the reason for Donald Trump’s attack on birth-right citizenship is quite obivious:

This retconning of the 14th Amendment aligns with the Trump administration’s continued crusade to demonize nonwhite citizens, which kicked off when he first ran for president in 2015.

Follow the link for his reasoning.

Via the Charlotte Observer, Jill Burcum looks at how the Trump maladministration is thwarting Minnesota authorities’ attempts to probe ICE’s shootings of Alex Pretti, Renee and Nicole Good, not to mention others who have received less publicity, and comes to a disturbing conclusion (emphasis added):

There’s a deeply disturbing pattern emerging here, one that points to more than a just a coverup. Federal officials directing these efforts appear to believe that they and their agents are a privileged class to be shielded from the consequences of their actions, instead of being held to the same standards that everyone else would be.

Follow the link to learn why she came to that conclusion.

Sam talks with David Bier about how the Supreme Supremacist Court green lit racial profiling.

Farron discusses how ICE agents were recorded trying to cook up false charges against a protestor.

Rick Strom finds himself sadly not taken aback by the racism and bigotry which, as far as I cant tell, is the beating heart of MAGA.

My old Philly DL friend Noz thinks that Trump’s deploying ICE agents in airports may backfire have results that the deployer may not have anticipated.

Follow the link and decide whether you agree.