Politics Plus

Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage.  These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that.  Even though there are many more which I can't include.  As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as "unceasing," "grudging," and "vengeful destruction."

So, first a story which seems to be more a tale of institutional stupidity than a tale of institutional evil.  Not that there isn't evil in it – just not institutional evil.  It happened in Oregon, mostly, although the perp seems to have been all over the coast at one time or another.  The Malheur Enterprise gives enough detail for someone with the talent of, say, Raymond Chandler to write a novel, but the crux of the story boils down to

Available records establish that Montwheeler ran a medical con for 20 years, insisting to a string of state psychiatrists and psychologists that he was mentally ill.

He did so to evade state prison, where he would be sent if he was convicted of kidnapping his first wife and son in Baker City in 1996. Because he was found to be guilty but insane, he was treated as a patient instead of a convict.

He later testified that his insanity gambit allowed him to live off the public. He cost taxpayers millions for hospitalization and housing expenses as he moved around rural Oregon, working odd jobs and committing one crime after another – all while under the state’s supervision….

The case points to a gap in the legal system. There is no provision – no consequences — for what to do with someone who fakes a mental illness after criminal conduct.

On December 7, 2016, Montwheeler went before the Psychiatric Security Review Board and spun out his tale of how he had duped the system.  Although state psychologist warned the board that "His risk of violence would be high and it would be most likely to target his intimate partner or other family member,” he was allowed to walk free.  A month later, he kidnapped and killed his ex-wife, and, fleeing in his pickup, collided with and killed another driver, and injured his passenger, who was the driver's wife.

Montwheeler is currently sitting in the Malheur County Jail, charged with aggravated murder, assault, and kidnapping; possibly facing the death penalty.  His attorney says he will plead insanity.

Alecto, I am amazed that Oregon even has a method of dealing with the mentally ill who commit crimes that doesn't involve the modern equivalent of an oubliette.  Every state should have such a method, but this case is not likely to encourage any other state to do so, and it may hurt Oregon.  Before addressing what needs to be done here, you need to listen to TomCat's advice.  But certainly I would think that poor Malheur County has suffered enough from scofflaws in the past couple of years.  Please help.

Moving on to Florida, it of course is not news that Governor Rick Scott would probably be improved as a human being were he to be chained to a rock and have his liver eaten, but when the New York Times actually uses the word "Vengeful" in a headline, the story stands out.

State Attorney Aramis D. Ayala, who carries the distinction of being Florida's forst elected prosecutor of color, and who serves an area stretching from Orlando to Kissimmee, recently announced that she would no longer seek the death penalty, because it was not in the best interests of her jurisdiction.  In addition to the facts that it does not deter crime, nor does it protect police officers, she observed that

it often leads to protracted appeals, and rarely delivers closure to the victim’s family. “Punishment is most effective when it happens consistently and swiftly,” she said. “Neither describe the death penalty in this state.”

So, of course, Governor Scott reassigned, by executive order, a total of 22 cases which might qualify for the death penalty to other prosecutors, a step which may well be illegal, but is certainly immoral, sending, as it does, "a dangerous message to prosecutors in Florida that politics will supersede their discretion."

Tisiphone, this would appear to be right up your street.  Best of luck.

Lastly, for this week anyway, I trust everyone remembers Kris Kobach, Kansas's Secretary of State for Voter Suppression and BFF of Ted Nugent, who first showed up in my column last September, and subsequently has been tapped (unofficially, I stress) by the Dolt.45 administration to make immigration policy.  (Unofficially – apparently even THIS administration does not want to be officially seen with him.  And for good reason.)

Kobach met with Schmuck à l'Orange last year on November 20, and was photographed with him carrying a folder with a memo showing.  The resolution of the photos was so good that blowing them up showed not only the title of the memo ("Department of Homeland Security: Kobach Strategic Plan for First 365 Days") but also that it included "proposals for registration of citizens of high-risk countries, extreme vetting of foreign visitors, a ban on Syrian refugees, deporting aliens charged with crimes (apparently without regard to whether they've been convicted) and building a border wall with Mexico."

Currently, there is a lawsuit in progress, the plaintiffs of which are challenging Kansas's proof of citizenship requirements for those registering to vote.  These plaintiffs have requested a complete copy of this document.  Kobach is claiming executive privilege.

Magistrate Judge James O'Hara issued an order Wednesday requiring Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach to give the court a copy of the memo he took into a meeting with Trump at the president’s Bedminster, N.J., golf club last November….

O'Hara noted that Kobach has claimed that "the photographed document is protected by the executive privilege." The magistrate termed the question of whether it is should be subject to discovery in the lawsuit "a very close call" and he said he'd address the privilege claim after looking at the memo to see if it has potential relevance to the suit.

Megaera, I hope you can get this document swiftly into the hands of Magistrate Judge O'Hara – and let's see where it goes from there.

The Furies and I will be back.

Cross posted to Care2 at http://www.care2.com/news/member/101612212/4046511

Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage.  These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that.  Even though there are many more which I can't include.  As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as "unceasing," "grudging," and "vengeful destruction."

I assume everyone has heard of the white supremacist who took a bus to New York City for the express purpose of killing one or more black men, and who did in fact kill one, Timothy Caughman, by stabbing, in the "Hell's Kitchen" neighborhood, with a short sword.  The white supremacist then apparently turned himself in, asking to be arrested lest he kill again.  In a nation where we are still arguing about whether Michael Brown deserved to die (spoiler: he didn't.  At least, not if you are an actual human being with a grain of empathy), it probably will not be a surprise that the reporting of this incident in the MSM left something to be desired.

FAIR.org (the acronym stands for Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting) addresses that poor reporting in the linked article.  OK, I grant you it's easy to pick on the New York Daily News – for one thing, it has "a history of smearing black suspects simply on the say-so of the NYPD."  But, even so, Mr. Caughman was not a suspect; he was the VICTIM, for heaven's sake.  What does ANY prior record have to do with the story?  He was not stabbed to death because of his record; he was stabbed to death because he was black.  The stabber said so.

Coughman [sic] lived in transitional housing on West 36th Street that serves people with HIV/AIDS. Praxis Housing Initiatives holds a contract with the city. He has 11 prior arrests, including for marijuana, assault, resisting arrest and menacing. 

Just for the records, the "transitional housing" is transitional NOW, but Caughman had lived there for twenty years.  That's hardly "transitional."  And, of course, anywhere between one and eleven of the eleven prior arrests could easily have been in reality for walking whie black or breathing while black.  No attempt seems to have been made to determine whether any arrests led to charges, let alone (gasp!) conviction.

As bad as the News reporting is, the New York Post managed to go one better, turning "eleven prior arrests" into "careeer criminal."

Katie Halper, writing for Raw Story, took the trouble to look up Caughman's Twitter account.  Yes, he has one.  Yes, he supported himself by gathering and redeeming bottles and cans, but he was literate, and perceptive, by his tweets.  He loved America.  He loved the Obamas.  He – well, he didn't exactly love Donald John Trump.  He tweeted about art, and about BLack History Month.  You can go to the link to read these tweets, or, if you are on Twitter, his name there is @timrock715.  Was @timrock715.  The stream is so vibrant, I forgot for a second.  Megaera, I think grudgingness is going on here.  If that's a word.  I'm sure you understand.

I'm sure everyone also remembers the Saffron Stalin's second attempt at a Muslim Ban, which was issued on Ash Wednesday, and blocked the same day, just before it actually went into effect, by U. S. District Judge Derrick Watson in Hawaii.  Is is a surprise that this patriot and national hero is receiving death threats?  Surely not.  The size of the threat, measured by the response to it, may, however lift an eyebrow or two. 

The U. S. Marshals Service "will do a critical risk assessment, look at the threat, make an analysis, and determine the level of protection needed," they say.  In this case, the level of protection needed is about a dozen deputies to provide 24/7 protection.

Unrelated really, but it's interesting that the journalist reporting this on Daily Kos is Walter Einenkel, whose own life was threatened (to the point of him having to be hospitalized for, I believe it was a week.)  Niemöller's quote still rings true, doesn't it?  We are all at risk.  Tisiphone, please help protect Judge Watson.  He is desperately needed.

Now, THIS is a surprise, although maybe it shouldn't be, given what we all know about Seven Mountains Dominionism, and other mock-Christian forms of Shari'a Law.

You can call it a God Squad.

An Alabama megachurch is seeking to establish its own police department — and a bill that would green light the force is already moving through the state senate. 

Because Sandy Hook.

Seriously.

It's only a false flag when they can't find some way to profit from it.

The legislation has a powerful sponsor — Senate Majority Leader J.T. "Jabo" Waggoner, who represents the area and is one of the longest-serving members of the Alabama Legislature.

The ACLU of Alabama is urging Waggoner and other lawmakers to vote no to the Briarwood police force — and no to another bill called The Alabama Church Protection Act that would enable to churches to tap gun-toting congregants for security and provide them with legal protections if they shoot anybody.

The ACLU realizes that this legislation would be unconstitutional

Sgt. Jack Self of the Sheriff's Department of Jefferson County (one of the two County Sheriff's Departments already responsible for policing the church campus) says he's never before heard of a church having its own police force, except maybe the Vatican.  But, Alecto, I think this is one to stop BEFORE it gets started and becomes unceasing.

In parting, I just want to quickly mention that anyone who is hoping for the Mango Mussolini's connections to Russia, or to organized crime, or any kind of perversion, extortion, rape, murder, pillaging you can think of, will bring him down, you may want to rethink that, if only for the sake of your own blood pressure.  The linked article's chart in particular probably deserves more than a brief mention, but the Furies are busy enough for one week.  We'll need to digest it ourselves.   (Or not.  Got your barf bags handy?)

The Furies and I will be back.

Cross posted to Care2 at http://www.care2.com/news/member/101612212/4044209

Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage.  These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that.  Even though there are always many more which I can't include.  As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as "unceasing," "grudging," and "vengeful destruction."

I am going to simplify things for the Furies this week, because, expected to come up next week, there will begin the confirmation hearings for the position in the Trump administration which has the greatest potential to do the longest lasting harm to the American people.  More harm, and longer lasting than Scott Pruitt?  I hear someone ask.  Yes.  I am talking about Neil Gorsuch, the Resident's nominee to the Supreme Court.

Paul Gordon, for People for the American Way, has prepared a report on Judge Gorsuch.  It's called "Real People, Real Lives: The Harm Caused by Judge Gorsuch."  Now, I am sure that even a President who is himself a Constitutional lawyer will ask for recommendations when there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court to fill.  That isn't a problem.  This is a problem:

When Donald Trump was running for president, he outsourced his future selection of potential Supreme Court nominees to two right wing organizations, the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation. They provided him a list of 21 people who were acceptable to them, Trump promised to select a nominee from the list they gave him, and they and their right wing colleagues agreed to support him. Neil Gorsuch was nominated as the product of this political arrangement.

Mr. Gordon, after this introduction, sets forth twelve cases actually decided by Judge Gorsuch during his tenure as a judge, and then ends with a conclusion.  Here is his Table of Contents:

 1 No Understanding of Sexual Harassment in the Real World
 2 Medical Device Maker Pushes Misuse of Product
 3 Gorsuch and Children with Autism
 4 No Leave Extension for Leukemia Patient
 5 Excessive Force
 6 Worker Dies Due to Inadequate Training
 7 Die or Be Fired
 8 Defer to the Governor, Facts Notwithstanding
 9 No Understanding of Another’s Perspective
10 Sex Discrimination
11 The Most Vulnerable
12 The Sixth Amendment: Undermining the Right to Counsel
13 Conclusion

That makes it sound like the report is practically a book.  It isn't really.  If you printed the whole thing out as a PDF, it would be 26 pages, or roughly 2 pages per case discussed.  In 16 point type (you're used to seeing 12 point), with the chapter headings in 28 point, with a lot of space between them and the text before and after.  So it's practically a walk in the park to read through (except for the ourageous results, which are hard on the blood pressure.)  But I'll provide here a little information about a few of the cases whose nature is not obvious from the title.

In Chapter 5, for instance, titled "Excessive Force," the force in question was a taser aimed from about 10 feet away at the victim, who died of it.  His bereaved parents brought suit against the City.  Judge Gorsuch dismissed the case.  made sure it did not even get to trial.

In Chapter 7, "Die or Be Fired," a trucker was hauling cargo in subzero weather, and his brakes froze.  He stopped and reported the problem to the company, then waited for a repair person.  Who did not show (may never have shown – it's not exactly clear who did come to do the repair.)  The heater in his cab was not working, and, remember, this is subzero weather.  After a couple of hours, he was numb and his speech was slurred.  He called the company twice more, the second time to notify the company he was going to unhitch the cab and drive for help and return (already an iffy plan with the shape he was in.) The company told him not to leave the cargo (in the trailer with the frozen brakes.  Right.) 

He drove for help anyway, and returned within about FIFTEEN MINUTES with assistance.  A week later, he was fired.  For abandoning his cargo.

Fortunately this case did not end tragically, since the Labor Department found for him, and it was upheld upon Administrative Review in the Tenth Circuit.  With Judge Gorsuch dissenting.  The law, he said, protects a driver who refuses to drive an unsafe vehicle.  It doesn't protect a driver who drives in a way he was instructed not to.
 
In Chapter 11, "The Most Vulnerable" applies to children with disabilities (and by extension to their guardians.)  The case hinged on the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) requirement that before going to court, a claimant must have exhausted all IDEA administrative remedies.  Simply put (and probably from a legal standpoint inaccurately), Judge Gorsuch's position was that if you get a school district to the point of agreeeing that your child has a disability (but won't do anything about it), you will never be able to exhaust administrative remedies, because you will have "settled."  Gordon quotes another judge who explains how – um – against Congressional intent that is.

Dear Furies, I am not going to ask you to go after Judge Gorsuch.  He ia a lost cause.  No, instead I would like for Alecto to concentrate on all of the Democratic Senators and help them stiffen their backbones to filibuster and do whatever they can to prevent this confirmation.  You can (and probably should) share this report with them and encourage them to ask hard questions in the hearings based on the stupidest of the decisions.  Megaera and Tisiphone, I'd like for you to concentrate on the Republican Senators.  If we can keep the Democratic Senators firm (I know, that's a big if – maybe Tisiphone should pick up Manchin), it will only take two Republicans to deny him confirmation.

Gorsuch is only 49.  That is quite young for a Supreme Court Justice.  He could be there for as much as forty years.  I find that unthinkable.  Ladies, best of luck.

The Furies and I will be back.

Cross posted to Care2 at http://www.care2.com/news/member/101612212/4041623

Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage.  These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that.  Even though there are many more which I can't include.  As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as "unceasing," "grudging," and "vengeful destruction."

With Keith, and Sam, and John Oliver keeping us up on many if not most of the more far-reaching things that are going on, and also the administration of Schmuck à l'Orange deliberately switching gears and moving as fast as possible in order to keep us as confused as possible, I am trying to find things which may have gone unnoticed, but which are still telling.

Perhaps my favorite for the week is the story of the Texas State Senator who was holding a hearing on three anti-abortion bills.  A NARAL intern was giving pro-choice testimony and went a couple of seconds over the allotted two minutes, saying

 …stop playing with women’s health care as if it’s your own political puppet… 

when the Senator brought down his gavel so hard he shattered a glass-topped table.

A few minutes later,

[Senator Charles] Schwertner allowed the president of the anti-abortion Texas Alliance for Life lobby group to extend his testimony, including a quote attributed to Catholic saint and scholar Thomas More, for the same length of time as Hennessy’s, without an interruption. Schwertner is the chair of the Texas Senate Health and Human Services Committee…. Schwertner’s aggressive gaveling appeared to be limited to Hennessy’s testimony. When others' statements went over time, the senator instead warned them by repeatedly thanking them for their testimony. 

Obviously channeling Mitch McConnell.

To her credit, the intern, Maggie Hennessy (FINALLY someone with an Irish name who is on the correct side), was not discouraged.  Megaera, I hope you can arrange it so that the Senator IS discouraged.

While I was researching in Cosmopolitan (I hear Teen Vogue also has grest political news, better than the New York Times – not that that is such a high bar), I found this:

The plan is for large numbers to join in casting a spell on the Pussygrabber-in-Chief every night of a waning crescent moon "until he's driven from office."

The spell was publicized by Michael M. Hughes, who (whether alone or with assistance I'm not sure) "tweaked" it from multiple spells he saw going around private witchcraft groups.  He then published it on the internet, and it quickly spread with events being formed around the country.

    Hughes explained that he chose a binding spell because "we're not wishing harm on anyone, we're just trying to stop the harm they're doing. It's not the equivalent of punching a Nazi in the face, it's the equivalent of tying him up and taking his bullhorn away."

The ritual itself is pretty standard magic working, binding Trump from doing harm to others and to himself, rather than asking any forces to do harm to him. There are objects to represent the elements and to represent Trump himself. The tarot card of the Tower represents ambitions built on lies, which are struck down by a lightning flash of truth. For those who believe in witchcraft, it looks to be an effective spell. 

If anyone here is a Wiccan or has friends who are, they are most welcome to engage, and, in fact, everyone is welcome, whether Wiccan or not, even complete skeptics.  Yes, I know the introductory ritual was last night, but the last I looked, it takes the moon at least a week to wane.  It's worth checking the almanac.  Alecto, maybe you can give them a hand, help them focus, send them strength.

Of course deportations are a thing this week.  I could probably write all week on it and not run out of material.  But instead, I'd like to share a couple of stories from people who have not been deported, but are terrified they will be.  They are farm workers, continuing to go to work and do their jobs (and incidentally paying their taxes).

The United Farm Workers, who shared the stories, already assigned them false names, but I just have a whim to use "Jane Doe" and "Richard Roe," only in Spanish.

So.  Ricardo Corzo lives and works in the area around Fresno, CA.  The story he tells happened on February 8 (and things have gotten worse since.)

At an intersection that many farm workers pass while going to work ICE pulled over our van. One of the farm workers in my van was handcuffed and it looked like they were going to take him and some other farm workers in, but then the agents got an emergency call of some type and they were let go. I had read the Know Your Rights card that the UFW gave myself and other workers but in the heat of the moment we were just paralyzed to even remember anything. This is why I appreciate the upcoming know your rights meetings the UFW is holding that will give us the opportunity to role play how to respond and prepare us.

The "know your rights meetings" the UFW is holding include role playing, since, as "Ricardo" points out, in the heat of the moment one gets paralyzed.  The web page is requesting donations to support such meetings, but it's not a requirement, and I think it's important for us to know these stories.  Even people with empathy don't always have the imagination to predict what bullies will come up with to scare vulnerable people.

Juana Gama lives and works in Ventura County.  She feels people are being targeted by the color of their skin.

I have heard about the immigration raids in my community. Everyone is afraid they will be next. I am very thankful that the United Farm Workers organizes “Know Your Rights” information sessions. The information is very helpful, but we are very nervous.

Recently I began to receive mail at my house addressed to a strange name. I write “return to sender” and “does not live here”, but the letters have continued. Soon after I began to hear loud knocks on my front door from police officers asking for the same name on the letters. Since Donald Trump announced his expanded deportation orders, I have been afraid to answer the door when the police have come. They have come often enough that my neighbors have noticed and they are also worried. We are working hard trying to earn a living, feed our families, feed this great nation. It’s not right. We can’t let hate divide us. That’s not our America. I hope you can help us.

I found that chilling.  And I was born in the USA and am blonde.  The little fact of Law Enforcement being at the wrong place has been proven not to prevent the occupants of a home from getting killed.

Oh, yeah – the picture is of one of the PRIVATE "detention facilities" doing ICE's dirty work of "holding" people (in at least one case, "holding" a young mother with a brain tumor.)  Tisiphone, please see what you can do.

The Furies and I will be back.

Cross posted to Care2 at http://www.care2.com/news/member/101612212/4038937