No Holds Barred

Attorney General William Barr (below) testified before the House Judiciary Committee this past Tuesday, and I'll give him this much - despite fears to the contrary, he showed up.

But as to the question of whether the Democrats or Barr and his fellow Republicans made the case for Barr's heavy-handed response to people demonstrating against racial injustice,  his recommendation against a seven-to-nine year jail sentence for Roger Stone, or the Russia probe investigation, I fear that Barr and his congressional allies may have made the better arguments - mainly by lying and obfuscating at loud volumes and with righteous indignation.  Barr defended his recommendation on Stone's prison sentence, citing his age, and he maintained that force from the civilian government agents in Portland was necessary to protect the courthouse from the more violent elements of the demonstrations, whose rights to free speech he supported so long as they were peaceful.  And GOP members of the House Judiciary Committee backed him up with their spins on the issues, as well as displaying  eager anticipation of the report on the Russia probe investigation. 

The Democrats landed some effective punches, such as Representative Jerrold Nadler (NY) citing the mothers, veterans and public officials that make up many of the peaceful demonstrators against racial injustice, as well as Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (TX) going after Barr for not hiring any black aides while trying to sound sanctimonious in invoking the recently deceased John Lewis (still lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda during the hearing).  Democratic Representative Joe Neguse (CO) even got Barr to suggest that former New York District Attorney Geoffrey Berman resigned without knowing it, a preposterous idea.  But Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) and his opening salvo in the form of an eight-minute montage video that contrasted TV news reporters and commentators talking about "peaceful demonstrators" with scenes of violent confrontations seemed to overshadow all that.  And why not?  It had more noise and chaos than another famous eight-minute montage, "Revolution 9."

Take this, brother, may it serve you well.

Democratic Representative David Cicilline (RI) countered Jordan's video montage with one of his own, showing still pictures from the same demonstrations featuring peaceful protesters.  Too bad one of those still pictures - which aren't as effective as videos - showed one demonstrator holding up a sing with an obscenity on it.

It was left to CNN's Jake Tapper to point out that Jordan had marshaled and edited clips for his video selectively without offering the comments from reporters and commentators about peaceful demonstrators in their proper context, with Tapper showed the original news clips to illustrate that these reporters and commentators, some of whom were Tapper's coworkers, were saying that the demonstrations mostly peaceful but turned violent when provoked by federal agents.  Yes, but how many people are going to pay attention to Jake Tapper? Jordan's' tactic was slimy propaganda but smart politics.

Hopefully, a few days or so will shed more light on how evasive and arrogant Barr and his Republican defenders were and make them look more preposterous than they already do.  But for Trump supporters - still comprising two-fifths of the electorate, making them a dangerous, large minority - evasion and arrogance are badges of honor. 

Black Days In July

Not Detroit in 1967, as Gordon Lightfoot called it, but Portland, Oregon in 2020.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently sent special agents to "protect" federal offices and property in Portland against racial-justice activists whose demonstrations have mostly been peaceful.  The agents have been anything but that, arresting and detaining protesters with brute force.  Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Oregon Governor Kate Brown have been demanding that the feds pull their special forces out of the city, but Trump - wanting to burnish his "law and order" credentials with his base in advance of the presidential election- has obviously chosen to ignore their requests.  The acting Homeland Security Secretary - whoever that is - has said that state and local leaders have no right to tell DHS how to do its job.

It doesn't matter that Oregon - like every other Pacific Coast state except Alaska is solidly Democratic . . . except that Trump wants to demonstrate that he can lay down the law where Democratic governors appear to be - appear to be, that's the big disclaimer - unwilling or unable to.  That is the entire point.  Somehow, I don't think demonstrations outside U.S. Government buildings Dallas or Nashville would get the same heavy-handed response from the feds, because local officeholders sympathetic to Trump wouldn't need them.  And now he plans to send DHS agents to other Democratic-run cities; he's already announced plans to send DHS agents to Chicago.  And in Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot (who has nothing to do with Gordon Lightfoot) has suddenly decided to cooperate with the federal government, apparently being under the misconception that she can prevent tit from acting out its worst excesses.

Black days in July . . . Rose City madness . . . Remember in November.      

Days of Reckoning

It takes something pretty serious to push the COVID-19 story off the news for a week or more.

Protests against the George Floyd killing in Minneapolis, like the protest in New York City shown above, have turned violent in many cities, and they've been flaring up in the least likely places, such as the Mormon citadel of Salt Lake City, and protesters against police brutality have included Amish elders and . . . active police officers.

As soon as the violence subsides, COVID-19 should regain the public's attention, but more importantly, the legitimate demonstrations against the Floyd killing will keep the fact of racial injustice in the news as well.  And Donald Trump will have to deal with all of it. I'm sure some Republicans are secretly delighted with the violence and the rioting, as similar unrest got Nixon elected President in 1968, but if Trump thinks he can run on re-election on a platform of law and order, why hasn't he been able to provide either?

I think the picture above is indicative of those Americans who are determined to end racial injustice in the middle of a pandemic. The young woman in the picture above arrived at a demonstration protected by a mask in this social-distancing-unfriendly situation, but the fact that she doffed her mask long enough to make her voice heard and show her face means that she is all too happy to identify herself for the world as a person ready to change America for the better.  Expect young people like her to show up at the polls - or, if they have the opportunity, mail-in ballots - five months from now.