Amerika du hast es besser

[Peiresc]

The Cruelty Is the Point

Elizabeth C. McLaughlin
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1139192167501484033.html

IF YOU CARE ABOUT WHAT TRUMP IS DOING AT THE BORDER, you need to read and share this thread.

@jacobsoboroff @JuliaEAinsley please read this.

I have just gotten off the phone with a friend who is a legal volunteer in Border Patrol facilities.

Don't look away.

1/
My friend has done two tours now volunteering as a legal advocate inside CBP facilities.

She passed along information about what is happening there that indicates that the Trump Administration is violating every basic human right, and is moving toward military "solutions."

2/
So that folks understand the process: CBP has outposts on the border. Refugees seeking asylum travel hundreds of miles on foot, including with infants and small children, and turn themselves in at these outposts *on foot.*

Here's what happens next. Don't look away.

3/
CBP then transfers these human beings to a facility called "the Dog Pound." (Here, my friend started crying.)

The "Dog Pound" is comprised of cages, outside and on dirt, with no protection from the elements.

Don't look away.

4/
There are dozens of teen moms there.

There is no baby food.

While there, my friend saw a CBP agent take a baby from her teenage mother, strip the baby of its clothes, hand the baby back to the mother, and send them outside to the "Dog Pound" to sleep in the dirt.

5/
The "Dog Pound" has no running water, no covers, no tarp, no care, no safety from the elements. It is freezing at night, and deathly hot during the day.

Everyone is sick. My friend said she saw a baby on this trip that was so sick "I thought it would be dead by morning."

6/
Toddlers in the "Dog Pound" who had been eating solid food are given only infant formula. Moms are trying to start breast feeding again so their children don't starve.

These moms are dehydrated, sick, & have walked miles through desert with no water. CBP gives them nothing.

7/
It gets worse. Don't look away.

From the "Dog Pound," these human beings are moved to an area called "The Freezer."

The Freezer is kept at 55 degrees.

Some of the refugees who are moved there are still wet from their journey, and are put in The Freezer wet.

8/
CBP is keeping human beings in "The Freezer" for weeks at a time. WEEKS.

Including critically ill people, disabled people, sick children, teenage mothers with babies.

The floor of The Freezer is made of dirt or very rough concrete. There are no beds.

Keep reading.

9/
From "The Freezer," refugees are supposed to be moved to ICE facilities that are designed for residential care. They have beds, food, bathrooms.

However, (keep reading) THOSE FACILITIES ARE EMPTY.

ICE IS SHUTTING THEM DOWN.

Don't look away.

10/
What our government is doing instead is moving refugees to MILITARY INSTALLATIONS.

The announcement about Fort Sill, which was used as a Japanese internment camp, is only the start.

So why would our government be doing this?

11/
Here's why

These concentration camps (let's call them what they are) will be under the control of the Department of Homeland Security, but within the Department of Defense.

12/.
Unlike ICE facilities, which allow site inspectors inside, there will be no inspection of military-run camps.

The military will be able to deny access to anyone it chooses. No media. No oversight.

13/
Lawyers will not be allowed in. Human rights monitors will not be allowed in.

The camps will also be protected airspace, meaning that no drones can fly over them to take pictures of what's going on inside.

14/
The Trump administration will be able to conduct itself in whatever way it wants to without anyone knowing what's going on inside.

Think about what that means. Think about why they would want that.

This is happening RIGHT NOW.

15/
ICE facilities with beds and food are EMPTY, because the Trump administration is moving refugees into military-run concentration camps where they can do ANYTHING THEY CHOOSE without oversight, media scrutiny or advocate access.

16/
This administration is already committing atrocities at CBP facilities.

Border Patrol agents at the facility where my friend was working refer to these human beings as "bodies." Not people. "Bodies."

They are denying medicine, toilets, beds, food, shelter and clothes.

17/
My friend said that "Flores is on very tenuous ground."

We're days away from being met with "we're not going to let you in, no matter what."

18/
What is coming is crimes against humanity.

America is already perpetrating mass human rights violations, and this administration is setting it up so they can do far worse, in secret, under military supervision.

19/
Military forces are already been shifted to CBP. My friend saw *coast guard agents* (read that again) working for CBP at this facility.

If we do nothing, there will be blood on our hands.

20/
If Pelosi does nothing, there will be blood on her hands and the hands of every Democrat who refuses to act to end this administration's reign.

Fascism is here.

21/
If this enrages you, devastates you, frightens you, share this thread.

Then call your member of Congress and read it to them.

Then call @SpeakerPelosi and ask her why she sits silently by as our government does this.

22/
We're on a fast train to hell.

There's only one way to stop it.

Trump must be removed from power immediately, by any legal means, using every weapon in our arsenal.

23/
This is where we are. This is WHO we are.

Look reality in the face. Don't look away.

Fight like human life depends on it.

It does. It does. It does.

/end

[Peiresc]

Stephen Colbert:

Sarah Huckabee Sanders is leaving, or as Sarah Huckabee Sanders would say, "Sarah Huckabee Sanders is not leaving."

[Peiresc]

Kellyanne Conway auf den Vorhalt, sie verletze den Hatch Act:

"Blah, blah, blah," Conway said

Das OSC (die Behörde, die damit befasst ist) fordert die Entlassung von Conway:

"Ms. Conway's violations, if left unpunished, would send a message to all federal employees that they need not abide by the Hatch Act's restrictions. Her actions thus erode the principal foundation of our democratic system -- the rule of law."
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/13/politics/kellyanne-conway-office-of-special-counsel-hatch-act/index.html

(das ist übrigens ein bisher einmaliger Vorgang)

Was wird der Präsident tun?

"No, I'm not going to fire her, I think she's a tremendous person, tremendous spokesperson,"
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/14/trump-fire-kellyanne-conway-1364991

Was wird McConnell tun?


Was wird Pelosi tun?

[Peiresc]

The White House
@WhiteHouse
Vor 1 Stunde

David Frum:

1. A truck of TVs is hijacked.
2. Your son meets with the hijackers.
3. Your campaign manager shares route information with them.
4. You are recorded on video saying, "I love truck hijacking."
5. The TVs are in your house.

Happy No Collusion Day.

[Belbo]

Hoffentlich hat er keine Flecken auf die flag gemacht...... sperm and stripes?

[sailor]

White sperm and brown stripes? Wird Trumps Unterhose jetzt die neue Flagge??

[Peiresc]

Jetzt ist es amtlich: Autos, und gar noch aus ,,verbündeten" Ländern (Deutschland, Japan), stellen eine Bedrohung für die nationale Sicherheit der Vereinigten Staaten dar.
https://twitter.com/Evan_Ryser/status/1139690322194137088
Müssen sie verboten werden? Nein, ich denke 25% Zoll werden genügen.

Es ist eben alles ,,nationale Sicherheit", wie auch alles und jedes ,,freie Rede" (z. B. Conway),  ,,Religionsfreiheit" (Homophobie und Frauenfeindlichkeit), ,,executive privilege" (Ignorierung der verfassungsgemäßen Aufsicht durch den Kongress) ist.

[Ironie off] Kommen wir zum wirklichen Sicherheitsrisiko:

Blockbuster story buried in this NYT report.

Pentagon, intelligence officials fear they cannot trust Trump enough to brief him fully on new US cyber operation against Russia for fear he will "countermand it or discuss it with foreign officials" as he did before with Russians.



https://twitter.com/rgoodlaw/status/1139945314754990081

[Peiresc]

Tony Perkins, president of the anti-gay religious lobbying group the Family Research Council, had his home destroyed by the massive flooding ravaging Southern Louisiana this week.

Although no one wants to celebrate a person losing their home, the destruction of Perkins' house isn't without irony, considering that he's claimed in the past that natural disasters are God's way of punishing an increasingly gay-friendly world.
https://deadstate.org/guy-who-says-god-sends-natural-disasters-to-punish-gays-has-his-home-destroyed-in-a-natural-disaster/

[Peiresc]

On Fox News Sunday, Mike Pompeo nearly blows a gasket when Chris Wallace asks him very straightforward questions regarding Trump's comments about how he wouldn't contact the FBI if he's offered dirt on a 2020 opponent by a foreign government.
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1140296627011371008

(mit Videoclip)

Ich denke, ich bin jetzt so weit, dass ich den Job von Pompeo übernehmen kann. Die paar Generalschlüssel, die dafür nötig sind, habe ich inzwischen drauf:
- Your Question is ridiculous
- President Trump has been very clear, that [und dann das genaue Gegenteil von dem behaupten, was der Zuschauer gerade gesehen und gehört hat]
- I have nothing further to add [nur echt mit dem zugehörigen Grinsen]
- a Washington piece of silliness

Das sollte vollkommen genügen.

[Peiresc]

Aus dem neuen Buch von Jim Acosta:

[sailor]

Na, jetzt wo Trump die Wahrheit über 1812 weiss wirds wohl keinen tollen Deal für die Brexitiere geben

[Peiresc]

Hannity right now

Donald J. Trump:
Wow!  The State Department said it has identified 30 Security Incidents involving current or former employees and their handling of Crooked Hillary Clinton's Emails. @FoxNews  This is really big. Never admitted before. Highly Classified Material. Will the Dems investigate this?

Rogue WH Snr Advisor:
you're going to be screaming about hillary's emails 10,000 years from now from the deepest pit of hell

----

McConnell: eine Vetretung im Senat für District of Columbia und für Puerto Rico wäre Sozialismus in Reinkultur (full bore socialism), und solange er da sei, finde das nicht statt.
https://twitter.com/resistbot/status/1140457721399037953
(mit Videoclip)

Molly Jong-Fast:
So basically socialism is now just whatever republicans don't like?

Aber das ist nicht ganz richtig. Sozialismus ist, was immer die Republikaner im Augenblick nicht wollen:

"We support the right of the United States citizens of Puerto Rico to be admitted to the Union as a fully sovereign state." --- the 2016 Republican Party platform
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/2016-republican-party-platform ...

[Peiresc]

Ein Argument gegen das Impeachment ist bekanntlich, dass die Republikaner sowieso nicht mitmachen werden, egal wie kriminell ihr Häuptling ist. Das kann man für amtlich halten, denn McConnell hat sich da schon festgelegt.

Die Sache kann also nur an den Wahlurnen entschieden werden. Aber gesetzt den Fall, es kommt zu einem Wahlsieg der Demokraten, ist das dann die Entscheidung? Amanda Marcotte denkt mal nüchtern weiter:

But that's also why there's a real danger that, if and when Trump refuses to leave office after an electoral defeat, Republicans will go along with it. And why not?

Richtig. Es fällt leicht, sich das Szenario auszumalen. Die jüngsten Umfragen, die alle Trump hinten gesehen haben, sind ja auch sämtlich Fakes gewesen, für die die verantwortlichen Meinungsforscher achtkantig gefeuert worden sind.

How do we deal with it when Trump simply declares the election null and void and Republicans back his play? The time to plan for that is right now.
https://www.salon.com/2019/06/17/so-what-happens-when-donald-trump-refuses-to-leave-office-the-nightmare-scenario-could-happen/

[Peiresc]

https://crowdsondemand.com/

Are you looking to create a buzz anywhere in the United States? At Crowds on Demand, we provide our clients with protests, rallies, flash-mobs, paparazzi events and other inventive PR stunts. [...]
Our services are now available throughout the United States, so whether you're looking at doing a single event or a multi-city campaign, we have the resources available to achieve your goals. [...]
We provide a cost-effective way to lobby government to pass or defeat legislation, push for approval of projects, and influence government in a grassroots manner. We are the ultimate guerilla lobbying and government relations firm.

Irgendwo müssen die hunderte Millionen Dollar ja bleiben, die die Mega-Donors der amerikanischen Politik investieren.

Es ist eine Gratwanderung. Natürlich geben sie keine genauen Referenzen an (schließlich können sie ihre Auftraggeber nicht düpieren), andererseits aber müssen sie schon ein wenig konkret werden und dem potentiellen Kunden andeuten, was er für sein Geld bekommt. Z. B.:

Crowds on Demand was hired by multiple large non-union firms to  push back against new regulations in a deeply labor-friendly state. We successfully lobbied the legislature and the Labor Commission to push back proposed labor regulations. We created two organizations with associated websites: one conservative site focused on the impact unions have on drastically increasing government spending and one liberal one focused on the racially  discriminatory and sexist policies of many unions. We provided phone-bankers and constituent lobby visits associated with the two organizations to lobby conservative and liberal lawmakers and policymakers respectively. Within two months, the proposed regulations were off the table.

Ich sags mal so: Hevert-Arzneimittel und die Carstens-Stiftung sind elende Stümper.

WP hat sie (klar: "The neutrality of this article is disputed"), aber die politische Dimension scheint da mir eher unterbelichtet. Es wäre vermutlich eine lohnende Aufgabe für einen geschickten Journalisten, Näheres herauszufinden.

[Peiresc]

Noch zu crowds on demand:

Crowds on Demand isn't the only outfit that hires paid protesters, though it is perhaps the most open about what it does, said Edward Walker, a UCLA sociology professor who wrote a book on astroturfing, "Grassroots for Hire: Public Affairs Consultants in American Democracy."

"There are hundreds of lobbying firms and public affairs firms that do this work, though not all in the same way," he said. "Some only do a little bit of this grassroots-for-hire, but things adjacent to this are not uncommon today."
[...]
"What's different is the commercialization of the process," he [California political consultant Garry South] said. "It just contributes to the air of unreality that exists in this day and age with essentially not being able to believe your own eyes or ears.
https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-crowds-extortion-20181021-story.html