Body Cameras: “we can make this disappear”

Shutterstock.

Shutterstock.

A whistleblower in Albuquerque, NM, has revealed all the nasty stuff done with SD cards and reports when it comes to body cameras. I don’t think this will surprise anyone in the least, but it does point to a big problem with body cameras: cops have control of them. If they are going to work in the way intended, cops, no matter how high up the chain, cannot be allowed control of them in any way. If not, it’s the same old problem of what the cops say goes.

The Albuquerque Police Department is coming under fire after former records supervisor, Reynaldo Chavez, gave a sworn affidavit claiming officers altered and deleted body camera videos.

According to New Mexico In Depth, after at least two police shootings, videos were deleted or edited so they didn’t show the incident.

[…]

He also said that video cards were easy to take or conveniently lose. He heard Assistant Chief Robert Huntsman confess “we can make this disappear” discussing the body camera videos that were on the SD cards.

The disappearances weren’t unique to patrol officers. Chavez revealed that officers in multiple divisions, including specialized units, were all told not to write reports until there was a review of the body camera videos. If the videos didn’t contain anything concerning, the officers could write up the report on what was recorded. If images were considered “problematic,” officers were told not to mention the recording in the report, write “the recording equipment had malfunctioned” or say that the officer failed to turn on the body camera.

If there were reports that detailed what occurred in the recording, “the video would be altered or corrupted if it was damaging to the police department,” Chavez said.

Full story here.

Hamilton, Hamilton, Hamilton.

Schuyler Sisters -- via Hamilton website.

Schuyler Sisters — via Hamilton website.

A performance of “Hamilton” was rudely interrupted in Chicago Saturday night when a theatergoer cursed the cast members on stage, reports Broadway World.

According to an audience member, a patron seated up in the balcony disrupted the play shouting, “We won! You Lost! Get over it! F*ck you!” during the musical number “Dear Theodosia,” startling the singers.

Reportedly the patron became enraged earlier by the well-known line from the musical: “Immigrants, we get the job done.” The man created a disturbance that lasted through two numbers, forcing nearby theatergoers to go in search of security. The man was taken into custody after a brief struggle and theater staff later told patrons the man was intoxicated.

[Read more…]

Double Plus Ungood News.

CREDIT: AP Photo/Alex Brandon.

CREDIT: AP Photo/Alex Brandon.

If you are young, you might not know what “double plus ungood” means. It’s Newspeak, from the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. It means terrible; very bad. I first read Orwell’s novel when I was in my early teens (I think, it’s all a bit fuzzy these days), and by the time the actual 1984 rolled around, I was 26 years old, and everyone was having fun with jokes about Big Brother and all the rest. Magazine covers all did plays on the novel. People were still optimistic then, and relieved, I think, that Orwell’s novel hadn’t come true. It hadn’t come true in 1984, but it rather looks like we’re heading that way in 2016. Today, I’m 59 years old, and the gift I’d like the most is to have that optimism back.

Friday evening, the Washington Post reported that about 100 foreign diplomats gathered at President-elect Donald Trump’s hotel in Washington, DC to “to sip Trump-branded champagne, dine on sliders and hear a sales pitch about the U.S. president-elect’s newest hotel.” The tour included a look at the hotel’s $20,000 a night “town house” suite. The Post also quoted some of the diplomats saying they intended to stay at the hotel in order to ingratiate themselves to the incoming president.

[…]

The incoming president, in other words, is actively soliciting business from agents of foreign governments. Many of these agents, in turn, said that they will accept the president-elect’s offer to do business because they want to win favor with the new leader of the United States.

In an exclusive exchange with ThinkProgress, Richard Painter, a University of Minnesota law professor who previously served as chief ethics counsel to President George W. Bush, says that Trump’s efforts to do business with these diplomats is at odds with a provision of the Constitution intended to prevent foreign states from effectively buying influence with federal officials.

The Constitution’s “Emoluments Clause,” provides that “no person holding any office of profit or trust under” the United States “shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.”

The diplomats’ efforts in seek Trump’s favor by staying in his hotel “looks like a gift,” Painter told ThinkProgress in an email, and thus is the very kind of favor the Constitution seeks to prevent.

Emolument. There’s a new one for the vocabulary.

…Assuming that Trump does not divest from his hotel, however, it may prove difficult to enforce the Constitution against him. There are few court cases dealing with the Emoluments Clause. Typically, the country has relied on internal safeguards within the executive branch and fear of political embarrassment to prevent violations by the president. […] There is, however, at least one remedy under the Constitution for such a violation of the public trust by the president: impeachment.

I think we can rule out any fear of political embarrassment on the part of Trump or his appointees. They don’t seem to be capable of such a sense. The possibility of impeachment might get through to one of them, but whether or not it gets through to Trump is a different story, as right now it appears as though he doesn’t understand the slightest thing about politics or government. As I noted in a previous post, It’s becoming increasingly clear that Trump does not plan to work as a president, or to treat the presidency as an actual political office. The full story is at Think Progress, well worth reading. Also see: Government watchdogs demand Trump put business holdings in ‘blind trust’.

[Read more…]

Sunday Facepalm.

art_laughingjesus_pb1989

Bonus points to those people who, like me, saw Laughing Jesus in the original incarnation, Playboy Magazine, back in whatever it was, ’71? Oh the outrage, too.  Onto the facepalm. There’s nothing much to laugh about here, unfortunately.

Several places have started publishing their local write-ins, I only have heart enough for two. From Gwinnett county, Georgia:

Hundreds of voters in Gwinnett County chose not to cast their vote for the candidates on the ballot in last week’s presidential election.

A list from the county showed a wide range of candidates voters decided to write-in.  The list includes cartoon characters, former presidents, food and celebrities.

[…]
Nearly 100 people wrote in Jesus, while 25 went with God. One person wrote in Holy Spirit. Mickey Mouse got more than 20 write-in votes.

Harambe, the gorilla who was killed at the Cincinnati Zoo when a 3-year-old fell into his enclosure, got five write-in votes. Some voters went with their stomachs and cast write-in votes for pizza, a potato and “one whole grain Pop-Tart.”

You can peruse the full list here. There was also a write in for:

GIVE THIS LAND
BACK TO THE
NATIVE INDIGENOUS
TRIBES,
REPARATIONS TO
DESCENDANTS OF
AFRICANS, DESTROY
BABYLON, STOP
MILITARY AND
PRISON INDUSTRIAL
COMPLEX, STOP
RACE/GENDER/SEXU
ALITY/RELIGIOUS
DISCRIMINATION,
END POLICE STATE,
PROTECT THE
ENVIORNMENT

Now some of that is a lovely sentiment, and some admirable goals,*  to be sure, but what in the fuckety fuck did this person think this would accomplish? Outside of being on a very modestly viewed blog, not one damn thing. What would have made a difference? A vote for Clinton. The linked .pdf is 138 pages of write ins. One idiot took the time to write in “We Are Doomed”, but just couldn’t bring themselves to do the right thing, like all the other idiots. And yes, if you decided to go with a write-in, you’re an idiot. You’re an idiot because it was screamingly obvious this particular vote was binary. One of two choices. All these people showed up to vote, just so they could demonstrate not voting. Never has the failure mode of clever been more apparent.

NJ.com reports there were 1,695 write-ins in Gloucester County. That’s compared to 384 write-ins in 2012. I have no doubt there’s similar in every single county in every single state. We can thank all these decidedly not clever people for being on the sinking boat on a sea of fascism we now find ourselves in. I think that puts Jesus’s laughter on the hysterical side.

*Absolutely clueless on that Babylon thing.

Saturday Silliness.

A Trump fan proudly shows off his Trump Starbucks cup (Twitter).

A Trump fan proudly shows off his Trump Starbucks cup (Twitter).

Donald Trump’s most ardent coffee-drinking followers are not happy that Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz endorsed Hillary Clinton this year — and they’ve come up with a curious way to get revenge.

As The Hill reports, Trump fans have started asking Starbucks baristas to write down Trump’s name on their cups when they order drinks. The “movement” was inspired by a Trump fan who had a temper tantrum in a Starbucks earlier this week when he accused Starbucks of engaging in “anti-white discrimination” because his coffee was delayed.

Now Trump fans are posting their #TrumpCups all over Twitter in an act of rebellion against Starbucks that also happens to involve giving the company more of their money.

There’s a shining example of right-wing logic for you. “We’ll make you say Trump’s name, hahahahaha!” all while handing over absurd amounts of money for what I understand isn’t an all that grand of a product. They’re also handing substantial amounts of money to a company they are all upset with. Life is beginning to resemble an episode of The Simpsons. In the midst of despair and feelings of helplessness, it’s important to remember the virtues of mockery. When something is absurd, it’s good to point it out with a healthy dose of mockery.

Via Raw Story.

In yet another fine example of right-wing logic, the white supremacists of Daily Stormer have their knickers in a knot over the Twitter ban of Richard Spencer and other prominent white supremacists. Twitter is trying to curb openly white nationalist garbage, so the solution? Well, the white dude club came up with this: fake black accounts! Yep.

“Twitter is about to learn what happens when you mess with Republicans,” said Anglin in the blog post. Anglin called on his readers to create more fake Twitter profiles, saying that their posts needed to be “indistinguishable” from actual Twitter accounts belonging to black people.

“When you have time, create a fake black person account,” Anglin wrote. “Just go on black Twitter and see what they look like, copy that model. Start filling it with rap videos and booty-shaking or whatever else these blacks post.”

Sounds like a really solid plan, right? No flaws at all, nope. Having an account which is absolutely indistinguishable from that of any actual person of colour, that will show them! Not that they can pull off that indistinguishable business. Seems they don’t realize that people of colour are people, y’know, individuals, with different ideas, tastes, likes and dislikes. They’ll be creating caricatures, and are confident they won’t be spotted.

Via Raw Story.

That Trump Word (Continuation 8).

Video captures an immigrant cab driver reporting an assault by a drunk Michigan man (Screengrab).

Video captures an immigrant cab driver reporting an assault by a drunk Michigan man (Screengrab).

A Michigan man shouting “Trump” attacked an immigrant cab driver Saturday, mlive.com reports.

Yemaj Adem, an Ethiopian immigrant, described the rage he encountered last weekend after a man, later identified as Jacob David Holtzlander,  jumped into his cab along with five women. Adem said he assumed Hotzlander was with the women, but later discovered otherwise.

According to Adem, Holtzlander—whom Adem said appeared drunk—became agitated when the cab driver informed him his offer of $10 would not be enough to complete the trip.

“The first punch, I was surprised,” Adem told mlive.com. “I’ve never experienced this from a fare. Five years now and I’ve never had an issue.”

“When I heard that Trump word, I knew this was something different,” he added.

Via Raw Story.

[Read more…]

The White Nationalist Administration.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), talks with reporters as he arrives at Trump Tower, Monday, Nov. 14, 2016, in New York. CREDIT: AP Photo/ Evan Vucci.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), talks with reporters as he arrives at Trump Tower, Monday, Nov. 14, 2016, in New York. CREDIT: AP Photo/ Evan Vucci.

It took a week and a half following the election, but President-elect Donald Trump has finally begun selecting cabinet members. On Friday, he announced that Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) is his choice for Attorney General. Former Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn will be his National Security Adviser.

Jeff Sessions has referred to the 1965 Voting Rights Act as a “piece of intrusive legislation” and reportedly suggested that a white lawyer might be a “disgrace to his race” because he represented black clients. The NAACP routinely gives him an “F” on its congressional scorecard.

Michael Flynn has repeatedly made it clear that he draws no distinction between organizations like ISIS and Islam as a religion. In the past, he has tweeted that fear of Muslims is “RATIONAL” (emphasis his) and that “Arab & Persian world ‘leaders’” must renounce “Islamic ideology.”

There’s much more at Think Progress. Right here is the reason that I think the disparate efforts to oust Bannon fail. Yes, Bannon is bad, seriously bad news. If Bannon was the only problem, I’d be more comfortable with the various attempts to get him out of the cabinet. The problem which needs to be tackled however, is Trump. There is one very slim possibility of seeing him kicked out, and that’s with the electoral college. See here. This is all the more crucial when you pay attention to what’s happening. Trump has one of his children sitting in on a meeting, which is a serious no on more than one level. He’s refused to deal with his assets in the correct way, hand-waving any inquiry to his obvious conflict of interests. He appears to not understand the nepotism laws, but it’s more to point assuming he’s simply choosing to flout them. On top of all that, Trump has appointed the five horsemen of the climate apocalypse.  Here’s a bit from that last article:

Trump, on the other hand, does not believe in the scientific consensus on climate change. He has called climate change a “hoax,” and has vowed to roll back nearly every single climate policy enacted under the Obama administration, from the Clean Power Plan to the Paris climate agreement.

So it should be no surprise that, when it comes to climate change, Trump’s first five advisers also reject the scientific consensus, as well as national security community’s warnings, regarding the dangers of global warming.

[Read more…]

Native Lives Matter.

Courtesy Marlee Kanosh Button commemorating the 2012 death of Marlee Kanosh’s brother, Corey, created by the advocacy group National Unity Against Police Brutality.

Courtesy Marlee Kanosh
Button commemorating the 2012 death of Marlee Kanosh’s brother, Corey, created by the advocacy group National Unity Against Police Brutality.

There were at least eight fatal police shootings of Native Americans in October. “I’m overwhelmed,” said Marlee Kanosh, Paiute Tribe of Utah. Her Facebook page, Native Lives Taken By Police, is a source for information on police violence affecting indigenous people. With careful, respectful research and comprehensive coverage, she chronicles a terrible toll: Natives killed outright by police and those who die in custody.

The workload, which she does as a volunteer, is always heavy, but in recent weeks it has been unexpectedly worse. “I have so many deaths to look into now,” she said. “My notebooks are full. I have piles of paper everywhere.”

The number of Natives who died in October is much higher than the monthly average found in a 2016 study by Claremont Graduate University scholars Roger Chin, Jean Schroedel and Lily Rowen. They uncovered 29 deaths in a recent 15-month period, for an average of about two a month. The October police-shooting fatalities occurred around the country—one each in Washington state, Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska and Nevada, along with three in Oklahoma.

[…]

Kanosh criticized police claims that citizens should simply follow orders to survive these encounters. “We have a saying here in Utah, ‘Comply or Die—It’s Not the Law!’” Kanosh said. “What about our rights? We didn’t put up our hands fast enough? Someone instinctively pulled up his pants when cops ordered him to crawl forward on his knees? How can we possibly know exactly what’s expected of us in these horrible situations? And because we don’t, we die?”

Police need to better communicate what exactly compliance entails, according to Chin. That’s because officers in different jurisdictions may expect the public to behave in unique ways, he explained. “For example, while most academies train officers to have a driver remain inside the vehicle during a traffic stop, I discovered on a trip to Louisiana that sometimes officers want individuals to exit the vehicle in order to see better what they are doing. The public needs to know these and other expectations.”

Full story is at ICTMN. And here is a very nasty dose of reality.

Still Think It Isn’t Facism?

lm

Our right to protest is going to be taken away. We have already seen the violation of rights when it comes to protesters – in Ferguson, it was one violation after another. The same thing has happened with many Black Lives Matter protests – people were told if they didn’t get on the sidewalk, they’d be arrested. It was quite convenient for the cops, as there was no sidewalk at that particular location. Another time, cops told protesters to disperse immediately, or they be arrested. A lot of people couldn’t do that, because they came by bus, and the cops shut down the bus terminal, so guess what? Arrested. Do I need to go back over what’s been happening at Standing Rock? The constant violation of rights on the part of the protectors? It’s already bad for those who have the strength and conviction to protest. It’s already dangerous. Cops are already completely out of fucking control. Cops are already murderous. Cops already have a wealth of bigots in their ranks. Pretty sure they have a wealth of Trump supporters, too. Protests, civil disobediance, the only tools of the powerless. We may not have those tools for long.

A Republican lawmaker in Washington state has proposed a new crime of “economic terrorism” to prosecute protesters who block streets, threaten jobs or endanger public safety.

State Sen. Doug Ericksen (R) said in a statement on Wednesday that he was preparing the bill for the next legislative session, KCPQ reported. The proposal comes after thousands of protesters took to the streets in opposition to President-elect Donald Trump.

“I respect the right to protest, but when it endangers people’s lives and property, it goes too far,” Ericksen said. “Fear, intimidation and vandalism are not a legitimate form of political expression. Those who employ it must be called to account.”

Under “economic terrorism” bill, protesters would be charged with a felony if they “intentionally break the law in an attempt to intimidate or coerce private citizens or the government by obstructing economic activity.”

Ericksen said that the law would also be extended “to those who fund, organize, sponsor or otherwise encourage others to commit acts of economic terrorism.”

The so-called “accomplices” could be “required to pay restitution up to triple the amount of economic damage,” Ericksen insisted.

“We are not just going after the people who commit these acts of terrorism,” the lawmaker warned. “We are going after the people who fund them. Wealthy donors should not feel safe in disrupting middle class jobs.”

For those pushing the idiot line, how ya doing with that, “nah, everything is okay, it’s not fascism” shit now?

Full story here.

Continuing on in regard to the normalisation of said fascism, NPR has enthusiastically jumped into the fascim pond, head first.

If you are curious about how racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric, and organizations dedicated to propagating the same are able to slip into the mainstream, do yourself a favor and listen to NPR’s Wednesday morning interview with Breitbart senior-editor-at-large Joel Pollak.

NPR apparently felt the need to invite on a Breitbart mouthpiece to put in a good word for Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s newly announced senior policy adviser. Bannon previously led Breitbart, a publication beloved by the so-called alt-right, a loose coalition of white nationalists, “identitarians,” neo-Nazis, anti-Semites, racists, and misogynists who were ecstatic over Bannon’s appointment. Pollak’s segment was a master class in obfuscation and a primer on how to flip the script and turn totally justified accusations of bigotry, misogyny and anti-Semitism into “reverse racism.”

“Let’s hear a defense of Steve Bannon,” NPR host Steve Inskeep began, offering a view of exactly what direction this interview would take.

Full story here. Mainstream media just can’t wait to propagate the happy thoughts about fascism spiel. I keep having scenes from a certain Twilight Zone episode in my head.

“A real good thing. And tomorrow… tomorrow’s gonna be a… real ‘good’ day!”

Then there’s this:

“This is not the French Revolution,” Bannon said, characterizing Trump’s achievement and goals. “They destroyed the basic institutions of their society and changed their form of government. What Trump represents is a restoration—a restoration of true American capitalism and a revolution against state-sponsored socialism. Elites have taken all the upside for themselves and pushed the downside to the working- and middle-class Americans.”

Who’s Calling Who Elite?

Bannon’s revolution is being led by the very people Trump demonized in his final political ads in Rust Belt states—the elite players in American finance and media. No one epitomizes that contradiction as clearly as the billionaire Mercers, and their long embrace of Trump’s new White House strategist, Bannon, who made a fortune at Goldman Sachs and in Hollywood before taking over Breitbart.

Full story here.

The Natural Reassertion of Biology (Continuation 7).

Daryush "Roosh V" Valizadeh.

Daryush “Roosh V” Valizadeh.

The laughable manosphere’s Roosh V is absolutely giddy over Trump’s win. If you aren’t familiar with this particular asspimple, have a wander at We Hunted the Mammoth. Roosh has all kinds of ideas, but they are always bad ideas which meet failure. One of those failed ideas was an attempt to make rape legal if it happened on private property. He’s quite thrilled to have a manly macho man as his prez, a dude who also doesn’t like fat chicks. Out of passing curiosity, I wonder if Roosh has bothered to ponder what Trump’s cabinet would make of his looks and name? There’s already talk of bringing back internment camps, like those which housed American citizens who happened to be Japanese. As usual, Roosh isn’t too good at that thinky stuff.

…We now have a President who will not encourage anti-male propaganda, rape culture, and female victimhood. While I do have minor concerns on the influence of his feminist-minded daughter, Ivanka, Trump will not continue the attack on men that has been institutionalized since the sexual revolution and accelerated during the eight years of Obama. Because our current cultural dystopia is the result of intense long-term manipulation, it is more than enough for Trump to simply not touch the gender issue to allow the culture to return to a more patriarchal order. Stop feeding the rot and it will die off, allowing biology to naturally reassert itself.

Full story here.

tranny_die-800x4301-800x430

Trans woman’s car vandalized in Denver, CO (Screengrab)

A transgender woman in Denver, Colo. woke up Wednesday to find her car covered in graffiti and hate messages, including a swastika and the phrase “fag die he she.”

“I got up this morning to go to work and the car was parked a couple of doors down,” Amber Timmons told Denver 7. “I came out and was surprised to see it all covered in graffiti and hate messages.”

Timmons’ car was covered in black paint with words like “tranny” and “Trump” drawn alongside Nazi symbols. She had previously written “love trumps hate” and “not my president” in erasable marker on her windows.

Full story here.

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All the Trumpty Dumptys.

Rep. Peter King. CREDIT: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais.

Rep. Peter King. CREDIT: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais.

Rep. Peter King (R-NY) spent some time deriding people. He first spent time moaning about all the protesters, then he decided to jump all over students for their inaction. There’s repub logic for you.

“These college students. I find it incredible. I dunno what would happen if a real war ever came. You think back to the greatest generation. And now you have these people, they’re having crying sessions, giving them comfort dogs, they’re giving them group therapy, they’re giving them consolation, because they’re so upset that Hillary Clinton lost the election,” said King.

“C’mon, have some guts, have some nerve, get out there, we’re supposed to be a great country. Are these the morons we’re counting on to be leaders in the future?”

They certainly can’t be more moronic than you, sir. [Full story.]

CREDIT: AP Photo/Seth Perlman.

CREDIT: AP Photo/Seth Perlman.

The Trumpoids are busy whipping up lists of everyone they should boycott. As might be expected, it’s a long and not terribly rational list.

While many in the country are protesting and condemning Donald Trump’s election as president, his supporters (including both the alt-right and other traditional conservatives) are trying to counter with their own demonstrations. At the top of their list of targets is PepsiCo, but it’s one of only many companies some are planning to boycott for criticizing Trump or otherwise working against what they believe to be his goals.

Full story here.

Ken Blackwell, who President-elect Trump selected to lead his domestic transition CREDIT: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File.

Ken Blackwell, who President-elect Trump selected to lead his domestic transition CREDIT: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File.

Then there’s Ken Blackwell, who is determined to get rid of all that queerness, in any way possible.

President-elect Donald Trump selected Ken Blackwell, a former Ohio secretary of state who ran for governor in 2006 and was crushed by a nearly 34 point margin, to lead up domestic policy for his presidential transition team. Blackwell is also a senior fellow with the Family Research Council, which the Southern Poverty Law Center designated a hate group because of its anti-LGBT positions.

Blackwell is not exactly shy about his anti-LGBT stance. Indeed, as The Guardian’s Scott Bixby notes, Blackwell claimed during his gubernatorial bid that homosexuality is a “choice” that “can be changed.”

Full story here.

The Fascism Spin Plays On.

The signs are there if you look for them. EPA.

The signs are there if you look for them. EPA.

Saad points out that CNN is fully onboard with the normalization.

Trump is the only person elected to the top job without political, diplomatic or military executive experience. And he ran a campaign rooted in breaking the mold of the gridlocked capital city. So no surprise that Trump is already approaching his presidency in an unorthodox manner.

Unorthodox? Really, that’s what they are going to go with. Great. Absolutely nothing about how Trump is an full blown ignoramus, a fraud, a failed businessman, a criminal with court dates coming up, and an unrepentant sexual predator. Nothing about the core of white supremacy now poised to infest the white house, either, because I guess that just got lost in the glitter storm of the new reality show. And that’s what’s happening, that’s the blinder expected to blinker the American public, and unfortunately, in large part, it’s going to work.

“I am the only one who knows who the finalists are!” FFS, this gold-plated idiot is treating the presidency like it’s another reality show, where he can do whatever the fuck he likes, and a team will make sure it’s scrubbed up nice for mass consumption. If you find yourself buying this vomit, wake the fuck up. This is not normal, this is not okay, this is terrifying, and it’s a nightmare come true.

The media is busy spinning an old evil, fascism, into a brand new, exciting, “outsider” kind of thing. It isn’t any of that. It’s plain old white supremacy, it’s plain old fascism. You can pour all the glitter you want on it, it’s still rancid shit, and it’s what we are all being fed.

James McDougall has a good article up at The Conversation: No, this isn’t the 1930s – but yes, this is fascism. Highly recommended.

The spread of fascism in the 1920s was significantly aided by the fact that liberals and mainstream conservatives failed to take it seriously. Instead, they accommodated and normalised it.

The centre right is doing the same today. Brexit, Trump and the far right ascendant across Europe indicate that talk of a right-wing revolutionary moment is not exaggerated. And the French presidential election could be next on the calendar.

Yep.