Coming To A Head

I'm reminded of the scene in Gandhi when the government of South Africa is struggling to "control" the population.

(paraphrasing):

"They can fire me from me job. They can arrest me. They can torture me. They can beat me to death. At which time they'll have my dead broken body. But they will never have my obedience."

45* is doing what that kind of dishonorable asshole always does - he's occupying Smarmspace, looking for the part where "it doesn't say specifically that I can't do it, so that's what I'm gonna do."

WaPo:

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and President Trump were engaged in an escalating contest over control of Washington streets when the email from a military planner set off new alarms in the mayor’s office.

The official was seeking guidance Wednesday afternoon for the U.S. Northern Command in determining “route restrictions” for the “movement of tactical vehicles” and “military forces” from Fort Belvoir, Va., into the city to assist in “Civil Disturbance Operations.”

To Bowser’s aides, the request smacked of an imminent escalation in the federal force Trump had marshaled to quell the large street demonstrations over police brutality near the White House — the centerpiece of his bid to project the image of a strong leader who would establish “law and order” where local leaders had failed across the nation. Days earlier, Trump had falsely accused Bowser (D) in a tweet of refusing to allow D.C. police to assist in crowd control in Lafayette Square.

“The last time they asked us about that was in preparation to move tanks to the city for the Fourth of July” celebration last summer, said one D.C. government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private request. “We don’t want it to happen.”

- and -

During a news conference Thursday, Bowser said she was alarmed by the growing presence of federal security authorities in the city and declared she wants federal “troops from out of state” kept out of the District. She also expressed concern that the Trump administration's move to extend security barriers beyond the White House perimeter to encircle Lafayette Square, closing it to the public, could become permanent.

“Keep in mind that’s the people’s house,” she said. “It’s a sad commentary that the [White] House and its inhabitants have to be walled off.”

There's a bad feeling of "crossing the Rubicon" in all of this. Caesar entering the city at the head of his army signals the collapse of the republic.

Today's Juice

These plucky Aussies:

Relax

The kind of magic that can only happen at sea.

COVID-19 Update

It's sneaking up on us - with the big population centers showing improvement, it looks like that improvement is generalized. But the states where people are more spread out are showing an upward trend that is of real concern.

As long as the growth rates are north of 1, we're still on track for that growth to be exponential.

Kimmel

Jimmy Kimmel has some of the best video people anywhere.

Stay with this at least til about 6:00.

Daddy State Update

Daddy State Awareness - Rule 1:

Every accusation is a confession.

In an attempt to inoculate yourself from criticism, you can always preemptively accuse "the other side  of doing what you're planning to do (even if the other side doesn't actually exist), which gives you a potent combo - Straw Man plus Projection.

The Right Radicals love to pimp the big scary "AntiFa" boogeyman. Just as they love pimping the Caravans and the gun-grabbers and Sharia Law and and and.

Fuck that shit - we have to be smarter than that.

HuffPo:

The Proud Boys want the public to believe that they’re a “drinking club” who only resort to violence to defend themselves from anti-fascist protesters during political rallies.

But in private, these extremists have discussed injuring and even killing their adversaries, plotting tactics and optics for months in order to assert a claim of self-defense should they face charges.

According to private chat logs obtained exclusively by HuffPost, the punch-happy, pro-Trump street gang was particularly excited for its “Resist Marxism” rally, scheduled for April 6 in Providence, Rhode Island. With the right plan of attack, members said, this one could put them back on the map.

The group had been floundering ever since 10 of its members were arrested for assaulting protesters outside a GOP event in New York City last year. Their leader, Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes, reportedly arranged for his followers’ surrender.

In the chats, covering a time period between February and March of this year, members claimed they needed a conclusive “win” this time around, which they defined as a bloody battle against “antifa” in Providence. If this brawl were bigger and more violent than previous iterations, they might regain some of the street cred and followers they’d lost.

“We’ll grow this group of patriots and we’ll never back down,” wrote the event’s organizer, Proud Boys member Alan Swinney, in the private chat messages. “If we win, it will make more patriots come to the next rally. We just need to go there and we’ll beat them. We’ll have enough to crush them at some point.”

The piece goes on

The Proud Boys repeatedly acknowledged that their plans could get them in trouble.

“I advise all of you to only speak in terms of self-defense and never speak of premeditated violence,” wrote a man who identified himself as Kyle “Based Stickman” Chapman, an extremist who has previously been convicted of violent felonies and is known for his attacks at rallies and repeated parole violations, among other crimes.

He added: “I could be liable for what happens in Providence. So please stop making it easy for these people to prosecute us by putting threats of violence in writing that can be used against us later.”

Few seemed to listen, and leaders like Swinney had to attempt damage control on a regular basis.

- and -

In an interview, Swinney corroborated the authenticity of chat screenshots HuffPost showed him and said he personally agreed with statements about “smashing commies” like Mastrostefano’s.

“He specifically said ‘when the time comes,’” Swinney told HuffPost, adding later: “When the time comes, and the order is given, I’ll do whatever it takes to stop these people. The constitution is the greatest document of freedom ever written. I’ll give my life to defend it if nessicary [sic].”

NURPHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES Proud Boy Alan Swinney at a rally.

Swinney also confirmed that the Proud Boys had been planning another rally in Providence, which they hoped to hold June 1, but which now appears to be on the rocks if not canceled. He said he wouldn’t be going due to his personal monetary woes, which he blamed on “the left, SPLC and feds.”

Ed Note:

I can find no reports of a Proud Boys rally in June 2020

Today's Beau

Justin King - Beau Of The Fifth Column

And Cult45 is fund raising on the fear (because of course they are - it's what they do). 

They're pimping the AntiFa angle again.

COVID-19 Update

Top 20 States

Today's Tweet

This guy wins the intertoobz today.

TALK THAT TALK YOUNG BROTHER pic.twitter.com/yO6PFODzcN

— yung≠jinwoo ❼ (@Lofisadvibe) June 2, 2020

Today's Turnaround

There's a sales technique called The Turnaround. It's used to put a little good spin on something the prospect may be seeing as a negative. For sales people who ply their trade honorably, it's just a way to make a point, but it can be manipulative and dishonest - as is often the case when politicians get hold of it.

Anyway, instead of:

"It's horrible that another innocent black man was killed, but destroying property has to stop."


Try turning it around:

"It's horrible that property is being destroyed, but killing innocent black people has to stop."

Check your privilege 

Keep the priority straight