Proud Boy assholes got a little taste of resistance yesterday in New York.
Mar 27, 2023
Today's Tweet
Remember, don't explain to schoolchildren that they're in danger of being massacred in class because of @NRA's stranglehold on Congress, because that would be Critical Gun Theory, discussion of which has been banned under a new @GOP bill to eliminate "divisive" ideology. pic.twitter.com/IUlzfCyaSQ
— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) March 27, 2023
About That Waco Rally
A few things
Why is Donald Trump holding the first rally of his 2024 campaign in Waco, Texas, on Saturday?
There’s a little history there that you may recall.
The Branch Davidians were led by David Koresh and were headquartered at Mount Carmel Center ranch in the community of Axtell, Texas, northeast of Waco. In 1993, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) obtained a search warrant for the compound from a federal judge, as well as arrest warrants for Koresh and other members of the group. There was evidence the group was stockpiling illegal weapons and had explosive devices.
The planned execution of the search warrant was disrupted when Koresh’s brother-in-law, a mail carrier, learned of the search from a reporter who, tipped off to the search warrant, stopped him to ask for directions to the compound. By the time federal agents arrived to execute the warrant, the Branch Davidians were armed and on alert. A gunfight broke out—each side subsequently accused the other of starting it. Four ATF agents and six Branch Davidians died.
Next, there was a siege that lasted for 51 days, from February 28 to April 19. Federal agents attempted to negotiate with Koresh to end the standoff or at least to permit the children inside to leave. Koresh refused. Ultimately, then-Attorney General Janet Reno approved the use of tear gas to force the Branch Davidians out of their compound. Agents went in on April 19, 1993. The compound became engulfed in flames—how and who was responsible has been the subject of dispute.
- snip -
Despite the evidence, there has always been controversy, with Davidians claiming federal agents were responsible...
By the end of the effort to end the standoff, 76 Davidians, including Koresh, 25 children, and two pregnant women, were dead.
- snip -
Over the past three decades, Waco has become a touchstone for far-right anti-government, Christian-nationalist white supremacists who likely know little about the Branch Davidians and their motivations. And here is Trump, holding a rally on their sacred ground to launch his 2024 campaign right in the middle of the 30th anniversary of the siege. Going to Waco sends a clear message to anti-government groups, and it should send one to the rest of us as well. It’s too important to miss. Trump is willing to embrace far-right extremism, and everything it brings along with it, to restore himself to power.
That means embracing violence...
I asked my former boss, Alabama’s former Senator Doug Jones, who prosecuted members of the KKK responsible for the racially motivated 1963 bombing at 16th Street Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four young girls, about Trump’s upcoming rally. I asked if he was concerned about what Trump’s appearance in Waco during the 30th anniversary of the siege could encourage groups or individuals to do, since Waco has taken on major significance for people in anti-government movements and militia groups. “Of course,” he told me. “Trump is the master of dog whistles, whether it is his rhetoric or photo ops. Waco is a wonderful city, but for the far-right fringe that Trump caters to, an appearance by Trump can be a call to arms. Not action—arms.”
- snip -
Donald Trump’s niece Mary Trump has a unique vantage point for assessing what the choice of Waco for his opening rally might signal. She has a PhD in clinical psychology and, before his presidency, when they parted ways, the unique access to observe her uncle that only family members have. I asked Mary whether the former president’s decision to go to Waco for his first rally in the 2024 campaign could be just a coincidence. This was her response:
Branch Davidian Pastor Says Trump Is Making A ‘Statement’ With Waco Rally
In choosing Waco, Texas, as the setting of what he calls the first rally of his 2024 campaign, former President Donald Trump raised some eyebrows.
- snip -
This week, a pastor with the group, Charles Pace, told multiple outlets he believes that Trump’s choice to rally in Waco was definitely “a statement” as the former president awaits possible criminal charges.
- snip -
Trump is “making a statement, I believe, by coming to these stomping grounds where the government, the FBI, laid siege on this community just like they laid siege on Mar-a-Lago and went in and took his stuff. That’s what they wanted to do here, they wanted to come in and take the guns and everything,” Pace told Texas Tribune reporter Robert Downen.
Pace made similar comments to The New York Times, saying that the FBI was “accusing [Trump] of different things that aren’t really true, just like David Koresh was accused by the FBI.”
The Times noted that Pace had spoken highly of Trump in his sermons, calling him “the anointed of God.”
Trump Rally Sees 'Quite a Few' Leave Early Despite Large Crowd: Report
Former President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Waco, Texas, Saturday saw "quite a few" of his supporters leave early despite drawing a large crowd, according to local media.
Thousands of Trump supporters flocked to the first rally of his presidential campaign in the Lone Star State, a traditionally conservative state viewed as potentially competitive in the 2024 race, Saturday night. During the rally, Trump addressed looming indictments in several investigations and hit out at his potential Republican opponents, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Trump supporters have viewed the rally as a substantial show of support from his voter base, as polls show him as the favorite to snag the GOP nomination, despite concerns from some Republicans about his electability. His supporters have pointed to the large crowd size as evidence of his ongoing popularity among conservatives.
However, Waco Tribune-Herald journalist Mike Copeland reported that "quite a few fans did not last" until the end of the rally.
"About 30 minutes into the rally, the crowd began to thin, with people getting a head start on the walk back to the parking lots, designated and otherwise," the report reads. "Several leaving early said they accomplished what they wanted to achieve by showing up for the rally, enduring traffic and long lines. Some said after hours on the tarmac, they were tired, hungry or both and wanted to get home."
Others, however, pointed out that Trump still brought in a substantial crowd.
"In case the mainstream media tries to tell you no one showed up to Pres. Donald Trump's Waco rally. You be the judge," tweeted Daniel Baldwin, a reporter for the right-leaning One America News Network, alongside a video showing thousands of Trump supporters in the crowd before the rally.
"No other GOP candidate or would be candidate could pull this crowd hours before a rally. The polls reflect the momentum, and Trump is leading BIG," tweeted GOP consultant Garret Ventry.
The exact number of attendees was not known Sunday evening, and Newsweek reached out to Waco police for comment. The rally comes after some Trump critics have questioned whether he could still draw massive crowds.
Trump, during his 2016 and 2020 presidential bids, held a series of large rallies for his supporters across the country, and he has often boasted about his ability to bring in large crowds. He also held rallies in support of his endorsed candidates prior to the 2022 midterms, but Saturday's was the first since he announced his presidential bid last November.
Following Trump's speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican who supported Trump's previous presidential bids, suggested his lack of presidential rallies could be due to his alleged inability to draw a large crowd earlier in March.
"You saw the scenes at CPAC. That room was half-full," Christie said.
- I don't know for sure that Trump is a Christo-Fascist White Supremacy Asshole. I do know that an awful lot of Christo-Fascist White Supremacy Assholes are pretty sure he is one, so all he has to do is whistle, and they come a-runnin'
- That whistle's getting very loud again
- The reason for the louder whistle may be that fewer people are willing to rally to him because they're not as willing to accept being perceived as Christo-Fascist White Supremacy Assholes as they were just a few years ago
We can hope that some peer pressure is kicking in, and while we can't expect any big shift to "the left", at least it seems more people are pulling back away from the cliff's edge.
There’s a little history there that you may recall.
The Branch Davidians were led by David Koresh and were headquartered at Mount Carmel Center ranch in the community of Axtell, Texas, northeast of Waco. In 1993, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) obtained a search warrant for the compound from a federal judge, as well as arrest warrants for Koresh and other members of the group. There was evidence the group was stockpiling illegal weapons and had explosive devices.
The planned execution of the search warrant was disrupted when Koresh’s brother-in-law, a mail carrier, learned of the search from a reporter who, tipped off to the search warrant, stopped him to ask for directions to the compound. By the time federal agents arrived to execute the warrant, the Branch Davidians were armed and on alert. A gunfight broke out—each side subsequently accused the other of starting it. Four ATF agents and six Branch Davidians died.
Next, there was a siege that lasted for 51 days, from February 28 to April 19. Federal agents attempted to negotiate with Koresh to end the standoff or at least to permit the children inside to leave. Koresh refused. Ultimately, then-Attorney General Janet Reno approved the use of tear gas to force the Branch Davidians out of their compound. Agents went in on April 19, 1993. The compound became engulfed in flames—how and who was responsible has been the subject of dispute.
- snip -
Despite the evidence, there has always been controversy, with Davidians claiming federal agents were responsible...
By the end of the effort to end the standoff, 76 Davidians, including Koresh, 25 children, and two pregnant women, were dead.
- snip -
Over the past three decades, Waco has become a touchstone for far-right anti-government, Christian-nationalist white supremacists who likely know little about the Branch Davidians and their motivations. And here is Trump, holding a rally on their sacred ground to launch his 2024 campaign right in the middle of the 30th anniversary of the siege. Going to Waco sends a clear message to anti-government groups, and it should send one to the rest of us as well. It’s too important to miss. Trump is willing to embrace far-right extremism, and everything it brings along with it, to restore himself to power.
That means embracing violence...
- snip -
I asked my former boss, Alabama’s former Senator Doug Jones, who prosecuted members of the KKK responsible for the racially motivated 1963 bombing at 16th Street Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four young girls, about Trump’s upcoming rally. I asked if he was concerned about what Trump’s appearance in Waco during the 30th anniversary of the siege could encourage groups or individuals to do, since Waco has taken on major significance for people in anti-government movements and militia groups. “Of course,” he told me. “Trump is the master of dog whistles, whether it is his rhetoric or photo ops. Waco is a wonderful city, but for the far-right fringe that Trump caters to, an appearance by Trump can be a call to arms. Not action—arms.”
- snip -
Donald Trump’s niece Mary Trump has a unique vantage point for assessing what the choice of Waco for his opening rally might signal. She has a PhD in clinical psychology and, before his presidency, when they parted ways, the unique access to observe her uncle that only family members have. I asked Mary whether the former president’s decision to go to Waco for his first rally in the 2024 campaign could be just a coincidence. This was her response:
“It’s clear to me that the decision to hold Donald’s next rally in Waco, TX, during the 30th anniversary of the FBI siege of the Branch Davidian compound is entirely intentional. I doubt it was Donald’s idea—more likely Stephen Miller or somebody of his ilk made the connection. I think this is a signal that they don’t have to hide anything anymore. Much like David Koresh and his followers, Donald and his followers are an apocalyptic, anti-government cult. And they’re coming for us.
“The pattern has been established over decades—Donald pushes the envelope, his transgressions are overlooked, he pushes the envelope further. This week, after he manipulated the entirety of the American media to do his bidding, Donald took to social media to warn of widespread violence if the rule of law were upheld and he was finally, at long last, indicted. He used vile racist and anti-Semitic tropes and charged images to threaten the life of the New York District Attorney who dares hold him accountable—according to the law. Openly declaring war on the government he hopes once again to lead by appealing to the most violent, self-destructive instincts of those who continue to enable him is the next logical step.”
- more -
Branch Davidian Pastor Says Trump Is Making A ‘Statement’ With Waco Rally
In choosing Waco, Texas, as the setting of what he calls the first rally of his 2024 campaign, former President Donald Trump raised some eyebrows.
- snip -
This week, a pastor with the group, Charles Pace, told multiple outlets he believes that Trump’s choice to rally in Waco was definitely “a statement” as the former president awaits possible criminal charges.
- snip -
Trump is “making a statement, I believe, by coming to these stomping grounds where the government, the FBI, laid siege on this community just like they laid siege on Mar-a-Lago and went in and took his stuff. That’s what they wanted to do here, they wanted to come in and take the guns and everything,” Pace told Texas Tribune reporter Robert Downen.
Pace made similar comments to The New York Times, saying that the FBI was “accusing [Trump] of different things that aren’t really true, just like David Koresh was accused by the FBI.”
The Times noted that Pace had spoken highly of Trump in his sermons, calling him “the anointed of God.”
- more -
Meanwhile - over on the Not So Bad News front:
Former President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Waco, Texas, Saturday saw "quite a few" of his supporters leave early despite drawing a large crowd, according to local media.
Thousands of Trump supporters flocked to the first rally of his presidential campaign in the Lone Star State, a traditionally conservative state viewed as potentially competitive in the 2024 race, Saturday night. During the rally, Trump addressed looming indictments in several investigations and hit out at his potential Republican opponents, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Trump supporters have viewed the rally as a substantial show of support from his voter base, as polls show him as the favorite to snag the GOP nomination, despite concerns from some Republicans about his electability. His supporters have pointed to the large crowd size as evidence of his ongoing popularity among conservatives.
However, Waco Tribune-Herald journalist Mike Copeland reported that "quite a few fans did not last" until the end of the rally.
"About 30 minutes into the rally, the crowd began to thin, with people getting a head start on the walk back to the parking lots, designated and otherwise," the report reads. "Several leaving early said they accomplished what they wanted to achieve by showing up for the rally, enduring traffic and long lines. Some said after hours on the tarmac, they were tired, hungry or both and wanted to get home."
Others, however, pointed out that Trump still brought in a substantial crowd.
"In case the mainstream media tries to tell you no one showed up to Pres. Donald Trump's Waco rally. You be the judge," tweeted Daniel Baldwin, a reporter for the right-leaning One America News Network, alongside a video showing thousands of Trump supporters in the crowd before the rally.
"No other GOP candidate or would be candidate could pull this crowd hours before a rally. The polls reflect the momentum, and Trump is leading BIG," tweeted GOP consultant Garret Ventry.
The exact number of attendees was not known Sunday evening, and Newsweek reached out to Waco police for comment. The rally comes after some Trump critics have questioned whether he could still draw massive crowds.
Trump, during his 2016 and 2020 presidential bids, held a series of large rallies for his supporters across the country, and he has often boasted about his ability to bring in large crowds. He also held rallies in support of his endorsed candidates prior to the 2022 midterms, but Saturday's was the first since he announced his presidential bid last November.
Following Trump's speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican who supported Trump's previous presidential bids, suggested his lack of presidential rallies could be due to his alleged inability to draw a large crowd earlier in March.
"You saw the scenes at CPAC. That room was half-full," Christie said.
Playin' The Old Favorites
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WACO, Texas — In the first big rally of his 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump didn’t dwell on the symbolism of speaking in Waco amid the 30th anniversary of the deadly siege there that still serves as a right-wing cri de coeur against federal authority.
He didn’t have to.
This speech, like so many of his speeches, was a mix of lies, hyperbole, superlatives, invectives, doomsaying, puerile humor and callbacks to old grievances — messaging that operates on multiple levels.
Some of his followers hear a call to arms. Some hear their private thoughts given voice. Others hear the lamentations of a valiant victim. Still others hear a wry jokester poking his finger into the eye of the political establishment.
In attacking Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida — a likely rival for the Republican nomination — for perceived disloyalty, Trump invoked a former Tallahassee mayor, Andrew Gillum, who ran against DeSantis in 2018. A year and a half later, Gillum was found in a Miami Beach hotel room with what reports called “a reputed male escort and suspected methamphetamine.”
But those facts weren’t enough for Trump, who turned up the sensationalism, calling Gillum a “crackhead,” getting a laugh from the crowd.
It’s a standard part of Trump’s routine: Comedians aren’t bound by the truth — or the sensitivities of race, gender and sexuality — after all. To get laughs, they’re granted license to engage in all manner of distortion, and that’s what Trump does.
In fact, Trump’s entertainment quotient doesn’t get nearly as much attention and analysis as it deserves. His supporters like him in part because of the irreverence he brings to the political arena.
He called Stormy Daniels “horse-face” and said that if he’d had an affair, she would “not be the one” — a remark not only crude and sexist, but one that belies the reality that more than a dozen women have accused him of sexual improprieties.
Remember: Before Trump, when national politicians were of the more traditional variety, a man commenting on a woman’s looks, even in an attempt to flatter, was rightly off limits. A decade ago, when President Barack Obama jokingly called Kamala Harris the “best-looking attorney general in the country,” he was so roundly criticized that he was forced to apologize.
But when Trump disparaged Daniels, the crowd cheered him on.
Trump is the Andrew Dice Clay of American politics, appealing to machismo, misogyny and mischief — a type of character that’s a constant in American culture.
Clay himself was just a darker version of characters from 1970s pop culture, like Danny in “Grease” and Fonzie in “Happy Days.” And they were just bubble gum-and-giggles versions of characters played by James Dean in the 1950s.
Trump took an American archetype and added horror, actual political power and a potentially empire-ending ego. His humor and audacity are often part of the narrative of the American folk hero, a status Trump has attained among his followers.
Indeed, the atmosphere outside of Saturday’s rally, on a beautiful spring day, felt like tailgating before a concert.
This is part of what makes Trump so dangerous. For some, the extreme fandom creates community. For others, Trump worship could inspire violent fanaticism, as we saw on Jan. 6, 2021.
It’s a formula, and among die-hard Trump fans, it works. But, as the charm of the formula fades, it may also prove to be Trump’s Achilles' heel. He’s stuck in a backward-facing posture when the country is moving forward. Instead of vision, Trump offers revision.
Trump is still exaggerating old accomplishments, re-litigating a lost election and marking enemies for retribution. He’s stuck in a rut.
He has an obsession with enemies, personal, real or perceived. He needs them, otherwise he’s a warrior without a war.
All the while, the Republicans around the country looking for someone new, arguably led by DeSantis, have moved on to their own war, a new war, a culture war.
It’s not focused on them personally, but on using parental fears to further oppressive policies. While Trump disparaged minorities on a national level — civil rights protesters, immigrants and Muslims — today’s Republicans have started to codify oppression on a local level.
They provide legislative bite for Trump’s rhetorical bark. They’re what Trumpism looks like without him, what intolerance looks like when you dress it up and make it dance.
They’re the vanguards of the ridiculous war on wokeness. But this isn’t Trump’s lane. It’s not his invention. And his pride resists a full embrace of it.
Trump spoke for about an hour and half on Saturday, but mostly saved the culture-war rhetoric for the end, threatening an executive order to cancel funding to schools that teach critical race theory, “transgender insanity” or “racial, sexual or political content.”
It was a sweeping threat, but even there he promised to do it through easily reversible executive dictate rather than through more sturdy legislative mechanisms.
Trump had a moment. He won an election (even if it came with Russian connections and James Comey’s bad judgment). And for four years, the proverbial inmates ran the asylum. But that time has passed. Trump hasn’t moved, but the ground beneath him has shifted.
After Trump’s speech, I went back to listen to his first speech after announcing his candidacy in 2015. The tone and themes were strikingly similar. He hasn’t grown much, personally or politically, since then. He’s more sure of himself and more vulgar, but narcissism is still his engine.
Ultimately, if his legal issues don’t do him in, his inability to grow beyond nostalgia and negativity could.
Being the personification of a television rerun, a horror comedy with retro reference, isn’t a match for this moment. This is not 2016.
To Reiterate
Knowing you voted for Trump -
and that you've supported the whole
America First and MAGA thing -
is like knowing you fucked my dog.
You can say you're sorry,
swear you'll never do it again,
I can forgive you,
and we can move on.
But that doesn't change the simple fact
that you were going around
fucking
people's
dogs.
Mar 26, 2023
Today I Learned
"The lost secrets of the ancients" is kind of an all-time favorite fantasy for an awful lot of people. I can admit having been sucked into that shit back when I was maybe 20 years old, reading Von Daniken's collection of fairy tales in Chariots Of The Gods.
And while you have to be careful not to lose your sense of wonder, and the willingness to believe there may be something way bigger than anything you've been taught before, you do have to grow up, and you do have to apply a little healthy skepticism to everything people are telling you.
Because people will fool you. Because people know we all want to be fooled some of the time.
We go to 'magic shows'.
We pay 20 bucks to watch 2 hours of super heroes prancing about in their PJs doing impossible things.
We go to church.
The willing suspension of disbelief is a warm and fuzzy thing in a world of harsh realities.
It's important to stay open to new ideas. It's important-er to check things out. ☯
Today's Tweet
Narcissism and Authoritarianism are hand-in-glove.
He makes a point of saying he doesn't like using the word 'stupid', and then he calls people stupid - because, like all egocentric self-obsessed assholes, he's deathly afraid people will recognize him for the empty suit that he is, so he acts out and attacks everybody everywhere all at once (see what I did there? 👀 )
Donald Trump on his mental competency test: "I aced it...It was after that that nobody called me stupid anymore." pic.twitter.com/avst1a9joh
— Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) March 26, 2023
Dissent In Russia
I just hope the guy doesn't get slammed too hard.
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