ICE And The Proud Boys

 

Amanda Marcotte, writing in Salon.com, describes the relationship between ICE and the street fighting right-wing thug organization, the Proud Boys, the participants in the January 6 insurrection.  She describes them as a "fledgling community of wannabe brownshirts" and "deadbeats and losers," and describes how the zealous, cosplaying fascist leader of Homeland Security, Kristi "ICE Barbie" Noem, has adopted their style and manner.  An excerpt, but please read her entire article:

"I’m far from the first observer to notice how much ICE, under the leadership of Homeland Security Secretary — and proud dog-killer — Kristi Noem, has come to resemble the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist group founded by Gavin McInnes in 2016. As Wired’s David Gilbert wrote in response to ICE’s recent invasion of Minneapolis, the reason we haven’t seen a resurgence of the Proud Boys in Trump’s second term is that the president’s 'militarization' of ICE and 'embrace of white nationalist rhetoric' leaves the group 'without a role to play.'

ICE’s current aesthetics owe much to the Proud Boys, from the masks they use to hide their identity and their corny but racist language about 'heritage' to their attachment to the phrase 'FAFO,' which is short for 'eff around and find out.' But Kristi Noem hasn’t just changed the way ICE presents itself. The tactics the agency now uses and the ideas fueling its mission are eerily identical to the vision of the Proud Boys that McInnes laid out from the group’s very beginnings." (our emphasis)

ICE's recruitment campaign is in full swing, and it's targeting the same "losers" and "deadbeats" that populate the Proud Boys and other violent, far right-wing groups like the Oath Keepers, Patriot Front, and militia groups.  (A recent report that Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio was an ICE office has since been disputed). 

It's easy to watch the actions of ICE officers harassing and beating people from LA to Chicago to Minneapolis, and have strong memories of the Proud Boys and their ilk storming the Capitol on January 6.  They're cut from the same dirty cloth.

 

QOTD: Vance's Brand, His Wife And Erika Kirk

The always incisive Amanda Marcotte at Salon.com explores the dynamics surrounding the intimate embrace that white nationalist JD Vance shared with the widow of Charlie Kirk recently, both in relation to Vance's South Asian wife and the MAGA movement's rejection of immigrants of color.  Excerpt below, but her entire article is must reading:

"The fevered rumors have exposed not a secret affair but a political liability: Vance’s marriage is an increasingly poor fit for his political brand, which has become increasingly based on praising the virtues of white supremacy and retrograde gender roles.

In Republican politics, especially in the MAGA era, a politician’s wife is an important part of establishing his reputation as a 'real' man to a base who eschews thinking and nuance in favor of emotional reactions. Vance not only wants to be president, but he also has a well-financed machine backing him, and they will doubtless want a good return on their investment in his future. Based on the xenophobia and anti-South Asian sentiment that courses through the MAGA body politic, the vice president could be better marketed as President Donald Trump‘s successor if he had a wife who looked more like Erika Kirk.

This tension came to a head at the same event where Vance and Kirk shared their infamous hug. During a question-and-answer session, an audience member asked Vance how he navigates being married to Usha, who has not chosen to convert to his Catholic faith but instead maintains her Hindu religious heritage taught by her immigrant parents, while also identifying as agnostic. After triumphantly declaring that their three children are being raised as Christian, Vance admitted he wanted her to convert: 'I believe in the Christian Gospel, and I hope eventually my wife comes to see it the same way.'”  (our emphasis)

Marcotte nails who Vance is further on in her article, and why the unlikely rumors of infidelity persist:

"But the rumors reflect a much deeper reality that people are exactly right to perceive: Vance is a soulless striver who will sell off anything if he thought it would give him more power. We don’t have to ask if he would betray his wife and kids. He does so nearly every day by promoting a vision of America that has no room for them in it."  (our emphasis)

It's always important to remember we're not dealing with decent, normal people here. 

 

The Emergence Of Proud MAGA Bimbos

 

In her recent appearance before a Senate panel, cosplay queen and dog executioner Kristi "ICE Barbie" Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, responded to a question by Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) to define "habeas corpus."  Noem responded with a definition that was the un-Constitutional opposite of the true definition, but one which must have pleased her audience of one, the Malignant Fascist.  Here's Amanda Marcotte, writing in Salon.com, on the "MAGA bimbo act" that many MAGAt women have adopted to please their cult leader:

"There was much mockery of Noem for being so dumb in mainstream and left-leaning media, but notably, neither Noem nor her allies have shown any shame or defensiveness about her alleged mistake. Whether Noem comes by her confusion honestly or she was just play-acting, she's there to play the role of the proud MAGA bimbo, in the grand tradition of figures like Sarah Palin. The MAGA bimbo isn't just ignorant. She's contemptuous of people who actually know what they're talking about, especially if those facts-laden human beings are fellow women.

In the world of MAGA, stupidity is a badge of honor for both sexes, but the heads of women need to be thoroughly empty. Book learning, in MAGA-land, is for lesbians and cat ladies. Intelligence gets in the way of the true duties of MAGA womanhood: keeping up your highly artificial appearance and, crucially, defending the man you serve with your whole heart and soul. Especially if said man, in this case Donald Trump, is himself dumber than a box of rocks. It's so much easier to be a yes-woman for such a man if you turn your own brain off completely."  (our emphasis)

In the cult of the Malignant Fascist, his social orbit includes countless bimbos with their Mar-a-Lago faces who appear at the MF's estate dressed in provocative dresses, hair and makeup mimicking that of Melanoma Melanie Melania Trump's, but with even more Botox, fillers and facelifts (see, bimbo exemplar Kimberly Guilfoyle, whose over-the-top bimbo look proved to be too much even for Junior). They're single women looking for a wealthy boyfriend, wives of donors, and politicians like Noem seeking to inherit the MAGA mantle.

As Marcotte points out, the figure of the dumb bimbo is comforting to men who aren't bright themselves, because it makes them feel smarter. That's certainly the pattern of the dim MF, who stalks women before grabbing them sexually, assured that they won't object because he sees so many of them as bimbos.  Sadly, so many of them would have no problem with that.

(photo: via Jon Cooper)

 

The Malignant Loser's Clean-up Guy Messes Up

As the ticket mate to the lying, delusional and hate-filled Malignant Loser,  his mini-me JD "Junior Demagogue" Vance has an important job: to try to clean up after him. Not only has he not been good at that job, he's succeeded in making matters worse for his cult leader. Amanda Marcotte, writing today in Salon.com, explains:

"The term 'sanewashing' was coined to describe the bad habit of journalists who rewrite Trump's rambling nonsense into sentences that make sense, but for Vance, it's a full-time job. When Trump insisted that Vice President Kamala Harris 'happened to turn Black,' Vance went on clean-up duty, saying it 'was an attack on Kamala Harris being a chameleon.' It was a lie — Harris has always identified as Black — but it was coherent. When Trump mocked Congressional Medal of Honor recipients because they're 'either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets—or they’re dead,' Vance insisted he only saw 'a guy who loves our veterans and who honors our veterans. ' [snip]

...despite Vance's mastery of noun-verb agreement, he's not doing great at making Trump seem less weird. That's because Vance is quite weird himself, especially about cats, a previously unremarkable popular species of pet. First, there were all the clips of him ranting about 'childless cat ladies,' which Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., memorably called the 'incel platform.' Now he's pivoted to lying, repeatedly, about Haitian immigrants in his state of Ohio, falsely accusing them of eating cats. Vance even admitted it's a lie on national television, telling CNN's Dana Bash, 'If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do.'"  (our emphasis)

Right on cue, he's trying to "create stories" that Vice President Harris and Dems are at fault for the recent assassination attempts on the Malignant Loser for calling out his toxic policies and language. It's a howler to think that the Malignant Loser avoids violent and bigoted language. As Joe Scarborough noted this morning, Vance is gaslighting his cult leader's behavior and rhetoric and expecting us to swallow it. It's a sign of how desperate they are not only to grift off of the assassination attempt but to flip the script by claiming the attempted attacks are caused by Dem rhetoric. 

(photo: The pooper and the scooper)

Has MTG Reached Her Expiration Date?

 

Fascist Georgia Representative and Russian stooge Rep. Marjorie Taylor Traitor Greene's stupendous flop this week, when her call to vacate the Speakership and oust Christofascist Speaker Mike "MAGA Mike" Johnson failed, may have spelled the end of her reign as the House's most influential nihilistic arsonist. Only 11 MAGAts joined Greene in the lopsided vote to remove Johnson. Salon's great Amanda Marcotte looks at Greene's failure:

"....there was nothing sad about watching Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., faceplant on live TV late Wednesday. Earlier in the day, it seemed that Greene was backing off her ongoing threat to move to oust Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La. Republicans in Congress repeatedly made it clear to Greene that there was no chance of success if she tried this. Not only did most Republicans oppose her efforts, but even most Democrats were ready to block her motion. Even Donald Trump, the not-so-secret actual leader of House Republicans, issued condescending social media posts warning her this 'will negatively affect everything!'"

With boos raining down on her from both sides of the aisle when she introduced the measure, Greene angrily denounced the united front as the "uniparty." Marcotte notes that the huge bipartisan vote rejecting Greene's proposal wasn't out of any love for Johnson by the Dems:

"No, this was more about Republicans and Democrats joining hands to tell Marjorie Taylor Greene to take a seat already. As former editor-in-chief of The Bulwark Charlie Sykes told MSNBC after Greene's failed motion, one doesn't have to like Johnson to enjoy this moment. This is about Greene 'basically reaching her expiration date.' 

Greene's belief that she is a major power player who can force the GOP to bend to her will didn't come out of nowhere. It wasn't that long ago that her conspiracy theory-heavy brand of MAGA trolling made her a rising star in the GOP. Her unique ability to 'trigger' liberals made her a sought-after guest on right-wing media outlets and a powerhouse fundraiser for the party." (our emphasis)

No doubt she'll use the "uniparty" accusation to raise funds for her most radical companions, but her influence beyond that has been badly damaged, even as Republcans hold a razor-thin margin in the House and she'd still be able to inject more chaos into its operations. Marcotte concludes:

"With so many terrible things happening in politics, it's nice to see this particular chicken coming home to roost. Greene is emblematic of the empty-headed fascism Trump has brought to life in American politics, where "leadership" is about trolling to build up a politician's brand, and responsible governance is the furthest thing from their minds. But by making herself a right-wing celebrity who doesn't care much about policy, Greene painted a target on her back. There's much to be gained, for Democrats and Republicans, by throwing her overboard, and little to be had in keeping her around. She's in a safe district, so it's possible — likely even — Greene sticks around in Congress for many more years yet. But her relevance just took a big blow she may never recover from."

With Greene's influence diminished, other MAGAt understudies will step to the front to take up her arsonists' torch, only to burn themselves. Only a House with a healthy Dem majority will serve to curb them.

(photo: J. Scott Applewhite / AP)

 

QOTD: Trump's "Fake Love" Fundraising Con

 

Amanda Marcotte, writing in Salon.com, explores the "love letters" that the Malignant Loser sends to his cultists in the form of fundraising letters. The manipulation of his gullible goobers to suck money out of their pockets is based on making them feel loved by the Malignant Loser -- often in psychosexual terms -- who wants their "love" back in the form of contributions. Excerpts from her excellent article:

"When I think about Donald Trump, I usually visualize Larry ‘Lonesome’ Rhodes, Andy Griffith’s character in Elia Kazan’s 1957 film “A Face in the Crowd.” Rhodes is a master manipulator, the embodiment of the wrongness of mass media and consumerism, and a fake populist everyman.

But Donald Trump is also many other things. Like other fascist leaders, demagogues, and 'great men of history' he is a symbol more than a human being. For his MAGA people and other followers, Trump is a messiah. He is a force for vengeance and destruction. And as I have explained before, he is also their teacher, preacher, father figure and a type of lover.

When I think of the shapeshifter Janus-faced Trump now, I see him more like Robert Mitchum in the iconic role as Rev. Harry Powell, with his knuckles tattooed with the words love and hate, in Charles Laughton’s 1955 film 'Night of the Hunter.' As proof of Trump’s so-called love for his MAGA people, he is sending out wave after wave of fundraising emails where he literally tells them, repeatedly and in different ways, how much he 'loves' them." (our emphasis)

Marcotte then quotes some of the unctuous and narcissistic emails that the Malignant Loser has sent out to his worshipful cult. She continues:

"These 'love' emails (of which there are many) are also a demand from Donald Trump – and a way for him to get the narcissistic fuel he desperately craves as an apparent malignant narcissist and megalomaniac with a god complex – for love and loyalty in return… and of course money.

Ultimately, Trump’s use of fake love is a way for him to manipulate his followers and their deep need for validation, meaning, affirmation, community, and belonging in a society where loneliness and social atomization are a public health emergency. As others have observed, Trump’s political rallies fulfill that function as a type of church tent revival, traveling roadshow carnival, and fascist family reunion and bacchanal." (our emphasis)

The quote dubiously attributed to P.T. Barnum that "there's a sucker born every minute" is what the Malignant Loser is counting on for his continued survival, financial and political.

 

QOTD: On MAGA Petulance And Insecurity

 

Amanda Marcotte, writing in Salon.com, about the perpetual MAGA grievance machine perfected by the Malignant Loser, and bobbled by the vanquished Ron "Meatball" DeSantis:

"It's always wild hearing MAGA millionaires and billionaires curse the 'elite,' a group that is mostly composed of people who make a lot less money than they do: adjunct college professors, freelance writers, creative professionals, and progressive activists. But it makes more sense when viewed in light of the intellectual insecurities of people like DeSantis. 'Liberal elite' is just a gussied-up way of complaining about being rejected by the Cool Kids. It's channeling rage at people who think you can't be that smart if you got beat by a guy who keeps forgetting Barack Obama is not the president. 

That's the great irony in this: DeSantis and his ilk imagine they are fierce warriors sticking it to a 'liberal elite' who shunned them. In reality, though, they are just submitting to Trump, an imbecilic bully who responds to self-important book-readers by shoving their heads in toilets. Petty authoritarians like DeSantis and Musk set out to show those liberals who's boss, by running for president or buying Twitter. All too often, however, their efforts end in even more pointing and laughing from the same people who already make them feel inadequate."  (our emphasis)

DeSantis' pathetic endorsement of the man who slandered and defamed him and his wife over the past year puts him among the "fierce warriors" like Ted "Cancun" Cruz, Marco "Li'l Marco" Rubio and others who prove to be insecure cowards with no principles or character behind their tough talk.

 

QOTD -- Not The Dating Kind

 

"It's an amusing truth that comes up with regularity: Men who love Donald Trump struggle on the dating market. This is neither surprising nor regrettable. Supporting Trump is much like refusing to bathe, blowing your nose in your hands or farting loudly on purpose. It's a repugnant habit that makes you repulsive to normal people. The whole point of dating and marriage is to find happiness, not to spend the rest of one's days suffering in silence while the racist you live with cackles over Greg Gutfeld's latest hateful diatribe disguised as 'comedy.' [snip]

"But of course, women's happiness is not actually the concern of the Washington Post editorial board. The more serious argument comes from their insistence that cross-political marriages will help save the nation from 'the Trump-era divisions' and social ills stemming from men's misogyny. Basically, it's a gussied-up version of the classic 'Beauty and the Beast' fantasy, where a woman's love can turn the brute into a prince. It's cruel on its face to expect women to give up their own happiness in hopes they can turn a redhat into a better man through patience and love. But it's also a false hope. It's hard enough to get anyone to change their minds about politics. Trying to get men who already think women are inferior to listen to their liberal wives is a joke..." -- Amanda Marcotte, in Salon, writing why "It's a good thing women won't date Trump voters," an opinion in opposition to a brain- dead, misogynist editorial (no link!) in the fast- declining Washington Post that essentially urges women to overlook political objections and give those Trumpers some lovin'.  Marcotte's response in full is a great response and well worth the read.

(Photo: Ladies, these dreamboats can be yours, if you behave! / Getty Images)

Sex And The Single Right-Winger

 

Amanda Marcotte has an interesting article today at Salon.com, where she looks at the right-wing's increasingly bizarre fascination with sex in a weird way. From her article:

"The radicalism of the right is growing as the GOP careens swiftly towards nominating Trump as their presidential candidate, despite his 91 felony indictments in four jurisdictions. But, as anyone who has studied cults can tell you, they never limit their escalations to violence or hateful ideologies. There's almost always a weird sexual component, as cult leaders come up with ever stranger rules and regulations to control the sexual expression of their followers.

The MAGA movement is no different. The cult-like following of Trump always had an unsettling mix of incel-inflected misogyny, coupled with a homophobia that is somehow also homoerotic. But it's been rapidly getting worse in recent months. Even more frightening is how determined they are to inflict their sexual hang-ups on the rest of the country."  (our emphasis)

She zeros in next on Fox News clown Greg Gutfeld, whose "humor" has become as funny as a heart attack. His recent musing that elections don't matter and that "civil war" is the remedy demonstrated that his veneer of a comedian is just that, a veneer masking his sociopathic authoritarian leanings. He's one of many that Marcotte expertly dissects. More:

"Sexual control, especially of women, is largely fueled by notions about 'breeding' future generations, especially to look a certain way that racists want them to. Normalizing violence against women is part of that scheme, since, as fascists long have understood, women often don't go along voluntarily. 

Because this is so weird, it's tempting to ignore it as the chattering of a fringe group of men are still mad they didn't get laid in college. But that would be a mistake, and not just because some of those men have become wildly powerful." (our emphasis)

Like Chief Twit Elon Musk, who has become an idol to all of the misogynist incels that populate the far right world of manchild losers and wannabe studs. It's a thoughtful article and well worth the read.

 

QOTD -- "Tell The Story Of Trump In Jail"

 

Amanda Marcotte, writing today in Salon about the need to make the Malignant Loser finally feel the consequences of arrogantly tampering with witnesses in his various criminal cases:

"It wasn't long ago that the possibility of charging and indicting Trump for his numerous alleged crimes was routinely shrugged off as a #resistance fantasy. Anonymous FBI agents have told the Washington Post that higher-ups refused to entertain the idea of investigating Trump's role in the Jan. 6 insurrection until the House select committee held public hearings and shamed them into it. Now Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith has two criminal cases against Trump headed to court, one for the coup attempt and one for stealing classified documents. Willis filed a whopping racketeering indictment against Trump and 18 other alleged conspirators this week. The 'unimaginable' can become reality. Trump is not physically impervious to justice. That imaginary protective shell around him is the result of choices of those in power, and it's time for those people to make different choices. 

Whether this is strategic or just the result of a sociopathic need to test boundaries, Trump's rapidly escalating violations of every court order are already shaking the mainstream certainty that locking him up is out of the question. Prominent legal experts have actually observed that it's the only real remedy for a defendant this badly out of control."  (our emphasis)

The entire article is well worth reading. The Malignant Loser is counting on his past record of successfully flouting laws, customs and boundaries to serve him in his latest role as both criminal defendant and Presidential candidate (of course, his "candidacy" was manufactured by his legal problems). Many will go along with the Malignant Loser's fake aura of invincibility and find excuses why this thuggish con man can't be jailed for violating court orders. As Marcotte notes, those in power have to make different choices about cracking that imaginary protective "shell" around him.

(image: An image long hoped for)

Pence Paying For Years of Republican Lies

It's not easy to pin down when the Republican / Forced Birth / Christofascist party adopted lying as a political tool. Sen. Joseph McCarthy certainly did in his commie witch hunt of the early 1950s, followed by Richard "I'm Not A Crook" Nixon and his operatives, and Ronald Reagan and his racist and culture war dog whistles to the Christofascist right. The most recent product and exemplar of their lying culture is the most notorious one of all: the Malignant Loser. His running mate Mike "Fly Guy" Pence immersed himself in that culture for decades, and Amanda Marcotte at Salon.com has a detailed review this morning of how that history has come back to haunt him. From her opening paragraphs:

"When Trump sold the Big Lie about President Joe Biden stealing the 2020 election to his voters, he was building on decades of Republican devotion to disinformation-fueled propaganda. Starting at least in the 80s, if not earlier, a culture of lying took root in the Republican Party. There were corporate-friendly lies about everything from cigarettes to climate change. The Christian right pushed lies about evolutionary biology and sexual health. Right-wing media normalized conspiracy theories, like Donald Trump's birther campaign harassing Barack Obama for his long-form birth certificate. Pence was an eager member of the liar corps of the GOP from the get-go.

When so few Republican politicians have to reap any of what they sowed, it's nice to see at least one of them brought lower by the immoral culture he cultivated.

Even by the GOP's low standards, Pence spent his career as an especially dishonest operator. He even did his time as a Rush Limbaugh-knockoff in the 90s, hosting an AM talk radio show in Indiana, where he would frequently rail on about how adulterers had no right to be in political or military leadership. Of course, he would later be the vice president for the most unapologetic adulterer in America's political history." (our emphasis)

Her article goes on to cite specifics of Pence's Republican-style devotion to lying to achieve political ends. Now that he's a candidate running against the most shameless and prolific liar in American political history, he's forced to occasionally tell the truth, or better, a watered-down version of it, to differentiate himself from his former boss. That doesn't go down well with the Malignant Loser's cult, who form the Republican base and decide who gets the nomination. As Marcotte concludes:

"It would be one thing if Pence had renounced his lying ways and was reckoning with how his own disinformation laid the groundwork for the Big Lie. But either he's too stupid or cynical — likely, a bit of both — to think about how his own contributions to the GOP culture of lying made Trump possible. Now Pence has to squirm, as Republican voters voice feelings of betrayal that Pence finally found a line he wouldn't cross. It's a pleasure knowing that Pence will finish his political career hated by everyone across the political spectrum. It's far less punishment than he deserves, of course. But when so few Republican politicians have to reap any of what they sowed, it's nice to see at least one of them brought lower by the immoral culture he cultivated."  (our emphasis)

Indeed. 

(photo: Bullshit attracts flies. NBC News)

 

QOTD: Oath Keepers Were Just Playin' With You

 

Writing about the seditious conspiracy trials now underway in Federal Court, Salon's Amanda Marcotte notes the sudden turn by the fascist paramilitary Oath Keepers from macho to meek to duck responsibility for the January 6 violent Trumpist insurrection:

"The defendants are charged not just with trespassing or trying to obstruct an official proceeding, like so many of the insurrectionists before them. They are facing the more serious charges of seditious conspiracy, so the extent of serious planning matters. To prove the charges, the prosecutor needs to show not just that the defendants stormed the Capitol, but that they conspired together to overthrow the government. The defense wants to convince the jury that the Oath Keepers happened to be in Washington D.C. for reasons other than insurrection, arguing that they only stormed the Capitol because they got swept up in the moment. [snip]

They said the thing and did the thing, so it seems like the prosecution would have an open-and-shut case, right? But there's a good reason the defense thinks an 'it was just talk' argument will work. Conservative white people generally get a generous benefit of the doubt when it comes to determining whether they really mean the terrible things they say. Like Donald Trump dismissing it as "locker room talk" when he was caught bragging about sexual assault, the presumption of innocence for conservative white people is so robust it's often extended even in the face of overwhelming evidence. 

Evidence uncovered by both the January 6 committee and the various federal prosecutions of insurrectionists has demonstrated this. Both the FBI and the Secret Service received tips in the weeks before the insurrection, indicating there were people planning to storm the Capitol, but those tips were ignored. During the Oath Keepers trial, prosecutors revealed the FBI was specifically tipped off about this particular alleged conspiracy, but that tip was also ignored. While there may have been more sinister reasons for the Secret Service to blow off the tips, mostly it seems that law enforcement was oblivious. They simply didn't take seriously the possibility that all this online chatter was building toward real violence. They assumed people were just playing around."  (our emphasis)

There's probably never been a more convincing case for seditious conspiracy than the one being prosecuted by the Justice Department against this un-American group, given all the videos, text messages, speeches and other hard evidence of intent, planning, and execution. That won't stop these cowardly, delusional traitors from attempting to claim it was all just "macho" talk. Now that the Justice Department has the goods on the foot soldiers, they need to go after their Commanding General.

The Great (Republican) Replacement Theory

The seeds of the latest mass murder by a right- wing white nationalist in Buffalo were planted years ago and continue to grow, encouraged by an entrenched subculture of racism and fascist violence.  Here are some thoughts on the killer and his motivators:


Amanda Marcotte, Salon:

The alleged shooter who killed 10 people and injured three others in a Buffalo supermarket is 18-year-old Payton Gendron, who appears to have target a busy location in a predominantly Black neighborhood. As has become far too common with these kinds of mass murders, Gendron reportedly live-streamed the massacre on video, and apparently also published a manifesto that echoes many of the paranoid right-wing talking points one can hear every day streaming from the mouths of Fox News hosts and Republican politicians: a series of scurrilous lies about "critical race theory," George Soros and the "great replacement."

Now a familiar refrain will commence. No doubt we will be hear a great deal of umbrage in the coming days from Republican leaders and right-wing pundits. "How dare you blame us?" they will proclaim, in almost hysterical terms, acting shocked, shocked, that anyone would suggest that their words have had horrible consequences. The point of this fake outrage will be to make it too emotionally exhausting to hold them accountable, and to reinforce the ridiculous victim complex that fuels the American right as it increasingly slides into fascism. But let's not mince words: These folks share the blame. They have been encouraging violence, and violence is what they got.

Erika D. Smith, Los Angeles Times:

[R]oughly 3 in 10 [Americans] think additional immigration will cause native, presumably white, Americans to lose their economic, political and cultural influence.

Unsurprisingly, Republicans are more likely than Democrats to share these views, according to the poll. One reason is that irresponsible conservative pundits keep touting the “Great Replacement” theory as an explanation for everything from the loss of manufacturing jobs in the Midwest to a spike in deaths from overdoses among white people addicted to painkillers.

As Tucker Carlson said on Fox News last April: “I know that the left and all the little gatekeepers on Twitter become literally hysterical if you use the term ‘replacement,’ if you suggest that the Democratic Party is trying to replace the current electorate, the voters now casting ballots, with new people, more obedient voters from the Third World. But they become hysterical because that’s what’s happening, actually.”

It’s a lie, and it’s ridiculous and it’s dangerous, especially in the era of social media. [snip]

What’s clear is we can’t keep treating acts of white supremacy as one-off crimes committed by supposed lone wolves suffering from mental health problems. We also can’t keep giving a pass to conservative pundits and Republican politicians who directly or indirectly encourage adherence to the “Great Replacement” theory or any other tenet of racism or extremism."

Talia Lavin, Rolling Stone:

Once you understand an obsession with racial composition and white fertility to be the driving engine of Republican politics, a number of seemingly disparate movements begin to fit together into an ugly whole. Some aspects are obvious: The anti-immigrant movement that has seen U.S. refugee admissions at historic lows and asylum seekers marooned in purgatorial camps in Mexico continues to dominate the right-wing airwaves. Historic levels of gerrymandering are ensuring that a diversifying populace remains beholden to the views of a white minority — alongside openly antidemocratic restrictions on voting and changes in election administration.  [snip]

When the rhetoric of an entire movement devolves into Manichaean demonization of their political foes; when demographic shifts are represented as apocalyptic; and when a party can appeal to nothing but the consolidation of white power, it is an inevitability that such rhetoric will leave bodies in its wake. The Republican Party caters chiefly now to those who claim that to be born the wrong color is an act of genocide, and act with appropriate fervor. There has never been a lone wolf when it comes to racist terror in the United States; it suffuses every aspect of our politics and policy, and in latter years the mass howl of fear at change comes from a jaw that drips with blood. As long as we fail to recognize the wellspring of racial animus that animates the right wing in this country, the corpses will continue to accrue. 

 

Eugene Robinson, Washington Post:

What we need to talk about is how politicians and thought leaders on the right are using the vile poison of replacement theory to further their own selfish ends — garnering campaign donations and votes, boosting television ratings, achieving fame. And we need to talk about how most of this demagoguery is coming from people who should know, and probably do know, that what they are telling potential killers, such as Payton Gendron, the man in custody after the Buffalo shooting, is complete fiction. [snip]

The replacement-theory grifters know that they are stoking the anxieties some White people feel about the nation’s increasing diversity. They also know that they are playing with tropes that have long been popular among unapologetic white supremacists, including those who infamously marched through Charlottesville bearing torches. And they must realize by now that some impressionable White people will take this rhetoric seriously — and act on it.

The accused Buffalo killer took pains to choose a location where he knew the victims would be people of color. Blame him for what he did. But also blame the prominent right-wing voices that egged him on. 

They're not "lone wolves," as Lavin explains above.  We must not let these murders and the murderers pass without understanding who and what they are, and in what poisonous political muck they have taken root.

BONUS:  More here, here, and here. 

Sabotaging The Fight Against COVID

 

Amanda Marcotte, laying it on the line at Salon.com:

"As Greg Sargent of the Washington Post pointed out last week, 'After having gone to great lengths to impair our response to covid at best, and to actively sabotage it at worst, Republicans will claim the covid resurgence is only the fault of President Biden and Democrats.' While there are some people still telling themselves it's impossible that the same people who backed Trump would do something this slimy, it's been evident for some time now that Republicans are running the same playbook on Biden's efforts to end the pandemic that they did on Barack Obama's efforts to heal the country during his presidency: Sabotage the effort and pin the blame for the continued misery on the president and his party. [snip]

Perhaps the outrage over the vaccine mandate is real, but not because of 'freedom' or any of the other empty excuses Republicans are hiding behind. It's because Biden is messing with their 2022 midterm strategy. If this mandate works and brings COVID-19 under control, it blows up GOP plans to run on claims that Democrats 'failed' to end the pandemic. Never mind that it's Republicans who are actually to blame for discouraging vaccination. These folks are willing to kill thousands of Americans a week in a bid to get a political advantage over Biden, so they're not going to be constrained by the moral imperative to be honest."  (our emphasis)

We've already seen the likes of Florida's thuggish and reckless Gov. Ron "One Glove" DeSantis blame the raging Delta variant in his state on President Biden, when DeSantis has done everything to sabotage the fight against the virus. Other reckless Republican governors are following the plan: no to vaccinations and masks and then blame President Biden for the virus' surge.

Marcotte notes further that Republican opposition to Biden's mandates runs counter not only to public opinion, but to their allies in the business community who want a return to "normal". For now, as long as their Trumpist cult remains motivated and angry, Republican political hacks' sabotage and lying will continue. But it may finally get their attention when their donors in the business community hold off on contributing to them as they fight a return to "normal." Time, and mounting cases of COVID, will tell.