“Violence On Both Sides”

*Note- I wrote the majority of this piece immediately following the capitol insurrection, and but was unsure whether I needed to add to the conversation. Now though, after Senate’s cowardice and failure to convict former president Trump during his impeachment trial, it seems sadly appropriate. Many of the same lawmakers engaging in bad faith equivocation here, ended up failing in their duty to the county this week.

There has been some debate in the media over the correct terminology to be used in describing the actions at the US Capitol on January 6^th, but there need not be. We witnessed a coup attempt. A fascist coup attempt, and like all fascist coup attempts in their early stages, it was as buffoonish as it was cruel and terrifying. This group was at the capitol to intimidate and coerce the lawful governing body of the United States into overturning the results of a free and fair election, in order to allow an authoritarian leader to remain in power. It’s a story we’ve seen play out all over the world time and time again: an authoritarian leader is democratically elected and then consolidates power and never leaves. We are lucky in many ways, that Trump was such an incompetent authoritarian, but even though the coup was a resounding failure, the cost is vast. Four people are dead, and the symbolic damage is incalculable.

This insurrectionist action was finally a fascist demonstration so clear that even the GOP has had to take notice. Indeed, some of the very congresspeople and senators who helped perpetuate this ridiculous fantasy of a “stolen election” were forced to decry the actions of the mob, but only when the full weight of public judgement lay upon their shoulders.

Now, condemnations of the insurrectionists abounded the next day, and even the president took the airwaves to limply read a speechwriter’s hollow plea for unity. But still, sprinkled among these castigations, were the beginnings of spin and denial – seeds of bullshit planted by many of the same legislators who had spent the last 2 months indulging the president in his fantasy, hardening an alternative reality for his followers — Matt “it was actually AntiFa” Gaetz, I’m looking at you — but that’s not all that bothered me.

As I watched more of the impeachment debate on the house floor than is probably healthy for anyone’s blood pressure or mental state, I kept seeing the same thing again and again. GOP house members would publicly decry the coup attempt, and then, in the same breath, use their time to remind us that they were against “all violence” and had spoken out against the BLM protests in the summer. They would make sure to erase all nuance, and paint both a single fascist coup attempt, and a months’ long movement against police brutality with the same brush. They would probably say I’m being uncharitable, and that they were just objecting to the violent element in each movement equally. This is an intellectually bunk, nonsense thing to do, and it bothers me that none of the Democrats called this out.

First of all, if someone did theoretically object to all uses of violence in all circumstances on a philosophical basis, i.e. if someone is a pacifist, I have no issue with this argument. It can be a difficult position to defend, but it is logically and morally consistent and honest. The congressional GOP on the other hand, are not a caucus of pacifists. They, for example, routinely vote to fully fund the most expensive military in the world, tend to support hard-line “law and order” style policing, and most still support the death penalty. So, to say that any of these lawmakers have a deep moral objection to the use of violence writ large would be ridiculous.

An argument could be made that Republican lawmakers are simply acting in their role to legitimize the state monopoly on the use of violence, but I think even this argument is quickly muddied with the consideration of support for “stand your ground” laws and the like, and the kind of messaging they routinely direct at supporters. No, it is simple. Republican congresspeople do, of course, view violence contextually, as most of us do. With that understanding, these equivocations are, at best, lazy or, at worst, a knowing oversimplification to fit an agenda.

Since the GOP have forced this comparison, the association will remain in the public consciousness, so we must now interrogate its validity.

For the purposes of this discussion, we will define violence narrowly, in the manner it seems to me the GOP intend the word used, as intentional physical harm, or the threat of such harm, inflicted by an individual. It’s a pretty self-serving definition, that conveniently side steps any consideration of systemic violence and attempts to frame the actions of the individual without wider context, but as we noted earlier, unless we’re taking to pacifists, it’s impossible to erase context form the discussion completely.

Is a punch to the face a moral action in vacuum? It’s impossible to say, because no such punch exists. We need to know the context. What happened before the punch? If I punch someone because I don’t like their face, most people would agree that is not a great justification for the use of violence, but if alternatively, I punch someone as a last resort attempt at preventing this hypothetical person from engaging in even more heinous violence, many would call that justified. Of course, reality does not exist on this binary either, but let us examine the context of each group and see if an equivalency can reasonably be drawn.

The George Floyd protests that erupted around the country, and even internationally, over the summer were a response to a visceral and heinous act of direct violence. A white police officer pressed his knee into the neck of a prone and constrained black man, George Floyd, for what we now know was more than nine minutes. The officer, Derek Chauvin, did not relent even as Mr. Floyd, and bystanders at the scene, begged for his life. This was irrefutable. A morbidly perfect microcosm of the continually ignored intersection of race and police brutality in America caught on camera. It should be no surprise that so many Americans stood up and said “Not this time. Enough is enough.”

The protests that followed were the most widely attended in American history and varied in their nature and impact. More than 93% were completely peaceful, and when protests did turn violent, it appears it was most often in response to militarized police violence or instigated by agent provocateurs[1]. Surely some of the property damage was unprovoked, and I am not here to interrogate vandalism as acceptable or useful avenue for direct action, that is another discussion, but to paint that action as a central part of the movement, or an explicit goal of the demonstrations, as a whole, would be disingenuous.

Now, as we have already discussed, January 6^th was an entirely different story. For at least some of the insurrectionists, the siege on the capitol was a planned action, as reporters who follow right-wing extremist organizing online had been warning for weeks.[2] It’s clear from the tactical gear, weapons, and restraints brought by the some of the participants that violence was the explicit goal of some. The gallows built on the capitol lawn and cries of “hang Mike Pence” only made that clearer.[3]

Furthermore, the actions of January 6^th were a single action, not a country-wide movement, and were not in response to legitimate grievance, to fully documented act of brutality, but in support of a conspiracy theory with no evidence.[4] A conspiracy that attempted invalidate the results of a legitimate presidential election and keep a strongman authoritarian in power. A coup attempt. A stupid, bumbling coup attempt, but one nonetheless.

So was there violence on both sides? Yes. What does that tell us? Nothing on its own. On the one hand, we had desperate struggle for safety and equality in response to centuries of subjection and sparked by full recorded act of direct brutality, a struggle that rarely, but sometimes turned directly violent in response. The other hand, we had a last tantrum thrown by angry losers in support of a lie — a lie perpetuated by some of the same people who want to draw an equivalency here.

So anytime you see a politician in the United States, home of the largest military in the world, decry “all the violence,” and attempt compare these events on equal ground, remember: They are lying to you, manipulating you. They do not respect you or your intelligence, and you should not respect them. We can do better. We must do better.

[1] https://acleddata.com/2020/09/03/demonstrations-political-violence-in-america-new-data-for-summer-2020/

[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/02/10/when-did-jan-6-rally-become-march-capitol/

[3] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/10/hang-mike-pence-twitter-stops-phrase-trending-capitol-breach

[4] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/technology/dead-voters-pennsylvania.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/us/politics/voting-fraud.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/technology/no-proof-maiden-names-vote.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/technology/postal-worker-withdraws-claim-that-ballots-were-backdated-in-pennsylvania-officials-say.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/technology/no-dominion-voting-machines-did-not-delete-trump-votes.html

An Impassioned Plea from an Unenthusiastic Biden Voter

We are about a week away from election day at this point and I doubt anyone who is going to vote is still undecided, but purely as a navel gazing exercise in organizing my own thoughts, I will present some cases for why voting for *groan* Joe Biden is something you should really, probably do. Please view the paragraph relevant to your self-identification. Don’t read the other ones, ok? Don’t be greedy. Seriously, let’s start this relationship out with trust. Please? Ok great. Oh wait! One more thing really quick. I mentioned this to the Libertarians, but since I know the rest of you are being good and only reading your assigned section, I’ll say it here as well. No matter where you stand politically, you should be advocating for ranked choice voting in you community, especially if you feel frustrated by the two choices presented by the major parties this year. Great, so you’ll do that, right? Awesome.

Liberals and Center left

Hey! I don’t need to convince you of anything. It’s your boy Joe! Just please, don’t take this election for granted. I know the polls are looking rosy for the time being, but remember what happened in 2016, and let’s not get complacent. Vote early if your state does that. Don’t wait. Make a plan, check on your friends and family, and make sure they are voting early as well. Let’s help each other out get this done.

Centrists/Apolitical

Let me just say out front, it’s great to speaking to all four of you still left. Look, I know you guys are kind of freaked out right now, and that’s fair, because Donald Trump is a walking human shaped black hole of chaos, so let’s get him out of here ok? Then you can go back to not having to think about this stuff. Maybe you’ve heard some snippets from conservative friends about how the Democrats are “socialists” now and that scares you too, well worry not! Joseph R. Biden is one of the most milquetoast politicians currently (mostly) alive. Not even a vaguely social democratic policy to be found here, so you can feel secure in your right to pay for health insurance so you can pay again for treatment, and to know that some oil company is fracking somewhere. Super neat stuff. So anyway, if you want to put brakes on the crazy train and turn back the clock to a more “normal,” and most importantly civil, version of the status quo, Biden is your best bet by far.

Progressives and Leftists

Cooler, smarter people have made this argument better than I have and I will link them at the end of the article, but my argument has the advantage of being shorter and currently sitting in front of your eyeballs.
Ok, listen, I don’t like him either. He barely placed above Bloomberg near the bottom of my candidate power rankings. You don’t need me to rehash all of his myriad personal failings, checkered political career, or uninspiring platform. I’m not saying to forget all that stuff, because we all need to continue the work of pushing the party left towards policies that will actually begin to address the perfect storm of crises currently facing humanity, but it will be easier to push the Dems than the GOP. I understand the strategic power of threatening to withhold a vote in order to move the platform to the left, and frankly you can tell your cool edgy communist friends that you wrote in a candidate, or voted third party, or only voted down ballot (I won’t tell, I swear), but you need to vote now for the sake of harm reduction. I know it sucks, but what is the alternative? Not voting is a dereliction of the tiny amount of power we still have in this country (at least for now) and helps no one. It’s an invisible and ineffective protest. You’re not an apathetic person. You care, I know, and the only other active option would be armed revolution, which, let’s be real, will not succeed in the US unless you suddenly had thousands of armed allies and the sympathies of the military, which, unless I’m mega out of the loop, I assume you do not. All the goatee’d white dudes with big guns and bigger trucks hate us, after all. Also, and I know this is super uncool, I have a hard time betting the very real and irreplaceable human lives of thousands without a super strong plan, or at least a guarantee that all other options have been exhausted. Look, you are right to be concerned that the Democrats will be complacent and drift back to the center with ole’ Joe in the driver’s seat, but it’s clear that the progressive wing of the party has the ideas and energy. We have the young candidates and the young voters. Again, what’s the alternative? The Republicans’ policies are an active threat to, like, all the things: The Supreme Court, our basic democratic institutions, our POC and LGBTQ+ comrades, undocumented people living in the US (which, need I remind you, include literal children in concentration camps) and even the continued existence of humankind through climate change inaction. I’ll level with you guys, if Trump ignores a Biden victory and refuses to step down, then it’s definitely time for direct action. A general strike would the most effective action, and we should be prepared for that. But for now anyway, please vote, for your local Democrats and for Biden, who sucks, and then go right back to doing the real work.

Conservatives

This is the hill you want to die on? This one? Really? This dude is the worst.

Ok, sorry. Came of a little heated there. Let’s be real, we probably agree on fundamentally very little. It’s ok, I’m not trying to hide my biases here, but Donald J Trump is a uniquely shitty person. I don’t know you, but I can all but guarantee you are a better person in almost every conceivable way. For example: have you ever had real empathy or love for another human being or small woodland creature outside a purely mercenary desire to use that person or other living organism to advance yourself in some way? I bet you have. Boom, you are already a better person. Have you consistently upheld your boring civic and life obligations like paying taxes and not fucking over your plumber when he tried to collect on the $200 you owe from that time he pulled a four square inch mass of Ralphie’s hairballs out of the toilet? Nice. That’s the basic level of human decency. Let’s raise the bar. Have you ever created or even just managed a business with basic competency? Sweet! You are a more successful entrepreneur than Donald Trump. And finally, have you ever been accused of sexual misconduct by a group of people that numbered fewer than 25? Bam! You are less of a gross sexual predator than Donald Trump. Were none of your accusers children? Wow you are looking great compared to Mr. Trump. If you don’t believe me, I would point to literally any of the publicly available information on Donny’s very public business and personal life both in the three decades prior to his political career and during it. Don’t worry, I’ll link some nice summaries for you.

Is that the guy it’s worth throwing away our international reputation, and shattering our democratic norms for? That guy? The guys no other Republicans wanted? The guy who half the party condemned publicly during his campaign in 2016? The guy who’s had the greatest turnover of any White House staff ever because people can’t stand to work with him? The guy that has a major disdain for the democratic process and lies constantly about everything?

Look, I’m not going to convince you on policy, philosophy, or world view, that’s too a long conversation to even attempt to have here, but hear me out. The Republicans control The Senate. The Supreme Court is controlled by conservatives 6-3. You guys have the power, and Biden is a uniquely boring candidate. I guarantee he won’t enact any of the scary socialist legislation Trump accuses him of supporting. Trust me I wish he would, but Joe Biden would be a center right or right-wing candidate in most other developed countries. Let a boring a Democrat sit there for 4 years and Mitch McConnell will once again stop any legislation from passing like he did with Obama, and then you can run a different boring white man with better hair in 4 years. Otherwise, I hope you really like Trump, because that’s what you’re going to have again and again going forward, and you may not get a say in the matter next time.

Libertarians

You’re voting for Jorgenson right? I thought so. I would recommend advocating for Ranked Choice Voting in your local and state elections so third-party candidates can have a better shot to shake things up, and you can have a second-choice vote if she loses. Also, while I have your attention, I know you don’t like the government telling you what to do, so may I recommend: A N A R C H I S M.

Conspiracy Theorists/ Q- Anon

I FOUND A DOCUMENT THE GLOBALISTS DON’T WANT YOU TO READ!!! WAKE UP TO THE TRUTH SHEEPLE!!!!
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0147905

Far Right

Kindly eat my whole ass. Thanks.

Sources and Links

Cooler people than me making the progressive/leftist case for Biden
Some More News- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAyljtELZ8k
Contrapoints- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3Vah8sUFgI&t=12s
Chomsky- https://the.ink/p/noam-chomsky-wants-you-to-vote-for

The Dollop’s excellent 300th episode on Donald Trumps life up to 2017 compiled a great list of sources for the claims I’ve made and more about his life. It is reprinted below.

· Brenner, Marie. “After The Gold Rush: Unfortunately for Donald and Ivana Trump, all that glittered wasn’t gold. But the reign of New York’s self-created imperial couple isn’t over yet. Donald’s Midas touch may be tarnished, but the banks are still throwing money at him, while Ivana is busy brokering a future of her own. Marie Brenner reports on how the Trumps are still going for it all.” Vanity Fair. (September 1990) https://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2015/07/donald-ivana-trump-divorce-prenup-marie-brenner

· Calabresi, Massimo. “What Donald Trump Knew About Undocumented Workers at His Signature Tower.” TIME (August 25, 2016) http://time.com/4465744/donald-trump-undocumented-workers/

· Laughland, Oliver. “Donald Trump and the Central Park Five: the racially charged rise of a demagogue.” The Guardian. (2016) https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/17/central-park-five-donald-trump-jogger-rape-case-new-york

· Newland, Bryan. “Donald Trump and Federal Indian Policy: ‘They Don’t Look Like Indians to Me’” Turtle Talk. (July 25, 2016) Originally accessed at: https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/politics/donald-trump-and-federal-indian-policy-they-dont-look-like-indians-to-me/ Accessed on 9/21/19 at: https://turtletalk.blog/2016/07/25/donald-trump-and-federal-indian-policy-they-dont-look-like-indians-to-me/

· Tanfani, Joseph. “Trump was once so involved in trying to block an Indian casino that he secretly approved attack ads.” Los Angeles Times. (June 30, 2016) http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-anti-indian-campaign-20160630-snap-story.html

· Singer, Mark. “Trump Solo” The New Yorker. (May 19, 1997) https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1997/05/19/trump-solo

· Rohan, Tim. “Donald Trump and the USFL: A ‘Beautiful’ Circus.” Sports Illustrated. (July 12, 2016) https://www.si.com/mmqb/2016/07/11/donald-trump-usfl-new-jersey-generals-owner

· Stuart, Tessa “A Timeline of Donald Trump’s Creepiness While He Owned Miss Universe: From walking into a teen dressing room to joking about his obligation to sleep with contestants, Trump’s a storied pageant creep.” Rolling Stone. (October 12, 2016) http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/timeline-of-trumps-creepiness-while-he-owned-miss-universe-w444634

· Nussbaum, Emily. “The TV That Created Donald Trump: Rewatching ‘The Apprentice,’ the show that made his Presidency possible.” The New Yorker (July 24, 2017) https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/07/31/the-tv-that-created-donald-trump

· Cassidy, John. “Trump University: It’s Worse Than You Think” The New Yorker. (June 2, 2016) https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/trump-university-its-worse-than-you-think

· Stuart, Tessa “Meet the Trump University Teacher at Center of Class-Action Suit. Tad Lignell’s mentorship experience provides a peek inside the program and how it was run.” Rolling Stone. (June 3, 2016) http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/meet-the-trump-university-teacher-at-center-of-class-action-suit-20160603

· Kranish, Michael and Robert O’Harrow Jr. “Inside the government’s racial bias case against Donald Trump’s company, and how he fought it.” The Washington Post. (January 23, 2016) https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-the-governments-racial-bias-case-against-donald-trumps-company-and-how-he-fought-it/2016/01/23/fb90163e-bfbe-11e5-bcda-62a36b394160_story.html?utm_term=.71faa39cf127

· “Donald Trump Fast Facts” CNN (July 4, 2013; updated September 4, 2019) http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/04/us/donald-trump-fast-facts/index.html

· Mahler, Jonathan and Steve Eder. “‘No Vacancies’ for Blacks: How Donald Trump Got His Start, and Was First Accused of Bias.” The New York Times. (August 27, 2016) https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/28/us/politics/donald-trump-housing-race.html

· Schwartzman, Paul and Michael E. Miller. “Confident. Incorrigible. Bully: Little Donny was a lot like candidate Donald Trump.” The Washington Post. (June 22, 2016) https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/young-donald-trump-military-school/2016/06/22/f0b3b164-317c-11e6-8758-d58e76e11b12_story.html?utm_term=.1c87d743380f

· Dean, Michelle. “Making the man: to understand Trump, look at his relationship with his dad. The art of understanding The Donald is in demand right now. His relationship with his father helped shape him – but they’re not as alike as you’d think.” The Guardian (March 26, 2016) https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/26/donald-trump-fred-trump-father-relationship-business-real-estate-art-of-deal

· Filthy Staff. “Donald Trump Playboy Interview.” Filthy. (2016) https://filthy.media/donald-trump-playboy-interview

· Schanberg, Sydney H. “Opinion: New York; No Foreigners Need Apply” The New York Times. (Aug. 2, 1983) http://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/02/opinion/new-york-no-foreigners-need-apply.html

· Mahler, Jonathan. “Tenants Thwarted Donald Trump’s Central Park Real Estate Ambitions.” The New York Times. (April 18, 2016) https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/19/us/politics/donald-trump-central-park-south.html

· Rozhon, Tracie. “A Win by Trump! No, by Tenants!; Battle of the 80’s Ends, With Glad-Handing All Around.” The New York Times. (March 26, 1998) http://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/26/nyregion/win-trump-no-tenants-battle-80-s-ends-with-glad-handing-all-around.html

· Burns, Sarah. “OP-ED: Why Trump Doubled Down on the Central Park Five.” The New York Times. (Oct. 17, 2016) https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/18/opinion/why-trump-doubled-down-on-the-central-park-five.html

· Boburg, Shawn. “Donald Trump’s long history of clashes with Native Americans” The Washington Post. (July 25, 2016) https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/donald-trumps-long-history-of-clashes-with-native-americans/2016/07/25/80ea91ca-3d77-11e6-80bc-d06711fd2125_story.html?utm_term=.961ed5b0c8f5

· Kurtzleben, Danielle. “Here’s The List Of Women Who Accused Donald Trump Of Sexual Misconduct” NPR (October 20, 2016) http://www.npr.org/2016/10/13/497799354/a-list-of-donald-trumps-accusers-of-inappropriate-sexual-conduct

· Landers, Elizabeth. “White House reiterates Trump’s claims that his sexual harassment accusers lied.” CNN. (October 28, 2017) http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/27/politics/trump-sexual-harassment-white-house/index.html

· Bullock, Penn. “Transcript: Donald Trump’s Taped Comments About Women.” The New York Times. (October 8, 2016) https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/08/us/donald-trump-tape-transcript.html

· Williams, Tanya Young. “Donald Trump’s Hair Mystery Solved: He had Scalp Reduction Surgery.” Huffpost. (February 4, 2017) https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trumps-hair-mystery-solved-he-had-scalp-reduction_us_58966965e4b061551b3dff8a

· Bloom, Lisa. “Why The New Child Rape Case Filed Against Donald Trump Should Not Be Ignored.” Huffpost (June 29, 2016; Updated Jun 30, 2017) https://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-bloom/why-the-new-child-rape-ca_b_10619944.html

· Jones, Arthur. “REPORT: 12-Year-Old Trump Rape Victim ‘Maria’ Alive and Talking” IR.net Independent Reporter. (July 20, 2017) Originally accessed at: http://ir.net/news/politics/126409/report-12-year-old-trump-rape-victim-maria-alive-talking/ Accessed on 9/21/19 at: https://web.archive.org/web/20170810185853/http://ir.net/news/politics/126409/report-12-year-old-trump-rape-victim-maria-alive-talking/

· Gerstein, Josh. “Woman suing Trump over alleged teen rape drops suit, again.” Politico. (November 4, 2016) https://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/donald-trump-rape-lawsuit-dropped-230770

· In the United States District Court; Southern District of New York. JANE DOE, proceeding under a pseudonym, Plaintiff v. DONALD J. TRUMP and JEFFREY E. EPSTEIN, defendants. Complaint For Rape, Sexual Misconduct, Criminal Sexual Acts, Sexual Abuse, Forcible Touching, Assault, Battery, Intentional and Reckless Infliction of Emotional Distress, Duress, False Imprisonment, and Defamation. Case 1:16-cv-04642 (Filed June 20, 2016) https://www.scribd.com/doc/316341058/Donald-Trump-Jeffrey-Epstein-Rape-Lawsuit-and-Affidavits?irgwc=1&content=10079&campaign=Skimbit%2C%20Ltd.&ad_group=38395X1559799Xa5d302ec68fb444582f353f55614e6c3&keyword=ft750noi&source=impactradius&medium=affiliate#fullscreen?platform=hootsuite

· Conti, Allie. “The Forgotten Sexual Assault Allegation That Could Bring Down Trump: A defamation lawsuit filed by a former ‘Apprentice’ contestant could force Trump to testify and risk perjury—but right now it’s stalled in state court.” Vice. (Oct 18 2017) https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/yw38xk/the-forgotten-sexual-assault-allegation-that-could-bring-down-trump

· Cohen, Claire. “Donald Trump sexism tracker: Every offensive comment in one place.” The Telegraph. (July 14, 2017) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politics/donald-trump-sexism-tracker-every-offensive-comment-in-one-place/

· Frank, Robert. “Mar-a-Lago membership fee doubles to $200,000” CNBC. (January 25, 2017) https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/25/mar-a-lago-membership-fee-doubles-to-200000.html

· Bahadur, Nina. “22 Sexist Things President Donald Trump Has Said About Women” Self (June 29, 2017) https://www.self.com/story/sexist-president-donald-trump-comments

· Crockett, Emily. “Donald Trump in 1994: I tell my friends to ‘be rougher’ with their wives” Vox (Oct 14, 2016) https://www.vox.com/2016/6/2/11833912/donald-trump-1994-women-buildings-misogyny

· Sophia, Mark. “Editor Lists All the Women Who Said President Trump Sexually Assaulted Them.” Advocate. (October 11, 2017) https://www.advocate.com/politics/2017/10/11/editor-lists-all-women-said-president-trump-sexually-assaulted-them

· Smith, David. “Donald Trump: the making of a narcissist: Who is the private man behind the bombastic, egoistical public persona? Exactly the same, say those who know him. His rise from real estate to reality TV to presidential candidate is testament to the power of positive thinking.” The Guardian. (16 Jul 2016) https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/16/donald-trump-narcissist-profile

· Plaskin, Glenn. “The Playboy Interview With Donald Trump.” Playboy. (March 1, 1990) Originally accessed at: http://www.playboy.com/articles/the-art-of-the-donald Accessed on 9/21/19 at: https://www.playboy.com/read/playboy-interview-donald-trump-1990

· Bowden, Mark. “The Art of the Donald: The Trumpster Stages the Comeback of a Lifetime.” Playboy (May 1997) https://web.archive.org/web/20170207112513/http://www.playboy.com/articles/the-art-of-the-donald

· Bloom, Ester. “If You Think Trump’s Money Comes From His Dad, You’re Only Half Right” The Billfold. (July 25, 2016) https://www.thebillfold.com/2016/07/if-you-think-trumps-money-comes-from-his-dad-youre-only-half-right/

· Marshall, Barbara. “Donald Trump and his opulent Mar-A-Lago estate.” The Palm Beach Post. (Posted Nov 5, 2015; Updated Sep 4, 2016)G http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/lifestyles/donald-trump-and-his-opulent-mar-lago-estate/7fgMFecXrT7iKkxyrHbm9I/

· http://www.guacamoley.com/covfefe/2017/10/28/fzbOo/letter-trump-1992-resurfaces-somethings-fishy?utm_content=inf_10_3742_2&tse_id=INF_5474d9e0bc2711e78240a3a6bbddd67d (page not found; not on archive.org)

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· “EXCLUSIVE! The Cheerleader Calendar For Donald Trump’s Failed 1980s Football Team Is Crazy Sexual — And He Treated The Women So Poorly!” Perez Hilton. http://perezhilton.com/2016-10-29-donald-trump-new-jersey-generals-cheerleader-calendar-controversy-sexual-report-working-conditions#.WfYOBFtSyM8

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· Gupta, Prachi. “6 Things You Need to Know About Donald Trump’s First Wife, Ivana: She’s a novelist, a businesswoman, and a socialite. And she loves Italian men.” Cosmopolitan. (March 16, 2017) http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a56426/ivana-trump-donald-trump-first-wife/

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· “Trump Bodyguard Once Accused of Having Affair With Marla Maples Never Got Over The Scandal, Ex-Wife Says.” Inside Edition (April 29, 2016) http://www.insideedition.com/headlines/16130-trump-bodyguard-once-accused-of-having-affair-with-marla-maples-never-got-over-the-scandal

· Peretz, Evgenia. “Inside The Trump Marriage: Melania’s Burden—Until November 8, Melania Trump’s marriage provided her with a golden Fifth Avenue fortress, at a price—putting up with her husband’s humiliations and boorishness. From Melania’s ill-fated campaign appearances to her apparent reluctance to embrace the role of First Lady: how a very private woman is coping with the intense public scrutiny of her marriage.” Vanity Fair (April 21, 2017) https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/04/donald-melania-trump-marriage

· Golden, Hannah. “Donald & Melania Trump’s Wedding Guest List Included A Lot Of Celebs.” Elite Daily. (Aug 14, 2017) https://www.elitedaily.com/news/celebrities-wont-believe-attended-donald-melania-trumps-wedding/2042937

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· Trump Watchdogs. “Trump Model Management Investigated For Violating Teenagers, Immigration Laws and Labor Laws: Not exactly a ‘model business,’ Trump Model Management is closing amid increased scrutiny of its relationships with teenage models, immigration law, labor laws and human trafficking.” The Watchdog Report: Loyal to Truth, Democracy and Dignity. (July 24, 2017) https://trumpwatchdogs.com/2017/07/24/trump-model-management-investigated-for-violating-teenagers-and-immigration-laws/

· Gross, Michael. “Donald Trump Used Model Parties to Seal Deals, Industry Sources Say: ‘Marla is a good girl, and I had a good marriage with her, but it’s just that I get f*ckin’ bored,’ Trump told me. ‘One of those little things.’” Daily Beast. (July 19, 2016; Updated April 13, 2017) https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-used-model-parties-to-seal-deals-industry-sources-say

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· Rosenthal, Max J. “The Trump Files: Donald Was Curious About His Baby Daughter’s Breasts: It’s not the only time he made creepy comments about his daughters’ looks.” Mother Jones (July 27, 2016) http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/07/donald-trump-files-tiffany-trump-breasts/

· Meier, Barry. “Stephen Bollenbach, Who Spared Donald Trump From Personal Bankruptcy, Dies at 74” The New York Times. (October 13, 2016) https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/business/stephen-bollenbach-dead.html

· McAfee Tierney. “Inside President Trump’s Relationship with Eldest Son and ‘High-Quality Person’ Donald Jr. Amid Whispers of Treason: Donald Trump Jr. emerged as one of father’s fiercest defenders during the presidential campaign — but the pair haven’t always been as close are they are today” People. (July 12, 2017) http://people.com/politics/donald-trump-jr-relationship-father/

· Romano, Lois. “Donald Trump, Holding All The Cards The Tower! The Team! The Money! The Future!” The Washington Post (November 15, 1984) https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1984/11/15/donald-trump-holding-all-the-cards-the-tower-the-team-the-money-the-future/8be79254-7793-4812-a153-f2b88e81fa54/?utm_term=.8e96d8d07794

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I won’t order you to do anything, but I am wearing a mask.

I know there is abundant anger directed at our local government right now in my city of Gainesville, FL. Our City Council has officially mandated masks be worn in public spaces at the threat of a fine. Now while I may agree with their action, or at least their intent, it remains frustrating that we arrived at the point where a mandate was necessary, because now the inevitable push-back has begun. I understand on some visceral level the very real revulsion to even the appearance of projection and abuse of power. No one likes being ordered to do something. I certainly don’t, but I’m not here to debate the politics of mandating public health measures. I just want to provide some perspective on why I have decided to act the way I have, and let you make your own decisions.

When the shelter-in-place guidelines were first put into place in March and this whole fiasco became agonizingly real for the first time, at least to those of us in the US, I was surprised that along with the creeping dread and crushing boredom, a sense of unity and shared commitment underlined everything as well. The only close comparison I can draw is my memory of the US in the time immediately following 9/11. Now, as I found out later, that sense of unity did not extend to anyone who even appeared vaguely Middle Eastern or South Asian, because the need to find a scapegoat in times of tragedy seems to be our national pastime, but at least from my incredibly privileged bubble, it seemed as though lines were fading and our identities as American citizens mattered more than our politics. So I had hoped that maybe somehow there might be a silver lining to a shared traumatic event on a global scale, that we might reflect on our essential humanity beyond social institutions, which biology is more than happy to ignore– institutions like race, class, and national borders.

It is hard to believe that I was naïve enough to hope for that kind of immediate perspective shift again.

It’s been about a month and a half since the guidelines were issued. At the time of writing, 76,000* Americans have died from the virus. It would have been much higher had we not instituted these guidelines, but it should have been much lower. For a little perspective, 76,000 is more Americans than died in The First World War. It’s more than died in Vietnam, and who knows what the final statistics will be when this is over? Against this backdrop, the national temperature continues to rise, and there are perfectly legitimate reasons to be angry. The US is the richest nation on earth. We are home to the CDC, and the WHO rated our healthcare infrastructure as being highly capable of handling a pandemic in 2019. We should never have gotten to this point, but our executive branch did not take the advice of epidemiologists and other experts seriously in a timely enough manner, and now the burden of containing the virus has been shouldered by the citizens of the US. Social distancing measures, and shelter-in-place orders are now the only way to flatten the curve and prevent our hospitals from becoming completely overrun, but they have laid bare the inherent cruelty of the American dream. This myth is predicated on a philosophy of individualism which sees every person as an island unto themselves, sole master of their own fate, and engine of their own prosperity. This has never been true, not under capitalism, not in pre-industrialized age, and certainly not in any hypothetical state of nature, but now in the 21st century it should be even clearer how interconnected and reliant we are on each other. The effort to prevent this pandemic from claiming even more human life requires collectivism in a country which has historically resisted it, and so we now find ourselves, by necessity, shouldering a collective responsibility without any of the fruits of a collective state system to support us.
If the wealthiest nation in all of human history is to continue to tolerate poverty, and to insist that there is no right to the necessities of life, like housing, food, and medical care, even in a time of required collective sacrifice, it’s hard to blame people for feeling hopeless. Yes, we have one stimulus check but much delayed and barely enough to survive for the most vulnerable among us.

We could change though. We could decide that healthcare is a right. We could suspend rent and mortgage payments during this crisis, we could even, (gasp) decide that maybe since we live in a country with about 1.5 million empty homes and 500,000 homeless on any given night, that some sort of basic housing should be a right. Would it be expensive and difficult? Oh undoubtedly, but major events of shared trauma have led to decisive action in the past. It all depends on what we decide to make a priority.
On September 11, 2001, 2,996 people were murdered in a sickening and grotesque act of terror, an act repugnant to anyone who values the essential sanctity of human life. In response, the US started two wars: one of which lasted a decade, and one of which has lasted literally more than half of my lifetime and is still ongoing in some form. Combined, these conflicts cost nearly $2 Trillion, the deaths of thousands of US soldiers and the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians—a serious investment in resources and blood, that we have failed to draw much of any value from.
For comparison 2,909 people died in one day of this pandemic on April 30th. I do not wish to use this number to diminish the horror of the World Trade Center attacks. We should always mourn the loss of human life, and senseless, preventable loss of life should enrage us. I simply draw this comparison because we should be angry again now. Not angry because we can’t get a haircut, or go to work, but angry that we ended up in this place. We said “never again” to 9/11. We should say “never again” to this situation. If we could take the same political will and resources we invested in two wars after 9/11 and instead applied it towards fixing the systemic issues that allowed this pandemic to cripple us so severely, than we would never again be stuck here.

So, what can we do right now? Well beyond pushing our government for some of the large systemic changes I’ve touched on, there is something simple and real you can do. Look out for each other. We don’t have to wait for the government to order us to do the right thing, and we shouldn’t need to. Stay home if you can. Join a mutual aid group in your area, run errands for friends in high-risk groups, donate to food banks. In all things, give whatever you can, take only what you need. If you are not getting by, ask for help! But even if you’re unable to do any of that, which is okay, you can still wear a mask when you go out — not because you’re scared and certainly not because some authority ordered you too, but because you it’s a simple thing that helps, and it only works if we all do it together. It’s the easiest chance to be passively helping humanity in your day to day life that you’re likely to ever get. So why not take it?

*Note at time of posting the death toll has risen above 89,000 in the US.

Sanders would’ve been great.

I wrote this earlier this year before I had this platform, and now that Bernie is out of the race it’s a little bittersweet, but I thought it might give some insight into my thought process. Expect more about the election incoming.

Hey look! Another long post I wasted time on!

Early voting opens today in FL for the primary, and you should vote. I highly recommend voting early, as it’s easy, quick, and you can fit into your schedule as you see fit. If you don’t live in FL please vote in your state’s primary as well, if you haven’t already.

If you are a Republican, the primary isn’t relevant to you, so feel free to stop reading, unless you have some academic curiosity about how the other side thinks.

Warren and Yang are out of the race, so I am voting for Bernie Sanders. I honestly would have been very happy with any of the three, but I think it’s inevitable that I landed on Bernie.

I think Yang ran a smart issues-based campaign, and I applaud him for talking about the current and increasing wave of automation. Putting UBI into the mainstream conversation is invaluable, and I hope he stays around. He’s a smart guy with some forward-thinking ideas that appeal across the isle.

Warren is probably the smartest person in the race. She is an unabashed policy wonk, and I love how granular she’s gotten on her proposals. Also, on a purely emotional level, it would be great to have a woman lead this country. It feels maddening that we haven’t gotten there yet. That being said, she still seemed a little too willing to play politics sometimes. The “Indian blood” thing was not a good look, and she’s never explained it to my satisfaction. Still, she’s a tenacious fighter, and a great debater. I hope she has a major leadership position within the party and/or the next administration. She has been a champion of the progressive movement and I applaud her for that.

So now our choices for the nomination are between Sanders and Biden. I choose Sanders.

He walks the walk. He’s been remarkably, consistently on the right side of history for 40 years. Even when he changes his mind on something, like becoming and advocate for stronger gun control measures, he freely admits that he was wrong in the past, owns it and owns his new position. Biden has also admitted he was wrong in the past on some things, but he’s also just tried to downplay or hide quite a lot instead of facing it all head on. I don’t think it’s bad for people to change their minds about issues, in fact I think we tend to be overly critical of it, but given the choice, it’s nice to reward the sometimes only guy saying the right thing before it was cool. Also, and this is huge for me, he is the only candidate whose campaign is 100% funded by individual small donations. It’s truly grassroots. I wager most democratic primary voters have at least some major concerns about the amount of dark money in politics, so the fact that Sanders has taken a difficult ethical stand here should be applauded. Maybe Biden, would prefer to get money out of politics too, but he’s still choosing to continue to take it, so it looks hypocritical to me. Is this totally disqualifying? I guess not, but given the choice, why not go with the guy who has committed to doing it the right way, even at a major disadvantage to himself? Sanders is guided by his ethics here and not what is more convenient for him. I think it’s hard to understate this distinction between the two.

“Well I like Sanders, but he’s just not electable.” In the primary? Seems like he is, especially if you vote for him. In the general? Well most polls have him and Biden pretty even in hypotheticals against Trump. Some have Sanders on top as well, but after 2016 we saw that maybe polls aren’t that useful. Speaking of 2016, isn’t that when we tried running centrist with a lot of baggage? As I recall I think it didn’t work. Which was weird because it was against the most inept opponent imaginable. (We also tried it in 2004 btw, and it also didn’t work). Not to say Biden is Hillary. I think he comes off more human, but he’s not nearly as intelligent or articulate, and he’s prone to gaffes. Overall, I don’t think he’s a stronger candidate and to be totally honest I think he’ll make a worse president.

Last time Democrats won the presidency, was with Obama, who was elected because regardless of his policies ending up a little more centrist, ran a rhetorically progressive campaign predicated on a promise of change, of “yes we can.” He was carried by a huge youth turnout. Biden’s message as far as I can tell is “no we can’t” also “I used to be besties with Obama.” Sanders has the youth vote, and he is the best chance for a 2008 scenario.

I was going to continue with going through Sanders’ policies, but this has got to be close to 1,000 words long so that’ll be in the sequel! All I’ll say quickly is that he gets criticized for being unrealistic. I think he’s the only democrat still in the race who treats the enormous systemic challenges facing the country and the world with the gravity they deserve. We must think big. It’s our only option. Also, Mitch McConnell and the Republican Senate have a graveyard for every Democratic sponsored bill. They are uninterested in working with us. Obama tried for 8 years to work with them and compromised going in. I respect him for it, but Republican lawmakers in general have been uninterested in working across the aisle in good faith for the last decade. It’s time to come in the with big ideas, instead of arriving with the compromise and leaving with nothing.

TLDR-Not him, us. Sanders 2020.