Violence

From Teresa Hanafin, Staff Writer for the Boston Globe:

Trump's Big Lie that the 2020 presidential election was corrupt and that Democrats will try to steal future elections led directly to the brutal hammer attack on Paul Pelosi -- and by extension, on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- at their San Francisco home overnight.

It was a MAGA assassination attempt on the highest ranking Democrat in Congress and the woman who is second in line to the presidency. It actually was the second attempt: Remember the Trump guys on the hunt for Pelosi during the Capitol riot, chanting her name and breaking into her office, looking for her?

Trump is responsible for the attack at the Pelosi home, just as he was responsible for the attack on the Capitol Jan. 6, the attacks on election workers, the attacks on anybody who disagrees with or criticizes him.

All of the anger, hate, mayhem, and violence we're seeing in the country today is derived from Trump's Big Lie that the 2020 presidential election was rigged and stolen from him. That there was a massive conspiracy, encompassing many states, dozens of Electoral College electors, thousands of local, state, and federal government officials, to deny him a second term. It derived from his hateful anti-immigration stance, his "othering" of anyone who is not a white Christian.

Also responsible? The dozens of congressional Republicans, GOP governors, and other Republican elected officials who are too afraid to stand up to Trump's lies and who failed to say a single word of support for the Pelosis or denounce the attack, because it might undermine their fake rigged election claims.

Former VP Mike Pence, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and a few others issued strong condemnations. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy did not at first; his office released a statement that he had privately "reached out" to Nancy Pelosi. God forbid that he say anything publicly that could enrage Marjorie Taylor Greene or Lauren Boebert. He knows they have guns.

But pay attention to what those Republicans who did speak out said: They condemned the violence. Big deal. It's easy to condemn violence. What's not easy is to name and condemn the root cause.

It's the same pattern that occurs after mass slaughter: Decry the violence, but say nothing about guns.

Ditto here. Decry the violence against Paul Pelosi, but say nothing about the root cause.

If Republican leaders had any guts, here's what they would say:

"The election was not stolen. Donald Trump is lying. There was no voter fraud, there were no dead people voting, there were no people voting dozens of times, there were no Trump votes magically switched to Biden votes by voting machines controlled by Venezuela, there were no fake Biden ballots delivered to polling places in the dead of night, there were no election workers who pulled suitcases of fake Biden ballots out from under tables.

"None of that is true, and we have to stop peddling these lies just so that we can get the votes of conspiracy-minded people and stay in power.

"The efforts by Republicans in many, many states to stop Democrats from voting and disenfranchise voters of color is disgusting and must stop.

"The insurrection at the Capitol was treason against our country. Donald Trump was wrong to incite it in the days and weeks leading up to that day, and as president, he violated his oath of office by not immediately doing everything in his power to stop it and to condemn it.

"This country is divided and violent, with Americans turning against Americans and being willing to kill each other in the name of political ideology. Democrats are not our enemy. We may disagree on policy, sometimes vociferously, but we are not enemies.

"All of this is undermining democracy. We are heading down the path of autocracy, led by a dangerous narcissist named Donald Trump.

"We condemn his words and his actions, and vow to return the Republican Party to its conservative ideals and democratic norms."

As for the attack on Paul Pelosi, the assailant was a fervid, frothing-at-the-mouth MAGA adherent, a believer in every wacky conspiracy that conservatives are peddling these days. He has posted transphobic images as well as this: "Global Elites Plan To Take Control Of YOUR Money! (Revealed)"

I'm very interested in how Paul Pelosi was able to somehow let the 911 operator know that he was in danger without tipping off or further enraging the intruder.

If Nancy Pelosi had been at home, her Capitol Police security detail probably could have stopped the guy before he even got inside. Maybe her husband, a multimillionaire who runs a real estate and venture capital investment and consulting firm, should get some private security.

This is on Trump. It's all on Trump. More Republicans in positions of power should have the courage to say so.

There’s no joke here. I don’t like the state of this world and can barely even recognize my own country.

The effects of climate change are ravaging the globe even as levels of greenhouse gases continue to rise. The oceans, choked with plastic, are dying and we're well into the 6th Extinction. Authoritarianism and outright fascism are on the rise all over the world. And we’re closer to nuclear war than we’ve been at any time since the Cold War years of the 60s and 70s.

Domestically, half my fellow citizens, preoccupied by ludicrous claims and fictional scenarios, are accepting of the most outlandish conspiracy theories imaginable and rejecting the very principles of democracy on which this country was founded. Stupidity and ignorance are no longer barriers to holding political office, and some politicians even seem to treat them as assets to be proudly displayed. Racism, antisemitism, homophobia, islamophobia, sexism, and any other form of hatred or intolerance you can imagine are present in virtually all aspects of our lives. White Christian Nationalism seems to be the platform of at least one major political party, and cruelty their default position. And economic inequality is at an all-time high, with a small sub-percentage of the people controlling the vast majority of the wealth. It’s as if we’re teetering between “Brave New World” and “Idiocracy.” 

I’d leave the U.S., but in all honesty there seems to be nowhere that’s not infected with these modern illnesses. Frying pan to the fire in many cases. 

Life’s not all grim and there are small oases of peace, joy, and happiness out there. But they’re like small distractions from the bigger crises - “Here, look at this funny meme while the house is burning down.” 

I do not like these times, and I have great trepidation about what things will be like after the next election, whichever party prevails.

Dylan Thomas

Last night, Paul Pelosi, husband of Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, was attacked in his San Francisco home.  Ms. Pelosi was in Washington at the time, something the attacker could easily have ascertained with even the most basic search of the news.  Mr. Pelosi. 80, was beaten in the face with a hammer and is undergoing brain surgery as I write.

In online posts, the attacker had embraced conspiracy theories about January 6, the 2020 election, and the covids.

The attack on Mr. Pelosi was obviously an assassination attempt, instigated by the big lies from right-wing news outlets and Republicans. Congressman Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) pointed out that the attacker "has a background that shows he’s been moved, instigated, and influenced by those people who seek to divide us. Turn on rightwing media on any given day or night. You will see frothing hosts shrieking unspeakable lies and unfounded conspiracy theories about women, religious and ethnic minorities, city residents, young people, and scores of others Americans. That some are radicalized to commit unspeakable violence against their perceived enemies cannot be a surprise. This terrorism is growing and threatens every community in America.”

 

And Now For Your Norman F’ing Rockwell Moment

 

From the Sports Desk

Boston teams suffered two losses to Chicago last night - a 33-14 drubbing of the Patriots by the Bears on Monday Night Football, while the Bulls handed the Celtics their first loss of the season.

The Hog-Butcher of the World carved themselves up some chowder and beans last night.

From the Sports Desk

 

Live Music Update

Alert readers will have noticed that despite yesterday's plaintive declaration that I'm done going to live music shows, I've updated my little Upcoming Shows calendar over there on the sidebar.  It's not that I'm not interested in live shows, it's just that I don't anticipate going to many.

But I must admit, the allure of some of the upcoming shows can't be denied.  Godspeed at Variety Playhouse? That's a must-see for me.  And who would have guessed that in December the incredibly talented guitarist Julian Lage would come to Center Stage and then two nights later Bitchin' Bajas will play 529?  

It's not that the other shows listed aren't appealing as well, but are the three shows above enough to get me off my ass and out of the house for at least a couple of nights this year? Time will tell!

Post-Covids Depression

Last month, Porridge Radio, one of my favorite new bands, and the Osees, one of my favorite more-established bands, played back-to-back nights here in Atlanta.  I didn't go to either show.

In fact, ever since the covids pandemic started in the spring of 2019, the only live music I've seen was at the 2022 Big Ears festival in Knoxville. I've already got my ticket for Big Ears 2023, but I may not go to any live shows between then and now.

I'm not precisely sure of the reason.  Music has changed - that's undeniable - and my old favorite indie bands have largely been replaced by pop and hip hop acts.  Also, my age has finally caught up with me during the pandemic shutdown.  It seems that I didn't mind going to shows when I was a mere 64-year-old back in 2018, but now I feel it's inappropriate for me to go to shows as a 68-year-old in 2022.

I saw someone post on Reddit that folks over 40 should not go to music festivals.  "If you're over 40 and at a festival, you might think you're living the best life, but all you're really doing is embarrassing yourself and bringing everyone else around you down," they wrote. People commenting on the post almost uniformly agreed, and no one presented a counter-argument.

I'm old enough to be the father of that hypothetical 40-year-old at a music festival and probably the grandfather of the person who posted on Reddit.

One of the things I was looking forward to in retirement was going to multiple shows a week without concern about getting up for work the next morning.  The pandemic basically shut the whole live-music business down for well over a year, and afterwards I was still reluctant to go to a sweaty, crowded club out of concern for my health, even if the venues did have mask and vaccine mandates.

Then the next thing I knew, it was three years later and I was four years older and felt more than awkward going to the club to hear the newest band (or the old favorite, for that matter).  I don't feel as uncomfortable at Big Ears because as a primarily jazz and modern classical festival, the crowd tends to skew older and I'm not so out of place.  

There might be other subconscious reasons for me avoiding shows, but if so I'm not aware of them (that's why they're subconscious). It might be depression. It might be fear of rejection. It might be energy (although if anything I'm nocturnal and have no trouble staying out until 1:00 am).

But in any case, this ROM will content himself with exploring music through Spotify and Bandcamp, and making an annual pilgrimage to Knoxville for Big Ears.

Comedians Suing Policemen in Airports

Comedians Eric André and Clayton English are suing the Clayton County, Georgia police following separate incidents of racial profiling and coercive searches at Atlanta Hartsfield LaToya Jackson Chicken-and-Waffles Airport. Both comedians claim their constitutional rights against unreasonable searches and seizures and against racial discrimination were violated while they were boarding their respective flights. In addition to a jury trial, compensatory and punitive damages, and legal costs, André and English seek a declaration that the Clayton County police’s jet-bridge interdiction program is unconstitutional.

Police records show that 402 such jet-bridge stops were conducted. The suit claims the targets of the stops were selected disproportionately based on race, but the police department claims the targets are selected at random. However, of the 378 stops where race of the passenger was listed, 211 were Black (56% of those stopped) and 258 were People of Color (68% of those stopped). 

Further, of the 402 stops conducted, only three reported drug seizures: 10 grams of drugs from one passenger, 26 grams of “suspected THC gummies” from a different passenger, and six pills without a prescription from a third passenger.  While the search program rarely uncovers drugs, it does, however, regularly seize cash - more than $1M worth, with the money rarely returned even if the passenger is not charged.

André says that in April 2021, he arrived at Atlanta Airport from Los Angeles. While waiting on the jet bridge, he says police officers stopped him in the narrow space and questioned him regarding drugs.  “There’s all these people having to squeeze past us on this narrow, awkward jet bridge as I look like this suspicious perpetrator,” André told the Post. “And I’ve done absolutely nothing wrong. I’m literally coming home from a work trip.”  He said he was later let off the plane, but described the police encounter as “demoralizing, dehumanizing, racist and traumatic.”

André described the conduct of the Clayton County Police Department as “old-school, Giuliani stop-and-frisk racial profiling” and said their statement included “a bald-faced lie” and mischaracterized the sequence of events.

At a news conference outside Atlanta’s federal courthouse, André said he felt a “moral calling” to file the lawsuit “so these practices can stop and these cops can be held accountable for this because it’s unethical.” He continued, saying, “I have the resources to bring national attention and international attention to this incident. It’s not an isolated incident. If Black people don’t speak up for each other, who will?”

So to summarize, the Clayton County PD are conducting illegal searches and seizures of airplane passengers who've already cleared TSA security and in some cases customs, select the targets based on racial profiles, and rarely find any drugs to justify the measures.  They do, however, seize a lot of cash, netting the PD over one million dollars.  I hope Andre and his attorneys bring this deplorable practice to an end.

The Covids

I've been called many things regarding the covid pandemic, but "optimist" is not one of them.  But even I can't deny that the latest trends are encouraging.

According to the NY Times' statistics, an average of 572 cases per day were reported in Georgia in the last week. Cases have decreased by 43 percent from the average two weeks ago. At the peak last January 19, there were almost 20,000 new cases reported each day.

But the reported number of cases isn't as reliable an indicator as it used to be.  People are increasingly using home testing kits and the big public testing sites are almost all completely closed now.  Fewer of the actual cases are being reported each day, and the 572-case tally is almost asuredly an undercount of the actual number.  

Biased personal observation: more people that I know personally have come down with the covids since last summer than at any other point in this two-year-plus pandemic.  But my personal experience isn't representative of Georgia, much less the United States as a whole.

A useful indicator of the trend is the percentage of positive cases for those tests that are made publicly available.  The test positivity rate in Georgia is currently 6.2%, down from 25% at the end of July and way down from the peak of nearly 40% at the beginning of the year.

Just as important is the number of hospitalizations. As of today, an average of 896 people are hospitalized for covid each day, down 18% from just two weeks ago.  And only 124, or 1 per 100,000, are admitted to the ICU each day.  

Of course, life-and-death is the great matter, and on average, 13 people are dying in Georgia from covid each day. While my heart still breaks for each and every victim, that number is down 36% from two weeks ago, an encouraging trend. Since the beginning of the pandemic, at least 1 in 4 Georgia residents have been infected, a total of 2,825,163 reported cases. At least 1 in 275 residents have died from the coronavirus, for a total of 38,808 deaths.

Impermanence is swift.

So the number of new cases is now down to the level previously seen only in the intervals between the infection spikes.  The percentage of positive cases is approaching an all-time low - at least since the pandemic started.  And the number of hospitalizations and deaths are all down and continuing to drop.

I'm not saying it's over, and I'm not saying we don't need to continue some level of vigilance. But I am saying that things are looking a whole lot better right now.

Boom!

Putin's bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down 

Putin's bridge is falling down

Long live Ukraine.

In the latest blow to Vladimir Putin after weeks of military humiliation, an explosion crippled the heavily guarded Kerch Bridge connecting Crimea to the Russian mainland, a hated symbol of Russian occupation and a key logistical link for Russian troops in southern Ukraine. The blast left the railway link in flames.  The Kerch Bridge was a personal prestige project for the Russian president, and the hit came the day after his 70th birthday. 

Happy birthday, Mr. Putin.

The whole world, both domestically and abroad, seems to be slowly falling to various dictators and autocrats.  It's so refreshing to see the Resistance succeeding someplace - anyplace - in the world, like sparks of hope in the darkest of night. 

Nuclear War

Last night, President Biden warned that recent threats from Vladimir Putin regarding Ukraine could devolve into a nuclear conflict, telling supporters that the risk of nuclear war had not been so high since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. 

“We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis,” Biden told the crowd. 

The president’s warnings, delivered bluntly to a group of donors rather than in a more formal setting, came as analysts in Washington have been debating whether Putin might resort to tactical nuclear weapons to counter his mounting military losses in Ukraine.

The song Nuclear War was written by Sun Ra.  I first heard it at a Sun Ra show at the old Moonshadow Saloon in Atlanta back around 1985.  The version here is performed by the indie band Yo La Tengo and features the performer's kids and friends.

Meme