Dan Rather on the Arpaio pardon

[Miles Archer]

https://www.facebook.com/theDanRather/posts/10159225075225716

The decision of President Trump to pardon Sheriff Arpaio Is a perversion of justice and demeans the prerogatives of the presidency.

Compared to the impact of sweeping policies, it is a token gesture. But the symbolism is stark, provocative and important. Mr. Trump continues to proudly strut on the global stage as a divisive actor heedless of the shouts of derision and censure from the majority of his audience. He seems only concerned in basking in the lusty cheers of intolerance from his enabled base.

Amidst rumors that Mr. Trump will end the deferred action policy for dreamers, the already glowing embers of racial strife risk bursting into destructive flames. And Mr. Trump appears eager to fan them on.

[Stuart G]

1. k and r...nt

[BootinUp]

2. Let slip the dogs of war

On Trump's ass

[L. Coyote]

3. Ask instead, Why do they want to start a race war?

And how do we win the day without taking their bait?

[Amaryllis]

4. good point.

[calimary]

8. Yep.

For certain.

How do we win the day without taking their bait?

You learn a lot by observing behavior displays. I wrote about one I personally witnessed a few weeks ago when the Santa Monica Democratic Club held its regular monthly meeting. The topic was immigration. There were two phases of guest speakers. The first half involved immigrants, or sons and daughters of immigrants, speaking about the fear that now accompanies not having proper documentation. Fear of deportation, fear of coming home from school and Mama has disappeared, fear of not knowing - when you're in bed at night - if there's going to be a loud, abrupt knock on the door without warning. Gentle people. Soft-spoken, well-mannered, invited to tell their stories. Some of them didn't speak English. The second half featured California's own Democratic State Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon.

But there were also hecklers and nasty, rude, verbally assaulting loudmouths. A group of them, determined to disrupt the meeting and stir shit up. They were horrible to the first group of speakers. Yelling, shouting insults, hollering "you're breaking the law!" and "go back where you came from" and even "build the wall". They brought signs to hold up and wave around. They wore trump neckties and red "MAGA" caps and various red-white-&-blue "patriotic" (HAH!) clothing motifs. They did their best to intimidate every speaker. It was HORRIBLE to watch. Horrible and embarrassing. I couldn't believe the beastly behavior! Whenever one of them piped up, I kept thinking - "who the hell brought you up?"

When Kevin de Leon took the stage the rudeness amped up dramatically. They were hollering at him almost nonstop. He could barely finish a sentence. BUT ALSO: I noticed that they seemed to be trying to provoke some sort of physical confrontation. One man took a position along the side, on an elevated aisle, with his sign and his very loud voice. NONE of these people were Democratic Club members. One of the regular club members approached from below and was trying to tell the dude to stop interrupting and being rude. He had to raise his voice to be heard above the loud bully. The rude offender, shouting insults and provocative slogans, started doing this physical thing, craning his neck downward toward the club member, sticking his chin out, in a clearly confrontational posture. They were yelling at each other, close up in each other's faces, each move being pushed, initiated, aggravated, and/or accelerated by the rude bully who did his best to shout louder and more aggressively. More in-yer-face. Meanwhile, some of the asshole's cohorts were starting to move into the picture, with their cell phones held high, recording it all on video, hoping to capture some nice fresh fisticuffs to post online and hopefully make us club members look bad. They were disappointed. The club member trying to shout him down did not take the bait, and did not amp things up. Nothing got physical. Gee, too bad for them, 'eh? As some familiar orange gas giant would say - "Sad."

Here's a local blog about it:

https://capitalandmain.com/fright-club-trumps-troops-invade-blue-los-angeles-county-0731

So the question is VERY WELL PUT:

How, indeed, do we win the day without taking their bait?

[L. Coyote]

9. Sheer numbers, but we have to take back counting the votes from the cheaters.

We have to put an end to Republican election rigging. Millions have to rise up and vote to do it, just like they did for Obama, and that requires leadership.

[zentrum]

11. Thanks for the write-up.

This is really serious. We need to all get a lot more organized and turn out the huger crowds.

[onit2day]

7. Boston said it all. 10 voices are loud untill

surrounded by thousands of voices. Donald wants everyone to know he can do whatever he wants to do. Thinks he's a badass but his fall is coming. Only a-holes like and support him now. Just look at them.

[spanone]

5. K&R... truth to power

[burrowowl]

6. I am glad Dan is still around!

[zentrum]

10. Kick!