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You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Worthy Endeavors Open Thread: Senator Harris Has A New Target — Stephen Miller

Worthy Endeavors Open Thread: Senator Harris Has A New Target — Stephen Miller

by Anne Laurie|  December 11, 20195:54 pm| 47 Comments

This post is in: Civil Rights, Immigration, Open Threads, Republican Venality, Trumpery

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NEW: In a remarkable letter sent to the White House today, @KamalaHarris leads 27 senators in calling for the “immediate removal” of white nationalist Stephen Miller https://t.co/EOLxA9rSPG

— Christopher Mathias (@letsgomathias) December 9, 2019

… The letter—whose signatories include Harris’s former 2020 rivals Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, and Cory Booker—adds to the already intense pressure on the White House to relieve Miller of his duties, though the administration has given zero indication it plans to heed those calls. Miller, who has encouraged Trump’s immigration crackdown, has never made a secret of his nationalist, anti-immigrant worldview, evidenced in his reported proposal to release detained immigrants in sanctuary cities as a form of retaliation, and his alleged push to tax Mexico. “He is working behind the scenes, he has planted all of his people in all of these positions, he is on the phone with them all of the time, and he is creating a side operation that will circumvent the normal, transparent policy process” in order to push his agenda, a source told my colleague Abigail Tracy last year, highlighting the insidious ways in which Miller pushes his priorities…

At least 75 House Democrats have also called for Miller’s removal, and the SPLC has circulated a petition pushing for him to be fired. But Republicans have mostly been silent on the matter, and the White House has stood by Miller amid the fallout. “I know Stephen,” deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley told the Hill last month, attempting to frame calls for his removal as somehow anti-Semitic “He loves this country and hates bigotry in all its forms.”

That in itself is a pretty good indication that the administration has no plans to sever ties with Miller, setting up a de facto confrontation between Trump and Harris that promises to play out as long as Miller remains on staff. In leading the charge, Harris is cementing her post-campaign position as a leading Trump antagonist. Before she entered the presidential race, Harris was perhaps best known for eviscerating now Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh during his Senate confirmation hearing; months later, she did the same with attorney general William Barr. She may not get the chance to cross-examine Miller in practice, but in principle she’s once again setting herself against a figurehead that stands for everything she wishes to be known for fighting against.

Excellent quick summary of the Miller Problem, from Ishaan Tharoor at the Washington Post:

… Miller’s fingerprints can be detected all over Trump’s presidency. He is, after all, one of Trump’s main speechwriters. But his biggest role has been in molding the White House’s immigration policy, tacitly pushing through a sweeping series of measures — from travel bans on Muslim-majority countries to punitive actions against immigrants who receive public assistance — under Trump’s watch.

Although many advisers have come and gone during Trump’s tumultuous presidency, Miller has endured. That is, until now. Over the past week, more than 100 Democratic lawmakers and some civil society organizations have called for Miller’s resignation in response to new revelations about the depths of his ideological extremism.

A leaked cache of more than 900 emails that Miller allegedly sent to employees at the far-right website Breitbart ahead of the 2016 election appear to show his demonstrated commitment to white-nationalist political beliefs and talking points. Miller “promoted white nationalist literature, pushed racist immigration stories and obsessed over the loss of Confederate symbols,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a left-wing nonprofit organization that obtained the material from former Breitbart reporter Katie McHugh…

What concerns some analysts is that Miller may not be an outlier. He has spent his entire professional life working within the Republican Party, including a stint as a close aide to Jeff Sessions, Trump’s former U.S. attorney general, when he was an Alabama senator…

Update on those who have called for Miller to resign/be fired:

-Nearly 40 Dems in Senate

-107 Dems in House

-Over 50 civil rights orgs like @NAACP

-Coalition of Jewish groups

-130k folks who signed @AOC’s petition

-not a single Republican https://t.co/EOLxA9rSPG

— Christopher Mathias (@letsgomathias) December 9, 2019

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Reader Interactions

47Comments

  1. 1.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 11, 2019 at 6:00 pm

    Elected Ds and especially those of  Indian heritage/origin need to come out strongly against the new horrible law that passed the parliament in India.

    1. Harris 2. Jaypal 3. Ami Bera 4. Krishnamurthy 5. Ro Khanna. Are there others?

  2. 2.

    kindness

    December 11, 2019 at 6:01 pm

    Unfortunately for us, Miller’s intent, actions and motivations wrt his open racism is not a bug for Republicans.  It’s a feature.

    Miller will leave the White House when we vote Trump’s ass out in 2020.

  3. 3.

    NotMax

    December 11, 2019 at 6:03 pm

    Secretary of Offense.

    Mentioned in passing as well:

    Senior White House Adviser Stephen Miller is getting engaged to Katie Waldman, Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary. News of their relationship first broke in September, when Waldman, 28, took on the role.

    Before that, she worked as the communications director for Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), and before that as deputy press secretary for the Department of Homeland security. In that role, she frequently defended Donald Trump’s border policies, including the border wall, separation of migrant children from their families and putting active duty military personnel on the border. Those policies, in many cases, were introduced or championed by Miller, who has made immigration his signature issue. Source

  4. 4.

    Roger Moore

    December 11, 2019 at 6:04 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: 

    Are there others?

    A quick check of Wikipedia says that’s it.

  5. 5.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 11, 2019 at 6:05 pm

    Also Miller is not the biggest problem but his boss is. There are many Millers waiting in the wings were he to resign tomorrow.

  6. 6.

    Anne Laurie

    December 11, 2019 at 6:08 pm

    @kindness: Miller will leave the White House when we vote Trump’s ass out in 2020.

    Meanwhile, reminding voters exactly why we need to vote out the Occupant is an excellent tactic, as well as a mitzvah.

  7. 7.

    debbie

    December 11, 2019 at 6:10 pm

    I guess this means Miller was very much for the executive order forbidding anyone from talking mean about Israel or Jews on college campuses in racial tones. Yep, hating bigotry in all its forms. //

  8. 8.

    SFAW

    December 11, 2019 at 6:15 pm

    I keep hoping that someone will uncover/discover “a little light Treason” in Miller’s background/history

     

    ETA: And if that happens, I am SURE that Republicans will rush to condemn Miller for it.

    No, I don’t do other fonts — why do you ask?

  9. 9.

    dmsilev

    December 11, 2019 at 6:16 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: I’d ask about (former) elected R Nikki Haley, but (a) we all know she’d never say anything and (b) she’s apparently too busy writing op-eds about how the nasty media today would prevent people from removing the Confederate flag from the SC State House, which she totally is responsible for, but of course that’s not to disparage the heritage it represents.

    (Comments in that Post article seem to be running about 20:1 against her…)

  10. 10.

    Baud

    December 11, 2019 at 6:16 pm

    @SFAW:

    Beyond his current employer?

  11. 11.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 11, 2019 at 6:17 pm

    @dmsilev: I don’t expect anything from Rs.Their motto is no despot left behind.

  12. 12.

    SFAW

    December 11, 2019 at 6:19 pm

    @Baud:

    Beyond his current employer?

    Well, naturally, if the Traitor-in-Chief can be rolled up in that net, who am I to be picky? But, basically, any time, any place works for me.

  13. 13.

    Roger Moore

    December 11, 2019 at 6:29 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Also Miller is not the biggest problem but his boss is. There are many Millers waiting in the wings were he to resign tomorrow.

    This is true, but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t go after him.  One of the ways of reining in a bad boss is to go after his subordinates.  We want the person waiting in the wings to fill Miller’s shoes to have second thoughts about what will happen to them if they do.  If enough people are scared away from working with Trump, he won’t be able to put his plans into motion.

  14. 14.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 11, 2019 at 6:31 pm

    @Roger Moore: True, a general can’t do much with soldiers.

  15. 15.

    Cermet

    December 11, 2019 at 6:33 pm

    Well, stuck at Denver airport due to delayed connection. Ugh. Was a 2 hour layover and now added a 2 hour estimated delay. Not a good sign …

  16. 16.

    Mike in NC

    December 11, 2019 at 6:37 pm

    Funny how the neo-Nazis surrounding Trump — Miller, Gorka, Bannon, Mulvaney, etc. — are such miserable specimens of Aryan supermen.

  17. 17.

    Aziz, light!

    December 11, 2019 at 6:41 pm

    I’m sure Obergruppenführer Miller’s boss’s enablers will find this sternly worded letter deeply eyebrow furrowing.

  18. 18.

    David ??Booooooo?? Koch

    December 11, 2019 at 6:42 pm

    @NotMax:
    Magda Goebbels

  19. 19.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 11, 2019 at 6:42 pm

    @Roger Moore: Yes I agree we should definitely go after him.

  20. 20.

    Eljai

    December 11, 2019 at 6:43 pm

    @Roger Moore: Good point.  I would also like to add that tearing children away from their parents is morally abhorrent and we should hold Miller accountable, since the press seems to have moved on.

  21. 21.

    MattF

    December 11, 2019 at 6:44 pm

    Republicans stick with Trump, which means they’ll stick with Miller. But it’s entirely fair to cover them with tar and feathers when they do.

  22. 22.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    December 11, 2019 at 6:49 pm

    @NotMax: I am surprised Miller is capable of a normal human relationship. Then again, she works for Pence so she might be craving human warmth for once in her cold, on message life. But can you imagine what a Culture Warrior romance must look like? The must be a whole list of places and things they can’t do for romantic get away. Oh dream of those Chick Flite dinners for two.

    Who wants to bet Miller drops the White Nationalism like a stone when he has kids.

  23. 23.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 11, 2019 at 6:51 pm

    @Cermet: Could be worse, you could be stuck at LAX.

  24. 24.

    debbie

    December 11, 2019 at 6:53 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:
    Make him an albatross around Trump’s neck.

  25. 25.

    SFAW

    December 11, 2019 at 6:53 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    Miller is capable of a normal human relationship.

    As the lawyers might say: “Objection! Assumes facts not in evidence.”

  26. 26.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 11, 2019 at 6:54 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: as airports go, DIA is at least one of the cleaner ones

  27. 27.

    Roger Moore

    December 11, 2019 at 6:55 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    Funny how the neo-Nazis surrounding Trump — Miller, Gorka, Bannon, Mulvaney, etc. — are such miserable specimens of Aryan supermen.

    They’re just following the example of their predecessors.  It’s not as if Hitler was a prime specimen of blue-eyed blond Aryan manhood.

  28. 28.

    Mnemosyne

    December 11, 2019 at 6:56 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    It’s true that LAX is the worst, and I say that as someone who’s flown from ORD a whole lot.

  29. 29.

    Yutsano

    December 11, 2019 at 7:00 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: DIA is miserable and cold. At least that’s how it was when I flew threw there in October.

    @Mnemosyne: I will absolutely second you on LAX being a wretched hive of scum and villainy. I know people complain about SEA but it’s had a bunch of upgrades lately. And several of the food courts are to die for now.

  30. 30.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 11, 2019 at 7:01 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’ve flown out of there a few times, it’s pretty nice.

    @Mnemosyne: I’ve flown out of both and I’d agree.

    (I should note that I’ve only flown twice in the past 15 years.)

  31. 31.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 11, 2019 at 7:02 pm

    @Yutsano: LAX is currently undergoing a major upgrade(including the peoplemover) which makes it worse than the 5 ring of hell.

  32. 32.

    BruceFromOhio

    December 11, 2019 at 7:06 pm

    Cockroaches scatter from the light.

    Senator Harris, you are the sunbeam.

    Fucking bring it.

  33. 33.

    Brachiator

    December 11, 2019 at 7:07 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    Who wants to bet Miller drops the White Nationalism like a stone when he has kids.

    I fear for any children he might have. They will have a twisted monster for a father.

  34. 34.

    Mnemosyne

    December 11, 2019 at 7:13 pm

    @Yutsano:

    The food has vastly improved. It’s every other fucking thing about the airport that’s disastrous, like the terminal layouts that hide the restrooms behind stores and boarding areas.

  35. 35.

    Roger Moore

    December 11, 2019 at 7:14 pm

    @Yutsano:

    I will absolutely second you on LAX being a wretched hive of scum and villainy. I know people complain about SEA but it’s had a bunch of upgrades lately. And several of the food courts are to die for now.

    LAX is weird because the terminals are disconnected buildings.  Some of them have been renovated recently and are reasonably nice.  The biggest problem is that it’s just way too crowded, something that the recent renovations have exacerbated by replacing passenger waiting areas with restaurants and bars.

  36. 36.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 11, 2019 at 7:15 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I had terrible problems finding a restroom when I went to pick Madame up from her cruise this past Spring.

  37. 37.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 11, 2019 at 7:18 pm

    @Roger Moore: LAX was the airport of the future in 1959.  //

  38. 38.

    Roger Moore

    December 11, 2019 at 7:27 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    LAX was the airport of the future in 1959.

    Yep.  And honestly, they’ve done a remarkable job of adding and fixing stuff to let it remain a functioning airport even as air travel has radically changed.  But honestly, we need to spread out the traffic to the other airports in the region rather than concentrating everything in one place.

  39. 39.

    Jay Noble

    December 11, 2019 at 7:43 pm

    Can anyone tell me what villian, in what movie Miller reminds me of? He’s the spitting image but I can’t find it! I want to say it’s a Bond movie and a Russian.

  40. 40.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 11, 2019 at 7:47 pm

    @Cermet: Find an airport pot shop, smoke a bowl and by a saucepan.

  41. 41.

    Mike in NC

    December 11, 2019 at 8:06 pm

    @Jay Noble: Some people have noted a resemblance to Reinhard Heydrich, the “Butcher of Prague”.

  42. 42.

    kindness

    December 11, 2019 at 9:28 pm

    I’ve read that Trump’s Anti Anti-Sematism EO is really a front to criminalize the Israel Divestment movement.  Sounds plausible.  I’m not sure what the point was really beyond them thinking it would drum up a Jewish vote for Trump.  I don’t really think so though.  Trump likes Jewish folk as adversaries too much.  Did you hear his speech to the conservative Jewish org Saturday?  Damn!  That man is abby-normal.  No, I think the real reason is to criminalize political dissent they don’t like.

  43. 43.

    TomatoQueen

    December 11, 2019 at 10:40 pm

    @Jay Noble: He looks like Goebbels. He thinks like Goebbels. He has the same damn job as Goebbels.  He’s Goebbels.

  44. 44.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    December 12, 2019 at 12:35 am

    @SFAW: Come on, Miller at lest has a reptilian hind brain to drive him to mate, doesn’t he? I mean, he should, you know…

  45. 45.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    December 12, 2019 at 12:38 am

    @TomatoQueen: More like Lavernty Beria, head of the NKVD under Stalin.

  46. 46.

    Tehanu

    December 12, 2019 at 1:16 am

    @NotMax: @Brachiator: Holy mackerel. I sincerely hope they don’t have any kids as the poor things will either be traumatized for life before they flee at 18, or turned into nasty little copies of their parents.

  47. 47.

    Boris, Rasputin's Evil Twin

    December 12, 2019 at 3:16 pm

    @Mike in NC:  The original Nazis around Hitler were pretty miserable specimens of Aryan supermen, and of human beings as well. It must go with the territory, that and tons of projection

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