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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Accountability, motherfuckers.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

They don’t have outfits that big. nor codpieces that small.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

I really should read my own blog.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

Come on, man.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

“In this country American means white. everybody else has to hyphenate.”

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

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Domestic Terrorism

You are here: Home / Archives for Domestic Terrorism

Cold Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: Seal Team Six Rolls Again

by Anne Laurie|  January 30, 20242:38 am| 100 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Terrorism, Grifters Gonna Grift, Immigration, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Lock Him Up...Lock Them All Up

‘Take Our Border Back Convoy’ heading through Central Texas to Eagle Pass https://t.co/9KkHQHpDwB

— Texoma's Homepage (@TexomasHomepage) January 29, 2024

Per Austin news station KXAN, “‘Take Our Border Back Convoy’ heading through Central Texas to Eagle Pass”:

The “Take Our Border Back Convoy” will head from Dripping Springs to Eagle Pass, Texas later this week in a show of force organizers say will “call on our government to take action” to “secure the southern border.”…

The trip is part of a nationwide call to action bringing people to various hotspots along the border including Eagle Pass, Yuma, Arizona, and San Ysidro, California. The group invites “active and retired law enforcement and military, veterans, Mama Bears, elected officials, business owners, ranchers, truckers, bikers, media, and law-abiding, freedom-loving Americans.”

The Texas stint will include a “pep rally” at the Dripping Springs H-E-B on Thursday, Feb. 1. The group will then leave from Dripping Springs on Feb. 2 and travel to the Cornerstone Children’s Ranch in Quemado.

A spokesperson for H-E-B reached out to KXAN to let us know company policy prohibits rallies or protests on company property regardless of the reason for the event. They have attempted to let organizers of the event know they will need to gather somewhere else…

“We’re not going to blockade,” an organizer said in a Sunday video address. “We don’t want to cause any problems for law enforcement or the National Guard… we don’t want to put anyone in danger.”

Some border residents and advocacy groups are wary, however. The League of United Latin American Citizens issued its second-ever “National Alert” in response to the convoy, warning of possible violence and criticizing Gov. Abbott of spreading harmful rhetoric…

The convoy’s official conduct expectations requires that members agree to “peacefully participate.”

After all, if the Big Gubmint brings the hammer, no more sweet sweet ‘love offerings’…

Texas Border Convoy Raises $125K in Donations for "Domestic Internal Defense" https://t.co/qpWGKuwkQp

— Deenie (@deenie7940) January 29, 2024

show full post on front page

A protest convoy heading to the southern U.S. border with Mexico has raised over $125,000 in donations.

The Texas Border Convoy says it is attempting to drive to the area of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas…

A Telegram channel called Take Back Our Border has over 1,000 members and is used to plan the convoy, as Wired first reported. One member urged others to bring “kits” in case “stuff goes down you will be able to protect yourselves and help out.”…

Pete Chambers, one of the organizers, has said he was a Green Beret. “That’s what Green Berets do. Unconventional warfare is our bread and butter. Now we’re doing domestic internal defense,” Chambers told the right-wing conspiracist Alex Jones on his show Infowars last week.

He added: “If this call is neglected, we are determined to sustain ourselves as long as possible and act like soldiers who never forget what is due to our own honor and that of our country.”

Donated funds will be received by ‘MISSION WTP HAGGAI 28.’ It is not immediately clear who owns this group…

And they’ve got a mascot already waiting to join them!

Potty training, that is. pic.twitter.com/4xq1H1BX5O

— Anna Maltese ?? ?? ?? (@MalteseAnna) January 11, 2024

Kyle Rittenhouse is in training, and he’s doing a good job! pic.twitter.com/ggkMDnRHXR

— TizzyEnt (@TizzyEnt) January 10, 2024

Live shot of Kyle Rittenhouse at the southern border: pic.twitter.com/kcjAHW8iO6

— Liam Nissan™ (@theliamnissan) January 28, 2024

Cold Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: Seal Team Six Rolls AgainPost + Comments (100)

Ashokan Farewell Open Thread: Big Media *Craves* the Idea of ‘Civil War’

by Anne Laurie|  January 1, 20244:50 pm| Leave a Comment

This post is in: Domestic Terrorism, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Republican Venality, Trumpery, Our Failed Media Experiment

When asked by Tucker Carlson whether the US is headed towards a violent civil war, Donald Trump chooses to answer by praising the people who attacked the Capitol on January 6th https://t.co/7opdx1PRIi

— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) August 24, 2023

Sad RW Pandas Open Thread: Tucker & Trump

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/08/tucker-carlson-trump-interview-x-epstein-debate.html

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/donald-trump-tucker-carlson-debate-night-interview-epstein-civil-war-1234811372/

… Carlson closed the interview with a pointed question: “Do you think we’re moving towards civil war?”

Trump paused for a moment. “There’s tremendous passion, and there’s tremendous love,” he responded. “Jan. 6 was a very interesting day, because they don’t report it properly.”

“People that were in that crowd that day — a very very small group of people — went down there and there were a lot of scenarios that we can talk about, but people in that crowd said it was the most beautiful day they had ever experienced. There was love and unity.”

“I’ve never seen such spirit and such passion and such love, and I’ve also never seen, simultaneously and from the same people, such hatred of what they’ve done to our country,”Trump added.

“So do you think it’s possible that there’s open conflict?” Carlson pressed.

“I don’t know, I don’t know,” Trump replied. “I can say this: There’s a level of passion I’ve never seen, and there’s a level of hatred I’ve never seen. And that’s probably a bad combination.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/24/trump-georgia-surrender-republican-impact/

wallet inspector please hand over your wallet for review pic.twitter.com/tWhWcK75EQ

— Jean-Michel Connard ?? (@torriangray) August 25, 2023

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/25/sarah-palin-us-civil-war-donald-trump-prosecutions

Saturday Morning Open Thread:  Big Talk About 'Civil War'
(h/t BethanyAnn)

For years now we've suffered a steady drumbeat of Nazi shooters almost identical in their ideology and method. AR-style rifle. Body armor. 8chan manifesto. Often swastikas and references to other shooters.

But half our media/government pretends they each occur in a total vacuum.

— zeddy (@Zeddary) August 26, 2023

Ashokan Farewell Open Thread: Big Media *Craves* the Idea of ‘Civil War’Post + Comments

The Second Anniversary of the Jan6 Insurrection – STOCKPILE

by Anne Laurie|  January 1, 20244:47 pm| Leave a Comment

This post is in: Domestic Terrorism, Jan 6: Insurrection, Proud to Be A Democrat

"Pray to God it never happens again," Biden said in Cabinet meeting when a reporter asked him a question about January 6. pic.twitter.com/jTp43TIJgc

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) January 5, 2023

The White House says President Biden will mark the two-year anniversary of the January 6th insurrection during a ceremony in the East Room on Friday.

— Asma Khalid (@asmamk) January 3, 2023

U.S. Capitol Police ready for future attacks as Jan. 6 anniversary looms https://t.co/iVwaaIizy8 pic.twitter.com/oDlvK4bYcl

— Reuters (@Reuters) January 3, 2023

The House Jan. 6 committee is shutting down, having completed a whirlwind 18-month investigation of the 2021 Capitol insurrection. It sent its work to the Justice Department, along with a recommendation for prosecuting former President Donald Trump. https://t.co/hc2aWttMDG

— The Associated Press (@AP) January 2, 2023

New: House GOP rules package has provision to take control of records obtained by previous Congress and sent to Archives — which is why Jan. 6 committee released its underlying evidence via GPO, amid fears that Republicans might meddle with the docs.

— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) January 2, 2023

A pretty extraordinary amount of testimony from Milley to the J6 committee, mostly going under the radar last week as the final transcripts were released https://t.co/hTwVHHU3qN

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 4, 2023

The @FBI and our partners hope the increased reward will encourage the American public to take another look at the photos and videos of the suspect and the device. If you recognize the suspect, submit a tip at https://t.co/t8G7LO4hxu. https://t.co/hNNY3pInqh pic.twitter.com/YUB4TwLixN

— FBI Washington Field (@FBIWFO) January 4, 2023

EXCLUSIVE: @RollingStone has obtained the Jan 6 committee's unreleased report on how Twitter and other social networks were used to fuel the insurrection. https://t.co/C01ap6W2Nj

— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) January 1, 2023

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/01/03/capitol-riot-extremists-select-committee/

At trial, Oath Keeper alleges specific plan to stop vote count
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/01/05/oath-keepers-trial-cooperator-testimony/
Caleb Berry
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/01/05/jan-6-rioter-prison-or-mercy/

The Second Anniversary of the Jan6 Insurrection – STOCKPILEPost + Comments

Late Night Open Thread: Speaker Johnson & the Domestic Terrorists

by Anne Laurie|  December 6, 202311:35 pm| 42 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Terrorism, Jan 6: Insurrection, Open Threads, Republican Venality, Republicans in Disarray!

Republican House Leadership has apparently taken action to hide criminal behavior.

If the Department of Justice believes the videos at issue constitute evidence, then this video blurring action by House Republicans could constitute obstruction of justice. https://t.co/Qesr8Qeo5G

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) December 5, 2023

It could be argued there’s an outside chance Speaker Johnson really believed the Capitol tapes would show ‘peaceful tourists’ quietly browsing the People’s Palace. Or it could’ve been argued, if he hadn’t immediately hustled to cover up criminal behavior by tampering with the evidence. A revered Republican tradition!

House GOP: We need to release all the Jan. 6 footage so people can see what actually happened.

<Jan. 6 footage shows MAGA and QAnon insurrectionists assaulting police, damaging property, and committing other crimes>

House GOP: OK not what *actually* actually happened. Not that. https://t.co/YFBottrRap

— Nicholas Grossman (@NGrossman81) December 5, 2023

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This is an admission that Speaker Mike Johnson is destroying evidence of people committing crimes. If they were just strolling through the Rotunda (à la peaceful tourists), there would be no need to blur their faces. These are people breaking things and smearing feces on walls.

— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) December 5, 2023

"Hey thanks for the tapes Mr Nixon, seems like there's some weird gaps in them…oh well, probably nothing worth worrying about" https://t.co/LO9Rvpodck

— The okayest poster there is (@ok_post_guy) December 5, 2023

https://t.co/DROyz1AIGl pic.twitter.com/XYi2yLq6Sy

— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) December 5, 2023

Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution https://t.co/KHUhqH0kCW

— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) December 5, 2023

This building fusion between the GOP and right wing paramilitary activity is bringing us towards *failed state* territory. https://t.co/C4o4Yo4RC6

— Eric L. Robinson (@UticaEric) December 5, 2023

Speaker Mike Johnson is a religious zealot in control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mike Lindell is a domestic terrorist who went broke defending conmen like himself.

Lindsey Graham is an empty suit moving rocks for admitted domestic terrorists.

Moms for Liberty is… pic.twitter.com/x0GIRhUQPb

— Ryan Shead (@RyanShead) December 4, 2023

Late Night Open Thread: Speaker Johnson & the Domestic TerroristsPost + Comments (42)

Sunday Evening Open Thread: What Does Chuck Grassley Know About the Attempted Insurrection, And When Did He Know It?

by Anne Laurie|  September 10, 20239:43 pm| 97 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Terrorism, Jan 6: Insurrection, Open Threads, Republican Venality, Trump Crime Cartel

Grassley Says He Was ‘Never Involved In Any Conversations’ About Him Presiding Over Congress On Jan. 6 https://t.co/yN4EDPEFtO via @TPM

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) September 7, 2023

Grassley’s worked his ‘kindly, if slightly addled, Grandpa Simpson’ cosplay to great effect for almost as long as I’ve been paying close attention to Republican political maneuvering… but all great performances must eventually be ended, by audience demand if not the wishes of the performer.

Would Grassley throw himself into plotting a coup against a Democratic president? Probably not — if only because he and/or the powerful Iowa family dynasty he heads, wouldn’t get much of a return for that risk. Would he happily accede to a coup, if there was enough of a reward offered to Chuck Grassley? IMO: Does a CAFO pig dump produce sh*t lagoons?

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) told reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday he was not involved in any conversations with Trump allies about the possibility of him presiding over the Jan. 6, 2021 joint session of Congress.

“We were talking about presiding over the Senate but a lot of people get that mixed up with some idea that I was going to preside over the joint session,” Grassley said as he got out of the Senate subway for the first votes of the day. “You know that’s not what I ever intended to do. I was never involved in any conversations on that or anything.”

When pressed about how the mix up happened, Grassley was led away by a staffer and reporters were told the senator’s office could send out a statement to elaborate.

Questions around Trump allies’ discussions about Grassley presiding over Congress instead of then former Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6 resurfaced on Tuesday when Trump lawyer John Eastman was asked about those conversations during his disbarment trial in California.

Eastman evaded the question and claimed conversations on that topic were protected by attorney-client privilege, according to Politico. When pressed further about which client he was referring to Eastman said, “President Trump.”…

How long are you cruel reporters gonna keep harrying a poor old man whose memory might not be what it once was?…

That doesn’t mean they had an actual plan in place to do that, but too many people take it as a given that Grassley is a quirky old man and not a hack.

— Clean Observer (@Hammbear2024) September 7, 2023

A guy who employed Barbara Ledeen can’t be per se ruled out as a participant.

See also the cadre of ex-Grassley staff running the rat fuck operation on Biden via made up claims about Hunter. https://t.co/qkgr0DVdKm

— Clean Observer (@Hammbear2024) September 7, 2023

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Analysis: Critics of Donald Trump have focused on comments Sen. Charles E. Grassley made to suggest that Grassley was in on a plot to sideline former vice president Mike Pence, who had been resisting Trump’s entreaties to help overturn the 2020 election. https://t.co/FYLCHNTNXf

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 8, 2023

… There’s no real evidence of Grassley’s involvement. But that doesn’t preclude the possibility that some people in Trump’s orbit were angling for that outcome, as evidence suggests they did.

Grassley set off a momentary controversy on Jan. 5 by saying: “If the vice president isn’t there — and we don’t expect him to be there — I will be presiding over the Senate.” Roll Call initially cast this as Grassley saying he personally expected to preside over the certification of electoral votes. (In the absence of the vice president, that duty falls to the Senate president pro tempore, which was Grassley.)

But Grassley’s actual comments appeared to refer to a separate session of the Senate rather than the crucial joint session of Congress, something his office clarified then and Grassley himself reiterated Thursday. His office said he would fill in for Pence in the Senate only if Pence stepped out for a period of time.

(Grassley on Jan. 6 would indeed wind up briefly presiding over the Senate, after Pence was evacuated amid the growing unrest at the Capitol. But Grassley, too, was soon removed from the chamber.)

Grassley and his office have repeatedly denied that anybody approached him about presiding over the joint session so he could decline to certify the results on Jan. 6.

But other evidence makes clear that some Trump allies entertained the idea of Pence stepping aside — and that even Pence at one point at least discussed the possibility…

Why wasn’t Chuck Grassley hauled in front of the January 6 Committee and asked why he said “we don’t expect” Pence “to be there” on January 5, 2021? What did Grassley know and what was his involvement? https://t.co/1nGpSP1sv2

— 😱 Scary Larry 😱 🇺🇦✊🏻🇺🇸🗽 (@aintscarylarry) September 7, 2023

Naow, naow — let’s not argue and bicker about ‘oo kilt ‘oo!…

Sunday Evening Open Thread: What Does Chuck Grassley Know About the Attempted Insurrection, And When Did He Know It?Post + Comments (97)

Alabama G-ddamn.

by MisterDancer|  August 8, 202311:00 am| 349 Comments

This post is in: #BLM #M4BL, Black Lives Matter, Civil Rights, Domestic Terrorism, domestic terrorists, Kiss My Black Ass, Make The World A Better Place, Open Threads, Post-racial America, Racial Justice

(Following up on yesterday’s promise) I don’t wanna be the Black Reporter for Balloon Juice, but I think there’s unexpressed importance in the recent Alabama Asswhooping.

For those unaware: When a Black riverboat worker asked some White people to obey the laws of the place he worked, they chose violence. A very racially-charged brawl ensued.

Responses have ranged from the pride in self-defense among a number of Black folx (and White supporters), to…well, selective editing and outrage in the people you’d expect.

There’s a lot here. So I’ll focus on those eager with the “violence isn’t the answer” prompt. Those uneasy with how easy so many seem to be with the asswhuppin’. You’re right! Violence isn’t the answer to all the issues plaguing Black folx in America — much less, the issues around Reproductive Justice, or attacks on LBGTQIA+ folx, or the treatment of people with disabilities.

And yet. If we don’t all work together to resolve these issues, and the issues of so many others. If we don’t start to recognize the source of so many challenges in America…well. I mean, Dr. King said it, a few months before White violence took his life:

First, is the guilt for riots exclusively that of Negroes? And are they a natural development to a new stage of struggle? A million words will be written and spoken to dissect the ghetto outbreaks. But for a perceptive and vivid expression of culpability I would like to submit two sentences that many of you have probably heard me quote before from the pen of Victor Hugo. “If the soul is left in darkness, sins will be committed. The guilty one is not he who commits the sin but he who causes the darkness.” The policy-makers of the white society have caused the darkness. It was they who created the frustrating slums. They perpetuate unemployment and poverty and oppression. Perhaps it is incontestable and deplorable that Negroes have committed crimes, but these are essentially derivative crimes. They are born of the greater crimes of the white society.

(Emphasis mine – MD)

It’s also important to understand that “enjoying” this moment, in the Black community, isn’t carefree. It’s with the background of the weight of centuries of oppression, and the very real issues of the present moment that reflect in this brawl. In the people who almost certainly chose violence against a Black man because — in the American South, yes, but elsewhere as well — his life and liberty isn’t worth the same as them. And that some Black folx aren’t about losing any more liberty, without a literal fight.

As Joy Reid put it:

[Back in the day] There were no consequences for [White Folx] and deadly ones for us if we tried to fight back. Well that era is done and it ain’t coming back, no matter how many sundown-town fantasy songs their country singers make. Seeing Black folk come as a community to that security guard’s rescue, one guy even swimming over like Aquaman to help him, was a ‘Wakanda Assemble’ moment, in which a group of old school southern bullies effed around and found out.

Those “greater crimes” are not things that a whole group can ignore, forever. You cannot say that one side gets all the Stochastic Terrorism they want, and expect the attacked people to bend over and take it, forever.

I don’t know who needs to hear this. But I hope they do, and do so with a quickness.

I don’t wanna be the Black Reporter for Balloon Juice. I cannot be the Marginalized People Reporter for Balloon Juice. But Alabama might be a sign of things to come, if we aren’t real damn careful as a country.

 

Alabama G-ddamn.Post + Comments (349)

Late Night Open Thread: ‘Moms for Liberty’, a/k/a ‘Mary KayKayKay’

by Anne Laurie|  July 7, 20231:26 am| 67 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Terrorism, Education, Open Threads, Republican Venality

“We came to a very Black, queer, trans, antifascist place with a reputation for beating up Nazis, that explicitly told us not to bring our hateful anti-Black, anti-queer, anti-trans, book-banning fascist rhetoric into their city… and they were mean to us!!!” https://t.co/9qozADdyWn

— Kim Kelly (@GrimKim) July 4, 2023

But they’re concerned! And they’re mommies!

Moms for Liberty fucked around, and they found out what it looks like when you cross us and threaten our neighbors. That’s when the City of Brotherly Love turns into Hostile City—and you’re on your own there, bud.

My latest dispatch for @thenation: https://t.co/F0o5YmC8w0

— Kim Kelly (@GrimKim) July 5, 2023

… Moms for Liberty, the far-right hate group that has pushed both book bans and their own anti-Black, anti-LGBTQ rhetoric across the country while masquerading as a defender of “parental rights,” chose Philadelphia as the site of their annual “Joyful Warriors” summit this past week. And, with typical subtlety, they decided to hold their opening reception at the Museum of the American Revolution, in the heart of Old City, and booked the conference itself at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, just steps away from City Hall.

There was a certain logic behind choosing this particular city ahead of the Fourth of July holiday—we’re the birthplace of the United States, the Declaration of Independence, and all that jazz—but it was also a taunt, a challenge: This city, this country, belongs to us, not to you. So what are you going to do about it? …

Those appropriate measures started off on the morning of June 29 with a banner drop over I-95. Early birds were greeted with warnings that “Philly Protects Trans Kids” and “Bad Things Happen to Fascists in Philadelphia,” and that was only the beginning of a four-day-long protest that would bring hundreds, if not thousands, of people out into the streets. That evening, I watched as protesters encircled the Museum of the American Revolution. Armed with passionate speakers like ACT UP’s Jazmyn Henderson, a heavy-duty sound system, a fierce playlist, and hundreds of supporters, ACT UP and YCL members led the crowd in an hours-long queer dance party that doubled as an open roast of the Moms for Liberty attendees slinking in and out of the museum. “We lit out here. We not boring like these fucking people!” one speaker hollered as the sound system blared hip-hop. Another protester held up a sign reading, “Hey Moms for Liberty: if you’re scared of violent pornographic content near your kids, just wait until you read your Bible!” …

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The dance party continued throughout the weekend. Protesters decamped to the Marriott for the next three days of the conference, where more barriers and an endless stream of bored-looking cops tried to insulate the attendees from the actual city. That didn’t always work, either. A delightful video began circulating on social media on Friday after a local encountered a few errant moms in Reading Terminal Market, and helpfully ushered them out with a few choice exhortations—“Racists have never been welcome here, ever! And you’re still not welcome here!” The moms in question seemed shocked that anyone would dare oppose them. That indignant air accompanied them whenever they were forced to actually interact with a Philadelphian that weekend. Perhaps simply not enough people have been telling them to their face that their hateful agenda was not welcome, so Philly was happy to oblige. While I was there on Friday afternoon, the cops forgot to barricade off an exit path between the Marriott and the parking garage across the street, forcing conference attendees to come face-to-face with the protesters. All of a sudden, panicked fascists were getting chased down the street and up into the parking garage, heckled and jeered at, and told in no uncertain terms how the city felt about them. The cops scrambled to regain control, and the dance party continued. Making fascists feel unsafe is as much a Philly specialty as a cheesesteak from John’s Roast Pork or Irish potatoes, and it felt awfully nice to indulge…

… ACT UP Philadelphia was adamant that the dance party and associated events remain peaceful, and they did; whenever things began to heat up, organizers would grab the mic and calm everyone down. The tagline, “They can’t stop trans and queer joy!” underpinned the dance party protest, and that joyful resistance was in full bloom. The kid-centered events were especially sweet, and the protests maintained a family-friendly vibe throughout, as long as your kid could handle a few (thousand) swear words…

Moms for Liberty has morphed into a sprawling organization that aims to fight for what it sees as parental rights, but that critics label anti-government extremism. https://t.co/c1fcNHf0NX

— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) July 2, 2023


One hand back-scratches the other:

… “Never apologize. Ever,” said Christian Ziegler, the chairman of the Florida Republican Party. “This is my view. Other people have different views on this. I think apologizing makes you weak.”…

Moms for Liberty, which says it is nonpartisan, has grown into a conservative powerhouse, boasting 120,000 members in 285 chapters across 44 states. The group started in Brevard County, Florida, in 2021, initially to fight Covid restrictions and mask mandates.

It has morphed into a sprawling organization that aims to fight for what it sees as parental rights but that critics, including the left-leaning Southern Poverty Law Center, label anti-government extremism. Its members have removed books they deem inappropriate from public school libraries and have pushed to end what they see as the “indoctrination” of children on such topics as race, gender and sexuality.

The group [held] its second annual national conference [in Philadelphia last] week, drawing the five GOP presidential candidates, including former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Ziegler conducted his training during a breakout session, giving more than 100 attendees a lesson in how to deal with the media as the activists attract more attention and scrutiny.

He is the husband of Bridget Ziegler, one of the co-founders of Moms for Liberty, who later left the organization in an official capacity and was appointed by DeSantis to his Disney oversight board this spring. She introduced her husband at the session…

“They’re lazy,” Ziegler said of reporters. “They have no idea what’s going on at school board meetings. Oftentimes they don’t even know how local government works.”

[Okay… he’s not wrong, there…]

He also told attendees to give priority to local news interviews instead of going to national media.

“That’s where you reach the undecideds,” he said, adding that people who watch Fox News or MSNBC probably know how they’re going to vote but that consumers of local news may not.

Ziegler told attendees to look for opportunities to rattle their opponents, and he shared as an example a tactic to mess with a political opponent’s head. It involved printing out a direct mail piece that goes to 50 of the opponent’s friends and neighbors — but that the person will believe went to the whole town.

“They’re totally paranoid,” Ziegler said. “And they’ve burned three days of productivity” because they’re spending time worrying about a mailer that went out to only a few dozen people.

In an interview later, Ziegler described the mailer discussion as “an off-the-cuff example for campaigns that has nothing to do with the media training.”...

We prefer to do all our rat-fornicating in private, thankyouverymuch!

In some ways, Florida is uniquely suited to the sort of ‘Fascist Magic Kingdom’ politics that Ron DeSaster has so far succeeded so well by using; there’s a local tradition of self-sealed communities — from Disney World to The Villages — where people can cosplay their own little fiefdoms. Take the fan convention to a place with different traditions, well…

Never gets old, does it https://t.co/JcSDUOT69v pic.twitter.com/jDuMVMkxZ8

— Ragnarok Lobster (@eclecticbrotha) July 5, 2023

Joyful Warriors!

Tonight in Philadelphia, Moms for Liberty's summit is opening — So, I’ve been digging into the group's far right anti-LGBTIQ connections, and building a network analysis.

This is an interactive visualization of the sponsors and exhibitors of the Joyful Warriors National Summit. pic.twitter.com/yT9PbkayNM

— Teddy Wilson ????? (@reportbywilson) June 30, 2023

Interesting way to report on a hate group. https://t.co/YUuSplv3fS

— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) July 2, 2023

Credit where due:

Moms for Liberty is Mary KKKay. https://t.co/rLrZiCDB0B

— Marmel (@Marmel) July 1, 2023

Late Night Open Thread: ‘Moms for Liberty’, a/k/a ‘Mary KayKayKay’Post + Comments (67)

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