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author

yes, I know I spelled 'fascist' wrong. it's fixed. I found a typo in yesterday's Status Kwo post, and it made me happier than it should have

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Did you find any new indicators or cofeffe?

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covfefe

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Right. Covfefe. It’s not in the dictionary & I got lazy... damn 🥸

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It seems to me you should get a pass for misspelling covfefe.

Just don't use it wrong in a sentence.

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I'll try. Wait. Did I?

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lol I have no idea

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Man, I am the typo, queen so I cannot say a thing in this regard, lol.

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author

I started a chat thread about why I could have included the slaughter of the Native Americans in my piece, and why I chose not to. it's here: https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/ba3b1758-769d-4fe7-a81e-a1d9ae6b58f3

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author

I recognize that I'm coming at this from the perspective of an ancient white male, so being wrong about this would be the one of least-surprising things to ever happen to me.

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And the sweeping helped bring DeSantis from GITMO to state office in FL to National scene with his ranting, I WANT TO KILL.

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It's worth writing a whole separate piece on this subject! Hitler used the systematic slaughter of 50 million Native Americans as a model for his genocide, at least that's my understanding. You would explain this subject much better that I could.

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I will never understand man's inhumanity to man... like, what drives it? It is one thing to hate someone and yet another to be driven to kill millions of innocent people who have not personally harmed you in any way. They do it for power? For the lulz--is it just inherent in some folks to dehumanize and harm others? Was Hitler a born sociopath? And what of those who mitigate his crimes? I once went to see a therapist who said during a session that she did not understand why everyone held such a negative view of Hitler. Yeah--I did not reschedule.

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I rhino if you have a compassnate heart it is impossible to understand those that are devoid of compassion and empathy. We live with internal mechanism. Imagining someone without is hard. But people like Trump operate in a totally different environment. And those with ambition and less humanity are attracted to their sphere of influence. It is easy to look it itlike physical science. At least to try to understand it.

Once I looked at Trump as the narcissistic sociopath he is, it was easier to understand him. As an organism

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Very true--because they see the world in such a transactional way--and even their transitional standards are bogus and flexible--subject to change. How anyone can live like that --it is beyond me.

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OMG! That's horrific Alicia. I've had similar experiences with random professionals I've hired. Never hired again. And I agree I'll never understand cruelty. 💕

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It's weird. I always thought it would be easy to find a therapist before I actually tried to find one. I have since discovered it is like trying to find the right partner for a "relationship". You have to mesh because a strong trust bond has to be cultivated. No easy feat.

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Don't get me started, Alicia. Agreed, finding the right therapist is a high bar. Once, I left one session with a new therapist after about five minutes. A therapist should be an ally that you can trust. At some point I decided meditation worked better for me. But that was after years with three really good therapists. Big hugs. Never give up.

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I actually find meditation very beneficial I just have to keep it up, I am a bad procrastinator, lol.

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Well, I just read the piece in The Nation. God Damn. It's compelling. I guess I was one of those people who wanted to have faith that the system was working as it should and that MG was just being meticulous. 🤷🏼‍♀️

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/its-official-the-doj-stalled-the-investigation-into-donald-trump/

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Thanks for sharing the link. I read the article and found it informative. One thing the author doesn’t mention is that Merrick Garland has said he appointed Jack Smith because TFG announced he was running for POTUS.

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I address exactly what you speak of today in the chat. I am so grateful for your voice!

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And fuck Aileen Cannon, as well.

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Cannon needs to go. Her beyond belief bullshit favoritism of Trump is a mockery as well as a kick in the ass to our judicial system. The obvious lack of experience also continues to show and how we the people can expect to see an unbiased trial here is hard to believe.

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She is definitely compromised. We need the 11th circuit to intervene.

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With a chainsaw while on a pogo stick. (Thanks to "Heathers" for the Chainsaw ref)

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Thank you Jeff. And spot on. Until we can be honest about our brutal past, how can the United States move forward and promote the concepts of equity, justice, democracy, and truth when we don’t embrace those concepts.

There must be accountability for our past, the Trail of Tears, the brutality of slavery, Vietnam, El Salvador, the School of the Americas, and other egregious acts throughout our history.

We must honor all those who spilled blood, sacrificed, and dedicated their lives to the ideals of justice, liberty, democracy, and equity for all people. Not by sweeping our past crimes under the carpet, but by shining a light into the dark corners and together saying “never again.”

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We focused mostly on learning dates and places in history, and not what actually happened. Had we learned the true history of each president, including their misdeeds, we would probably have remembered those dates/places more easily and in turn learned the importance of knowing who we are voting for.

Today with information at our fingertips, most people do not even bother to look at how an incumbent voted on various bills in the past YEAR, what they accomplished during that time, or if they even bothered to show up. Seeing a compelling ad, paid for by a super Pac with an agenda is often enough. It's how we end up with bad people in positions of power.

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Sad and true. In my work and writing a core theme is that a meaningful democracy requires an informed, educated, and engaged society. Voting on the basis of who has the coolest yard sign or meaningless motto places America on the path of turning the movie “Idiocracy” into a speculative documentary. (Of course one can argue we have surpassed that outcome with elected officials like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, and the Prison Apprentice).

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founding

I had to Google School of the Americas. Horrifying!

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I think the name was changed several years ago to the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISEC). Many courageous activists like Charlie Litkey and Blase Bonpane protested the “school” and our horrific involvement in the killing and torture of innocent people. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/23/us/charlie-liteky-dead-returned-medal-of-honor.html

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The trouble in Central America can all be traced to the School of the Americas

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I too had to Google WHISEC. Horrifying. Thank you for the education!

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Thank you for reading and researching. I had the honor to meet Blase and Charlie at an event in San Mateo twenty years ago. Their courage and actions continue to inspire me long after they passed on.

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Another American campaign that isn't even referenced when discussing migration, or this nation's atrocious response to the very problem it has caused.

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Well, said! I hosted a German student many years ago. He’s now 45 and a husband and father. We recently visited with him in Germany. On a stroll about his town we saw small bronze squares of metal imbedded among the cobblestones. Each one commemorates a Jew who once lived in the neighborhood and never returned. The Nazis also took headstones from Jewish cemeteries and used them as building materials and covered them with stucco. Now the stucco has been removed and the headstone revealed imbedded in the building. He said that all schoolchildren learn about the Holocaust in school so that it never happens again.

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I never knew that about the headstones and the commemorate bronze squares in the cobblestones. I have to read about that. Thanks!

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They're called "Stolpersteine" - "stumbling stones."

Say what you want about the Germans but - perhaps more than any other people - they've gone out of their way to come to terms with the dark areas in their past.

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I’ve found the metal squares in Italy, too.

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Not prosecuting the Bush Administration torturers and their enablers was not the only thing Obama and his AG Holder swept under the rug, which must have ended up quite lumpy. Equally egregious was that the “Rulers of the Universe” who created the financial crisis that left many Americans in ruins and 99% of us a little poorer were never pursued for the frauds they perpetuated.

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While I absolutely agree with you, there is one glaring consideration that Obama had that didn't apply to the others: he was the first non-white president. I can only imagine the extreme care he took in analyzing every step he took so that he wouldn't forever poison the possibility of there being a second one. We like to think that we are color-blind; we aren't.

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I share your opinion. It is unfortunate though that he was unwilling or unable due to perceived political problems to pursue those responsible for crashing the economy.

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The bank crisis recession & no accountability right after a bloody Iraq war that made no sense and the increasing divide in equality has helped create the Trump idiocracy.

People know they got the shaft and are willing to let FOX & Trump and MTG, etc craft the argument of why & how they got the short end. For years my neighbors belived those who couldn't afford the mortgages they got and then defaulted on as the only reason for the recession and not the willingness of the banks.The banking instruments; derivatives, CDO ,etc and how that created the recession and the folks that made it possible with deregulation as a bad poltical argument never got assimilated into the total picture. Seeing the bankers get big bonuses while others lost houses that they could see.

Trump really hit pay dirt with this history but he was never held accountable as part of the GOP that worked with him to get what they wanted. The GOP that did point it out left office.

I would not be surprised to learn the Koch bros/ the Heritage Foundation & other criminal billionaires whether Russian or other origins are culpable for creating the arguments and processes to fuel the destruction of our democracy as a means to cash in.

It had to start with anger and disillusioned population that stopped believing in wars from Vietnam through the Middle East and watching banks get away with criminal acts that were too big to fail or too necessary for political financing of politicians.

Had we come clean and admitted the unspoken truths and injustices we might get to healing. Now our rap aheet is getting very lengthy. It seems the more we try to avoid recognizing them the larger they become.

Just trying to win an election in order to accomplish a few good deeds is no longer justifiably possible. Scary times.

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Banks and corporations are sacred cows in this country. Untouchable, it seems.

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Amen

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I really, really wish Obama would have told Moscow Mitch to F off when McConnel intimidated him into not appointing a Suprememe Court Justice when he had every right to do so. It was so important that he did and Mr. O , who always aimed to please, moved on and let the Repubs inject their toxic SCJ on his own watch... Damn it.

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Yes, David. My real estate business was a casualty of the financial services industry conspiracy that caused a worldwide recession. So many people lost their homes and jobs. And the bastards got away free.

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And the bastards got away enriched.

There I fixed your last sentence, with great respect for the original btw.

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Yes, thank you for the correction. And Halliburton made a killing with the Cheney administration. Lockheed Martin became a permanent federal beneficiary. Golden parachutes landed all over the West, where the paratroopers bought up all the ranches and closed off public access. The bastards always win.

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Absolutely

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Vacuuming the rug won’t help, shampooing the rug won’t help either. We need to throw that rug away and expose the floor to sunlight.

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Well, Jeff, I've got chill bumps from today's ultra brilliant offering. Wow. This is breathtaking. Every ounce of this is particularly meaningful to me and the last part because I grew up in rural Alabama in a rich little plantation town where my father had the only drug store for a 50-mile radius and every Saturday all the country farmers, black and white, came into town in their mule-drawn wagons to get provisions for the week or month whatever they could afford. My experience with beaten down once upon a time slaves was their enormous kindness and generosity of heart. If they had barely anything and saw you had nothing, they'd give you half. All of this is very very painful for me. Still and more.

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I am touched by that, Janet. Thank you.

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Bush Jr has never really been held accountable for the way he handled Katrina. I will NEVER forgive him for that.

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Indeed his whole tenure was a crime.

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Or for invading a sovereign nation based on lies. And Bush Sr & his boss Reagan were never held accountable for Iran-Contra or prolonging the hostages in Iran to win the 1980 election, either.

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No they weren't. But they had that handy tool for AG. Barr was given the nick name "the Cover General" back when the NYTs meant something.

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Another asshole Republican performer-in-chief who appoints a horse association officer to the chief emergency response leader of the entire country. Like the schmuck he sent to run Iraq after he broke it. Or the idiots who thought torture was a great idea and tried to justify it. Or just couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to America’s greatest security threat after he was warned about Bin Laden. Yeah, Michelle Obama’s buddy, George W. Bush, Jr., MBA, shit for brains.

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Yeah, and when Colin Powell dies, we remember what a terrific dude he was and such a great public servant and everybody forgets that he fucked it all up in his one big moment when he gave the neocons his blessing to invade a country that hadn’t even sneezed at us. This is where Mike Pence gets the win over Colin Powell. We sweep all kinds of shit under the rug; we’re Americans. It takes a quarterback throwing his career like a spiral into the toilet when he takes a knee to get America to stop sweeping police murders under the rug. Denny Hastert was swept under the rug by Republicans who make up pizza parlor sex trafficking stories about Hillary. We’ve swept a century of fucking with our hemisphere’s governments under the rug, assassinating and corrupting and brutalizing everywhere we go. But yeah, let’s bring God and Jesus and guns into the classroom and cut out the goddamn commie free lunches.

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Is it that Americans are so self-righteous they can’t admit the past and make an attempt to not repeat the future? Can we not handle the truth? Thanks for reminding us that we need to own our history, good and bad.

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The GOP hates the truth because it proves them to be wrong on nearly every item we have that needs actual attention and not thoughts & prayers (that are less than useless)... they can't handle the truth.

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Yes. The truth would take the profit out of their ambitions.

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yes, that is it

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I can't get over the fact that I didn't know about the Tulsa massacre until I was about 60 years old.

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Perfection, thank you Jeff!!

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how Milquetoast Merrick still to this day hasn't been fired I swear to christ...

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When Biden wins re-election, his first task if we have the Senate, is to fire Merrick's skinny, scared ass.

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Glen Kirshner for AG.

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Merrick is still gunning for that Supreme Court seat. He can’t be seen as taking part in a “partisan” (cough! Cough!) operation of any sort while in place as head of DOJ.

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Sadly apparently Biden DGAF...

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Praise God & pass the biscuits, your words of praise are worth repeating!

Our civil servants are doing their jobs, and not running scared of the big bad wolf.

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We used to say ‘Praise God and pass the gravy’ ... hadn’t heard it in years! Lol

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Thank you.

And the US is not the only nation guilty of building a false public global image based on historical amnesia and effacement of victims solely to protect state criminals guilty of high crimes and misdemeanours from the consequences of their actions.

For those here not familiar with the ongoing, so far successful, attempt by this present UK government to shut down all legal routes for victims and survivors of UK state atrocities committed in Northern Ireland during the British military counter insurgency Operation Banner (1969-2007) to access truth or justice I draw your attention to their soon to be passed into law: The Northern Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill 2022/3.

It gifts full back dated legal amnesty to all perpetrators of all crimes committed on all sides. A London based special unit is to be set up for the task to permanently shut down any further investigations into heinous state abuses of power committed in the past c.50 years in Northern Ireland. The British ruling establishment would never voluntarily allow full legal exposure of the ugly truth of their activities in the North in the century since Irish Partition.

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I remember it well. I’ll NEVER forget being a young teenager watching evening news with my dad when I saw the reports of the violence in Northern Ireland. They showed police using “rubber” bullets shot a woman in the street in the eye.

We do remember the violence there and no amount of nay saying, cleansing those guilty of atrocities will remove that image from my brain. I’m 65 now, and I still wonder about that woman.

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