Tracker

When Donald Trump tried to stage a coup: Was June 1 the turning point? Last week our president tried to send the Army into America's streets. Aides pushed back, but it was a close call During his three and a half years in office, President Trump has succeeded in damaging every institution of politics and government, from the Department of Justice to the federal courts to the Foreign Service and the State Department to the intelligence community, public health agencies and beyond. But until fairly recently he had more or less left the U.S. military alone. There were been some skirmishes with his first defense secretary, James Mattis — but in the end, Mattis resigned over a policy dispute, an event well within regular executive branch norms. But then, after being lobbied by a Fox News commentator, Trump intervened in the military justice system and pardoned three accused war criminals late last year, causing the secretary of the Navy to resign in protest. It turned out Trump had no more respect for the military than anything else. https://www.salon.com/2020/06/12/when-donald-trump-tried-to-stage-a-coup-was-june-1-the-turning-point/

CNN reports this morning that the Trump campaign has decided to ramp up their current platform of racial division and his version of law and order while attacking China, immigrants the WHO and CDC. They feel that this is their only chance of re-election by whipping up their core support by way of fear and anger.

Second Coronavirus Wave Will Engulf U.S. in September, IHME Model Forecasts -Reuters / Bryan Smith A second wave of the novel coronavirus could rip through the United States around September, according to a new scientific model from the University of Washington’s Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). The researchers foresee the national death toll from COVID-19 reaching 170,000 by Oct. 1, the Seattle Times reports. That would mean around 57,000 more deaths in the coming months, on top of the 113,000 Americans already confirmed to have been killed by the virus so far.

White House Floats Idea Mexico Is Source of COVID-19 Spike White House officials have reportedly tried to make the case that travel from Mexico is to blame for a surge in coronavirus cases across the U.S. rather than the easing of pandemic-related restrictions. Two administration officials cited by the Associated Press said the idea had been discussed at a meeting of President Trump’s coronavirus task force on Thursday. Arizona has been hit particularly hard by a spike in coronavirus cases, along with Texas, Florida, and North Carolina. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention works to trace the outbreaks, the White House coronavirus task force is said to be discussing the possibility that travel to and from Mexico is behind the upward trend. The country has been hit hard by the pandemic, with 133,000 confirmed cases, but that is only a fraction of the more than 2 million cases documented in the U.S. Cross-border travel has also declined substantially amid the pandemic. https://www.thedailybeast.com/white-house-floats-idea-mexico-is-source-of-covid-19-spike?ref=home (no racism here- right?)

Here’s How John Bolton’s Lawyer Just Threw Him Under the Bus If you can be prosecuted for keeping a classified document in your garage, you can be prosecuted for giving it to your lawyer. John Bolton, Donald Trump’s former National Security Advisor, wanted to write a book. He knew that the White House would do everything they could to stop him. He hired a flashy white shoe law firm to handle the prepublication review process required by the nondisclosure agreement he signed when he got his security clearance. As expected, the White House weaponized the prepublication review process against him to keep him from publishing. If he published without approval, they said, he could face severe legal consequences. Then his lawyer, Chuck Cooper, wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed this week intended to put public pressure on the White House. In it, Cooper volunteered that Bolton had violated both his NDA and perhaps a few criminal laws, including the Espionage Act. Now, even if Bolton’s book is never released, he is facing stiff penalties. As unforced legal errors go, that’s a doozy. https://www.thedailybeast.com/john-boltons-trump-white-house-book-is-due-out-soon-but-his-lawyer-just-threw-him-under-the-bus-2?ref=home

Melania forced Trump to renegotiate prenup before moving into White House Melania Trump remained back in New York City after her husband’s inauguration, which at the time she explained was related to their son’s school year. But a new book reveals the first lady also used her delayed arrival at the White House as leverage to renegotiate her prenuptial agreement with President Donald Trump, reported the Washington Post. (good for her)

Florida Just Broke Its Record for New COVID-19 Cases Tracy Connor Executive Editor Published Jun. 11, 2020 8:55PM ET Florida just broke its record for most new coronavirus cases in a day. The state, which launched a new phase of reopening last week and which has allowed amusement parks to reopen, reported 1,698 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday—topping its previous high of 1,419 a week ago. Gov. Ron DeSantis says the relaxation of lockdown isn’t the cause of the spike; he insists it’s increased testing. Not everyone agrees. In Seminole County, Emergency Manager Alan Harris said their uptick can’t have anything to do with testing because testing numbers have actually dropped, the Orlando Sentinel reported

On top of forced unpaid days off.

Well, there are coffee beans that are collected after monkeys poop them out. That otta be pricey enough. Go for it.

In other cases and places, there were also many indications that a dictatorial regime was readying to seize absolute power but in most cases, the majority of people could not bring themselves to believe that it would actually happen. In the other cases, the public was led to believe that only a tyrant could lead them out of whatever crisis they thought was happening and went along, believing that it was a necessity and a temporary one at that.

National Guard units were ordered to be overly aggressive out of fear of what Trump might do next At one event after another, Donald Trump has encouraged police and security guards to be more violent toward protesters. Whether that’s encouraging guards to beat up those waving signs as they are dragged from one of his rallies, telling police to “not be so gentle” when conducting arrests, or insisting that forces need to “dominate the streets” to push back peaceful protests, Trump loves violence. As his 1989 full-page ad urging the murder of five innocent Black teenagers demonstrated vividly, this is nothing new for Trump. So it should be no surprise that in addressing peaceful protesters outside the White House following the police murder of George Floyd, National Guard units were ordered to use aggressive tactics that went well beyond how they would normally deal with the situation. The reason for this wasn’t just to please Donald Trump; it was done out of fear that if the Guard didn’t play rough enough, Trump would call in military troops from the 82nd Airborne Division and launch a genuine battle against civilians. Under pressure, the National Guard treated civilians in a way that has rattled the force and led to a suspension of recruitment. But apparently … Trump was pleased. https://www.alternet.org/2020/06/national-guard-units-were-ordered-to-be-overly-aggressive-out-of-fear-of-what-trump-might-do-next/

Chicago Cops Burglarized U.S. Rep’s Office as Protest Raged. They Made Popcorn, Drank Coffee, Napped. At least 13 officers were caught on CCTV lounging around in congressman Bobby Rush’s office while protests devolved into chaos outside.

Does this mean they will come out on stage with the letter "A" on their foreheads like the good old days?

He is the one who decided to hold a rally on the anniversary of and in the city where the Tulsa massacre of blacks by whites took place. He has been giving coded messages to his brownshirts for nearly four years, so why would this be any different?

TRUMP'S FREUDIAN SLIP IS SHOWING! ‘That really just happened’: Trump slammed for describing the US Secret Service as the ‘SS’ The abbreviation commonly used for the U.S. Secret Service is USSS, but President Donald Trump used a different abbreviation in a June 11 tweet: SS. And he is being slammed for it on social media, as SS is typically used to describe Adolf Hitler’s notorious Schutzstaffel of Nazi Germany. In German, Schutzstaffel means “protection squadron.” And in Nazi Germany during the 1930s, Hitler’s paramilitary SS were known for being incredibly vicious. Trump tweeted, “Our great National Guard Troops who took care of the area around the White House could hardly believe how easy it was. ‘A walk in the park’, one said. The protesters, agitators, anarchists (ANTIFA), and others, were handled VERY easily by the Guard, D.C. Police, & S.S. GREAT JOB!” Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump Our great National Guard Troops who took care of the area around the White House could hardly believe how easy it was. “A walk in the park”, one said. The protesters, agitators, anarchists (ANTIFA), and others, were handled VERY easily by the Guard, D.C. Police, & S.S. GREAT JOB! https://www.alternet.org/2020/06/that-really-just-happened-trump-slammed-for-describing-the-us-secret-service-as-the-ss/

STORM BREWING: COVID Is So Bad in Arizona They’re Running Out of Beds “It’s like Katrina,” one health expert in the state said. “We’re at capacity.” That’s how a nurse in Arizona who treats COVID-19 patients summed up the situation at her state’s facilities on Wednesday, describing 12-hour shifts treating more and more severely ill patients, many of whom have died. “It’s exhausting and emotionally draining, and you feel helpless and just very sad for people,” the nurse, who requested anonymity for fear of professional retaliation, told The Daily Beast. As of Wednesday afternoon, Arizona had at least 28,296 confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,706 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, which also showed a concerning upward trend. The state had 1,553 new cases on June 5, its highest daily peak for new cases since the pandemic began. According to a comparison of all 50 states, the Johns Hopkins data showed that Arizona had among the biggest upward case trends of any state in the U.S. https://www.thedailybeast.com/covid-is-so-bad-in-arizona-theyre-running-out-of-beds?ref=home (Don't they know that the Great Leader promised that warm weather would make the Coronavirus go "poof"? FAKE NEWS!!!)

Damn, where are we going to get a $5.00 cup of coffee now?

Multiple strains of coronavirus are now circulating in the US. Here’s what that means As the coronavirus moves around the country, it's mutating — but that isn't as bad as it sounds) Anew analysis published in the journal Science found seven new strains of the coronavirus that have been circulating in California — and that's according to a very small sample size. Specifically, a group of international scientists looked at samples from 36 COVID-19 patients in nine California counties and the Grand Princess cruise ship from late January to mid-March. Through a phylogenetic analysis — which is when researchers study the evolutionary relationships of genes — they found at least seven different SARS-CoV-2 lineages, including the WA1 strain which has been associated with Washington state. https://www.salon.com/2020/06/11/multiple-strains-of-coronavirus-are-now-circulating-in-the-us-heres-what-that-means/

Donald Trump, hydroxychloroquine and the world's largest fund manager: A love story? Does BlackRock explain Trump's strange affection for hydroxychloroquine — and a specific brand of COVID-19 test? As the fiery social justice movement in the wake of George Floyd's death has forced news about the coronavirus pandemic off front pages across the country, President Trump's obsession with the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for COVID-19 has appeared to wane. Though Trump might yet raise the drug's ghost — especially given the recent retraction of a study that appeared to seal the drug's fate — the motives for his ardor are still unclear. One explanation is that while the treatment might have been a dud against the coronavirus, it proved more effective against Trump's political troubles. Another, however, lurks in the financial links between the president and pharmaceutical companies that produce the drug, including a previously unreported and apparently unrequited relationship between Trump and the CEO of BlackRock, the world's largest fund manager, whom Trump named to the White House coronavirus economic advisory council. Trump has still never fully explained why he promoted the drug so forcefully for so long, going so far as to claim he himself took it daily for two weeks despite an outpouring of studies that found the treatment increased the risk of cardiac arrest and death, while providing no measurable benefits https://www.salon.com/2020/06/11/donald-trump-hydroxychloroquine-and-the-worlds-largest-fund-manager-a-love-story/

‘WE CAN’T LET THAT HAPPEN’: Michael Moore Warns Trump Will Use Coronavirus to Try to Postpone 2020 Election “He’s read the polls. He sees the data that he’s probably going to lose. He knows it,” Moore told Seth Meyers. After spending his first segment on Late Night with Seth Meyers expressing how hopeful the massive protests against police brutality were making him, Michael Moore took a very dark turn Wednesday night. Noting that Moore was one of the few public figures predicting that Trump would beat Hillary Clinton in 2016, Seth Meyers asked the documentary filmmaker how “worried” he is about the country’s ability to hold a fair election in the fall. “I’m very worried about this. We all need to be very worried about this,” Moore said. He pointed to the giant fence that the president has erected around the White House this past week as an ominous sign of what’s to come. “We make jokes about this, but I think this is a dry run for the fall,” Moore added. Stressing that he has “no inside information” from Eric or Donald Trump Jr., he said, “I do believe that he’s now read the polls. He sees the data that he’s probably going to lose. He knows it. And so now he’s got to come up with something. And that something will be him trying to postpone the election.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/michael-moore-warns-trump-will-use-coronavirus-to-try-to-postpone-2020-election?ref=home

‘Gross abuse of prosecutorial power’: Court-appointed lawyer rebukes Barr’s handling of Flynn case A retired federal judge appointed to argue against the Department of Justice’s move to drop criminal charges against President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn has recommended that the court proceed with sentencing. He called the department’s request to drop the case “a gross abuse of prosecutorial power” in an attempt to “provide special treatment” to a “political ally of the president of the United States.” https://www.alternet.org/2020/06/gross-abuse-of-prosecutorial-power-court-appointed-lawyer-rebukes-barrs-handling-of-flynn-case/

Trump Returns to Campaign Trail With Juneteenth Rally in Tulsa, Site of a Racist Massacre President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he would hold a campaign rally in Tulsa on June 19th, his first since coronavirus precautions halted nearly all large events. The date and location of the rally are significant—June 19th marks Juneteenth, the anniversary of the emancipation of the last enslaved African-Americans in the Confederacy. Tulsa was the site of a racist massacre in 1921, when mobs of white people destroyed the Greenwood District, which was known as “Black Wall Street,” for being the wealthiest black community in the country. The attackers murdered dozens of Greenwood residents. Kamau Marshall, head of strategic communications for former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign, expressed outrage over the choice of date and place: “How racist is Donald Trump: He’s so racist that he plans on having one of his first campaign rallies on June 19th in Tulsa, OK. If you don’t know—Do some research on #Juneteenth and the racial violence that took place in Oklahoma known as the Tulsa Race Massacre, 1921.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-returns-to-campaign-trail-with-tulsa-rally-as-oklahomas-coronavirus-numbers-spike

CDC Says Coronavirus Infections in the U.S. Are Increasing Sharply as the Rest of the World Figures It Out Even as the United States begins to lift its coronavirus lockdown orders, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is putting out dire warnings about increasing infection numbers. A CDC report dated June 9 shows infection numbers in the U.S. increasing by 36 percent per day. The majority of other countries listed, including the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain, enjoyed declining infection rates. Only Russia, Peru, and India’s infection numbers were growing, and even then by less than 5 percent. Health experts the world over have warned that the pandemic is far from finished, and some have even predicted another 100,000 Americans will die from it. Nearly 2 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the U.S., and more than 110,000 have died. - Yahoo News

Which does no good at all to the credibility of the protest movement.

That 38% of the American population still supports Trump after all the stupid, racist, fascist, criminal things he has said and done is beyond sad and says very bad things about America.