The White House has ordered all federal agencies to halt diversity training.  That’s right, folks, Trump has ordered that all training sessions about fighting systemic racism and white privilege in federal agencies, calling it “divisive” and “un-American”.  Russell Vought, the director of OMB, said, “The President has directed me to ensure that federal agencies cease and desist from using taxpayer dollars to fund these divisive, un-American propaganda training sessions.”

Of course, since the money has been appropriated and the contracts let, Trump can’t just arbitrarily cancel them.  So, what will happen is that taxpayer money will be spent and no training will occur.  Why is Trump doing this?  To whip up his last remaining base, racist pigs who hate everyone and everything, of course.  Trump has already pissed off small business owners, large business owners, doctors, nurses, scientists, , public health officials, teachers, and union workers; now he’s alienated members of the military, Blue Star families and Gold Star families.  Apparently all that’s left is Russian gangsters and bigoted mouth breathers waving Nazi and Confederate flags.

He’s finally found his base of last resort.

Yesterday, a 17 year old boy was arrested in Illinois for the shooting of three people, two fatally, at the protests in Kenosha Wisconsin over police shooting Jacob Blake in the back.  He used an assault rifle. The boy has appeared in several videos in altercations with protestors and people chasing him after the shootings, shouting at police that he was the shooter, which they ignored. In a video shot earlier that evening, the shooter claimed to be there to protect a car dealership with other armed vigilantes.  His  social media pages are full of gun videos and pro-police posts, as well of one of him with a ringside seat at a Trump rally in January.  Of course.

Where a goddam kid put his hands on an assault rifle is as yet unknown.  It’s illegal for a 17 year old to possess or open carry an assault rifle in Wisconsin or Illinois.  Unregulated private gun sales are legal in Wisconsin and open carry is legal for those 18 and over.  The Gifford’s Law Center rates Wisconsin gun laws at a C-.  In Illinois, rated A- by the Giffords Law Center, it is illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to purchase or own a long gun, even with parental consent.  We’ll likely find out that the assault weapon the shooter used in these murders either belonged to the shooter’s parents OR was purchased in Wisconsin in an unregulated sale.  This is a textbook example of why state and local gun laws simply don’t work.  Common sense, strict gun laws at the federal level is the only way we can even hope to reduce widespread gun violence.

On the other side of the country, armed radical right wing gun nuts pushed past Idaho state police officers at the state capitol in Boise, broke down the state house gallery door and stormed into the chamber to protest common sense public health policy.  Fearing violence, the police and the house majority leader allowed said gun nuts to fill the entire gallery ignoring social distancing rules and essentially commandeering state property that had been cordoned off to allow the senators to social distance as they debated health policy legislation. They also filled committee rooms and an auditorium.  There were only a few arrests, but one included Ammon Bundy, son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who has successfully commandeered federal land for his own private use for grazing his cattle.  It appears the younger Bundy was the leader of the Idaho protest.  One other note – this incident happened in the very same building where, in 2014, state police arrested dozens of protestors standing silently in the hallways to protest for LGBTQ rights.

The lessons here aren’t complicated.  The simple truth is that white guys carrying assault rifles literally get away with murder, violence, and threats of violence when other people, including lawmakers, are doing anything they hate.  Put even more simply, armed white guys have more rights than disarmed peaceful black people.  Carrying of weapons emboldens people to violate our laws and destroy societal norms.  Police allow, and sometimes even condone, such behavior, and the presence of guns during protests always confuses the situation and increases violence.  Self appointed “militia”, which are illegal, commandeer public property, and insert themselves into protests to  “protect” private property, but their effect is universally destabilizing. We have seen that many times, including the violence at the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, and at other protests from New Mexico to Dallas.

Allowing guns anywhere near political speech is nothing short of terrible public policy, period.  State and local gun laws don’t work, period.  Gun safety laws must be federal.  Guns in state capitols and municipal buildings threatens to destroy what’s left of our political system in America.  NO OTHER DEVELOPED COUNTRY HAS THIS PROBLEM.  The rest of the world understands that guns increase violence and death all the time, every time.  Only strong federal laws have a prayer of reducing the violence and threat of violence that now permeates our society.

In one of the most remarkable scenes ever on live television, the Minnesota state police arrested a CNN television crew and the reporter as he was covering them closing off a street.  Oh, and did I mention that the reporter is black?  I’m sure it’s a coinkydink.

Last night in Saline Michigan a meeting of parents in the local high school was held to discuss the problem of rising racism in this small town.  The town is mostly white, but also is populated by immigrants from Latin America and south Asia.  Racism against these children of immigrants including verbal and physical abuse.  During the meeting, Adrian Iraola, who immigrated to Michigan in 1980 from Mexico, was telling his experience with his son who has been verbally abused by white students.  In mid-sentence, Iraola was interrupted by a white guy sitting behind him saying, “Then why didn’t you stay in Mexico?”  The crowd in the room responded as you can imagine, but the man seemed non-plussed, and acted as if his behavior was somehow OK.

The problem we have building in America is that the current resident of the WH has made this attitude somewhat acceptable, at least in conservative circles.  This is the cancer in our society that has metastasized, threatening the entire body politic helped along by Trump.   Here’s a video of the incident.

Much to Trump Brown Noser Greg Abbott’s consternation, a federal judge just blocked Trump’s cruel, idiotic and illegal executive order to keep immigrants from resettling in states or communities without prior approval of those jurisdictions.  In his order, the Maryland judge said that the order “does not appear to serve the overall public interest.”  He went further, saying,

…the order gives states and local governments “the power to veto where refugees may be resettled — in the face of clear statutory text and structure, purpose Congressional intent, executive practice, judicial holdings and Congressional doctrine to the contrary.”

The argument placed before the judge was about the Refuge Act of 1980, and argued that Trump was trying to circumvent the federal law by implementing a state by state ban.  The judge agreed:

“The objectives of this Act are to provide a permanent and systematic procedure for the admission to this country of refugees of special humanitarian concern to the United States, and to provide comprehensive and uniform provisions for the effective resettlement and absorption of those refugees who are admitted.”

One more for the good guys.

Gallup has a new poll out about Americans’ top concerns, showing that for three years, the top concern was the government.  I can understand that, especially since Trump took the WH to help Republicans who have been working for years to gridlock everything and keep it from working to the benefit of all Americans.  But there is more in the data that clearly shows that who is in the WH significantly affects the concerns of the population.  Here’s the summary chart:

Look closely at the top two concerns each year and who happens to be president.  Before Trump, immigration made the top 4 issues only 3 times since 2001.  In the last two years, it’s been number two. Since Trump (with an assist from the GOP and Fox Noise) started vilifying immigrants, the issue has rocketed to the top of America’s issues.  Also look at the top issues by president.  Under GWB, it was Iraq, and later the economy.  Under Obama, it was the economy, even WAY after the economy gained strength and continued expansion.  In the last couple of years, as McConnell continually sabotaged the ACA and blocked all of Obama’s initiatives, government rose to the top of the list.  Under Trump, it’s government, for obvious reasons, as he works 24/7 to debase long respected agencies and urinates all over our 250 year history and traditions.  Also look across the top four concerns in the years under Trump.  Race is number 3 in all 3 of his years.  Now look down the rest of the list.  Race only appears ONCE, when Trump was running his blatantly racist campaign.  He has clearly opened a Pandora’s box in the American psyche that we had tried to keep closed for decades.

I find it fascinating to look at the list recalling the events during those years, and who happened to be president.  What becomes clear is that the messaging from the occupant of the WH and his allies greatly affects sentiment throughout our society.  When you have an immoral and shameless president, the worst of our country rises right back to the top.