There Are No Lone Wolves

Good afternoon Sisters, Brothers, and Kinfolk,

I want to build on something that has been bothering me for quite some time.  As you may already know a white supremacist in California opened fire in a synagogue killing one and injuring several others. Authorities believe that the young man was a "lone wolf" and that he acted alone. Reports that I have read indicate that the young man left a manifesto filled with typical hateful, bigoted, and racist language.

What's bothering me, aside from the fact that there has been yet ANOTHER domestic terror attack committed by a white supremacist, is this constant desire by the media and law enforcement to label these pieces of trash "lone wolves". I don't know how or when that got started but it's past time for that shit to end. There are no lone wolves and it's time we stop pretending there are. These people are connected and these incidents are connected and I want people to stop pretending they're not.

These killers are linked to each other in a number of ways. They inspire each other. They are often motivated by each other's actions. They empower each other. They are often moved by the manifestos left by other white supremacists. They congregate with each other. Social media has made it easier for them to link up and share their hateful ideology. We hear authorities and the media talking about lone wolves but when you take a closer look it's easy to see that these beasts run in a pack.

The media in particular seems to be in love with this narrative that these white supremacists are social misfits who were radicalized by movies, video games, or some other nonsense. They often paint them as outcasts who lashed out at a society who didn't understand them(I happen to hate this shit btw). The truth though is that many of these people become radicalized by mainstream news outlets who continually push bigoted and racist narratives(but that's a topic for another post).

If we are truly going to be honest we are going to have to admit that these "lone wolves" are just furthering the bloody racist legacy of America. These "lone wolves" are the terrible children of the bigoted, hateful racists that built this country on a foundation of white supremacy. These "social misfits" are just doing what they learned from their fathers, grandfathers, and great grandfathers. These "outcasts" are motivated by a system that continues to promote racial bias and continues to perpetuate fearmongering.

So if it's all the same to y'all, I move that we retire the term "lone wolf". There are no lone wolves. There never were. These killers are bound to each other and born of a society that taught them that whiteness is superior to all things. Calling them lone wolves is a feeble attempt to wash one's hands clean and avoid taking responsibility. These wolves are your pups America. Own them.

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Establishment Democrats Are Still Afraid of Trump

Good Afternoon Sisters, Brothers, and Kinfolk

Over the weekend I read an article from the Washington Post stating how democrats should be wary of impeaching Donald Trump. The article implied that impeachment could likely do more harm than good. It stated how impeachment was basically DOA once it reached the senate and talked about how impeaching Trump could rally and energize his base. The article also floated the idea of formal censure as an alternative. Needless to say, with respect to the author, I found this article ridiculous (not to mention typical). The article did everything to reinforce the narrative that democrats are weak and will always back down in the face of opposition. It also reinforced the narrative that democrats, particularly establishment democrats, by and large are still afraid of Donald Trump.

I mean let's start with the idea of formal censure. I tweeted "Who believes that President Twitter Fingers is going to be moved an inch by formal censure?" Why would he even care? Censure is a weak, hollow, pointless gesture that would accomplish little beyond showing Trump that you're not going to do anything and showing your base that you lack the fortitude to hold him accountable. Now some would ask "Isn't impeachment also pointless because it's dead once it reaches the senate?". The answer is no. Impeachment would show Trump in no uncertain terms that democrats are willing to get up in him and fight him. It would show the base that they are not at all afraid and are willing to use every option at their disposal to defeat him. It would place the onus on Republicans to do their jobs and hold their president accountable.

Then there is the even more ridiculous notion that impeachment would rally and energize his base and encourage those who may be on the fence to get behind him. That is a bad joke. Anyone who votes for Donald Trump, knowing who he is, seeing how he has behaved, and knowing full well what he's done over the past 3 years, was going to vote for him anyway. Trump's base is already motivated and energized. They're already eager to vote for him again. Trump remains a habitual liar. Trump remains morally bankrupt. Trump remains a bigoted narcissist. His base and supporters know exactly who and what he is. It's WHY they are voting for him. What establishment democrats should be thinking about is how they can energize their OWN base. Showing you are willing to impeach an unqualified, lawless president would go a long way to garnering some confidence from those who you're counting on in 2020.

In my opinion fear of impeachment and this fear of Trump is rooted in the foolish notion that the path for victory for democrats is down the center. Establishment democrats still believe that they can "win over" independents who voted for Trump and moderate Republicans. This silly idea has been has been perpetuated by many prominent democrats and democratic presidential hopefuls. They are afraid to rile up Trump because they foolishly believe they can peel some of his supporters away. This is nonsense and will do nothing beyond taking the air out of their own base and ensuring another four years of Donald Trump fuckery. Establishment democrats have a long history of shooting themselves in the foot.

If democrats truly want to make a difference in 2020 they are going to have to let go of this irrational fear of Donald Trump and show some backbone. I mean let's be honest. If this were Barack Obama impeachment proceedings would've began months ago. Right now the image of democrats is still one of flaccid weakness and spineless ineptitude and this fear of impeachment is just another highlight. It's past time they take stock and start finding the strength to aggressively challenge Trump. Stop giving the bully your lunch money.

Thank you for reading.

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Aiding and Abetting: Gaslighting Apologists Who Are Still Caping for Police

Good afternoon Sisters, Brothers, and Kinfolk.

I've got some things I want to get off my chest. These days I've taken to writing to exorcise the demons that sometimes attempt to creep up on me. Writing truly is food for the soul.

Earlier today I saw two videos on Twitter. In one video police violently assaulted a Black man in an IHOP while his horrified wife looked on. The man committed no crime and it was clear from the video that the police escalated a situation which could've easily been resolved without conflict. At one point the police screamed and shouted in the distraught woman's face as she begged them to stop and not to shoot her husband. In the other video I watched as an officer violently attacked a Taravella high school student. A child. The child was sprayed, slammed face first into the ground, and punched in the back of the head. This is AFTER police attacked another child. Now it goes without saying that I am outraged by this videos and the despicable behavior of these corrupt law enforcement officers. I must say though that these days when I see these videos I'm a bit more outraged than usual. I'm a bit more angry. I'm a bit more frustrated. I'll explain why.

Black people, marginalized people, and PoC are no strangers to police brutality and systemic injustice. We've been dealing with this literally since the founding of this country. We have been fighting and resisting corrupt law enforcement since there has been law enforcement. Not only that but over the last two decades many people like myself have been warning that corrupt behavior by police has been on the rise. We've been warning that white supremacists have been invading and infesting police departments all across the country. We've been warning that the continued militarization of the police represents a clear and present danger to the community. We've been screaming these things for years at the top of our lungs to anyone who would listen.

Unfortunately though, our voices have been drowned out in favor of gas lighting apologists who continue to cape for the police. That's what has me more outraged than usual. The fact that there are STILL people who, after everything we've seen and continue to see, seek to protect and make excuses for corrupt agents of the state. These people are infuriating. I can't stand them. I won't lie. They are the worst kind of enablers. They are enemies of justice. They are enemies of progress. They lend validity to our oppressors. They make excuses for wicked behavior. They are the absolute worst and I can't stand these motherfuckers.

I mean what more do we need to see? We've seen corrupt officers attack children, attack the elderly, attack the disabled, attack the homeless, murder innocent people, and engage in some of the most heinous acts one could conceive. We've seen officers riding through neighborhoods in hummers in full military gear armed with weapons of war as if they are soldiers of fortune in some action film. We've seen them completely disregard the civil and constitutional rights of the citizens they are supposed to be serving and protecting. We've seen them almost gleefully engage in such behavior without any fear of repercussion.

Yet despite this, you still have people attempting to justify or dismiss corrupt behavior. You still have people who pretend that there isn't a problem with policing in America. You still have elected officials who act as if it's just a case of a "few bad apples" and not a nationwide systemic issue. If you are one of these people I hope you realize that you are a huge part of the problem. I hope you realize that you set us all back. I hope you realize that you cripple the efforts of those who are genuinely trying to make things better.

It's hard not to say "Fuck you" to you gaslighting apologists who continue aiding and abetting corrupt law enforcement. So I'll say it. Fuck you. Every last one of you. You do a disservice to the public. You do a disservice to the average citizen. You even do a disservice to law enforcement officers who may not be corrupt. You're in the way. You're holding us back. Your gaslighting fuckery makes all of this shit possible and I want all of you to know how I really feel.

I feel a little better now. Thanks for reading.

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The Mueller Report: An Aura of Ambiguity

Good afternoon family.

So unless you've been living under a rock you are aware that a redacted version of the Mueller report has been made public today. Pundits, journalists, news anchors, bloggers, and everyone with even a passing interest in politics has been buzzing about it all day. While I'm still reading it I must express that I'm dealing with a couple of sizable issues in regards to the report. Chief among these issues is that Robert Mueller and his team seem to have clearly gone out of their way to create an aura of ambiguity. After two years of investigation we get neither a full indictment nor complete exoneration. Instead we're getting this hazy kind of "We're not prepared to implicate or exonerate" narrative(at least that's my take).

That shit gets on my nerves if I'm to be honest. Maybe it's just me(and I'm fully willing to admit that it just might be) but after two years I think the public deserves some definitive answers. I mean if you want to say that Mueller's team felt they couldn't prove criminal conspiracy fine. That's a pretty high bar and you're probably going to need a smoking gun if you're going to make a charge like that stick. But just based off of what I've read it should be easy(again a least to me) to make a case for obstruction of justice. In fact much of the language in what I've read all but implicates that Trump himself attempted to obstruct justice. But instead of taking a clear stance Mueller seemed to deliberately back away from making a formal statement. I have no idea why.

So what this does is it creates more chaos, creates more questions than answers, and leaves the door wide open for random interpretation. Trump and his cohorts are claiming victory even though the report doesn't even come close to exonerating him. Worst of all, this all but assures that absolutely nothing is going to happen. Without any type of definitive language that implicates Trump committed a crime he and the rest of those grimey pieces of trash he runs with are going to skate. Democrats have already shown they're too shook to challenge Trump. Republicans have basically become Trump's bitches (yeah I said it) so they're obviously not going to do anything. So what we'll get is a week (maybe two) of victory laps from Trump sychophants on the right and conspiracy theories on the left.  But what we absolutely will NOT get is Trump and his criminal cohorts being held accountable or brought to justice.

So with that I'm going to take my time as I read this report. Because nothing is going to come of this and I think everyone deep down knows it. The democrats are too weak. The republicans are owned by Trump have no will of their own. This time next month almost no one will be talking about this (I'd absolutely LOVE to be wrong though). Which is a shame. Because based just on what I've read so far the truth is right there. But so far it seems Mueller and his squad are reluctant at best to stand on it.

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