Tucker And Turley Weigh In On Chauvin Trial

Tucker Carlson, in his own inimitable way, expressed what took place at the Chauvin trial (via RedState):

The jury in the Derek Chauvin trial came to a unanimous and unequivocal verdict Tuesday afternoon: “Please don’t hurt us.” The jurors spoke for many in this country; everyone understood perfectly well the consequences of an acquittal in this case.

After nearly a year of burning, looting, and murder by BLM, that was never in doubt. Last night, 2,000 miles from Minneapolis, police in Los Angeles preemptively blocked roads. Why? They knew what would happen if Derek Chauvin got off.

…

But here’s what we can’t debate: no mob has the right to destroy our cities. Not under any circumstances, not for any reason. No politician or media figure has the right to intimidate a jury, and no political party has the right to impose a different standard of justice on its own supporters.

Those things are unacceptable in America, but all of them are happening now. If they continue to happen, decent, productive people will leave. The country as we knew it will be over. So we must stop this current insanity. It’s an attack on civilization.

Here's the full segment:

Be Very Afraid

So says, in effect, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). They want you to be very afraid of your fellow Americans, any number of whom DHS suspects may be domestic terrorists. Even though DHS admits that "DHS does not have any information to indicate a specific, credible plot."

DHS Issues a National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin

Release Date: 

January 27, 2021

WASHINGTON – The Acting Secretary of Homeland Security has issued a National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin today after consultation with the intelligence community and law enforcement partners. There is currently a heightened threat environment across the United States that is likely to persist over the coming weeks. DHS does not have any information to indicate a specific, credible plot; however, violent riots have continued in recent days and we remain concerned that individuals frustrated with the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances and ideological causes fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize a broad range of ideologically-motivated actors to incite or commit violence.

You can read the NTAS Bulletin here.

Now, I ask you: Are you aware of "violent riots [that] have continued in recent days"? I am. I know that violent riots have continued to occur in Portland and Seattle and a few other places. To my knowledge, every single one of these were Leftist--basically, Antifa--incited. 

Next question: Does Antifa fit the profile above? Individuals frustrated with the ... presidential transition? I've certainly never heard that that was part of Antifa ideology. Why then are we being warned about people who perceive a grievance related to the "presidential transition"?

As for DHS' consultation with "the intelligence community and law enforcement partners" I'm guessing that if you substitute "FBI" for that phrase it'll be close enough for government work.

In the meantime stay alert. Be very afraid. And don't hold your breath waiting for "any information to indicate a specific, credible plot."

NYT News Flash For Chris Wray: Antifa Is A Thing

Waste of space FBI Director for the nonce, Chris Wray, made news recently by announcing that Antifa isn't an organization. Wray was even quoted to that effect by Joe Biden in one of his rare appearances--contradicting AG Bill Barr.

Mirabile dictu, today in the NYT (h/t Steve Sailer) Farah Stockman--a member of the NYT editorial board, no less--goes all counter narratival. Stockman actually confirms that, yes, giving the devil Bill Barr his due, Barr was on to something when he called certain cities "anarchist jurisdictions":

The Truth About Today’s Anarchists

“Insurrectionary anarchists” have been protesting for racial justice all summer. Some Black leaders wish they would go home.

According to Stockman, Antifa isn't just an idea. It's a thing, and a highly organized thing--as anarchic things go. She begins her story with an unemployed photographer, Jeremy Lee Quinn, snapping photos of peaceful protests that somehow continually devolved into riots and looting. Quinn noticed that mysterious black clad whites kept showing up and instigating the events. Curious, Quinn decided to don black himself and find out what was up with that. Here's excerpts of what he learned:

Bill Barr Goes "There"

Breaking. In a statement this morning DoJ has done the following:

Department Of Justice Identifies New York City, Portland And Seattle As Jurisdictions Permitting Violence And Destruction Of Property

Identification is Response to Presidential Memorandum Reviewing Federal Funding to State and Local Governments that are Permitting Anarchy, Violence, and Destruction in American Cities

The U.S. Department of Justice today identified the following three jurisdictions that have permitted violence and destruction of property to persist and have refused to undertake reasonable measures to counteract criminal activities: New York City; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington. The Department of Justice is continuing to work to identify jurisdictions that meet the criteria set out in the President’s Memorandum and will periodically update the list of selected jurisdictions as required therein.

... 

“When state and local leaders impede their own law enforcement officers and agencies from doing their jobs, it endangers innocent citizens who deserve to be protected, including those who are trying to peacefully assemble and protest,” said Attorney General William P. Barr.  “We cannot allow federal tax dollars to be wasted when the safety of the citizenry hangs in the balance. It is my hope that the cities identified by the Department of Justice today will reverse course and become serious about performing the basic function of government and start protecting their own citizens.”

 Criteria for evaluating each city is below: 

* Whether a jurisdiction forbids the police force from intervening to restore order amid widespread or sustained violence or destruction.

* Whether a jurisdiction has withdrawn law enforcement protection from a geographical area or structure that law enforcement officers are lawfully entitled to access but have been officially prevented from accessing or permitted to access only in exceptional circumstances, except when law enforcement officers are briefly withheld as a tactical decision intended to resolve safely and expeditiously a specific and ongoing unlawful incident posing an imminent threat to the safety of individuals or law enforcement officers.

* Whether a jurisdiction disempowers or defunds police departments.

*Whether a jurisdiction unreasonably refuses to accept offers of law enforcement assistance from the Federal Government.

* Any other related factors the Attorney General deems appropriate.

The statement then goes on to provide details justifying placing New York, Portland, and Seattle in this category. 

Clearly Trump continues to take the initiative in the leadup to the election.

UPDATED: Barr: Consider Charging Sedition

The WSJ is reporting that AG Barr is telling prosecutors to be aggressive in their charging decisions with regard to violent demonstrators and, specifically, to consider charging violent demonstrators with variations on sedition. Here are highlights from the article, omitting tendentious rhetoric:

Attorney General William Barr told the nation’s federal prosecutors to be aggressive when charging violent demonstrators with crimes, including potentially prosecuting protesters for plotting to overthrow the U.S. government, people familiar with the conversation said. 

In a conference call with U.S. attorneys across the country last week, Mr. Barr ... 

... 

Federal prosecutors have charged more than 200 people with violent crimes related to the protests, most of whom face counts of arson, assaulting federal officers, or gun crimes. ... 

In the call last week, Mr. Barr urged prosecutors to seek federal charges whenever possible, two of the people said. He listed a number of additional statutes they could potentially use, including one addressing conspiracies or plots to overthrow the government. ... 

To bring a sedition case, prosecutors would have to prove there was a conspiracy to attack government agents or officials that posed an imminent danger, legal experts said. Rhetoric alone wouldn’t suffice. 

Officials have also discussed using a statute that allows prosecutors to bring a federal case against someone who impedes or obstructs a law enforcement officer responding to unrest, which experts said is also infrequently applied and could raise similar challenges. Federal prosecutors in June brought that charge against three people accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at New York City police vehicles during protests. ...

The statutes under which such charges could be brought are grouped in

18 U.S. Code CHAPTER 115— TREASON, SEDITION, AND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES

Below is the table of contents for Chapter 115, and I've bolded those sections that are most likely to include what Barr has in mind:

1. § 2381. Treason
2. § 2382. Misprision of treason
3. § 2383. Rebellion or insurrection
4. § 2384. Seditious conspiracy
5. § 2385. Advocating overthrow of Government
6. § 2386. Registration of certain organizations
7. § 2387. Activities affecting armed forces generally
8. § 2388. Activities affecting armed forces during war
9. § 2389. Recruiting for service against United States
10. § 2390. Enlistment to serve against United States

UPDATE: Shipwreckedcrew is on it: Attorney General Barr is Serious About Federal Prosecutors Using the Sedition Statute.

Answer me this. In his tenure at DoJ, have you ever know Bill Barr to bluff? Me neither. If he brings the topic up, he's serious about it. And that probably means that, after Trump wins, bygones will NOT be bygones:

Nothing in the statute requires that the effort to “overthrow” the government have any remote chance of succeeding — “impossibility” is not a defense.  Proof of the offense requires only an analysis of commentary and activity.  The evidence of the activity is in the streets of various US cities, and on tens of thousands of hours of video posted online — not to mention covert video recorded by law enforcement in dozens of localities.

Commentary will come from the recorded conversations that have no doubt been intercepted involving various actors identified over the past 90 days at least.  Building cases based on such intercepts takes a bit of time, as a jumbled mess of information needs to be sorted through and assembled in a coherent manner.

Testimonial evidence will also come in the form of cooperator testimony — yes, some of those Marxists will decide that cooperation is a better alternative than 20 years in jail.

But the realization by criminals that they have been surveiled and intercepted ALWAYS comes too late in the game.  The Antifa/BLM agitators have faded into the shadows because they know “the heat is on.”  I would speculate the likelihood is quite high already that discovery in the dozens criminal cases filed in federal courts has already resulted in the production of text messages, emails, and likely even recorded conversations between Antifa/BLM agitators, and the possession of such evidence by the federal prosecutors has filtered its way to those persons who have funded and organized the protest efforts all throughout the summer.

Suddenly feeling exposed, those promoters have gone underground.

Get that? The Resistance has their own "filter team." Which is no doubt part of the reason Pelosi has done an about face and is now calling for prosecution of rioters--it's a warning.

Barr States The Bleeding Obvious: Press Is A "Collection Of Liars"

Not exactly man bites dog stuff, but it's a bit of a slow news day for Russia Hoax obsessives. Barr gave an interview to Katie Pavlich--AG Barr Rips National Media as a ‘Collection of Liars’ Over Riot Coverage:

"They're basically a collection of liars. Most of the mainstream media. They're a collection of liars and they know exactly what they're doing. A perfect example of that were the riots. Right on the street it was clear as day what was going on, anyone observing it, reporters observing it, it could not have escaped their attention that this was orchestrated violence by a hardened group of street fighting radicals and they kept on excluding from their coverage all the video of this and reporting otherwise and they were doing that for partisan reasons, and they were lying to the American people. It wasn't until they were caught red-handed after essentially weeks of this lie that they even started feeling less timid," Barr said on the flight back to Washington Friday afternoon. 

"The press has dropped, in my view - and I'm talking about the national mainstream media - has dropped any pretense of professional objectivity and are political actors, highly partisan who try to shape what they're reporting to achieve a political purpose and support a political narrative that has nothing to do with the truth. They're very mendacious about it," he continued. "It's very destructive to our Republic; it's very destructive to the Democratic system to have that, especially being so monolithic. It's contributing to a lot of the intensity and partisanship." 

UPDATED: Your FBI At Work In Portland

Yes, Bill Barr's DoJ is taking action. Their main focus has always been on the principals behind the riots, and there can be no doubt that the funding infrastructure of Antifa/BLM is of particular interest. But in that process of investigation they're also scooping up gobs of personal information of all sorts--identities, communications, vehicles, rentals, living spaces, travel, payment means, etc.

This morning Shipwreckedcrew notes that--off the usual video coverage of the nightly riots--the FBI has been busy. We've already noted that fact that the FBI has beefed up the complement at its Portland Field Office. No doubt that means agents on the ground, but probably analysts as well. Moreover, analytical work can probably be farmed out to other Field Divisions without transferring personnel.

We've also heard that some significant numbers of rioters have been arrested. Unlike the catch and release programs of local law enforcement, there's only one reason that the FBI arrests someone: The federal government has decided to actually prosecute that person. And, in an earlier article, SWC outlined the criminal statute that's being used--at least for lower level rioters:

UPDATED and REVISED: Smoking Dope Makes You Stupid

REVISION: What I've done with my revision is to make clear why the video is hearsay, as well as why it can be used on cross examination against the defendant. The reason I'm going into this in a bit of detail is because it is considerations such as these that Durham has in mind as he investigates. With each witness or potential witness he's asking: What can he testify to directly and against whom? What can he offer as hearsay, and is there some exception that could allow that hearsay to be used for some purpose such as impeachment? And so on.

With that, out to Portland.

Michael Reinoehl has given an interview on video in which he openly admits killing Aaron 'Jay' Danielson by shooting him. But, he says, he acted in self defense--and in defense of a friend "of color." Apparently in his warped mind, he thinks that that assertion is like a Get Out Of Jail Free Card. We've already learned about the many stupid things Reinoehl has done in his life, but this seems a suitable way to cap them all off. Shipwreckedcrew has some fun explaining what will happen at Reinoehl's trial--when it comes.

Basically, the video interview is hearsay, so it can't be admitted by the defense. However ...

REVISION: Hearsay is typically defined as an out of court statement offered for the truth of the matter asserted. Suppose Reinoehl wants to use the video as evidence that he acted in self defense. The video is a statement made out of court and, since it would be offered for the truth of what was asserted in it, it would be hearsay and thus inadmissible by the defense. Moreover, no exception to the rule should apply because the witness who can testify to the truth of the assertion on the video is actually present--it's the defendant himself! If he wants to raise that defense he'll have to take the stand and do it himself.

However, if Reinoehl should take the stand, that video can be used in evidence against him--for example, as evidence that he actually did shoot Danielson if Reinoehl should attempt to deny that at trial. In that case the video would be used to impeach the witness--Reinoehjl, the defendant--on cross examination.

So, if Reinoehl takes the stand to testify, the video interview can be used on cross examination by the prosecution. The baseline for the jury then becomes: We have his video admission that he shot and killed Danielson, so who believes there was a knife anywhere? Where's the knife now? If we don't believe the story, then his admission means he's guilty

It's also worth noting that this is, at last count I believe, the third time he'll have been arrested for illegal carry in a very liberal carry state. And the second time in a city that prohibits carry of a loaded weapon.

So here's how SWC sees the trial going:

Losers Of The World Unite!

I got this courtesy of TGP, via Baker City Herald:

A Clackamas man and his teenage son were both arrested early Monday after an Oregon State Police trooper saw the pair apparently racing at over 100 mph in separate vehicles on Interstate 84 near North Powder. 

The father, Michael Forest Reinoehl, 48, was charged with driving under the influence of a controlled substance, recklessly endangering another person and unlawful possession of a firearm. He was also cited for driving while uninsured, driving while suspended, and for speeding.

His 17-year-old son, whose name was not listed in a police report, was charged with driving under the influence of marijuana and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Scratch the surface just a little bit and that's who these Antifa/BLM folks are: Losers. And that's the Dem base now.

Portland Antifa Killer Had Previous Firearm Arrest

Shipwreckedcrew has a thorough article:

Suspect in Portland Killing: Self-Identified Antifa “Security” Previously Arrested For Possessing Firearm — Not Charged By Portland DA

However, SWC doesn't really address what that prior firearms related arrest was actually about. The reason I mention that is because Oregon--contrary to what you might expect--has rather liberal gun laws: it's a "shall issue" concealed carry and open carry state with statewide preemption. HOWEVER ...

Portland bans loaded firearms in all public places for anyone who doesn't have a license. So, I suspect he was arrested for having a loaded firearm in a public place in Portland without a license. That public place was a demonstration.

Here are some highlights from the article. This guy sounds like he fits the typical Antifa profile. Crazy. Don't take my word for it--his family says so:

'Mostly Peaceful' Protestors Flock To Kenosha From Out of State

The hapless governor of Wisconsin, Tony Evers, appealed to President of the United States Donald J. Trump not to travel to Kenosha. Trump, he said, is "divisive." I wonder. Is it divisive when people from outside Wisconsin--bringing fireworks, helmets, gas masks, protective vests, firearms, and suspected controlled substances--travel to his state and burn down a city? Seems like help from the Federal government might be welcomed, in the circumstances.

Fox is reporting:

Kenosha sees 175 arrested during civil unrest so far; 102 had addresses listed outside city, police say

Kenosha Police said in a media release that the arrests were from people located in 44 cities, although authorities didn't elaborate which states they came from. ... 

Thirty-four were arrested for violating curfew. The charges ranged from carrying concealed weapons, burglary and possession of controlled substances, police said. More than 20 firearms were seized. ... 

Kenosha police had arrested nine people traveling in vehicles with out-of-state license plates last Wednesday on suspicion of criminal conduct, according to a report. 

Inside the vehicles, officers found fireworks, helmets, gas masks, protective vests, and suspected controlled substances, police said.

That doesn't actually sound like "civil unrest". It sounds more like "civil war" on an interstate level.

Anecdotally, last week we read on police blogs that 'mostly peaceful' protestors were being bused in from Chicago.

Of course, many of the Wisconsin based participants in the sack of Kenosha came from cities other than Kenosha--including, if memory serves, all three of those who were shot by Kyle Rittenhouse.

Also anecdotally, I heard from a completely reliable source over the weekend that the parking lot of a Piggly Wiggly food store in Kenosha was filled with cars bearing Minnesota license plates. Go figure, right?

Two Views Of America--And Hope

There are a lot of disturbing things happening these days, and we can't help but be immersed in them. It's the man bites dog stuff that gets covered. I've been talking about the same stuff, too, and will be doing more of that today. So, I thought I'd lead off the day on a somewhat upbeat note, by quoting Roger Kimball:

After the RNC, I am confident Trump will triumph

The Democrats own the anarchy they have unleashed and abetted

In most cases, prediction in politics is a mug’s game. ... There are just too many future unknowns that can intrude and spoil your carefully reasoned calculations. ...

Which is why I hesitate to leap from the Democratic and Republican conventions that just ended to the natural prediction that Donald Trump is likely to win in something approaching a landslide. Were the election held right now, today, I believe that he would win with a commanding margin, far beyond the margin of fraud or (as a lawyer friend likes to put it) beyond any margin of litigation. But November 3 is still some 60 days off.  And the party that brought us the Robert Mueller entertainment, the Ukrainian telephone call distraction, the party that managed to weaponize a novel virus developed by China and deploy it against President Trump, and then encourage its proxies to riot and scream that everyone (except themselves) was racist — well, such a party is essentially unaccountable. Who knows what they will do next? Lincoln’s words, quoted by  Ben Carson in his masterly speech last night, are to the point. ‘Your purpose,’ said Lincoln in 1860, ‘is that you will destroy the government, unless you be allowed to construe and enforce the Constitution as you please, on all points in dispute between you and us. You will rule or ruin in all events.’ Now as then, the opponents of the President are not engaged in politics but the sedition that follows when politics fails. 

... 

In a way, Trump’s observation that ‘Americans build their future, we don’t tear down our past’ epitomized the essential difference between Trump’s vision and that of the Democrats. As I say, political prediction is a mug’s game, and I won’t venture one now. I will say, however, that this election will be, and will be seen to be, between two sharply different ideas of America. One sees America as the sinful impediment to human flourishing whose only hope, as Joe Biden (echoing Barack Obama) put it, lies in being ‘fundamentally transformed’. The other holds up the country as a land of hope and opportunity, ‘the last best hope of earth’ (Lincoln one final time). My sense is that an overwhelming majority of people prefer the latter to the former, especially as the Democrats have been courteous enough to demonstrate what ‘fundamental transformation’ is likely to look like on the streets of Portland, Chicago, Minneapolis, Kenosha, DC, St Louis and elsewhere across the country. The Democrats own the anarchy they have unleashed and abetted. People almost never embrace anarchy. Ergo, Donald Trump is likely to win. I offer that not as a prediction, merely a confidence.

Commentators have described what's going on using slightly different words, but the thrust is basically the same--the Dems and their Antifa/BLM proxies are trying to hold America hostage, to extort America: Give us total power or else--as Rand Paul put it the other night--America will become Portland.

Kamala Harris has been quite explicit about that, in a video clip I picked up from Kamala puts a gun to our heads:

Kamala Harris says that the riots are not going to stop, ever, and to BEWARE. With a smile on her face. pic.twitter.com/xkwAUOMJcL

— 𝕔hi𝓁𝓁iຖ໐iˢ (@chiIIum) August 27, 2020

They own it, but the American people have it within their ability to disown them.

UPDATED: Giant Conspiracy or Recreational Rioters?

That's the question Steve Sailer is asking in the wake of the bustdown on the RiotKitchen206 convoy near Kenosha yesterday.

What he means is, we've all heard about the Soros funding for Antifa/BLM, but is there a simpler explanation? Could it be that this is simply driven by the desire for sociopathic recreation? Sound familiar?

So is this a giant Soros-funded conspiracy? Or is it a bunch of Recreational Rioters who drive cross-country to get in on the latest riots?

For my part, I say, Why choose? Couldn't it be both--a marriage made in ... Hell?

Still, Sailer does seem to have their number:

My impressions are that white Antifa rioters seem disproportionately to be:

– pedophile
– transgender
– drug addict
– general criminal
– punk rocker
– enjoy vandalism and violence
– working or lower middle class by background
– physically unattractive
– firebugs: people who enjoy starting pretty, pretty fires

UPDATED: Violence, Schools, Masks: Three Losing Issues For Dems?

As we approach the post-convention campaign season, three issues are taking shape that look to me like sure losers for Dems.

First is violence. There are two aspects to the violence, but they are intertwined and are closely connected to Dem politics. The first aspect is the overtly political violence of Antifa, trashing city centers, erecting overtly Communist "autonomous zones", etc. This violence has been embraced by both local and national Dem politicians. However, Antifa's role has, thanks to the media, been eclipsed to a significant extent. The media and the Dem party no doubt thought it was a smart move to link this political violence to an more articulable cause than Antifa--BLM. This is turning out, in my view, to be not such a smart move. The reason is that Blue cities across the country are now--quite predictably--seeing an explosion of crime and looting sprees that is now being connected in the public's eyes with Dem politicians. This has been combined with an anti-police movement that has also been embraced by both local and national Dems. Expect to see Pelosi and her "Storm Trooper" comments featuring in GOP ads, along with clips of violent rioting and looting.

This issue is a complete winner for the GOP. It has the potential to also cause both revulsion among a significant portion of ordinary Dem voters as well as to attract ordinary non-voters to turn out. Those ordinary non-voters who turned out in 2016, having eluded pollsters, voted 75% for Trump. There's every reason to expect similar results this time around. Violence may also be a significant issue for a demographic that is particularly violence averse--suburban women. Playing into this is the Dem plan to export low income high rise to the suburbs--in other words, to export crime to the suburbs.

Rasmussen has done a poll on violence as an issue, and it bodes ill for Dems. All this is happening far too close to the election to be quickly forgotten. The bottom line for voters is that Trump is identified as pro law and order, while Dems are pro violence and anti police.

How's The Dem Smear Campaign Against Barr Working Out?

Not too well. As I wrote recently, Barr clearly remains unfazed. The hapless Jerry Nadler is currently trying to inflate Barr's dismissal of Geoffrey Berman into a thing--but it's not, and never will be. In a fine survey by Debra Heine--Indictments Likely Coming Down in Durham Probe and Antifa Financing Probe, Former Fed Says--a former top DoJ official, Jim Trusty (really), points out the farcical nature of Nadler's ploy:

“They’re trying to make it into this incredibly important inquisition about the misdeeds of Mr. Barr, and I gotta tell ya, I don’t think for a minute that Bill Barr is shaking in his boots or worrying about whether he has to appear by way of subpoena or just by volunteering. The president can move people around and the president can put new U.S. attorneys into office at his pleasure.”

Nadler's a total lightweight and Barr will brush him aside, like an overweight gnat. But in the meantime Barr has plenty of ability to shake up the public perception in some very major ways. The Flynn dismissal is very big, but even bigger is the revelation of Obama and Biden's roles in pressing disgraced former FBI Director James Comey to "investigate" Michael Flynn for acts that Comey himself is now revealed (through Peter Strzok notes) to have regarded as "legit." Against that factual backdrop, a Comey indictment--or really any other indictments stemming from the Durham investigations--will brush all other stories aside.

Further, the antics of Antifa and BLM are falling increasingly flat--except to the extent that they have encouraged Americans to exercise their 2nd Amendment rights in record numbers. The revelations coming from the attempt to railroad Flynn will also increasingly shunt those Leftist antics to the side, for any Americans who remain even remotely interested in fair play.

Most ominously, perhaps, Trusty believes that not only are Durham indictments on track for the relatively near future (Barr hinted recently that he's hoping for "developments" before the end of summer), but there could also be indictments coming against those behind Antifa:

America In A Race To The Bottom?

How dumb can we get? This dumb:

As the far-left continues to push for various American institutions or locations to change their historic names, the governor of Rhode Island is taking steps to rename her entire state, according to the New York Post. 

Governor Gina Raimondo (D-R.I.), signed an order aimed at changing Rhode Island’s full official name, which is “The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.” 

The little-known but official portion of “Providence Plantations” has come under fire in recent days, with some falsely claiming that it carries connotations of slavery. As such, Raimondo’s directive, Executive Order 20-48, directs that the name be simply changed to “Rhode Island.”

Will the American people lash back against PC enforced stupidity? We're about to find out.

In the meantime, come August the Dems will hold their convention in Milwaukee. I'm very curious to see just what kind of a freak show it can turn into.

Many Americans aren't waiting to see any more of the Left Freak Show in the major cities. The news is full of stories of booming real estate markets outside major metro areas, including for second homes. Normals are voting with their feet, having given up on Dem "governance."

Emailer Todd sent me this story, which we both noticed last night. Well played Mayor Jenny!

Due to Seattle’s unrest, billion-dollar investment firm moving to Phoenix

PHOENIX — Coronavirus pandemic or not, an investment advisory company is leaving the cultural unrest in Seattle and moving its headquarters to Phoenix’s Camelback Corridor. 

” … The unrest that has taken place in the city of Seattle … there is really is not a downtown business community today,” Smead Capital Management, President and CEO Cole Smead told KTAR News 92.3 FM. 

Smead said that although taxes in Seattle are lower, candidate recruitment is harder and the cost of living within the city is more expensive than Phoenix. 

“We’re hearing rumors of 40-story buildings that will be only 20-percent occupied by October,” Smead said. 

“My biggest concern for Seattle was what the business community is going to come back to, and what kind of businesses are going to come back for customers.” 

He found that metro Phoenix offers a better quality of life. 

“My colleagues can pick the socio-economic rung of life that they want … live their lives, build their households and have a family if they’d like,” Smead said.

“Where we’re coming from just wasn’t like that.”

Build their lives, have a family ... Wow! Sounds, like, very normal! But Gorsuch and Roberts will be tracking them down to inflict "future cases" on them. Can't have normality breaking out like this.

Sounds like a great campaign slogan. Make America Normal Again.

Why Am I Not Surprised?

Shaun King--the formerly African-American (or should I say Black?) Lefty activist and fundraiser--is calling for the destruction of all images of Jesus that portray him as "white." Also slated for destruction would be all images of Jesus' "European" mother.

Shaun King 

@shaunking 

Yes, I think the statues of the white European they claim is Jesus should also come down.  

They are a form of white supremacy.  

Always have been.  

In the Bible, when the family of Jesus wanted to hide, and blend in, guess where they went? 

EGYPT! 

Not Denmark. 

Tear them down.

Shaun King 

@shaunking 

Yes.  

All murals and stained glass windows of white Jesus, and his European mother, and their white friends should also come down.  

They are a gross form white supremacy.  

Created as tools of oppression.  

Racist propaganda.  

They should all come down. 

12:07 PM - Jun 22, 2020

Just this morning I was wondering what new measures would be needed to placate the Leftist mobs once all statues of, for example, Teddy Roosevelt have been removed from public--or even not so public--view. This new iconoclasm solves that problem. Removing all images of Jesus and his European mother should keep the mobs busy for many years.

Beyond those practical considerations, though, this is a logical follow-on to Gorsuch and Robert's deconstruction of human nature, and the supine response from organized "Christianity."

Antifa Update for June 20

Two shot in the Seattle Zone. One Killed, the other critically wounded. Via Red State and the Seattle PD Blotter:

Officers attempted to locate a shooting victim but were met by a violent crowd that prevented officers safe access to the victims. Officers were later informed that the victims, both males, had been transported to Harborview Medical Center by CHOP medics. 

Officers responded to Harborview and were informed that one of the victims, a 19-year-old male, had died from injuries. The other victim, also a male, unknown age, remains in the hospital with life-threatening injuries. 

Seattle Police Officers Guild President Michael Solan told “Fox & Friends Weekend” host Pete Hegseth that it is “no longer the summer of love” like Democratic Mayor Jenny Durkan claimed, but the “summer of chaos.” 

“Early this morning, that violence was raw and real where one of our community members lost their life and police are still not allowed into that area and were prevented to providing that police service to the area to locate victims and/or render aid. [It’s] very troubling what’s going on.” [….] 

Uh, no sh*t, Sherlock. I wonder what the rest of America thinks of this. Maybe we can take a poll on it once we figure everyone has returned from purchasing more guns.

“It can’t stand in America, and this is a direct result of city leadership, elected officials failing the reasonable community of Seattle to enforce the rule of law,” Solan told Hegseth.

More precisely, it's a direct result of Dems being put in positions of responsibility.

Related: My wife heard that in Chicago rapid transit ridership is down 80%. Who thinks that's gonna turn around--ever? Ridership has been declining for years, and has accelerated in the past few years as every day brings news of rapid transit shutdowns because of violent crime. That, of course, means loss of minority jobs, huge revenue shortfalls, etc. I have no doubt similar trends are occurring in most major cities.

And in Atlanta the white girl who torched Wendy's has been identified as a known far left activist, Natalie White (!). An arrest warrant has been issued.

CORRECTED: Barr's DoJ Quietly Acting Against Antifa

Many of you may have noticed a number of news stories recently that involve the Federal government arresting "protestors" who travelled interstate and committed violent acts of various sorts. Professor Jonathan Turley has an article on the subject that's interesting from a number of standpoints: Tacoma Woman Arrested For Arson At Protest After Police Recognize Tattoos.

What Margaret Aislinn Channon, 25, did was travel from Tacoma, WA, to Chicago, IL, to "protest." The particular form her "protest" took while in Chicago--and which drew the attention of the authorities, including federal authorities--was to torch five police cars. She had adopted a rudimentary disguise while engaged in her "protest" but neglected to cover her tattoos:

Those tattoos had been previously described in a missing persons report in TX--like other would be revolutionaries, Channon seems to get around a lot. Turley points out another similar case involving identification via tattoos, which also segues neatly into his legal point:

We recently discussed the “Joker” case in Chicago where Timothy O’Donnell was arrested for arson after his tattoos were identified by police after he burned a police vehicle.  Now, a Tacoma woman, Margaret Aislinn Channon, 25, has been arrested for burning five vehicles in part due to her equally recognizable ink. There is one other similarity.  They are both not only charged with arson, but charged in federal court.  I continue to be uneasy over the broad federal jurisdictional claims underlying charges that traditionally are matters for state and local prosecutors.

The "Joker" was also IDed through tattoo identification.

I have two reasons to take this up.

UPDATED: An Update On Life In The Autonomous Zone

Red State has a wonderful article on life in the Autonomous Zone of Capitol Hill in Seattle--Antifa's fiefdom:

Seattle’s Autonomous Zone Gets a Warlord and He’s Doing What the Cops Should’ve Done

Here's how it starts:

Things in the newly declared ‘autonomous zone’ in Seattle are just going swimmingly. This zone was established yesterday when antifa/BLM protesters took over about 6-8 blocks of downtown Seattle and established a nascent People’s Republic in the best Bolshevik tradition. It wasn’t much of an accomplishment as the protesters were facing a feckless and sympathetic political structure and the police who weren’t deeply compromised were totally neutered.  

Of course, things aren’t running flawless [sic], when you’ve lived in Mom’s basement for your entire adult life you sort of forget how to do the basics, like find food: Hilarious Story of the Day: Radical Leftists in ‘Autonomous Zone’ in Seattle Already Have a Huge Problem. 

And there is one other problem. They are finding that an armed and organized element with leadership that isn’t afraid to use violence pretty much trumps all the slogans and antifa bullsh** you can spout.

A hip-hop artist, at least according to his Wikipedia entry, who goes by the name of Raz Simone is now the de facto ruler of the autonomous zone.

Pretty soon we'll need a wall around it to keep the inmates in. Read it all for a good laugh.

Here's one item re that armed and violent element that's policing the Autonomous Zone:

Policing in the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone by @RazSimone. There appear to be no body cameras, reports, or oversight and accountability. 

UPDATE: You can't make this stuff up. Via TGP--Antifa Terrorists Discuss Plans to Expand Their Occupied Autonomous Zone in Seattle — Begin Shakedown of Local Businesses: