Tag Archives: Trump
Racist Michigan Republicans try and fail to disenfranchise black voters
update 19 November 2020 EST 11am
The Washington Post reports that Trump rang Palmer on Tuesday to pressure her to rescind her vote certifying the election results for Wayne County. The certification has already gone to Michigan’s Secretary of State, so the racist Republicans are too late with their attempt to disenfranchise Black voters.
Two racist Michigan Republicans on the Wayne County Board of Canvassers tried – and failed – to disenfranchise black voters in Michigan yesterday.
It is the job of the board to certify the vote, but instead the GOP representatives tried to disenfranchise the voters of Detroit, where more that three-quarters of the citizens are black.
Trump has lost the US presidential election but that is clearly not stopping his supporters in various US states from trying to steal the election.
The latest such attempts – as we have come to expect – is dripping with thinly concealed racism.
William Hartmann and Monica Palmer said they were happy to certify votes in the state, with the sole exception of the heavily black Detroit region covered by Wayne County.
Only white votes count in racist Republican mindset
They then offered a ‘compromise’ of sorts by suggesting they could certify one of Detroit’s majority white suburbs, but not the city itself.
There are four people on Board of Canvassers and their duties are normally simply a matter of procedure. However, this election cycle the Republicans are trying to turn them into a weapon to undermine the will of the electorate.
Trump lost the vote oin Michigan, which means that challenger Joe Biden – now the president-elect – grabs all of the state’s electoral college votes.
But the attempts of the racist Republicans were forestalled by citixens joining the Zoom meeting en masses to object to the undemocratic manoeuvres of the Republican party representatives.
One outraged citizen – local entrepreneur Ned Staebler, was scathing:
“The Trump stain, the stain of racism that you, William Hartmann and Monica Palmer, have just covered yourself in is going to follow you throughout history,. Your grandchildren are going to think of you like Bull Connor or George Wallace,” said commenter Ned Staebler.
He was joined in the attack on the Republican racists by Wendell Anthony, the president of the Detroit chapter of the NAACP.
The two Republicans later reversed their vote as the storm of protest against them raged.
But before that had happened, Trump was quick to endorse the disenfranchisment of black voters, describing it as “a beautiful thing”.
The next time you hear or see an Americasn justifying wars for ‘democracy’ somewhere in the world, remember that America was built on slavery and oppression and that the legacy lives on today.
Unfortunately for the white supremacists, there attempts to turn the clock back on voting rights has been defeated on this occassion.
Racist Michigan Republicans have friends in Georgia where Lindsey Graham leans on officials to fix vote
We expect more underhand tactics from the Republoicans in the Georgia run-off for the all-important Georgia elections for US senators.
Lindsey Graham has been leaning on the secretary of state in Georgia to fix the vote in the recount demanded by the sore losers in the Republican party.
There need to be international observers at US election counts to call out any more racist interventions from Trump supporters, although it should be said that the good people on the ground are maintaining a vigilant watch on the white supremacists.
If any one is any doubt about the racism that courses through the Republican party, then the stuff Hartmann shares on Twitter should clear things up – he loves haring racist memes about black people (see the thread):
Million MAGA March losers fail to mobilise for fuhrer Trump
updated 10:00 GMT 15 November 2020
The million maga march is a flop – official! The Trump diehards haven’t quite managed the million they had claimed would be in attendance.
Instead, there was a rag-bag showing more like in the hundreds, not even the thousands.
Trump, who didn’t exactly do a lot of work for the people in his four years as president, is doing even less now.
Indeed, it was when he was on the way to play golf at one of his nearby courses that his cavalcade ran into a gaggle of his enthusiastically deranged supporters who swarmed his car.
Some of his fans were impressed by his apperance; others not so much. This from the Washington Post at the scene in DC:
“He drove right past me. I saw him. He waved right past me,” one man said, squatting to collect himself.
A group of women huddled around their phone, looking at a video they took of Trump’s appearance.
“He looked fake,” one said. “I’m still shaking.”
Among those that turned out were the fascist thugs that otherwise go by the name of the Proud Boys.
Here you can see the Nazi thugs initiating a new member of the tribe (try not to laugh):
They couldn’t find any black people to beat up on and looked rather disconsulate (turns out the cowards waited until nightfall to do that).
As usual at gatherings of the Trump meat-heads, there were no masks in evidence on Freedom Plaza, so the covid virus was certainly having a good day out.
After they had finished with the bonding thing, the Proud Boy thugs started rioting, pretty much on the order of Trump:
Fascist-enabler Trump didn’t hold back on Twitter with his call for violence, in what the Huffington Post described as a ‘stunningly vicious post’:
ANTIFA SCUM ran for the hills today when they tried attacking the people at the Trump Rally, because those people aggressively fought back. Antifa waited until tonight, when 99% were gone, to attack innocent #MAGA People. DC Police, get going — do your job and don’t hold back!!!
Million MAGA March of racists ‘heartwarming’ says Trump
Trump called the gathering of the far right and various hangers on “heartwarming”, as you would expect of the fascist enabler.
But the Trump well-wishers are not having the streets to themselves – far from it.
BLM and anti-fascist counter-protesters showed up early and made sure ‘LOSER’ signs were in view for the arriving ‘millions’.
There’s no sign yet of Alex Jones and his gang of militia terrorists who said on Thursday they would be showing up today.
Meanwhile, the TikTok generation is raining on Trump’s parade again. The #millionmagamarch hashtag has been taken over by the youth of America, with a proliferation of pancakes (Biden flipped four states, Trump none) to make the point about who actually won the election.
The MAGA crowd earlier in the day ripped down BLM memorials to Black men mudered by police. Those memorials have largely since been repaired, as the smell of buring MAGA flags fills the air:
Trump must go! BLM emergency protest 6pm US embassy 4th Nov
Trump must Go – London Calling – solidarity with BLM in the United States of America: All Black Lives UK & Stand Up To Racism protest
Headed for defeat, there are signs that the Orange Agent might refuse to admit defeat and claim he is the real victor.
Join the protest to demand that Trump must go!
Organised by Stand Up To Racism and All Black Lives UK
The Trump Must Go protest at the US embassy is this Weds 4th November at 6pm
33 Nine Elms Lane, Nine Elms, London SW11 7US
We will be offering solidarity to the US #BlackLivesMatter movement if Trump refuses to go and – hopefully – celebrating if he’s lost!
✅P lease share the event and invite Facebook friends ??here https://fb.me/e/1EHM6nqPL please retweet @AntiRacismDay tweets promoting the demo.
✅ This event will be strictly socially distanced and PPE will be provided for everyone taking part.
???????????
BLM brings out to vote – big time!
The BLM movement has radicalised and inspired many black and white people in the US and the fervour and commitment to racial equality has found its way to the ballot.
Young people in particular are turning out in huge numbers, as our women to protect their rights and older people to protect their health from the criminal currently in the White House, and of course black people (apart from one or two rich rapper Uncle Toms) who are beating back the Republican voter suppression tactics of old.
Feds repression in Portland faces growing resistance
For two months there have been daily protests against racial inequality and police brutality in Portland, Oregon.
Police repression has not been enough to stop the protests and so Trump has upped the ante, as he makes a bid to turn law and order into an election issue from which he can benefit, such is his cynicism.
But last night saw thousands of citizens on the streets as the movement widens not just as a protest for black lives but against the violent repression of the Fed forces, in the shape of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol agencies.
Both agencies have become heavily militarised over the years and are now being used against ordinary US citizens, in action lawmakers condemn as illegal.
Federal units have been operating as if in a war zone and using the tactics and operational procedures befitting of a full-blown dictatorship.
Protesters have been snatched and arrested by individuals dressed in unmarked camouflage suits. Eighteen now face serious Federal charges, raising the stakes further.
Portland citizens shot, gassed and clubbed by Trump stormtroopers
Peaceful citizens, including the city’s major, armed services veterans and a peaceful contingent of all-women protesters, have been tear-gassed and/or clubbed by the Feds.
As seen elsewhere in the US, the press has also been a frequent target of law enforcement bodies.
So-called non-lethal weapons that can in fact be lethal depending on how they are used, have been deployed with wild abandon by Federal forces acting as an out of control occupying force in the city.
Attempts to get judges to rule the deployment of the violent Fed troops illegal have failed so far.
The protest movement is overwhelmingly white, and that’s what probably riles Trump and his stormtroopers more than anything else.
Activists are attempting to organise for strikes in the city to drive out the Feds.
Cutting off all services to the Fed buildings in the city and the associated troops that were brought in under the pretence of protecting that property, could be a highly effective approach.
The people of Portland urgently need solidarity of the BLM movement and others from around the US and abroad.
Watch this space for further developments.
Sprucing up Trump Tower BLM-style
Great to see the BLM paint job outside the obscene low-class Trump Tower in New York City.
Unfortunately Trump is unlikely to see it in person as he doesn’t visit his hometown anymore, because he is so universally hated there.
Hopefully the paint job will put off people spending their money at the hotel and hasten the demise of Trump Inc.
The shine was taken off the whole affair somewhat though, after the sighting of Mayor Bill de Blasio joining in with the roadworks.
This is the same Bill de Blasio who was singing the praises of the New York cops when they were brutalising peaceful protesters.
The same mayor that imposed curfews in a dangerous attack on the freedom of assembly that is meant to be guaranteed in the US constitution.
The same Bill de Blasio who got elected – as did some other Democrat politicians – on the promise of addressing police racist violence, militarisation and general corruption, but then after getting into office doing nothing.
But de Blasio aside, it’s still good to see some irritant being rubbed into the eyes of the man in the high castle.
There’s more on thumbing it to Trump Tower at the New York Times:
NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio grabbed a roller Thursday to paint “Black Lives Matter” in front of the namesake Manhattan tower of President Donald Trump, who tweeted last week that the street mural would be “a symbol of hate.”
De Blasio was flanked by his wife, Chirlane McCray, and the Rev. Al Sharpton as he helped paint the racial justice rallying cry in giant yellow letters on Fifth Avenue in front of Trump Tower. Activists watching chanted, “Whose streets? Our streets!”
“When we say ‘Black Lives Matter,’ there is no more American statement, there is no more patriotic statement because there is no America without Black America,” de Blasio said. “We are acknowledging the truth of ourselves as Americans by saying ‘Black Lives Matter.’ We are righting a wrong.”
The mayor announced the plan to paint “Black Lives Matter” in front of Trump Tower last month after earlier saying the slogan would be painted on streets at several locations around the city. Trump responded via Twitter that the mural would denigrate “this luxury Avenue” and “further antagonize New York’s Finest.” De Blasio tweeted back that Black Lives Matter is “a movement to recognize and protect the lives of Black people.”
Rahima Torrence, 20, who was among the people slapping yellow paint onto Fifth Avenue, said that even though the mural might be a symbol, “it’s the beginning of something more.” She said the location in front of Trump’s own skyscraper “shows that we matter and it shows to him that you can’t ignore us.”