THIS IS WHAT FASCISM SOUNDS LIKE
Trump Trying to Revoke Top Secret Security Clearances From 6 Former Intel Chiefs for ‘False Accusations’
REVOKING CLEARANCES WOULD NEUTER TOP SOURCES OF CRITICISM AGAINST TRUMP
The White House has just revealed that President Donald Trump is attempting to revoke he top secret security clearances from top former intelligence chiefs, including former FBI Director Jim Comey and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
Other she named specifically include former CIA Directors John Brennan and Michael Hayden, former National Security Advisor Susan Rice, and former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe. All worked during the Obama administration.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders accused the six former intelligence officials of “false accusations” about Russia and for what she characterized as “politicizing” intelligence.
“Not only is the president looking to take away Brennan’s security clearance, he’s also looking into the security clearances of Comey, Clapper, Hayden, Rice, and McCabe,” Huckabee Sanders said, “because they’ve politicized and in some cases monetized their public service and security clearances. Making baseless accusations of improper contact with Russia, or being influenced by Russia against the president is extremely inappropriate, and the fact that people with security clearances are making these baseless accusations provides inappropriate legitimacy with zero evidence,” Huckabee Sanders claimed, falsely.
Watch:
Press Sec. Sanders: “Not only is the president looking to take away Brennan’s security clearance, he’s also looking into the security clearances of Comey, Clapper, Hayden, Rice, and McCabe…because they’ve politicized and in some cases monetized their public service.” pic.twitter.com/X24GmU06ci
— ABC News (@ABC) July 23, 2018
UPDATE I: 3:10 PM ET –
Andrew McCabe’s spokesperson:
Andrew McCabe's security clearance was deactivated when he was terminated, according to what we were told was FBI policy. You would think the White House would check with the FBI before trying to throw shiny objects to the press corps… https://t.co/ZOKJDChpeP
— Melissa Schwartz (@MSchwartz3) July 23, 2018
No one in the Trump administration cares about facts or truths. This isn't news. It doesn't matter that McCabe no longer has a security clearance to revoke. The objective is to send a message about what this administration intends to do to people who resist.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) July 23, 2018
Washington Post reporter Devlin Barrett notes that Jim Comey also has not had a security clearance for months.
Clapper agrees with CNN that this move would be entirely political, and “very petty”:
CLAPPER: "There is a formal process for doing this, but I guess legally the president has that prerogative. He can suspend or revoke clearances as he sees fit, & if he chooses to do it for political reasons, well, I think that's a terrible precedent and an abuse of the system." pic.twitter.com/xLBq0M8O9o
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 23, 2018
This is a breaking news and developing story. Details may change. This story will be updated, and NCRM will likely publish follow-up stories on this news. Stay tuned and refresh for updates.
Enjoy this piece?
… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.
NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.
Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.
 |
THIS IS WHAT FASCISM SOUNDS LIKE
Watch: Trump Laughs, Jokes After Supporter Calls for Shooting Migrants
President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Panama City Beach, Florida Wednesday night was the usual raucous affair – except for one exchange which has many even more outraged than usual.
Complaining to supporters from the Florida panhandle that migrants are trying to enter the U.S. through the Southern border, the President asked, “How do you stop these people?”
One supporter, as The Guardian reported, responded, “Shoot them!”
President Trump laughed, paused, then turned it into an applause line.
“That’s only in the panhandle can you get away with that statement,” Trump proclaimed. As the audience broke out into cheers and applause, Trump, who himself has called labeled immigrants “animals,” repeated: “Only in the panhandle.”
Watch:
At his rally tonight, Trump says the government is unable to violently attack immigrants, someone in the crowd shouted “Shoot them!”
The crowd & Trump erupt in laughter & cheers. Trump says, “Only in the panhandle can you get away with that statement.”pic.twitter.com/SgQd2OH9ti
— jordan (@JordanUhl) May 9, 2019
THIS IS WHAT FASCISM SOUNDS LIKE
White House Aides Scrambling to Deal With Fallout From Trump’s Thinly-Veiled Threat of Violence: Report
Staffers Are Trying to Justify Remarks by Saying ‘That’s Just the Way the President Talks’
White House aides are reportedly struggling to figure out how to “spin” comments the president made prior to the New Zealand mosque massacre that could be viewed as incitements to violence.
In an interview with Breitbart ostensibly about a free speech order he’s about to sign, the president referenced all the “tough” people he has in his corner.
“I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump – I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough — until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad,” Trump said. “But the left plays it cuter and tougher.”
CNN host Wolf Blitzer noted the comments were “disturbing” when asking White House correspondent Kaitlin Collins about how things are within the administration.
“Aides behind the scenes were pushing back on this saying, ‘that’s just the way the president talks,’” Collins explained. “That’s something you hear when the president makes a remark like this.”
She added that she wasn’t surprised by what he said because he’s made similar comments “in front of cameras, at rallies and events like that.
“Aides don’t know how to respond to this,” Collins added. “They don’t know how to spin this or anything like that. They hope that this is one of those comments, because the president says so many things, that they can just kind of let go by with the news cycle.”
Watch below:
RELATED STORIES:
THIS IS WHAT FASCISM SOUNDS LIKE
Dictionary.com Reveals Spike in Searches for This Disturbing Term After Trump’s Thinly-Veiled Threat of Violence
President Donald Trump issued a thinly-veiled threat of fascistic violence this week in an interview with the far right wing website Breitbart. While largely ignored on the right, Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale’s tweet on Thursday highlighting a disturbing quote by the President went viral.
Trump to Breitbart on how the left plays tough: “I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump — I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough — until they go to a certain point and then it would be very bad, very bad.”
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) March 14, 2019
Several experts on authoritarianism and others who closely follow President Trump’s moves and remarks reminded followers on social media Trump’s words are another example of “stochastic terrorism.”
Trump’s rhetoric has already been associated with spikes in hate crimes and extremist violence. The comment below is a prime example of stochastic terrorism, and none of us should
be surprised when it leads to political violence. https://t.co/hBdT1sBH9a
— Caroline Orr (@RVAwonk) March 14, 2019
This, too, must be read as part of Trump’s campaign of stochastic terrorism. He is inviting average people to commit violence on his behalf, but distancing himself from it with the pretense that he’s just stating a “truth” about “the way it is.” https://t.co/0vyV9gIg90
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 14, 2019
Stochastic terrorism. Incitement. Call it whatever you want, but this alone is a grave abuse of his office.
I repeat: Waffling on #impeachment is a terrible message about whether Dems will defend the Constitution.
This is just another example of how emboldened Trump is. https://t.co/vVotysLPaH
— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) March 14, 2019
If you’re like most people, the term “stochastic terrorism” is confusing at best. (So is pronouncing it.)
Clearly, many folks looked it up, because Thursday evening the people at Dictionary.com revealed that searches for the term are trending today on their site:
Trending on https://t.co/OeJELgy3YL: Stochastic terrorism.
It means the public demonization of a person or group resulting in the incitement of a violent act.https://t.co/2xI3HNIjXh
— Dictionary.com (@Dictionarycom) March 14, 2019
The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent explains how Trump’s thinly-veiled threats of violence work:
It’s important to unpack how Trump’s veiled incitement really works.
He isn’t *calling* on his supporters to be violent. He’s just saying, hey, they *might* get violent under certain circumstances, and by golly, you’d better hope it doesn’t!https://t.co/K34XltBT2Y
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) March 14, 2019
Back in January Wired took a look at “stochastic terrorism,” which they define as, “Acts of violence by random extremists, triggered by political demagoguery.”
Bottom line: The President of the United States is engaging in fascistic behavior. Or, if you’d rather, he’s play around with fascism, trying it on seeing how it fits. And it’s becoming clearer and clearer that he thinks it fits just fine.
RELATED STORIES:
‘THIS IS THE LANGUAGE OF FASCISM’: AMERICANS PUSH BACK ON TRUMP’S DEHUMANIZATION OF IMMIGRANTS
Image by Spencer Means via Flickr and a CC license
Trump Administration Urges US Supreme Court to Declare Firing a Worker for Being Gay Is Legal
‘A Monumental Fraud and Failure’: Trump Had a Plan to ‘Blow Up’ the G7 and Give the ‘Middle Finger’ to Our Allies: Report
Former Dem Senator Hilariously Nails Perfect Impression of ‘Pouting’ Trump at G7 Because Nobody ‘Likes Him’ There
Trump’s Mental Decline Compared to Reagan’s Hidden Alzheimer’s in Brutal MSNBC Assessment
Trump’s Mental Decline Compared to Reagan’s Hidden Alzheimer’s in Brutal MSNBC Assessment
Former Dem Senator Hilariously Nails Perfect Impression of ‘Pouting’ Trump at G7 Because Nobody ‘Likes Him’ There
‘A Monumental Fraud and Failure’: Trump Had a Plan to ‘Blow Up’ the G7 and Give the ‘Middle Finger’ to Our Allies: Report
Trump Administration Urges US Supreme Court to Declare Firing a Worker for Being Gay Is Legal
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Has Completed More Cancer Treatment
AMERICA IN CRISIS2 days agoThe DOJ Just Emailed Immigration Judges a White Nationalist Website Blog Post With Anti-Semitic Attacks on Immigration Judges
News1 day agoInternet Responds to Death of Billionaire Conservative Activist David Koch by Reminding Everyone What He Stood For
CHILDREN DON'T BELONG IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS2 days agoTop Spokesperson Was Fired After Trump Outrage Over Poor ICE Raids Media Coverage – and After More Fury Another Just Quit
GUNS GUNS GUNS AND MORE GUNS1 day agoKids on Grade School Cheerleading Team Asked to Sell Assault Rifle Raffle Tickets – or Pay $100 ‘Opt-Out Fee’
'VERY FINE PEOPLE'1 day agoRepublican Who Compares Gay People to Rapists and Warns They May ‘Harm’ Kids Running to Unseat Democratic Senator
AYFKM?2 days agoGiuliani Says the US State Dept. Helped Him Pressure a Foreign Country to Investigate Trump’s Political Opponents
BIGOTRY24 hours agoTrump Administration Urges US Supreme Court to Declare Firing a Worker for Being Gay Is Legal
AMERICAN IDIOT1 day ago#Iherebyorder: Internet Explodes in Mockery Over Trump’s Insane China Meltdown
