Thank you for this. I had no idea my Maryland representatives were so deficient in their support. Letters to be sent!

Sidenote, if I may (no offense taken if removed out of context of this thread)…
I really hope someone is able looking into what sort of Trump/crony profiteering is being made of the extended, and possibly indefinite, incarceration of immigrants. This extreme heartlessness just can’t be purely political (yeah, I know, sure it can with this leadership cohort)…there’s surely some profit-fleecing going on buried under a few layers.
Just so maddening….

This is worth a read.

Trump Has Defected
The president crossed an important line when he canceled a meeting with the Danish prime minister.
12:56 PM ET
Thomas Wright
Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/08/trump-defects-autocrats/596518/

On the schism between Ukraine and Russian orthodox churches. I’m not so familiar with the history in that region so it was helpful for me.

https://amp.ft.com/content/a41ed014-c38b-11e9-a8e9-296ca66511c9

Ahhh I’m not surprised by this google news. I quit using google news, even for quick updates because it was too skewed. I wouldn’t sign in so I could personalize, but got their generic for my ip/ search history/whatever their algorithm.

Ms. Martinez though has really been doing some great work lately.

https://twitter.com/slpng_giants/status/1164605576027889665

Then there is this, anyone know if this guy is legit? I found through I WSJ journo retweet fwiw, but I don’t know the site. (I worry about my gullibility at times)

https://twitter.com/seth_hettena/status/1163224099080085504

Also some personal news, there has been a concern since my last mri, I get lots of those, that I had cancer. But I do not! (Well, hopefully- knocks on wood/empty noggin, technically not that cancer at least? Sigh. This is what I mean when I say I’m too literal. But 🥳🙂)

Ffs

The Justice Department Sent Immigration Judges A White Nationalist Blog Post With Anti-Semitic Attacks
“The post features links and content that directly attacks sitting immigration judges with racial and ethnically tinged slurs,” a union chief said in a letter.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/hamedaleaziz/justice-department-immigration-judges-white-nationalist

Thread

https://twitter.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/1164641853905559552

FYI: telling of this militarize administration. James Dyer twitter:

https://twitter.com/jamescdyer/status/1164647008931667971
Wow. Just… wow. Just went through LAX immigration. Presented my journalist visa and was stopped by the CBP agent and accused of being part of the ‘fake news media’.

2:14 PM – 22 Aug 2019

https://twitter.com/JohnJHarwood/status/1165006472662659074
2:02 PM – 23 Aug 2019

Dow futures down 595 as Trump announces new tariffs after markets close

These may be the ones he famously supposedly postponed until after Christmas.

Over at Kos, there was a post this morning about the House foot-dragging, especially Neal;s slow-walking on the financial stuff.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/8/23/1880874/-House-leadership-foot-dragging-could-keep-us-from-seeing-Trump-s-tax-returns-before-2020-election.

This is who Trump is, why we are in this current predicament, and how we must be courageous enough to take the responsibility of ending this toxic situation:

“Understanding our bully-in-chief: Donald Trump’s ‘antisocial personality disorder’ fits a pattern”
By Paul Rosenberg, Salon
…..
“In fact, one expert, physician and psychiatrist Dr. Frederick “Skip” Burkle, told me that autocratic leaders typically have histories of being bullies, and that the most important thing about them that the public needs to understand. I first contacted Burkle by way of counselor and therapist Elizabeth Mika…”
…..
“This is the essence of bullying — not just the violence and intimidation, but the narcissist’s hallmark sense of impunity, backed up by effortless deceit, blame-shifting and manipulation…..But violence and intimidation are just part of the package. It’s a big mistake to confuse the part with the whole.”

“Playing the victim — something Trump has perfected to a T — is absolutely crucial to a bully’s success, as Burkle’s first experience showed. Trump’s followers wallow in victimhood with him, especially in the aftermath of his own vicious attacks — a classic expression of collective narcissism .
Commentators and media practices demanding equal consideration of “both sides” further reward the bullying behavior in all its aspects, even if they may include some narrowly targeted criticism of the most specific, blatant violence or threats.”

…”The kind of cognitive/emotional/social development that occurs during adolescence is a one-shot deal. And Trump missed his shot, just like all others with character disorders. Because they’ve never grown up, they remain very similar, like children: Vladimir Putin, Rodrigo Duterte, Trump, Mohammed bin Salman — they all recognize their reflections in one another. The fact that they all get along so well should chill us to our bones.”

“Not all narcissists are bullies, but all bullies are narcissists: A sense of superiority is foundational for bullying behavior….”
…..
“For Mika, the greatest damage caused by “narcissistic arrest” is the “inability to love,” she said. “To love one has to be able to connect with one’s own and another’s true self, and this is very difficult for a narcissist as his existence is focused on enlarging and constantly defending his gargantuan false self.” The result explains volumes: “People who are unable to empathize with and love others relate to them through control and domination.”
…..
“In “Character Disorders,” Burkle writes:
“Despite their seductive talents and uncanny ability to speak to universal concerns of every citizen, [bullies turned autocrats] never attain mature abstract reasoning and avoid discussions and debates that demand levels of reasoning, observation, and objectivity, or issues that do not personally boost their own power and prestige. They expend emotional energy covering up their limitations and turn to lies, fabrications, childish insults, and unrelenting boastful opinions of themselves.”
…..
“What’s more, Mika added, “target status is magnified” if the target in question happens to represent a minority:”
…..
“Then there’s collective narcissism, which Burkle writes about in “Character Disorders”:
“When the political party aligns itself with the narcissist, it becomes “operationally and collectively narcissistic.” Once collective narcissism exists, the autocrat can be assured of sustaining his power base, demanding total loyalty, with followers speaking from the same playbook and daily-drilled sound bites, where disloyalty is severely punished.”
…..
“So long as Democratic leaders and the media remain oblivious to or ignorant of what’s actually going on psychologically — not just with Trump, but his followers as well — they will continue to misjudge the situation, even as they repeatedly say how abnormal it is. And the danger will only continue to grow.”

“This situation is abnormal in American history. But it’s depressingly normal for a country where a narcissistic bully has gained power. We need to reorient ourselves around that fundamental fact, and stop pretending that what’s been normal in the past provides any sound guidance now. Clinging to that illusion is, in itself, a subtle form of collective narcissism: the belief that “It can’t happen here,” the refusal to look ourselves in the mirror and confront what we truly are — which is the only way we can ever live up to what we wish to be.”

https://www.salon.com/2019/07/22/understanding-our-bully-in-chief-donald-trumps-antisocial-personality-disorder-fits-a-pattern/

I saw someone wondering, elseweb, who David Koch left his share of Congress to.