John Fetterman’s delusion

benfell

Pennsylvania’s Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, who is contemplating a run for the U.S. Senate to fill retiring Pat Toomey’s seat,[1] keeps posting shit like this:

There are a couple problems here, one of which I’ll dispense with quickly so I can get to the other. Read more →

  1. [1]NEXTpittsburgh, “Why does Lt. Gov. John Fetterman want to run for Senate?” Public Source, January 15, 2021, https://www.publicsource.org/why-does-lt-gov-john-fetterman-want-to-run-for-senate/↩

About any repeat of the January 6, 2021, insurrection on or before Joe Biden’s inauguration.

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Please do not share or comment on social networks prior to January 21, 2021.

See updates through January 18, 2021, at bottom of post.

I was contemplating holding back on publication of this blog post until following Joe Biden’s inauguration. I’ve never done anything like that before. This would have been a first. But I am also realizing that I have a vanishingly small readership and that among that readership, there may be some who could benefit from having their fears allayed.

The first thing I have to say about Trumpsters is that these are vile, horrible, despicable, hateful people. What I have seen, driving around southwestern Pennsylvania, and read, both in the course of doing my dissertation and since, convinces me that there is no redemption for them; they delight in cruelty. They (and most other conservatives, including mainstream Democrats) fully deserve an awful, miserable, humiliating end. I hope that such an end comes with minimal casualties among those police and military who defend the inauguration. Read more →

Riot or insurrection? Lies or madness?

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See update for January 18, 2021, at bottom of post.

To recap the story thus far, on January 6, 2021, as Congress was meeting to deliver the final certification of Joe Biden’s presidential election victory last November (2020), a mob overran the U.S. Capitol, protesting, utterly without evidence,[1] that the election was stolen. They disrupted the count which nonetheless ultimately proceeded with the expected result.[2] Donald Trump, the incumbent who lost, is credibly accused of inciting an insurrection for his remarks preceding the riot.[3]

Read more →

  1. [1]David Benfell, “When it’s over but it isn’t,” Not Housebroken, December 21, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/11/27/when-its-over-but-it-isnt/↩
  2. [2]Ted Barrett, Manu Raju, and Peter Nickeas, “US Capitol secured, woman dead after rioters stormed the halls of Congress to block Biden’s win,” CNN, January 6, 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/06/politics/us-capitol-lockdown/index.html; Talia Lavin, “The Violent Crescendo of the MAGA Conspiracies,” New Republic, January 6, 2021, https://newrepublic.com/article/160814/trump-protesters-attack-us-capital; Rebecca Tan et al., “Trump supporters storm U.S. Capitol, with one woman killed and tear gas fired,” Washington Post, January 7, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trump-supporters-storm-capitol-dc/2021/01/06/58afc0b8-504b-11eb-83e3-322644d82356_story.html↩
  3. [3]Andrew G. McCabe and David C. Williams, “Trump’s New Criminal Problem,” Politico, January 11, 2021, https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/01/11/trumps-new-criminal-problem-457298↩

The State of the Disunion, 2021

benfell

See update for January 17, 2021, at end of post.

In the wake of the January 6 (2021) riot, in which Trumpsters overran the U.S. Capitol while Congress was meeting to certify Joe Biden’s November (2020) election victory,[1] with the apparent connivance of many in the U.S. Capitol Police,[2] a question that should be on people’s minds is, what now? Read more →

  1. [1]Ted Barrett, Manu Raju, and Peter Nickeas, “US Capitol secured, woman dead after rioters stormed the halls of Congress to block Biden’s win,” CNN, January 6, 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/06/politics/us-capitol-lockdown/index.html; Talia Lavin, “The Violent Crescendo of the MAGA Conspiracies,” New Republic, January 6, 2021, https://newrepublic.com/article/160814/trump-protesters-attack-us-capital; Rebecca Tan et al., “Trump supporters storm U.S. Capitol, with one woman killed and tear gas fired,” Washington Post, January 7, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trump-supporters-storm-capitol-dc/2021/01/06/58afc0b8-504b-11eb-83e3-322644d82356_story.html↩
  2. [2]Kyle Cheney, Sarah Ferris, and Laura Barrón-López, “‘Inside job’: House Dems ask if Capitol rioters had hidden help,” Politico, January 8, 2021, https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/08/congress-democrats-capitol-riot-inside-job-456725; Kurtis Lee, Jaweed Kaleem, and Laura King, “‘White supremacy was on full display.’ Double standard seen in police response to riot at Capitol,” Los Angeles Times, January 7, 2021, https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-01-07/la-na-washington-capitol-police-attack-race↩

The danger that remains

benfell

See updates through January 17, 2021, at end of post.

In the wake of yesterday’s (January 6, 2021) violence, in which Trumpsters overran the U.S. Capitol, disrupting the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory from last November (2020),[1] I would offer two major comments. Read more →

  1. [1]Ted Barrett, Manu Raju, and Peter Nickeas, “US Capitol secured, woman dead after rioters stormed the halls of Congress to block Biden’s win,” CNN, January 6, 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/06/politics/us-capitol-lockdown/index.html; Talia Lavin, “The Violent Crescendo of the MAGA Conspiracies,” New Republic, January 6, 2021, https://newrepublic.com/article/160814/trump-protesters-attack-us-capital; Rebecca Tan et al., “Trump supporters storm U.S. Capitol, with one woman killed and tear gas fired,” Washington Post, January 7, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trump-supporters-storm-capitol-dc/2021/01/06/58afc0b8-504b-11eb-83e3-322644d82356_story.html↩

Market homelessness

benfell

As I drive around the Pittsburgh area, there is a dissonance that I feel I should be able to do something about, but can’t.

I see more homeless people this year than last, perhaps because I’m more familiar with the area (I moved here less than two years ago), but also surely because more are homeless, due to severe economic conditions which our elite have refused to relieve,[1] largely due to neoliberal dogma.[2] Millions of people in the U.S. have lost their jobs. Millions have been pushed into poverty.[3] Millions are an average of over $5,000 behind on their rent.[4] And evictions—legal, not-so-legal, and outright prohibited but enabled anyway—have continued despite moratoriums against them and many, many more are expected.[5] Indeed, the apartment complex where I live is among the offenders.[6] Read more →

  1. [1]David Benfell, “Imagine a malicious elite,” Not Housebroken, December 30, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/12/18/imagine-a-malicious-elite/; David Benfell, “The mysterious expectation that elites give a damn,” Not Housebroken, December 30, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/08/01/the-mysterious-expectation-that-elites-give-a-damn/↩
  2. [2]David Benfell, “A piper needs paying,” Not Housebroken, December 30, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/12/19/a-piper-needs-paying/↩
  3. [3]Heather Long, “Nearly 8 million Americans have fallen into poverty since the summer,” Washington Post, December 16, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/16/poverty-rising/↩
  4. [4]Heather Long, “Millions of Americans are heading into the holidays unemployed and over $5,000 behind on rent,” Washington Post, December 7, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/07/unemployed-debt-rent-utilities/↩
  5. [5]Associated Press, “Tenants Behind on Rent in Pandemic Face Harassment, Eviction,” U.S. News and World Report, June 14, 2020, https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/virginia/articles/2020-06-13/tenants-behind-on-rent-in-pandemic-face-harassment-eviction; Regina Garcia Cano and Michael Casey, “Wave of evictions expected as moratoriums end in many states,” Associated Press, August 4, 2020, copy in possession of author; Kriston Capps, “What Happens When the Eviction Bans End?” CityLab, May 29, 2020, https://www.citylab.com/equity/2020/05/pay-rent-eviction-ban-coronavirus-housing-crisis-landlord/612277/; Kriston Capps, “Landlords Challenge U.S. Eviction Ban and Continue to Oust Renters,” CityLab, October 22, 2020, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-22/landlords-launch-legal-attack-on-cdc-eviction-ban; Michelle Conlin and Christopher Walljasper, “Time’s up: After a reprieve, a wave of evictions expected across U.S.,” Reuters, October 19, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-housing-eviction-insight/times-up-after-a-reprieve-a-wave-of-evictions-expected-across-u-s-idUKKBN27415U; John Fritze and Nicholas Wu, “Trump administration announces nationwide eviction moratorium through end of the year,” USA Today, September 1, 2020, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/09/01/trump-imposes-eviction-moratorium-because-covid-19-pandemic/5686402002/; Sam Levin, “California landlords are locking out struggling tenants. A ‘tsunami of evictions’ may be next,” Guardian, July 30, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/30/california-covid-19-evictions-landlords-tenants; Eric Levitz, “This Recession Is a Bigger Housing Crisis Than 2008,” New York, July 13, 2020, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/07/coronavirus-recession-evictions-crisis-congress.html; Renae Merle, “Evictions are likely to skyrocket this summer as jobs remain scarce. Black renters will be hard hit,” Washington Post, July 6, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/06/eviction-moratoriums-starwood/; Gretchen Morgenson, “Large corporate landlords have filed 10,000 eviction actions in five states since September,” NBC News, October 26, 2020, https://www.nbcnews.com/business/personal-finance/large-corporate-landlords-have-filed-10-000-eviction-actions-five-n1244711; Will Parker, “Struggling Rental Market Could Usher in Next American Housing Crisis,” Wall Street Journal, October 27, 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/struggling-rental-market-could-usher-in-next-american-housing-crisis-11603791000; Jenny Schuetz, “America’s inequitable housing system is completely unprepared for coronavirus,” Brookings, March 12, 2020, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2020/03/12/americas-inequitable-housing-system-is-completely-unprepared-for-coronavirus/; Kyle Swenson, “Renters thought a CDC order protected them from eviction. Then landlords found loopholes,” Washington Post, October 27, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/10/27/trump-cdc-eviction-moratorium-loopholes/↩
  6. [6]Ryan Deto, “Pittsburgh-area apartment complex The Alden South Hills seeking large-scale evictions,” Pittsburgh City Paper, October 21, 2020, https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/pittsburgh-area-apartment-complex-the-alden-south-hills-seeking-large-scale-evictions/Content?oid=18223682↩

Who shall determine our fate?

benfell

See update for January 9, 2021, at end of post.

Nearly two months after the fact, Donald Trump’s surrogates are still trying to overturn the election. Still. The latest is a lawsuit claiming that the Electoral Count Act unconstitutionally ties the vice president’s hands in choosing which electoral college votes to count.[1] Read more →

  1. [1]Kyle Cheney, “Gohmert suit may force Pence’s hand in effort to overturn Trump’s defeat,” Politico, December 28, 2020, https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/28/gohmert-suit-pence-overturn-trumps-defeat-451485↩

Underestimating the gravity of the situation, as Donald Trump faces a White House exit

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See updates through January 14, 2021, at end of post.

I remember, out in California, talking to a psychologist friend about Donald Trump. Neither of us could imagine he would last a full four years in office.

My friend noted, correctly as it turned out, that Trump wasn’t actually interested in being president so much as in the attention that winning the presidency had gained him, but thought Trump would find a way to resign or step aside. Read more →

Imagine a malicious elite

benfell

See updates through December 30, 2020, at end of post.

Imagine you have a pandemic. Imagine that lockdowns meant to limit the spread of that pandemic cause millions to lose their jobs. Imagine that these people have lost their health insurance.[1] Imagine that many of these millions of people remain unemployed, face eviction and homelessness.[2] Imagine that many of these people will move in with relatives and friends, increasing housing density, increasing the opportunity for the virus to spread.[3] Read more →

  1. [1]Amy Goldstein, “First, the coronavirus pandemic took their jobs. Then, it wiped out their health insurance,” Washington Post, April 18, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/first-the-coronavirus-pandemic-took-their-jobs-then-it-wiped-out-their-health-insurance/2020/04/18/1c2cb5bc-7d7c-11ea-8013-1b6da0e4a2b7_story.html↩
  2. [2]Heather Long, “Millions of Americans are heading into the holidays unemployed and over $5,000 behind on rent,” Washington Post, December 7, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/07/unemployed-debt-rent-utilities/↩
  3. [3]Michelle Conlin and Christopher Walljasper, “Time’s up: After a reprieve, a wave of evictions expected across U.S.,” Reuters, October 19, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-housing-eviction-insight/times-up-after-a-reprieve-a-wave-of-evictions-expected-across-u-s-idUKKBN27415U↩