Pittsburgh should be ashamed but isn’t, really, and that’s a problem (Update #8)

benfell

Updates

  1. Originally published, November 17, 2020, 11:17 am.

  2. November 17, 2020, 12:40 pm:

    • Folks are calling for Republican Senator Lindsey Graham’s head after he had what he calls a “good conversation” with Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State that the latter alleges pressured him to not count legal votes.[1] My bet is that, in the name of “comity,” for which you should read Democrats’ capitulation to and complicity with Republicans, Joe Biden will do nothing.

  3. November 17, 2020, 9:57 pm:

    • In the dispute over that phone call Lindsey Graham made to Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State,[2] Karen Tumulty asks, “Why in the world was Graham, who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, nosing around in the ballot-counting process of a state he doesn’t even represent?”[3] Given that a number of folks think that even Graham’s explanation doesn’t excuse the call,[4] it would seem that Graham has some explaining to do. But of course, he’s immune. You know, “comity” and all that.

  4. November 18, 2020, 4:44 am:

    • From the previous issue:

      What is Donald Trump up to, really? Really, we don’t know. Fred Hiatt outlines three possibilities.[5] Personally, I just think Trump is batshit crazy, which most resembles Hiatt’s scenario #3, but I don’t know either. His scenario #1 is essentially the electoral college manipulation[6] I’ve been talking about, which I think could draw in armed militia groups.[7] At this point, scenario #1 is probably—only probably—the least likely, but Hiatt doesn’t rule it out,[8] and I think really, he’s right not to. Scenario #2 looks a lot like the parallel government idea that Jonathan Freedland put forth.[9] This, too, could draw in the militia groups.[10]

      It now appears that Donald Trump is very much pursuing Fred Hiatt’s scenario #1 as Republicans pressed the Wayne County (Michigan) Board of Elections to not certify election results. The Board initially deadlocked but later ratified the outcome.[11]

      A New York Times report, that Robert Costa linked to in the above tweet, suggests that Lindsey Graham is pursuing a similar strategy in his contacts with state elections officials.[12]

      To put it mildly, the effort is falling short.[13] But it’s making a lot of noise that amplifies Trump’s sense of grievance—all those yard signs and flags that say “Stop The Bullshit” and “Drain The Swamp” come to mind—setting up scenario #2.

      There will be a serious question as to whether this country will be governable in a conventional sense as this unfolds.

  5. November 18, 2020, 9:15 am:

    • I forgot to close a footnote with the previous update. This has now been repaired.

    • So just how bad was that hearing in Pennsylvania with Rudy Giuliani representing Donald Trump?[14] I can’t even begin. But if you thought Giuliani was a clown, I have nothing to counter that impression.

      The hearing was on a motion by defendants, these being the Pennsylvania secretary of state and seven Pennsylvania counties, to dismiss the case outright. Simply put, a lot of Giuliani’s reported argumentation[15] was not serious argumentation. So if you think Giuliani is anything besides a dementia-sufferer, then you have to view the suit as seeking something besides the relief it asks for. Either that Giuliani is completely out of his depth or that this is an attempt to show that Trump cannot even get a hearing, that the courts are still stacked against him.

      Giuliani is nursing Trump’s grievance, Trump’s victimhood.

      But Trump’s grievance, his victimhood are not his alone. They are Trumpsters’ grievance, Trumpsters’ victimhood. They are an authoritarian populist grievance and an authoritarian populist victimhood that Republican leaders cultivated for decades[16] prior to Trump’s victory in 2016, the grievance and the victimhood of a 1,000 years of elite disdain and exploitation.[17]

      Giuliani is nursing their grievance, their victimhood, as well. Fred Hiatt’s scenario #2 is looking all the more likely.[18]

  6. November 18, 2020, 1:00 pm:

  7. November 18, 2020, 5:52 pm:

    • Due to what I think is a snafu, I’m unable to go online with Uber, and Lyft has, for the second time this year, ordered a background check on me, so I am presently unable to drive for either company. I don’t know how long this will last.

  8. November 18, 2020, 7:18 pm:

    • I finally received a response from Uber (figure 1):


      Fig. 1. Screenshot, taken at 7:11 pm, of response from Uber regarding my problem going on line today. It’s been all afternoon and evening.

Pittsburgh

I had a young passenger not so long ago and as we were driving across Mount Lebanon, I noted the prevalence of Confederate flags, not so much there, but elsewhere around Pittsburgh. He pointed out that we are north of the Mason-Dixon Line and said that people around here mostly think of those who fly those flags as nuts.

That may be true. But there are a lot of those Confederate flags, often side-by-side with thin blue line flags, often side-by-side with Trump flags. Corresponding bumper stickers often sit side-by-side with those supporting alleged[19] gun rights. I no longer have any doubt that those who defend the police are, in fact, white supremacist, that those who support Trump are, in fact, racist,[20] and even that those who fly the U.S. flag day after day are highly likely to be racist.[21] All of these are emblems of hatred for the “other” and there are an awful lot of what my passenger called “nuts.”

Fig. 1. Gratuitously displayed gun locations. Map created by author, updated as new weapons or related displays are found and recorded.

I didn’t challenge him on this, but I worried that my passenger, and probably a lot of people here, diminish the problem. Most people probably don’t see the signs of white supremacism that I do as they drive out of their neighborhoods onto main roads. Though I’ve talked to a few who’ve also noticed that the banners commemorating military service members are almost invariably of whites. Most don’t even notice the gratuitously displayed guns that are all over the place (figure 1) but especially in or near poor neighborhoods, in an area with a pronounced intersection of race and class.[22]

To see what I see and to diminish it, or to fail to make the association I do, would surely be to be complicit. But I wonder about people who have lived their entire lives in what the Federal Bureau of Investigation recently declared a “hub” for white supremacy[23] and what Ryan Deto reports has been one at least since the 1920s.[24]

Ryan Deto, “The FBI declared Pgh. a new hub for white supremacy. That ignores decades of history,” Pennsylvania Capital-Star, November 16, 2020, https://www.penncapital-star.com/civil-rights-social-justice/the-fbi-declared-pgh-a-hub-for-white-supremacy-it-has-a-long-history-already/

Transition

Amy Gardner, “Ga. secretary of state says fellow Republicans are pressuring him to find ways to exclude ballots,” Washington Post, November 16, 2020 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/brad-raffensperger-georgia-vote/2020/11/16/6b6cb2f4-283e-11eb-8fa2-06e7cbb145c0_story.html

Pam Fessler, “Led By Giuliani, Trump Campaign Effort To Stop Certification Falters In Pennsylvania,” National Public Radio, November 17, 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/11/17/936027693/led-by-giuliani-trump-campaign-effort-to-stop-certification-falters-in-pennsylva

Jacob Jarvis, “Lindsey Graham Critics Want Probes, Judiciary Resignation Over Georgia Ballot Claims,” Newsweek, November 17, 2020, https://www.newsweek.com/lindsey-graham-calls-resign-judiciary-chairman-ballot-allegations-1547928

Kayla Ruble and Tom Hamburger, “Board in key Michigan county fails, then agrees, to certify vote totals by deadline,” Washington Post, November 17, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/michigan-vote-canvassing-board/2020/11/17/12141222-287c-11eb-8fa2-06e7cbb145c0_story.html

Stephanie Saul, “Lindsey Graham’s Long-Shot Mission to Unravel the Election Results,” New York Times, November 17, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/us/politics/lindsey-graham-georgia-trump-biden.html

Karen Tumulty, “Lindsey Graham’s claim that he wasn’t interfering in the Georgia vote doesn’t add up,” Washington Post, November 17, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/11/17/lindsey-graham-claim-wasnt-interfering-georgia-vote-doesnt-add-up/

  1. [1]Amy Gardner, “Ga. secretary of state says fellow Republicans are pressuring him to find ways to exclude ballots,” Washington Post, November 16, 2020 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/brad-raffensperger-georgia-vote/2020/11/16/6b6cb2f4-283e-11eb-8fa2-06e7cbb145c0_story.html; Jacob Jarvis, “Lindsey Graham Critics Want Probes, Judiciary Resignation Over Georgia Ballot Claims,” Newsweek, November 17, 2020, https://www.newsweek.com/lindsey-graham-calls-resign-judiciary-chairman-ballot-allegations-1547928↩
  2. [2]Amy Gardner, “Ga. secretary of state says fellow Republicans are pressuring him to find ways to exclude ballots,” Washington Post, November 16, 2020 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/brad-raffensperger-georgia-vote/2020/11/16/6b6cb2f4-283e-11eb-8fa2-06e7cbb145c0_story.html; Jacob Jarvis, “Lindsey Graham Critics Want Probes, Judiciary Resignation Over Georgia Ballot Claims,” Newsweek, November 17, 2020, https://www.newsweek.com/lindsey-graham-calls-resign-judiciary-chairman-ballot-allegations-1547928↩
  3. [3]Karen Tumulty, “Lindsey Graham’s claim that he wasn’t interfering in the Georgia vote doesn’t add up,” Washington Post, November 17, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/11/17/lindsey-graham-claim-wasnt-interfering-georgia-vote-doesnt-add-up/↩
  4. [4]Jacob Jarvis, “Lindsey Graham Critics Want Probes, Judiciary Resignation Over Georgia Ballot Claims,” Newsweek, November 17, 2020, https://www.newsweek.com/lindsey-graham-calls-resign-judiciary-chairman-ballot-allegations-1547928↩
  5. [5]Fred Hiatt, “Trump is putting this country through something unprecedented. Here are three scenarios,” Washington Post, November 15, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-wants-to-overturn-the-results-of-a-free-and-fair-election-theres-a-word-for-that/2020/11/13/cb94b77e-25b6-11eb-952e-0c475972cfc0_story.html↩
  6. [6]Max Boot, “What if Trump loses but insists he won?” Washington Post, July 6, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/06/what-if-trump-loses-insists-he-won/; Rosa Brooks, “What’s the worst that could happen?” Washington Post, September 3, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/09/03/trump-stay-in-office/; Marjorie Cohn, “Trump’s Frivolous Lawsuits Are the Tip of the Iceberg in His Refusal to Concede,” Truthout, November 11, 2020, https://truthout.org/articles/trumps-frivolous-lawsuits-are-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-in-his-refusal-to-concede/; Eric Lach, “What Happens if Donald Trump Fights the Election Results?” New Yorker, August 21, 2020, https://www.newyorker.com/news/campaign-chronicles/what-happens-if-donald-trump-fights-the-election-results; Robert McCartney, “Here’s one way Trump could try to steal the election, voting experts say,” Washington Post, August 17, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/heres-one-way-trump-could-try-to-steal-the-election-voting-experts-say/2020/08/16/b5bf0c2a-de66-11ea-b205-ff838e15a9a6_story.html; Timothy E. Wirth and Tom Rogers, “How Trump Could Lose the Election—And Still Remain President,” Newsweek, July 3, 2020, https://www.newsweek.com/how-trump-could-lose-election-still-remain-president-opinion-1513975↩
  7. [7]David Benfell, “Bloody November,” Not Housebroken, October 13, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/09/08/bloody-november/; David Benfell, “Donald Trump’s ‘brown shirts,’” Not Housebroken, October 16, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/08/30/donald-trumps-brown-shirts/; David Benfell, “The very scary way to four more years,” Not Housebroken, October 16, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/09/25/the-very-scary-way-to-four-more-years/; David Benfell, “Epistemology in the present U.S. political crisis,” Not Housebroken, November 14, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/11/12/epistemology-in-the-present-u-s-political-crisis/↩
  8. [8]Fred Hiatt, “Trump is putting this country through something unprecedented. Here are three scenarios,” Washington Post, November 15, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-wants-to-overturn-the-results-of-a-free-and-fair-election-theres-a-word-for-that/2020/11/13/cb94b77e-25b6-11eb-952e-0c475972cfc0_story.html↩
  9. [9]Jonathan Freedland, “This is no conventional coup. Trump is paving the way for a ‘virtual Confederacy,'” Guardian, November 13, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/13/trump-coup-virtual-confederacy-race-legal-trumpian↩
  10. [10]David Benfell, “The pandemic’s fall surge in Allegheny County,” Irregular Bullshit, November 16, 2020, https://disunitedstates.com/2020/11/15/the-pandemics-fall-surge-in-allegheny-county/↩
  11. [11]Kayla Ruble and Tom Hamburger, “Board in key Michigan county fails, then agrees, to certify vote totals by deadline,” Washington Post, November 17, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/michigan-vote-canvassing-board/2020/11/17/12141222-287c-11eb-8fa2-06e7cbb145c0_story.html↩
  12. [12]Stephanie Saul, “Lindsey Graham’s Long-Shot Mission to Unravel the Election Results,” New York Times, November 17, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/us/politics/lindsey-graham-georgia-trump-biden.html↩
  13. [13]Aaron Blake, “Trump lawyers suffer embarrassing rebukes from judges over voter fraud claims,” Washington Post, November 11, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/11/11/trump-lawyers-suffer-embarrassing-rebukes-judges-over-voter-fraud-claims/; Marjorie Cohn, “Trump’s Frivolous Lawsuits Are the Tip of the Iceberg in His Refusal to Concede,” Truthout, November 11, 2020, https://truthout.org/articles/trumps-frivolous-lawsuits-are-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-in-his-refusal-to-concede/; Pam Fessler, “Led By Giuliani, Trump Campaign Effort To Stop Certification Falters In Pennsylvania,” National Public Radio, November 17, 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/11/17/936027693/led-by-giuliani-trump-campaign-effort-to-stop-certification-falters-in-pennsylvaJonathan Freedland, “This is no conventional coup. Trump is paving the way for a ‘virtual Confederacy,'” Guardian, November 13, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/13/trump-coup-virtual-confederacy-race-legal-trumpian; Kayla Ruble and Tom Hamburger, “Board in key Michigan county fails, then agrees, to certify vote totals by deadline,” Washington Post, November 17, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/michigan-vote-canvassing-board/2020/11/17/12141222-287c-11eb-8fa2-06e7cbb145c0_story.html↩
  14. [14]Pam Fessler, “Led By Giuliani, Trump Campaign Effort To Stop Certification Falters In Pennsylvania,” National Public Radio, November 17, 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/11/17/936027693/led-by-giuliani-trump-campaign-effort-to-stop-certification-falters-in-pennsylva↩
  15. [15]Paula Reed Ward, “Federal judge to consider whether to dismiss case filed by Trump campaign in Pa.,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 17, 2020, https://triblive.com/local/federal-judge-to-consider-whether-to-dismiss-case-filed-by-trump-campaign-in-pa/↩
  16. [16]Thomas Frank, What’s the Matter With Kansas? (New York: Metropolitan, 2005); Thomas Frank, Pity the Billionaire (New York: Metropolitan, 2012)↩
  17. [17]David Benfell, “Barack Obama asks, ‘Why is it that the folks that won the last election are so mad all the time?’” Not Housebroken, November 4, 2018, https://disunitedstates.org/2018/11/04/barack-obama-asks-why-is-it-that-the-folks-that-won-the-last-election-are-so-mad-all-the-time/↩
  18. [18]Fred Hiatt, “Trump is putting this country through something unprecedented. Here are three scenarios,” Washington Post, November 15, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-wants-to-overturn-the-results-of-a-free-and-fair-election-theres-a-word-for-that/2020/11/13/cb94b77e-25b6-11eb-952e-0c475972cfc0_story.html↩
  19. [19]David Benfell, “Deconstructing the second amendment,” Not Housebroken, October 5, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/10/04/deconstructing-the-second-amendment/↩
  20. [20]David Benfell, “Donald Trump’s ‘brown shirts,’” Not Housebroken, October 16, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/08/30/donald-trumps-brown-shirts/↩
  21. [21]David Benfell, “On patriotism,” Not Housebroken, June 27, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/06/27/on-patriotism/↩
  22. [22]David Benfell, “The banners and the guns: Flagrant racism in Pittsburgh,” Not Housebroken, November 13, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2019/09/20/the-banners-and-the-guns-flagrant-racism-in-pittsburgh/; David Benfell, “Donald Trump’s ‘brown shirts,’” Not Housebroken, October 16, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/08/30/donald-trumps-brown-shirts/↩
  23. [23]Ewan Palmer, “FBI Warn White Supremacist Activity in Pittsburgh Among Highest in Country,” Newsweek, November 13, 2020, https://www.newsweek.com/pittsburgh-white-supremacist-fbi-far-right-1547149↩
  24. [24]Ryan Deto, “The FBI declared Pgh. a new hub for white supremacy. That ignores decades of history,” Pennsylvania Capital-Star, November 16, 2020, https://www.penncapital-star.com/civil-rights-social-justice/the-fbi-declared-pgh-a-hub-for-white-supremacy-it-has-a-long-history-already/↩

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