Notes from the New Imbecilities
A key plot point in the movie ‘Spartacus’ came when the authorities sought him out and everyone in the crowd took turns asserting ‘I am Spartacus!’
We’ve reached that Spartacus moment.
A criminal conspiracy case against a group of activists in San Diego is headed toward a trial that could prove crucial in defining the much-misunderstood political movement known as Antifa.
Six members of the “San Diego 11” have negotiated plea deals with the San Diego District Attorney. But the five remaining defendants have vowed to take the case to trial, aided by defense attorneys known for taking on high-stakes political cases in California.
The defendants are charged with felonies, including conspiracy to riot, stemming from a day of unrest in Pacific Beach on Jan 9, 2021. As a USA TODAY investigation found in 2022, groups of anti-fascists clashed with white supremacists and supporters of former President Donald Trump throughout a day of protests and counterprotests, but only the self-professed anti-fascists were ever charged with crimes, despite video evidence showing white supremacists attacking people.
In 2017 in Charlottesville, VA, a white supremacist tiki torch march brought Nazi and other hate group slogans and symbols to public light and began a long series of supremacists driving their cars into crowds of anti-Nazis and other peaceful protesters.
That first car attack killed 32 year old Heather Heyer and left more than 30 injured. When several of the protesters brought a civil suit against 5 members of the hate groups, a jury awarded them a judgment that included $24 million in punitive damages. A judge reduced that to $350,000, the maximum permitted by VA law.
Since that time, a nascent Black Lives Matter movement that sought relief from police violence against Black citizens blossomed 3 years later in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. Derek Chauvin, the police officer who kneeled on the neck of Floyd for more than 9 minutes while he begged for his life, was convicted for 2nd and 3rd degree murder and will serve less than 25 years for that crime. (As an aside, Chauvin and his wife were convicted and sentenced last week for evading $37,868 in federal taxes… which will add no time to his length of imprisonment).
In the summer of BLM protests that followed, random people calling themselves ‘anti-fascists’ occasionally appeared as counter-protesters to hate groups like the Proud Boys who deliberately target liberal and diverse cities in their quest for street fights. In a few locations, the actions of some anti-fascists (often young hotheads) cast a negative light on peaceful BLM protesters and local BLM leaders asked them to stop.
Still, there’s been no evidence of national coordination for those willing to confront the violent groups like the Proud Boys and their numbers are always inflated by rightwing media. If they all get cast as a terror group, that’s a dangerous turn of events. Rightwing hate groups - mostly white supremacists - are responsible for dozens of murders and more than 100 violent attacks. After nearly a decade, self-proclaimed anti-fascists have killed just three.
Millions of Americans are opposed to fascism. If any step into a fray to protect others from violent fascists, will they be prosecuted and imprisoned now?
Not if enough of us stand up and say ‘I am Antifa!’
Anti-fascists terrorize no-one. Most of us defend.
Following up on my previous ‘I don’t care’ newsletter, I meant to mention Heather Cox Richardson’s take on the pending indictment situation. I won’t quote from it as it needs to be read in its entirety. It’s that spot on.
And for those always criticizing Merrick Garland for the long wait on a DOJ prosecution of Trump, Marcy Wheeler utilizes a comparison to Watergate plus an excellent explanation of all the procedural tasks that have to gain court approvals so one central fact is more understandable: this investigation has no rival, it is far more difficult than Watergate was but plenty is happening that we haven’t fully seen.
The problem is not a Deep State conspiring against us little people. It's that Congress reps know lucrative job offers follow their public service. So some won't risk losing that, as Atrios notes here.
This is why Trump can be compared to Pavlov. It doesn’t matter if his words are accurate. When he says ‘the liberals are picking on me’ all his Congressional doggies start yapping as he’s trained them to do. But they also know they have to do this to satisfy potential future employers.
It’s why public financing of federal office campaigns is essential. There’s no other fix.
Short term, yeah, someone can tell the doggies to back off successfully. But that only lasts till Pavlov rings his bell again.